By Jenny Arnold
Arizona Daily Wildcat
May 6, 1998

People must be held accountable

To the Editor:

In his article "Sexual Assault Must be Reported( Apr. 28)", Bryon Wells fails to address some important issues surrounding sexual assault on this campus. Though I was not at the sorority party where the 19-year-old UA student was slipped the "roofies," I was contacted after the party and drove the student to the hospital (St. Mary's not UMC). The student remained courageous throughout the ordeal and it was later determined that she had in fact been drugged.When the university police arrived in the student's dorm room and found her "drunk and unconscious" no tests were done for "roofies" or any other drug that she may have been given. The student was cited for possession of alcohol and, though she exhibited signs of a drugged victim, the authorities neglected to even take her to a hospital for an exam. Why aren't the university officials trained to recognize signs of a drug-induced state? And if they are, why didn't "the university police officer and emergency medical technicians" pursue this matter beyond reprimanding the student for breaking the law?

Also, my understanding is that the sorority sponsored this "date party" which was catered with alcohol from a local proprietor. Considering that the majority of sorority members are not of legal drinking age, how is such an To have an organization sponsor such an event and then "refus[e] to comment about the organization's policies promoting awareness of such dangers" after one of its members has been violated is reprehensible. Alpha Phi was not responsible for this student being drugged however they are responsible for promoting an activity which is both illegal and dangerous for their "sisters". A critical examination of the Greek system on this campus is long overdue.

Finally, I would like to remind your readers that women are not just "drugged" or "raped". Men drug and rape women. Let's not lose sight of the issues here. By placing all of the focus on the women we lose sight of who is committing these crimes which makes it easy for people to place blame on the victim. A woman who is drugged did not ask for it. A woman who was raped did not deserve it. The men who commit these crimes must be held accountable for their actions.

Jenny Arnold
Women's Studies
Graduate Student