Be aware of date-rape drugs
Have you ever left your
drink with an acquain
tance while at a party?
Have you ever accepted a
drink from someone and you didn’t
know what was in it? It’s sad and
frustrating that anyone needs to
worry about either issue, but these
situations could potentially lead to
a violent crime that no one deserves
to experience — sexual assault.
Every student at the University
has the right to pursue his or her ac
ademic goals without fear, intimi
dation or violence, yet sexual vio
lence exists on this and other
campuses. While it should always
be the survivor’s decision whether
to report an assault, reporting can
help individuals regain a sense of
personal power and connect them
to critical resources including
health professionals, counseling
services and community agencies.
Reporting to the police does not
mean one must proceed with pros
ecution, but it can improve the
chances of bringing a perpetrator to
justice. University survivors can
also choose to complete an anony
mous report.
The Alliance for Sexual Assault
Prevention (ASAP) composed of
Guest Commentary
Annie
Dochnahl
students, staff and faculty, educates
and develops programs and poli
cies to prevent sexual assault at the
University. The topic of date rape
drugs — rohypnol, ketamine and
GHB — is frequently raised at meet
ings. These drugs are receiving me
dia attention as tasteless, odorless
substances that can be slipped into
another person's beverage and used
to facilitate rape.
According to the University
Health Center and Eugene's Oregon
Medical Labs (OML), people often
delay testing for these drugs. For
proper detection, urine tests must
be performed within 12-36 hours,
and ideally within the first 12
hours, after ingesting the drug.
It is difficult to predict the effects
of any of these drugs because of nu
merous variables (type of drug,
how much of the drug has been in
gested, weight, metabolism, gender,
whether the drug has been mixed
with alcohol or other drugs, etc.).
Symptoms of ingesting these drugs
may include disorientation, intoxi
cation, memory loss, drowsiness or
waking up hung over. Survivors are
never responsible for a sexual as
sault — even if they have been
drinking at the time of the assault.
If the survivor has had alcohol,
symptoms are amplified beyond
the typical response from the
amount of alcohol consumed.
If you believe you have been
slipped a date rape drug, get to a safe
place. Call Sexual Assault Support
Services (SASS), 911, or go to the
hospital emergency room. Preserve
any physical evidence and request
the hospital take a urine sample for
date rape drugs. If you want to go
forward with criminal prosecution,
forensic evidence needs to be col
lected at the hospital. SASS has ad
vocates who can accompany sur
vivors during this time and in the
months ahead. In addition, the Uni
versity Health Center can provide
other services at a lower cost to the
survivor including pregnancy test
ing, emergency contraception* drug
testing, and medical assistance.
Annie Dochnahl is a Health Educator for the
University Health Center and a member of the
Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention.
Graduate students are workers, too
It is often a forgotten fact that
many graduate students at
the University are also em
ployees of the University.
They are students, but yet they
are also workers. As students,
you may see us in the library or
labs for long hours, reading, writ
ing or otherwise just exhibiting
outdated fashion sense and poor
social skills. As workers, we
grade papers, (and then we grade
more papers, and then we grade a
few more), teach approximately
27 percent of the credit hours on
campus, hold office hours, an
swer e-mails, and sometimes me
diate between students and fac
ulty. As students, we have
watched our tuition and fees in
crease and as workers we have
watched our wages decline. Ad
justed for inflation, graduate em
ployees earn 12 percent less than
we did in 1983. That percentage
would likely be even higher had
we not fought for what we still
have. But now graduate employ
ees, represented by the GTFF, are
collectively bargaining to count
er that steady decline.
I had all this in the back of my
mind the other week as I sat eat
ing my frozen rice and canned
Guest Commentary
Jey
Strangfeld
corn courtesy of the food bank
that supplements my meager
wages. I was glancing through
The Register-Guard, looking dili
gently for the labor section, and
came across the sports page. On
the front was a breakdown of the
salary for one of our most beloved
local heroes. Now I know that the
University’s commitment to edu
cation is best expressed by having
our football coach make more
money than any one else on this
campus. So, I, of course, am just
as delighted as the next person
that his salary is expected to
reach $1 million next year. But
what I thought was really inter
esting was that coaches receive
bonuses when their athletes grad
uate. It gave me a profound idea.
Since graduate employees and
faculty actually teach the classes
that these students take to gradu
ate, then we should get a bonus
as well for every student we grad
uate in our departments. Or if not
that, I had another idea (after all,
I am a union worker and so I
know all about compromise and
negotiating). Perhaps we could
get a bonus for every game the
Ducks win. It is us that gives stu
dents the deadline extensions,
make-up exams and lecture notes
that allow them to freely pursue
their athletic endeavors.
What I’m after here is not low
ering the salary of another worker,
however much that worker seems
to make. We all deserve the value
of our labor. But the issue here is
that graduate employees have
been earning less overall in the
past 20 years. We started with lit
tle and have less. For the past two
years at least, we haven’t even
kept up with the cost of living.
Graduate employees are asking
for what we need to effectively
teach the quality classes that
make the University attractive to
students, faculty and corporate
sponsors. I believe it is time that
the University expand its commit
ment to education. Give graduate
employees the kind of recognition
that educators in the Athletic De
partment seem to enjoy.
Jey Strangfeld is a graduate teaching fellow
in the sociology department.
— poppi V—
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