You may have heard that the recession is coming to an end . These reports have cited tons of economic data to bolster their claims. While progress is important to measure, all that number crunching doesn't account for the many ways this recession affects and continues to affect some of the most marginalized members of society: women and people of color. I am no economist but I do reside in the state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation, Michigan. From my vantage point, the end of the recession isn't as rosy as it sounds. One indicator is the heightened level of violence this summer.

As 1 of the 40,000+ students returning to the University of Michigan this fall, I have received almost 10 Crime Alert e-mails this summer, 3 within this month alone. I can't tell you how disconcerting it is to have "assault," "armed robbery," "home invasion," or  "purse snatching" in the subject line of an e-mail reporting a violent crime that has happened a short walking distance from my house, or on the very street I live on. Yes, I will admit that I may think twice about carrying my laptop to a night class this fall. But one fact continuously grounds my fear: I am not returning back in September to home foreclosure, or unemployment -- but to graduate school.

What is not to be missed about these Michigan-based crimes is that many of them involve theft or robbery and many of the suspects were black men. It seems to me that this is the recession story that hasn't gotten as much traction -- violence and theft in the midst of economic despair. Economic despair in this country, whether we're in a recession or not, is highly racialized and gendered . Further, it's important to note that along with campus crimes, friends of mine who volunteer at battered women's shelters in neighboring towns have reported that shelters have also been overflowing with survivors this summer. I am not trying to explain away -- or excuse -- Michigan-based violence as being prompted by the recession alone. But it is definitely a factor that often goes ignored in media coverage.

While the heightened threat of violence is a legitimate concern, it is not just a campus safety issue; it's a matter of public policy. Part of the remedy is affordable housing and ladders to gainful employment. Lastly, for all you non-Michiganders, keep these crime alerts, and other effects from the recession that aren't always tallied, in the back of your mind when being greeted with newscaster excitement about the end of the recession. Because even as the economic tide allegedly turns, women and people of color have yet to receive the memo.

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