Weekend, March 9-12, 2017 - The Daily Cardinal

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University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Weekend, March 9-12, 2017

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As transgender students’ mental health services expand, obstacles in care remain transgender mental health.

Story by Margaret Naczek Amid the many challenges transgender students face, a twofold issue emerges: locating beneficial resources and existing. At UW-Madison, the LGBT CC works in junction with University Health Services to provide LGBT-identifying students with increasing support, especially for transgender persons. While services expand, some find help. But others are still waiting. “It’s hard to exist sometimes as a trans person in the world that is set up the way it is right now,” said acting associate director of the LGBT Campus Center Katherine Charek Briggs. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five adults in the U.S. will experience some form of mental illness this year. One in 25

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The LGBT Campus Center and University Health Services partner with the aim to provide inclusive services. will experience serious symptoms that interfere with major life activities. These statistics increase threefold for a person who identifies as LGBT. “ Transgender people

deserve to receive mental health services from providers who are culturally competent. Trans-affirmative care assumes that the clients understand their own experience and identity,” states a set of guide-

lines released by the University of California, San Francisco’s Center of Excellence for Transgender Health to improve transgender care. UHS uses these guidelines to structure their services toward

Burgeoning resources UHS’s mental health staff works in partnership with primary health services and the LGBT CC to facilitate wellrounded, transgender-inclusive healthcare. UHS’s three goals to provide adequate healthcare for transgender individuals involve integration of campus and community medical and mental health services, preparation of medical and mental health providers and meeting the framework of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care. It is the LGBT CC’s open attitude, said Charek Briggs, that bolsters mental wellness, providing “welcoming, safe and affirming” guidance. In addition to designated training sessions, the LGBT

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Breaking down UW-Madison’s sexual assault reporting numbers By Jake Skubish THE DAILY CARDINAL

Data from a university official recently revealed reports of sexual assault increased by more than 100 in 2016 at UW-Madison, but the report included additional information about the nature of the reports as well. A lack of information To a large extent, the numbers are clouded by uncertainty: Of the 325 reported cases, 215—roughly two-thirds—were reported to confidential sources, who don’t disclose details of the assault. That statistical shortage limited the revelations the data could provide. More than 77 percent of the assaults occurred at an unknown location, and in 170 of the reports, or 52 percent of them, it was unknown whether the victim and assailant were acquaintances. The respondent was identified as a UW-Madison student in just 21 of the reported cases. Additionally, the degree of sexual assault was unknown in three-fourths of cases. Report details Despite these blind spots, the

data still contained some striking discoveries. Half of the reports, 36 of them, with known locations occurred on campus; of those, 15 occurred in residence halls. In 31 percent of the reports, there was known alcohol and/or drug use. The data also analyzed whether the victim and assailant knew each other; in 38 percent of cases the victim and assailant did know each other, and in 10 percent they did not. When they were acquaintances, the percentage of higher-degree sexual assaults was greater: For victims and assailants who knew each other, 27 percent of reports involved first, second or third degree assaults; for those who did not, just 16 percent of cases involved these degrees of assault. In either case, alcohol and/ or drug involvement was high: 44 percent for acquaintances, and 48 percent for non-acquaintances. The reports resulted in 15 investigations, one expulsion and three suspensions; five cases are still in progress. Culpability for sexual assault also sometimes included educational sanctions, such as mandatory alcohol education or restrictions on extracurricular activity participation.

None of the incidents were discovered to be unfounded after law enforcement investigations. Comparison to past reports The 325 reported sexual assaults represented a roughly 50 percent increase from 2015, and a 166 percent increase from 2013. Still, the data alone can’t give a definitive answer for the root cause of these increases: Are they attributable to more sexual assaults, or better reporting? According to Tonya Schmidt, assistant dean and director in the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, university efforts to improve access to reporting deserve at least some of the credit. Schmidt said actions such as hiring a full-time Title IX coordinator and requiring additional sexual assault education for students have made a difference. “UW-Madison has made a concerted effort over the past several years to break down barriers to reporting and encourage more students to come forward and seek assistance,” Schmidt said. “We believe the increase in reports is a sign that prevention, education, and outreach efforts are working.”

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Associated Students of Madison candidates for Student Council gather around a list of election results at a press conference.

ASM election brings new faces, constitution change By Nina Bertelsen THE DAILY CARDINAL

Beginning in May, the Associated Student of Madison will have a new set of faces seated at the table after spring election votes were tallied for representatives and ASM’s constitution changed Wednesday. This year the group saw a 9 percent voter turnout—3,629 completed ballots—among the student body, down from 11 percent from last year. Student

Election Commission Chair Kate Wehrman said that the turnout difference wasn’t shocking based on past years, and the lower number was likely due to fewer students running on a ticket platform like the Blindside group. The highest vote-getter was Kaiyang Chen at 1,213 votes for Letters and Science, which has the largest voter base among the dif-

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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”


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