Putting a stop to stalking

This January commemorates the fifth anniversary of the observance of National Stalking Awareness Month. This should stir awareness about one of America's most prevalent crimes, as supported by a 2005-06 study done by the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In this study, 3.4 million Americans said they were affected by stalking, while 11 percent of those affected said they had been stalked for a period of five years or more. About one in seven of those who were stalked felt compelled to move and ended up doing just that.

It is clear that stalking is a major problem in today's America. What may not be as obvious is one of the forms the act of stalking assumes, yet is just as dangerous as the classic way.

This method of stalking is known as "cyberstalking," and is defined as making use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk someone. This form of stalking, while arguably subtler than the classic form has a variety of determinants and identifiers that can lead to its identification, such as the use of false accusations or self-victimizations on the part of the stalker.

This issue is not one to be taken lightly. Though ISU remains a relatively calm campus, where these sorts of incidences do not carry serious consequence, by no means is the campus immune to stalking behavior.

We strongly encourage the use of sensibility and caution when constructing social networking web pages and profiles. There is no intelligible reason to allow any form of stalking to continue, and it is we who ultimately contain the means by which to stop it.