Exercise safety on Farm running paths

Sarah Palermo Sports Editor

Rain, snow or shine, cross country team members and other devoted runners make the journey to the running paths on the Vassar Farm. This year, however, the team will take extra precautions for their safety, and they hope that other runners do the same.

Last winter, two members of the cross country team, Nilly Buchsbaum ’06 and Caroline Goodman ’07, went for a run together out to the Farm. As they headed out from the Quad in the afternoon, Goodman remembers seeing a man on a trick bicycle circling around, and then saw him again later as they made their way to the Farm.

Goodman assumes that the snow on the ground made it difficult for the man to keep up with them, but a fellow teammate, Erin Beresini ’05, caught up with them at the Farm to deliver a warning. She told Buchsbaum and Goodman that the man had attempted to “grab at her,” said Goodman, “but [Beresini] probably screamed at him and scared him off.”

Buchsbaum and Goodman were following the primary running recommendation given by their coach James McCowan ’99. “The campus and the Farm are safe places,” said McCowan, “but they’re not someplace you want to be alone. People should have running partners for more than just creepy situations. You could get hurt out there and be stranded for a really long time.”

Hunting season also poses a threat to runners, especially in the wooded areas around the Farm. In order to protect yourself, Associate Director of Security Kim Squillace advises wearing brightly colored clothing in the orange or red family.

Even before McCowan became head coach at Vassar for the 2004 season, he delivered a lecture on safety to his teams at other schools. Former Vassar cross-country head coach Ron Stonistch gave the team the same advice: don’t run alone, and don’t run at night.

Squillace also suggests that students employ the “Buddy System” at all times.
But Goodman and Buchsbaum were not running alone or at night when they were followed. In fact, Goodman faults herself for not listening to an instinct to run towards the Security building on New Hackensack Road instead of running to the Farm.

Squillace said that if a student feels threatened while running near the Farm, he or she should “go to a safe place immediately,” and lists the Security Office on New Hackensack Road or any blue light emergency phone as possible safe locations where you can get help.

Vassar Security does patrol the Farm at a minimum of three times per each eight hour shift, but at irregular times to prevent people from knowing a schedule. If the officers on patrol have time, Squillace said, they are there more frequently.

Goodman and McCowan both said that it is the responsibility of runners to be conscious of their surroundings.

After the incident, Goodman and Buchsbaum reported the incident to Vassar Security, but were also required to report it to the Poughkeepsie Town Police. Because they had never clearly seen the man’s face, the process stopped after they failed to identify him in a photo album.

While Vassar Security is students’ first resource, Squillace said that any time a report is filed with them, the student “has the option to also file a report with the Poughkeepsie police,” and that all felonies on campus are also reported to the Town of Poughkeepsie Police.