5/17/14

Dear Editors,

Thank-you for making sexual assault a special issue for Green Key
weekend.  Thank-you also for doing and analyzing such a large student
body survey.  While student opinions are interesting---and it makes a
good story that the campus is "divided"---the research literature on
the topic of rape is *not* divided; it is quite clear.  A point
entirely missing from your article is how far many student opinions
are from the actual published research.  This situation reminds me of
global warming, when climate-change denyers (and much media) were
clinging to the idea that the science was "in debate", when it was
not. I'll focus on two key points:

1) The literature is unambiguous on greek life as a contributor to
rape. In a national study [1], sorority members are three times more
likely than those in off-campus housing (and twice as likely as those
on-campus) to be raped while drunk. Cultural factors such as social
competition are the main issues here---reading comments to the D, and
arguments at the recent debate on this, it seems that some students
deny that culture shapes human behavior. As for the correlation of
fraternity membership with rapists, the research is equally clear [2]
[3].  The article [2] shows that fraternity men use more coercive
verbal, physical, and alcohol-related strategies than other students,
with p<0.05 in each case and correlation coefficients around
0.2-0.25. To claim that there is no evidence for causation is
naive. Frats provide the ideal environment (and training ground) for
rapists, most of whom are repeat (serial) offenders, and many of whom
are, incidentally, charming and of "high social status". As has been
repeated for decades by both insiders and outsiders, faculty and
students, the Greek system at Dartmouth needs to go, and to be
replaced via a large-scale investment in a non-status-oriented, co-ed,
racially-mixed social and residential system.

2) False reporting. David Lisak's research [4] shows that only 2% of
alleged victims falsely report; this is comparable to other serious
crimes. It is shocking that 21% of your male respondents believe that
false reporting is the *norm* - this misguided and chauvinist belief
conveniently fits into a worldview where men can rape with impunity
while women are not to be believed. Please, men, educate yourselves a
little, even if it is uncomfortable to do so.

Yours sincerely,    Alex Barnett,   Associate Professor of Mathematics.


[1] Mohler-Kuo, M., G. Dowdall, M. Koss, and H. Wechsler. "Correlates
of Rape While Intoxicated in a National Sample of College Women."
Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 65. (2004): 37-45.

[2] Tyler, K.A., D.R. Hoyt and L.B. Whitbeck. (1998). “Coercive Sexual
Strategies,” Violence and Victims, 13(1), 47-61.

[3] Lackie, L. and A.F. deMan. (1997). “Correlates of Sexual
Aggression Among Male University Students,” Sex Roles, 37, 451-457.

[4] Lisak et al (2010). Violence Against Women, 16(12) 1318-1334.