Another Air Force Academy Cadet Charged With Sex Crime

It doesn't happen a lot and don't get nervous. Your classmates become brothers and sisters to you. They're supposed to watch out for you, and you're supposed to watch out for them.

It's safer at one of the five service academies than at many colleges.
 
It doesn't happen a lot and don't get nervous. Your classmates become brothers and sisters to you. They're supposed to watch out for you, and you're supposed to watch out for them.

It's safer at one of the five service academies than at many colleges.
That is true. Thanks for responding, that makes me feel better. I have always heard that, but you hear the other too...

Ashleigh
 
That is true. Thanks for responding, that makes me feel better. I have always heard that, but you hear the other too...

Ashleigh

You hear the stories because the service academies have to be very transparent about these issues. I live in a city were there are some major universities, all of them border some marginal neighborhoods and there is definitely crimes committed against students by neighborhood miscreants as well as other students. However these colleges simply do not publish statistics about things like sexual assaults, muggings, assault and battery, and property crimes. So people are less aware of what is happening in the student population. That is far from saying that these things are not happening.
 
Rapes at Harvard seem high.

I like the calculator watch on the ROTC Cadet on #35, UC Riverside.
 
Wow, that's the first time I've ever seen Fitchburg State be on a list for anything related to higher education.

Seems to be a disproportionate number of Mass. schools on that list.

I think that your observation about MA schools is pretty astute. This list is as much about which schools are correctly reporting statistics, than if there is actually crimes on campus. The Clery Act makes this much more transparent, but certain crimes, such as sexual assault are considered to be grossly underreported.
 
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You hear the stories because the service academies have to be very transparent about these issues. I live in a city were there are some major universities, all of them border some marginal neighborhoods and there is definitely crimes committed against students by neighborhood miscreants as well as other students. However these colleges simply do not publish statistics about things like sexual assaults, muggings, assault and battery, and property crimes.

That, and because we hold the cadets/mids (who are receiving about a half million dollar taxpayer subsidy, and attempting to become leaders of character in the United States military) to a higher standard?

At least I hope we do.

:cool:
 
My sense is that sexual assaults are still far less prevalent at service academies than on the campuses of civilian colleges. As Luigi and other posters have correctly noted, most sexual assaults on college campuses fall into the "acquaintance category" ("acquaintance rape" is often a more accurate term than "date rape" given the norms of college-age socializing these days), and are overwhelmingly correlated with alcohol use.

Even with the access to alcohol that exists in today's service academies, there is still far less drinking on campus grounds than at your typical residentially-oriented college/university. For one thing, you can't go on a bender and miss a day or two of classes; for another, there is more adult supervision.

Why, then, does it seem like there are frequent articles about sexual assaults at SAs? Some of this is the nature of reporting. Harvard's statistics are in the aggregate (as are those of all the civilian colleges); because of the nature of the military justice system, the names of the accused are made public. Only if "outside" law enforcement officially charges a civilian college student will the name be made public, and acquaintance rape cases are so difficult to prove under criminal standards that many victims choose a non-judicial avenue of redress (e.g., reporting within their college's disciplinary system, which could result in the alleged wrongdoer being barred from campus, or suspended, or asked to withdraw, based on a lower standard of proof than the very high "reasonable doubt" criminal standard. (Google the case of Yale's recent NOT Rhodes Scholar candidate QB for a window into the non-judicial avenues for pursuing a campus sexual assault case.)

Second, as Luigi says, I do believe the public holds SA students to a higher standard (which, by the way, most of them meet and then some, in my experience). People do sometimes forget that with a sample size of 1000-4000 young people drawn from every part of the country and every background, larger social issues of concern for that age group will pop up in the Brigade/Corps/Wing. If 18 year olds drink, there will be cadets/mids who do so. Addicted to video games? Using adderol to study? Smoking pot? Ditto, ditto, and ditto. Even though the bad behavior is at a much lower rate (I assume and believe) than your typical college population, it still surprises and disappoints the public to hear of it.

For my own daughters, one of whom has expressed interest in pursuing a commission, risk of sexual assault should she attend a service academy is truly the last thing I worry about. (We have talked and will keep talking about safe behavior in social situations involving alcohol, as that issue will arise anywhere.) I do think there are some cultural implications to an 80-20% male/female breakdown, and I will want her to think about whether that environment is for her (pluses and minuses compared to ROTC), but her physical safety is not an issue for a nanosecond.
 
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