Must understand rape

Recently the federal government has taken a keen interest in reducing rape on college campuses in light of surveys that suggest that 20 percent of college women are sexually assaulted. If we are to combat campus rape, we must first understand it.

Dr. David Lisak at the University of Massachusetts and Paul Miller at Brown University found that 90 percent of college rape is committed by 3 percent to 4 percent of college men who rape an average of six women each. These men plan their rapes, selecting vulnerable females such as freshman, and often using a combination of alcohol and force to commit their crimes. Few are ever reported.

Given the evidence that campus rape is a serious crime committed by serial criminals, one is left to wonder why university administrators are adjudicating these crimes.

I suggest that the role of the university in handling rape should be twofold: First, they should help rape victims make a complaint to the local police force who can investigate the crime with the knowledge that there are likely other victims. Second, they should educate members of the community to recognize what is happening and step in. The beginning stages of many rapes occur in public (parties or bars) where the rapist has either invited a victim or spotted a vulnerable woman for assault.

The armed forces have started to train personnel in bystander intervention because it works. If we want to have real impact on campus rape, we must first recognize it as a serious crime that should be handled by law enforcement, not university administrators. KATHRYN CURTIN

Fayetteville