As I write this, it’s Monday, the sun is AWOL and everyone is walking around being soggy and irritable with nothing much to say to one another. I think I’ll start a rumor.

Let’s see, first I’ll need a really juicy subject. Then I’ll have to embellish it a little and pass it on to someone who will, in turn, embellish it a little, and so on …

That is, after all, how rumors get started, right? By the time it gets back to me, it’ll be virtually unrecognizable because that’s the course that most rumors take. Big joke, right?

Wrong. There seem to be a few rumors going around campus about various rape incidents that aren’t funny at all. And somehow I can’t help but feel there’s much more to them than someone’s idea of how to break up the monotony of things at NIU.

Like anybody else, I sit back and take it all in, not really being too sure what or what not to believe. But this is one set of rumors which I’m glad are being taken seriously by some.

The DeKalb Police Department should be applauded for at least trying to do something about the possibility that these things could be true. They have increased the number of patrols in the Greek Row area which, although slight, is a start.

Of all crimes, I would imagine rape is probably the most difficult to deal with from the law enforcement standpoint. It’s a sense of having to at once walk on ice with the fragile emotions of confused victims and to deal with the frustration of not being able to do much without the victim’s aid.

Not too long ago there were rumors circulating about a gang rape at an NIU fraternity house. The details that got back to me were frightening in their consistency. Now, whether or not it’s true, I got the feeling that there are still a lot of misconceptions about rape, despite police and crisis center attempts to educate people.

This is where the column gets touchy. I’m not a feminist, nor am I trying to sound sexist, but some of the things I heard coming out of men’s mouths were infuriating.

One guy, and it was an older fellow too, not a college age smarty pants or anything, said to me and a friend in all naive sincerity that if he was a woman about to be raped and not too sure what to do about it, he would just “lay back and enjoy it.”

Needless to say I wanted to punch his lights out. No, better yet, I’d like to throw him in a jail cell with a couple demented perverts and see if he’d really relax and enjoy it because, surprise, surprise, it happens to men too.

Another fellow said in jest that if he had been drunk and in a fraternity house (or for arguments sake, amidst any large group of “friends”) he probably would have done it too. I wasn’t amused.

Granted, these attitudes do not prevail among the male gender. More often than not, my male friends are outraged at the occurrence of rape, whether real or rumored.

But unfortunately some people, women as well, seem to believe that rape isn’t such a big deal. With people thinking this way, it’s no wonder victims don’t want to come forward.

Once and for all it has to be realized that rape is not sexual, it’s violent. It’s like any other assault, only much more personal, much more degrading and very psychologically damaging.

Anyone who thinks it’s so funny should just imagine it happening to himself/herself, a parent or friend. Victims need to be encouraged and supported so assailants can be prosecuted before it happens to someone else. Now I know you’ve all heard that before.

But what some of you may not realize is that no matter how lighthearted your intentions, any off-the-cuff humor about rape only deters people from coming forward, and makes it harder for them to have a successful mental recovery when others unwittingly make light of what has happened.

There have been three rapes reported in DeKalb just in the month of October. It simply is not funny.