LETTER: Rape is no laughing matter

Editor,

I would like to respond to Mr. Bingham’s article in the Monday issue of The Statesman. My comments are in regard to his comment about activities “to solidify our standing in the Guiness Book of World Records that we are indeed the largest state sponsor of date rape. Hurrah!”

This does not seem a goal worthy of the students of Utah State University. This column was identified as “humor.” A large portion of the student population will not find violent criminal acts funny.

There will be 683,000 forcible rapes in our country this year. One assault will occur every 1.3 minutes. Two-thirds of the victims will be raped by someone they know. An estimated one out of every eight college women will be the victim of a rape. This will cost the community $5,100 in direct medical and counseling costs per incident. When quality of life issues are included in the equation, there is a loss of $87,000 per year. This information can be viewed on the Rape 101 Web site.

Rape victims come from every socio-economic background. Their ages range from infants to 90-year-olds. They are pretty and plain, thin and fat, naive and street-wise. Victims have names and faces. They are our mothers, our sisters and our daughters.

Mr. Bingham’s observations on college life are often on the mark. His upper-division status reflects he has nearly completed his education at USU. I hope his comments reflect a momentary lapse in judgment. Perhaps he is already regretting trivializing criminal acts of violence.

Deborah Briggs