Rape not fitting sex column topic
Re: “Rape: the stigma that won’t go away” April 7th.

First of all, it is extremely disheartening to find an article addressing the subject of rape under the column heading “Campus Bedpost.” Rape is not about sex; rape is about violence and control. It should not be included in a column that so far has reported on porn shops and kinky sexual preferences. It is a huge step back to see rape taken as a form of sex talk.

Such generalizations undermine the struggle of survivors and hinder their road to recovery, if in fact one ever does “recover.”

Secondly, Oliveira quickly disregards survivor programs such as Take Back the Night and other “touchy-feely forums for survivors” as inferior to programs that “question why there have to be so many of them (rapes).”

While I agree with Oliveira on the issue that more should be done to prevent rape from occurring, prevention-type programs would probably be far less effective in terms of helping survivors or potential victims.

This “rape control” approach is analogous to a doctor treating a broken arm before the actual injury occurs. When victims read claims that prevention is more important than treatment, it further shames them into believing that they are participating in a program that provides their recovery at the expense of other “potential” rape victims.

Such statements devalue survivor programs in exchange for prevention programs and are counteractive. There will always be victims, and thus, always the need for recovery.

Lastly, I would like to add that while rape programs, campus police reports and other “tools” attempting to stop rape are helpful and necessary, it is also of great importance that society takes into consideration the life or lives of the individuals affected. In order to understand, accept and recover, the victim must break down the past, piece by piece, until he or she can fit the puzzle together in a way that is comprehendible. Doing so is painful and exhausting but necessary in terms of healing. Surviving this process takes respect and support from others, not criticism from a would-be Carrie Bradshaw.

Ashley Konrad is a sophomore majoring in English.

Self services, not resident services
Re: “Campus living worth the money to some” April 12.

I didn’t read the letter that started this exchange, but I’m sure Natasha Moradian and I have similar feelings about housing.

I find housing at USF to be an absolute joke. By just reading Christina Mosteller’s letter, you can see that housing seems more worried about first-year students and honor students coming to campus. When The Village was still open, it was for upperclassmen, but now they say that upperclassmen are supposed to live in Holly. Yet I was stuck with three freshmen roommates. Now I read that if I’m going to summer school and want to live on campus, I have to pay $36 to move into my place a week earlier.

It’s more convenient to keep my stuff here than to pack it up and take it home to bring it back a few days later. But if I move into my place a week earlier, my room won’t be cleaned by maintenance — as you generally accept the place as is. What kind of organization would have you move into a dirty place that has not even been professionally cleaned?

Basically, you have to be in some sort of program for residential services to care about you. There are a few people who stay on campus between semesters, but I wonder if it is because they really want to or if they don’t have transportation to live off campus.

Everyone I talked to is leaving campus after staying here a year or two. It’s really not worth the money. I’m paying more to live on campus rather than having my own apartment. It seems to me that residence services wants to get first year students on campus so it can make them pay for meal plans. Why build a food area for residential students if they are not going to use it? I have two words to describe residential services: “money hungry.”

Mike Lesser is a junior majoring in biology.