Murphy is basically right: Just because PC gets a bad rap, whenever a black person claims to be the victim of a crime by white perpetrators, somehow this adds up to crying wolf and the abuse of so-called black power? That's dopey.

Also, no apologies are warranted. First of all, 70-75% of rape cases involve no DNA evidence whatsoever. Second, if you think the case should be dropped because you believe the accuser's credibility is imputed by the fact she was "passed out drunk" when she was found by police, then you must also buy the assumption that "passed out drunk" women are never raped. If you buy that argument, then I hope you have some daughters, and you tell them one day "If you want to be safe from sexual assault, then just get totally bombed and wear practically nothing. No one will ever touch an unconscious naked woman."

Dont point out UNC-CH being somehow less of a minority friendly school when the difference in percentage is only 2% higher for African American students at Duke. If you want to play the % game then UNC has about 8% more non-white students than Duke.

That's not what I see, and that's not what I said. I said:

Third, it's true that Duke is predominantly white. But how does Duke rank compared to other institutions? First off, how about better than UNC? Yes, that's right, Duke has a larger percentage of minority students than UNC (although not by much).

Would you, kind sir, please point out where I said that UNC-CH was "less minority friendly"? I pointed out that Duke had a slightly higher percentage of non-white students than UNC. I think 1% - 2% counts as "slightly".

UNC demographics:

http://admissions.unc.edu/academics/factsandfigures.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill

Duke demographics:

http://mcc.studentaffairs.duke.edu/demographics/index.html

I see both schools have a student body that is essentially 73% white (+/- 1%). The only way I get an 8% difference is if you count "Asian" as "white". Which is a bit of a whitewash.

Oh and the other little detail, UNC has 20,000 more students than Duke does. So even if the percentages are so close together, the fact is UNC allows substantially more minorities a quality education for 1/10th the price.

OK, so your argument is that because UNC is bigger and cheaper than Duke, UNC is more diverse? By that logic, Arizona State University is the most diverse university in the country because it has the most students of any American school (51,172 as of 2005).

And on top of that, NC Central is part of the UNC system.

Uhm, so? My original point was that -- even though Duke and UNC have essentially identical demographics, and as of last year Duke even had a slightly higher percentage of minority students -- had this incident occured at UNC-CH (not "the UNC system", but the "flagship" institution), I seriously doubted that race would come into play.

So your comment about NCCU is absolutely irrelevant.

So dont compare apples and oranges.

No, we'll just say that because apples are red, they taste better than oranges.

Again, I support NCCU. My wife got her Master's degree from there, and I've got an NCCU degree hanging in my house. At the same time, I object to the painting of Duke as some uniquely white university, surrounded by working-class black people.

Your outdated 1960's perspective on race in best exemplified by your use of the term "Honkey." The term is about equilavent to calling somebody a "Palooka." I say in terms you might recognize: drop the balderdash, get a wiggle on, and join us in the 21st century.

You seem to indicate that because blacks are currently behind whites on some SES measures, that their might makes right. Blacks do have enormous power in our society, and much of it is not power that helps their own people, but rather the power to hurt prominent whites who don't tow your line on race. It is too much power, as evidenced by the number of relatively innocent people who have had their lives turned upside down, and careers destroyed by the charge of "Racism!" (see "childish dichotomy" in our previous discussion). Simultaneously, they do not have enough of other forms of power that would actually help them (namely economic power).

In 1966, the situation was dire for blacks, and it justified an excessive response. Since then, the excessiveness has gotten even more excessive, and we now have Michael here callling for the wholesale slaughter of all whites. I've notice that you don't take any issue with your friend on that call for a race war.

Meanwhile, the life of blacks in America has improved greatly. Blacks now dominate two of the most lucrative fields on earth (pro sports and music), so much so that a new term has been coined to describe conspicuous consumption in the black community (i.e. "Bling"). Blacks have also risen to the very top eschelons of our society (currently: supreme court, secretary of state, CEO of Fannie May, etc...). Even a hardened race warrrior such as yourself must see that things have changed in the past 40 years (even if you won't admit it).

That doesn't mean that "whenever a black person claims to be the victim of a crime by white perpetrators, somehow this adds up to crying wolf" It means that in this particular case, the charges of racism (and perhaps the rape charges themselves) are wrong.

It's a surreal to sit back and read pages and pages worth of opinion on Duke, and the larger problems this scandal represents, as a Duke student.

I have to say, there are a lot of issues on college campuses, at Duke and beyond. This doesn't mean that we're all a bunch of drunken morons. Hell, most Duke students don't have time to get wasted on a regular basis. We're all too busy studying, being the nerds that we are (some of us like to pretend otherwise).

I'm a female at Duke, and I've encountered boorish behaviour, and I've heard of girls getting sexually assaulted and having their cases dismissed. Not to mention all the girls, including friends of mine, who simply will not come forward, due to a number of issues. But I would hesitate to agree with those who paint this institution as some sort of 24-hour rape-fest. It's not. It's quite lovely, actually. Come see for yourself.

Oh, and for the record, I don't have a rich daddy. And I don't think lacrosse players are "hot." Most of them have a reputation for being jerks. Innocent or guilty, these kids were never the ones I have aspired to hang out with. Some insecure girls feel validated by these guys' attention. Now THAT'S a problem that really needs to be addressed, but it starts at the home. It only becomes glaringly evident when you're a college freshman, and suddenly feel the desperate need to attach yourself to a lout, but the seeds were planted way before.

I hate generalizations, and I hate violence, and I hate the fact that my entire school is being smeared by people who have hated Duke way before this scandal broke. But I hope that something good will come out of this in the end. I'm not claiming our community is perfect. Nevertheless, Duke is still a great school, and I'm glad I was lucky enough to be admitted. Overall, my experiences here have been positive.