OUCH: Huffington Post singles out McCombs for assault | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OUCH: Huffington Post singles out McCombs for assault

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upstater said:
How was I supposed to know that the lunatic comment was about the rape trail? It was a totally different paragraph. I don't even know what you're talking about. I'm going to assume however that something known on campus as the "rape trail" does not promote respect and brotherhood.

I thought the logo thing was a huge stretch. Then I learned that this woman was s e xually assaulted. Let's just say her experience of life at UConn is very different than yours, and that whatever she wrote, no matter how off target it sounds, is probably related to her experience.

"UConn ALWAYS" investigates s e xual assaults in a serious manner?

This is exactly what is being discussed here, whether or not it does. You are essentially calling these women liars for the way they have portrayed in narrative form their interactions with UConn officials.
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Yes I am. It gets articles like this written about a trail that was nicknamed by students because it had lack of lighting when it was first built: https://www.ctmirror.org/story/2013/11/06/uconns-rape-trail-symbol-schools-larger-problem

Guess what, UCONN heard those concerns and added a ton of lights, security phones AND security cameras to help those that were worreid about walking on it, feel better. What exactly is UCONN supposed to do? Tell students you can't call it the Rape Trail? UCONN officials sure as hell don't call it the rape trail. They don't promote it as the rape trail. In fact during weekends, when it is being used the most, police have checkpoints throughout the trail to ensure everyone is safe.

Here's a quote fromt he article: "Regardless if there is any truth to the nickname of the trail, which was built in the 1990s to connect the Celeron Square Apartments to campus, several students say the name itself is indicative of the “rape culture” on campus. “This culture is being bred here,” Brittnie Carrier, a UConn senior, said during last week's rally."

Pure ludicrous.

The steps UCONN has taken to change the tone of the school from a party school to an actual respected and highly thought of university has been incredible. I was there when they cut down on Spring Weekend and shut off access to Carriage to residents only to minimize partying. The culture of UCONN has completely changed at UCONN to make it a safer place. So yes, I am calling these girls liars when they claim UCONN does not listen to sexual assault accusations. Hell, the main assault she is talking about was investigated by police, who found a need to NOT send McCombs to court.

What more can the school do?
 
UConn07 said:
Yes I am. It gets articles like this written about a trail that was nicknamed by students because it had lack of lighting when it was first built: https://www.ctmirror.org/story/2013/11/06/uconns-rape-trail-symbol-schools-larger-problem

Guess what, UCONN heard those concerns and added a ton of lights, security phones AND security cameras to help those that were worreid about walking on it, feel better. What exactly is UCONN supposed to do? Tell students you can't call it the Rape Trail? UCONN officials sure as hell don't call it the rape trail. They don't promote it as the rape trail. In fact during weekends, when it is being used the most, police have checkpoints throughout the trail to ensure everyone is safe.

Here's a quote fromt he article: "Regardless if there is any truth to the nickname of the trail, which was built in the 1990s to connect the Celeron Square Apartments to campus, several students say the name itself is indicative of the “rape culture” on campus. “This culture is being bred here,” Brittnie Carrier, a UConn senior, said during last week's rally."

Pure ludicrous.

The steps UCONN has taken to change the tone of the school from a party school to an actual respected and highly thought of university has been incredible. I was there when they cut down on Spring Weekend and shut off access to Carriage to residents only to minimize partying. The culture of UCONN has completely changed at UCONN to make it a safer place. So yes, I am calling these girls liars when they claim UCONN does not listen to s e xual assault accusations. Hell, the main assault she is talking about was investigated by police, who found a need to NOT send McCombs to court.

What more can the school do?
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Let me add - SEVERAL STUDENTS out of how many? The entire school? Could the SEVERAL STUDENTS be the seven that are raising an issue for pure publicity? Once again, if a school works with the police and an investigation was done and nothing could be found or proven, what is the schoool supposed to do? Make up a story about the accused to get that person kicked out of school? Please enlighten me.

Alyssa, who wrote the Huffington Post piece complains that the counselor at UCONN didn't recommend she change housing locations or anything like that. Why didn't Alyssa, if she felt so uncomfortable and so afraid of her living arrangements NOT ASK to change her housing location. Maybe it's because she wasn't as worried about it at the time and she is blowing out of proportion the actual events that transpired becuase she sees an opportunity to get her agenda out there. In addition, if something as drastic as this happened, WHERE THE HELL WERE HER PARENTS during the times she was scared and afraid? I think any parent out there if aware of what was going on would be screaming from every mountain top until justice was done.
 
UConn07 said:
Yes I am. It gets articles like this written about a trail that was nicknamed by students because it had lack of lighting when it was first built: https://www.ctmirror.org/story/2013/11/06/uconns-rape-trail-symbol-schools-larger-problem

Guess what, UCONN heard those concerns and added a ton of lights, security phones AND security cameras to help those that were worreid about walking on it, feel better. What exactly is UCONN supposed to do? Tell students you can't call it the Rape Trail? UCONN officials sure as hell don't call it the rape trail. They don't promote it as the rape trail. In fact during weekends, when it is being used the most, police have checkpoints throughout the trail to ensure everyone is safe.

Here's a quote fromt he article: "Regardless if there is any truth to the nickname of the trail, which was built in the 1990s to connect the Celeron Square Apartments to campus, several students say the name itself is indicative of the “rape culture” on campus. “This culture is being bred here,” Brittnie Carrier, a UConn senior, said during last week's rally."

Pure ludicrous.

The steps UCONN has taken to change the tone of the school from a party school to an actual respected and highly thought of university has been incredible. I was there when they cut down on Spring Weekend and shut off access to Carriage to residents only to minimize partying. The culture of UCONN has completely changed at UCONN to make it a safer place. So yes, I am calling these girls liars when they claim UCONN does not listen to s e xual assault accusations. Hell, the main assault she is talking about was investigated by police, who found a need to NOT send McCombs to court.

What more can the school do?
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I've never heard of the rape trail. You are way off on a tangent.
 
But since we're getting tangential, there's a nearby high school here that's been nicknamed Heroin High. It's had that nickname for about 5 years. A student overdosed there. When they interviewed the local police chief about it, he stated that the nickname was totally overblown and hyperbolic. When the police did an informal study/survey through a local university of the prevalence of hard drugs at the school, they discovered the reality was much lower than you'd assume given the school's nickname of Heroin High. They determined that only about 15% of the students were addicted to heroin.
 
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ZooCougar said:
If 15 % of the school is addicted to heroine and other hard drugs then it deserves the moniker.
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Except in this case, 15% of the UCONN population is not committing rape or abusing women.

Look, 1 rape at the school is too much, there's no doubting that. I also can easily make an assumption that the school is not covering up any ANY sexual abuses or rapes.

Need I remind anyone that Joe Williams is still suspended because he is still having a court matter? Sexual assault and rapes are easily more of an offense than what Joe Williams did. Any player or student would not be enrolled at school if it was proven they participated in or carried out a rape or sexual assault, plain and simple.
 
upstater said:
I've never heard of the rape trail. You are way off on a tangent.
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I am not off on a tangent. The article clearly states and is titled: "UCONN's rape trail is symbol of school's larger problem"

This is only a discussion because the women, including the writer of the article that started this thread, are trying to make it an issue.
 
UConn07 said:
This is only a discussion because the women, including the writer of the article that started this thread, are trying to make it an issue.
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Have you actually read the allegations in the 38 page lawsuit filed by the 4 students?
 
UConn07 said:
I am not off on a tangent. The article clearly states and is titled: "UCONN's rape trail is symbol of school's larger problem"

This is only a discussion because the women, including the writer of the article that started this thread, are trying to make it an issue.
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Anything called the rape trail should be an issue.

But it's not relevant to what we're discussing here. The administration has been repeatedly deaf to criticism of their procedures in dealing with sexual assault and other assaults.
 
upstater said:
Anything called the rape trail should be an issue.

But it's not relevant to what we're discussing here. The administration has been repeatedly deaf to criticism of their procedures in dealing with s e xual assault and other assaults.
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It is not an issue - if you read my earlier posts - I'll post it here again, you'll realize it is not an issue. Or you can pretend that it is an issue.

It gets articles like this written about a trail that was nicknamed by students because it had lack of lighting when it was first built: https://www.ctmirror.org/story/2013/11/06/uconns-rape-trail-symbol-schools-larger-problem

Guess what, UCONN heard those concerns and added a ton of lights, security phones AND security cameras to help those that were worreid about walking on it, feel better. What exactly is UCONN supposed to do? Tell students you can't call it the Rape Trail? UCONN officials sure as hell don't call it the rape trail. They don't promote it as the rape trail. In fact during weekends, when it is being used the most, police have checkpoints throughout the trail to ensure everyone is safe.
 
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upstater said:
But since we're getting tangential, there's a nearby high school here that's been nicknamed Heroin High. It's had that nickname for about 5 years. A student overdosed there. When they interviewed the local police chief about it, he stated that the nickname was totally overblown and hyperbolic. When the police did an informal study/survey through a local university of the prevalence of hard drugs at the school, they discovered the reality was much lower than you'd assume given the school's nickname of Heroin High. They determined that only about 15% of the students were addicted to heroin.
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well, if you read the article in this case there is some data and it is pretty skimpy to support the name. It was originally a dark somewhat lonely out of the way shortcut. That is where the name originated. Probably there are some urban myths about how it earned the name, too at this point... My sense is that lots of this is being blown way out of proportion, but that UConn is also somewhat disfunctional when it comes to dealing with this issue, too. Seems that there are multiple places where possible assaults are reported, problematic inter-departmental communication, differing approaches from different departments, and likely some folks who said dumb things at various times. And a president who made some poorly vetted comments. As far as some of the evidence, I'm not so sure it means much...for example the crowd cheering when some rapper mentioned the rape trail...probably would have cheered just as much if he mentioned Gampel Pavillion or Gulley Hall or Branford (at least the kids from Branford would have cheered then). Most performers know that the easiest way to get a cheer is to mention some local landmark...and given the nature of much rap, the rape trail was more likely than the Homer Babbidge Library...None of this is to downplay the seriousness of the crimes or the real hurt felt by the victims, either. I'm just not sure I buy "the culture of rape" thing. there may be problems among certain groups. Deal with them. There may be other problems that contribute, like binge drinking, underage drinking and so forth that in many instances contribute to the problem. Deal with that. there may also be places that are relatively dangerous, particularly at night. Address those. And encourage students to be smart and act intelligently. If some place is perceived as unsafe, for heaven sakes, don't go there after dark alone. Yes you have a right to do it. It shouldn't be like that, but sometimes you have to deal with the facts as they are, not as they should be. And as far as UConn goes, they really need to get their act together. Get a consistent policy that everyone follows from the police to the office of student affairs to the medical people to the President. I'd recommend that all sexual assaults be reported to the police, wherever the report originates.
 
huskymedic said:
Have you actually read the allegations in the 38 page lawsuit filed by the 4 students?
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I just did. And while I'm certain that there is no "systemic" instructions from the leadership of the University to bury these things, I cannot even believe that this many people acted so callously towards these girls. I'm appalled and embarrassed. I don't blame Herbst for this but a LOT of people need to be fired if this is the way these things are actually handled. I know it wasn't like that when I was there. No chance our Hall Director would have dismissed anything like that. And while I'm not a fan of Allred and her tactics, I'm not sure what other choice these girls had if they actually want anything to change.

The stuff about the "rape trail" is more sensationalistic than anything, but the actual things that happened to these women should never happen, and the University did not do its job (as a whole).
 
upstater said:
Anything called the rape trail should be an issue.

But it's not relevant to what we're discussing here. The administration has been repeatedly deaf to criticism of their procedures in dealing with s e xual assault and other assaults.
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Right. But the school doesn't like the Jungle being called the Jungle either. Try stopping that.
 
freescooter said:
well, if you read the article in this case there is some data and it is pretty skimpy to support the name. It was originally a dark somewhat lonely out of the way shortcut. That is where the name originated. Probably there are some urban myths about how it earned the name, too at this point... My sense is that lots of this is being blown way out of proportion, but that UConn is also somewhat disfunctional when it comes to dealing with this issue, too. Seems that there are multiple places where possible assaults are reported, problematic inter-departmental communication, differing approaches from different departments, and likely some folks who said dumb things at various times. And a president who made some poorly vetted comments. As far as some of the evidence, I'm not so sure it means much...for example the crowd cheering when some rapper mentioned the rape trail...probably would have cheered just as much if he mentioned Gampel Pavillion or Gulley Hall or Branford (at least the kids from Branford would have cheered then). Most performers know that the easiest way to get a cheer is to mention some local landmark...and given the nature of much rap, the rape trail was more likely than the Homer Babbidge Library...None of this is to downplay the seriousness of the crimes or the real hurt felt by the victims, either. I'm just not sure I buy "the culture of rape" thing. there may be problems among certain groups. Deal with them. There may be other problems that contribute, like binge drinking, underage drinking and so forth that in many instances contribute to the problem. Deal with that. there may also be places that are relatively dangerous, particularly at night. Address those. And encourage students to be smart and act intelligently. If some place is perceived as unsafe, for heaven sakes, don't go there after dark alone. Yes you have a right to do it. It shouldn't be like that, but sometimes you have to deal with the facts as they are, not as they should be. And as far as UConn goes, they really need to get their act together. Get a consistent policy that everyone follows from the police to the office of student affairs to the medical people to the President. I'd recommend that all s e xual assaults be reported to the police, wherever the report originates.
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Correct - for those that never attended UCONN, the 'rape trail,' is the path most take to the off campus parties on weekends. So the term - 'to the rape trail!' is common among students because its been passed on through the years as the place to get to the best parties. Hence why the crowd cheered during the rap concert during it's mention. It means something to people, just like Gampel.
 
Maybe I'm too (whatever the opposite of old fashioned is) and cynical, but I see this suit as a complete farce devised solely to garner attention and a check.

Whatever underlying attacks there may or may not have been, is not the point of the suit. The point they are trying to establish is that UConn has an absolute responsibility for safety or, at a minimum, UConn has a responsibility to follow it's own policies with regard to reported crimes.

The first one is absurd, they provide all the public safety facilities commonly used as any other school of its size. As for the second, short of systematic disregard for the process (not outcomes), I don't see a lot here short of some individuals not doing their jobs. None of it reaches the level of holding an entire University of 30,000 people accountable, whatever sympathy you may feel for these women.
 
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UConn07 said:
Correct - for those that never attended UCONN, the 'rape trail,' is the path most take to the off campus parties on weekends. So the term - 'to the rape trail!' is common among students because its been passed on through the years as the place to get to the best parties. Hence why the crowd cheered during the rap concert during it's mention. It means something to people, just like Gampel.
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Is the "rape trail" = the Ho Chi Minh trail? Just looking for context here. If it's the same trail, remember it being outer space dark and covered by thick brush and trees. In other words, a perfect recipe for these sick acts.
 
zls44 said:
Why should she have to move? She's not the one who is accused of committing a crime.
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Accused is way shy of investigated, arrested, charged or convicted. The mistake here is that making an accusation is sufficient to cover everything. There of plenty of stories about people with actual restraining orders being killed by their attackers. It is sad but it's the reality of the limitations of our justice system. The accused has a right to due process and unfortunately the accusers have certain responsibilities above and beyond making an initial accusation.

Feeling uncomfortable isn't high on any law enforcement list of priorities.
 
zls44 said:
Why should she have to move? She's not the one who is accused of committing a crime.
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this is one of those matters for which there really isn't a good answer in my mind. It is sort of like a friend of mine who lived in Hartford. His house got broken into 4 times. After the first 3 he said "I should be able to be safe in my own home. they aren't chasing me out of here." On the 4th the guy was still there when he walked in. He moved right afterwards. Now he was right. He should be safe in his own home. But the reality was that he wasn't. Same with the woman. Nobody was convicted of a crime as far as I know in the McCombs situation. It was a boyfriend-girlfriend fight. as far as people moving, she doesn't report that McCombs tried to intimidate her,nor threaten her or do anything else against her. If he did, she has some kind of case that he at least should have been moved if not faced even harsher discipline. But she makes no such claims. From all we know he just lived down stairs and went about his business. She wasn't even the person he fought with. So under what grounds do they force him to move? that she feels "uncomfortable?" That starts down a slippery slope it seems to me. Suppose she "didn't feel safe" because he was a black man? Should he have to move then? Or because she's afraid of people from Staten Island? Should he move? It seems to me if she is uncomfortable she ought to be the one to move and given the circumstances the University ought to do its best to accommodate her. Again, I'm not saying UConn did a great job handling this, but you need more than "feeling uncomfortable" to force someone to move.
 
zls44 said:
Why should she have to move? She's not the one who is accused of committing a crime.
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I wrote this because one of her questions against the UCONN administration in the original article is they didn't voluntarily move her housing location.

From her written piece in the Huffington Post: "Even if McCombs was entitled to know who his accusers were, why didn't she offer to move my living assignment or instate a no-contact policy?"
 
Dooley said:
Is the "rape trail" = the Ho Chi Minh trail? Just looking for context here. If it's the same trail, remember it being outer space dark and covered by thick brush and trees. In other words, a perfect recipe for these sick acts.
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Yes, hence the nickname. But I don't believe any of the claimed assaults took.place there. It's just an anecdotal attempt to sway public opinion toward the plaintiffs. Has nothing to do with the case, except point toward the University actively addressing safety concerns.
 
SubbaBub said:
Maybe I'm too (whatever the opposite of old fashioned is) and cynical, but I see this suit as a complete farce devised solely to garner attention and a check.

Whatever underlying attacks there may or may not have been, is not the point of the suit. The point they are trying to establish is that UConn has an absolute responsibility for safety or, at a minimum, UConn has a responsibility to follow it's own policies with regard to reported crimes.

The first one is absurd, they provide all the public safety facilities commonly used as any other school of its size. As for the second, short of systematic disregard for the process (not outcomes), I don't see a lot here short of some individuals not doing their jobs. None of it reaches the level of holding an entire University of 30,000 people accountable, whatever sympathy you may feel for these women.
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After reading the suit - it appears that people didn't do their jobs, and then up the chain people didn't do their jobs. It appears at this point that their options are A) forget about it and move on or B) fight like they are now. If you want to do something about it so maybe someone else doesn't have to suffer the same fate, "A" doesn't seem to be the right thing to do. So you have "B"...if someone has a third option I'd love to hear one. But it looks like they tried to deal with it within the system and were shut down.
 
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SubbaBub said:
Yes, hence the nickname. But I don't believe any of the claimed assaults took.place there. It's just an anecdotal attempt to sway public opinion toward the plaintiffs. Has nothing to do with the case, except point toward the University actively addressing safety concerns.
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Bingo! However, these girls and now the media are claiming because there is a path that students call the rape trail on campus, that that is proof that UCONN promotes a rape culture. They are grasping for stones. Much like the new 'aggresive' Husky dog portrays a rape culture. The mere fact that these girls believe that should call into question everything they say.
 
UConn07 said:
Bingo! However, these girls and now the media are claiming because there is a path that students call the rape trail on campus, that that is proof that UCONN promotes a rape culture. They are grasping for stones. Much like the new 'aggresive' Husky dog portrays a rape culture. The mere fact that these girls believe that should call into question everything they say.
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If you were a lawyer you'd jump all over the existence of a "rape trail" regardless of its relevance. It's just good lawyering.
 
J187Money said:
I love how McCombs gets named but the administrator doesn't.
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Me too...and as I said this really should not lead one to the conclusion, though I suspect it does for some, that he is is any way the un-named rape suspect. It is pretty unfair but plays into the narrative that the athletic department, or more accurately the football program, is some out of control bunch who go around assaulting women.
 
J187Money said:
If you were a lawyer you'd jump all over the existence of a "rape trail" regardless of its relevance. It's just good lawyering.
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It may be good lawyering, but it's a fallacy. This isn't a situation where you should be repeating lies over and over because eventually someone will believe it's true. If they want to be serious and attack a serious situation they believe exists at UCONN and if they really believe they will be protecting current and future girls at the university by having this lawsuit, then they should be going after the police for not investigating properly, the counselors who turned the girls away when they tried to report and anyone else that actually let a rape or sexual assault happen (which I agree with). However, because they are bringing in thoughts that the new school mascot portrays a rape culture because it is more aggressive and because a trail on campus has been coined the rape trail by students therefore the schools enables a rape culture leaves me to believe one thing. They have no sense of reality, and therefore, are making stuff up.
 
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