December 1995: Volume 9, Number 2

Taking a Proactive Approach to Personal Safety

by Professor Steve Chermak


I should first admit my naivete to the ways of gardening. My ignorance forced me, about three years ago, to be apprehensive in accepting an invitation to baby-sit a geranium. With some coaxing, however, a graduate student who was about to take a leave from the university convinced me to give gardening a go.

I worked hard at my new-found hobby. Each day, before tackling the tasks of a faculty member, I was sure to quench my plant's thirst with a healthy dose of H2O. I was dumbfounded when my once thriving plant started to wither away. "I must add more water," I thought. Doing so, as anyone with a green thumb might imagine, resulted in the near extinction of my plant. I'm sure the plant was in the last few minutes of its life when a friend suggested that I try replanting it and watering it in moderation.

My problems as a gardener are not unlike our preferred response to community safety dilemmas. When crime rates escalate or when celebrated media events occur, we think we should add more water: more police, more law, and more prison. Our narrow focus forces us to invest an incredible amount of resources in one specific area of safety needs (admittedly an important area of concern), but this investment affects the resources of other important areas. The attention of the media and the public on the recent series of break-ins and sexual assaults is illustrative.

The Bloomington police did an admirable job apprehending the suspect. The Indiana University Police Department was impressive in their willingness to get accurate information out about the assaults. We should note, however, that we are commending their ability to react to crime. Before the suspect's apprehension, many people were directly affected by the crimes and an even larger number were indirectly impacted by the feelings of vulnerability it brought to the surface. The suggestion of adding more police may indeed increase the efficiency of the police in reacting to community and campus crimes (of course there is value in this), but we should also promote proactive responses to crime. Groups that try to prevent victimization using education or by providing direct treatment to victims are equally important to the accomplishment of safety objectives. This issue of the Majority Report provides a sample of the programs and individuals actively involved in preventing crime and limiting its impact in our community. Although not as visible as the police, these programs are some of the hidden strengths of our community's response to safety.

The media's coverage of the recent wave of burglaries and sexual assaults has increased our sensitivity to the vulnerabilities caused by the threat of crime. It shouldn't take an assault or a series of assaults to do this. Campus life is wonderful: freedom, intellectual growth, and diversity. Campus life is also dangerous. Simple steps, like locking an apartment door, putting curtains in a window, walking in well-lighted areas and in groups, can help prevent crimes from occurring.

Several on- and off-campus organizations work to make sure that the crime prevention information gets to the public. For example, the Office for Woman's Affair's Peer Presenter Program educates students about sexual assault and date rape; Middle Way House provides, among many other services, educational resources to community members about domestic violence; and the Commission on Personal Safety includes education as part of its mandate.

Another important concern is the effective treatment of victims. One of the most significant benefits of the victims' rights movement is an increased sensitivity to the treatment needs of victims. Research indicates that the psychological effects of victimization can be as debilitating as the physical effects. Victims who are emotionally scarred from crime can be overwhelmed with fear, disbelief, shock, guilt, and shame. The Sexual Assault Crisis Service (SACS), available 24 hours a day to all students, faculty, and staff, provides assistance, information, and counseling to victims of sexual assault. Middle Way House is located off campus and provides treatment services to survivors of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault 24 hours a day. SACS and Middle Way House focus on the needs of the victim, providing emotional support and counseling to help victims recover from their traumatization.

Not only can victims be overwhelmed by the emotional impacts of crime, but they can also be overwhelmed by the criminal justice process. The criminal justice system is complex and intimidating, especially for those with limited exposure to it. Groups such as the Protective Order Project help victims cut through the complexity of the justice system, helping them manage the process.

I would like to conclude with the status of my geranium. Part of my geranium is dead. But from its base it grows new life. As I write, three beautiful flowers are in bloom. When traumatized by crime, part of a victim's life is lost forever. However, with the help of the groups mentioned herein and others, with continued focus on prevention, education, and treatment, we can expect that more victims will be reborn and blossom.

Steve Chermak, Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, recently completed a book explaining how crime victims are portrayed in the media.

Common-sense Safety Tips for the Workplace and the Home

In 1993, Indiana University, Bloomington, was ranked as one of the top five "most scenic college campuses in the U.S." The report added that "Little Red Riding Hood would be quite at home on campus." Such praise for the pastoral charm of this campus is welcomed. Yet we must remember to be careful and keep our own safety in mind whenever we go out. (Even Little Red Riding Hood could have benefitted from good common sense.) With that in mind, we offer the following suggestions for addressing your own personal safety in the workplace, traveling to and from the workplace, and at home. Some of these tips are based on Human Resource presentations by IUPD officers Bill McClain, Jerry Minger, and Janice Gawley.

Safety in the workplace:


Safety between home and the workplace:


Safety at home:


Contributed by IUB Commission on Personal Safety members Cindy Stone, Physical Plant Training Specialist and Linda Hunt, Director of Finance and Operations in the Office of the Vice President for Administration.

Campus Counseling for Survivors

The Sexual Assault Crisis Service (SACS), staffed by professional counselors, is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to all students, faculty, staff and other members of the IU community. The staff provides treatment, referral to safe shelter, and information on legal avenues. Group counseling is also available. Services are available to male and female victims of sexual assault (including rape, attempted rape, incest, and childhood sexual abuse) and their significant others. There is no charge for the services.

Educational programs and outreach are additional important components of SACS. The Sexual Assault Crisis Service staff present workshops, lectures, and forums on the various issues related to sexual assault and personal safety in a variety of settings on and off campus. SACS is actively involved in the Commission on Personal Safety and co-chairs the steering committee for Rape Awareness Week.

To contact the SACS 24-hour crisis line, call 855-8900; to schedule an appointment or program, call 855-5711.

From the Dean

When I first joined the Office for Women's Affairs more than two years ago, I knew little about the Commission on Personal Safety or other safety efforts chronicled here --my loss. The Commission was established in 1987 by the Chancellor of the Bloomington campus to address issues that have a direct bearing on the personal safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors to the Bloomington campus.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Dick McKaig and I co-chair the Commission, but much of the Commission's work is accomplished by its three subcommittees: Education, Communication & Policy, and Physical Facilities & Services. The Education subcommittee takes the lead in planning the annual Rape Awareness Week, publishes various information handbooks, sponsors speakers, holds forums, and conducts workshops on issues relevant to sexual assault. The Communication & Policy subcommittee formulates safety policies and reporting mechanisms, publishes a safety brochure (Toward an Even Safer Campus) with campus safety map, and provides information to the campus on safety issues. The Facilities & Services subcommittee works with IUSA's Safety Escort Service and transportation services, conducts night tours of the campus, and provides leadership on facilities issues such as emergency telephones and campus lighting. I have learned a lot working with this group of committed faculty, staff, and students.

Nearly every conversation I have today about personal safety on the Bloomington campus includes a call for more phones and more lights. In the eight years since the creation of the Commission on Personal Safety, we have made tremendous strides in installing new lights and phones, expanding services for students traveling at night, and mainstreaming safety issues in general policy or planning discussions. And we still have areas of the campus that need more lights, more phones, more services. But if, as statistics reveal, most threats to personal safety come from people we know at home or at work, we need more than emergency phones or lights. Instead, we need to develop an attitude of self-confidence, to learn to speak our minds, and to take a proactive approach to our own personal safety.

As Steve Chermak's front-page article points out, many Bloomington programs provide services and education about personal safety that speak to both the logistical and emotional aspect of personal safety. I enjoy being a part of that enterprise; as I said, I have learned a lot. If you would like to volunteer or simply to know more, please contact the Commission on Personal Safety at 855-3849.

Affirmative Action and Talk Radio

Several months ago we were invited by a local talk-radio station to spend two hours answering listeners' questions about affirmative action. We were apprehensive, especially when we discovered that Rush Limbaugh was our lead-in, and braced ourselves for hostile calls. But while many of the callers were frustrated, and a few were angry, the questions they asked reflected the concerns of many people in our country. In fact, their questions got to the heart of the current debate. What follows is not a transcript, but we have tried to be faithful to the spirit of the original questions.

Caller #1: Hasn't affirmative action done its job? And by extension, are we not hurting white men unreasonably at this point?

G & G: When arguing that affirmative action "has done its job," people like to point to Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, and other success stories. What we ought to be doing is looking at the average, basically qualified individual and asking whether he or she is being denied opportunity because of race or sex.

A quick look at relative unemployment rates undermines the notion that women and minorities have made up the gap created by years of discrimination and that white men are suffering disproportionately. Unemployment among white men runs at a rate of about one-third to one-half that of African Americans and Latinos. And while employment rates among women (especially white women) have jumped dramatically, we need to look closely at where women are employed. Women currently hold about sixty percent of low-wage jobs and less than ten percent of high-wage jobs.

Caller #2: Statistically, affirmative action hasn't done much to help the poorest members of the African American community. So isn't it a failure?

G & G: That affirmative action has generally benefitted the middle class proves that there is more, not less, work to be done. Especially given the increasing need for computer literacy in the workplace, we must extend our affirmative action efforts to education, helping to provide all members of the community with the skills they need to become qualified job applicants.

Caller #3: Affirmative action causes us to lower standards. We aren't looking for the best applicant; we are looking for a woman or a minority. Shouldn't we be looking for the very best, the most qualified applicant without regard to race or sex?

G & G: In fact, affirmative action requires that we set standards and that those standards be job-related. Our first goal is to expand the pool of qualified applicants through advertisement and recruiting. Then, from that pool we will select a candidate. Under affirmative action, where there is underrepresentation, race or sex may be one factor--but not the only one--in determining the best person for the job. In any hiring process, whether an affirmative action program is in place or not, the final decision should be a choice among qualified applicants. The fact that a qualified applicant is turned down for a job does not mean that an unqualified applicant was hired.

Caller #4: Isn't it fundamentally un-American to be treating people as groups, rather than individuals?

G & G: It's true that affirmative action is aimed at groups, groups that have been discriminated against by law. Remember, people were not denied equal access as individuals but as groups.

Caller #5: My son was fired from a job because they needed to hire a minority. Doesn't that mean that there should be affirmative action for his children--since they are descendants of an oppressed person?

G & G: If the caller's son was fired for this reason, then his rights were violated. But that is not the fault of affirmative action. On the contrary, it is an example of poor management. Businesses are not allowed to use termination or lay-offs to reach their affirmative action goals, as that would create an unreasonable burden on white men. As for the suggestion that the son's children should be beneficiaries of affirmative action, it misses the point that we are addressing larger issues of discrimination against groups. It's worth noting that if these children are daughters, they will benefit regardless.

Were we to go back on the radio today, it would be to tell listeners about a recent survey conducted by Organization Resources Counselors, Inc. More than one hundred forty corporate chief executive officers, many of them from Fortune 500 companies, were quizzed about the future of affirmative action. "What will you do," they were asked, "if the government ends voluntary affirmative action?" Seventy-three percent of respondents said that their companies would maintain their affirmative action programs regardless of the decision of the federal government. One CEO after another explained that affirmative action improves the management of human resources.

Laura Galloway is Associate Director of the Office of Affirmative Action. John Guenther is Coordinator of Student Mediation Services in the Student Advocates Office.

It Takes Teamwork to Get the Job Done

One of Pam Freeman's colleagues recalls first meeting her when she was presenting at a workshop he was attending: "I forget who introduced her, but the rehearsal of her responsibilities took at least fifteen minutes. That was several years ago, and for a long time I was impressed by how much Pam does. It is only now that I work with her that I realize the truly impressive thing is how well she does it. She has an uncanny ability to keep distinct the many parts of her job, to be very clear when she is speaking for the Commission on Multicultural Understanding or the Racial Incidents Team or Student Ethics. That can be a fine line to walk. She does it with extraordinary grace and without caffeinated coffee!

Pam Freeman is the Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Office of Student Ethics and Anti-harassment Programs at Indiana University. Within that capacity, she does indeed do many jobs, one of which is to oversee the campus judicial system. The list of her service on University committees, task forces, and other special assignments takes up a full three pages of her CV. This list includes Freeman's current roles as Chair of the Commission on Multicultural Understanding, Co-chair of the Racial Incidents Team, Co-chair of the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Anti-harassment Team, Education Subcommittee Co-chair and member of the Executive Committee of the Commission on Personal Safety, and Chair of the Universi- ty Police Department Advisory Board.

Freeman says that she "likes playing a role in starting things--developing an idea, getting it organized, figuring out how to implement it, and then watching the idea take hold." Before she changed her career focus from home economics (she holds an M.S. in Vocational Home Economics Education, and an Ed.D. in Educational Administration and Supervision), Freeman taught the first all-male, high school home economics class in Florida. After her family moved to Bloomington in the early 1980s, she happened to meet then-Dean of Students Michael Gordon through her continuing avocation as a church organist. Dean Gordon encouraged her to apply for a position in his office which involved developing the Student Advocate's Office. She is delighted to see the office thriving and doing such good work. Freeman was also instrumental in starting the Campus View Child Care Center, the first child-care facility on campus that caters specifically to students' needs. And the incident teams--the Racial Incidents and GLB Anti-harassment Team --are a first not only for this campus, but for campuses across the country.

Freeman thinks the team approach is the most effective one for dealing with incidents of racism and homophobia: "Incidents that are motivated by hate toward a particular group of people take so many different forms and can be so complex that just to say all the reports should go to one person is unrealistic. One person could not come up with the best responses. Not only are the perpetrators of those incidents representing a wide variety of people, the victims are as well. I love approaching these things as a team where you can sit down together and say "How about this? Does this sound right? Will any of these ideas work?"

Other campuses across the country are beginning to adopt IU's team-approach model for dealing with hate crimes and incidents of harassment.

Freeman also brings a team approach to office management, and she thinks of her staff as colleagues. She says that "a lot of heartache comes walking through the door," and each staff member plays an important role in problem resolution. Doug Bauder, Coordinator of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Student Support Services, which is part of the Office of Student Ethics and Anti-harassment Programs, notes that he can't think of anyone on campus he would prefer as a supervisor:

Working with Pam is a joy! She has a fairly relaxed style, but keeps us on task with her fine memory and attention to detail, her high ethical standards, and her good sense of humor. What continues to impress me is that, after dealing with some pretty heavy issues for some years now, she continues to have a wonderful sense of compassion and continues to communicate an abiding hope in the value of education.

Does burn-out lurk just around the corner for someone who works so intensively with such difficult problems? While Freeman notes that she has been on the job for ten years, and has attended a few workshops on burn-out, she tries to concentrate on the worthwhile things she has achieved and "not get depressed" about all the things she feels she should have accomplished. She recognizes the need to step outside the job, to maintain a private life, and to believe in and be patient with the process within which her office works.

In fact, when asked what it takes to do her job, Freeman unhesitatingly responds that, above all, the job requires PATIENCE. It takes patience to deal with people who are in conflict or denial and to rise above the anger and flare-ups. It takes patience to listen. "It takes patience," says Freeman, "not to provide a victim with an easy solution when you are very busy and see a chance to get something off your desk. That kind of response does not empower the victim. One of the most important things about working with victims is to help them feel in control again."

--Susan Moke

Protective Order Project: Assisting victims of Domestic Violence.

A protective order can be a very important tool for someone who is dealing with domestic violence. These court orders prohibit an abuser from any further contact with his or her victim; this includes physical contact, telephone calls or letters, and indirect contact through third parties. A civil protective order can help protect an individual from further domestic abuse by giving police cause to intervene before another event of violence occurs. Because a protective order is a civil action requiring a lower burden of proof, such orders are available in many situations where a prosecutor may have insufficient evidence to file criminal charges against an abuser.

The Protective Order Project is a volunteer student organization designed to assist victims of violence in obtaining civil protective orders. The Project was started by law professor Lauren Robel and law student Jennifer Payne to fill the gap in legal services available to victims of domestic violence, many of whom cannot afford to retain an attorney and are thus faced with the daunting prospect of proceeding alone through a legal system they perceive as overwhelmingly complex and intimidating.

Law students assist clients through all parts of the process by gathering information, drafting documents, filing petitions, and accompanying clients to their hearings. Student volunteers work with volunteer attorneys from the Bloomington community who endorse all documents and advocate for the client in court. The Project currently has 65 students and 15 attorneys assisting clients.

Attorney representation is important for everyone seeking a protective order. Representation helps ensure clients receive all of the remedies they are entitled to under Indiana law. For married clients this can include evicting the abuser from jointly owned or leased property, preventing the abuser from spending money in joint bank accounts or credit cards, and ordering the abuser to pay child support or spousal maintenance.

The Protective Order Project is affiliated with the IU School of Law and charges no fees for services. The Project defines domestic abuse as violence in any type of intimate or familial relationship--husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, parent/child, and does not require that clients be living in the same house as their abuser. If you or a friend would like more information, call the Project at 855-9229.

Contributed by Cyndi Bauerly, student director of the Protective Order Project, a second-year law student, and OWA's Coordinator of Diversity and Leadership Programming.

Middle Way House: Community Programs and Services

Middle Way House provides services to survivors of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault. Middle Way's domestic violence shelter offers a safe space, nutritious meals, other daily necessities, and empowerment-based programming to abused women and their dependent children. In addition to temporary shelter, Middle Way provides a wide range of support services.

Professional staff are on call 24 hours a day every day of the year to provide immediate crisis intervention. Crisis Line staff offer a sympathetic ear, arrange for emergency transportation, make referrals, and provide information relevant to abuse, its treatment, and prevention. Middle Way's Rape Crisis Center provides advocacy, support, and information to primary and secondary survivors of rape, incest, and sexual assault. A twelve-week support group covers key issues for rape survivors. Speakers are available for all audiences. Call 336-0846 for the 24-hour crisis line, or for administration call 333-7404.

Middle Way also provides case management and support groups for victims of domestic violence, a parenting program, children's programming, on-call/on-scene 24-hour advocacy, and legal advocacy. The Community Resource Center of Middle Way House provides the entire community with access to educational resources concerning issues relevant to the shelter and promotes nonviolent living through workshops, films, videos, and print materials.

Students Educate Students about Personal Safety

These statistics are familiar to every Peer Presenter at Indiana University:

Peer Presenter volunteers are undergraduate and graduate men and women from various schools and degree programs who share a dedication to educating other students about acquaintance rape. The Office for Women's Affairs, which launched the Peer Presenter Program in 1988, trains presenters to facilitate presentations about rape and gender communication.

The Peer Presenter Program addresses much more than rape statistics alone. Because the focus of the program is on gender communication as a means of preventing acquaintance rape, and because many of the student audiences are comprised of both men and women, the presentations are normally given by male-female pairs. Part of the presentation involves showing a short video, such as Playing the Game, which gives audience members a look at acquaintance rape from the perspective of the survivor and the perpetrator. The Peer Presenters then lead a group discussion about some of the issues highlighted by the video. Students discuss the effects of gender communication, gender stereotyping, and alcohol consumption as these factors relate to rape prevention.

Peer presentations are most typically requested for residence hall students or other student groups including fraternities and sororities. Peer presentations have also been requested from Associate Instructors for their students in Writing Composition and Gender Communication Courses. Next year's Peer Presenter Program will include presentations on a broader spectrum of personal safety issues. If you would like to schedule a Peer Presenter Program for your student group, please contact the Office for Women's Affairs at 855-3849 (or e-mail peerpres@falstaff.ucs.indiana.edu).

Contributed by Julie Thomas, OWA's Director of the Peer Presenter Program and a doctoral student in Russian History.

New Women Faculty

Assistant Professor of Fine Arts Christa Erickson (MFA from the University of California, San Diego) previously taught at the University of California, San Diego. She has exhibited nationally both individually and in group exhibitions. Her recent pieces have been multi-media installations, including Boomtown, a public bus-bench project in downtown San Diego that explores urban violence. She teaches in the field of computer art.

Michelle Facos, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts (Ph.D from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) specializes in 19th- and 20th-century European art, particularly issues of primitivism and national identity. Professor Facos previously taught at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and has served as Acting Assistant Curator at the Brooklyn Museum, New York. In addition to her forthcoming book, Defining National Identity: Swedish Painting in the 1890s, Dr. Facos has published numerous articles on French sculpture and Scandinavian painting.

Associate Professor of Telecommunications Annie Lang (Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison) previously taught at Washington State University where she established the Laboratory for the Study of Psychophysiological Responses to Media. Her research investigates information processing, particularly on-line physiological and psychological responses to television messages. She is the editor of Measuring Psychological Responses to Media Messages.

Patricia McMannus, Assistant Professor of Sociology (Ph.D. from Duke University), researches links between social institutions and mobility outcomes, specifically how the family and the welfare state shape self-employment patterns among men and women in advanced industrial nations; recent trends in women's earnings, mobility, and family income turbulence in the United States and Germany; and analysis of trends toward the "flexible firm" in the United States.

Assistant Professor of Telecommunications Roopali Mukherjee (Ph.D. from Ohio State University) previously served as Telcommunications Policy Analyst for the Illinois Commerce Commission and as Visiting Assistant Professor of Telecommunications at IUB. Dr. Mukherjee's teaching and research interests include telecommunications regulation (e.g., implications of new media technologies for consumer privacy, regulation of high-tech pornography), theoretical work on the communcative elements of regulation, and race studies.

Katrin Sieg, Assistant Professor of Germanic Studies (Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle) teaches and researches modern German theater and literature and feminist, gay, and lesbian/queer theory. She previously taught at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Sieg is the author of Exiles, Eccentrics, Activists: Women in Contem- porary German Theatre (1994) and of numerous articles which address German reunification and its effects on national and minority cultures, gender relations, and sexual politics.

Plus...

Congratulations to recent Staff Merit Award recipients: Mollie Duckett (Slavics), Tina Gilliland (COAS), Theresa McArtor (RUGS), and Janet Polley (Halls of Residence).

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