Beware the Red Zone.

• Author: Kardian, Steve
• Position: Education

"[This is] the period between September and Thanksgiving recess, when freshman females are at the most-vulnerable time in their lives ... for sexual assault. For returning sophomores, it is the second most-vulnerable time in their lives."

THE RED ZONE--as the period between September and Thanksgiving recess sometimes is called--is when freshman females are at the most-vulnerable time in their lives ... for sexual assault. For returning sophomores, it is the second most-vulnerable time in their lives.

A few years ago, the number of high-profile sexual assaults on university campuses rose rapidly. "Inside Edition" approached me about doing a piece on a university campus to answer the question: are college women too trusting? One of the reasons for the increase in assaults was believed to be that female students were not careful enough, and put themselves in unsafe situations by letting down their guard too quickly.

I carefully selected eight women leaving classroom buildings at a major university in New York. I used a variety of ruses, and ail of the women I picked allowed me into their cars and drove away with me. Had I actually been a predator, their safety would have been completely compromised. Although a small sample, this experiment supports statistics and word-of-mouth observations that college-age women, especially first- and second-year students, are easy targets for predators due to their unsuspicious and unsuspecting attitudes.

It was September and the fall term had just begun. Students carrying backpacks were hurrying across the quad to classes or the library. I had placed myself on the side of one of the large parking lots that dotted the campus. Selectively, I scanned the women who were walking by. I identified the ones who were unaware of their surroundings, lost in thought, talking on cell phones, or even eating lunch on the go. I looked at posture and stride, getting into the predator mindset. Research shows that, in sexual assault cases, looks and outfits are irrelevant. Whether she is tall or short or wearing a miniskirt or sweats--none of that matters. Predators most often solely are interested in a woman who presents as a soft target.

Many people did spot me as out of place and decades too old, even with my quick student disguise of a backpack, baseball cap, and knee-length shorts, but just as many did not even bother giving me a second glance--walking right past me, their gaze lowered, texting or emailing; or with the ubiquitous buds in their ears, chatting on the phone, listening to music; or some combination of the above.

Of the women who were distracted--and startled when...