Briefly speaking: Students develop safety course

Six new UC Davis graduates are helping students here become more informed about safety issues with the launch of a new course this fall.

The freshman seminar, titled "Are You Prepared? An Aggie's Ultimate Guide to Campus Safety," is addressing women's safety and self-defense, party safety, bike safety, student stress and distress, first aid and fire safety, emergency communication and response, and residence hall safety.

"The credit for organizing the course goes to a group of students -- now all graduated -- who envisioned this topic as important for the campus," said Jim Grieshop, who is teaching the course. He is an emeritus specialist and lecturer in the Department of Human and Community Development.

As a pilot project of UC Davis' emergency management program, campus officials offered honors students a list of topics to explore -- all of them focusing on campus safety. The students began working on their project shortly after a troubled student at Virginia Tech killed 32 people and then turned a gun on himself in April 2007.

UC Davis graduate Rosario Jaime-Lara, now 22 and preparing for nursing school in New Jersey, is excited to see her group's work come to fruition. She said there was a lot of research available about safety topics, but it was hard to find. "I thought having a class would be a good way to put it together."

About 15 freshmen have enrolled in the one-unit freshman seminar. Depending on how it is received, it may be offered again in winter or spring.

Students who participate in the Davis Honors Challenge -- like the group who developed this course -- must maintain high grades, do extra coursework and pursue a research project.

Jaime-Lara said some of her team members plan to return to campus to observe the seminar. She's "anxious to see how everything worked out." In addition to Jaime-Lara, other members of the group were Amanda Blattman, Michaela Donaldson, Danny Huynh, Melissa Schuit and Jessica Silva.