Letters to the Editor
LibTex
Published Letters: 29
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Questions from a devil's advocate
[Read the article: Female circumcision? Not in Eritrea]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If one of the reasons we justify infant male circumcision at very young ages is that they feel less pain and that they will not be harmed psychologically by an event that they can not remember, and 62% of Eritrean women are circumcized before the age of 1, wouldn't at least 62% of Eritrean not be psychologically harmed (Ms. Price's snarky comment aside)? And what kind of problems will it cause for these girls when they realize that they don't look like their mothers or other girls in the locker room? Will they think there is something wrong with them?
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Response to Lin's
[Read the article: Duke players cleared]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]offensive and ill-informed letter. Anonymous has already covered most of the evidence disputing your accusations, but I thought I should go ahead get the rest out, since so many people still seem to be operating with the wrong facts.
The official committee that investigating the lacrosse team culture (and not whether crime itself occurred) found the following:
-that the team has exhibited "exemplary academic and athletic performance" and is "[n]either racist or sexist. On the contrary, the coach of the Duke Women's Lacrosse team has expressed her sense of camaraderie that exists between the men's and women's team; members of the men's team, for example, consistently come to the women's games. The current as well as former African American members of the team have been extremely positive about the support the team provided them."
-that although the lacrosse team had higher rates of alcohol abuse than other Duke athletic teams, "their conduct has not been different in character than the conduct of the typical Duke student who abuses alcohol."
-Some students (not just lacrosse players but probably all men) have stated they have been referred to as "rapists" and have been threatened. Shortly after the alleged attack, the President of the University warned in a school-wide e-mail of threats of gang violence against Duke students.
-Mike Pressler, the coach of the lacrosse team, received threatening e-mails and hate calls, had castigating signs placed on his property, and was the frequent victim of vandalism in the aftermath of the accusations.
-The forensic nurse who examined the accuser "did not find abrasions, tears or bleeding in the vaginal area...[S]he did find swelling in the vaginal area along with tenderness in the accuser's breasts and lower right quadrant." In regards to blunt force trauma, the "medical records make no mention of [them] ... [The examiner] wrote that the woman had two nonbleeding scratches on her right knee and a nonbleeding scratch on her right heel," which were there before the time of the alleged incident as evidenced from photographs. The nurse also noted diffuse swelling of the vagina and did not note any other injuries in the rest of the report.
It has been reported that Mangum admitted to Durham police detective Benjamin Himan that she performed using a vibrator for a couple in a hotel room shortly before the lacrosse party, which the defense contends could account for the "diffuse swelling," or could be the result of the consensual sex the accuser had the day of the party.
As to one poster's concern that this woman can now be raped with impunity because no one will believe her, besides her extensive criminal record, she does have a record of making rape allegations in the past, which, whether true or not, she elected not follow up on when police asked for the details needed to investigate. Yet plenty of people seemed willing to believe this time.
Finally, IMO, when you have an alibi "in the form of ATM records, photographs, cell phone records, an affidavit from a taxi driver, and a record of your DukeCard being swiped at your dorm", not to mention DNA tests AND the state attorney general calls a national press conference to announce that innocent without any sort of qualifications, that means you are freakin innocent, not that there is not enough evidence to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Given the reactions and opinions of some the letter writers here, it would seem that your concern about future rape victims not being believed is somewhat misplaced. As long as she accuses some frat boy athletes, preferably ones where the stereotype includes a sense of entitlement, some people will believe you now matter how ludicrous your accusations are.
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"No one's...even suggesting that we have all the facts"
[Read the article: Virginia Tech: "Domestic" not dangerous?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Anddddd TIME! Exactly one week until the lessons of Duke lacrosse are forgotten. Seriously, between this and the Grindhouse post, I guess it really is too much to ask to find an *informed* opinion on Broadsheet.
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Because I agree with you
[Read the article: Good news in the fight against teenage abuse]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]that it is important to publicize this kind of information and increase awareness, I think it is only fair to point out some statistics you did not mention and correct a subtle change in subject you made at the end of the piece. TEAR, from their own website, cites these stats:
-Boys have reported that 27% of girls started the violence in their relationships.4
-In 100 domestic violence situations, approximately 40 cases involve violence by women against men.
-Survey research suggest that women who are assaulted are 9 times more likely to report to police and 5 times more likely to tell a friend/relative than men who are assaulted by their wives.
Combating domestic violence, in all its forms, is a goal that we all should be working towards. Although I have yet to see the Montell piece (and so do not know who was represented on the show), TEAR is made up of men and women seeking to end domestic violence against men and women, so please offer congratulations to both sexes for their work. When and where could I hope to see such statistics publicized? Since there is no Dudesheet and this is clearly the space for all gender related news (see the article on men's health), please do not selectively cite, especially when the result is clearly counter to goal of the very subject of the article.