Maroon

              The MAROON Vol. 65, No. 4 Loyola University, XcwOrleans, Louisiana 70118 September 19, 1986 Task force to address date rapes, gang rapes By Tina S. Sonnier Staff writer Suppose a freshman woman agrees to go out with an upperclassman. He picks her up and they have dinner. Before taking her home, the young man asks his date to have sex with him. She refuses. But he won't take her home until she agrees. After all, he did buy her dinner. He also encouraged her to have a few extra drinks. Finally, the young woman gives in. Is this rape or not? Any situation that involves forcing a woman to have sex is called rape, but not all rapes occur when a stranger assaults a woman in a dark alley. In fact, 42 percent of all the women who reported being raped in Orleans Parish in 1985 knew their assailant, Gertrude Galloway, assistant director of the YWCA's Rape Crisis Center, said. Date rape, also known as acquaintance rape, occurs when the victim knows her assailant. He is someone whom the victim trusts and believes will not harm her. "There's a trust that's been broken," Galloway said. College women are among those most likely to be victims of this kind of rape, according to a report from the Association of American Colleges, Project on the Status and Education of Women. Acquaintence rape happens most frequently among those aged 15 to 24, the report said. The ACC report also cited a Ms. magazine study on patterns of sexual aggression at America's colleges and universities, conducted in October 1985. That study showed that 47 percent of all campus rapes were by first or casual dates, or by romantic acquaintances. The magazine's study also stated that one-fourth of women in college today have been the victims of rape or attempted rape, and that 90 percent of those knew their assailants. Loyola is not immune to cases of date rape, according to Christine Bogar, a counselor for the Counseling, Career Development and Placement Center. "College women, especially freshmen, are particularly vulnerable Walking in the dark Karl Middaugh, general studies freshman, leads Elieth Rodriguez, communications freshman, up the stairs outside Miller Hall while conducting an experiment on blindness. —Photo by Mary Rets Black frat seeks new membership By Jennifer Broggi Assistant News Editor Lack of membership has kept a group of Loyola students from obtaining a university charter for a new fraternity for two years. Phi Beta Sigma, a predominantly black national fraternity, granted Loyola students a national charter in the summer of 1984, but the group has been unsuccessful in getting a university charter "because it has only seven members. The Inter-Fraternity Council originally set a quota of 15 members to charter the fraternity, but last year that number was lowered to 10, according to Rich Dowie, a member of the group. "The problem with filling the quota is that the number of black men on campus is disproportionate to the number of white men; therefore, the drawing resources are limited," said Trellis Stepter, president of Omicron Phi, the prospective Loyola chapter of Phi Beta Sigma. "When you have seniors who are leaving, it is hard to acquire the necessary amount of pledges so that you are not actually losing members when the seniors leave." Dowie said the group hopes to meet the quota by the end of this semester. "It may be a difficult thing to obtain, but we feel we will be able to do it. It may be difficult. It may take us a while longer than we anticipated but we have the hopes that we can do it. It's just going to take a little bit of work." Johnathan Payne, business senior, and Reginald Sluch, now a Loyola graduate, originated the idea for the fraternity at Loyola in fall 1983. They were members at another university before transferring to Loyola. They wanted to start a chapter at Loyola because many black males were not involved in fraternities. Although the national Phi Beta Sigma is a predominantly black organization, it has white and black members. The seven members of Loyola's prospective chapter, Omicron Phi, are black. "We can't and we won't exclude white students," Dowie said. "Just because it states it is a predominantly black fraternity doesn't mean it has to stay that way forever." Dowie said this fraternity is different from others on campus. "A lot of the brothers that I have met were extremely ambitious and they were not so geared towards having parties, parties, parties," he said. "This one gave me the opportunity to bring my own individuality into the fraternity." He said he joined the fraternity because it promotes service, scholarship and brotherhood, not because he wanted to get a specific identity by being in a black fraternity. " Just because it states it is a predominantly black fraternity doesn't mean it has to stay that way forever." —Dowie Trespasser stalks dorm, slips security By Michelle Slocum Managing Editor Last week, two Buddig Hall residents were surprised to discover a man standing inside their third-floor room when they returned from dinner. The man left the building through a side door and was not caught. Barbara Fitzgerald, communications sophomore, and her roommate, Melissa Corley, communications freshman, left a friend who was watching television in their room Sept. 10 and went to dinner. When the friend left the room at 5 p.m., she closed the door but did not lock it, Fitzgerald said. When they returned about five minutes later, a tall, black man was there, with a gold chain in his hand, according to Fitzgerald. Two jewelry drawers were open and Fitzgerald's purse had been emptied on her bed. The man, who appeared to be about 26- or 27-years-old, said he was looking for someone named Jimmy, Fitzgerald said. She said she does not know who he was talking about, especially since Buddig is a women's dorm. Fitzgerald said the man then walked past them through the door claiming that the chain was his. "It's mine. 1 just took it off my neck. Don't worry about it, don't worry about it," she said he told her. They said he walked off down the hall. Anna Guerrero, the dorm desk assistant on duty at the time, said she heard a door buzzer sound, indicating the man left through a side door. See Date Rape/page 7 See Fraternity /page 5 See Intruder /page 7