USNA QB Charged with rape

Colleges and Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
181

<p>Consentual sex in the Yard is specifically prohibited by the Conduct Code. No exceptions.</p>

<p>Rape, by definition, is included in that restriction, as well as being an obvious violation of law, human dignity, and anything else you care to list.</p>

<p>So, if the sex was consentual, they're both down. If not, then only he is.</p>

<p>Now, nowhere has the assertion of a false ID been made (that I know of, anyway). She said she used her WI DL which showed her to be only 20. Fine.</p>

<p>However, a lie by omission is still a lie, and I know of cases where mids were booted for it. In this case, the group (it wasn't just her) went to a bar and showed their ID's, KNOWING that they were underage. The guy let them in anyway. That does not give them a green light to drink. As such, them showing their ID's can (and this would be up to an Honor Board to determine) be seen as an intent to deceive. Ordering the drinks definitely is, because the person serving is under the impression that the guy at the door checked ID's, and they are knowingly keeping that detail from the other person.</p>

<p>Remember, honor involves doing the right thing when no one else is looking. None of us is perfect, but look at the risks you take when you roll a hard six and come up snake eyes.</p>

<p>It's a right old mess. And people wonder why I refuse to ever get drunk again (I've only been smashed once). It's because it's so easy to become completely stuck on stupid.</p>

<p>Even if the alleged rape is found to have been consentual, these kids are in HIP DEEP TROUBLE, especially after all the bad press.</p>

<p>To the kids who are applying: You know how hard you are working or have worked to get in. You know how hard it is to graduate. You also know how GREAT it is to graduate. PLEASE don't throw it all away over a drink or something else equally stupid. You owe that to YOURSELF.</p>

182

<p>Last night my dad totally went off on me for being what he called "disrespectful." Apparently he told me to get off the computer several times and when I didn't we got in an argument. He brought up the fact that when I'm at West Point/Annapolis something as small as getting some food when I was told not to or whatever could potentially lead to seperation.</p>

<p>I've actually thought a lot about this and I'm truly worried. I mean, I'm a good person overall, I have integrity, I respect the law (my dad is a cop) and I generally follow the rules. But the service academies require perfection, and I am just worried that being the kind of person I am that I will challenge the rules and get kicked out for it. It really is someting to think about. I mean, I'm not going to just change overnight! Although maybe that's what plebe summer is all about, instilling the military values into the new cadets.</p>

<p>I don't really know what to do. I halfway feel like my dad is just being a jerk, but I half hear what he's saying. Advice from someone (Zaph?) would be appreciated. Maybe just some reassurance. I just don't want to royally screw up, you know?</p>

183

<p>
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He brought up the fact that when I'm at West Point/Annapolis something as small as getting some food when I was told not to or whatever could potentially lead to seperation.

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</p>

<p>Huh?</p>

<p>Tell your dad to chill. He's responding like a typical parent who didn't go to the place. It takes a fairly big deal, or a fairly long string of moderate ones, to get you separated. Don't panic.</p>

<p>
[quote]
But the service academies require perfection, and I am just worried that being the kind of person I am that I will challenge the rules and get kicked out for it.

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</p>

<p>First off, the Academies do NOT require perfection. They DO, however demand EXCELLENCE. There is a difference.</p>

<p>Challenging the rules at USNA or USMA is really no different than challenging the rules anywhere else. You simply have to ask yourself if you're willing to deal with the consequences if you get caught. If you show up late to a formation, you'll get fried and march some tours. Steal something and you're history. See the difference?</p>

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[quote]
I mean, I'm not going to just change overnight!

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<p>Wanna bet?</p>

<p>Look in the mirror before you go to bed on I-Day, and tell me if the eyes staring back at you are the same ones that stared back at you that morning when you brushed your teeth at home or in a hotel.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I halfway feel like my dad is just being a jerk, but I half hear what he's saying. Advice from someone (Zaph?) would be appreciated. Maybe just some reassurance. I just don't want to royally screw up, you know?

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</p>

<p>You're dad is simply overreacting and using something dear to you (as well as a healthy dose of ignorance) to get the point across. </p>

<p>Look, I've BTDT. Yes, the Academy is tough. Yes, it has rules. Yes, it demands excellence. Remember, however, that the folks in it and the folks who run it put their trousers on in the morning just like you do. They make mistakes. They bend the rules. Sometimes they break them. The trick is knowing when to do it, and which rules to do it with.</p>

<p>Don't go in terrified that you won't come out, or you won't. Learn, roll with the punches, do the right thing, and believe in yourself, and you'll be fine.</p>

<p>Hang in there.</p>

184

<p>Just remember that with responsibility comes accountability and accountability is simply owing up to your mistakes (no lying) and taking whatever punishment you're handed. </p>

<p>The old saying at the Academy while I was there in the 70s was that you rate what you get away with. Certainly not a very mature attitude but it was certainly the attitude the "vast" majority of midshipmen had. If you got in trouble, owned up to your indiscretion no matter how bad or wrong it was and then accept (without complaining or being a sea lawyer) your just desserts. </p>

<p>Fortunately, when I attended none of us were underage as the drinking age was 18; however, many drank to excess and some drank when they weren't allowed to and paid the price. Usually, two months restriction and all it entails. </p>

<p>The academies do not require perfection...hell, that's why you're there to develop a keen sense of integrity and a strong moral fiber so that you don't put yourself in a compromising situation. My only advise would be to just tell the truth. If they tell you not to do something and you do, and you admit it...it's a conduct offense. IF YOU lie and attempt to deceive, it's an Honor offense and you could be gone. </p>

<p>You will be held to a higher standard than a "regular" college student but it is not perfection...you will think it's pretty d... close but being truthful is the key.</p>

185

<p>Zaphod, you are a great sea daddy. Well put.</p>

186

<p>
[quote]
The old saying at the Academy while I was there in the 70s was that you rate what you get away with. Certainly not a very mature attitude but it was certainly the attitude the "vast" majority of midshipmen had. If you got in trouble, owned up to your indiscretion no matter how bad or wrong it was and then accept (without complaining or being a sea lawyer) your just desserts.

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<p>Amen. You rate what you skate.</p>

<p>The Sea Lawyer thing is so key. When the Class of 1994 had their cheating scandal, what infuriated the Alumni wasn't so much the scandal itself (which was bad enough), but the fact that all the Mids began whining like a certain party after Florida 2000 and began HIRING LAWYERS to get them off for having been NAILED CHEATING.</p>

<p>The fact that many of them SUCCEEDED ticked us off even more.</p>

<p>
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My only advise would be to just tell the truth. If they tell you not to do something and you do, and you admit it...it's a conduct offense. IF YOU lie and attempt to deceive, it's an Honor offense and you could be gone.

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<p>Amen, shipmate. Preach it.</p>

<p>
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Zaphod, you are a great sea daddy. Well put.

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<p>Thanks. Just trying to help out the tadpoles. :)</p>

187

<p>I found this ages ago. It's attributed to an Ellen White, but I'm not sure if that's accurate. Either way, it's a battle cry that I try to live with every day. Sometimes I fail, but more often than not, I don't, and I have the scars to prove it.</p>

<p>I hope it motivates you as much as it does me:</p>

<p>"The greatest want in the world is for the want of MEN. Men who will not be bought or sold. Men who in their innermost souls are true and honest. Men who do not fear to call sin by its rightful name. Men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle is to the pole. Men who will stand for the right though the heavens may fall."</p>

<p>HOO-YAH! :D</p>

188

<p>Copyright 2006 The Baltimore Sun Company </p>

<p>The Baltimore Sun </p>

<p>March 23, 2006 Thursday </p>

<p>As the Navy football team prepares to launch spring practice next week for the 2006 season, coach Paul Johnson yesterday publicly addressed the charges against former quarterback Lamar Owens for the first time. </p>

<p>"I tend to wait until it's over and see what happens," Johnson said at a luncheon meeting with the media. "Everybody wants to get to the bottom of it. If he [Owens] is guilty, then he'll be punished." </p>

<p>Owens has been charged with rape, assault and conduct unbecoming an officer under military law after an incident Jan. 29 in Bancroft Hall, where players reside. And another unnamed member of the football squad has been accused of rape - but not charged - in a separate incident that allegedly occurred in George-town. </p>

<p>Johnson acknowledged that the cases have harmed the image of the football program, which he said "could always be better. It's never good when anything like this happens. But, over the space of the last four years I don't think you can take the last six weeks and say that's how the program is. And all this stuff happened after football was over. </p>

<p>"The Naval Academy is not going to give us [football] a blank check. They're midshipmen first and football players second." </p>

<p>The outlook for the field could not be rosier. Unlike last spring - when Navy had a largely unproven roster - 18 starters and 38 letter-winners return to begin workouts Monday and start the quest for a fourth straight Commander in Chief's Trophy and fourth straight bowl game appearance. In Johnson's past three years, Navy is 26-11...</p>

189

<p>and so the Owens story drops off the radar while the Duke Lacrosse Team amps up the drama........46 DNA tests and that is just to look for the perps.</p>

190

<p>Ok after reading everything that was posted on this i was FURIOUS. most of you are parents who did not go here or graduates who, not be disrespectful, graduated a LONG time ago. You should never assume that hearsay is correct on any matter what so ever. IF YOU ARE NOT A GIRL CURRENTLY ATTENDING THE NAVAL ACADEMY YOU DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE ATMOSPHERE IS HERE. I dont care if you have a daughter who might go here or you someone who knows a girl there blah blah...bottom line-you dont know. you cant make any judgements on what you hear in the papers, second hand, etc. The only true way to know the experience of women at the academy is to be a woman at the academy. </p>

<p>second of all several things you said on here are wrong. SAVI does not stand for Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention. it stands for Sexual Assault Victim Intervention. Also, this female will NEVER be prosecuted under the Conduct Code, Honor Code, or UCMJ. Because she claimed she was raped, she is protected by the SAVI program. Anything she admitted to doing on the night of the rape cannot be used against her. This was instituted because several times women were drinking underage and were raped. The academy (and the fleet) instituted this SAVI protection so they could irradicate the more severe problem of Rape, because people would no longer be afraid to come forward. so bascially all of you who are calling for her to get separated, it will never happen so stop saying it. She wont even get a single demerit for this. The only thing she will have to do is go to counseling for her underage drinking. </p>

<p>Mother and Fathers, please please please do not act like you know how things are run at the Academy. If you did not go there (or went there several years ago), you do NOT know how it functions or the atmosphere of the brigade. I dont care how close you are with your mid, or how often they call home telling you about the academy, or how you stay up reading all the Naval Academy Parents Club emails, YOU DONT KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE HERE UNLESS YOU ARE HERE EXPERIENCING IT. </p>

<p>I am sorry for the ranting, but I absolutly hate it when people who dont go here try to make assumptions about this place.</p>

191

<p>wow...feels like i know you imatnavy:) </p>

<p>and before grads get all offended and start throwing around the "now see here junior"s, what she said is true. its not like mids are trying to be all disrespectful, or insult the fact that you graduated from here or your service. we respect both: we know how difficult this experience is. but i think the reason more mids don't post on here is the frustration with the opinions presented as fact, rumors accepted and commented on, and the disparaging comments mids sometimes get when they do post their thoughts about life here. it may not be the rosy-cheeked, idealistic view all the time, but its the truth as we live it. i'm thinking especially of the mid who posted the thread "this is not your father's academy", and got castrated. dad2b2010 was like, "if you can't offer something constructive, don't say anything", and zaphod actually did whip out the "junior" at least once. and yet, the mid was just posting the truth. if you read this post often, you know i'm all about the parents. my mother reads and posts as well. i'd just like to point out on example: imagine you have just gone through a painful and unfair conduct case. you stood restriction (you grads know how much fun that is) then someone reads a news article, written soley from the bum mid who got separated for being a bum mid's perspective. then people start commenting on it as if its gospel and girls are crying rape left and right and saying things like "the rape victim should be separated for underage drinking". come on now, i thought we'd come further as an academy, as a naval community, than that.</p>

192

<p>Totally right Wheelah44... it is true that we are no longer in the days when a female got chained to a urinal, but there are still problems in the mentality of mids and grads alike...instead of trying to prove these girls are making up rape or that people are getting accused wrongly, why do you not just assume you dont know the facts in the case and the academy that you so dearly love will handle the situation properly. in the other case disucssed on here, you were upset a mid got the boot unfairly, have trust in this school and in the system. they would not let a outragous violation go unpunished and they would not separate without a reason. a three star admiral found enough fault in lamars case to take it to an article 32 and enough fault in the other case to separate the kid. im pretty sure a three star admiral (who also is a grad) knows what he is doing, probably more so than anyone, including myself, knows.</p>

193

<p>but what if those assumptions you make are wrong. what if the academy, feeling pressure from the media and higher ups, is being compelled to prosecute men. the media wants to persecute the suspect automatically, and if the academy decides in favor of the male, either it or the female will cry that the case was not taken seriously. if the academy finds the male guilty, it can point to figures showing how it is cracking down on sexual assault and harrassment. this seems incentive enough for an academy so consumed with its perception.</p>

194

<p>i would hope the supe and the dant would not be swayed by those motivations, but by the actual facts of the case.</p>

195

<p>correct again wheelah44...if the supe and dant were swayed by everything the media said we would be in a world of trouble.</p>

196

<p>Unlike many of the posters here, the Navy is not sufficiently tone deaf to punish the victim of a rape. </p>

<p>I.e., rape - huge offence. Illegal drinking / honor code offence - itty bitty by comparison. </p>

<p>This is how the world sees it, argue away on what the Truth is.</p>

197

<p>what do you think brought about social reform in the first place? it was the media exposing these injustices for the public until enough pressure was put on the academy to change it. perhaps the pressure is on too much and things have swung a bit too far in the opposite direction in terms of the conduct system.</p>

198

<p>thanks for...proving my point. kind of. the pressure is on, of course. the academies have a problem, and they're trying to handle it the best that they can. yes, the media did a good thing with pressuring these issues into action, but you can't really close the door on that and say, no, there's too much focus on us now, please go away. the american public is paying for our education, they pay for this institution, they have the right to be interested in what goes on.</p>

199

<p>your point was the supe and dant dont listen to the media, when that is not the case at all. the government is definately swayed by the media as evidenced by the fact that there was a congressional investigation on gender relations. the academy knows that perception is reality for the public, that is why we have all the mandatory attendance at sporting events and rules about no talking on cell phones in uniform. the academy is beginning to give the benefit of the doubt to females in more than just sexual assualt or sexual harrassment cases for fear of looking like they are protecting the old boys and discriminating against women.</p>

200

<p>a classy and chivalric observation.</p>