UCI to Tighten Security After Attacks on Women : Assaults: The Associated Students will set up neighborhood-watch programs at dorms and apartments after three incidents since Feb. 8.

After a recent spate of attacks on women at UC Irvine, the Associated Students of UCI plans to create neighborhood-watch programs at student resident halls and apartments by April 1, student government officials said.

Since Feb. 8, two women have reported being sexually molested and another said she was the victim of an attempted kidnaping, according to Bill Miller, UCI’s assistant chief of police.

During all of 1990, UCI police reported one forcible rape, one acquaintance rape, one attempted rape and one other sexual offense.

“I think there’s the sense that something needs to be done. We need to make sure people can protect themselves and don’t put themselves in dangerous situations,” said Matt Hale, Associated Students executive vice president. “Yes, it’s a relatively safe campus, but things do happen and you can’t afford to take the chance. We need to start teaching people how to be smart and beware, and that Irvine is not a perfect utopia.”

On Feb. 8 at 1:30 p.m., a woman showering in the Middle Earth dorm on the east side of the campus was grabbed by a man who had entered a communal bathroom. The man fled when the woman screamed, university spokeswoman Linda Granell said.

Two days later, shortly after noon, a man grabbed the breast of a woman in a Biological Sciences Building elevator and fled before the doors closed.

In the most recent attack, on Feb. 27 at 1:05 a.m., two men assaulted a dormitory resident assistant investigating a noise complaint and tried to force her into a waiting car, police said.

Freshman English major Jennifer Vineyard, who lives close to where that assault occurred, said residents there are taking security precautions much more seriously now.

“Before, we used to all prop our suite doors open so you wouldn’t have to take your keys every time you left the room. Now, none of the doors are propped. People are really concerned, especially the females. They make sure they have at least two other people” when walking around the campus at night, said Vineyard, 18.

However, Hale said many students are still lax about security.

“It’s the kind of thing that gets better for a couple weeks and then nothing happens and someone will leave a door open,” he said. “I think the new (watch) programs will help. Someone who’s always there (will say), ‘close the doors,’ or ‘don’t walk alone,’ kind of like a drumbeat, a constant reminder.”

Hale said the neighborhood-watch programs will be initiated at the Middle Earth, Mesa Court and Campus Village dorms, which house more than 3,100 people.