Student Association members considered Tuesday the idea of assisting the SU R.A.P.E. Center by helping to ease some of the financial and emotional burdens of rape victims.

Assembly members Priya DeSouza, a sophomore political science major, and Meieli Sawyer, a sophomore fashion design major, stood before their fellow representatives with a request for financial support from the R.A.P.E. Center’s Janet Epstein, the center’s associate director.

The R.A.P.E. Center provides 24-hour emergency service and offers a rape exam, which tests a victim for forensic evidence. The service costs between $1,000 to $2,000 per exam, which can be a significant financial burden, DeSouza said.

Student victims can appeal to a Crime Victims Board to have the cost of the exam covered, Sawyer said. The option, however, isn’t optimal for rape victims’ psychological health.

‘It’s emotionally taxing,’ she said.

DeSouza explained that a fund to cover the cost of rape exams exists, but the money isn’t a reliable source of funding because it is entirely based on donations. She proposed unofficially that SA set up a fund ‘so a victim won’t have to explain why they need the money.’

Several members wanted to know, before committing money to the center, how much funding it was seeking.

Vice President Travis Mason, a sophomore political science and economics major, suggested that SA help with a fundraising effort, rather than give them money directly.

DeSouza and Sawyer plan to ask Epstein the specific amount of her request and the typical number of reported rapes on campus for SA’s meeting next Monday.

In other SA news:

n Comptroller Maggie Misztal recommended that SA members not adopt the newspaper readership program. The program would provide students with a free selection of different newspapers from across the United States and be paid for by students’ annual $139 activity fee. Misztal feels that the $78,000 cost was too substantial for SA’s $1.4 million budget.

n Drew Lederman asked members for their opinions on a matter regarding the SU directory. SU officials are considering taking out students’ home addresses and phone numbers for next year’s edition. Several members felt that it would be wise to pull the information, especially since the directory is nicknamed ‘the stalker book.’

Mason, though, added that with the Internet, it is easy to find out personal information in other ways.

Students can request not to have their home information printed in the directory with a written statement.

Published on January 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm