My initial reaction: Now, I am in no way going to defend this obviously sexist Facebook message, but I am also not going to say I was as shocked as Lisa Belkin when reading it. Being the recipient of several variations of the same message, I felt indifferent — if not completely unmoved — by the evident sexist remarks. If anything, the message was just some boys being immature…

Lisa Belkin provides several other examples of “after-class sexism” that exist at other universities. From the Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter at Yale, chanting, “No means yes, and yes means anal,” to Kappa Sigma fraternity of Southern California who refer to women as “targets” who “aren’t actual people like us men,” there were many examples to pick from. Princeton junior Jared Griffin adds to this general feeling by correctly observing: “When the guys go [out] they are laid-back, casual, like they are going to class. But the women come in, in short cocktail dresses, makeup, high heels…”

Alright, now it is time for some self reflection. The more I read Lisa Belkin’s article, the more it sounded like my own university’s campus. It is true that women still dress up much more than men, that guys tend to throw the parties and thus have the control of the situations, and that direct sexism is still all around us. This does not make me feel proud. Maybe the worst of it is that I wasn’t shocked by the Sigma Nu Facebook message, or that I don’t give it a second thought when I witness someone doing the “walk of shame” early in the morning. Perhaps Lisa Belkin had the right reaction to all of this information after all: it really is wrong that we, as woman, submit to this type of treatment.

What do you think readers? Is sexism on college campuses still explicit and real? What can we do about it? Share your stories here. 

While tirelessly working on a PowerPoint presentation for my Foreign Policy class this past Friday, I was forwarded another slew of slides chock-full of facts, images, and evaluations. However, these were far from academic.

As I clicked a link in the email, I was led to an article detailing one Duke University female’s fake senior thesis, titled “An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal academics.” Highlighting her late-night (and decently drunken) romps with several Duke athletes, the writer created slides with Facebook pictures of the men, followed by detailed (and rather defamatory) evaluations of their performances.

The fact that this girl slept with a few lacrosse and baseball players isn’t really an issue. I mean, it’s college even the dweeb who has the roley backpack gets lucky during his four years on campus. What’s wrong here is that this woman’s PowerPoint presentation was forwarded to a few friends, who forwarded it to a few other friends, and the thing went viral.

Welcome to the new generation of Kissing-and-Telling.

As the “Subjects” were leaving Shooters or booty-texting Duke’s very own sexperimenter, I doubt they anticipated their experiences being relayed all over the Internet. However, nowadays it seems you never know what to expect after 4am sexcapades. Beyond waiting for that flirtatious banter-sparking text, you have to worry about what is being said to his friends or what pictures could surface of you two going at it in the corner of the bar on FB.

The amount of information that people share about their personal lives via the Internet is insane. And the effects can be tragic. It’s one thing to vaguely or generically share some weekend anecdote, but going into stark detail with names and pictures is becoming more and more common.

Bitter exes, scorned hookups, and bruised egos swamp blog sites with their woes and share embarrassingly intimate secrets while name-dropping their partner. In a state of rage or rejection, people often turn to their computers for a therapy session. And once it’s in print, it’s tough to truly squash its existence after the moment of passion has passed.

It’s one thing to bash your hookup to a few girlfriends over pancakes the next morning. But, it’s a complete other to do it on some public forum. Remember, your (printed/published) words do have repercussions. Not only can you face legal action for defamation of character but you can also genuinely hurt the people involved.

The Duke University student that created the above mentioned PowerPoint embarrassed the people in the document, herself, and her university. Sure, she never knew it would become an Internet sensation. But, in the age of  Gmail, Facebook and Smartphones, something minor can become HUGE in a matter of seconds.

So, before you take to your blog, Twitter, or a blank Microsoft PowerPoint document, stop and think about what you’re doing. If you feel like venting, go to a friends and talk about it, cry about it, laugh about it. But, in the heat of the moment, do NOT blog about it in vivid detail.

Locker room talk happens. Morning brunch gossip happens. People talk, it’s normal. But normal people don’t make 40+ slides. Sure, the PowerPoint presentation was an interesting look into the life of a jersey chaser. But, how would she have felt if the boys had teamed up and responded with a slideshow sharing their own personal evaluations of her performance with each of them. Mortified? Shamed? Embarrassed beyond words?

What do you think? When is too much info just too much?

I mean seriously, I just cannot devote any of my (precious) time to appreciating teachers today. Sorry. Nope. Not gonna happen. Not when I’m  running on little to no sleep, am elbow-deep in research papers, and my blood caffeine content is higher than my average BAC on mug night. We stretch ourselves so thin trying to be perfect for teachers, studying so we can get an A, then promptly forgetting all the material. We really make the most of our education, don’t we!?

Nope. But at least there’s one professor, at one school, that knows what’s up.

According to Duke University’s Cathy Davidson, “I can’t think of a more meaningless, superficial, cynical way to evaluate learning than by assigning a grade. It turns learning into a crass competition: how do I snag the highest grade for the least amount of work? How do I give the prof what she wants so I can get the A that I need for med school? That’s the opposite of learning and curiosity, the opposite of everything I believe as a teacher, and is, quite frankly, a waste of my time and the students’ time.”

You go girl…er…woman!

Davidson, clearly fed up with the current college grading process, is turning grading over to the students. In doing so, she’s found that the students feel more motivated to complete the work, which is reviewed, discussed and critiqued by two student discussion leaders at each class meeting. Her process is clear: you do the work, you get the grade. Not happy with your work? You can go back revise, and- you guessed it- get the grade. Furthermore, students can be more of themselves in their writing, rather than the thesaurus-happy intellectuals they pretend to be when trying to please other professors.

And it’s working! Students are actually learning, as opposed to half-assing assignments in order to get a better grade.

Davidson’s method turns learning from a dictatorship to a democracy, letting students have a say in their classroom experience and changing the dynamic between teacher and student, and that’s something we can all appreciate.

Now I just wish my professors, for whom I haven’t slept in 3 days, would take the hint…

And if you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

This week, we focus on one of the most intense rivalries in all of sports. Only eight miles (and immeasurable animosity) separate the campuses of UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. Both are excellent schools with terrific athletic traditions. Between two seemingly similar schools, who will win the Battle of the Blues?

1. Mascot Matchup

UNC- The Tar Heels take their nickname from a reported exchange between Civil War soldiers about Carolina’s fidelity to the Confederate cause.
Duke- The Blue Devils got their name from an homage to French soldiers during WWI, Les Diables Bleus.

Three credits to: Duke. Though both nicknames have military origins, the Confederates eventually lost and the French were among the Great War’s victors. Way to pick a winner, Duke.

2. Terrific Traditions

UNC- Drinking from the Old Well on the first day of class for luck, as well as a popular bumper sticker proclaiming “God must be a Tar Heel since he made the sky Carolina Blue!”
Duke- Cameron Crazies–as Duke basketball aficionados are known–love setting up tents in front of their stadium awaiting tickets to games, sometimes days in advance. The infamous Coach K is reported to sometimes buy pizza for the thousands of loyal fans as they wait.

Three Credits to: Duke- free pizza and regular slumber parties? Count me in!

3. Famous Fixtures in Pop Culture

UNC- President Obama famously selected the Tar Heels for victory in his 2009 March Madness bracket. “Don’t embarrass me in front of the nation,” he told them. They didn’t.
Duke- The Blue Devils garnered a lot of press for their infamous rape scandal involving several lacrosse players. While the players were eventually exonerated, the case threw the issues of college hazing, sexual abuse, and handling the rights of the accused into the national spotlight.

Three credits to:  UNC- if it’s good enough for Obama, it’s good enough for me.

4. Ass-kicking Alumni

UNC– Mia Hamm, Michael Jordan, Tyler Hainsbrough
Duke- Kara DioGuardi, Tucker Max, Grant Hill

Three credits to: UNC- hard to compete with Michael Jordan, one of the most recognizable celebrities in the entire world. The dude’s got his own sneaker, a campaign with Gatorade, and he was in a movie with the entire Looney Tunes cast. Beat that,  Kara.

5. Acceptance Rate Agony

UNC- Only 34% were admitted for its class of 2012.
Duke- accepted 18.8% of its applicants for the same class.

Three credits to: Duke– with a clear victory in admissions selectivity, it looks like more young’ns wanna be Blue Devils these days.

And the diploma goes to: Duke! Though Carolina leads the athletics series (as of last season), those from Durham score more all-around points.

• Joel Madden has a 1 in 4 chance of being Nicole Richie’s baby daddy.

• And the World’s Richest Supermodel is…

• Perez challenges Gummi Bear Davis to a duel.

• Duke University hates your iPhone.

• Every Sorority has that one fat guy.