Columbia student Emma Sulkowicz vows to carry mattress around university

[Mr.Bitty]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/03/emma-sulkowicz-mattress-rape-columbia-university_n_5755612.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular&ir=Canada+Living
it's crazy


what do you think?

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[Mr.Bitty]

I think college rape is a very serious issue that tends to get downplayed by universities so that their reputations don't suffer, and thus victims are often forced to suffer in silence and live with the injustice. I find her project to be a very creative and apt metaphor for what these victims must be going through.

[zolace]

I don't understand why any crime isn't handled by the local police. The university can do what it wants with a student who's accused of or found guilty of a crime. But the crime itself should be handled by the police, not the university.

[sana8410]

The fact that sexual assaults are regularly swept under the rug in an attempt to protect the reputation of the university is just another glaring example of what's wrong with the institution of higher education.

[Bonam]

Not sure why the victims in question would go to the university rather than to the police. Rape is (obviously) a serious crime and should be reported to the appropriate authorities, not to university administrators.

[Rigon]

University police forces should only be in charge of apprehending plagiarists, food fight instigators, and perhaps bike thieves. Matters of assault should be handled by real police forces who use real court rooms. Rapists shouldn't be expelled. They should be incarcerated.

[noviapriani]

As a parent, I appreciate the media coverage this performance art is getting. Parents need to get involved in this issue. Learning about how sexual assault is handled at schools under consideration is a way to start putting pressure on the administrations. www.keephersafe.org is helping harness the purchasing power of parents to make campuses safe for women by providing guidance with a Parent Tool Kit. This kind of widely promoted action is truly helpful.

[TheButterZone]

Rapists should be shot in self-defense. Good for rapists and other violent criminals, most colleges and universities ban self-defense.

[Lethn]

I don't understand why any crime isn't handled by the local police. The university can do what it wants with a student who's accused of or found guilty of a crime. But the crime itself should be handled by the police, not the university.

They clearly have way too much power in the U.S, I'll need to double check this but I'm pretty sure in the UK if something like this happened the police would tell the universities to go fuck themselves and hand over any evidence they have, even institutions like the BBC haven't been safe because they've recently uncovered lots of paedophile cases in the organisation.

[koshgel]

Ridiculous how the guy has raped multiple women but he still remains on campus with no disciplinary action taken against him. I could not stand to be on the same campus as someone who violated me like that. It would take all my willpower to not stab that fucker in the face.

As for carrying around the mattress, anything that helps gain exposure to what happened will help prevent future sexual assaults.

[Lethn]

One thing I've noticed when it comes to schools is that teachers only care about how their childrens' grades look and how the government sees their schools, doesn't matter what age they're teaching, I think people are right in that they're likely trying to cover it up instead of come clean because they're worried about reputation, unfortunately this kind of thing isn't new, I remember hearing awhile back about child molestation cases and such in the U.S too or something similar.

[peeveepee]

One thing I've noticed when it comes to schools is that teachers only care about how their childrens' grades look and how the government sees their schools, doesn't matter what age they're teaching, I think people are right in that they're likely trying to cover it up instead of come clean because they're worried about reputation, unfortunately this kind of thing isn't new, I remember hearing awhile back about child molestation cases and such in the U.S too or something similar.

Too much money is at stake for tarnishing the university reputation. Reason why the university will do everything in its power to dismiss and settle any allegation related to rape.

[niothor]

The first thing I thought about when reading the first phrases of the article was something like ....Is she carrying that mattress around to make the job easier for the rapist next time? Or to get raped comfortably in the yard or on the hallways ?

[marcoman22]

university need to do strict action or otherwise it will put a bad name.

[twister]

Rapists should be executed, instead of carrying a mattress, she should buy a gun and shoot the asshole in his fkin head!! 

[TheButterZone]

Rapists should be executed, instead of carrying a mattress, she should buy a gun and shoot the asshole in his fkin head!! 

Good for rapists and other violent criminals, most colleges and universities ban self-defense.

[EternalWingsofGod]

I'll be honest I thought it was a protest about the lack of places to relax and wind down at universities
Seats everywhere but nowhere to lay down and take a nap so the mattress would make perfect sense ^^
From the Article headline here lol

After reading it guess univeristies have their perks lol...

[herebittybittybitty]

Good for her... I support her protest and I hope the guy is held accountable.

[itsAj]

I don't understand why any crime isn't handled by the local police. The university can do what it wants with a student who's accused of or found guilty of a crime. But the crime itself should be handled by the police, not the university.

Most universities have their own campus police that have jurisdiction over the campus. I believe that local police also have jurisdiction but rarely get involved. The school has a conflict of interest of wanting to make it look like as few sexual assaults (and rapes) happen as possible to give the appearance of the campus being safe to attract more students (and federal funds that are based on enrollment).

[umair127]

An even better piece would be her wearing a sign around her neck with the persons name and picture, saying the guy raped her, that way everyone knows who the person is, if the school isn’t going to do anything she might as well let everyone know who did it .