Following a report that a student was sexually assaulted by two men in West Quad Residence Hall on Tuesday afternoon, LSA sophomore Liza Znoy said she"s not taking any chances when she"s in her room.

"Now I"m not going to leave my door unlocked," said Znoy, who lives in West Quad. "Before I did it all the time I"m so used to leaving it open."

The Department of Public Safety is continuing an investigation into allegations of a sexual assault and home invasion which occurred at 3:10 p.m. Tuesday. Two men in black ski masks reportedly entered a female student"s room and stole personal property. One of the men sexually assaulted her.

One man, who was questioned several hours after the report was made, was being held yesterday by law enforcement officials, but DPS officials could not comment on his whereabouts. DPS had not taken anyone into custody as of last night.

"We questioned a person in connection with the incident last night but cannot assume that he is the suspect," DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said.

Despite initial DPS reports that the incident was a first-degree sexual assault, Brown said investigators have not made any conclusions as to the degree of the crime. Michigan law divides sexual assault into four degrees with first- and third-degree assaults involving penetration.

State law defines first-degree sexual assault as criminal sexual conduct involving sexual penetration with force and possibly coercion. The maximum sentence for first-degree criminal sexual conduct is life imprisonment.

Students have responded to the alleged assault with caution and concern.

While Brown said the University is unique to have a staff of security officers who work in each residence hall every night and day, LSA sophomore Emilie O"Neal said West Quad isn"t structured in a way that it can be effectively patrolled.

"There are so many twists and turns in the building," she said. "I"ve never seen any police walking around."

DPS has advised students to take extra precautions and security measures in and outside of the residence halls.

The University offers several resources for victims of sexual assault.

The Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center offers a 24-hour crisis line at 936-3333. SAPAC provides aid for harassment, stalking, domestic violence and sexual assault, in addition to Safewalk and Northwalk services.

Counseling and Psychological Services is another resource students can utilize. CAPS officials said an assault victim can feel emotions ranging from anxiety to depression.

CAPS psychologist Jim Etzkorn said following a sexual assault, the victim can potentially feel helplessness and fear.

"There is a shock and numbness a kind of shutting down," he said.

Eztkorn said a person might not be able to think clearly following the assault.

"The person might feel sadness, guilt, shame as if somehow I"m to blame for this," he said.

He added that having the private space of the home invaded can increase the emotions of an assault.

"For some people there might be an added element of fear and pain that it happened in a place that they felt secure, but people have different reactions. Some people feel they are safe on the street, but something could happen there," Eztkorn said.

Several local television stations reported another incident of assault in West Quad yesterday afternoon when three women entered a resident"s room uninvited, but Brown confirmed that the two incidents were unrelated.

"It so happens that some of the TV trucks were present when our officers were responding to that call," Brown said. "From what we can tell so far, the resident knew these three women these were not strangers."