SMU was in lockdown this morning from 9:06 a.m. to 9:16 a.m. following a reported active shooter on campus seen at Airline Road and Dyer Street about a half hour beforehand.

Students were sent emails, texts and calls warning them of the shooter. Provost Paul Ludden sent students an email notice that arrangements would be made to retake final exams that were interrupted by the lockdown. Students in buildings on campus were told to hide in closets and under tables away from windows.

Dallas Police and Executive Director of SMU News and Communications Kent Best confirmed that the suspect was taken into custody in front of Jason's Deli on Mockingbird Lane, one block East of campus. The only weapons found on him were two pocketknives. There were no reported injuries.

Dallas Police said in a statement that at about 6:00 a.m. this morning they were dispatched to the 6000 block of Melody lane to deal with a man who was reported to be suicidal. When they arrived at the location a suicide note was discovered which indicated that the man was a potential danger to himself and others. 

SMU and Stonewall Jackson Elementary were placed in lockdown shortly afterward before the suspect was arrested at approximately 9:10 am and the lockdown was lifted shortly afterward.

More updates to come as they become available.

The SMU administration is ending the 2012-2013 school year with the much-anticipated release of recommendations from the Task Force on Sexual Misconduct Policies and Procedures.

The 41 recommendations come after a year-long review in which the task force examined how the school currently reviews sexual misconduct.

President R. Gerald Turner said on Wednesday, May 8, that he had accepted the Task Force’s recommendations. The recommendations range from reporting procedures to the university conduct board process, education on sexual misconduct, and more extensive training among staff and faculty.

The Task Force was created by President Turner in September 2012 after several sexual assaults were reported on campus and two SMU students were indicted by Dallas County grand juries.

“Sexual misconduct is a serious issue at universities and colleges nationwide,” Turner said on Wednesday. “SMU is committed to acting on its values and policies to foster a healthy learning environment based on mutual respect, responsible behavior and fair treatment of all students.”

The Task Force was made up of 20 members selected by President Turner, including SMU graduate student Monika Korra who was sexually assaulted in 2009, and has since become an advocate for victims of sexual assault.

In addition, other members of SMU students, staff, and faculty were selected. The Task Force also had a representative from the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and the executive director of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Initiative.

Kelly Compton, an SMUI Board of Trustee member and the chair of the task force, said that with such a diverse group of administrative members, as well as those who work extensively with victims of sexual assault, there was a lot that needed to be discussed.

“We spent a lot of time educating ourselves, discussing and understanding the issue,” Compton said.

Through those discussions came 41 recommendations, which Compton said is a reflection of the strong consensus among the members of the task force.

Compton stressed that the main message that the university should take from these recommendations is that dealing with sexual misconduct needs to simpler and easier to understand — communication is critical.

“We need to make everything more clear,” Compton said. “Everything is in place, but nothing is very clear.”

Two of the recommendations made were to “provide clear information regarding both internal and external support services available to the campus and community in the event of sexual misconduct,” and to help define the term consent.

In order to make the sexual misconduct policy more visible, it will be taken out of the code of conduct, which will increase its visibility among students.

“We need to have clear definition of what is acceptable and what is not,” Compton said.

Despite the recommendations related to the way the university manages sexual assault policies and procedures, the task force must also adhere to state and federal laws, such as Title IX, to handle sexual misconduct.

An April 2011 letter from the Office of Civil Rights titled “Dear Colleague” was sent out to universities across the country and changed the interpretation of Title IX — in terms of reducing the requirements of evidence to preponderance along with other issues.

The new Title IX requires all universities that receive federal funding to have some type of internal grievance process which handles investigating sexual misconduct allegations. For example, the “Dear Colleague” letter said,

“The school should...allow students to change academic or living situations as appropriate.”

Another recommendation, made in regard to the University Conduct Code, was limiting the number of students who represent on the board.

Though input from students helped the task force create these recommendations, they believe that students should not chair of the University Conduct Review board, nor should they be the majority.

One of the most important recommendations made, according to Compton, was “creating an environment that supports students reporting sexual misconduct both on and off campus.”

“The victim in the situation needs to have control of how the process is handled,” Compton said. “It is important for the complainant to have that right. Through this we hope we are encouraging the complainant to report.”

The task force hopes that through these recommendations students will better understand the difference between the University Conduct Review Board and the criminal justice system.

The conduct review board has been criticized in past Daily Campus editorials as limiting what can happen to students found guilty of sexual misconduct.

The conduct board has the power to decide if a violation did or did not occur, based on preponderance. The review board, through the school also has the power to make accommodations for the complainant, by changing their classes or even their dorms if they feel unsafe.

If the school deems the respondent is a threat to the safety of the school, sanctions can be placed against them, before a review hearing is held.

If a respondent is found guilty the University can sanction them with anything ranging from suspension to expulsion. However, a criminal court holds individuals to a higher bar, and therefore respondents need to be found guilty “without a reasonable doubt.”

The hope of the task force is that by encouraging students to report to SMU they can bring the two systems together to streamline and assist the complainant.

One of the recommendations will also clarify to students whether a location is a confidential place to report or not.

The SMU Chaplain’s office and any SMU counseling office is confidential, whereas the Office of the Dean of Student Life and the Women’s Center are required to notify SMU’s Title IX coordinator, Beth Wilson, of any sexual misconduct.

The Task Force on Sexual Misconduct initiated by President R. Gerald Turner last fall released 41 recommendations Wednesday that seek to solve issues with reporting, communication, accountability and Title IX. The Daily Campus is generally pleased by their findings and recommendations.

The task force was given a difficult task — it had to assess a complicated issue and synthesize a wide range of voices and interests. Considering the complex issues the task force had to address — from community culture to tensions between the criminal justice system and the student code of conduct to the hurdles posed by federal legislation — the task force has done a commendable job in recommending SMU-specific solutions to the university’s problems with sexual misconduct. The task force’s creation, catalyzed by two high profile sexual assault indictments by Dallas County grad juries, the task force had to answer the essential question: how can SMU be made into a safer environment?

As Kelly Compton, an SMU Board of Trustee member and chair of the task force, said in a discussion with The Daily Campus, the university already had many sound policies in place; the university had a problem with implementation rather than policy creation — the difference in rule of law versus rule by law. We found certain recommendations especially critical. Offering amnesty for alcohol or drug violations for the complainant in a sexual assault case is likely to encourage many victims to report crimes they otherwise might not. The assurance that both the complainant and the respondent be treated fairly and be afforded equal accommodations throughout the process is another welcome change.

But, recommendations must be turned into effective policy. Larger structural and legislative issues also pose a problem: Title IX and the “Dear Colleague” letter which currently dictates the processes by which universities must handle sexual assault cases.

The internal grievance process mandated by the Dear Colleague letter limits the flexibility of university conduct boards. The letter lowered the conduct review board to use the lowest burden of proof, the “preponderance of the evidence” test. The preponderance rule means that to be found in violation of the student code of conduct, it must only be “more likely than not” that the violation occurred. It must therefore only be 50.1 percent likely that the defendant is in violation. It must therefore only be 50.1 percent likely that the defendant is guilty. This is a much lower standard to be than “beyond a reasonable doubt” burden used in criminal proceedings.

SMU is not unique in the problems that Title IX is causing; schools across the country are dealing with precisely the same issues.

This board firmly believes, however, that the largest responsibility lies with SMU’s student body. While the task force’s recommendations will certainly help — education about sexual assaults and a value statement — it is up to the student body to positively shift its cultural and sociological understandings about rights, boundaries and the like. It is up to each SMU student to serve as an exemplar for every other SMU student. Only through elevating one another can we elevate the entire community. And, our community ideal must always be one of mutual respect and care.

 

PTSD Package from SMU-TV on Vimeo.

While the war in Iraq officially ended in 2011, many U.S. soldiers are fighting a new battle here in the states. It goes by the name of post-traumatic stress disorder.

According to The National PTSD Foundation of America, one in four returning soldiers are diagnosed with PTSD, but less than 40 percent of them will seek help.

"I would say I was failing as a civilian when I first got out,” Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Mike Rials said.

Rials works as a veterans outreach coordinator at the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas Dallas to help veterans recognize the symptoms of PTSD.

“I did struggle a lot with the arousal feeling of things like large crowds and not being able to be around them, always having to be near a door,” Iraq veteran Cedric Jones said. Jones works at the Center for Brain Health with Rials.

At the center, veterans help other veterans overcome PTSD by sharing their own experiences coping with the disorder.

"I had two of my buddies I served with that committed suicide, so it kind of pushed me to find out what's going on," Rials said.

It’s been 10 years since the invasion of Iraq, but suicide rates among veterans are rising. According to a recent report from the Department of Veteran Affairs, 22 veterans take their lives every day.

"What people don't understand [is] that when you are preparing to go to war in these particular kinds of positions, you can't sugar coat it, the job is to kill people," Vietnam veteran G. Reid Lyon said. Lyon is a Distinguished Research Scholar at the center.

About 30 veterans are currently being treated at the center through several kinds of therapies.

"What our program does, actually, it helps you to lessen those symptoms and fears and actually manage and control them. When you come into our program, you go through what's called a magnetic stimulation, RTMS. At that point you're calmed down and you go into a counseling session,” Jones said.

Many veterans feel there is a stigma to having PTSD.

"What veterans need to understand is that there are actually changes in brain when you go through a traumatic situation, particularly one as stark and as indelible as being in combat,” Lyon said.

After studying psychology and receiving treatment for his PTSD, Rials urges other veterans with PTSD to call him.

"[The Center] helps you to challenge your beliefs of what combat did, what war did, and how black and white it can be. And you really get to just reorganize your thoughts,” Rials said.Treatment for PTSD has been successful for many veterans.

"There is significant hope for veterans who have been in combat, who have seen terrible things. Veterans aren't trained to say things that might indicate weakness and so forth, but it's not a weakness. It's a real deal,” Lyon said.

Hanami Cherry Blossom Festival from SMU-TV on Vimeo.

North Texans got a glimpse of spring time in Japan as the sounds of Japanese music mingled with the sights of pink and white puffs during the third annual Hanami cherry blossom festival at the Dallas Arboretum.


“This is one of the few events that the Japan-America Society has,” board member Sam Shichijo said. “This really fits in the middle of the season that really have given us a good chance of gathering friends and members.”


When delicate blooms filled the branches of the Arboretum’s first few cherry blossom trees nearly ten years ago, officials decided to expand their pink and white collection. Today, more than 100 trees line the gardens.


Hanami, which means “flower viewing” in Japanese, celebrates the start of the trees’ blooming period. This year, it was held on March 17 in the Arboretum’s Pecan Grove.


“It’s a great time of excitement in general and enjoying the outdoors again and nature and just the brevity of life because the cherry blossoms bloom for such a short amount of time,” Japan-America Society membership and communications coordinator Chrystal Sanders said.


Cherry blossom trees only bloom once a year for two weeks at most, but festival goers admired the few trees that were already flowering. They also took part in activities such as origami and enjoyed their picnic lunches.


“This was my very first time at the Hanami festival because my family came to Dallas in March,” Munetake Yamamura said. “Cherry blossom viewing is very good. Over there in Japan, we had the same ones.”


Stan Richardson was among the many first-time festival goers. Richardson has been playing the shakuhachi bamboo flute for about 20 years and has performed at every one of the Japan-America Society’s Hanami festivals.


“Certainly, the cherry blossoms in Japan bring people together to enjoy nature and I think that’s what’s happening here today,” Richardson said. “It’s a beautiful garden. The cherry blossoms are just about to bloom but not quite, so everybody gets to enjoy that and maybe they’ll come back when they’re in full bloom.”


The rest of the Arboretum’s trees will be in full bloom between Tuesday and Thursday this week.

 

The Harlem Shake phenomenon found its way to the steps of Dallas Hall on Friday. Videos of students dancing along to the viral hit prompted SMU alumni Courtney Sarian to organize SMU's own version. Students came dressed in an array of costumes - from tutus to crab suits to the Peruna mascot.