Student says she was raped on campus

Brittany

Fri Mar 12 2010 13:38

Wow, I can't believe The Lantern provided the victim's residence hall. That is an grave violation of the victim's right to privacy and is incredibly dangerous. Doesn't The Lantern realize that this woman (and other women in her dorm) could be further victimized by this if the assailant knows where she lives? This was a terrible decision all around and I encourage The Lantern's editorial board to seriously reconsider what has been published. I can only hope that the victim doesn't experience further pain caused by The Lantern and this author.

Anonymous

Mon Mar 8 2010 15:02

Comments on the timeline of the events of this crime and what exactly happened are highly speculative. I would caution everyone that we know very little of this incident, and comments about why the victim/survivor and/or the hall director did, etc. are unproductive at best, and at worst, potentially harmful to the survivor if she reads this.

A person identifying herself as the survivor posted earlier in this thread and appears to me to be legitimate, though obviously I can't know. However, it is quite likely she might come here and read this stuff, IMO. It did not appear to be a fake or troll post to me.

I wish folks would not post any more judgemental comments on this. I'm not sure my comments were all that great either. This is probably my last post.

The only good that might come of this is if we can get The Lantern to review its handling of rape reporting at OSU. I urge folks to let The Lantern and OSU admin know your displeasure at the way this second article was handled.

Karl

Anonymous

Mon Mar 8 2010 14:30

What I don't understand is this: this woman was reported her alleged rape to an OSU Dorm director around 9-930 yet it wasn't reported to police until nearly 6 hours later, according to the timeline of events as presented in this article. Additionally, she only reported the occurance because she happened to bump into an officer.

It seems to me that the Dorm Director really dropped the ball on providing an appropriate and timely response for the victim.

Anonymous

Sat Mar 6 2010 21:56

I realize that thiis has already been published and people have read this article both in print and online- but the fact that the student's dorm is mentioned should be enough of an issue to call for a removal of this article from the website. Or, at least remove the map- seriously, what makes you think this is okay?
As someone who has been sexually assaulted (in high school, not college- and not reported) if I did report it and news of the assault made it into any publication/news the LAST thing I would want is for thousands of people to see where I live. Regardless of whether or not anyone would actually come to the residence (with positive or negative intentions), the sheer fact that an address is posted could make someone feel like their power/control has been, once again, stripped from them. I could probably write more than 1,000 words to articulate my disgust for this article and the author's choice of syntax, information to include, etc. Please consider removing this article, or at the very least, the map from the online version of this article.

Anonymous

Sat Mar 6 2010 21:54

I realize that this has already been published and people have read this article both in print and online- but the fact that the student's dorm is mentioned should be enough of an issue to call for a removal of this article from the website. Or, at least remove the map- seriously, what makes you think this is okay?
As someone who has been sexually assaulted (in high school, not college- and not reported) if I did report it and news of the assault made it into any publication/news the LAST thing I would want is for thousands of people to see where I live. Regardless of whether or not anyone would actually come to the residence (with positive or negative intentions), the sheer fact that an address is posted could make someone feel like their power/control has, once again, been stripped from them. I could probably write more than 1,000 words to articulate my disgust for this article and the author's choice of syntax, information to include, etc. Please consider removing this article or, at the very least, the map from the online version of this article.

Karl Spaulding

Fri Mar 5 2010 13:24

An anon troll wrote:

"Dear Karl,
I have read your columns. You certainly are not a journalist, you are not even a writer. What you are, is a delusional conspiracy theorist with too much time on your hands."

Type my full name into the search feature, find some examples of my work to criticize and leave your specific comments instead of polluting this thread with ad homonym attacks. My guess is you are too lazy to do so and only wish to badmouth those of us who don't hide behind a troll keyboard.

Have some respect and address the topic at hand here.

Karl

Anonymous

Fri Mar 5 2010 13:04

Shame on you for publishing the name of her dorm! That is incredibly unprofessional. You violated her right to privacy and those invovled with writing, approving and publishing this article deserve serious consequences. The attitudes reflected in this article are part of the problem. There is a reason why so many don't report cases of sexual assault, response from law enforcement is paltry and everyone prefers to focus on (and blame!) the victim.

Anonymous

Fri Mar 5 2010 11:54

Dear Karl,

I have read your columns. You certainly are not a journalist, you are not even a writer. What you are, is a delusional conspiracy theorist with too much time on your hands.

Anonymous

Fri Mar 5 2010 10:53

One of the anons wrote:

"Karl- maybe you were dropped from writing for the crime column, because you don't even know the rules about using alleged."

Ha! Yes, maybe that was it and they were too kind to tell me the shocking truth! :)

How's this:

Allegedly Karl is a WRITER, not a journalist!

I still say "Woman reports rape..." and "the reported rape" etc. would be a better way to handle this sensitive situation. Using "alleged" apparently has a more negative connotation. If The Lantern is not run as an independant (critical) newspaper, then the ordinary "journalism 101" rules should be broken when necessary, especially when it may negatively impact a rape survivor.

Crime prevention (which includes "postvention" or what happens after a crime) could begin at The Lantern: have a little more concern for those who have (allegedly!) gone through a violent crime experience and don't report the name of the dorm of rape survivors.

Again, I'm not a journalist. I'm much more concerned with crime prevention and the welfare of survivors.

Accuracy does not have to be sacrificed in this instance. Go read Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, by Susan Brownmiller for a depressing overview of what I speak. (Yes, it's OLD. So what? It's a classic, despite any flaws.)

Karl

Holly

Fri Mar 5 2010 07:38

I'm sorry that those of you who aren't familiar with the journalism profession don't realize that it is in fact alleged is used in crime cases.

I'm glad to hear housing handled the situation well. My thoughts and prayers are with the survivor.

Anonymous

Fri Mar 5 2010 07:34

Karl- maybe you were dropped from writing for the crime column, because you don't even know the rules about using alleged.

Anonymous

Thu Mar 4 2010 21:33

wow, now the person who assaulted her knows where she lives, too. i cannot believe you published that.

Anonymous

Thu Mar 4 2010 21:02

The word "allegedly" must be used in this article. If the reporter said that she was in fact raped, and later it was found out that she did not get raped, The Lantern would be at fault. It is in no way discrediting the story. The Lantern has no proof if the rape happened or not, so it has to be attributed to what the girl said, hence "allegedly."

Most of you look at it this way: Why try to discredit the girl's story? Hasn't she gone through enough? Using the word "allegedly" make it sounds like the girl is lying about what happened. This is not what The Lantern is doing. The Lantern wasn't there when the rape happened, therefore they can't report factually that this act did happen. The Lantern is not doubting that it happened, it's just attributing the story to the girl. I'm guessing the reporter would probably want to believe the girl, but it's not his job to relay the information including his own opinion. "Allegedly" isn't saying that the girl was making up the story, it means this is what happened according to the girl, but The Lantern has no proof as to what happened.

Anonymous

Thu Mar 4 2010 20:24

I agree that the Lantern should not have mentioned the girl's dorm.

In addition, I believe the Lantern should be focusing on the total lack of response from OSU campus officials regarding the incident. I had no idea about the rape until Wednesday morning. OSU did not send out an email or an emergency text or take any measures to inform the student body of the danger at all.

Anonymous

Thu Mar 4 2010 13:42

There are people saying that hundreds of girls who live in Houck. It is the engineering dorm and in reality there are only about 35 girls who live there. They should not have posted where she lives.

David

Thu Mar 4 2010 13:41

"Alleged" is standard Journalism 101. Until there's been a conviction, there's not conclusive proof of a crime. It's not discounting the severity of the crime at all, or even questioning the integrity of the victim. It's just stating that this is a claim placed by someone. Anyone asking for them to remove "alleged" isn't thinking clearly. Even if someone is killed, it's still an alleged crime until the facts are established in court.

Karl Spaulding

Thu Mar 4 2010 13:26

A couple of thoughts:

Watching Channel 6 noon news today, the descriptive phrase included "alleged." Perhaps this is some journalism "rule?" I don't know why it would refer to the victim however. "Alleged" suspect, sure, but not the victim/survivor. I don't like it and I think I'll ask the Lantern to explain this usage in light of how it may affect the survivor.

I can understand how even large dorms may be "too much info" in a case like this. The general area would suffice, IMO. In this case, "near north campus" would be enough.

I can't believe what I've seen here or in other article comments. (It's worse at the Dispatch!) A person's response to violent crime is extremely variable. So might the reporting time and process the victim goes through. Too many folks are too judgemental. A good crime prevention program would teach this.

"The possibility of danger exists everywhere and at all times." Standard in my self-defense course.

As for the alerts, it sounds to me as though an investigation should be done to see if everyone actually signed up for the "crime alerts" got them. Also, OSU needs to put out better word on the difference between "crime alert notifications" and the "campus alert system." Two different systems, but many apparently don't know this. Of course OSU top brass won't be particularly happy to "talk crime" for any reason. Bad publicity, ya know.

I wrote a long time ago that OSU needs a comprehensive crime prevention initiative. No response from the academic admin. They never responded to a single thing I wrote (because they care so much).

I used to write the Lantern Safety Column. I was dropped with no warning because I was "too critical of the administration." Yep, OSU admin doesn't like criticism, especially when said criticism is on target.

If anyone is interested in starting an OSU Crime Prevention Club, please email me at spaulding.10@osu.edu.

Unfortunately, it's my experience that folks like to complain, but are too busy to do anything. OSU brass ain't gonna push for crime prevention here on campus. It'll take those who will work for it to improve things. Anyone with me?

Karl Spaulding
spaulding.10

Anonymous

Thu Mar 4 2010 13:17

"The Lantern has a policy of not naming victims or alleged victims of sexual assault. "

yeah, way to go Lantern - so maybe you didn't state the survivor's name, but stating the residence hall is a form of identifying information. Also, what's the relevance of of stating the survivor's residence hall in the article. if you're trying to suggest that assaults happen within close proximity of survivor's homes, there are national statistics that would be more effective, informative, and would protect the identification of the survivor. did you ever think that maybe the rapist will be reading this article, and now knows where his victim lives? wow, way to go! you rock Lantern. and also I agree with everyone bashing the title of this article. a student was raped. not said she was raped. just that one extra word suggests and implies blame or distrust of this survivor. seriously, next time have someone that is sensitive to the rights of survivors write your next article.

Anonymous

Thu Mar 4 2010 12:42

"Alright..I don't agree with posting where this girls lives..BUT, all that was said was a DORM name..where hundreds of girls live. Its not like they said she lives at a certain house off campus where only four people live and one is a girl. There are hundreds of people in this dorm..sheesh."

It's actually a small residence hall, and when you point a finger at a place.. everyone starts talking. Finding someone who's acting like they just survived a trauma.. because they did and there's no way around a behavior change.. is not so hard. Not at all.

Anonymous

Thu Mar 4 2010 11:14

"Alright..I don't agree with posting where this girls lives..BUT, all that was said was a DORM name..where hundreds of girls live. Its not like they said she lives at a certain house off campus where only four people live and one is a girl. There are hundreds of people in this dorm..sheesh."

You are obviously not well informed.