Reported Sexual Assaults on Campus Double in 2009
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NEWS FEATURES SPORTS SCENE State of the Rockies Report Block break in Utah: al- IM Softball in full swing Dr. Dog does Denver (and Card released most as good as having fi ve other live music bad-ass- wives ery) Joel Minor 2 Rich Perkins 5 Carrie Markel 9 Ben Cronin 13 Volume 40 No 21 Gordon Mat- THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF COLORADO COLLEGE thewson on... The death of Twitter Page 10 Reported sexual assaults on campus double in 2009 > April 23, 2010 according to TESSA representative Shawna “A surprising number of people have no idea catalystnewspaper.com Elizabeth Findell Kemppainen. TESSA, which provides support what SOSS is,” Spiegel said. “We’re under-uti- News Editor to victims of both sexual assault and domestic lized as a campus resource.” abuse, dispatched response teams to hospitals Victims of sexual assault at CC have three s students around campus recognize 194 times in 2009, which was up from 179 the options for support and reporting. They can Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the year before. Kemppainen said she didn’t know seek informal support from counseling and City of Colorado Anumber of on-campus sexual assaults whether the increased reported sexual assaults other campus services. They can go through the reported at CC is higher than it has been in indicated an actual increase in assaults or an campus judicial process if the perpetrator of the Springs’ budget years. There were nine sexual assaults reported increase in willingness to report. act is a student. Finally, they can file a police re- in dorms and other on-campus locations in 2009, “The answer is both,” Kemppainen said. port and pursue the matter through the criminal compared to four in 2008, three in 2007 and The TESSA hotline received 16,214 calls to justice system. In the majority of cases, Horton cuts cut off four in 2006. CC sexual assaults including those their crisis and referral lines last year. While all said, they choose only informal support. that occurred both on and off campus num- calls are anonymous and the organization does Of the 13 CC sexual assaults reported in 2009, streetlights bered 13 in 2009, eight in 2008 and six in 2007. not track their origin, Kemppainen said that they only two resulted in formal complaints with Heather Horton, Campus Sexual Assault Re- have definitely responded to calls at CC before. the campus judicial system and Horton did not Ben Quam sponse Coordinator, emphasized that increased She also emphasized that college aged women know of any filed with the police. In the cases Staff Writer numbers of reported assaults may not neces- are four times more likely to be assaulted than of both formal complaints violation of the sarily indicate a problematic situation, but could women in general. Student Sexual Misconduct Policy was substanti- or many years Colorado Springs has actually indicate a safer campus where students “Women 18 to 24 are the most common age ated. Horton said both cases involved sexual had a reputation of being conservative, feel comfortable reporting incidents. range for reporting sexual assaults,” she said. assault, though not necessarily penetrating, and and that’s putting it lightly. Five military F “I don’t think necessarily that because we have A Center for Public Integrity investigation into in both cases the responsible person was placed installations, Focus on the Family, the New Life more incidents reported in the past year that it assaults on college campuses found that one in on involuntary leave. She would not say what Church and other organizations join Colorado means there are more sexual assaults happening- five college women will be the victim of a rape the duration of the sanction was. There are no College in calling this city home. Its residents I think more people are reporting it,” she said. or attempted rape by the time she graduates. official numbers yet for 2010, but there have have a prominent voice in the Tea Party move- The increase in reported sexual assaults is not The major CC support group for victims of been at least two formal complaints filed so far ment and El Paso County went overwhelming limited to the CC bubble. The Colorado Springs sexual assault is the Student Organization for this semester. to John McCain in the last election. But in a year Police Department reported a 17 percent Sexual Safety. SOSS also operates a hotline for Despite the increased number of on-campus in which every American city is cutting back on increase in forcible rape reports filed between support services that has only been utilized once sexual assaults reported in 2009, there were some social services, Colorado Springs is mak- 2007 and 2008. El Paso County forensic nurses this year, during seventh block, according to fewer formal complaints filed. There were four ing national news again for the unique way in have reported a 31 percent increase in sexual Becca Spiegel who serves as one of the group formal complaints filed in 2007 and five in 2008. which it’s balancing the city’s $28 million budget assault forensic exams in the county since 2006, volunteers. Violations of policy were also substantiated in all shortfall. One cut in particular has caught the of those complaints. nation’s attention. Starting last February, the city Investigations of sexual assaults by students at began shutting off up to 10,000 streetlights, or CC’s recent sexual misconduct history CC is handled by a small team of trained faculty just over 40% of all streetlights citywide. including Julie Houser, Associate Director of The decision to make the cuts came after vot- Campus Safety; Rochelle Mason, Interim Associ- ers rejected a city referendum to increase prop- ate Dean of Students; Kira Pasquesi, Outreach erty taxes last November, despite the fact that 2007 2008 2009 Program Coordinator and Greg Cappell, Associ- city residents pay historically low property taxes ate Director of Athletics. Cases typically go to compared to cities nationwide. Police, firefight- Total CC sexual Mason, who assigns an investigator, and then ers, city buses and other services are being cut, assaults 6 8 13 an adjudicator that is either Dean of Students along with the parks service, community centers Mike Edmonds or Assistant Vice President for and schools. The cuts, however, have found a On campus Advancement Diane Benninghoff makes a final large amount of support. City Council member 3 4 9 decision regarding discipline. Sean Paige called the cuts “Fantastic.” Off campus Houser said that she has conducted two in- Douglas Bruce, the author of Tabor, the 2 2 4 vestigations so far in 2010. She said the process taxpayer’s bill of rights, said about the financially Formal student includes meeting with all students involved, strapped community centers, “They inflate the misconduct com- gathering information objectively about the numbers of residents – the poor, the old and the plaints 4 5 2 students relationship, talking to any witnesses young – who rely on them. It’s the same with who could verify the situation or students’ state the buses. They are used by 1 per cent of the Formal faculty mis- of mind and then creating a report to send to people. It would be cheaper to buy them all cars.” conduct complaints 1 1 2 the adjudicator. The entire process may take Continued on page 11 Continued on page 3 2 April 23, 2010 News State of the Rockies Report Card released Joel Minor “I think that the most important thing I came However, farm structures in the Rockies Being accountable to more than yourself and Guest Writer away with from the summer research... was region are somewhat different than farms in a teacher for what’s in it is something students a deeper understanding of the role that the other regions. Because of the region’s overall aren’t used to,” Kolbe said. “Plus, it’s a good In what has become a hallmark of the spring at government plays in agriculture and the food aridity, average farm size tends to be geographi- way for CC students to see places outside of Colorado College each year, the seventh annual industry, from subsidies to immigration poli- cally larger than in the Midwest and California, Vail and the Wilderness Areas -- blue collar State of the Rockies Report Card was released cies.” the other principal agricultural regions of the places.” last week. The Report Card is the culmination Kolbe cited Wick’s work on the demograph- country. More land is needed to supply the Russell Clarke, a senior Economics major, of the annual State of the Rockies student/ ics of the agricultural industry as one of the same level of productivity possible in wetter agreed. faculty collaborative research experience, a highlights of this year’s report, noting that regions. “Being a State of the Rockies researcher was unique and high profile program in which CC female farm operators have increased by 257% In addition to larger farm size and a gradual a combination of being a researcher, a student, students research topics pertinent to the eight since 1987. movement towards organic and small farms, and being a citizen of the Rockies region,” he state Rockies region, report on their work, and “Part of this is changing gender roles and there is also a substantial concentration of said, “It was a great learning experience where engage the campus and greater Rockies com- getting away from the rural masculine identity. other alternatives to factory farm practices in you can build upon your existing knowledge and create a product that can be enjoyed by members of the Rockies region.” Wick shared Clarke’s enthusiasm.