Sexual assault in College-Is it getting worse?

[SOM]

"60 Minutes" from Sunday, April17th 2011:
The government sent out guidelines on how college judicial review boards should handle incidents of campus sex assault. Beckett Brennan says a university board bungled her case, spurring her to come forward to say she was sexually assaulted by three of the school's athletes. Katie Couric reports.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...#ixzz1JsUgQqJ3

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...ain;contentAux

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by SOM

"60 Minutes" from Sunday, April17th 2011:
The government sent out guidelines on how college judicial review boards should handle incidents of campus sex assault. Beckett Brennan says a university board bungled her case, spurring her to come forward to say she was sexually assaulted by three of the school's athletes. Katie Couric reports.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...#ixzz1JsUgQqJ3

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...ain;contentAux

I watched this last night, and I can’t help but feel bad for this girl. The punishments that the 3 athletes received – after being found guilty by the school, btw – were unbelievable… one was expelled (only to go play ball for Idaho the following year), one was suspended for a year, and the other for a semester – and both of them were allowed to return to the basketball team.

The one woman on the show (I forget who she was exactly), said that schools are perfectly capable of handling situations such as this, leaving the police out of it. Absolutely ridiculous. They’re just trying to cover their asses, and hide the fact that any kind of sexual assault ever occurs at their school.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I watched this last night, and I can’t help but feel bad for this girl. The punishments that the 3 athletes received – after being found guilty by the school, btw – were unbelievable… one was expelled (only to go play ball for Idaho the following year), one was suspended for a year, and the other for a semester – and both of them were allowed to return to the basketball team.

The one woman on the show (I forget who she was exactly), said that schools are perfectly capable of handling situations such as this, leaving the police out of it. Absolutely ridiculous. They’re just trying to cover their asses, and hide the fact that any kind of sexual assault ever occurs at their school.

I saw it last night too. I believe that woman was the school's attorney.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

I saw it last night too. I believe that woman was the school's attorney.

That's what I thought, but I didn't want to throw that out there without knowing for sure.

Regardless, she's an idiot. Anyone who thinks a semester suspension is an appropriate punishment for rape is out of their mind. Or they're, well.. a lawyer.

(before anyone comes in here, reads this, and becomes enraged, I'm not implying that all lawyers are out of their mind and/or think this is ok. I'm simply saying that only a lawyer - and/or a crazy person - would think (or pretend) this punishment was sufficient).

[exlurker]

University of Oklahoma: Changes and Possible Future Changes to Sexual Assault Policy

http://www.oudaily.com/news/2011/may...cy-approve-lo/

Excerpts:

Thursday, May 12, 2011
Sexual-assault victims on OU’s [University of Oklahoma] campus have a longer time to report an incident after the OU Board of Regents extended the crime’s statute of limitations Thursday during the board’s May meeting.
Students now have 365 days to report a sexual-assault incident instead of 30 . . .
The policy's original wording unintentionally put a 30-day deadline on reporting an incident, President David Boren said. This change clarifies the policy and provides students with enough time to report an incident, Boren said

“In our whole society ... we tend to avoid candid conversation about sensitive subjects like this,” Boren said. “Those that suffer sexual assault need to know that the university is a place where they can bring forward their concerns, their need for help, their need for discussion without worry and without embarrassment.”

The change to the sexual-assault policy also modifies the punishment for offenders. If a student commits an act of sexual assault, the penalty of expulsion and suspension are now viable punishments, according to the meeting’s agenda.

Although it wasn't listed on the agenda, the university will make more changes to how it handles sexual-assault cases, Boren said.

A committee of students and faculty has been assembled to look into further changes, Boren said. . . .