Campus sexual assault - an indictment of the college system and US society?

The Cosby stuff was bad enough, but this just made me want to puke:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-20141119?page=5

College sexual assault has been in the news fairly often in the last few years, and unfortunately the stories keep getting worse. The issue may affect a shocking 1/10 to 1/4 of all college women in the US. It got so bad that Obama had to address the nation about it this year, and 76 problem schools are under investigation (and let's remember that rapes still happen on the exempt campuses too).

Unfortunately rape has been with us since the dawn of humanity, and I don't know if our current justice system has processes and harsh enough penalties on the books to properly deter it. But what also really bothers me is the attitude of the "enablers" or bystanders that let this criminality persist (or even suppress/cover it up). As the RS article described, some students seemed more concerned about the "reputation" of frats and UVA over the welfare of the victims (and justice/human decency). "Keep your mouth shut, or you will find yourself an outcast and give our school a bad name." Unfortunately, we've heard about the same crap in the military and Catholic church (and the Paterno-Sandusky tragedy).

There is a Senate bill aimed to hold college admins more accountable and increase punishments. There is also backlash from big, brave, anonymous voices on social media about this. They piss and moan, blame the victim, and such. Maybe there are some imbalanced women who do cry wolf and just want attention, but if there is even 1% legit victims out there from all the accusations, I think rape is one of those subjects where over-reactions is totally warranted. There are some mitigating circumstances where a defendant can justify a theft, lie, or even murder. But rape is 100% unjustifiable, end of story. I know our discussion group tries to be open to diverse opinions and ambiguity, but I really don't see how that is possible here. A person is not going to die without sex. No bad will come to young lovers if she is a bit tipsy tonight and he tries to make his move another time. The only costs are their "reputation" among peers and how they may measure up to juvenile notions of manliness (warped by media and unchecked by other adults who should know better).

The US rightfully slams fundamentalist Muslim societies for how they abuse women, and we were all disgusted by the stories coming out of India. But are we any better? I would say that the US is fairly strong on child protections, but what about women - who are 50% of our country? I know the vast majority of women are treated decently by men and thankfully never have to go through this hell. But just 1 case is too many.

What is even more disturbing is that these incidents happen at college, and often at good schools. College is where our best and brightest learn to be productive adults, where America (and the world's) future is being cultivated. I don't mean to be a prude, tisk tisking our young people for being so much worse than we were. I regret how I misbehaved, goofed off, and didn't fully capitalize on my precious time in school. Maybe this horrible stuff was going on but kept under raps when we were students, or maybe it is actually worse now. Technology makes casual sex a lot easier (or at least more visible) for young people, and egotism, hedonism, and entitlement seem to be bigger issues with Millennials vs. Gen X'ers (maybe I'm biased).

College is becoming more and more of a haves vs. have-nots game, and fierce competition (or family/wealth connections) make it more about status than learning/meritocracy, so these factors could be exacerbating the problem. "You are a UVA man and a Kappa Sig man; the world is your oyster and no one can hold you back." Just like the celebs that some kids idolize. And these folks will graduate, go to work, and perpetuate the attitude to their kids. Maybe some will actually mature and teach others from their experience (if I could, there is hope for anyone).

Sorry that I keep repeating TR's quote, but it keeps being relevant! At college, we educate kids in book knowledge, but not about life and morals. Well to be honest, I wouldn't want most university employees to teach my kids about those subjects (but they could hire qualified "life coaches" instead). Also, coddling parents may cry foul if the school dares to insinuate that their perfect angels don't already know how to behave. Most airline passengers are not a danger, but everyone still has to go through the metal detector. So even if many college kids are pretty mature and know how to treat others, unfortunately there are still bad apples in the bunch, so everyone has to go through training - sorry. What we learn in college is mostly useful for grad school, but is really not that valuable for the rest of our lives. Therefore, why waste our kids' precious time on that, and instead teach them about life? It's such a wasted opportunity if all they get are equations, exams, football, and spring break. I am not well versed in the classics and ancient Greece, but isn't the origin of the university system rooted in philosophy, ethics, and such? The humanities are dying at US colleges, but maybe we should bring some of that back in order to avoid generation after generation of "menaces to society." Maybe then, kids would learn about and practice empathy, respect, and honor, instead of becoming the next Wolf of Wall Street. Maybe then we'll come to value or fellow humans over peer pressure, ego, and tribalism.

I think most of us (especially men) would agree that we were kind of idiotic assholes at age 18-20. Maybe that is just the natural growing up process, and we have a lot of bad social influences. Is 18 too young for American kids to go off on their own to school? Maybe we should have post-secondary, gender-segregated, college prep for 2 years like the Europeans do? Because it's a dangerous time when you get a lot of adult rights and freedoms, but you are still operating on juvenile judgment and experience. This is nothing new, but clearly we haven't figured it out yet if thousands of women's lives continue to get ruined, during what should be a great time in their lives. Zero tolerance for Greek orgs (who really provide no constructive value to colleges or greater society) - one rape conviction or other serious crime, and they are banned from the school for a decade. Three convictions nationwide and the frat is shut down for good.

I know I sound like a square, and I really wish it didn't have to come to this, but if Americans behave like children and savages, then unfortunately we should be treated as such until we show improvement.