UMass/Amherst: the flagship of higher education
When I first started shining a spotlight on rowdy student behavior a few years ago, I never thought the day would dawn where a dramatic decrease in such bad behavior would become a "dog bites man" kind of news story.
But here we are, thankfully.
UMass released on Friday the box scores for this past fall's violations of the student code of conduct (now that it applies to off campus activities) and it was down a whopping 63%.
No surprise really since I published the Amherst Police Department noise/nuisance tickets and arrests back in late November showing they were down dramatically. And the feeder system so to speak for the Dean of Students is APD, as every negative interaction is reported to their office.
But I still find some of the statistics interesting. Out of the 107 students reported to the Dean's office only one was expelled, probably this guy. (Assaulting and calling a black police officer the N-word will do that.)
Another not at all surprising, but still notable when you see it as a stark statistic: 80% of the 107 student offenders were males. Why is that? Is it a testosterone thing where men are more naturally inclined to bad behavior?
Of course the other statistic UMass doesn't show is the involvement of alcohol in all of these sordid situations, which if I had to guess approaches 100%. Perhaps alcohol and testosterone make for a bad mix.
Speaking of which, another notable statistic, one that UMass will not tell you about, is reported rapes plummeted from 22 in 2013 all the way down to six in 2014.
In his inauguration speech on Wednesday, Northwestern District Attorney Dave Sullivan credited UMass with helping to develop materials now used nationwide to address sexual assaults on campus.
That too is something to widely acknowledge.
Too bad Bill Cosby never had those materials available when he was a student.
ReplyDeleteYeah I was thinking that prior to firing him as a PR figurehead, they should have had him do one last Public Service Announcement about all the successful work UMass is doing with regards to rape.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Cosby presumed guity, and Bill Clinton given a presumption of innocence regarding his (Clinton's) own famously labeled "bimbo eruption?
DeleteBe interesting to see what happens if Patriots make Superbowl.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they have the "hearts & minds" of the students, this is peace-through-force and that almost inevitably implodes spectacularly.
Of course, there is also killing the Goose that Laid Golden Eggs...
I'm guessing an almost guaranteed riot as long as there's not a major blizzard that day.
ReplyDeleteBut at least it will be limited to on campus (mainly Southwest area).
I believe Clinton was impeached by the House so I would hardly describe that as a "presumption of innocence".
ReplyDeleteBesides there's a BIG difference between two consenting adults having sex (and yes, oral sex counts) and the scenario where one surreptitiously uses drugs to negate consent.
The Impeachment was for lying under oath.
DeleteAccusers are deemed to be correct? He did do these things? I must have missed the trial completely. Of course, we can "feel" any which way we like. But our feelings don't make it so. Do they?
DeleteBill Clinton is certainly guilty. Who but him said he wasn't? I doubt there is an American who does not believe he is guilty. Hard not to be when your semen is on someones dress who isn't your spouse. Then again most every president is guilty of the same. JFK was the latest to be revealed by his then teen intern Mimi Alford for jaunts.
ReplyDeleteBut we want to tar and feather Cosby. (No-- not literally.)
DeleteNot clear what the crime is that you are accusing him of?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think the riot would only be in Southwest?
ReplyDeleteI could see it happening downtown...
What if we left him alone, and he in turn decided to simply go away, stop lecturing us about how to live, and just live quietly on his money? Would that be OK?
ReplyDeleteLegally, he's entitled to the presumption of innocence, but he's not entitled to our adulation and our money.
He needs to steal a page from so many other celebrities whom we now can't remember whether they're dead or alive. If he were to do that, we could keep the condemnations to a minimum.
Or how about this: bring charges and haul him into court. Then live with the verdict.
ReplyDeleteWord is that this is all about money -- a fight over the residuals from the Cosby Show. Something about how Cosby did this as part of casting and hence they can go after that money.
ReplyDeleteWord is? From whence comes this "word?"
ReplyDeleteJust silly. You don't get residuals for trying out for TV a show. You get residuals for being part of the first run and then it is written in stone in contracts. The Cosby kids each made about $3.2 million a year before Bill's past caught up on him.
ReplyDelete