Director addresses questions about policy changes
■ CONSENT: The Women’s
Center has been dealing with
confusion about changes to
the conduct code
By Angie Suchy
Student Activities Editor
The proposed changes in the
University student conduct code
have generated a steady influx of
questions this school year, so
Women’s Center Director Sho
Shigeoka addresses some com
mon misconceptions and ques
tions about the proposed policy
changes.
QWhat are some common ques
tions and/or concerns the
Women’s Center staff has been asked
about the policy over the past few
months?
A| One striking (rather than com
i mon) question asked was when a
T
female called the center asking for an
actual copy of a consent form, a form
like the Emerald suggested [in an edito
rial]. She was concerned because she
was going out on a date and thought
something might happen, so she want
ed to get ahold of a consent form. Peo
ple are still believing that this “explicit
consent” has to be a definite “yes” in
writing or an agreement that is very ex
plicit, but the [proposed] language is
not limited to written consent or verbal
consent.
QDo you think it would be a good
idea to have a form like that?
A I don’t want to trash the idea alto
1 gether because if that works for
certain people, it’s okay — I know peo
ple communicate differently, and when
we talk about communication we’re
talking about so many different things,
including verbal, body language, sign
language and different cultural innuen
do that has to be taken into considera
tion. I don’t think it's right for anyone to
say one way of communication should
be the way. For example, to have a con
sent form could be a way for people to
talk about sex. We all have different
communication styles, so communica
tion should be up to us.
QAs the Director of the Women’s
Center, have you encountered
any other misconceptions people
have?
A The biggest question is about con
sent. The second biggest is about
the definition of rape because the pro
posed definition is a lot different than
the state of Oregon’s definition of rape.
The state statutes address sexual inter
course, and that’s all. Nothing is written
about penetration or other specifics.
For example, for rape in the first degree,
physical resistance has to be proven,
but nothing similar to that is currently in
the student conduct code. A lot of peo
ple are wondering — including the
ACLU — what to do if someone is
found guilty of rape according to the
[revised] student conduct code but not
under the Oregon statute(s). This is an
issue that definitely needs to be looked
into even further, although I like the pro
posed definition of rape because it's
more inclusive. But the Register-Guard
and The Oregonian have generally been
writing nasty and uninformed articles
saying that it’s a bunch of administra
tors who are trying to implement this
rule so that we could control students,
but the fact is, it wasn't the University
who began working on the proposed
changes, it was students. So that is an
other main misconception people have
— after all, students first did the re
search and came up with the first draft
of the proposed language.
I find it sad to know how people are
undermining students and their power.
Students came up with the idea, so I
think students should go for it and see it
through.
fifi
Students came up with the idea,
so I think students should go for
it and see it through.
— Sho Shigeoka
Women's Center Director
-55
QSo you think media coverage is
inaccurate overall thus tar?
Ai Outside of campus, I think more
.: rumors than factual information
circulates. On the opinion pages, people
really don't take the time to get all the
facts straight. Myths about sexual as
sault and rape appear in these "factual”
places. True rape education is ignored
as the “hot” topic of “consent” is
thrown around.
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