Not Ready for NYFW

Model Alexandra Morris stands for the Jonathan Simkhai Presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One would think that working in the fashion industry would mean a life filled with glamour…that’s not always the case.

I have been in this industry since I was three years old. I began modeling for big companies such as American Girl Doll at a very young age. I was and still am so in love with the fashion world and being behind the camera, but there came a point in my life where I questioned it all.

Around the age of 16, I was thrown into New York Fashion Week (NYFW). It is a huge step in a model’s career because it can make one a star overnight.

I received a plethora of runway shows or presentations: Alice and Olivia, Fontini, Jonathan Simkhai, Olcay Gulsen, and more. Prior to receiving these jobs, I found myself questioning my career.

I was 16, living in THE big city, surrounded by gorgeous, young women who were all competing for the same shows. It was intimidating and this was the first time in my life I did not feel good enough. This was the first time I had been rejected… multiple times in a row.

I knew NYFW was going to be chaos, all my older model friends had filled my naive brain with absurd stories. Some of those stories actually happened to me.

So, let me rewind to the week before the storm. The week before my email was filled with casting requests. I was booked for a test shoot to add some ‘variety’ to my book/portfolio. I was ready to go, but the photographer absolutely hated me. He said I was stiff and that I would never make it in this industry.

I left that shoot pissed off and crying. I called my mom and told her to get me home immediately.

“Al, this is a great learning experience,” my mother said. “Not everything is going to go your way in life and when it doesn’t you have to learn to let go and move on because everything happens for a reason. Also, screw that guy, you’re beautiful. Go prove him wrong. I know you will do great things, just keep your head up and keep working hard.”

My mother’s little pep talk actually worked. I then called my agent and lied, telling him my shoot when ‘just fabulous.’ Then, I did what any sad girl would do, retail therapy.

After a couple days of retail therapy and hot yoga, the castings started rolling in and my email was blowing up like crazy. I had about eleven castings a day, all over the city, all basically at the same time. It was MADNESS.

I knew the city and the subway system like the back of my hand, but there were times where I would end up in some weird backstreet in Brooklyn. I would often think to myself, ‘why on earth would a company have their casting all the way out here in this sketchy place, can’t everyone just agree on meeting at Starbucks or something?’m

It was tiring. I started tracking how many miles I walked in a day… over six! I was barely eating, not because I wanted to be skinner, but because I literally had no time and only little snacks fit in my model bag (along with my heels, book, iPad, chargers, hairbrush, concealer, chapstick, etc.). So, with my heavy bag and a lot of walking, I never had to work out. Then again, I really had no time to because by the time I finished all my castings… it was 11pm and I just wanted to shower and get in my frickin’ bed.

Besides being tired and having 11 castings a day, I experience some horrors. On a rainy day in New York, one of my heels broke. Literally snapped off, I honestly still do not know how it happened. I was way too worried about making my last casting of the day for Victoria Beckham…

I called my agent freaking out and he must have teleported to my location because I blinked and there was my agent, sprinting through the doors with a brand new pair of heels.

That may not seem like a horror story, but when you have five minutes left before the client leaves for the day, that situation becomes a model’s worst nightmare.

There were more extreme stories, but I’ll leave those out because it’s not worth the embarrassment.

However, I will mention that on top of all the madness, my skin looked like absolute crap and my hair became so thin that I literally thought I was balding at 16.

All the ‘torture’ as some would say, was well worth it when it was all over. It really was an incredible learning experience. I learned how to take rejection like a champ, which ultimately prepared me for this year of my life… post-graduation job search. Hopefully, some company finds me to be very entertaining, but if not modeling will always be my fallback.

The Curtsy App Breaks Stereotypes in the Tech World

This year the feminists of the world pushed harder than ever before. The world got to see the first Women’s March, a record-breaking number of women in the US Congress, the Twitter trend #respectwomen  and ‘The Silence Breakers’ being named Time’s Person of the Year. All of these events were just some of the reasons why people, even the Huffington Post, claim 2017 to be the year of women.

Society has been built around this idea of a patriarchal world where women are inferior to men. Well, women like Reese Witherspoon have been speaking out and creating companies that are predominantly women. On a college scope, Curtsy is an app that has been empowering women and taking college campuses by storm.

What started as an idea thought up by Sara Kiparizoska, a former Ole Miss student, was put into retrospect by William Ault, a computer science major, who suggested they create an app. This app, named initially ‘Nimble,’ ended up winning the first prize of 15,000 dollars at the Ole Miss Gillespie Business Plan Competition in 2016.  

The app continued to develop over time, adding more members, and even changing the name from Nimble to Curtsy.  According to Ault, it has continued to empower all who use the app.

“The Curtsy mission is to build community through making fashion accessible so that every woman can feel confident and beautiful without breaking the bank,” said Ault. “Curtsy is empowering in two ways. For those who make money from renting items they own and those who find dresses to rent on Curtsy. For me, it’s empowering to give people new ways to make money, connect with people in their community, and to wear something special.”

The team continued to improve the app and spread the word about it through guerilla marketing such as trunk shows and photo shoots. Later that year, 3,000 people downloaded the app, and over 200 dresses were rented to girls, bringing in a revenue of over 7,000 dollars by the fall of 2016. One original team member, Haley Vassios, an IMC major, remembers the progression of the app.

“I was literally delivering dresses to girls, and finally we were like, ‘Okay, we need a better system,’ and eventually we tweaked everything on the app to make it what it is today,” said Vassios.

Ault remembers Haley joining the team early and stated that she has been critical in growing Curtsy at Ole Miss and around the Southeast.

“Haley has been a driving force in coming up with several marketing campaigns we carried out throughout the southeast.”

The app has continued to be a success at Ole Miss, and so have their guerilla marketing tactics. They really caught the attention of girls on campus with the fake parking ticket stunt, which created a lot of buzz on social media. Then they had their 500 dollar philanthropy giveaway which was based on a points system where girls had to download the app, post all over social media and rent dresses.

“I actually love the app, and I thought the philanthropy giveaway was genius because sorority girls love a little competition, especially when it’s for a good cause,” said Sophomore Madison McCay. “I literally saw Curtsy posts everywhere that week so yeah, I’m assuming they got a lot of attention.”

Some of the team members moved to California in June of 2016 to participate in Y Combinator, another startup accelerator program. After graduating from that program, Curtsy launched to 10 new schools across the Southeast. Then in December of 2016, they raised 1.3 million dollars in funding from multiple investors, one being NBA star Kevin Durant.

Curtsy continued to launch at more and more schools across the country. Now, they are live at 60 plus schools and rent out several thousand items monthly.   

“We’re working hard to build something people love and use every week, but we’ve got a long way to go before building a successful business,” said Ault. 

The Curtsy team wanted to go above and beyond college campuses, so they decided to expand the services to older women for work or baby showers and other events. They just launched a pilot for the service in Atlanta and hope to go live in the coming new year.

“It has been extremely rewarding to see the efforts of hard work, but we still have so much room to make a bigger impact in peoples’ lives,” said Ault. “The opportunity to empower people and build something they love excites and motivates me to grow Curtsy.”

 

Same Doorbusters, Less Chaos

By: Alexandra Morris

Black Friday is right around the corner and stores, as well as shoppers, are already preparing. However, shoppers in Oxford, MS do not necessarily have to prepare for the chaos that a big city mall brings.

The Square is the popular shopping area in the small city of Oxford. The stores around here will have the same doorbusters as big name department stores, but shoppers can expect shorter lines and will not have to fight over the last sweater or pair of boots.

This is because as of 2016, the population of Oxford, MS was just over 23,000 and the population of Ole Miss, which is located in Oxford, was just over 21,000. So, a large majority of those students will be heading home for Thanksgiving break, leaving the stores open to a smaller crowd of shoppers.

Stores on The Square still prepare weeks in advance because of the increase in foot traffic.

“Black Friday in Oxford is not going to be like a big city, but it’s still pretty busy,” Trés Belle’s Manager Jonlyn Reeves said. “We’ll open earlier than normal, we’ve been ordering more merchandise, we plan on staying open later and we’ll also have more staff than usual just to be able to prepare for all the customers coming in.”

Shoppers in Oxford still plan ahead since stores compete to grab their attention by changing deals throughout the day and putting out more merchandise.

“Me and my parents actually have a tradition that we go to sleep right after Thanksgiving lunch and then we wake up at 12 am and then start going to the stores,” Ole Miss Junior Cole Hughes said.

Come November 24th, shoppers in Oxford will have to keep an eye out for changes in stores’ hours and sales.

 

Bills Breakfast Date

By: Richard Swift

Billups restaurant located on The Square

Erin McCloskey stands in front of Billups

McCloskey meets the manage of Billups.

Ole Miss Hosts Their Fourth Annual Data Day

Whole Foods and Amazon’s Competitive Intelligence Manager Erica Huerta spoke to Ole Miss students at the fourth annual Data Day.

The Meek School of Journalism and New Media host Data Day every year to allow students to hear from experts in the field about data-driven decision-making and storytelling.

This year one of the presenters was Erica Huerta, the competitive intelligence manager for Whole Foods and Amazon. She spoke about the relevancy of data and how important it is to understand it, build experience with it, and have fun with it.

“Data can be very simple, it can be very complex,” Huerta said. “Be patient with it even as you progress in your career and the more experience you have with data. Learn to have fun with it too though. Data can be very boring if you let it be boring, it can be very fun if you let it be fun.”

Huerta said that in an article she read written by The Economist, they stated that data is “the oil of the digital era.” Huerta explained the relevance and that data is what drives a company and pushes them to succeed especially when it comes to understanding and meeting the needs of customers.

Huerta then persuaded the students to look into programming and experimenting with data.

“They don’t have to be a genius…I hire people based on their initiative to try new things even if they do not completely understand it,” Huerta said.

Many Journalism and Integrated Marketing and Communication majors were present at the event and Senior Carina Marino, who has attended Data Day before, said she attends because “there is always someone helpful that’s speaking.”

“Though I am not pursuing a career in data, I do think learning about data is important” Marino said. “The data programming here at Ole miss with the IMC program is very helpful and I think students find it to be more marketable when they go into an interview or are applying for a job.”

The next Data Day will not be until next November however, Data Day was broadcasted live and the videos can be found on the Meek School of Journalism and New Media’s Facebook page.

Local Rotary Club is Looking to Expand Membership to Millennials

The Oxford-Ole Miss Rotary Club is facing a decline in membership and the district governor is visiting all 40 clubs in the 6800 district to encourage members to bring awareness to Rotary.

District Governor Bethany Huffman explained that in a recent focus group they found that there are two groups of people they are trying to attract, the newly retired and millennials.

However, Huffman told the Oxford-Ole Miss Rotary Club that some of the rules in Rotary were detrimental so Legislation, who only meets every three years to change rules, decided it was time to make Rotary more flexible in order to attract these groups, especially millennials.

“Anyone can show up for a meeting every week and yes they may be present, but it is all about attentiveness and engagement,” Huffman said. “One of the initiatives for Rotary this year is expanding our public images so we need members who are active and willing to spreading the word about our accomplishments and networking ability.”

Rotary is a global network of over 1.2 million leaders who come together to make positive, long lasting change in their communities, at home, and abroad. Rotary works closely will the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to eradicate Polio. They also help improve humanitarian service, youth programs, as well as increase collaboration and connection with many other organizations.

The club is even updating their website as well as their social media accounts. Rotary has also invested in a new public relations campaign and their new tagline is; “Rotary, People of Action.”

The active members of Rotary have already been searching for ways to attract more members and former Rotary President Larry Brookhart thinks it is a great idea.

“If we can get the younger people from the high school level to the college level, I think it will definitely expand Rotary’s membership,” said Brookhart. “First, I think we need to let those who don’t already know about Rotary, what Rotary is and then explain the recent changes in flexibility and leniency.”

The Oxford-Ole Miss Rotary Club meets at 7:30 a.m. every Wednesday at the Oxford University Club on The Square. For more information on upcoming events and how to get involved check out rotary.org.

Oxford-Ole Miss Suicide Prevention Walk Sets Record

Participants pose for a picture in The Grove before beginning the walk.

Six hundred people registered to walk in second annual Out of the Darkness Walk for Oxford, Mississippi. Organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Sunday’s event raised more than $24,000 compared to the $10,000 last year.

The priest at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Father Joe Tonos, told the crowd that God is merciful and will welcome anyone home, even those who want to go home early.

“I think the walk is sort of a metaphor for the people who just couldn’t finish their walk in life,” Tonos said.

A Junior at the University of Mississippi and Walk Chairman, Maddy Gumbko, brought this event to Oxford last year after her close friend committed suicide.

“My friend Brooke and I started this event to bring awareness to this cause and to help those who are struggling and to let them know that they are not alone and that they have a support group,” Gumbko said.

AFSP Board Member of the Mississippi Chapter, Pam Smith, joined the team after she lost her only son to suicide two-and-a-half years ago.

“I decided instead of suffering, that I was going to become a board member and save lives and believe it or not it’s counseling myself,” Smith said.

According to the AFSP, in America over 44,000 people commit suicide per year. It is the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 18 and 24. In Mississippi more people die by suicide annually than by homicide, costing the state over $456 million of combined lifetime medical and work loss.

Smith said that she will do everything she can to lessen the numbers of suicides. She has already helped get advising programs on campus and a firearm awareness program. She is already working on her next goal, which is to have a suicide healing group by the first of next year.

Counseling is available to students at the Ole Miss Student Health Center and the Counseling Center.

“It is a daily occurrence that we see people with anxiety and depression and it’s a big concern,” Dr. Travis Yates, Director of University Health Services said. “We do have psychiatrist and nurse practitioners that will counsel those students for free, but if we have someone who is suicidal we contact 9-1-1 because thats is always the safer option.”

The next AFSP Out of the Darkness Walk is at 1:30 p.m. at Veteran’s Park (Baseball Pavilion) in Tupelo, MS this Saturday. Anyone can sign up for free online at afsp.donordrive.com or at the event.

 

51 Car Accidents in One Week… Not Surprising

OPD and OFD respond to a car accident on Jackson Avenue West.

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Alexandra Morris

OXFORD, MS- It’s not a surprise to have over half a dozen car accidents reported per day in this city. In fact, the week of September 25th to October 1st, there were 51 to be exact.

The majority of car accidents are fender benders. Though this type of accident does not cause extreme damage, the prevalence of fender benders is concerning for Oxford residents.

The majority of the 51 car accidents seen last week were reported on or near Jackson Avenue.

“The reason there’s so many on Jackson is because of the high volume of traffic,” Oxford Police Sgt. Ryan Winters said. “Almost every section of campus leads to Jackson. Also, there are a lot of businesses on Jackson Avenue which again adds to the traffic.”

“I got into a fender bender last week on Jackson Avenue near Chipotle,” Ole Miss student Mattie Sullivan said. “I don’t know what’s up with Jackson, but everyone’s always getting into accidents and it’s causing so much traffic.” 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1AD9nxfqPu2H2pTQRQc0KtBS1x-Q&ll=34.36761014480843%2C-89.51617290000002&z=13

The leading cause of car accidents are texting distractions  or aggressive driving, such as following too closely.

“Being more aware and paying more attention are prevention efforts people need to make, as well as staying off your phone and being courteous when people are trying to get over instead of speeding up in front of them,” Winters said. 

Sullivan was driving a Ford Fusion and the driver who hit her was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe. Sullivan said that the driver who hit her was not paying attention and claimed to have not seen her. Sullivan took her car into the shop last week and was given a rental car. The man’s insurance was able to cover the damage, but the damaged caused Sullivan’s premiums to go up.

“It is just really frustrating getting in a car accident because it’s a hassle, a lot of paperwork and not to mention money. I mean, college students are on a tight budget,” Sullivan said.

Southland Body Shop Manager Ronnie Harwell explained that fender benders are the most common accident in Oxford and though the damage is mainly just bumpers, fenders, and headlight, the cost will average from $750 to $1000. He also said that the higher end cars cost $1500 to $2000 dollars in damage.

“There is definitely an issue here because we are always a week or two behind work because so many cars are brought into the shop,” Harwell said.

To avoid paying over $2000 in car damage, do not be a careless or reckless driver. The National Safety Council recommends putting phones away, driving the speed limit, focusing on the road, and making the right choices such as calling a cab instead of driving under the influence.

For updates on accidents and traffic in the Oxford area, follow Oxford Police Department’s Twitter account.

STDs Swamp The South

By: Alexandra Morris

The most recent study for STD/HIV show that the South has the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases among Americans.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), most STD cases reported come from people between the ages of 15-24 years, so, sexually active college students need to be more aware of the facts and more cautious when it comes to sex.

“People in the South often experience poorer health outcomes than the rest of the nation, due to multiple factors including income inequality, poverty, and high numbers of people without health insurance,” said Elizabeth Davenport, News Media Team Member for NCHHSTP Office of Program Planning and Policy Coordination Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These Three STDs Spread Like Gossip

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, since 2013 Mississippi continues to face a steady rise in syphilis rates. The cases of syphilis recorded have almost tripled in the past three years.  However, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are still the most common STDs in the south.

“Americans ages 15 to 24 years old accounted for nearly two-thirds of chlamydia diagnoses and half of gonorrhea diagnoses,” said Davenport.

In Mississippi, for every 100,000 women roughly 4,300 between the ages of 15-24 contract Chlamydia, compared to the 1,500 men for every 100,000 of the same demographic.

According to the CDC, “Men who have sex with men (MSM) accounted for the majority of new gonorrhea and primary and secondary syphilis cases (82 percent of male cases with known gender of sex partner).”

Davenport stated that the most shocking statistic the CDC has recently recorded is that women’s rate of syphilis diagnoses increased by more than 27 percent from 2014 to 2015.

“Honestly, I had no idea that contracting syphilis was still a thing,” said an Ole Miss student who contracted Syphilis and prefers to remain anonymous. “Luckily, I had a screening with my gynecologist not long after I contracted it and was able to get on antibiotics immediately. Yes, it was embarrassing, but it’s not the end of the world. I really just recommend people be more cautious about who they sleep with because people lie.”

The reason women are more prone to contracting STDs than men is because of their anatomy. The lining of their sexual organ is “thinner and more delicate” than the skin on a male’s sexual organ, making it easier for bacteria to be penetrated.

Everyone wants to know why these STDs are on the rise, especially the number of syphilis cases. The reasons are unknown according to the CDC, because they are only given “a snapshot of what’s happening with chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in the US; however, it doesn’t tell us why certain trends are occurring.”

The increase in Syphilis is stumping researchers, especially since penicillin has been the treatment since the 1900s. However, since all three major STDs (Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis) are all rising, researchers are starting to think technology has an effect on the outbreaks.

“I think people are getting on these dating apps because they know they can have a one night stand and not contact the person ever again,” said Ole Miss student Emily Smith. “I think that these apps have a direct correlation with the rise of STDs because people with STDs get on these apps for a quick hook-up.”

The US AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Rhode Island Department of Health conducted studies that specifically blamed dating apps like Tinder and Grindr, which simplify the act of casual sex between strangers. Unfortunately, their findings have not been proven to be completely true since the apps are relatively new and the outbreak of Syphilis has been occurring since 2002.

“While we have not found any direct correlations between dating apps and the rise of the three major STDs, some studies like the Rhode Island one provide theoretical reason to believe this assumption,” said NCHHSTP’s director Dr. Jonathan Mermin.

According the The Atlantic, CDC epidemiologist Sarah Kidd believes that dating apps pose a threat to the growing STD problem and that “it’s easier to meet partners and not necessarily have identifying information and not be able to track them down later.”

Davenport agrees and said that this is why “it’s imperative that people who use dating apps talk openly about STDs, get regularly tested and treated if needed, and reduce risk by using condoms.”

Dating apps like Tinder do not have a section where STD checks are to be submitted, however according to a news report from CNSNews, some dating apps have added a link that directs the user to a locator for free STD testing due to the assumptions that such apps are responsible for the rise in STDs.

As of 2015, the CDC has found that immigration, the rise in gay or bisexual men and women, and the increase of sexually active youth who are not screened or tested all might have a direct effect on the rise of STDs.

Picture curtesy of MSDH.ms.gov. 

Picture curtesy of MSDH.ms.gov

Picture curtesy of MSDH.ms.gov

 

Ignorance Is Not Always Bliss

Most college students believe that once they contract an STD they are more prone to STDs, which is untrue. With proper treatment and future protection, such as using condoms and talking to partners about their STD history recurrence can be very avoidable.

“A positive STD test is not the end,” said Davenport.

Another misconception is that anal sex prevents the contraction of STDs. Actually, according to the CDC, gay or bisexual men in the US alone “account for 83 percent of primary and secondary syphilis cases.”

Many people think that STDs cannot be treated, only herpes and HIV cannot be cured.

It is important to finish the medication when contracting one of the major three STDs, otherwise they can cause serious health problems, “Many STDs are curable, and all are treatable. It is important to remember If either you or your partner is infected with an STD that can be cured, both of you need to start treatment immediately to avoid getting re-infected,” said Davenport.

Another misconception is that all STDs show symptoms, but Chlamydia is known as the silent killer because many mistake the discharge as normal or confuse it with a yeast infection. This myth is also proven false since people can be asymptomatic.

“One can be asymptomatic, although most have symptoms,” said Ole Miss Student Health Center Director Dr. Travis Yates. “We advise annual screening, and certainly screening after an unprotected exposure of concern.”

Lastly, many students believe that if they get tested at the Student Health Center, their parents will find out, which is not necessarily true if the parents’ insurance is not involved.

“All patient encounters at SHC are confidential; confidentiality is of high priority for us,” said Dr. Yates. “However, there is a risk in the event the charges are filed with insurance.  In that case, the parents may later receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from the insurance company delineating charges and payments.  We have no control over insurance companies.  This could be avoided if the student requests that charges not be billed to insurance, in which case the fees would be paid at the time of visit or posted to their bursar account.  Charges posted to bursar accounts are labeled as SHC fees generically, and are not specified as to what the fee was for.”

Let’s Talk About Sex…Safe Sex

Researchers are diving into the rise of STDs in the US, but the best way to end the epidemic is to educate the youth.

“Educate yourself regarding safe sex practices and practice what you learn,” said Dr. Yates.  “Information is available on our website under the services tab.  Sexual health is discussed in EDHE classes, and at many presentations by Health Promotion.  We have patient info brochures in all patient rooms as well as free condoms, male and female.”

Education of STDs and prevention will help stoop the rise, but building the nation’s prevention methods and systems would also help.

“We have reached a decisive moment for the nation,” said Dr. Mermin. “STD rates are rising and many of the country’s system for preventing STDs have eroded. We must mobilize, rebuild, and expand services – or the human and economic burden will continue to grow.”

Because abstinence is the only fully effective way to stop this epidemic from spreading, it is important that high schools have programs to teach teens about abstinence and safe sex. The average age of sexually active teens is decreasing, and many sexually active students are uneducated on the dangers of unprotected sex.

“Young people that are sexually active face unique barriers to accessing prevention services, including confidentiality concerns, limited access to health care (no insurance or transportation), discomfort or embarrassment in discussing risk behaviors, and may have multiple sex partners,” said Davenport. “Parents and providers should aim to offer young people safe, effective ways to access needed information and services. Likewise, sexually active adolescents and young adults should advocate for their own health by seeking out providers they trust, following screening recommendations, practicing safe sex, and openly discussing any health concerns with their partner(s).”

FACTS ABOUT THE MOST COMMON STDS

Rebels Against Sexual Assault Hosts Forum on Recent Spark of Alerts

By: Alexandra Morris

On Tuesday, April 11,  Ole Miss student organization, Rebels Against Sexual Assault (RASA) hosted a forum discussing the recent alerts about sexual assaults sent out by the University’s Police Department (UPD).

The forum was called to discuss how RASA and the UPD can work together to bring awareness to the issues and how to better educate the student body on handling these incidents.

An attendee asked the RASA board of executives and UPD officers why follow-up alerts are not sent out quicker and that they believe providing the university with updates is important.

“The reason the alerts are so vague is because they are under investigation and we can’t share all the information that is happening behind the scenes,” said UPD officer.

Lindsey Bartlett Mosvick, RASA Project Coordinator, stated that in the past the UPD have posted updates on cases on their crime reports page, but that she believes more work can be done to inform and keep the students updated on recent incidents.

“The problem is that the grand jury is the next step, which isn’t until May,” said Mosvick. “So,f or us to announce something like an indictment is hard, because it takes about six months to do.”

An attendee then asked how students can combat the rumors spread around campus about the accusations sent out being later proved to be untrue.

“I do not think there is anything to combat them, but those rumors are the exact reason people don’t come forward when they are assaulted.” said UPD office. “It is sad to see that they don’t want their peers to be upset and that they have this social pressure while also dealing with this other issue of being assaulted.”

The office then stated that it is the UPD’s job to protect the victim’s rights, as well as the suspect’s. He said that they try to keep that balance while also trying to inform the students, which has proven to be difficult because investigations go at the speed the victim wants them to.

“I think it has a lot to do with culture and the most we can do to combat the rumors is use evidence and education,” said RASA executive member Corbin Smith. “Actually only two to nine percent are false accusations… So, I recommend educating people, that is the best way to prevent sexual assault from occurring and limits the stigma.”

Smith later explained that the whole point of RASA is to inform and use “pure education” and the way that their organization brings attention to these types of issues is by frequently visiting honors 101 courses, sociology courses, EDHE courses, and even organizations such as sororities and fraternities.

“We have been told by people on campus that awareness has increased tenfold,” said RASA executive member Elizabeth Romary.

When asked if there is correlation between springtime and sexual assaults, RASA members responded that nationally there are more sexual assaults during the first six months on the fall semester, which is known as the “red zone.”

RASA and the UPD then asked for advice from the audience on what they can do to better awareness and alerts. Multiple attendees recommended adding tips for bystanders because as of now the tips included on the UPD and RASA websites are directed at the victim, which makes it seem like the victim could have prevented the assault and that the fault is on them. These tips include: avoid walking alone, staying with a group of people, and being aware of your surroundings.

“I think adding bystander tips is a great idea so that we make sure people are more safe and more aware of their surrounding,” said Smith.

The forum concluded with UPD office Jeff Kellum educating the crowd on a new app called ‘LiveSafe.’ The app allows students to communicate with a dispatcher when a problem occurs or if they are walking home alone and just want to feel safer. The app also gives people the opportunity to share current locations, report tips immediately to the police station, as well as calling 911 right away.

“It’s like the coolest app you guys, I love it,” said Romary.

RASA next big awareness event is a march tonight called ‘Take Back the Night’ starting at The Grove stage at 6:30pm.