Whether you think his announcement was noble or unnecessary, whether you care where Letterman puts it or not, the scandal brought me to this week’s topic: the top ten people you should avoid sleeping with unless you want to suffer some serious aftermath. Maybe not a mistake that warrants a $2 million extortion, mind you, but still pretty scandalous repercussions.

10. The Bartender and/or Bouncer
Especially not at your favorite bar or club. One mistake with a bouncer equals embarrassment strong enough to keep you out of the doors of your favorite sports bar forever.

9. A neighbor in your dorm
Do you really want to worry about running into your fling when you’re in the dorm hallways wearing Powerpuff girl pajama bottoms?

8. “That Guy”
Collar popped underneath his Ed Hardy shirt with a sideways hat and a Lance Armstrong bracelet. Spare your dignity.

7. Ray-J
Unless you want a sex tape on the internet. Although it did kick-start Kim Kardashian’s career, so I guess this isn’t such a bad idea if that’s the direction you want to take your life.

6. Your BFF’s boyfriend
You’ll definitely lose a bestie and have other friends questioning your loyalty. Not cool.

5. Co-Worker
Particularly a boss. As hot as it would be, it violates some serious company policies <cough Letterman cough> and could also jeopardize your future with the company. Leave that one in your fantasies.

4. That foxy professor
He has kids. Stay away. Do not fantasize about showing up to his office hours in lingerie or your old Catholic schoolgirl uniform. Just. stay. away.

3. The R.A.
Enough said.

2. The cabbie giving you a ride home from the bar at 4 AM
I’m not even going to comment further.

1. Your roommate
Living with guys totally rules. Sleeping with them is a guarantee to screw up a great living situation and force you onto the streets or, worse, back into the dorms.

While there are the inevitable “mean girls” in your life, I can’t help but wonder: did these girls exist before shows like Gossip Girl, 90210 or the movie Mean Girls?

Maybe.

Do I think these caddy, petty, deceptive females existed before Hollywood decided to bank on this character flaw? Yes. Do I think they were as idolized, accepted and vicious? No.

I do believe Hollywood has aided in the level of meanness that some females like to inflict on others. Would a bunch of girls from a neighboring high school have vandalized a girl from my high school’s house before vixen Valerie from 90210 inflicted evil on Kelly and Donna? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

I feel, as with many aspects of the media, we’re affected by the actions of those we watch, idolize, despise and just plain want to be, on television and in the movies. We are influenced by the size-0 demographic in this country; don’t tell me you haven’t looked at a celebrity on television and wanted to look like her. So, what is any different from wanting to act like her?

I think we definitely have become meaner from the shows we see on television, just like we strive to be thinner and wear designer clothes like the actresses we see on television. While the latter is not a better alternative, we need to remember to be individuals. We must remind ourselves that TV and movies are not real and that actors and actresses do not face the realistic repercussions of writing a Burn Book, or keying someone’s car when they steal our boyfriend, i.e., losing your friends.

Have you become a Mean Girl? Have you been affected by a Mean Girl?

Let’s face it: We LOVE to gossip. We gossip about friends and we gossip about foes. Such idle talk allows us to convey information quickly, although not always accurately. This being said, it is no surprise that the website Juicy Campus has been increasing in popularity since it was founded on August 1, 2007.

When my friends first introduced me to Juicy Campus, I wrote it off as another place for people to share their college exploits online. But I quickly realized that this site was different; I actually knew the people that were being discussed! Friends, classmates, hookups—no one was free from the wrath of this critical group. Let’s just put it this way, if the “Burn Book” from Mean Girls was published online for all to see and comment on, I would imagine it would look similar to Juicy Campus.

The site was created by Mark Ivester, a Duke University Alum, with “the simple mission of enabling online anonymous free speech on college campuses.” (Editor’s Note: That’s a nice way to refer to sh*t talking!) There are currently 64 colleges listed on the site, including many prestigious institutions such as Harvard, UPenn, and Brown. The topics on the site range from the innocent (“Best Frat on Campus”) to the scandalous (“Sex with Professors”). Each post gets a rating ranging from 0% Juicy to 100% Juicy, so the juicier the gossip, the better the rating.

And because everything posted on Juicy Campus is anonymous, people have no censor when it comes to describing how they truly feel about someone. As a result, degrading, racist, homophobic, and downright hurtful remarks are prevalent throughout the site.

As guilty as I feel reading through the posts, I often find myself deciding to read “just one more.” I mean, who doesn’t want to know if she is considered the hottest girl on campus? But sometimes this curiosity gets people into trouble, as was the case here when a junior at Baylor University found her name not under “Hottest Girl,” but rather under “Biggest Slut.”

The embarrassment doesn’t end here. A couple of my own friends have been named on the site (yes, first and last name) saying they are “easy” or “ugly” when I know that it is simply not true. Furthermore, I have encountered posts where people comment on another person’s genitals (one of which referred to a guy that I had been seeing—kind of sucked) or even post naked pictures of an ex in retaliation. I don’t know about you, but I would be mortified.

The site takes no responsibility for the information posted, claiming that the authors are the ones responsible. In fact, as shown on CNN, people who have been hurt by the website have no way to fight back. Kind of hard to place the blame on Mr. Anonymous, wouldn’t you agree?

So we are left with one question: Is Juicy Campus just a fun place where college students can dish out the dirt on their friends and classmates, or has it become a way for people to tarnish the reputation of others with no repercussions?

[Photo courtesy of NYTimes.com]