Preventing sexual assaults might mean more than learning how to fight back.

OU Police Department Chief Ted Jones said the OUPD is trying to make the campus safer by continuing to evaluate the level of campus safety through the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design program, which began in the spring of 1996.

Since then, the OUPD has cut back shrubbery, added lights and emergency phones and paved walkways across campus, he said.

"It's a strong commitment on the part of OU to create and maintain a safe environment on campus," Jones said.

Many of the changed areas are not where crimes occurred, but places where students reported not feeling safe, he said. When students voiced concern about the walkway between Bird Arena and Clippinger, OUPD improved lighting even though it had no history of crime.

"It's a quality of life issue," he said. "A fear of victimization impacts the quality of life."

Any plans for new parking lots or buildings must be reviewed by OUPD in advance, so officers can check planned light and shrubbery placement, and redesign the area if necessary, Jones said.

The OUPD added 15 new blue light emergency phones over Spring Quarter and summer sessions, which adds to the feeling of security, he said.

But these methods are effective only against stranger assaults, he said.

Education is the best way to protect against acquaintance assault, Jones said. The OUPD works closely with the Department of Health Education and Wellness to educate students about sexual assault, and is currently participating in a committee on binge drinking to find a solution to the problem.

"We cannot focus on educating the community about sexual assault without combining our efforts toward more responsible drinking," Jones said.

By working with the department, Jones said he hopes to increase the number of sexual assault survivors who come to the police and the number who want to prosecute.

Jeanine Woodruff, assistant director of the Department of Health Education and Wellness, said she considers the new method of assault reporting to be a safety measure. Students now have a clearer picture of the types of assaults occurring, and where and when they happen.

"To me, giving people that kind of information helps them assess how safe the environment is," she said.

Although Woodruff said the emergency phones and increased lighting on campus boosts the feeling of safety, she said the focus needs to remain on preventing acquaintance rape, which constitutes 90 percent of all sexual assaults.

"I really appreciate the effort that is being made, but our focus should be on the reality of acquaintance rape," she said.

The new method of reporting has helped to educate the Athens Police Department, according to detective Roger Deardorff.

"It gives us more of an idea where assaults are taking place," he said.

Although the APD has not made any formal policy or procedural changes, Deardorff said they would dispatch officers to a certain area if there were increased reports of assaults in a particular region.