When it comes to sexual assault response, NIU is way ahead of the “pack.”

Kathy Guimond, a member of NIU’s Sexual Assault Task Force and a University Police dispatcher, said NIU’s force is one of the best in the country. And with a much-increased budget of $4,950 for the next year, response should get better.

The force will meet at 9 a.m. on Monday in the Neptune Center Southeast Conference Room to discuss ways to use their budget for the 1988-89 academic year.

Blanche McHugh, task force director and NIU housing coordinator, said the budget is the first complete budget the force ever has received from NIU. Last year the force was granted $1,000 for the spring semester only, and was independently funded from 1984 to 1987, she said.

McHugh said the force will discuss using the budget money to promote NIU’s fall semester Sexual Assault Awareness Week, which will run Oct. 10 to 14. She said money will be used to bring top researchers in the sexual assault field for speeches and to print pamphlets to inform students of ways to avoid sexual assault.

Another awareness week will be held in the spring, McHugh said.

Guimond said budget money also will be used to fund the Sexual Assault Response Team. “SART is (the force’s) claim to fame,” she said.

SART, a 24-hour response team for sexual assault victims, includes police, medical and counseling services.

Although the victim does not have to use all the services SART provides, Guimond recommends they take advantage of the opportunity. Rape is a very complex crime, which causes physical and emotional damage, she said.

One future project for the force is trying to increase student membership, Guimond said. “And we want to get the emphasis across that (rape) is not just a woman’s problem … we want to get men involved in the programs,” she said.

The force also would like to produce a videotape directed toward NIU students.

“NIU’s problem involves acquaintances,” Guimond said. “What do you do when you’re out on a date with a guy you trust? What works for stranger rape doesn’t work with guys you know.”

NIU’s force was formed in November, 1984 as a response to date rape. Guimond said that since the force has been in existence, the number of on-campus rapes has dropped. However, she said she believes there are “still a lot more going on that are not reported.”

Guimond said she urges all sexually assaulted victims to contact SART immediately.