We made The Onion!

If you haven't heard about the Iowa scandal involving a professor who is accused of exchanging good grades for boob flashes and grabs, you can catch up on it here.

I sure hope the guy is guilty, because everyone has pretty much assumed that he is. Am I shocked to hear about sexual impropieties between a prof and students? No. That said, would I be shocked if a student or group of students leveled a false accusation rather than take a final they knew they wouldn't pass? No, particularly considering the its-cool-to-be-a-'ho attitude that pervades so many of the "reality" shows on the teen-oriented TV channels. I'm constantly amazed how easy it has become to get a girl to lift her shirt for a TV camera... not that I'm shielding my eyes. Of course, as an emerging old fart, I'm continually amazed how readily an 18 year old is willing to commit to multiple tattoos...

All things point to this guy being a creep, and if that ends up being true, then have at him, but the notion of innocent until proven guilty is long gone. I've noticed lots of comments (in the chat areas below news articles) implying that this has probably been going on for years and he just now got caught. Maybe that's true, but the math doesn't add up for me. Just how many times could a prof ask girls to flash him without being reported, and reported repeatedly? I was a TA once, and the odds (even back then as a young, strapping dude) that I could have correctly picked the 1 out of 100 girls (hopefully, the odds are slimmer than that) willing to swap sexual favors for grades are woefully bad, and, the consequences of getting caught up in such a scandal make it an even more unlikely scenario for a sane person to try even once, let alone, repeatedly (and only now get caught). This isn't a case of a prof developing a relationship with a student, which I now is common. Rather, this as a seed, overt act that I think would send most young women straight to their parents and then straight to the ombudsperson's (easy for me to say) office.

That brings me to another theory... if it is true that this prof is the creep he is accused of being, perhaps his mental faculties (no pun intended) are not up to snuff. I'm sure many a prof have fantasized about a nubile coed offering herself up for a grade, but societal shame, some personal morals, and perhaps most of all, a fear of getting caught, have all conspired to keep them on the up and up over the years. Then, early dimentia sets in (the guy is 66) and smart decisions give way to a distorted notion that it could all work. Maybe he gets "lucky" a few times and that reinforces a distorted view of reality. I can't imagine, in today's litigious climate, that the process could possibly go on for long. Either way, I want to know more about the case before I make a judgement.

I realize that guilt or innocence in a court does not always reflect actual guilt or innocence, but then again, guilt by accusation has an even spottier history. Consider all of the men that have been exonerated based on DNA evidence (and not surprisingly, the accuser is almost always white and the the accused is black). Consider the case of silent film star Fatty Arbuckle. The list goes on. And so does the list of rape and harrassment victims that will never see justice. Regardless, truth should remain be a desired outcome.

Oh well... at least we made The Onion!