Imagine having to glance behind you every 10 minutes. Imagine getting dozens of un wanted phone calls from the same person. Imagine being trapped in a laundry room by someone who was supposedly your friend.

I grew up in a small town outside Bowling Green, where not a single foreign car graced our streets. When I came to Kent State, I didn't know anyone, nor did I have a clue what I was doing in college. I eventually made a few close friends on my residence hall floor and in my classes, and that's where I met Marc. (His name and all the others in this story have been changed to protect the victims from future harassment.) Marc and I got along pretty well in the beginning. I helped him with his English papers and other homework.

After a few weeks of Marc hanging out with me and my friends, he started to stop by my room more often. He also began to call me a lot. At first, the phone calls were limited to maybe twice a day, but then they escalated to six or eight times a day. The constant phone calls irritated me, but I have a huge problem saying "no" to people, so I just ignored them.

The phone harassment continued for about another week until I decided to put a block on my phone and requested an unlisted number in the campus phone book. My friends thought I was psycho for putting up with Marc. I was a little scared by his behavior, but because he posed no tangible threat, I figured nothing could be done.

Marc then started to wake up early for my English class in Franklin Hall and walked behind me all the way there. He began to tell his friends that we were in some sort of lovers' quarrel. He would also leave me presents outside my door. The gifts I received became more and more unusual. The scariest one of all was a half-eaten box of chocolates with a note saying that my admirer did not want me to get fat.

I didn't know how to respond to his presents. I didn't even tell my friends what he was doing. Basically, I kept Marc's actions a secret, which was a big mistake. I denied the situation's seriousness by convincing myself that he just wanted attention.

Finally, on a Monday night, Marc trapped me in the laundry room and tried to force me to apologize for leading him on. I didn't apologize, and one of my neighbors screamed at him to leave me alone and slammed the door in his face. Fortunately, he walked away.

Shortly after, Marc woke up the entire floor at 4 a.m. because he was crying outside my room. I finally decided enough was enough, and I called the police to ask for advice. Because I didn't want him to be arrested, I remained anonymous.

The campus police officers who answered my phone call told me to confront Marc and tell him to back off. They also said I could present the case to Judicial Affairs. I talked to my parents and asked them to help me decide what to do. They agreed with the police and suggested I talk to Marc once and for all.

Confronting Marc was the most difficult thing I ever did. I noticed that he immediately became hostile and agitated, but he did back off. The things he subjected me to during the first seven weeks of my college life were unreal and unforgettable.

I am now a sophomore and still find myself worrying about Marc at times. I still see him on campus and wonder what he's up to. I am extremely happy I have friends all around campus to support me. I think my main regret is that I stayed silent so long. The problems of harassment usually don't end by themselves unless the victims speak up.

Many different categories of harassment take place on college campuses, including menacing, menacing by stalking, criminal mischief, criminal damage, disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing and telephone harassment. Most cases of harassment deal with relationships in which one party refuses to accept that the relationship is over, says Alice Ickes, a crime prevention officer with the Kent State police department.

Phillip Haggerty, a licensed social worker in Canton, has studied relationships and agrees with Ickes. "The key to a successful, long-term relationship is the ability to fight well," Haggerty says. "Conflict is inevitable. How you handle it is what counts."

Ickes says the perpetrator's religion, race, sexual orientation or age does not matter, but certain personality types are more prone to inappropriate behavior. She says a potential stalker displays certain characteristics that students should remember.

"Stalkers may have mental problems, delusions or borderline personality disorders," Ickes says. "They show signs of possessivenes, obsession, greed, jealousy and vindictiveness. The most common trait shared by stalkers is low self-esteem."

Stalkers often have relationship anxiety. They are unable to accept the fact that their significant others want to spend time with other friends or are ready to move on to new relationships.

Another instance of stalking at Kent State involved a student named Kim, who says she was pursued for two weeks by her ex-boyfriend's girlfriend. Kim and Sean had been broken up for two years when Kim started to receive threatening messages from Sean's new girlfriend, Sarah. Sarah started dressing like Kim, got the same haircut and even began harassing Kim's new boyfriend.

"All of a sudden my life turned into [the movie] Single White Female," Kim says. "I hadn't even met Sarah, but she insisted on pursuing me."

Apparently, Sarah was angry with Kim because Sean still had pictures of her all over his apartment. Sarah would call Kim's apartment and leave messages accusing her of being bi-sexual. Finally, Kim talked to Sean, and Sean broke off his relationship with Sarah. Soon after, Sarah moved out of state, and Kim hasn't heard from her since.

The Ohio Criminal Law Handbook defines stalking as a pattern of intentional conduct that causes harm or mental distress. If the victim believes he or she is being stalked, he or she can take legal action that may result in criminal charges and/or Judicial Affairs action. Although harassment by ex-partners is the most common, one-quarter of the victims were stalked by casual acquaintances, most of whom were male.

Criminal harassment is largely experienced by women and perpetrated by men, but men can be victims as well. According to the Arlington, Va.-based National Victim Center, 8 percent of male victims have been stalked by strangers, 5 percent by co-workers and 5 percent by family members other than spouses. In most male harassment cases, the harassment ceases when the perpetrators move on to another victim.

Brian was 23 and a junior business major when he experienced a "near harassment" situation. Although this scenario does not fit criminal elements, the perpetrator's behavior resulted in Brian's breaking off the relationship before it became potentially dangerous.

Brian says he was flattered when Devon sent him letters in the mail with paper-heart confetti. He soon asked her out on a date.

"From that first drink at Mooney's Goose, I knew I was in trouble," Brian says. "Devon started out really sweet, and it looked like she actually cared about what I said. But then she started asking me questions about where I grew up, what sizes I wore and who I used to date. It just creeped me out that she wanted to know so much."

Brian says he broke off the relationship but Devon kept sending him mail and calling him on the phone. "I liked the attention, but there was no way I wanted to go out with her again," he says. "But because we have mutual friends, it was difficult to avoid her."

After three weeks of trying to ignore Devon's pursuit, Brian gave in and invited her to dinner. He hoped that she'd sense that he wasn't interested in her and would leave him alone. But Brian says she continued to call about three times a week. She sent him e-mail and left messages at his apartment. This unwanted attention went on for about eight weeks.

Brian admits that he ultimately went out with Devon a total of five times, but he just wanted her to stop "lusting" over him and thought she'd lose interest if he gave in. "I don't know what was wrong with me. Maybe I was desperate," Brian says. "I like attention, but I decided to really tell her how I felt. I called her shallow and told her I could never love her. That was the end of Devon."

According to the 1996-1997 report of National Campus Crime statistics, telephone harassment at Kent State rose to 120 complaints from 112 complaints filed the previous year. Incidents of criminal damage and/or endangering also rose during 1997 to a total of 233 cases, as opposed to 171 cases in 1996.

A majority of harassment cases go undetected and unreported because the victim feels that he or she did something to lead the perpetrator on, or the accused had been an intimate friend whom the accuser does not want to hurt. But harassment is a serious crime, and Ickes urges students to get help if they feel they are in danger.

"When deciding if police should be involved, at least consider calling them for information," Ickes says. "There are plenty of support networks available to students, including the residence hall staff and University Psychological Services. Resident directors and resident assistants are there to help students in such situations."

One of the more involved cases of harassment that occurred at Kent State involved a student and her mother.

Two days before her sorority's formal, Kristen decided to end her relationship with Dave, her boyfriend of 2 1/2 years. They had been high school sweethearts and chose to attend Kent State together. The breakup was a shock to their friends and their relatives.

About one week after the split, Dave began sending Kristen gifts of money, clothing, stereo equipment and food. Kristen says she ignored all of the presents and told Dave to leave her alone. Dave didn't listen and continued to send her gifts through her mother, her sorority and her work.

"I told Dave to stop trying and that I needed my space, but the gifts just kept coming in," Kristen says. Dave spent over $3,100 in just three weeks.

Kristen says the barrage of presents soon transformed into obscene phone calls late at night and unexpected visits to her relatives. One night, Dave broke into her house with a baseball bat and threatened to take away all of the gifts. Kristen says she didn't contact the police because she wanted to handle the situation on her own. She confronted Dave and told him she was moving on with her life and seeing new people.

This confrontation only caused Dave to get more furious, Kristen says. She warned him that she would go to the police if he continued to harass her or her family. Finally the phone calls stopped and the gifts were returned, but Dave began to pursue Kristen's mother.

"He would go into her work place and promise my mom that he would marry me someday," Kristen says. "My major mistake was not involving the police right away. If anyone is ever in the same situation, the police should be contacted immediately. Don't wait."

The entire situation ended over a dinner. Kristen says she was out with a friend at a restaurant in Cleveland when Dave walked in. He dumped an entire Giant Eagle bag full of condoms over their food, called Kristen an egotistical slut and left the restaurant.

Dave later quit college, and Kristen says she never saw him again.