newbritainherald.com
Central Connecticut State University appears to be the latest higher education campus to enter the race for How Offensive/Stupid Can My College Paper Get competition (previous contenders can be found here and here).
This past Wednesday CCSU campus paper The Recorder ran an op-ed piece entitled "Rape Only Hurts If You Fight It", by opinion editor John Petroski. The article, (not currently available on the paper's online archives), can be read here in full and contains the following little gems:
"Far from a vile act, rape is a magical experience that benifits society as a whole."
"If it weren't for rape, Western Civilization might not exist as we know it today....It's quite logical; in fact I don't understand why the settlers at Plymouth didn't do the same to the local Indians--it certainly would have saved on shipping costs."
"Take ugly women for example. If it weren't for rape, how would they ever know the joys of intercourse with a man who isn't drunk."
Editors at the paper initially argued that the piece was intended as satire, a "jab at the sensationalistic nature of the modern news media".
Students however, seemed to miss the joke/point/inherent intelligence-that-is-required-for-satire-to-be-successful the article claimed to contain. By Thursday they were turning up in groups to protest outside The Recorder's offices, calling for the resignation of both Petroski and Recorder editor Mark Rowan.
Shortly thereafter, apologies were issued, or rather posted, to a bulletin board outside the Recorder's office by the editors of the paper. ( Rowan and Petroski, it seems, have yet to appear in person).
Jack Miller, president of the university, while condemning the article, also defended the writer's freedom of speech (an argument that has been less successful on other campuses in the past).
Petroski, meanwhile, has finally issued his own apology, saying "It was a stupid thing to do and a stupid topic to even tread on, and I apologize to everyone I've hurt." He further admits that he "should have used a much less touchy pseudo-subject to do this with. Like animal rights or something like that ..."
One wonders if the approximately one-in-four women raped during their college careers would agree.
Related:
"The Cover Was a Mistake": Dartmouth Review Apologizes For Crazed Indian Scalper Picture [ETP]
The Princetonian Isn't Funny, It's Just Stupid [ETP]
