Northwood forum targets domestic abuse

More than a week has passed since the brutal murder of Tamara Williams, yet many still have the vivid images of the incident - especially those who lived in the close-knit community around her.

The lingering questions and concerns were some of the reasons Family Housing decided to hold a special town meeting last night at the Community Center on North Campus.

"Our community here at Family Housing is like few other places on Earth," said Eric Luskin, director of Family Housing. "It's hard for something like this to happen and not touch all of us."

About 60 people attended the meeting, which was designed to give Family Housing residents a forum to ask questions dealing with the murder, the investigation and domestic violence in general.

Included in the meeting was discussion by a panel of experts on the investigation and domestic violence in general. Other groups, including the Sexual Assualt Prevention and Awareness Center and the University Center for Child and Family also atten

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Director of Family Housing Eric Luskin addresses a crowd of about 60 at a town meeting-style discussion addressing lingering fears about last week's murder of Tamara Williams and domestic violence.

ded to offer support and information on how to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

SAPAC's Interim Director Sarah Heuser said it is important to realize that Williams' problem didn't start with her murder. Heuser said there were signs of abuse long before last week's violent incident and that it is important to recognize those signs and intervene in order to avoid another tragedy.

"The potential for homicide exists," Heuser said about violent relationships.

Isolation from freinds and intimidation by a partner are some of the most obvious signs someone might be in an abusive relationship, Heuser said.

"The one thing batterers are really good at is isolating the survivor," Heuser said.

There was also some discussion of the criminal investigation surrounding the incident. Department of Public Safety Director Leo Heatly said the department's preliminary investigation is over and that the officer who shot and killed Kevin Nelson, Williams' boyfriend, is expected to return to work next week. Heatly also said that Williams' apartment was no longer considered a crime scene as of 3:30 p.m. yesterday.

Some residents showed up to voice their displeasure with the way the media handled the whole situation.

University spokesperson Julie Peterson said University officials tried to keep the media under control as well as they could, but that they had never faced a situation such as this one.

"We made a lot of good decisions and a lot of not-so-good decisions," Peterson said.

Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford, who was a member of the panel, said she found the media "incredibly intrusive" and assured things would be different if such a tragedy were to occur again.

Luskin said he was pleased with the meeting and the attendance.

"It was very encouraging to see all those people in that room," Luskin said.

One of the members in attendance was Matt Green, community aide to Northwood V, the complex where Williams was murdered.

"As a resident and community aide, I need to see what needs and concerns (the residents) have," he said. Green said he wants to see the University take a clear stance on what it will do to protect the safety of Family Housing residents.

Green said he wished he had known what was happening to Williams.

"I could have alerted housing. I could have at least made inquiries," Green said.

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