RUS disagreed in its statement, fully endorsing the Task Force's definition.
"It cannot be assumed that silence is consent," the statement reads.
Miller said, however, courts generally interpret rape as closer to the Task Force's defintion than the council's.
"The standard definition of rape 'Sexual Negligence' The council resolution also proposes thecreation of a new category of "sexual negligence." Effie K. Anagnostopoulos '92, who proposed theterm, said the category encompasses acts in whichthe initiator "fails to elicit consent resultingin the physical or psychological harm of thevictim." The intent of the new category was to censurefailure to elicit consent, while not calling thatfailure rape, according to a Anagnostopoulos. "Rape is a pretty serious crime, and we wantedto maintain that category as serious," she said. The word "expressed" in the Task Force's reportis problematic, Anagnostopoulos said. Sheexplained that the definition implies that averbal "yes" must always accompany sex in orderfor it not to be rape. "That's often-times not the way happens,"Anagnostopoulos said. The grey area of "sexual negligence" labelsfailure to elicit consent as "something less thanrape but nothing so causal as sexual harassment orsexual misconduct," according to Anagnostopoulos. The council recommended that sexual negligence"may be punishable by a request to withdrawdepending on the severity of the harm inflictedand surrounding circumstances." Members of the Date Rape Task Force would nottake a position on the council's recommendations,but said they were satisfied to see the issuetaken seriously. 'Thoughtful Discussion' "I'm pleased to know that so much thoughtfuldiscussion is going on," said Dean of RadcliffePhilippa A. Bovet. "That was our hope." Viggiani agreed, saying that she hopes morestudents will become involved in the issue. Heinicke said yesterday that he will propose onSunday that he council make two submissions to theAd Board, one summarizing all the opinions thecouncil has heard and one containing the council'srecommendations. RUS Co-Chair Minna M. Jarvenpaa '93 said such amove would be appreciated by RUS as an attempt tofurther discussion rather than determine policy. "That's exactly what we were hoping for,"Jarvenpaa said.