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NEWS
| SEPTEMBER 16, 2005
Safety
Rape, sex focus of seminar
Date rape risks, safety precautions
will be addressed at Sept. 18 talk.
By Michelle
Echevarria
Contributor to The Shorthorn
Drunk sex and date rape will be the issue discussed Sept. 18 during
a seminar with Brett Sokolow, a spokesman on high-risk student health
and safety issues.
“Knowing that it does happen, we need to inform the students,”
said Molly Albart, head resident of housing and the University Center.
Faculty organizations and about 500 students, including the Housing
Office, the Office of the Dean of Students and Greek Life will attend
the seminar, she said.
She believes the seminar will also help students understand what
can lead to date rape.
“I think that it’s also about the effects of alcohol,”
Albart said “It educates students of the risks when they are
out drinking and partying.”
Greg Bateson, Health Services substance abuse health education coordinator,
said this sort of seminar is necessary for every campus. He believes
it can help educate male students on how to protect themselves from
being accused of such acts.
“If they cannot consent to having sex with you because they
have been drinking, that would be classified as rape,” Bateson
said. “It won’t hurt anyone to know a little more.”
This opportunity is for anyone who might have had second thoughts
about a previous hookup, to be cautious in the future.
Greek Adviser Mike Tadesse stresses that date rape can happen to
anybody and not just the Greeks.
“Nationwide, it’s happened, and it needs a lot of clarification
to make sure the information is out there for freshmen as well as
seniors,” he said.
Tadesse said that with a lot of cases, the woman doesn’t report
it because she is too embarrassed to tell someone or she doesn’t
know it even happened. He said this seminar could also be a way
of letting people know it’s all right to talk about this type
of situation.
“I have an open door policy,” he said. “That is
why I want the students to know that they can come and talk to us.”
Dean of Students Austin Lane said this isn’t something to
take lightly and that they just want to take a preventative approach.
“If we had any cases, nine out of 10 it would happen in a
residential environment,” he said. “That’s why
we collaborated to make sure our students are safe.”
CORRECTION
In this story, Greek Life coordinator Mike Taddesse’s
name and title were printed incorrectly.
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