0 0 a Im I w Wednesday, 0"- 76 feast your eyes: when the craving strikes by siena witte "a story about snapchatwithout reference to sexysnaps?" "I think the idea of that paragraph was that over the last approx. 200 years that downfall has happened. I encourage you to read the rest of the article, its a good read! I like that the author mentions that UofM has a minor pres- ence whencompared to MSU and even GVSU and does an even lesser job of promoting its presence and interest in the city. The fact that the Detroit center is only part of a floor in one build- ing ia actually pitiful in my opinion. But ita a tart and givea ua something to build off of as Detroit becomes a hot topic on cam- pus- with groups like Crowd 313, the new Detroit Engagement Commission, the numerous educational and service student orgs who work in the city, the new Connector, that as it has been piloted can be used by students, student orgs, and faculty alike to grow and learn from Detroit- with all this... Michigan has an obligation to its student body, which has become mas- sively less diverse, to use Detroit as a spark and center-point for the type of education that Michigan has always claimed to want to impart..." - USER: Michael Chrzan ping and one topping alone. I dug deeper. My sweet tooth has my dentist on the edge of his seat, but I knew deep down that even the most sugary of treats would not silence my grumbling gut. Perhaps I needed the perfect trifecta of k: cheese, sauce and bread. Yes, my friends, I am talking about the mecca of late night food, It was nearly 9 p.m. on a frigid the be-all and end-all of snacks February night, and I was more or known as pizza. From tailgaters less trapped in the depths of the flocking like moths to a flame to the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. My $5 deals Cottage Inn waves above mind began to wander away from their heads on football Saturdays taking notes and toward the restless or the century-long rivalry between itch that had grown in my stomach. South University Pizza and Back- I had a bad feelingthat this was room slices, there is nothing that no ordinary snack attack. No, this brings people together and tears was the type of hunger that spreads them apart again quite like pizza. like weeds in a garden, seemingly But even imagining the way sprouting up out of nowhere. It was a perfectly crisped crust would the type of hunger born from too catch the sweetness of a stewed many hours spent hunched over my marinara sauce and the oozing laptop, too many hours spent high- buttery-ness of browned mozza- lightingstudy guides and scribbling rella did not calm the raging sea of on index cards. hunger that intellectual exhaustion I knew the handful of nuts and had brought me. Perhaps I wanted fruits I had stored in my backpack something more along the lines of as an emergency snack would pro- a simple childhood favorite, some- vide no relief from the aching feel- thing that didn't ask too much of ing of my stomach was eating itself me. A sandwich, I thought; a turkey inside out. I knew this was serious. sandwich on freshly baked bread, Perhaps what I needed was a fine culinary creation of frozen yogurt and a slew of Butterfinger, brownie - bits, caramel sauce and pretzels (my secret ingredient - the sweet and salty combo is a tried and true winner) from Rod's Diner - Sir Rod's; a creation known to many as the Collider. After all, what is not to love about being up to your eyeballs in frozen yogurt, having at your accompanied by a crunch of fresh disposal any and all of your favorite lettuce, some juicy tomatoes and candies and treats? You don't have a little something special, maybe . to choose (except if you want more creamy avocado or burst of flavor than five). You can have it all with- in the form of a fine Italian dress- out the inevitable fatigue of eating ing. the same thing over and over that But even Jimmy John's arises when forced to pick one top- wouldn't quite satisfy my study hunger. My fists clenched with anger as I saw myself being cast into a quintessential coming-of- age movie, where I was the young grasshopper stumbling along blindly through the challenges, and my body was the silent, brooding master, unable to determine what exactly it wanted as a damn snack! With this frustration in my eyes I nearly screamed out in the shad- ows of the library, "What is it that you want?!" Try again, mybody asked. Be patient. It will come to you. Well if it wasn't sweets and it wasn't cheesy pizza and it wasn't Mr. John's, then there must be another player, someone else I'm overlook- ing but is staring me right in the eyes. It must be savory and flavor- ful, the right balance between protein, carbs and fats. Perhaps I couldn't get the sweetness of the brownie, but I could certainly get the creaminess of the yogurt with maybe, some sour cream. And the warmth of the pizza could be found with some chicken, or beans. And something special could come in the form of guacamole and salsa. It could all be mine, and with a side'of chips too. And like an angel from above, the neon sign for BTB came streaming into my mind, with promises of everything I had ever dreamed of. I looked back up at the screen, the screensaver now panning over snow-topped mountains and gold-. en prairies. I nestled down deeper into my down coat, a smile on my face. What a beautiful night to be studying. Continued from Page 6B her study abroad program that summer. A "No Contact" sanction was put in place where the respondent was not allowed to be in the same area as S.B. or-contact her. Under the new policy, sanctions still are determined by OSCR using the infor- mation from OIE's investigation. Input is sought from both parties privately on potential sanctions. When S.B. arrived in her study abroad location, the sanctions brought a new set of complications. "A woman from the study abroad office e-mails me and goes, 'If you come in con- tact with him and you don't leave his pres- ence, we will send you home.' And I was like, excuse me, what?" S.B. said. "I don't have any sanctions. I'm not supposed to have any punishments or sanctions on me, I was not found guilty for anything. I'm here to enjoy my trip, and I don't want to have to think about this." Her study abroad program became occupied by anxiety and exhaustive planning, hoping to avoid her perpe- trator and the consequences she could face. The situation left her feeling frus- trated, especially when she reported that the perpetrator violated the no-contact order, but the University told her they. couldn't prove the violation occurred. "I didn't feel like (the University) took it seriously and really followed through with what they had put in place, and that also goes with how the survivor is doubted or not really believed," S.B. said. "It created a more extreme power dynamic where I felt like I had no control over the situation, no control over my safety and my wellbeing, which made that very difficult." The perpetrator submitted an appeal to the University that summer, which S.B. had to respond to during her time abroad. After that, she asked not to find out the results of the appeal, emotionally drained and done with the process. Though S.B. had finished formally deal- ing with the matter, it still affects her today. "Just randomly around campus, I've seen him while I'm going for a run or just walking down the street or in the Union," S.B. said. "(It's) pretty gut-wrenching, and really awkward. It's just my mind starts going a mile a minute, not even thinking, just ... panic mode, basically." S.B. said she supports the changes in the new sexual misconduct policy, since it puts less pressure on a survivor to decide if an investigation should go forward. - The University investigated only two cases of sexual assault from 2009 to 2010 under the complaint-driven policy. From 2011 to 2012 - with the investigative model in effect - 38 cases were investigat- ed. University administrators interviewed at the time believed this shift came from the policy change rather than an increase in sexual assault. But for S.B., she said it was difficult to learn that her own struggles specifically influenced the changes. "I guess I was kind of a guinea pig," S.B. said. "That sounds really bad, and I guess it frustrated me because I felt like a university should kind of be more prepared or have more tools to address these issues better." A THIRD WAY TO HEAL My friend who confided in me about her own experience with sexual assault illustrates the third option that S.B. and all survivors of sexual assault have: to not report an assault to the University or law enforcement. Barbara Niess-May, executive director of the SafeHouse Center of Washtenaw County -- an organization that serves about 5,000 women, children and men each year who experienced sexual assault and domestic violence - said reporting sexual assault to police is not just emotion- "I was so conflicted, I didn't know what to do and (OSCR) would relay back to me, 'You know, the assailant wants to sit down with you and apologize,' and that was really hard for me, to hear. I wanted to hear an apology but then I thought about it and ... that doesn't repair the damage, and that can't come anywhere close to repairing the damage." - S.B., University alum and sexual assault survivor Organization, sexual assault can affect survivors -not only physically but men- tally and socially, leading to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and some- times ostracism from their communities. SAPAC and the SafeHouse Center offer counseling and support services for survivors through their recovery process, ensuring people do not take the journey alone. In the path to heal- ing, survivors are never pushed into making a certain decision and they are offered unbiased support, though Neiss-May said overall, the SafeHouse Center believes in reporting. Today, S.B. has regained her power. She still gets nightmares every once in a while about the incident, but she believes she's healed through telling her story, reporting the incident and pursu- ing her study abroad trip regardless of I think back to sitting on the concrete floor with my friend, hearing her story. I wanted to give her an answer, a rem- edy for her anxiety and guilt. But know- ing what I do now, there isn't one right answer or solution. Each path - reporting, not reporting - brings challenges, whether from the justice system, society's misconceptions or one's own emotions. The University security report shows an increase in forcible rapes reported to the police or other campus security-M groups, with 10 incidents reported it 2011 and 21 in 2012. But is this numbe: showing that the occurrence of the crim, has increased, or could it just mean more reports have been made out of the esti- mated 72 percent that go unreported each year? It's difficult to know. I asked each person I interviewed the same question: How do we fix this on campus? The answers were endless: improving the justice system to work more effectively for survivors, edu- eating society so jurors have a bette... understanding of the crime, removing insensitive cultural representations of rape and sexual assault. For law enforce- ment, like assistant county prosecutor Liddell, it's a particularly frustrating . question. "I think sometimes we're just climbing uphill, because there are these cultural perceptions and a lot of victim blaming," Liddell said. "I always tell the victim, 'You're the brave one' ... For every one of you, there are 30 that don't come forward at all. Just to go through this process whatever the outcome may be, hopefully it's a conviction, but nine times out of ten it's not. For them to stand up, that's what impresses me. That's what makes me do this job." It's easy to sit at freshman orienta- tion, the words "one in four" projected on screens and printed on pamphlets, to brush aside the reality of that statistic. I did. S.B. did. "Before, I would have never thought that this would have happened to me," she said. "I come from a good town, I'm smart, I'm a college student. But it can happen to anybody, and none of those factors necessarily matter." When you meet multiple people and friends who are part of these statistics, you can see the meaning of those num- bers change before your eyes. And those numbers are difficult to gather them- selves due to the nature of the crime. For SAPAC director Rider-Milkov- ich, she's most anxious to see those statistics change and a decline in the number of University students who even enter the difficult maze of coping" with sexual assault. "What I really get out of bed every morning. excited to do is working towards preventing it from ever happen- ing to begin with, to never have a stu- dent have their lives and their learning, interrupted by a traumatic experience m I D a u1 In B ally draining, but'time consuming, which can deter survivors from reporting. Niess-May said there are often 30 to 50 steps in a conviction, and survivors might make a practical decision to forgo the long, emotional process. Survivors might fear their parents finding out or fear the assailant, especially if they are a high-profile person. Assistant county prosecutor Liddell said getting a case on trial is a process that can take anywhere from six months to a year after the police report is passed along to the prosecutor. County prose- cutor Mackie was quick to point out that even without reporting, the crime occu- pies a survivor's time. "When you say time commitment, if it's never reported, there's a huge time commitment on behalf of the victim. because this is on her mind," Mackie said. "So, I hesitate to even think about time commitment. It can occupy most of a person's waking hours when they're traumatized by something." S.B. said she became severely depressed after she was sexually assault- ed. According to the World Health the perpetrator's presence. "I think I've been able to kind of sur- pass it, actually," S.B. said. "Obviously, I would never wish this upon myself or any- one else, but I feel like the kind of strength that I had to gather and the way that I had to stand up for myself is something that I would never have had to do in any other situation. I feel like I've gained a greater sense of self." But she recognizes her path isn't for every survivor. After listening to a survi- vor panel at an advocacy event, she real- ized that each survivor's healing process is unique, but giving time to heal and know- ing you're not alone is most important. "I guess in a way it made me feel less isolated, because I'm just thinking, 'Why am I still thinking about this three years later?' " S.B. said. "Everyone's path to recovery is so different, and they just said don't worry about why you're thinking about this and allow yourself that time and that space to heal." WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?