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For all of the discussion of date rape Meghan Patrick heard Thursday, one statistic offered her a sobering reality.

One in four college-aged women will be the victim of a completed or attempted rape during their four years on campus.

Patrick got to thinking. If she was hanging out with three of her friends, one of them could someday be the victim.

"I have a really good chance of being one of those victims," Patrick, a 15-year-old sophomore at Greensburg Central Catholic High School, said.

Date rape was the topic of the New Stanton/Youngwood Rotary Club's Sixth Annual High School Symposium at Westmoreland County Community College yesterday morning.

More than 150 students, teachers and staff representing nine area high schools participated in the event, which included video presentations as well as talks by Virginia Lieberman, of the Blackburn Center Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and Joseph DeMarchis, a Westmoreland County detective.

Prior symposiums have addressed such topics as cyber-stalking, AIDS, hate crimes and school violence.

Magisterial District Judge James Falcon, who coordinates the symposium for the club, said it's important to address such issues with teenagers.

"The more education we can give to our students on all the current problems, I think it helps protect them," Falcon said.

Lieberman started simply by defining rape for the students.

"When we talk about rape a lot of times people aren't really sure what we're talking about," Lieberman said.

Rape, the students were told, is sexual intercourse that occurs through force, threat, coercion or manipulation.

"If you don't want to do it, that person has no right to force you or manipulate you into something you don't want to do -- that's rape," Lieberman said.

Rapists may hit their victims or threaten them with violence. They may inhibit their victim's ability to think clearly by plying them with alcohol or secretly drugging them.

"Do you know what the No. 1 date rape drug used more than anything else is? GHB? Ecstasy? Roofies?" Lieberman asked the crowd.

"Alcohol," she said. "Alcohol is No. 1 -- used more than anything else to get sex from someone."

Lieberman said an estimated 70 percent of rapes are committed by someone known to the victim.

"This is something I see on a regular basis here in Westmoreland County," DeMarchis said.

But most rape victims never talk about the attack.

"Less than half of all the rapes that are committed in this country are reported to anyone," Lieberman said.

And DeMarchis said only 5 percent of date rapes actually are reported to police.

"They're out there. Unfortunately, for various reasons, we're just not being made aware of them," DeMarchis said.

A big reason is that victims often blame themselves. Lieberman said that comes from society's eagerness to blame the victim.

"You're sitting there thinking, 'I would have never done that. I would have never acted like that, so it would never happen to me,'" Lieberman said, referring to a video dramatization the students saw of a drunk college-aged woman being attacked. "You can do absolutely everything right and it still could happen to you."

DeMarchis said the "blame the victim" mentality often makes it difficult to get convictions in date rape cases, which can devolve into a "he said, she said" battle.

"It doesn't matter what she was doing at a bar at 2 a.m. It doesn't matter what she was wearing. It doesn't matter that she got into his car," DeMarchis said.

But DeMarchis and prosecutors often find themselves facing juries with these prejudices. The detective believes women actually make the worst jurors in rape cases.

"Women tend to be judgmental of other women," DeMarchis said.

But simply being aware can go a long way in keeping a woman from becoming a victim in the first place.

"If you are going to be using alcohol, be aware how much you're going to use," Lieberman said. "Be smart. Pay attention to what you're doing. Date rape drugs are generally dropped into someone's drink when they're not paying attention."

Lieberman's advice rang familiar to Greensburg Central Catholic junior Blake Ebbitt, 16, of North Huntingdon Township.

"My parents are always telling me, 'Watch your drink at parties,'" she said, "but I never knew it happened that much."

Yough High School Senior Jennifer Komenda, 18, said the symposium made her think of the alarming possibilities.

"It's scary to think of what can happen to you when you're at parties," Komenda said.

Rape can't always be prevented, but Lieberman said when women take charge and make their own decisions, they can reduce their risk.

"The stronger, more confident, more assertive you are as a person, the less likely you are going to be targeted," Lieberman said.

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