Study validates
feeling on campus

To the Editor:
The recent CIA sexual victimization study is assuredly valid given the efforts to pattern it after the national study by Dr. Bonnie Fisher and her colleagues. I have requested a copy of this study from its authors and have yet to receive it, so I cannot refer to specific findings other than those reported in the media.
A previous study of campus crime at ASU by myself and Dr. Mullen in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice found similar results. It reported the following: „the crime of rape is more common than reflected in police statistics, as 3 percent of students and 1 percent of faculty and staff report that at some time while on campus, they have been raped.
Consider this estimate of rape victimization among students: There are approximately 12,400 students on the campus studied; if percent of these students will be raped on campus during their college careers, this means 372 students will be raped on campus during their student careers. The average length of stay of a student is about five years; this means roughly 74 rapes occur on campus per year.
The CIA study was methodologically superior to ours, assessed a larger sample than our study, and assessed rape on and off campus.
Their finding that roughly 5.5 percent of female students have been raped is very similar to our finding that 3 percent of students reports having been coerced or forced into unwanted sexual activity while on campus.
We also asked students and faculty/staff to estimate how many times they thought per month that rape occurs on our campus and they reported five and 4.5 rapes per month, respectively, which would mean somewhere between 54 and 60 rapes per year. Note how similar this is to the 74 sexual victimizations per year reported by students in our study and the roughly 68 rapes per year that can be derived from the CIA study.
All of these data suggest that rape/sexual assault is a serious problem on our campus and that it must be addressed.
I call on all faculty, staff, students, and administrators of this campus to continue the dialogue about this problem so we can devise a solution that will work to prevent sexual victimization of our students.Dr. Matthew Robinson
Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science/Criminal Justice
262-6560

What’s happened
to ASU’s manners?

To The Editor:
I am writing to draw attention to the idea, or better yet the lack there of, of gentlemen, or even better, manners. In my four years here at ASU I have not had a problem with rudeness until recent years. In fact, I have always thought of Appalachian as a southern institution, which includes the hospitality that the south is known for. Not only have the staff and faculty possessed this hospitality, but the student body has as well. I suppose the old adage is true, one rotten egg does spoil the dozen.
In recent times, I have encountered rudeness on the campus of ASU in extremes. Today was one of those ‘bad’ days. The lack of manners of a young man who I will call Mr. Princess shone through when he rudely drove around me to take a parking space. The fact that I was there first, or in front of him is not what bothers me. Have the days of the ‘southern gentlemen’ fallen by the wayside? Is it out of the question for men to hold doors for women? I find this hard to believe. Possibly the rumor that ASU is admitting more out-of-state students is true. In this case, are we proving the old cliche that once you proceed north of the infamous Mason-Dixon line manners don’t matter anymore? I would hate to think that this is so. While I am not the most beautiful girl in the world, I am certainly not an ugly duckling, but perhaps that is a matter of opinion, and that is what our world has come to. I would hate to think so. What bothers me the most is that I do believe our institution, ASU, has prided itself on southern hospitality. I do believe that this is what attracts all of those outsiders to our campus. Even our alma mater states that we are a “cherished vision of the south land.” It would be a shame to put “our” song to shame.
Let me conclude by saying that I have found a southern gentleman of my own; therefore I am not a bitter woman lashing out. I also think that manners can be taught. My own nephew at 4-years-old knows to stand when a lady enters the room and to hold the doors for women, even strange ones. However, the only way we will keep those values of the south is to continue to pass them down though the generations. Please, let’s not lose our heritage!
Sincerely,
Cassandra, Senior
CA32949@appstate.edu