John Lennon once said, “The postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you.”

On Dec. 8, 1980, Lennon was murdered by a stalker, Mark David Chapman, after receiving an autograph from Lennon earlier that day. Chapman was obsessed with murdering him. Six out of nine psychiatrists found Chapman to be psychotic.

Stalking is not reserved for the famous. It happens right here at Southwestern College. Getting our Dean of Student Affairs to do something about it has been a problem.

More than half of female victims and more than one-third of male victims of stalking indicated that they were stalked before they were 25-years-old, according to NIPSVS.

At SWC, 65 percent of people are 25 years old and younger. For victims of campus stalking, it may seem like there are not any safe places. While in class, the victim will watch the door the whole time and think of how to escape if their stalker walks in. Walking around campus can be intimidating. Every corner, bush and tree are spots the stalker can be watching its victim.

Like a vulture, the stalker waits until its victim is too weak and exhausted from the nasty games they have been playing. The victim may get dropped from classes, due to absences because of stalking, or fail classes for fear of getting sexually and physically assaulted if a run-in with the stalker occurs. Some of the only things a victim can concentrate on are forming escape routes in their mind and memorizing where all the exits are.

One in six women and one in 19 men in the United States have “experienced stalking victimization at some point during their lifetime in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed,” according to the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NIPSVS).

The most common stalker is the Simple Obsessional Stalker. The stalker and victim have some form of a relationship. Once the relationship has ended, the stalker feels wronged and will try to make amends or seek retribution. This includes old flames, as 66.2 percent of female victims were stalked by a current or former intimate partner, compared to 41.4 percent of male victims, according to the NIPSVS.
The second type of stalker is the Love Obsessional Stalker. This stalker is a stranger or an acquaintance who develops a fixation on the victim. The Love Obsessional Stalker attempts to live out their fantasies and expects the victim to play along. If the victim does not reciprocate the stalker’s feelings, the stalker will begin to harass the victim.

The third type of stalker is the Erotomanic Stalker. This stalker believes that the individual they love loves them back, but very rarely do they know the victim who is often of higher social standing. Typically, the Erotomanic Stalker is an obsessed fan, or celebrity stalker. Not all stalkers are seriously mentally ill, but the most extreme and dangerous ones are. Mentally ill stalkers generally suffer from a personality disorder or psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia.

It is important to inform campus police, if you are being stalked. Be prepared by bringing a detailed list of what has been happening and evidence like voicemails, emails and text messages. Also consider getting a restraining order against the stalker. Carrying a weapon may not be the best decision. Pepper spray can go wrong, and other more dangerous weapons that are not allowed on campus can get you in trouble if caught with them, or hurt, if not properly trained. Self-defense classes may be a better option.

In a study by the Royal College of Psychiatrists reported that, “73 percent of victims reported changes in lifestyle as a response to stalking behavior, 56 percent reported agitation as a psychological symptom, 44 percent anxiety, 41 percent sleep disturbance, 35 percent nausea and 28 percent depression.” One in eight victims lose time from work, and “130,000 victims were fired from or had been asked to leave their jobs because of stalking,” according to a Sept. 2012 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics on Stalking Victims in the U.S.

A stalker gets a $1,000 fine and/or one year in prison if found guilty of stalking. That punishment is nothing compared to what the victim had to go through, including the health issues the victim will develop because of this unwanted experience. Being stalked should be the last thing students should be thinking about while on campus. Our administrators responsible for protecting us need to stop kicking the can down the road and get serious. It is time for the entire campus to stand up and say we are not going to take it anymore.