OUCH: Huffington Post singles out McCombs for assault

[TouchdownHusky]

LOL. Yeah just send back the billions of dollars that enrich the people that make the rules.

They don't make billions if they don't have product to televise. NCAA (college football) has that product . . . . act like it. ESPN? Without that product are back to the days of broadcasting Australian Rules football.

 

[gars44]

First off her opinion piece has one glaring inaccuracy:

1. Completely changed the tone of the McCombs incident by saying he 'hit' the girl and not the accurate version of 'push.'
2. Different article with their attorney saying that UCONN promotes rape because the trail to Celeron has been coined the 'rape trail' by UCONN students. That's really UCONN's problem, yes. They added lights to the trail when I was there. If people don't feel safe on it, then they shouldn't go on it. These 7 girls, include Caroline Luby, who is the same Caroline Luby that wrote the letter to Herbst saying the new UCONN logo promoted a rape culture on campus.

These girls are obvious feminist lunatics that are seeking a public forum to get their message across. I highly doubt UCONN takes accusations of rape and s e xual assault less seriously than when a student drinks alcohol under age. I was at UCONN, I was a student and they treated under age drinking in the dorms very seriously, enough to kick people off campus.

NOTE: Any type of assualt on a woman from a man, shows what a coward the abuser really is. The lack of self-control a person possesses to abuse a woman is completely and udderly sickening and the abuser should be put through the same acts that they did to the abused.

It's more a bureaucratic-type issue than it is a "Uconn" issue, because you tend to see the same type of bureaucratic response to these accusations everywhere. This leads you to believe that what the accusers are saying is mostly true because it fits the same old pattern that repeats itself again and again - not just at Uconn but in every type of organization. As women enter more fields and become more outspoken, you will continue to see this type of thing exposed (e.g., in the military). One would think a college community would show a greater sensitivity, but after all, it is the state - and the state is the state. Hopefully Uconn can become a leader in the fight against rape/bullying/discrimination of all types and turn this into a positive . . . .

 

[whaler11]

They don't make billions if they don't have product to televise. NCAA (college football) has that product . . . . act like it. ESPN? Without that product are back to the days of broadcasting Australian Rules football.

I'm talking about the coaches, administrators and the NCAA themselves who get rich off the television money.

You think that group of people is going to kick television to the side and watch their empire dry up?

Maybe the Big 10 will just shut down their network and pass on hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

[Penfield]

This particular instance is being blown up apparently because it was a "football player". If this is an indication of the allegations in the complaint, this article weakens the public relations aspect of the case. If she was unsafe, then I guess all the women in that dorm would have to be moved out. Insanity.

Honestly, who cares what the circumstances surrounding the situation are? If a student (man or woman) expresses that they feel uncomfortable or unsafe in their university provided housing then the university should put forth their best effort to provide alternate housing. It's really that simple.

This woman had a specific reason why she felt unsafe that would not have applied to the other students living in the dorm. However, if more students came forward saying they felt unsafe then the university had 2 options - remove all the students that felt unsafe and find alternate housing, or remove the one student that made everyone else feel unsafe.

 

[gars44]

First off her opinion piece has one glaring inaccuracy:

1. Completely changed the tone of the McCombs incident by saying he 'hit' the girl and not the accurate version of 'push.'
2. Different article with their attorney saying that UCONN promotes rape because the trail to Celeron has been coined the 'rape trail' by UCONN students. That's really UCONN's problem, yes. They added lights to the trail when I was there. If people don't feel safe on it, then they shouldn't go on it. These 7 girls, include Caroline Luby, who is the same Caroline Luby that wrote the letter to Herbst saying the new UCONN logo promoted a rape culture on campus.

These girls are obvious feminist lunatics that are seeking a public forum to get their message across. I highly doubt UCONN takes accusations of rape and s e xual assault less seriously than when a student drinks alcohol under age. I was at UCONN, I was a student and they treated under age drinking in the dorms very seriously, enough to kick people off campus.

NOTE: Any type of assualt on a woman from a man, shows what a coward the abuser really is. The lack of self-control a person possesses to abuse a woman is completely and udderly [utterly - c'mon guy you're a college grad] sickening and the abuser should be put through the same acts that they did to the abused.

 

[gars44]

You clearly don't know much about s e xual assault. My sister was s e xually assaulted while intoxicated and both the police and the nurse who gave her the rape kit both basically blamed her for getting drunk with this guy and implied it was her fault. If you think this doesn't happen, then I don't know what to tell you. But I promise you, it does. My sister is not a lunatic feminist. And there are millions more like her out there.

This stuff happens all the time. At UConn and everywhere else. Implying that because people get kicked out of dorms for underage drinking that somehow the police aren't capable of victim-blaming is misguided and flat-out foolish.

Absolutely true. It's the judgmental-ism of the bureaucracy that is on trial here- the first responders who always have to meet out their judgments when it is their job to respond and provide aid and assistance- not their judgments. But that's what they do, it one of their perks to be able to finger wag the rape victim- "look at those heels you were wearing, what did you expect?"

 

[gars44]

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, I have to tell you that while the points you make are valid, they do not address the principal issue here, which is, what should the institutional response be to a perhaps overly sensitive - and I say "perhaps" - 19 or 20 year-old female student, away from home, who does not want to become the center of controversy, does not want to become the subject of attacks on her character, her credibility, morals, her wardrobe, the fact that she parties - all these things come into the mix. Your response here is precisely the problem: you make it all about her (and again, I grant you, your points are technically valid), but the problem is, the institution has to do more to protect what are essentially children away from home who do not always act in their own best interest. You have cataloged all the things this girl, her parents, etc., did wrong, didn't do right, but your primary response is to attack the victim. It's not a popular response, it's not productive of anything, and it exemplifies the attitude that has caused this entire ruckus. You make yourself Exhibit A of the plaintiff's case. They should put you on the stand as their first witness.

 

[J187Money]

Honestly, who cares what the circumstances surrounding the situation are? If a student (man or woman) expresses that they feel uncomfortable or unsafe in their university provided housing then the university should put forth their best effort to provide alternate housing. It's really that simple.

This woman had a specific reason why she felt unsafe that would not have applied to the other students living in the dorm. However, if more students came forward saying they felt unsafe then the university had 2 options - remove all the students that felt unsafe and find alternate housing, or remove the one student that made everyone else feel unsafe.

This I don't understand. Unless things have changed people got moved all of the time, mostly for made up BS reasons. I have a hard time believing the girl wanted to move and was told she couldn't. And she could probably say she didn't know how, but I guarantee she knows 10 friends that have stories about how they begged the housing department and ended up getting roommate swaps, etc.

 

[Penfield]

This I don't understand. Unless things have changed people got moved all of the time, mostly for made up BS reasons. I have a hard time believing the girl wanted to move and was told she couldn't. And she could probably say she didn't know how, but I guarantee she knows 10 friends that have stories about how they begged the housing department and ended up getting roommate swaps, etc.

I agree with you, and maybe she is searching for ways to show the administration in a bad light. I don't know her personally. She could be taking advantage of a situation where she should have asked to move if she wanted to. However, I don't think people should be saying she didn't have a reason to feel unsafe, didn't have a good enough reason to be moved to new housing, or exaggerating by saying that if UCONN had to move one woman out of this dorm they would have had to move all of them out.

 

[UConn07]

Uconn07, I have to tell you that while the points you make are valid, they do not address the principal issue here, which is, what should the institutional response be to a perhaps overly sensitive - and I say "perhaps" - 19 or 20 year-old female student, away from home, who does not want to become the center of controversy, does not want to become the subject of attacks on her character, her credibility, morals, her wardrobe, the fact that she parties - all these things come into the mix. Your response here is precisely the problem: you make it all about her (and again, I grant you, your points are technically valid), but the problem is, the institution has to do more to protect what are essentially children away from home who do not always act in their own best interest. You have cataloged all the things this girl, her parents, etc., did wrong, didn't do right, but your primary response is to attack the victim. It's not a popular response, it's not productive of anything, and it exemplifies the attitude that has caused this entire ruckus. You make yourself Exhibit A of the plaintiff's case. They should put you on the stand as their first witness.

I disagree with what is bolded above. 18-23 year olds are not children. They are adults, some more mature than others depending on how they have been raised. UCONN is just as responsible for people's safety as say the adminstration was to protect the children at Sandy Hook (not to trivialize anything, just using it as an example). Bad stuff happens. Bad people exist. UCONN can't stop everything bad from happening to everyone.

At the same time, these adults, who just happen to be college students, need to also keep themselves away from certain situations and make better decisions. In almost every one of the scenarios presented in the 38 page document, alcohol was involved. It is not UCONN's fault for kid's getting drunk at off campus places and bad decisions being made, it just isn't. They have done everything possible to cut down on off campus partying and keeping campus as safe as possible. At some point, responsibility needs to fall into the laps of the individuals involved, both the abused AND the abuser.

Now, it IS UCONN's fault for not taking claims of rape or sexual assault serious enough to follow up and have each situation investigated fully. However, if each of these girls felt their claims weren't being taken seriously, they should have pursued legal action immediately. Embarassed, scared, or not, it's crazy for me to think they wouldn't. The legal action should be taken against the perpetrators, not the school they just happened to attend.

 

[gars44]

Twisting words and taking out of context: the 'lunatic behavoir' if you quoted my entire post, refers to their claiming the rape trail promotes rape. Just like the new UCONN logo promotes rape. Those two by themselves = feminist lunatics.

Using the attorney and their clients claims, they might as well file a lawsuit against the entire country, since Detroit and Bridgeport and any other city that has crime also incites rape and muggings and murder.

UCONN's response to any claims of s e xual assault are ALWAYS investigated in a serious manner. Police are on scene in moments for public incidents. The security call boxes are everywhere on campus. You can't charge someone in a case when there isn't evidence to back up a person's claim just like any other crime. UCONN does have s e xual assault classes. I've been through them. It's mandatory freshman year as part of the orientation class. That was way back in 2003.

I don't mean to seem like I'm picking on you and I'm not, but I need to address your "lunatic" comment. Just because a victim may overreact or overstate a point - like perhaps in this case - should not be interpreted to undermine the entire message. People do overreact, and make inconsistent statements, but that does not mean that they are lunatics.

 

[J187Money]

I agree with you, and maybe she is searching for ways to show the administration in a bad light. I don't know her personally. She could be taking advantage of a situation where she should have asked to move if she wanted to. However, I don't think people should be saying she didn't have a reason to feel unsafe, didn't have a good enough reason to be moved to new housing, or exaggerating by saying that if UCONN had to move one woman out of this dorm they would have had to move all of them out.

If she feels unsafe she feels unsafe. But it is hard for me to buy the fact that because McCombs got in a fight with his girlfriend (even if he did push and spit on her) that he is suddenly going to turn into a mafioso who is disappearing witnesses. These things just look ridiculous on paper, and the articles are all written to get eyeballs, not get to the truth. And it works. Here we are talking about it and repeatedly clicking on the link to reread the story.

 

[Penfield]

However, if each of these girls felt their claims weren't being taken seriously, they should have pursued legal action immediately. Embarassed, scared, or not, it's crazy for me to think they wouldn't. The legal action should be taken against the perpetrators, not the school they just happened to attend.

This is victim blaming. It needs to stop. You have never been in this situation and do not know what it would be like.

 

[gars44]

I disagree with what is bolded above. 18-23 year olds are not children. They are adults, some more mature than others depending on how they have been raised. UCONN is just as responsible for people's safety as say the adminstration was to protect the children at Sandy Hook (not to trivialize anything, just using it as an example). Bad stuff happens. Bad people exist. UCONN can't stop everything bad from happening to everyone.

At the same time, these adults, who just happen to be college students, need to also keep themselves away from certain situations and make better decisions. In almost every one of the scenarios presented in the 38 page document, alcohol was involved. It is not UCONN's fault for kid's getting drunk at off campus places and bad decisions being made, it just isn't. They have done everything possible to cut down on off campus partying and keeping campus as safe as possible. At some point, responsibility needs to fall into the laps of the individuals involved, both the abused AND the abuser.

Now, it IS UCONN's fault for not taking claims of rape or s e xual assault serious enough to follow up and have each situation investigated fully. However, if each of these girls felt their claims weren't being taken seriously, they should have pursued legal action immediately. Embarassed, scared, or not, it's crazy for me to think they wouldn't. The legal action should be taken against the perpetrators, not the school they just happened to attend.

In general agreement with your comments, and like you, I wish our society was more self-reliant, I wish people took more personal responsibility for their actions, and I wish that young people and older people made better decisions. I think that's the message I'm hearing from you and I agree that that is what we should aspire to. However, our children today are, in fact, emotionally "younger" than they were 30 or 60 or 90 years ago. Today people treat their dogs like children more than ever, and their children get stay on mommy and daddy's health insurance until they are 26 years old. They go back to their old bedrooms after college. To say that these children are really adults is again, your tendency to be overly literal in your arguments. Simplistic, even. Your arguments are irrefutable logically, so I'm with you there. I just don't think they recognize the reality of today's society. In other words, it is what it is.

 

[gars44]

If she feels unsafe she feels unsafe. But it is hard for me to buy the fact that because McCombs got in a fight with his girlfriend (even if he did push and spit on her) that he is suddenly going to turn into a mafioso who is disappearing witnesses. These things just look ridiculous on paper, and the articles are all written to get eyeballs, not get to the truth. And it works. Here we are talking about it and repeatedly clicking on the link to reread the story.

Well, what's wrong with that? Why shouldn't this issue get eyeballs attracted to it?

 

[J187Money]

Well, what's wrong with that? Why shouldn't this issue get eyeballs attracted to it?

As long as they are reporting facts, great.

 

[gars44]

As long as they are reporting facts, great.

I'll play. Socrates, what is a "fact?"

 

[Santini35]

This I don't understand. Unless things have changed people got moved all of the time, mostly for made up BS reasons. I have a hard time believing the girl wanted to move and was told she couldn't. And she could probably say she didn't know how, but I guarantee she knows 10 friends that have stories about how they begged the housing department and ended up getting roommate swaps, etc.

If I read the article correctly she is mad that the admin didn't offer her the chance to move when she said she was unsafe, not that she requested a change in housing that they denied

 

[J187Money]

I'll play. Socrates, what is a "fact?"

I think we are conflating a couple of different things. We are talking about the girls that filed a suit AND a girl that went to the police re McCombs. I absolutely think we should be shedding light on rape/s e xual assault. I'm not sure that McCombs did needs to be discussed in the national news, and most likely would NOT have been had the other girls NOT filed a suit. To me this looks like making a non-story into a story because there is a big story that is tangentially related.

I think this particular article was written in a way to try and tie this incident into the the lawsuit and I think the thread is thin. That's my point.

 

[gars44]

I think we are conflating a couple of different things. We are talking about the girls that filed a suit AND a girl that went to the police re McCombs. I absolutely think we should be shedding light on rape/s e xual assault. I'm not sure that McCombs did needs to be discussed in the national news, and most likely would NOT have been had the other girls NOT filed a suit. To me this looks like making a non-story into a story because there is a big story that is tangentially related.

I think this particular article was written in a way to try and tie this incident into the the lawsuit and I think the thread is thin. That's my point.

I get that, and agree with you. Stories like this get everyone exercised. Everyone with a supressed gripe is now going to come forward. Everyone who feels that they have been the victim of some past, unreported injustice is now invited to vent. Prepare for more of it. I'm just saying, you have to let them all talk, and you have to listen, nod, be sensitive, let it heal and dry out. It's part of caring, and we should care. Nothing else we can do. Nothing else we should do.

 

[gars44]

The guy at the head of the NCAA allowed administrators who covered up a rape by Roc Alexander to stay on the job. How serious do you think Emmert takes rape by football player after reading this?

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2004177723_uwrapecase12m.html

The actual narrative was much more harrowing than this article accounts for, the administrator told her to keep her mouth shut.

AND, check out this testimony from the administrator:


This is my experience in academia. Because people don't want to know, they kick these things down the line. Looking at the Sandusky case, there is ample evidence that this is what Paterno did. McQueary is clear he never told Paterno what happened, but Paterno saw him agitated. What, he didn't ask? No, Paterno didn't ask. He sent McQueary to see the AD. Spanier was told about a Physics professor who molested a boy at a camp in Maryland (out of PSU's jurisdiction). When evidence turned up in the form of a tape with the professor's confession (recorded over the phone, which is illegal in Maryland), the victim said to Spanier directly that he had a tape and would send it to him. Spanier told him directly that he did not want the tape and would not accept it. CYA is the modus operandi.

Mark Emmert had multiple people under hush up the rape of this woman, and after the lid blew off the cover-up, he never fired or reprimanded a single one. Peyton Manning, Mr. Clean, had an incident in which -- were he an average student -- would have been thrown out of school. Of course it was hushed, especially at Tennessee.

Not just academia. Every institution, every organization, human nature.

 

[J187Money]

I get that, and agree with you. Stories like this get everyone exercised. Everyone with a supressed gripe is now going to come forward. Everyone who feels that they have been the victim of some past, unreported injustice is now invited to vent. Prepare for more of it. I'm just saying, you have to let them all talk, and you have to listen, nod, be sensitive, let it heal and dry out. It's part of caring, and we should care. Nothing else we can do. Nothing else we should do.

Interesting. I'm clearly not being sensitive to the witness. I'll have to think about that.

 

[upstater]

It's more a bureaucratic-type issue than it is a "Uconn" issue, because you tend to see the same type of bureaucratic response to these accusations everywhere. This leads you to believe that what the accusers are saying is mostly true because it fits the same old pattern that repeats itself again and again - not just at Uconn but in every type of organization. As women enter more fields and become more outspoken, you will continue to see this type of thing exposed (e.g., in the military). One would think a college community would show a greater sensitivity, but after all, it is the state - and the state is the state. Hopefully Uconn can become a leader in the fight against rape/bullying/discrimination of all types and turn this into a positive . . . .

Exactly, this is my view of it as well. Small private colleges too. It's institutional.

 

[upstater]

This I don't understand. Unless things have changed people got moved all of the time, mostly for made up BS reasons. I have a hard time believing the girl wanted to move and was told she couldn't. And she could probably say she didn't know how, but I guarantee she knows 10 friends that have stories about how they begged the housing department and ended up getting roommate swaps, etc.

It's probably more likely that she was shocked, upset, she says she started crying, and didn't think to ask. She probably also didn't feel the fear and the ramifications of testifying until later. I don't know whether she later asked to be moved, but her point is that she feels a 3rd party witness like her should be encouraged to offer testimony. How? By the administrator offering her incentives to testify. Just as police do. But in this case, the administrator implied she was overly sensitive because of her own past experiences. In other words, if a woman like her has been assaulted in the past, her testimony as a witness in another case is problematic. That's the crux of this whole article.

 

[UConn07]

I don't mean to seem like I'm picking on you and I'm not, but I need to address your "lunatic" comment. Just because a victim may overreact or overstate a point - like perhaps in this case - should not be interpreted to undermine the entire message. People do overreact, and make inconsistent statements, but that does not mean that they are lunatics.

Caroline Luby is a lunatic. The rest are not. Luby is using the others to promote her agenda, whatever it may be. Her agenda includes, the rape trail incites rape at UCONN and so does the new UCONN logo. Lunatic comments to me.