College student on sexual harassment

Started by Amber, Jul 28, 2003, 07:17 AM

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Amber

My Opinion
Students should demand stricter punishments for sexual assaulters


There have been three incidents this summer of sexual assault, and all of them have gone unsolved. It is amazing that the police have so few leads about the assaults that have occurred this summer. Were there really no witnesses? When things like this happen, silence can be just as violent as the crime.

For those of you who liken this column to a broken record playing, sit and think for a minute. Most statistics say that one out of four college women will be raped. That one woman could be your girlfriend, your sister, or your best friend.

If you type in "Anwar Phillips" in Yahoo's search engine, quite a few results will appear. Graham Spanier's words on the incident are well-documented on the Internet, as is Joe Paterno's silence. One link that shows up is a cnnsi.com tracker of Phillips' play for the 2003 school year. Obviously, there are zeroes across the board, and if Penn State University is as just as it claims to be, his standings will remain that way.

When the ugly truth came out in April that the nickleback had admitted to assaulting a woman, the general response from students wasn't nearly as outraged as it should have been.

Phillips was slapped on the wrist with a two-semester expulsion, and has the opportunity to return to Penn State in the fall.

If he does return, his punishment includes missing ZERO football games. It is an embarrassment to the university that our "just" judicial system would allow this to happen.

And since the occurrence, nothing has been done. Phillips won't speak to the press, Paterno still won't comment and an alleged sexual assaulter can come back to PSU in the fall. Granted, he hasn't been convicted in court yet, but shouldn't anyone who has allegedly done this type of crime be forced away from here until he is or isn't?

Every time a woman is raped at Penn State, the same response occurs: how terrible, we must find the perpetrators, etc.

A very nice woman on the line from Judicial Affairs explained to me that the reason the expulsion is for two semesters and not permanent is because a more severe punishment might keep victims silent. A lot of victims don't want their assaulter's life to be greatly affected. Instead they would like them to get counseling.

That answer made more sense to me than anything I have heard before, but I, for one, have a hard time understanding why someone who admitted that he assaulted a woman is allowed back on this campus. The leaders of this school would like us to believe that they are very dedicated to making this campus as safe as possible. Ah, but the shepherds are willing to let alleged wolves frolic in the pasture.

Since this school thinks that it is okay to let someone like Anwar Phillips back into the university, maybe we should all be very educated about how to respond in case someone like him attacks someone like you.

From what people say, the State College Police Department is excellent when it comes to rape cases.

They are sensitive toward the victim, and they are very thorough in their investigation.

There are a number of resources on campus available for people who have been assaulted such as the Center for Women Students, Center for Counseling and Psychological Services and, of course, University Health Services.

Not enough students use the assets we have. The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) is our mouth to an organization such as Judicial Affairs. If you are interested in seeing a rule changed, don't just sit there- do something about it.

Let USG know how you feel, and if they do their job correctly, your voice will be heard. Do you want harsher penalties for sexual assaulters? Then tell your student representatives -- demand that they fight for a change.

All lines of communication at this school need to be used more often. I found that by making one phone call, a lot of my questions were answered, and my opinion was even changed.

You all need to get more involved too. This is your school, your money, your blue and white.

I'm sure none of us want the blue and white to be donned by an alleged sexual assaulter.



Loren Ferguson is a senior majoring in English and is a Daily Collegian columnist. Her e-mail address is [email protected].
he men's movement is a hate movement.  

What feminism is to men; the men's rights movement is to women.

Men's rights activists blame misandry for all their problems in the same way that feminists blame the patriarchy.

The only thing men's rights activists are good at is abusing women.  

And you can quote me on that.  :D

RockyMountainMan

Quote
Most statistics say that one out of four college women will be raped. That one woman could be your girlfriend, your sister, or your best friend.

She should be challenged to identify the colleges with this horrendous crime rate.  If she is inferring that her particular PSU campus has an incidende rate that high, then women should be advised upon application, and encouraged to seek a safer campus until the campus can get its problem under control.

Quote
When the ugly truth came out in April that the nickleback had admitted to assaulting a woman, the general response from students wasn't nearly as outraged as it should have been.

According to whom?  Who is the great arbiter of appropriate outrage?


Quote
Not enough students use the assets we have.

OR maybe the problem just isn't as wide spread as the writer would like it to be.
Give me liberty or give me death.

                              ----------------

Tact is for those lacking sufficient wit for sarcasm.

Maximus

"There have been three incidents this summer of sexual assault"

"Most statistics say that one out of four college women will be raped."

Therefore there are only 12 women going to PSU.

Being an English major, I must assume the author of this article cannot do basic math.
onor knows no statute of limitations.
  - Mark Twain's Autobiography

D

Are we to conclude that 1 in 4 male posters on this board are Rapists?

D

My email to Loren:
I thought you might be interested in knowing that when the same type of research method was used to find out how many men were "raped" by women on college campuses they also found that 1 in 4 statistic. I think your article should have included something about men and where they need to go, and how to punish the female perpetrators.

Here is the woman who did the research. http://www.psych.ukans.edu/faculty/charlene/Default.htm
Her feminist record is impecable. Accept she's honest as well. Kind of contradictory for most feminists in my opinion.

Lornen's response:

Thanks for your response, I'll have to look into that.

Loren Ferguson

Amber

She sounds like a dipshit.
he men's movement is a hate movement.  

What feminism is to men; the men's rights movement is to women.

Men's rights activists blame misandry for all their problems in the same way that feminists blame the patriarchy.

The only thing men's rights activists are good at is abusing women.  

And you can quote me on that.  :D

Amber

If she has another article in defense of men, I'll let you know.
he men's movement is a hate movement.  

What feminism is to men; the men's rights movement is to women.

Men's rights activists blame misandry for all their problems in the same way that feminists blame the patriarchy.

The only thing men's rights activists are good at is abusing women.  

And you can quote me on that.  :D

D

"If she has another article in defense of men, I'll let you know."


I won't be holding my breath

Amber

Dear Loren,

I saw you column in the Daily Collegian and as the former president of the Independent Women's Club, I feel it is my duty to point you towards honesty in statistics in feminist issues.  

The one in four women who were raped statistic was performed by MS Magazine, a radical feminist magazine, and published well over a decade ago.  The researcher herself, Mary Koss, acknowledges that 73 percent of the young women counted as rape victims were not aware they had been raped. Forty-three percent of them were dating their "attacker" again.  If you do the math, it is only about 6.75% of women who even believe they were raped.  

It seems most normal girls accept this statistic without challenging it, which is fine.  But as a columnist working for a media outlet, I recommend that dedication to honesty and challenging ideas should be a central value, if not a duty, of yours.

I sincerely hope you will investigate the issues you write on, and keep a hawkish eye towards the truth as you write.  I recommend www.SheThinks.org and www.IWF.org as two places to start.

Sincerely,

Amber Pawlik
he men's movement is a hate movement.  

What feminism is to men; the men's rights movement is to women.

Men's rights activists blame misandry for all their problems in the same way that feminists blame the patriarchy.

The only thing men's rights activists are good at is abusing women.  

And you can quote me on that.  :D

Teddy_Roosevelt

On Ms. Muehlenhard's education:

M.A. 1976 University of Wisconsin
Ph.D. 1981  University of Wisconsin


:shock:

That means there's a 95% chance she's intelligent but extrememely liberal.

(I know, I know, those two are usually a contradiction in terms.)
Respect is not a civil right; it is an attitude of approval and admiration. No one can claim a "right" to the emotional or intellectual approval of anyone else. " - That I-feminist who writes for foxnews.com

D

Yes, but at least she took the time to challenge the Koss' research.  She seems to be on of the few women in her feild that has any integrity.  

Coincidently she is also on the committee for scientific integrity.   Was a past president as well.

Amber

Amber,

Thanks very much for your concern and advice.  I appreciate your response to the column, and am always open to suggestions.  Most statistics that I did look at said "1 in 4 women," but as you said in your email to me, a lot of statistics are biased.  I'm glad you took the time to write. Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Loren Ferguson
he men's movement is a hate movement.  

What feminism is to men; the men's rights movement is to women.

Men's rights activists blame misandry for all their problems in the same way that feminists blame the patriarchy.

The only thing men's rights activists are good at is abusing women.  

And you can quote me on that.  :D

Amber

Letter to the Editor
Column about assault ludicrous, misguided
Loren Ferguson's July 28th column ("Students should demand stricter punishments for sexual assaulters") just may have been her most ludicrous this summer. Her insistence that we must "[force] away" individuals not yet convicted of a crime is severely misguided at best. Sexual assault is indeed a heinous crime, but it is not our place to punish an individual before he has been convicted. Let us remember that we are speaking of an alleged assaulter.

Assume we shun anyone accused, but not convicted, of a crime. What, then, do we do if an individual is ultimately found to be innocent? I should hope that Ms. Ferguson be the first in line to welcome that individual back into the community.

I wholeheartedly agree that Penn State should have harsher penalties for individuals convicted of sexual assault. Certainly, no one wants "the blue and white to be donned" by a serious criminal. But it seems that, in this case, Ms. Ferguson has forgotten one of the foremost tenets of our criminal justice system: "innocent until proven guilty."


Melissa Curry
senior - sociology and crime, law, and justice
he men's movement is a hate movement.  

What feminism is to men; the men's rights movement is to women.

Men's rights activists blame misandry for all their problems in the same way that feminists blame the patriarchy.

The only thing men's rights activists are good at is abusing women.  

And you can quote me on that.  :D

Analog Worms

Quote from: "Amber"


Wow. What an ugly bitch.

Somebody should do the girl a favour and get her a brown paper bag to wear. Or atleast get her to the nearest plastic surgeon.

:twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:
url=http://theafa.tk]Anti-Feminist Army[/url]

They call him the wanderer. Moving from one message board to the next. Just looking for a place to call home.

URnotmeRU

AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!


Jesus H. Christ, Analog.......that's NASTY!!
nd the time will come when you'll see we're all one and life flows on, within you and without you. - George Harrison

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