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Volume XCV, Number 23	University of Southern California	Thursday, February 9, 1984
Woman says rape did not take place in SAE house
Police searching for single suspect
By Catalina Camia
Assistant Qty Editor
Los Angeles Police Department detectives disclosed additional information Wednesday after interviewing the 18-year-01d female who reported being raped last week on 28th Street.
Sgt. John Rice said the victim appeared less hysterical than last Friday and was able to confirm that she was raped by one male at knifepoint in an unknown location near the Row-sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 1 JO a.m.
"The victim is still traumatized by the incident and still has difficult moments, " he said. "Det. (David) Grabelski and I spoke with her (Wednesday) and she was able to say she was raped by one male in the vicinity of the Row."
Rice said the victim was able to give a general description of her attacker, but said this information is not available to the
public. He added that she has been unable to recognize anyone in the mug books at the police station.
The victim, a student at Brooks College in Long Beach, originally told the police last week that she was raped by more than one individual in the basement of 833 W. 28th Street, the location of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house.
"There is no direct link to the fraternity house (members) at this time," he said. "There is the indication that the suspect may not be a fraternity member."
Rice said it has been established that the victim was attending a party at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house on Thursday night.
Rice said the difference in information reported to the police last week and the details received Wednesday may be attributed to the "mass confusion at the incident and her high emotional state" when she was interviewed.
"There are so many uncertainties in this case, and we
have to go by what she said," Rice explained. "It's not unusual for this (additional information) to occur. The shock effect may wear oft weeks later."
Rice said no one has been arrested in the case. Many people have been questioned, including members of the fraternity, but not as suspects.
He said the detectives hope to interview the victim again in a week.
Speaking for the university, James Dennis, vice president of student affairs, issued a statement Wednesday saying, "As a university community, we are shocked and appalled by this reported incident which is under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. If USC students are found to be involved after the police department completes its investigation, then the university will initiate the appropriate disciplinary action."
The case is still being investigated by the police, Rice said.
Rape victims discuss their traumatic ordeal at security seminar
By David Jefferson
Assistant Qty Editor
"Any time that you say 'no' and he says 'yes' and uses force or the threat of force to gain sex, that's rape."
This was the definition Lt. Art Blair of University Security gave to a group of 23 women attending a seminar on date rape Tuesday night at EVK dormitory.
Date rape is a situation where a woman is forced to have sex against her will by an attacker who she somehow knows, such as a casual acquaintance or even a boyfriend.
Many of the students attending the conference had been date raped or had friends who had gone through the ordeal.
"I know two people sitting here who have been raped," one young woman said.
Although the meeting follows a rape in the university community last Thursday night, it was not held as a result of that incident.
"It was just a coincidence," said Keri Koch, a student at EVK who helped organize the seminar.
Koch and Jeanne Okrasinski, a resident adviser on the fourth floor of the dormitory, had contacted Blair two weeks ago about holding a session on date rape.
"So many people have no idea what rape is," said Blair, who has been trained in dealing with the subject by the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women. "In some of the date rape situations, they don't recognize that it's rape."
The lieutenant said a common misconception about rape is that it only occurs between a woman and a deranged criminal she does not know.
"Most people think of the Quasimodo types," Blair explained.
But 50 percent of all rapes are of the date rape variety, he said.
"It's the guys who you're in class with," said one student at the
seminar.
ATHER ALL DAILY TROJAN
A university canine enjoys some dog food and soaks up some sun in a cozy spot on campus.
"What you're saying is exactly right. And it's hard for people to take," Blair said.
A freshman student concerned with Blair's comment asked, "Well, if you're on a date with a guy, how much can you figure out about him in a couple of hours? . . . What can you look for?"
Blair responded in a regretful voice, "You can't tell."
He explained that although a large number of rapists are in their mid-twenties, they come from all races and economic backgrounds.
Blair added that many people ask, " 'Isn't the guy nuts? Isn't he crazy?' "
He answered the question. "No. He's going to have a slight, very slight, higher level of anger and need for power."
At the beginning of the meeting, Blair gave the women a questionnaire asking them the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about rape. After compiling the answers, he went about dispelling false ideas on rape.
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Refugees experience stress
Troubled Salvadoran youths aided by university doctors
By Rita Ray
Feature Writer
A 15-year-old Salvadoran refugee doused herself with gasoline and would have set herself on fire had it not been for a neighbor who stopped her just as she was about to light the match.
Two Salvadoran boys, ages six and eight, attempted to end their frustrations by jumping out of their family's car as it traveled down the freeway.
Such traumatic displays are typical cases reflecting the pressure refugee children from El Salvador feel, said Dr. William Arroyo, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and assistant director of the Child-Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatient Center at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.
"In their country, these children frequently saw dismembered bodies and were in constant fear of being killed," Arroyo explained. "Then they move to this country where they must adjust to a new language and a new culture, it involves a lot of stress."
El Salvador has been engaged in a civil war since 1979, and in these five years, some 250,000 refugees have either immigrated or been smuggled into Southern California. Approximately half of these are children.
"We see the imprint of war in these children," said Dr. Spencer Eth, a colleague of Arroyo, and also an assistant professor of psychiatry and coordinator of child psychiatry training at the LAC-USC Medical Center.
The Salvadoran children's exposure to war creates catastrophic stress, he said. This condition is termed post-traumatic stress disorder, a syndrome unique to people who have directly experienced catastrophic events.
But for the refugee children, their world is not suddenly brighter once they reach the comparatively peaceful soil of Southern California. Instead, they become victims of another sort.
Because many of them enter the country illegally and their families have little money, they are forced to live in crime-ridden neighborhoods where assault and homocide rates are very high.
"The trauma and stress don't end when they leave El Salvador," Eth points out, "because these children are now living in gang-plagued areas and they have never before been exposed to such phenomena.
"They come here with the expectation that life
will be much easier, but that is not the case," he said. "They become easy marks for all types of exploiters, because they are often afraid to report crimes. They, then, become victims of crimes themselves."
An additional problem for the youngsters is lack of trust within the family structure. "Many times, the pattern has been that the parent, or both parents, simply disappear, leaving the child in El Salvador with relatives," Arroyo said. "Then after enough money is made here in the states, the parent sends for the child to join him."
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