Daily
Herald
THE BROWN
vol. cxlviii, no. 57
INSIDE
Page 3
‘Lend a hand’
Campaign shows support for missing student
This article, the second in a four-part series, tells stories of students who have been sexually assaulted and examines the avenues available to victims SENIOR STAFF WRITERS
Warning: This article contains graphic material regarding sexual assault.
India Point Petition aims to improve area by burying power lines Page 8
R.I. Works
Bill would help working parents pay for child care today
47 / 43
tomorrow
66 / 49
SILENT VIOLENCE
Victims of sexual assault confront challenges of reporting By SABRINA IMBLER AND CALEB MILLER
Page 4
since 1891
TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013
On her fifth night at Brown and “desperate for friendship,” Anna, whose name has been changed SILENT to maintain conVIOLENCE fidentiality, met Part two of four up with a sophomore male. Anna remembers struggling to navigate both the University’s social scene and campus, she said. The male student guided her from Keeney Quadrangle to Pembroke, marking her first time on the latter part of campus and her first college hook-up. Anna felt
“lost in every way possible,” she said. As they kissed, he scooped her up, carried her to the bed and, without saying anything, retrieved a condom. Anna told him she was a virgin and did not want to have sex, but he kept pushing forward. “He wrapped each of his legs around each of mine and basically forcibly opened my legs and started trying to do it,” Anna said. Upon Anna’s refusal, he grew angry, scaring her and pressuring her to perform oral sex, pushing her head down until she gagged, she said. Anna rolled into a ball so he couldn’t touch her. He then walked her back to Keeney, as she did not know the way. It took a year for Anna to recognize that she had been assaulted. Untold stories “I didn’t want to have to tell people about it, I didn’t want to have to tell my
parents, I didn’t want to have to tell my friends,” Anna said. “Still very few people know about it.” Because she never reported the incident, no official University statistics included Anna’s experience, including the annual report federally mandated by the Clery Act, which requires a summary of on-campus crimes be made available for public access. According to the Clery report, there were nine reported forcible sex offenses on campus in 2010 — the year Anna said she was assaulted. In 2011, there were seven reported cases. These numbers are not representative of how many assaults actually occur, said Bita Shooshani, the University’s coordinator of sexual assault prevention and advocacy. Many cases at Brown go undocumented in the Clery report, she said, in part because the report does not include crimes that occur off University property. The number of students sexually assaulted at Brown who report the incidents to ad/ / Assault page 6
Universal need-blind Committee to vote on admission up for debate same-sex marriage
While universal needblind admission remains a goal, other adjustments have become priorities By MAGGIE LIVINGSTONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The strategic planning Committee on Financial Aid recommended implementing need-blind admission for international, transfer and Resumed Undergraduate Education applicants in its most recent report to President Christina Paxson, said Jim Tilton, committee chair and director of financial aid. In her State of Brown address last month, Paxson said expanding needblind admission for all students could cost as much as $250 million. Need-blind admission has been a
topic of campus debate since spring of 2012, when the then-newly formed student group Brown for Financial Aid petitioned Paxson and other administrators to make it a top priority over the next decade. Paxson will receive final reports from all six strategic planning committees in May and will use them to guide the academic plan and fundraising campaign that will mark her tenure. Paxson, Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 and the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — will meet over the summer to plan the campaign and are expected to make decisions on the recommendations by next fall, Schlissel said. Finding the funds Many administrators involved / / Aid page 4 in the Uni-
The R.I. Senate Judiciary Committee’s decision will determine whether the bill goes to a Senate vote By MARIYA BASHKATOVA SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee will vote today on same-sex marriage legislation that will decide whether this year’s efforts at legalization will move to a final test in the Senate. The bill — introduced by Sen. Donna Nesselbush ’84, D-Pawtucket — is identical to legislation that passed 51-19 in the House in January. If the committee passes the legislation, it will go to a floor vote in the Senate.
CITY & STATE
Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 has said he will sign the bill into law if it comes to his desk. Michael McCaffrey, D-Warwick, the chairman of the committee, openly opposes same-sex marriage but has agreed to allow a committee vote. Five members of the 10-person committee have said they would vote for the legislation, and four have said they would vote against it, the Providence Journal reported. The remaining member, William Conley, DEast Providence, has not publicly stated how he will vote and has been courted by both supporters and opponents of the legislation as the presumed swing-vote. Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed, D-Newport, has said she believes the bill will pass the committee without requiring she cast a tie-breaking vote, the / / Marriage page 3 Providence
Recent crime spike inspires fear, DPS response
By CALEB MILLER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
A consistent rise in crime throughout 2011 and 2012 — punctuated by 14 robbery cases in the spring of 2012 and prominent incidents of violence — left many students concerned about their safety on campus. This rise in violent crime prompted the Department of Public Safety to focus on initiatives to combat violent crime, like hiring new officers, increasing officer visibility on campus and parterning with Facilities Management employees to increase oversight of residence halls. But numbers released at a recent
Crimes on campus (Jan. 2012 to Mar. 2013) 40
Motor Vehicle Theft
35 Number of crimes
Despite a decrease in violent crimes this year, students cite them as their biggest concern
Larceny
30 25
Burglary
20
Sex Offenses
15
Simple Assault
10
Aggravated Assault
5 0
Robbery J F M A M J
J A S O N D J F M Months
JILL LANNEY / HERALD
meeting of the Public Safety Oversight Committee revealed dorm thefts comprise the majority of on-campus crimes, while violent robberies have declined. Staying off the streets Stories of late-night muggings by
suspects wielding weapons are often more highly publicized than other forms of crime, and students said their foremost fears center on walking alone after midnight. But recent crime trends suggest instances of violent crime are declining.
Many students said they feel scared when walking around campus after dark. A spike in violent street crime on campus through 2011 and early 2012 fueled these fears. There were only / / Theft page 2 five robberies
By the numbers 5 Approximate percentage of victims who come forward nationally and at Brown
4 Number of sexual misconduct cases heard by the Student Conduct Board between July 2011 and June 2012
7 Number of sexual assault cases reported to the University in 2011
9 Number of sexual assault cases reported to the University in 2010
NE WS IN BRIEF Fire breaks out in Keeney room A small fire broke out on the third floor of Jameson House in Keeney Quadrangle Monday evening, said Captain David Soscia of the Providence Fire Department. The cause of the fire was unknown and was under investigation by the fire marshal at press time, said Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services. The fire was contained in one room, and the sprinkler system went off, Klawunn said. No injuries were reported, but there was some “smoke and water damage,” Soscia said. The room’s window was also broken, with shards of glass and remnants of the window frame scattered in the quad below, damage that Klawunn said she assumed was a result of the fire. Residents of the first, second and third floors of Jameson were advised to “stay with a friend” for the night as clean-up crews removed water that resulted from the sprinklers, Klawunn said, adding that the University would take inventory of items that were damaged. Third floor Jameson resident Lucia Petty ’16 said she wasn’t in her room when the fire started but heard from other people a fire had broken out in the room across the hall from her. She was able to pick up some of her belongings and will be staying with friends “for the next couple of days,” she said. “The entire floor was covered in water,” Petty said. “Anything on the floor is ruined.” — Mark Valdez