No students show for rape program

The students who arrived early to view Beauty and the Beast in the rooftop lounge of High Rise South last night would have interrupted the previous program, but no one attended the discussion on rape that was supposed to take place. The Residential Advisors of HRS arranged the forum on "Rape and Rape Issues" in conjunction with Officer Pat Chadd of Victim Support Services. They had planned to start with the screening of the 1987 film, The Accused, and use that as a catalyst for discussion. The event was geared towards HRS residents and a small showing was expected. The fact that absolutely none of the residents were attracted, however, was a disappointment to the organizers. College senior Joy Hamilton, one of the organizers, and Chadd had different responses to the poor attendance at the event. "I'm not surprised," Hamilton said. "It was advertised, but so many other organizations on campus have focused on these issues. Also, maybe [no one came] because we didn't have pizza." "I'm surprised that nobody showed up," Chadd said. "I think that there was a big focus in the media, and once the focus was off -- students moved on to the next controversial event." Hamilton also suggested that many residents of the upperclassman dormitory had already seen the movie and that perhaps there would have been a better response in another residence. "If we were in a freshman dorm, not so many people would have already seen it," Hamilton said. "Maybe there we could discuss it." Hamilton and Chadd both acknowledged that most students have a full schedule at the end of the semester, but that leaves the question of why Beauty and the Beast drew a crowd. "Students like more recreational events," Hamilton said. "Stress relievers have a better showing." Chadd warns, however, that students should not let the lull in media coverage of rape fool them into a false sense of safety. "If it's not on the front page or on TV students are not interested," he said. "When William Kennedy Smith was on trial, rape was a big issue but now, students are getting complacent." "They shouldn't be, because date rape is still apt to happen." Chadd added.

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