Ah, first weekend of the semester. The very air is charged with excitement Your favorite bars are calling to you. They’ve missed you. It’s been a long summer. You can’t wait to get out there and have a good time.

This is the part where your mom tells you not to drink too much and for God’s sake, go put some clothes on.

Sigh.

Although the University of Iowa is the one with the sexual assault case in the news recently, that doesn’t mean that we, as ISU students, aren’t — or shouldn’t be — concerned about this epidemic.

The problem is, when the issue of sexual assault is addressed — by parents, professors, law enforcement or the public — the blame is frequently placed, in whole or in part, on the victim.

This attitude, although a reflex for many or most of us, is not the way we ought to be viewing this issue.

Sexual assault is never the fault of the victim. It doesn’t matter what they were wearing, how drunk they were or what kind of a situation they “put” themselves in.

It also doesn’t matter if they are male or female or something else, or assaulted by a member of the same or different gender. You can be assaulted by someone you know. You can be assaulted by someone you are in a relationship with.

Until we, as a culture, adjust our attitude away from victim-blaming and toward placing the blame on the perpetrator, where it belongs, we will never be able to control — and eliminate — the sexual assault epidemic.

This doesn’t have to be hard.

It starts when you view the objects of your desires as people, instead of conquests or targets.

It starts when you see your friend pursuing someone who looks a little — or a lot — uncomfortable, or someone who is totally wasted, and you encourage them to let you take them home, instead of encouraging them to “score.”

It starts when you’re in an intimate situation yourself and someone says no, and instead of taking this as an invitation to try harder, you take it for what it is: a no.

Remember, just because you can get away with something, just because it’s what you’ve been conditioned by society to think is OK, just because your friends are backing you up, watching you or even urging you to take advantage of someone, doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be assaulting them.

So go enjoy your weekend. It’s not up to you to take responsibility for the actions of others, but you can think — really think — about your own actions, motivations and the consequences.