Two members of the ISU Hapkido Club are spending their Monday nights teaching a self-defense class at the Ames Community Center.

Former ISU student Lori Dethloff, who is the Hapkido Club education chairwoman, and Ben Thompson, junior in computer engineering, are instructing a self-defense class for women offered through Ames Parks & Recreation.

The classes are from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday nights until Oct. 14 at the Community Center Aerobics Room, 515 Clark Ave.

Dethloff said the goal in self-defense is to learn how to “take [the attacker’s] balance, so they can no longer stand up.”

She said the techniques she teaches are ways anyone can learn.

“I taught my mom to do it,” Dethloff said. “If she can do them, anyone can.”

Megan Young, senior in child and family services, and Amy Bornong, senior in journalism and mass communication, are enrolled in the self-defense class.

Bornong is heading to London after she graduates in December, and she said she believes taking the class is a good way to prepare for life in the city.

Young said she’s taking the class “just to feel safer . you always hear stories of attacks.”

While both students said they usually feel safe while on campus, Bornong said she tries to be with other people at night.

“I don’t like to be anywhere by myself in the dark,” she said.

Dethloff said she stresses the importance of being responsible, especially at night. Everybody should have the freedom to go where they want, but there is still danger in being alone, she said.

“Attackers out there don’t care about your rights,” Dethloff said. “Think reasonably and rationally about it.”

Hearing is a major aspect of self-defense, and is greatly restricted when someone wears earphones, she said.

“Don’t walk around alone in the park late at night,” Dethloff said. “Don’t wear your headphones.”

Although Iowa is not known for crime, it does still occur, she said.

“Luckily we live in a safer Midwestern part [of the country],” Dethloff said.

“But assaults happen more frequently than we think.”

In 2001 there were 45 reported sexual assaults in Story County, said Julie Harders, program manager for the Department of Public Safety.

However, she said sexual assault is the “most underreported crime.”

More than half of American women have been physically assaulted at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Violence Against Women Survey.

The survey defined physical assault as behaviors ranging from slapping and hitting to using a gun.

Suzanne Zilber, staff psychologist with Student Counseling Services, said she works with students in a variety of rape prevention programs.

“It’s much more likely that women are assaulted by people they know,” Zilber said. “Women who fight back decrease their chance of rape and serious injury. Women who use one self-defense strategy have a 63 percent chance of escaping a rapist. Those who use two strategies have a 78 percent chance of escaping.”

Harders and Dethloff are both involved in a safety series program sponsored by ISU Police. Dethloff and several ISU Police officers lead the program on Thursday nights, and they touch on topics like safety tips and issue discussion, as well as self-defense.

The safety series program is free to students, and Harders said she encourages people to just show up.

“A key to self-defense is repetition,” she said, so the more practice students can get, the better.

Dethloff said she wants people who take her classes to have thought through the techniques enough and practiced so they’re prepared in the event that they could be assaulted.

She said she offers classes through Ames Parks and Recreation throughout the year. The next session of the Self-Defense for Women class begins in January.

The six-week class costs $33. Call 239-5360 for more information.