April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, and in light of the recent peeping Tom incidents on Colorado State University’s campus, the Fort Collins Women’s Commission is speaking up.
The members of the commission are planning a trip to Fort Collins City Council this month to make a presentation to council members on the issue of sexual assault in the city. Mostly, they wish to present the seriousness of the matter, and offer their help.
After a retreat in February which planned out what they want to accomplish in the coming year, the Women’s Commission aims to concentrate on issues concerning women in the city in three focus areas, or subcommittees: health, poverty and safety, the latter of which sexual assault falls under.
By attending city council meetings and voicing their concerns, they hope to make these matters heard more so by the city, ultimately hoping for a stop to these incidents that harm women’s safety. The commission hopes to present to city council at least six times this year, with at least one presentation focusing on their concern with sexual assault.
“Here are some of the outstanding issues in our committee, and this is why we are presenting them,” committee member Merry Hummell expressed at their March 23 meeting.
There’s also a new police chief, former Capt. Jerry Schiager, in town, and the women have a plan to discuss the issue of sexual assault with him.
“He may have some very specific concerns that he wants to address,” Annette Zacharias said, who was chair of the commission last year.
Staff Liaison Suzanne Simpson wants to jump at the chance of speaking with him and plans on asking, “How can we help?”
With an organized game plan for the coming month, the Women’s Commission is preparing to address the issue of sexual assault in Fort Collins and make its seriousness, and their concern about the issue, more prevalent.
Very nice job Zuzu! I as at this meeting with you and I like the topic that you selected for the story. This was definitely a big topic of interest at the meeting and it was something they were very passionate about helping with. I think after being at the meeting I can say that you did a very good job of conveying their opinions, emotion, and concern regarding this topic and their continued interest in putting a stop to it.
ReplyDeleteThe lead is very relevant and ties into the rest of the story very well.
ReplyDeleteNice! I think this is a very serious issue and I would like to see more articles in papers like the Collegian addressing these types of issues because a lot of sexual assaults occur on college campuses. The only stories I ever see about these issues are the ones that come right after something has happened or the annual "take back the night" thing happens. Excellent work and I enjoyed reading this! We all need to do what we can to spread awareness about sexual violence/abuse.
ReplyDeleteWell-written and good topic! I'm an athlete and I'm at Moby all the time, so this peeping Tom stuff is really scary. I wish they would cover this more in the Collegian.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a great topic to cover. It directly affects students, and informs them on what is happening and how they can help. I absolutely agree that this is a subject that should be covered more. It would be great if students could get the resources they need without having to hunt them down. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI pretty much agree with the comments about me. This is a topic that needs more coverage, and you have done a great job at getting your hands on it. This is well written and very relevant, great quotes and very nice lead. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI like how you recognized the tie between incidents of peeping toms along with the face that it was sexual assault awareness month and put those themes together in an article. It affects students and community members of Fort Collins and this was covered well, with appropriate and informative quotes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the women's council for standing up for this topic. It needs to be talked about so that people can be conscientious and aware at all times. Well written and good use of quotes.
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