Education is key to halting rape

It's about time the campus community addresses the topic that affects students most: real life.

Unfortunately, violent crime is part of real life, and rape is part of that grim picture. National statistics report that one of every four university students have either been raped or been through an attempted rape.

Just look at the students around you and think about that. Extrapolating from these stats, one quarter of the student body at the University of Arizona has been on the receiving end of a sexual attack.

Associated Students of the University of Arizona and Kappa Sigma fraternity is sponsoring a date rape forum tonight.

They should be commended for their attention to this issue. Rape should never happen, but the fact is it does, and education is a step in the right direction.

Part of awareness is addressing the problem, and the forum tonight will do that. Hopefully the campus community will turn out to discuss a topic that effects everyone, directly or not. Yet meetings like these do not reach the whole campus audience.

Several groups at UA conduct rape awareness seminars, usually in Greek houses and residence halls. While this is certainly better than ignoring the problem, it is a band-aid solution.

University life does not stop at academics, but includes "life lessons." In order to produce thoughtful, well-rounded students education must include interpersonal relations, alcohol and drug awareness, sexuality courses and crime prevention.

One way to do this is to implement an across-the-board program, maybe even within the new core curriculum proposal, which all incoming freshmen would be required to take. Or find another campus-wide way to address the problem.

Until then, the students, faculty, administrators and others must continue and support these forums and erradicate all forms of rape from our university community.

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