The Daily Campus
CRIME: Alerts released more quickly as
SMU increases efforts to inform community
continued from page 1
The Daily Campus ran two articles as part of the “Rape and Its Consequences” series. While the first piece, “Justice brings healing: Monika Korra’s journey,” was a personal profile on Korra, it showed how sharing her story and facing her attackers allowed her to overcome the tragedy. Korra said that it was how she found power in an otherwise helpless situation. The second piece in the series, “Sweeping rape under the rug,” was a detailed account of how SMU has historically mishandled rape allegations. Prior to the articles’ publication, the university had only dealt with these cases internally – through what’s called a “grievance process” – in order to receive federal funding by the government. The story included a statement from SMU Police Chief Richard Shafer saying Korra’s trial was the only sexual assault case in which the suspects were prosecuted successfully that he could recall since joining the force in 1999. Though the series sparked controversy among SMU administrators, who immediately issued a public response to The Daily Campus’ articles, the writers’ voices made an undeniable impact. The same day that “Sweeping rape under the rug” ran, SMU issued a crime alert significantly faster than usual, according to crime alert records. Additionally, it marked the first case in three years that SMU provided a physical description of the attacker. The Daily Campus made note of the university’s initiative, publishing a story about the “faster, more detailed” crime alerts only a few days later. SMU investigative journalism professor Jake Batsell, who teaches his students about reporting crime, stressed the importance of providing these physical descriptions. Batsell explained that the traumatic nature of these events
NEWS
MONDAY n APRIL 29, 2013
may cause victims to mentally block-out certain details, either consciously or subconsciously. Victims describing their attacker’s appearance, and police releasing these details, can be “extremely helpful” in potentially triggering another victim’s memory, Batsell said. Posters, faster email updates, and physical descriptions aren’t the only way SMU is increasing its efforts to inform the community about rape allegations. Nigh noted that while the communication has been most prominently through frequent emails, “SMU has done a good job in other outlets, too – word of mouth, teachers, announcements, etc.” She said that all of her professors, despite their area of study, have brought up the topic of rape at least once during class this semester. One of the many reasons these conversations are so important is because sexual assault affects a greater number of people than most realize. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, also known as RAINN, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted every two minutes. “[The idea is that] this will never happen to me,” Korra said. But the reality is that it can, and it does. One in five women will be sexually assaulted in college, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. What many people also fail to realize is that it isn’t only strangers committing these crimes – in fact in most cases, it’s exactly the opposite. Abigail Boyer is the director of communications and outreach for the Clery Center, the national organization that legally requires all colleges and universities that receive federal financial aid to report their campus crimes. In her years at the institute, Boyer has found that “It is far more likely for students to be hurt by someone they know, usually a friend or acquaintance.”
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice attest to Boyer’s experience at the Clery Center, which say that, contrary to common myth, the victim and attacker know each other in 80 to 90 percent of sexual assault crimes. The department claims that “the more intimate the relationship, the more likely it is for a rape to be completed rather than attempted.” The Clery Center challenges universities nationwide to be proactive in dealing with campus crimes with its “Beyond the Numbers” initiative. “Beyond the Numbers” recognizes that “colleges and universities that are effectively educating their students and responding to victims may, and most likely will, have higher numbers.” According to Boyer, “rising numbers of sexual assaults does not reflect a greater number of sexual assaults that have occurred.” She explains that the increase is more often due to victims reporting these events because they feel “confident of the response they’ll receive.” Creating a climate in which victims feel comfortable speaking out is key, considering a mere 20 percent of rape cases are reported, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice studies. Additionally, RAINN reports that 97 percent of rapists “will never spend a day in jail.” Click supports Boyer’s assertion, and said that she is “proud that we’re finally creating a community where people feel more comfortable coming forward to share their story and talk about these things that have happened, and especially to people we know.” SMU students and faculty alike hope that the university does not digress, but rather continues to move forward, in creating a communal sense of awareness.
3
FOOD: More vegetarian, vegan options offered by campus dining continued from page 1
2 p.m. or later miss out on the main rotating lunch entrees and are forced to choose from sandwiches or the other stations that are always open such as cereal. “I get annoyed that they start putting food away and have no food for 40 minutes at a time when they're switching meals,” said first-year student Tyler Coffin. One of the biggest student complaints is these transition periods—there appears to be a lack of options unless it is a specific mealtime. For students with special dietary needs, additional challenges must be faced. Vegetarians and vegans are able to find meals at Healthy on the Hilltop, a station that denotes the ingredients and nutritional value of their healthier options. “We created Healthy on the Hilltop, which caters specifically to our gluten-free and vegan populations, though it is open to anyone, because we have seen such a rise in requests over the last couple of years for these types of meals in particular,” Florsheim said. Vegetarians praise RFoC’s work in accommodating them. “For the most part, RFoC really does a good job at giving vegetarian options. I've noticed that they are making more vegetarian-friendly food,” said first year student Alison Connolly. “I've also noticed they are making more vegetarian food on the weekends which was a problem the first half of the year.” While the needs of these students are being met, vegans seem to have it harder, as in addition to meat, they do not eat eggs, dairy or any other animal product. “If I'm at Healthy on the Hilltop and I don't like what
they have, I'm kind of out of luck, or I'm eating my 28th salad of the week,” said first year student Alison Wheaton. “It's hard to find all the things I need in a meal, [like] protein, fruit [and] carbs. I always end up with three to five plates because I have to go back or to different stations to get enough food.” Wheaton said her main issues are small portion size and cut calories at Healthy on the Hilltop, not enough protein like tofu, and unclear denotations of what is vegan and what is not. Students with food allergies also face a challenge when eating at RFoC. Dakota Warde-Levie, a sophomore student who has several food allergies, did not renew her meal plan this year. “Being allergic to so many foods, it was too expensive to get a food plan when all I was eating was the salads,” Warde-Levie said. Students with allergies note that it would be helpful to have common allergens, such as eggs, dairy and peanuts, more clearly listed. First-year student Moez Jamohammad noted another issue. “[As a Muslim student] I think sometimes the food at RFoC is not culturally aware, so some groups on
campus aren't able to eat any of the food [on] days when most entrees have pork,” he said. However, those with any special dietary needs should not hesitate to take advantage of the SMU resident dietician, who is available for a free consultation with any student. “With some allergies, there may already be plenty of options already being served that students don't know about, while with other allergies [or needs] we may need to go a step further and look at providing cookedto-order meals,” Florsheim said. The dining staff is dedicated to giving help when asked; students can simply approach them for help finding and planning meals. “Regardless of the need, we want our students healthy and happy,” Florsheim said. Though many students with individual needs have complaints about RFoC, most students are celebrating the recent improvements. The surveys emailed to students in which they could comment on the dining services have created much positive change. With the development of events such as Soul Food Night and a healthy eating week, as well as more change as new survey results come in, students have much to look forward to.
Raggio Endowed Lecture Series Please join us!
Jill Abramson Executive Editor The New York Times
The Boston Marathon Tragedy: “Quality Journalism’s Role in the Hyper Speed News Cycle”
Thursday, May 2, 2013
New date!
7:00 p.m. Belo Mansion 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas, TX 75201 Complimentary parking available in Belo Mansion garage.
SMU Faculty/Staff/Students: Tickets will be offered free on a first come-first served basis (one ticket per person). Please email ldempsey@smu.edu if you would like to attend. An email confirmation will be sent before the event.