LOCAL/STATE The Michign Daily - Friday, March 14, 1997 - 5 Keynote addresse in busine By Alice Robinson Daily Staff Reporter As 65 female executives listene sympathetically, businesswomen advocate Sheila Wellington describe one female executive's response to survey question on how she balance work and home life. "Accept (that) there's no real bat ance," the woman wrote. "Accep he choices you've made." Wellington,' president of the business - WVhe women's research organi- Start 11 zation Catalyst, gave the keynote these p speech yester- day at the wom e . School of usiness and ? Administration's H a l e. Auditorium as Second-yea part of the school's fifth annual Women's Forum. Wellington presented various sta tistics Catalyst has compiled during the last few years about the state o omen in American corporations: Noting that the glass ceiling woine face in the business world has far fror vanished, Wellington said there are only 11 women who are "inside direc tors" at Fortune 500 companies, whil, men make up more than 1,200 of th, remaining top executives. "Our research documents tha gender determines career experi speaker s women Hotel employees accused of assault ss school ences for women," Wellington said. Despite the lack of women execu- d tives in high-level positions, 's Wellington said the reasons are more d subtle than obvious. "Let me be a clear," the Wellesley graduate said. es "Catalyst found that most, but not all, obstacles to women's advancement J- are not intentional." t She said that more often, the obstacles, impeding e do you eeting rofessional tdo guid women "result from unexam- ined concep- tions about womens' career inter- ests." Throughout the day yes- t e r d a y, women execu- tives con- verged at the Business School for a closed-door seminar. Wellington's speech, which - Female employee of a local Hampton Inn alleges sexual assault By Ajit K. Thavarajah Daily Staff Reporter A female worker at a local Hampton Inn alleged that two male co-workers sexually assaulted her last week. Ann Arbor Police Department Sgt. Larry Jerue said yesterday the victim had not yet pressed charges. "At this time the victim has not decided whether or not to ask to press charges on the two suspects," Jerue said. "Hopefully, she will make a deci- sion soon." The alleged attack occurred between 3:30 and 5 a.m. on March 7, at the inn, which is located in the 900 block of Victors Way, according to AAPD reports. The victim said she was drinking with several co-workers and acquain- tances at a party in the inn that night. After the party she went to a fourth- floor room in the inn. She said two male co-workers from the party shortly joined her in the room, AAPD reports stated. The victim said she continued drink- ing with the men until she passed out when she was allegedly raped, accord- ing to AAPD reports. When the victim awoke she was part- ly undressed, and one of the male sus- pects was allegedly having sex with her, AAPD reports stated. Jerue said the victim did not know if she was assault- ed by both men. "The other suspect's whereabouts were unknown, but it is possible he was in the room as well," Jerue said. "We have to determine if charges are going to be pressed. If it was first degree criminal sexual conduct, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment:' Joyce Wright, prevention and edit- ..cation coordinator for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, said victims usually do not report acquaintance rapes because they feel uncomfortable with the judi- cial system. "Many victims don't want to go through the legal system," Wright said. "Victims are also dealing with an extremely traumatic experience that they have to live with for the rest of their lives." LSA junior Jennifer Monroe said she takes precautions when drinking with friends. "I don't think I can go out anymore and drink without a girlfriend with me at all times," Monroe said. "You want to have fun but at the same time you don't want to risk being put in a situation like that." In 55 percent of campus assaults, both parties engage in alcohol or drug use, according to SAPAC sta- tistics. Wright said that although alcohol use is common in acquaintance rapes, it is not an excuse for the crime. "Alcohol puts the victim in a very vulnerable position where they are in a sense, powerless" Wright said. Jerue said there is no time statute for reporting sexual assault crimes or pressing charges against the attackers. "It's not a crime of passion," J&rue said. "It can be very degrading to the victim and difficult for them to step forward and press charges. "Just imagine being put in a situa- tion where your powerless and someone is taking advantage, of you," he said. "The thought can real- ly be sobering." - Deborah ar student, of Public Kissen School Health was open to the public, drew about 100 people. Business School Dean Joseph White said during his introduction of Wellington that one of the school's aims is to "become the leading busi- ness school in attracting and educating women in business." 'During the question-and-answer ses- sion, Wellington was asked about Fortune 500 companies with no women on their board of directors. "I just don't understand why JOHiN KT /a~ijldy Sheila Wellington, president of the Business-Women's research organization Catalyst, spoke to 65 female executives yesterday in the Hale Auditorium. there are companies that don't get it, but if they don't, it will change," Wellington said. Wellington ended by emphasizing solutions that she said would improve the climate for women in the work- force. She said assigning important clients to women and matching new employees with women mentors would aid women's success in the future. School of Public Health second-year student Deborah Kissen said that Wellington's point about women men- tors was significant and wondered about the difficulty of finding women to serve in those roles. "It's definitely very inspiring but it's also frustrating to start (in the workforce)," Kissen said. "Where do you start meeting these professional women to guide you?" i APA opens heritage month Erika M. Smith ly Staff Reporter Hip-hop, gospel and techno are among the types of music that will be included in tonight's Generation Asian Pacific American Show at 8:30 p.m. in the Power Center. The event, sponsored by United Asian Organizations, kicks off Asian Pacific American Heritage month. APA programming chair Tricia gmasbad said she hopes the event l1 attract a diverse audience. "(The event) was more of an out- reach to the greater University com- munity," said Bagmasbad, an LSA junior. "It's about having African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans and also the non-minority students on campus (come to the show)." The 18-act show, performed by more than 200 students, highlights both tra- ional and modern ideas in the Asian community. LSA junior Irene Yuan said she is honored to be performing in two differ- ent groups in the show, including the only Asian sorority on campus, Alpha Kappa Delta Psi. "We're going to show our unity, pre- cision and creativity through entertain- ment,' Yuan said. LSA junior Esther Shin said she is "d "to see so many people coming out to support the Asian. Pacific American Heritage Month Show." "I think the performances (last year) were really good and it seemed like the whole show was put together really well,' Shin said. "So many people put a lot of effort into the show and that makes me want to go again." Last year's event was a sell-out and *gmasbad said tonight's show will be even better than last year's. "The show's running on a book sort of theme and the chapters in the show are tradition, cross boundaries (between other Asian groups), power and vision;' she said. "Each of the acts fall into those four categories." r° n. Bi, pnO . . m I.