
The topic I chose to write about is the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. After reading different sources, I began to question why it is so prevalent. I am interested in this research question because sexual assault on college campuses is very prevalent in today's society and something should be done about it. On one hand we have people saying we should raise more awareness, on the other hand we have people who do not want to talk about it. One reason people feel that rape should not be discussed in public is because it's a controversial issue. Although this topic is a controversial issue, it should be talked about because one in five women will experience some type of sexual assault on a college campus. This affects me because I am a woman on a college campus and this should not be a concern while I am in college. Additionally, it affects my values because I feel that everyone should be safe on a college campus. Parents and students should not fear that something like this could happen to them. There are many things that can be done to make students and parents feel safe. One process that can be taken to make sure students feel safe is to get rid of the different stereotypes that are known as rape myths. There is one rape myth that suggests that the girl "asked for it" or "it was the way she dressed." I am affected by this statement because no one deserves to be raped because of the way they look or because they were flirting. I am qualified to write about this topic simply because college students are affected by this horrendous crime. 

The first source that I found that pertains to my topic is "It's Time to Address Sexual Assault on College Campuses: A College Student's Perspective" by Allison Underhill. The author is credible because she is a college student. She knows about how women should be careful at all times because of sexual assault on campuses. The major claim in this article is that sexual assault programs on college campuses are not as helpful as people think. Although these programs make students aware of what is going on, these programs are not lowering the percentage of sexual assault. The author then goes on to list ways that can be effective such as making sure students know the facts, getting rid of myths about rape, and how to fight the rape culture (Underhill). The major values that are at stake in this article are the sexual assault programs that colleges have. It is at stake because the author tells us that if we were to look closely at these programs then we would see that they do not work. Colleges spend a lot of money to get these programs to the students and the author is basically saying they are wasting their money. The author is biased because she is arguing her opinion that the programs do not work and she gives ways that she think they could work. 

The next source I found is "This New Study Shows Sexual Assault on College Campuses Has Reached "Epidemic" Levels" by Inae Oh. The author is credible because she is the Associate Engagement Editor at Mother Jones and an editor for The Huffington Post. The central claim in this article is that sexual assault on college campuses is more prevalent than many people know (Oh). The author's main evidence in the article is that she uses several statistics to back up her claim. The major values and interests at stake in this article is that most colleges convey that their college campus is safe from sexual assault. In actuality, college campuses are not as safe as they portray because you can get raped by someone you know, as well as a stranger.

The final source I found is "Time to Get Serious about Sexual Assaults on College Campuses and Here's How" by Todd Robberson. The author of this essay is credible on this topic because various statistics were used. The author was a little biased because at some points in the article there were instances where the author's opinion was utilized. The main claim in this article is that colleges convey that they are safe, but they are really not. It talks about rape culture, which means schools try not to report sexual assaults on college campuses. They do this because it is a very controversial issue (Robberson). The major interests and values at stake in this article is that colleges try to keep sexual assault topics to a minimum so that more students will want to attend their school.

This research question is arguable because it addresses prevention methods that colleges use but are not as effective. It is also arguable because preventative measures can be suggested to stop the high levels of sexual assault on college campuses. One disagreement that I have found in the sources is that some think sexual assault programs are helpful and others think they are not. One agreement that the sources seem to have is that something needs to be done about sexual assault on college campuses. The various sources help my perspective because they give more insight about sexual assault than the various programs colleges utilize. I can revise my question in the future by addressing how we can raise awareness about sexual assault on college campuses. We can start raising awareness about sexual assault by making sure that students take sexual assault programs each year they are in college. We can also raise awareness by making sure everyone knows the correct definition of sexual assault and omit rape myths.

