This semester, The State News has had the unfortunate responsibility of reporting on an unusually high number of reported sexual assaults. It has been an issue that has found a consistent home on our front page, and has played a recurring role on this page the very next day.

It would be reckless speculation to liken the upswing in assaults to their prevalence in media coverage. It would be unfair and false to victims and their families to implicate the victims as instigators of these attacks, and it would be flatly irresponsible on our part to stick our head in the sand and hope the entire problem of sexual assaults disappears.

These are some the misconceptions that have swirled since Welcome Weekend. It's about time the university takes a large-scale proactive approach to educating students and faculty about sexual assault and taking steps to eradicate them on campus.

A task force has been assembled to do just that. Created by Lee June, MSU vice president for student affairs and services, and Fred Poston, vice president for finance and operations, the task force comprises more than 30 representatives of campus groups; their operation appearing to run on open forums of discussion. This is exactly the opportunity that concerned students, staff and others have to make their suggestions become reality for MSU students.

Sexual assault education deserves to be compulsory for incoming freshmen during Academic Orientation Program. MSU lags behind the field in education as means to prevention, and that needs to immediately change with this task force. The misconceptions listed above are indeed false, but to some others, they represent the circumstances surrounding assault.

These are immediate changes, and we hope this task force realizes the immediacy of the situation.