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— _y4n&4oli& "The Land East" Traditional Greek & Indian Food C^> Lunch Monday through Saturday Dinner 7 Nights a Week 992 Willamette Eugene, Or 97401 343-9661 0128501 whenever weekend per month minutes minutes 1 year contract * FREE roaming and long distance within united States * Some restrictions apply. 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