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Volume CVI, Number 12	University	of	Southern	California	Wednesday,	January	27,	1988
MOLLY HUNTSMAN DAILY TROJAN
WANNA BUY A BIKE? — This bicycle apparently became the object of a vandal’s twisted sense of humor while locked outside Topping Student Center.
Rape: Silent crime will receive voice through new task force
Grades delayed for second time
By Gale Lance and Kathleen Berry
Staff Writers
A task force is being formed by the Office of Student Affairs to address rape — a topic university officials agree is rarely discussed on university campuses.
The task force, first suggested in August by James Dennis, vice president of student affairs, will include staff, faculty and students. Members of counseling services, student activities and residential life will prepare rape-awareness workshops as part of the special force.
"I think we handle (rape) extremely well once it happens, but how are we doing in our education and awareness programs?" said Shannon Ellis, Dennis' assistant. "I think you always feel like you can be do-
ing more.”
The recent rape at Embassy Residential College Jan. 10 — in which a university student was attacked at knifepoint — has rejuvenated a university policy that will now encompass more programs, Ellis said.
"Rape is like suicide on this campus. You don't want to hear about it," said Scotti Horn, nurse practitioner at the Student Health Center.
"When you say there's a rape education program, you're admitting there's a problem," said Mark Stevens, staff psychologist at counseling services. "We don't want to scare off our consumers."
Because the university does not have a women's counseling center, rape prevention workshops and programs for victims have been shifted td the Health and Counseling Services Center.
The move has slowed rape education on campus and has caused interested faculty and staff to form the task force, he said.
Nationwide, about two dozen colleges and universities have developed programs to address rape prevention, according to the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (CAAW).
Most rapes go unreported
Over the past five years reported rapes at the university have averaged two per year, according to Sgt. John Lewis, records officer of University Security.
Although year-end records have not been completed, "preliminary indications suggest two confirmed on-campus rapes for 1987," Lewis said.
In 1986, there were two rapes and three attempted rapes. The statistic includes the reported gang rape at a fraternity house in October 1986, he said.
The number of reported rapes at the university mirrors a national trend, in which only 3 1/2 percent to 10 percent of rapes are reported, according to surveys done by the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI and the National Opinion Research Center.
"Only 10 to 15 percent of rapes at the university are reported and the rest never see us," said Lt. Art Blair of University Security.
Blair, who has been trained by the CAAW, said education not only prevents crime but also increases the number of reported rapes.
"The more aggressive your crime prevention unit, the more reports come in," he said.
However, Blair said, the university has been slow to address this problem because "if we say we need to educate our students, faculty and staff on how to prevent a crime, it means we have crime."
Abouf one out of every three women over the age of 14 in Los Angeles County will be raped at least once in her lifetime, according to the CAAW.
"I think there's a reluctance to report rape because of a feeling of shame or guilt," Stevens said.
The university rape awareness program will focus on a variety of situations, including
(Continued on page 12)
By Yumi Wilson
Staff Writer
Just days after the mailing of fall semester grades was delayed one week, the registrar's office announced Monday that there would be a second delay because the registrar's office has failed to install its new computer system on schedule.
"It has to do with (the computer) conversion, and we had to move the student data, causing a lot of audit and crosschecking," said Mary Margaret Brennan, associate registrar, who indicated that students will now receive their official grade transcripts Feb. 1.
The registrar's office had originally planned for a Jan. 21 completion date — a deadline pushed to Jan. 27 — but the office's conversion from its existing IBM system to the new
Prime program took longer than expected. Work on the new transcript system began only two weeks ago, Brennan said.
Lyn Hutton, senior vice president of administration, said the grade processing part of the IBM system has still not been converted because computer technicians had to complete the financial aid department's system first. Problems in that system prompted university officials to spend extra time working out "bugs” before installing the transcript computers, she said.
After hearing about the latest delays, many students told the Daily Trojan that grade transcripts are coming out too late, posing an inconvenience for some students.
"I can deal with the situation because it (the new system) will (Continued on page 15)
Officials propose center for women
By Christine Carr
Staff Writer
The university, unlike other institutions of similar size, does not have a women's counseling center — but the program for the Studv of Women and Men in Societv is pushing to create one bv this fall.
A draft of the SWMS program's proposal for a Women's Resource Center is being circulated to faculty, staff and students, along with letters asking for feedback.
According to the proposal, most university women don't fit into the stereotyped image of young, single, prosperous, white, heterosexual females, and their needs are not being met bv current campus services.
Mark Stevens, a counselor at the Student Health & Counseling Center, said he supports the proposal for a center. 'There needs to be institutionalized housing of the women's community on campus. It will give women on campus a place to bring ideas together," he said.
A center could do much to stem the incidence of rape through education and counseling, he said. "The issue of rape on a college campus is usually handled through the feminist women's community. It's usually a women's institution on campus that provides the push for rape awareness through the administration, faculty, staff and students.
"Rape is not just a women's issue. And a women's center is not just for women, it's for men also," he added.
The proposed center would plan programs for university women and other specific target groups including minority women, lesbians, women artists, women in the community, international women, alumnae and men.
Lyn Hutton, senior vice president of administration, said the major obstacle blocking the center was the scarcity of space and funding on campus.
(Continued on page 14)
Career Day offers internship forums
By Yamil Berard
Staff Writer
Students who need to make decisions about career objectives can attend three internship forums in Von KleinSmid Center at noon today, as part of the university's daylong Career Day activities in Alumni Park.
The events, sponsored by the Career Development Center, will provide information about internship programs in numerous fields of study. Hundreds of corporate representatives will set up tables to discuss their businesses and employment opportunities.
Internships enable students "to get a little taste of what their careers will be like, and encourage them to think along the terms of a career," said Naomi Matsumoto, the center's internship coordinator.
By participating in the forums, students can make contacts with prospective employers and professionals who are willing to share advice about their work, Matsumoto said.
Various panel presentations by company representatives will outline specific internship programs. In addition, past student interns will relate their experiences to students in each forum.
First Interstate Bank representatives and former intern Bill Preston, a university senior majoring in business administration, will speak to business students in VKC 151.
(Continued on page 15)
LEARNING AIDS — Mark Kowaleski, a graduate religion student, spoke out last night against the attitude that AIDS is God’s punishment against homosexuals. University psychiatrist Stanley Harris is seated to the right. See story, page 3.