Administration: Cosmopolitan article unfair
By MYRA McGRIFF
News Writer
Members of the Saint Mary's and Notre Dame administrations voiced concerns regarding an article in the March issue of Cosmopolitan magazine that hit stands Wednesday detailing the alleged rape of a Saint Mary's student by a Notre Dame student.
The article titled "Danger in the Dorm" detailed the story of Saint Mary's junior Sarah Alter who said she was raped her freshman year on Saint Mary's campus.
Although the article portrayed Alter's story, members of the College and University administration felt their side of the story got lost in the final cut of the article.
"I spent an hour talking to Carol Huang [the article's author] and she chose not to use our information," said Bill Kirk, assistant vice president of Student Affairs at Notre Dame. "I did not think it was a terribly fair article."
Melanie Engler of the Saint Mary's public relations office agreed.
Engler said she thought the story did more harm than good and said she was concerned that both campus' administrations were talked to and not quoted. The article was "irresponsible journalism," she said, because once it has been published, many people can read it and it is nearly impossible for members of the administration to counteract damage that may have been done by the article.
"You can write letters to the editor or send e-mails to the reporter but who is to say that the same people that read that magazine will read the other with the retraction statement," said Engler.
The idea that nothing can be done about the Cosmopolitan article concerns people in administration. According to people in the Residence Life office at Saint Mary's, there is a specific procedure that is followed in assault cases. A procedure that many feel was not touched upon in the Cosmopolitan article.
"If a student wants to report the assault to security they can and security performs an investigation," said Dana North, director of Residence Life at Saint Mary's. "From there a student can choose to prosecute. But we are here as a support system for the student."
Though not able to talk specifically about Alter's case, Linda Timm, Saint Mary's vice president of Student Affairs and Mary DePauw, director of Career and Counseling at Saint Mary's discussed the procedure of rape cases.
Timm and DePauw said officials from the office of Student Affairs encourage students to report any case of sexual assault. Along with encouraging a student to come, the office gives guidelines that are followed when such an assault case is known.
"When we are notified of an assault we put the campus on alert," said Timm.
Knowing her story hit newsstands on Wednesday, Alter said she did not tell her story to make her rape only a Saint Mary's and Notre Dame issue.
She said that she told her story to break the silence of rape victims everywhere, not just to draw attention to the need for adjusting the rape and assault policies at Saint Mary's and Notre Dame.
"I know there is a lot of negative feedback out there but if my story can relate to someone in Oklahoma and help them come forward, then that's good," said Alter.
All News Stories for Friday, February 23, 2001
