<p>Oh how I hate to be the bearer of this news:</p>
<p><a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/5351012%5B/url%5D">http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/5351012</a></p>
<p>He's a senior and about 22..............I wonder what went wrong? Bancroft no less. This is bad news for certain. I wonder what the story is?</p>
<p>This is unbelievable, and boy do I hope it is not true.</p>
<p>What is the burden of proof? What happens to him after this? I presume if he is found guilty he pays back w/o service.........the bill comes in the mail and he goes to well you can fill that part in yourself.</p>
<p>I hope there is more to this than he said, she said.</p>
<p>Damn. Another black eye. Some people..... :(</p>
<p>This is terriable...</p>
<p>The US Service academies are creating/building some of the most amazing people in this great nation...</p>
<p>Its too bad that thingslike this happen.</p>
<p>I'm a USMA father and as much as I like to razz the Navy this is terrible news for all of the academies. He is innocent until proven guilty - and it's so difficult to believe that a young man who is 22, who has the maturity to command a football team, who knew what good things were ahead for him, and who certainly knew what the consequences for his acts were, would do this. So I suggest we sit tight and see what happens.</p>
<p>I ditto what Zap said. What a mess. Acusations and charges are very damaging. If they find him guilty, it really will be a black eye. Will have to watch the outcome to see what happens. Bad news but thanks for the heads up SM.</p>
<p>So it was a month ago and I am guessing this is a hot topic of discussion. Bancroft is a large hall but the rooms are close together...........people must have known something.</p>
<p>Gosh, although I'm glad that the Naval Academy isn't trying to cover-up the rape, I'm still very concerned about this kind of environment at the Academies and I don't know if I feel safe enough. I'd hate to give up my admission for these kind of things, but I don't want to be at a place where I'd be sexually harassed and feel insecure. I read from Yahoo news some time ago that 50% of female midshipman stated that they were sexually harassed at some point. That's a HUGE proportion and Academies just addressing the issue is not enough.</p>
<p>Green09, maybe re-read what you 've posted and give some thought to especially the first sentence. The guy hasn't been proven guilty yet and the details of the case are not public so we might should save any judgements until he's gone through the legal process. Maybe consider that since this is an academy, this is why it would be such a big story. Civy colleges have their fair share of problems if you do a little research on crime stats. Don't know how old that yahoo stuff was you read about but in these days & times, the academies have changed. I've seen it. There is no doubt in my mind that you'll be safer at an academy than most places.</p>
<p>Where would you feel more comfortable? At a normal college where 62% of students claimed some form of harassment? (Source: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/24/AR2006012401540.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/24/AR2006012401540.html</a> )</p>
<p>The fact is that sexual abuse and harassment happens everywhere in our society. Its not pretty, and we should definitely take measures to reduce the events whenever we can. But the thought that the Academies are less safe than normal colleges is a joke. You dont hear about the thousands of rapes that occur every year at normal school; you hear about the very few that occur at the Academies. Studies conducted by the Department of Justice have estimated 27.7 completed rapes for every 1000 female students at normal colleges. ( <a href="http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf</a> ) This doesnt take into account attempted rapes, assault, or harassment which are dealt with severely at the academies but hardly every reported or prosecuted at regular colleges. </p>
<p>At the Academy youre much more closely supervised, lowering the opportunity for crimes of this nature. In addition, the character development and caliber of people ensures youre around people that will give you respect. Id argue that press sensationalism notwithstanding the Academies are probably the safest undergraduate institution against this type of crime.</p>
<p>I said this before in my post on the Coast Guard page: This event is tragic, but it is not a scandal. The system in place worked. An investigation was conducted, charges were filed, and the accused will get his day in court. The Academy is doing everything they can to protect the rights of the woman involved and the legal rights of the accused. The only thing that would be scandalous about this is if they tried to stifle the initial incident report or didnt investigate thoroughly because of the accused position. Neither of these things happened so I say the system is working fine.</p>
<p>As for the Mids knowing about this before the story broke to the news; Im relatively sure many of them did. However, talking to anyone (even your friend at the Academy) about the incident could compromise the NCIS investigation and interview process. Im not surprised the story wasnt released until the investigation was completed; to do otherwise would compromise the judicial process.</p>
<p>USCGA- c/o 2008</p>
<p>
[quote]
Gosh, although I'm glad that the Naval Academy isn't trying to cover-up the rape, I'm still very concerned about this kind of environment at the Academies and I don't know if I feel safe enough. I'd hate to give up my admission for these kind of things, but I don't want to be at a place where I'd be sexually harassed and feel insecure. I read from Yahoo news some time ago that 50% of female midshipman stated that they were sexually harassed at some point. That's a HUGE proportion and Academies just addressing the issue is not enough.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sweetheart, try disengaging your emotions and engaging YOUR BRAIN.</p>
<p>Sorry, but crap like this just torques me off in all sorts of ways.</p>
<p>The Academies are some of the safest places on Earth, and are populated by the finest people therein. A lot of the "news" you hear about them is generated by groups like the NOW gang, who never saw a rape or an abortion they couldn't exploit for their own political advancement.</p>
<p>I went to USNA back during the "dark horrible" days before and during Tailhook. Sure, there was harassment by a few idiots, and most of the girls rolled with it just fine (to the respect of their classmates), but it wasn't like they had to lock their doors at night or walk around with Gloria Steinam on the faculty to feel safe.</p>
<p>Get over it. Stop acting like a chld and start acting like the WOMAN you need to be to get through the place without resorting to so many of the tactics that DO rain much-deserved scorn upon the girls that rely upon them.</p>
<p>Excuse me while I go have a beer and calm down.</p>
<p>Zaphod or any USNA Graduate, or current midshipman:</p>
<p>Please explain, from your experience, the duties of the midshipmen who have watch through the night for their company.</p>
<p>Thanks,
CM</p>
<p>This is certainly not the news any school would want to hear or deal with. The positive aspect is that the Academy has treated the star football player the same as they would treat any other Midshipman or officer accused of such an offense. </p>
<p>I would not hesitate to have my daughter attend USNA even after this incident for I know it wouldn't be tolerated nor assumed she was to blame, nor swept under the rug or quietly dealt with. </p>
<p>Obviously both Lamar and the female Midshipman need to be kept in our prayers. </p>
<p>Go to gomids.com and read the forum on posting about this story on the top of the page. It says it all. Treat both individuals as you would want to be treated in this case. The media will have a field day with this and unfortunately some individuals will seek attention for themselves rather than the best interests of the individuals involved and the Academy.</p>
<p>Zaphod, I could tell tales about Tail Hook and the women who went. Sigh. It's so hard to talk about this without sounding like I'm blaming women for getting assaulted or throwing my own gender under the bus...I'm not. The vast majority of women with whom I served were hard-charging, honorable, right-acting women. A few patently were not. I'm certainly not saying anything at all about who's guilty and who's not in this USNA case where the facts have yet to be determined. Here's a tale though about women in the fleet and what sometimes happens:</p>
<p>I was the maintenance officer for a detachment doing carrier quals on the Kitty Hawk. We rolled into North Island with a group of pilots, enlisted folks, and one female ensign who was my trainee. We had town liberty before we set sail and everybody ended up at this one bar. Time passed, drinks were drunk, the younger sailors were starting to get goofy and flirt with the "enswine" and me. "Time to go," I told her. She resisted, was having too much fun being a party girl and flirting back. I had to drag her out. The chiefs just shook their heads. I tried to straighten her out but she wouldn't listen. She thought she could cuss and drink and carry on "like a man". It doesn't work that way. Later, she had affairs all over the squadron with various and sundry male personnel. She went to Tailhook and acted stupid. She wondered why she never got a meaningful assignment in the squadron. No sense, no dignity, no military bearing. Later, she accused a LCDR of molesting her in her stateroom while on another detachment. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't. </p>
<p>My point is that in my experience, women in the Navy who act right are treated very, very well. Those who don't seem to be magnets for the worst elements. When I was enlisted, my Company Commanders reamed out my whole company because some male sailors offered to carry our seabags for us and we were gonna let them. They were right! Never fail to carry your share of the load. Women sailors walk a fine line, trying to have humor and not be worried about being perfectly politically correct while at the same time having military bearing and class. Can you be dignified without being a prude? Do you know where to draw the line with your shipmates without being a tempermental jerk? It's not easy.</p>
<p>I would send my daughters to a service academy in a heartbeat. The chances of them being harmed by classmates is so, so much smaller than at a civilian college.</p>
<p>I can only tell you this as a mother to a female Midshipman as well as a woman myself....In the course of your life, you WILL be sexually harassed. Right or wrong, there are going to be encounters that are awkward at best and downright scary at worst that you will have to deal with. Simply because there are boors everywhere in every walk of life, both male and female who will say or do things to make you uncomfortable. The Naval academy is no different. You obviously hope that the administration sets a tone for the Academy by making things like sexual harassment never happen, but I can tell you it does happen currently at the academy. Does this mean it's an unsafe place? no. I don't believe so. There is no college in America that assaults, rape, harassment etc. don't happen because it is a slice of life. I hope to God that this isn't true and if it isn't, then I hope that the Midshipman in question can somehow pick up his life. But, if it is true, then he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and the accuser should be harassment free. This would be a horrible situation for all involved. I am hoping that it is dealt with fairly. </p>
<p>Anyway, my point, Green09 is that you are pretty safe at the academy, but you also have to learn how to handle yourself too as harassment and discomfort are part of life. (before I get flamed, I am not condoning harassment or further, but also don't think that every off-color remark or comment should be classified as harassment. Some things are just products of jackasses)</p>
<p>I'm sorry guys, I just had that moment after reading the news and I just let myself go too far. I know that sexual harassement is just as common in civilian colleges, if not more commonplace than at the academies, but it's much more downplayed. This was one of the reasons why my parents initially pondered about allowing me to apply, but I fought them off and now they're supportive regardless of whether these kind of things happen. I just felt really let down after reading this and kinda felt the gut anger, but I better control that bigtime if I'm headed to Annapolis on June.</p>
<p>and the comments about a couple getting caught and the female mid claiming rape as a lifesaver the male mid gets the boot? What about that?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Zaphod or any USNA Graduate, or current midshipman:</p>
<p>Please explain, from your experience, the duties of the midshipmen who have watch through the night for their company.</p>
<p>Thanks,
CM
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Please understand that my information is 15 years old.</p>
<p>That said, when I was there, the watches secured sometime around midnight. Everyone went to bed except Main Office, who was there 24/7.</p>
<p>I know that raises questions about something like this happening and no one hearing it. That is extremely difficult because there is always SOMEONE awake in the company area, and all it would take is one scream to bring them and the folks around them, running.</p>
<p>I'm not saying the accusation is impossible, but there are numerous facts that must be known before we can start drawing conclusions or worrying that the place is unsafe.</p>
<p>All that said, I always found it rather odd that watches were secured in the Hall. Don't know if they still do that today.</p>