San Francisco Foghorn

              FREEDOM AND FAIRNESS
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VOL. 105       ISSUE 16
Get Down for Gaza event celebrates, supports Palestinians
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MARCH 5, 2009
Sexual Harassment On Campus Is Often Unreported
SAMANTHA BLACKBURN
StaffWriter
Author's Note: Initia/ reporting and interviews/or /fits artic/e were completed last
spring. However, new reporting and updated
interviews were done to address issues raised
fry tie arrest on Fefr. 12 of Ryan Caskey, a
University of San Francisco senior who has
freen charged with tie rape and sexual assault
of four of his fema/e c/assmates. Cas/key has
p/ed notgui/ty to these charges. He are aware
this story includes graphic language, frut it is
important to acknow/edge that sexual'assau/t
and harassment are happening on this campus
and on many other campuses across the tVnited
States. The names of students and victims in
this artic/e have freen changed to protect them.
One night, Jane Dixon and a few of her
friends were outside Gillson Hall, a freshman dormitory at the University of San
Francisco, drinking and partying, when
things got out of hand. John, a good friend
of Jane's, was extremely drunk and high on
cocaine. Jane knew John had had a crush
on her for a long time; he even had a nickname for her: "monkey." However, whenever John was intoxicated, he would try to
make a move on Jane. On this particular
night, he was lying in the dirt drunk with
his pants down to his thighs. "He started
looking at me and saying 'monkey, monkey, monkey.' I was like what, do you need
help?" said Jane.
Jane noticed that John had an erection and tried to run, telling him to "put it
away." Jane said John continued to hassle
her and said something along the lines of
"Monkey, you gotta f- me, like you have
to. We need to have sex, it will make my
reputation so much better back home. You
have the perfect body, and all I want to do
is have sex with you." It did not stop there;
following this vulgar plea, he proceeded to
pull out his genitalia, began masturbating,
and chased Jane around. "I was drunk too.
Everyone was laughing, and it was kind of
like a joke," said Jane.
This type of behavior may be appalling
to a reasonable person and is legally considered to be sexual harassment; however,
Jane's reaction, or lack thereof, is typical of
college students. Assistant Dean of Students Julie Orio said, "I think sometimes
when situations come to us, it probably
could have been resolved five steps before.
But then it was kind of silence accepted,
silence accepted, it's not a big deal, its not
Photo Illustration by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn
Various forms of sexual harassment are prevalent on university campuses, but the
victims of these incidents often keep silent to protect themselves and their friends.
a big deal, and then all the sudden it's a
big deal."
News of USF senior Ryan Caskey's arrest has the entire USF community talking about sex and violence. Many young
women feel uncomfortable making waves
friends, I think reporting [it] would cause a
lot of unnecessary drama," said Jane.
In 2005, a survey conducted by the
American Association of University Women (AAUW) revealed that 62 percent of
college students say they have encountered
ff     But then it was kind of silence
accepted^ silence accepted, its not a big   J J
deal, its not a big deal, and then all of a
SUdden itS a big deal     -Assistant Bean Julie Orio
in their social circles so they laugh off or
endure offensive behavior from friends
that they would never accept from strangers. And even if they do want to report unwanted sexual attention, it can be hard to
know who to turn to or what will happen.
"If it's a situation where you have mutual
some type of sexual harassment at school.
The AAUW's report emphasized that sexual harassment takes an especially heavy
toll on female students, and that the majority of students do not report the cases.
According to the survey, sexual harassment is a major problem on most college
campuses, and this university is no exception. In response to the recent events at
USF, many students have blamed violence
associated with military culture for the
rapes allegedly committed by an ROTC
student. However, it is important to note,
none of the students interviewed for this
story were in ROTC and such incidents
are common on all kinds of campuses
throughout the United States.
Peer pressure is especially tough for
first-year students, who are in a new community and want to fit in, said Orio. Of
the night outside the dormitory, during
her freshman year, Jane said, "Reporting
the experience never crossed my mind."
For some students, reporting harassment
would disrupt their social lives, which in
Jane's opinion is much more important
than "reporting one stupid incident."
Another student, Elizabeth Smith, also
chose not to report the sexual harassment
she endured in a class her sophomore year.
"Guys will make comments or say sexual
things, and they just think it is funny. Because it happens all the time, our generation has become used to it," said Elizabeth.
Beginning around the first week of class, a
male classmate of Elizabeth's began commenting and writing notes about the way
she looked and things she was doing. He
would call her sexy, touch her hands and
arms, and even attempted to caress her leg.
Elizabeth verbalized her discomfort to her
classmate; however, this behavior persisted
throughout the semester. As a result, she
dreaded going to class and avoided him
on campus. "If I tried to report every gross
comment a guy ever said to me, I feel like
I would be in the counseling center every
day," said Elizabeth.
Victims of sexual harassment are protected under Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972. The Office of Civil
Rights (OCR) works with the Department of Education to protect civil rights
in federally funded education and prohibit
gender discrimination. Maureen Guilfoile,
who worked as a Senior Equal Opportunity Specialist at the OCR from 1996-
2005, said, "Schools subject to Tide IX are
required to maintain an environment that
is free of sexual harassment."
Title IX protects students from unwanted and unlawful sexual harassment at
all university programs, on and off campus.
Guilfoile said a student should report the
incident to a school official and file a complaint with the OCR. "To file a complaint
HARASS: Continued on Page 2
MELA Event Highlights Injustices
ISO invites other clubs to discuss global inequalities
NICHOLAS MUKHAR
StaffWriter
On Thursday night, McLaren Hall
was home to USF's second MELA event,
where six USF clubs each brought a different social injustice to the forefront of discussions among the hundreds of students
in attendance.
The Indian Student Organization (ISO)
spearheaded the event that featured traditional dances and music, South Asian food
and speeches by USF students and professors. The ISO's main issue was the pollution in India.
"We want to inspire people to join a
cause and find something they care about,"
said co-president of the ISO Priya Sajja,
who said the ISO got the idea for their
cause from the movie "Slumdog Million-
n
aire.
"We want to create awareness about
the South Asian community at USF," said
senior Ravi Sandhu. Sandhu, who was the
DJ of the night, is the former president of
the ISO, but has since passed on the tide
and is still a member.
After roughly an hour of socializing
during which students had the opportunity to visit each group's table and learn more
about specific causes, the first speaker of
the night, USF Professor Taymiya Zaman,
stepped to the podium to speak about her
life as a Pakistani-American.
"Do I find it difficult to be a woman in
Pakistan? Not really," said Zaman, as she
discussed the prejudices she and her fam
ily have battled in the United States, from
airport security to the questions about her
appearance. The roughly 400 students in
attendance went from a loud, talkative
crowd to a silenced group as Zaman passionately tackled U.S. foreign policy and
the use of the words "extremists" and "terrorists."
"Those extremists' groups provide
healthcare for people that US.-backed regimes do not provide," she said.
The other five groups who shared social
injustices were the Muslim Student Association, Back to da Roots, Invisible Children, School of Americas Watch and Not
For Sale.
"There has been a 20-year-long war on
children in Uganda," said freshman Maggie Kennedy, whose Invisible Children
group focused on the suffering of children
in northern Uganda.
Kennedy has been studying this issue
since high school, and traveled to southern Uganda two years ago as part of a
humanitarian mission. Kennedy and her
group were not allowed to enter northern
Uganda though.
Invisible Children is a nationwide
group that was started in California. There
is a branch of the organization in Kampala, Uganda, the nation's capital.
After two separate musical and dance
performances, one by USF sophomores
Ravi Amarawanza, Marina Liu, and Sarah
Reinheimer that featured South Asian
music performed on the sitar, drums and
ISO: Continued on Page 3
Melissa Stihl/Foghorn
USF student Marisela Marquez accesses USFrooms at the Office of Residence Life.
New Software Improves Housing Selection
CHELSEA STERLING
News Editor
Beginning this spring, incoming freshmen, transfers and returning students will
be able to choose their room and roommate from the comfort of their homes. The
Office of Residence Life has implemented
a new electronic system that has moved the
housing and roommate selection process
online, meaning students no longer have to
wait in long lines to secure a room.
Director of ORL Steve Nygaard said,
"The idea is to improve our service to stu
dents."
Students who wish to live on campus
for the 2009-2010 school year will not
have to wait in line to choose their room.
In past years, students have received a lottery number which determined their room
selection date; the lottery number was
partly based on credits earned. After waiting in a long line, students would look at
the big dry erase board and see what rooms
were still available and choose accordingly.
Resident assistants and ORL staff would
ORL: Continued on Page 2
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