All of you who have been the victims of harassing, stalking or just plain annoying hangers-on in your life: listen up. I have information that will empower you.

You see, you don’t have to put up with it. Any kind of harassment, threatening or not, can be laid to rest. The key is that you must inform the person, in no uncertain terms, that you no longer want any contact with him or her. After that crucial step has been taken, all campus and city regulations regarding unsolicited contact are at your disposal.

As you may have guessed, I was inspired to write about this because of a personal experience. The scenario is actually pretty cliche, so I’ll spare you the tedious details. Suffice it to say that I was the recipient of unwanted visits, phone calls and e-mail messages. My e-mail account was tampered with, files were erased, and I was blocked from using my account for a time. All this was due to the undaunted efforts of a former boyfriend. See, I told you it was cliche.

Though I didn’t necessarily fear for my life, the situation was nonetheless unsettling. And who really has the time or energy to deal with that kind of stuff?

I decided to educate myself on what security and legal measures could be taken in a case such as mine, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The days have passed when law enforcement officials do not take reports of harassment or stalking seriously. On the contrary, both the Ames police and the Iowa State Department of Public Safety were extremely receptive and armed with information.

What follows is the product of my research. I hope it may prove useful to some (or even just one) of you.

There exists such a thing as a “no contact order”, which can be filed with the Ames police and whereupon an unsolicited visitor can be held in contempt of court if she or he comes anywhere near your person, your property, your place of work or even your classrooms (as long as said visitor has no other, legitimate reason to be around any of those places).

It is important to note that while there is no prerequisite that the perpetrator has inflicted physical harm on you, this is an action to be considered seriously. There may be other means of dealing with the situation.

But if you feel threatened in any way, do not hesitate to approach your friendly, local law enforcement agency for more information. Another tip: Before filing a no contact order, you must take that step mentioned earlier and communicate to the perpetrator that his or her presence is not welcome in your vicinity.

Another option to keep in mind, especially for those of you who work or study on campus at night, is the ISU escort service, on call 24 hours a day, 294-4444 .

A relatively new medium of harassment is the Internet, by which I am including e-mail, Web sites and all the other technology I have yet to understand completely. With the advent of the electronic age, cyberstalking is becoming more and more prevalent, and I could write loads on this subject alone. For knowledge on this type of pestering, I was referred to Jerry Stewart, ISU associate director of public safety, who, by the way, takes harassment of any kind very, very seriously.

The most interesting thing Stewart pointed out to me was that the laws governing harassment and computer crime sometimes overlap. For instance, say someone changes the password to your Vincent account. She or he may be charged with harassment and unauthorized access, both simple misdemeanors that can result in fines. You voluntarily told this person your password? Doesn’t matter. You can still take action.

For help in dealing with unsolicited e-mail, a fantastic place to start is the office of Sly Upah, systems analyst and consultant at the Durham Computation Center, 294-0672. Upah and Stewart both have been known to send warnings via e-mail to persistent cyberstalkers, whose e-mail privileges may be revoked if the behavior continues.

Harassment on campus is more common than most would think. Also common are the feelings of helplessness and inadequacy that accompany victims and their experiences.

If this is happening to anyone you know, be supportive. Remind them that their feelings are not irrational. Remind them that they don’t have to take it. Remind them that there are avenues of action available to them.

This column was meant to serve the media’s role in informing the public, a role that is ever-important but sometimes forgotten among commentators. I encourage anyone who has additional information on this or related topics to write: to me, to the Daily, to whomever.

Knowledge is power.

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Tracy Lucht is a senior in journalism and mass communication from West Des Moines.