The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 21, 2002, Page 2, Image 2
Colleges seek to deal with campus rape problem
Services look to
lower incidence
of sexual assault
BY LINDSA,Y MOSEMAN
THE REBEL YELL (I". NEVADA-LAS VEGAS)
US VEGAS (U-WIRE) — A rape
occurs every 21 hours on college
campuses in the United States.
A woman is most likely to ex
perience an assault during her
first two months of college and,
somewhere in America, a woman
is raped every 90 seconds, accord
ing to the U.S. Department of
Justice.
The incidence of rape on the
campus of the University of
Nevada at Las Vegas, however, is
low. Campus police records custo
dian Jim Morrow said five forcible
rapes were reported on campus in
1999, one in 2000 and none in 2001;
but some suspect that a number of
rapes go unreported.
“Statistics show that one out of
every 10 rape victim goes to the po
lice,” said a receptionist in the
Jean Nidetch Women’s Center.
The ubiquity of rape doesn’t
seem to be improving, especially
■»% . .
on college campuses nationwide.
One out of five college students has
reported at least one incident of
premarital abuse, varying from
slapping and hitting to more life
threatening violence, in a rela
tionship, according to the National
Victim Center.
The Justice Department also re
ports that one-fifth of college wom
en are forced to have sex by some
one they know, more than 80 per
cent of all rapes are acquaintance
rapes, and most acquaintance
rapes are committed against wom
en between the ages of 15 and 24.
And the National Victim Center
says 90 percent of all rapes are
planned, though the assailant does
not always know who the victim
will be.
On the UNLV campus, the
Sexual Assault Facts Education
Team is a peer-education program
that trains students to present in
formation to other students on
campus using the latest develop
ments in the anti-sexual-violence
movement.
On Oct. 2, the annual “Take
Back the Night” was held at UNLV
to provide an opportunity to speak
out against violence, support sur
vivors, remember victims and cel
ebrate recovery.
The Jean Nidetch Women’s
Center suggests that anyone who
has been raped should contact
campus police, the Student Health
Center and Student Counseling
Services. It also suggests going to a
safe place and getting medical at
tention.
Victims can be injured more se
categories, including the inci
dence of murder and sex offenses.
The law was amended by the
Higher Education Act of 1992 to re
place rape statistics with data
about forcible and nonforcible sex
offenses. Many institutions now
report these, but some continue to
report rape only.
Because of inconsistencies, the
riousiy man
they realize, the
center says, and
medical evi
dence is neces
sary for those
who decide to
press charges.
Reporting the
assault might al
According to the Justice
Department, women are
most susceptible to
sexual assaults during
the first two months
they attend college.
statistics lor
sex crimes are
hard to com
pare.
Nonforcible of
fenses are sup
posed to in
clude only in
cest and statu
tory rape, but
low victims to qualify for finan
cial compensation for medical ex
penses. Reporting is not the same
as pressing charges.
Among women who do not re
port these crimes, the most com
mon reasons given are the belief
that it is a private or personal mat
ter and that they fear reprisal from
the assailant.
Under the Student Right-to
Know and Campus Security Act of
1990, colleges and universities are
required to publish statistics in 10
some colleges mistakenly report
ed other offenses in the category.
Furthermore, some institutions
also included in their arrest data
tickets or citations that were con
sidered arrests, though no one
was taken into custody.
The U.S. Department of
Education reported three forcible
sex offenses in 1997 for the
University of Nevada at Las
Vegas. A forcible sex offense is any
sexual act directed against anoth
er person, forcibly or against that
person’s will. This includes
forcible rape, forcible sodomy, sex
ual assault with an object and
forcible fondling.
Another threat is that of date
rape drugs. Rohypnol, the brand
name for the drug flunitrazepam,
is manufactured by a pharma
ceutical company in Switzerland
and is said to be 10 times stronger
than Valium. The government
banned the importation of
Rohypnol but not the possession
of it.
The drug usually lasts from two
to eight hours, and its victims
have no memory of the events that
happen during that time. Gamma
hyroxy butyrate, another popular
drug, is used in Europe as a gen
eral anesthetic and a treatment for
anxiety, stress, insomnia, nar
colepsy, alcoholism and alcohol
withdrawal.
It is also used as an aid to child
birth. It is not approved in the
United States, and the Food and
Drug Administration has banned
it from being sold over the
counter.
Both drugs are odorless and col
orless, and can be hidden in a
drink. Hoffmann-LaRoche & Co.,
which produces Rohypnol, is com
ing out with a form of the drug
that turns blue and clumpy when
mixed with alcohol.
The Violence Against Women
grant programs administered by
the Justice Department have
awarded more than $1 billion to
help states establish specialized
domestic violence and sexual as
sault units, assist victims of vio
lence and hold perpetrators ac
countable.
The Rape, Abuse and Incest
National Network, a nonprofit or
ganization based in Washington,
D.C., operates a national toll-fre
hot line for victims of sexual as
sault. RAINN was founded by
singer/songwriter Tori Amos and
was funded by initial grants from
the Atlantic Group and the
Warner Music Group.
RAINN’s hot line began oper
ating July 26, 1994, and more
than 4,000 victims called during
the hot line’s first 30 days. In co
operation with 865 rape crisis
centers across the country,
RAINN’s hot line has helped
more than 350,000 survivors of
sexual assault.
Biology
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
for high school teachers teaching
higher-level courses.
Universities offering nonthesis
degrees “may be motivated to pro
vide a degree for those who are go
ing to work in state agencies,” she
said. “I suppose a series of small
projects may prepare someone to
be a lab tech in a technical posi
tion as well.”
But Woodinsaid, “in a university
program, most of the people we’re giv
ing degrees to will go into positions in
which they will need to research.
Even state agencies, especially the
EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency), require research or the abil
ity to judge others’ research.”
“As a consequence,” she said,
“I doubt we will move in the di
rection of a nonthesis degree.”
i
Mitchell agreed; “a masters in
science ought to emphasize re
search,” she said.
Janice Chism, Winthrop’s direc
tor for the graduate program, agreed
that the degrees are professionally
motivated. “There are a lot of stu
dents in our master’s program who
won’t go on to get a Ph.D.,” she said.
Those people might not find a
thesis master’s degree appropri
ate, either, she said. “People who
work in environmental programs
or a particular industry may want
to expand their training in biolo
gy,” she said, “but don’t want par
ticular training in a field.”
Many of the students are spe
cialized workers who need more
education to advance in their field,
Chism said. Some are public school
teachers who want a higher degree
for better pay. “The department
felt they would be better served by
broad coursework rather than a re
search project,” she said.
The solution, Mitchell said,
might be to call the nonthesis de
gree a master of teaching. But
Mitchell said another broad de
gree at Winthrop is not feasible,.
“Our first degree is necessarily a
general master’s in biology,” she
said. “We don’t have enough peo
ple to teach.”
USC offers nonthesis master’s
degrees in most of its colleges, al
though under a different name.
The College of Engineering of
fers nonthesis master of engineer
ing degrees similar to what
Winthrop offers. The College of
Math and Sciences offers a master
of math and a master of arts in
teaching. The university’s language
faculties offer nonthesis master o:1
arts degrees in various languages.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@kotmail.com
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