THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
One actress lit a candle and stared at the flame that danced in front of her face, ``Ninety percent of rape victims will not report it,'' she said in a monotone.
Another actress, another candle, ``Eighty percent of rape victims know their assailant.''
Another, ``A man is raped every 15 minutes.''
Another, ``One in four women is sexually assaulted in her lifetime.''
And as one candle was extinguished, the audience at Old Dominion University's Webb Center Thursday night realized that one of the teenagers on stage could be the next victim of rape or sexual assault.
It took 20 minutes, two green chairs and seven Newport News students to drive home a message to the sparse crowd: Sexual assault, particularly on college campuses, is a growing problem.
``It's a very important topic and we wanted to bring this to our students,'' said Laura McLaughlin, assistant director of the ODU Women's Center, which sponsored the performance in conjunction with the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
``It's one of the least reported crimes, but the national statistics show one in four women will be assaulted.''
Any college that receives federal student aid must provide educational programs promoting ``awareness of rape, acquaintance rape and other sex offenses,'' under the
Higher Education Act amendments which became law in 1992.
The act also requires schools to collect annual statistics on sex offenses, distribute them to students and establish disciplinary procedures for dealing with sex offenses.
Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio, has taken perhaps the most provocative step. Its sexual offense policy mandates that all sexual conduct must be consensual and that consent must be given verbally.
``Asking, `Do you want to have sex with me?' is not enough,'' the policy states.
``If the level of sexual intimacy increases during an interaction, (i.e. if two people move from kissing while fully clothed - which is one level - to undressing for direct physical contact, which is another level), the people involved need to express their clear verbal consent before moving to that new level.''
Other colleges and administrators have laughed at the rigid code but Antioch says it isn't a laughing matter.
``It was initiated by the students who apparently saw a need,'' said Karen Kovach, spokeswoman for Antioch.
``We've gotten an incredible amount of response and interest in the program for consideration,'' she said, adding that, ``the level of reported incidents on this college is very, very low.''
Cornell University pioneered the skit approach, which encourages the audience to ask questions.
Many universities, like ODU and Virginia Wesleyan College, make sexual-assault education a year-round program, including seminars for incoming freshmen.
Wesleyan also has a sexual-assault task force that ``makes sure nothing is ever dropped, that makes sure the education process remains as strong as it has,'' said Linda Tisdale, director of Health Services at the school.
``We choose to be pro-active instead of reactive.''
But the spotlight on rape, particularly date rape, has drawn its share of criticism.
Some fear the emphasis will encourage women to cry rape over poor communication and bad sexual experiences.
``Date rape has become a synonym for bad sex, for sex that is pressured, drunk or regretted the next day,'' said Katie Roiphe in a Mirabella magazine interview about her controversial book, ``The Morning After.''
``If we call all of this rape, then I would guess that almost everybody has been `raped' at one point or another.''
Others disagree.
``I don't think you can put too much focus on this,'' Tisdale said.
``Anything that gives a focus on relationships and communication, you can never put too much emphasis on this.''
Thursday night's performance was a combination of vignettes, a brief look at how media messages send distressing messages - ``Hooters! A Family Restaurant,'' one teenager said in a cutesy voice, as she bobbed up and down.
But the atmosphere turned serious as the students portrayed a woman who was raped by her boyfriend as they studied, and the male student who was encouraged to visit his teacher's house if he wanted extra credit.
When he said he would report it, he was told: ``Who are they going to believe? I'm the teacher and you're the student.''
Afterward, the high school actors sat with the college students, mostly fraternity brothers, to discuss the play and sexual assault in the real world.
The teenagers talked of teachers who had molested students, while the older students talked about life on college campus, how many females, particularly freshmen, are viewed as ``new blood . . . or the meat market.''
``This is why we decided to get involved with this program,'' said Jarod Grant, president of Phi Gamma Delta.
``Fraternities have a reputation . . . but we let people know that this isn't something that we condone and we speak out against it whenever we get a chance.'' by CNB