editorial comment please explain: she was the "victim" of "date rape" drug, but she was not sexually assaulted. paraphernalia also would like to get on Oprah, but there are some limits.

A year and a half ago, UW-Madison student Greta Hafeman spent 17 hours unconscious, the victim of a "date rape" drug.

Although she was not sexually assaulted, she nonetheless felt violated. She has focused much of her free time and energy since trying to draw attention to "drug-facilitated sexual assaults."

The 20-year-old Hafeman, who was crowned Miss Madison Saturday night, will use her new title to shine more light on the subject. She beat out four other contestants due in part to the platform she titled "Silent Crimes: Advocating Awareness for Positive Change."

"I was a victim of the drug gammahydroxybutrate," said Hafeman, rattling off the pharmacological name of a drug more commonly known as GHB.

"After my experience with it I was kind of at a point where I could either regress into myself and go into that safe place, if you will, and not open up and trust people again because it was a violation of my body, a violation of trust," Hafeman said.

Instead, she began talking to others about her experience and became outspoken about the issue. Hafeman says it is a tough one for many people to talk about, which is why she calls her cause "Silent Crimes."

A junior communication arts student, she was born in Carbondale, Ill., but moved to Mequon her junior year of high school. She won the title before a crowd of about 125 people in the Monona Grove High School auditorium.

For the talent portion of the contest, she sang George Gershwin's "Summertime." It was the same number she performed last year in the pageant, in which she was first runner-up.

Her drugging took place in Madison. Hafeman says it happened in a social setting that seemed secure.

"It wasn't large or out-of-control or anything. Seemingly an area and a place that I could trust, and that trust was violated," she said. She never found out who the perpetrator was.

She realized she was a victim of the drug when she woke up in unfamiliar surroundings and was unaware of how she got there. A couple of close friends stayed with her through the night and told her about the violent reactions her body went through.

Hafeman suffered seizures and lost control of her bodily functions.

When she came to, she immediately called her mother, a nurse practitioner, who urged her to go to the emergency room immediately.

There, she was seen by a sexual assault nurse examiner, who later concluded that she had not been sexually assaulted.

Hafeman plans to put the $600 scholarship she was awarded for her Miss Madison victory toward her education. She works two jobs, one with the Wisconsin state treasury, the other as an unpaid intern with Rep. Curt Gielow, R-Mequon, that evolved through her platform issue.

"My life seemingly revolves around it," Hafeman said.

Pageant director Jayme Cain called Hafeman a "very well-rounded contestant," adding that she earned the highest scores in both the talent award and interview categories.

"She's an excellent speaker and very passionate about her platform. And her singing voice is phenomenal. I think she should do very well at Miss Wisconsin."

The Miss Wisconsin Pageant is June 25 in Oshkosh.

Cain restarted the Madison pageant four years ago. It had been held sporadically before that.

First runner up was Lindsay Ann Veremis, a UW-Madison journalism and mass communication student, originally from Appleton. She won a $400 scholarship.

By Samara Kalk Derby
February 21, 2005
E-mail: skalk@madison.com

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