Okay everyone, I'm a genuine Academy female Graduate (that Athena3 mentioned) who was in the same squadron as the guy in the article. Yes, he was a sleazebag and deserves everything he gets, but there was a flip side to this the media is not to eager to get out because it shows that one of the girls is lying. See the following thread and article (from another Air force Academy graduate forum):
http://www.edodo.org/rumormill/viewtopic.php?t=3065 As for the girls on the Oprah show, do not let their tears fool you. I knew some of them and they were full of it. Some are genuinely real stories, with real trauma, but there are some that are girls making it all up.
Case 1: The article in the thread i posted. The real creepy thing is that she thought she looked good in that photo she sent him
Case 2: A friend of mine got his good name drug over the coals and through the mud by a female freshman who has gotten herself into so much trouble that the only way for her to NOT get a DISHONORABLE discharge was for her to play the assault card and get "pardoned" from it all. I knew the gir and the guy. They guy was a good person and was able to recover, despite being kicked out of the Academy for the whole mess anyways. The girl...well, she was a potato. I remember her telling me, "I want to marry [boyfriend's name], but I want to sleep with alot more guys before I do." The guy was pardoned on the basis that this girl was found guilty elsewhere of perjury, and she ran off scott free anyways and he got the boot.
Case 3: Another cadet in my class got accused of rape by a female cadet who claimed he took advantage of her while she was drunk. Of course, the part of the story that makes her look bad is the fact she went to the guy's place, got smashed, had sex with him, then when she got back to her room, found her ex-boyfriend and slept with him that same night. In the morning she decided she wanted to be with her ex-boyfriend again, and turned on the first guy and accused him of raping her. The case was thrown out.
Case 4: Some of the girls claimed on Oprah that they were told to expect to get raped. Yeah, the cadet that told them that was my roomate for over a year, and known for not making the best of conversations. She had to be picked up by the officer in charge of us from the airport because she joked about having a bomb in her carry-on. Her response to me, "I just wanted to add some humor to their day!" Nice girl, but sometimes made me wonder.
And come on, why in the world if both parties are wasted, the guy is always blamed? In the case where the girl was doing tequila body shots with a group of guys and taking off clothing and rubbing against a guy who's also drunk, wouldn't any guy think she's lusting over him? Common sense here people! I'm not supporting either the guy or the girl here, but personal accountability goes a long way here. Responsibility for your actions, if you do something stupid, fess up and learn from it. Granted, some of life's lessons really are a *****, I personally know, but wholly placing the blame on someone else is just wrong.
As for the reputation of the Academy, EVERY SINGLE BIT of this stuff and FAR WORSE happen at colleges and other institutions across the nation. The Academy just gets a bad rap because it's held to a higher standard that the college down the road with a pot-smoking club and football players raping cheerleaders. The fact that military leaders graduate from there makes it a target because it gives the media something to fuss about.
In case y'all haven't noticed, the media is a bunch of whoopeeed parasites that will do anything to get a "boo-hoo" story that will get them more readers. Luckily there are a few reporters that realize the truth to the whole damned thing can make for a even better story.
