Raising awareness around campus

Women’s Resource Center staff speaks about Sexual Assault Awareness Month

By Katie Bresnahan

“[Sexual Assault Awareness month is] basically a month every year to raise consciousness on violence against women,” said Dr. Juli Parker, Director of the UMass Dartmouth Women’s Resource Center.

Parker explained that the purpose of Sexual Assault Awareness Month is to focus on educating women and preventing sexual assaults on college campuses. To do this, the Women’s Resource Center is focusing on the twenty-fifth anniversary of “the Big Dan Rape,” which took place at Big Dan’s, a New Bedford Bar. On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, they showed the movie The Accused, which tells the story of the Big Dan rape victim.

At the end of the month the Women’s Center will host a kick ball tournament along with the UMD Peer Health Educators. This event will raise money and awareness of sexual assault. They will also host a speaker who will talk about the Big Dan incident and bystander intervention and “how important it is, as community members, to intervene if you see something happening,” said Parker.

Sherrie André, a sophomore women’s studies major who works as the Women’s Rights Advocate at the Women’s Center added that they will table for Denim Day on April 15. On Denim Day, she explained, people wear jeans to remember a girl who was raped in Italy by her driving instructor. He claimed that her jeans were too tight for him to get them off himself so she had to help him. Because of this, he claimed it was not rape and he got away with the crime.

“We’re asking everyone to wear jeans that day in solidarity with other women and rape victims and people who are working to help end sexual assault,” added Parker.

André, who is also a part of the UMD Feminist Majority Leadership Association, added that the FMLA will be doing a passive marketing campaign. They will hang posters with statistics and women’s faces. They will say things like, “This could be your mother” and “This could be your sister.”

“One in four women are raped, and instead of just saying one in four, [we are] going to put faces on it in hoping that people will see that it could be anyone,” explained André.

Parker advises women, especially students, to be very clear on their personal boundaries. She says they should know how far they are willing to go with a man, especially when they are drinking. They should also know how much they have had to drink. “Before you go out with somebody, know how far you are willing to go, so that you’re always checking yourself and being truthful to what you want,” said Parker.

André reminds students to act sympathetic if rape victims approach them. Let them talk and do not be angry. Also, persons approached by rape victims should not act like they know what the victim is going through, because she explained, they do not. She also advises students to listen and not try to give advice.

To protect themselves from sexual assault, Parker recommends that women “be in touch with the buddy system. If you go to a party with a group of friends, you make agreements that you’re going to leave together.” Parker and André recommend dating and not just hooking-up, walking with keys between the knuckles, taking different routes when driving home and not putting whereabouts in an away message or on Facebook.

Both Parker and André advocate women learning to defend themselves. “I think that taking a self-defense class, especially taking RAD on campus, really helps build your self-esteem so that you tend to walk with confidence, you tend to do more things with confidence and you’re less likely to be a target if you look really confident,” said Parker. She added that self-defense causes women to be more aware of their surroundings.

“We really need men to be a part of this. Men need to be equally outraged about sexual assault and violence against women as women are,” stated Parker. She also offered advice for men. First, Parker advised men not to have sex with drunk women. She also said, “Men need to hold each other accountable. They need to be better about supporting each other to be good men. I think we’d be in a better position if men were more apt to do that.”

Parker also brought up the use of sexual assault hotlines and websites. The first of these sights was Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) which can be found at www.rainn.org. There is also an anonymous tracking form for sexual assaults at the Women’s Resource Center website. The purpose of this site is to get on-campus assault statistics without people having to report their assaults to Public Safety. This form can be found at http://www.umassd.edu/publicsafety/sexualassaultform/sexualassaultanonymousreport.cfm.

Students join fight against hunger

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. — Many assistance agencies in the Fall River and New Bedford area are finding it difficult to meet the needs of people when it comes to hunger.

Shelves are stocked during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons but come spring many food pantries and soup kitchens suffer from dwindling supplies, while the need remains the same.

Students involved in MassPIRG’s Hunger and Homelessness group decided to swing into action. “I want to do my part to give back to my community,” stated the Hunger and Homelessness Coordinator, Tho Pham.

In order to help meet the needs of those in hunger, members of MassPIRG and Iota Delta Nu Sorority participated in the Hunger Clean Up on Saturday, April 5. The Hunger Cleanup is a one-day service-a-thon, where students volunteer in the community and are also sponsored by friends and family.

This year, UMass Dartmouth volunteers helped out at the Dartmouth community farm. The Dartmouth farm is part of a project called “Sharing the Harvest,” a collaboration between the YMCA Southcoast and the United Way of Greater New Bedford.

Derek Christianson, one of the project’s coordinators, said the farm is hoping to produce 15,000 pounds of fresh produce, all of which will be donated to area food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding programs.

The Hunger Clean Up participants raised over $800 through a variety of fundraisers, including a Spare Change Drive and the Hoops for Hunger basketball tournament.

Half of the money raised will go to the United Way of Greater New Bedford to buy food for local shelters and soup kitchens.

The other half will be pooled together with other universities across the country to support a national staff of homelessness policy experts. It will also go toward international organizations that will use the money to buy a year’s supply of emergency medical supplies and food for 30,000 refugees in Darfur, Sudan, and provide educational support for hundreds of at-risk girls in Zimbabwe.

Amanda Rollins, who helped organize the Hunger Clean Up said, “Students have the capacity to truly make a difference and that is what we are trying to do.”

Meet the people behind the badges

By Stephanie Luz

On Tuesday, April 8, the Frederick Douglas Unity House held an event called “The Person Behind the Badge” - the last event of the three-part series titled “Public Safety Forum: Building Relationships and Breaking Down Barriers.”

Officers Lisa Cabral, Damon Gomes and Sergeant John Sousa talked about their lives before working at UMass Dartmouth’s Public Safety headquarters. Each had very different backgrounds and experiences. The officers hope that sharing personal experiences will create a better community.

Officer Cabral explained her life before becoming a police officer, “I came from a strict Portuguese family… my curfew was eleven o’clock.” Cabral explained that her heritage has proved difficult in her development as a policewoman. She said, “At my age, I am already supposed to be married and have children,” according to the traditional values of her parents. Cabral said the challenge of breaking the stereotype has pushed her along in the career instead of inhibiting it.

A soldier in the United States Army for eight years, Officer Gomes has finally found his place at UMass Dartmouth. “I could have done a lot of other things besides working here but I like it here. I see a lot of familiar faces whenever I walk around campus; I like being on campus… I like to see the student body grow from freshmen… to seniors.” Gomes took the rank of Sergeant and was stationed at different parts of the world such as Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sergeant John Souza has been part of UMass Dartmouth Public Safety since 1998. Souza was born and raised in New Bedford, graduated New Bedford High School in 1984, and attended Bridgewater State College with a major in Marketing. Souza had a wide range of occupations throughout his lifetime ranging from a “million dollar salesmen” to fishermen.

Souza talked about the S.L.A.M. program, which stands for Student Learning a Message. “I’m hoping that after twenty-five years of doing this that someone will have heard the message… The message is very clear: you abuse alcohol, [or] you abuse drugs, it’s going to ruin your dreams.”

The Public Safety officers are hoping to continue these student outreach programs. The Frederick Unity House is just one of the many programs and activities that officers are using to create connections with the campus community. Souza said “Working closely with the students, getting to know people, creating unity” is one of the greatest positive experiences he has had at UMass Dartmouth.

topics in mental health

How to cope with social drama

Oh my gosh, did you hear that Justin hooked up with Caitlyn at Ross’s party on Saturday? But then the cops came and everyone had to leave and Ross wanted to beat up Justin, and then Julie was so mad about everything that she blocked Caitlyn online and put up a really sad away message and everyone got really worried, and now none of Julie’s friends will even talk to Justin or Caitlyn! And since Caitlyn’s my roommate it’s really awkward and we don’t even talk now but she cries all the time and I feel really bad but I don’t know what to do...

If you have ever had a conversation like this one, chances are you have felt drawn into and probably overwhelmed by the drama in your social life. Is it possible to have friends and a social life, but not this kind of drama? How do you do this? In this article I will talk about some ways to minimize your participation in social drama and also minimize its impact on you (when your friends are involved).

First of all, it is important to define “social drama” as opposed to normal socializing or relationships. Where normal socializing can involve spending time with other people, talking about all kinds of topics (including yourself), listening to your friends do the same, and addressing any conflicts that arise directly and assertively, “drama” is something different.

The drama usually comes in when people start to talk about other people (instead of themselves or their own lives), become overly concerned with what other people do, say or think, and make verbal judgments or criticisms of others. It also arises when people get angry with each other and, instead of dealing with their conflicts directly, they engage in passive-aggressive vengeful behaviors.

Minimizing your participation in social drama can dramatically reduce your stress level and allow you to enjoy your social life and friends a lot more. Doing this is fairly simple (but not necessarily easy). It requires you to refrain from gossiping and act assertively in the face of conflict. Translated into specific behaviors, this means being really careful about what you say and how you say it. When you talk to your friends, make sure that you’re talking about yourself; your thoughts, feelings, actions and even reactions are all fair game for conversation.

If someone does something that upsets you and you feel like you need to process your feelings about it with another friend, make sure that you stay focused on your feelings and not on making judgments or criticisms about the person who triggered your distress. For example, instead of saying “Can you believe she said that? What a b —-ch!”, you might say, “When she said ____, I got really upset and now I’m not sure what to do.” Most of the time, if you’re upset enough about something to need to talk about it, what you’re really seeking is someone to understand and validate your feelings. Having your friend bad-mouth the person who wronged you might feel good temporarily but doesn’t actually help you in the long run.

The other part of minimizing your involvement in social drama is acting more assertively. This means recognizing and clearly communicating your needs and feelings to other people. If someone does something that hurts or upsets you, instead of telling everyone else about it, consider talking to that person directly. Let them know what they did and how you felt about it without attacking or blaming. Just state the facts. This preserves your integrity and also respects the integrity of those around you. Being able to communicate assertively with your friends and romantic partners is one of the key ways to reduce social drama. When you’re assertive, there’s nothing to gossip about!

But let’s be honest here, you can be as careful as possible never to gossip and to speak assertively but if your friends aren’t doing the same thing, you can get drawn into the drama anyway. How can you minimize the impact of other people’s drama on your life and relationships?

One of the key ways to do this is learning to keep your mouth shut. Just listen! If one of your friends is upset about something and is getting dramatic about it, you can listen to what (s)he has to say without engaging the drama aspect. After you’ve listened to what your friend says, you might ask questions like, “So what are you going to do?” or “So how does this affect you personally?” Helping your friends refocus on themselves is a gentle way to point out that they weren’t doing that initially.

You can also say this more directly to people; you might let people know that you are trying not to engage in gossip and that, if you hear other people doing it, you won’t participate. Remember, bonding with someone through bad-mouthing someone else is not a real or lasting bond.

Another way to minimize the impact of drama in your life is learning to limit your contact with people who you know tend to engender chaos. We all know those people who seem to bring drama with them wherever they go. Being polite and civil to these people but making sure not to share anything personal or spend too much time with them might be the best way to proceed if you really want to reduce the drama in your own life.

Part of reducing social drama and its impact on your life is changing your attitude. Remember that, even if it doesn’t look that way, we’re all doing the best we can. Everyone wants the same thing—to be loved, respected, and connected to other people. It’s just that people don’t always go about it in effective ways.

So next time someone starts gossiping, acting passive-aggressively, or just generally being dramatic, remind yourself that what they really want is love and attention. Thinking about it in this way can limit the distress it causes you and can shift your focus to being kind to the other person rather than critical. Finding healthy ways to get love, respect, and attention without undue social drama is the life-long task we all face.

If you are having trouble managing social drama in your life, please contact the Counseling Center at x8650 for help. If you have questions or comments about the information presented in this article, please direct emails to rachel.lively@umassd.edu.

Rachel Lively, Psy.D.
Counseling Center

State of the Queer Nation

Saskatchewan MP apologizes for slurs

On the one hand we have apologies, videos, 17 years and old straight folks. But on the other hand there are predecessors, really important jobs and politics. Pardon the cliché, but aren’t there always two sides to every story?

Tom Lukiwski, Saskatchewan MP (Member of Parliament) said that he “could never apologize enough for the ‘shameless’ homophobic slurs he made on a 1991 videotape, and he struggles to understand why he ever made the comments in the first place.” The Canadian MP admitted that “the only explanation [he] can give is that [he] was stupid, thoughtless and insensitive [and that they] do not reflect his personal beliefs[and he] will spend the rest of [his] career and [his] life trying to make up for those shameless comments.”

Even with the apology, some are still calling for Lukiwski’s termination. Last Friday, gay Liberal MP Scott Brison and Saskatchewan legislator Pat Atkinson, whose NDP party discovered the tape, both stated their feelings on keeping Lukiwski in the Parliament. “’Allowing him to remain an officer of the House debases this institution,’ Brison said in the House. ‘The prime minister’s tepid response tells Canadians that hate, bigotry and prejudice are just fine.’”

“Atkinson said she believes Prime Minister Stephen Harper should strip Lukiwski of his duties, just like Harper did to Lukiwski’s predecessor, Larry Spencer, when Spencer made a homophobic comment in 2003. ‘I think Mr. Spencer made an apology, too, and it wasn’t acceptable to Mr. Harper,’ Atkinson told CBC News on Friday. ‘Is one apology more acceptable than another apology? The reality is that Mr. Lukiwski made homophobic remarks… I think there needs to be some consistency for Mr. Harper. If there isn’t… it really raises the question as to why not.’”

So what kind of remarks were these? The tape that held the alleged comment was filmed in 1991 when Lukiwski and “his colleagues were socializing the night of an election debate.” On the videotape the cameraman was heard calling Lukiwski “old.” “’As we say on tour, I may be old, but I’m f —-ing A,’ Lukiwski responded. The cameraman retorted: ‘And who is this A person?’ ‘Well, let me put it to you this way. There’s A’s and there’s B’s. The A’s are guys like me. The B’s are homosexual faggots with dirt on their fingernails that transmit diseases,’ Lukiwski said.”

House leader Peter Van Loan said, “The party believes Lukiwski’s apology was genuine and sincere. ‘We are satisfied the apology is genuine. We believe the matter is closed,’ he told MPs in the House.’ During his apology, Lukiwski said that he “will never forget the member’s generosity and kindness.”

Source: “‘I was stupid, thoughtless and insensitive’: MP on gay slur”

http://web02.nm.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2008/04/04/tape-follow.html

Melanie Correia
Secretary
Pride Alliance

Greening the campus

UMD Office of Sustainability gears up for Earth Week 2008

A group of students has been working hard to put together an inspiring schedule for Earth Week. In addition to tie-dyeing, films, and Captain Planet Palooza, several presentations are scheduled for the Library Browsing Area. Descriptions of some of these presentations follow. We’ll post the entire schedule next week.

Tuesday, April 22: 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Tim Keating of Rainforest Relief will present Rainforests in Your Shopping Cart.

The human-caused loss of rainforests is the greatest ecological catastrophe to have befallen Earth in the last 65 million years. Estimates of the current loss of species due to the loss of tropical forests range from 100 to 450 unique forms of life becoming extinct each and every day.

In a unique and unforgettable 90 minutes, Rainforests in Your Shopping Cart explores these issues and their solutions. Time Keating, environmental scientist, naturalist and director of Rainforest Relief for ten years, presents on the realities of the rainforest like no one else in the country.

With images of the forests and their wildlife, Tim discusses the beauty and wonder of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. With images of rainforest destruction, Tim shows the connection between demand for key materials and products, and the loss of Earth’s biological ‘playground’.

Rainforests in Your Shopping Cart will compel audiences to take a hard look at the demands we all place on the world’s natural areas and hopefully, to reduce their consumption of products that lead to the destruction of rainforests.

Tuesday, April 22: 7 p.m.

On Tuesday evening, Richard Heinberg, author of numerous books including Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines, will present in the Library Browsing area at 7 p.m. Heinberg is one of the world’s foremost experts on peak oil and its impact on industrial society. He is a Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute in California and is internationally renowned as a leader and educator in awakening publics to the impending energy declines as we enter the post-carbon era. He writes a regular column for The Ecologist and has authored scores of articles that have appeared in such periodicals as The American Prospect, Public Policy Research, Quarterly Review, Z Magazine, Resurgence, The Futurist, European Business Review, Earth Island Journal, Alternative Press Review, and The Sun; and on websites such as EnergyBulletin.net, GlobalPublicMedia.com, ProjectCensored.com, Counterpunch.com, and Alternet.org.

Come to learn about the end of cheap energy and what that means for us locally, nationally, and internationally.

Thursday, Aug. 24: 12:30 to 2 p.m.

California activist Van Jones will conduct a Green Jobs Forum.

Jones, co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, is working to combine solutions to America’s two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. Over the past five years, Jones has emerged as a national environmental leader advocating for “green-collar jobs.” The “Green Jobs” sector is the fastest growing in the U.S. economy and will be worth $400 billion by this time next year. Thus, the emerging Green Economy presents an incredible opportunity to connect the people who most need work with the work that most needs to be done. Jones writes, “The chief moral obligation of the 21st Century is to build a green economy that is strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Those communities that were locked out of the last century’s pollution-based economy must be locked into the new, clean and renewable economy. Our youth need green-collar jobs, not jails.” Come to hear Jones and to discuss ways that our communities and region can be part of the ‘green for all’ economy.

See this space next week for a complete Earth Week schedule.

Susan Jenkins
Interim Director
Office of Campus and Community Sustainability