(Courtesy of The Campus Sexual Assault Study from The National Institute of Justice)
My letter to the editor in the New York Times discusses the issue of sexual abuse in relationship to the alleged assault that took place at St Paul’s. Below I offer a more thorough discussion of the role of cognitive confusion in sexual abuse and what to do to help prevent it.
Update: Also see this post from the Harvard Crimson about a young woman’s sexual assault at a campus function.
In his New Year’s address, the pope called on Catholics (and I assume the rest of us can participate) to consider protecting the environment a personal responsibility as well as a political event. The Pope said, “An objective shared by all, an indispensable condition for peace, is that of overseeing the earth’s natural resources with justice and wisdom.”
If we don’t protect our planet and treat it as the sacred entity that supports life, we risk our own lives, we threaten humanity. Political decisions and legislation often brings about social changes. Copenhagen was a little more important than the Pope might wish to acknowledge. Yet, I also believe that change begins at home. Most of us wonder, what might living differently entail? How would it help me? What follows are three things anyone can do that will help the environment and support psychological health.
Most of us were schooled in diversity and acceptance. A racist, therefore, was generally a forbidden character who shows up in someone else’s state. Among close friends and colleagues, color differences evince nothing more than variety. From a distance, however, any of us might easily disregard a color spectrum’s nuances in favor of a facile opposition between black and white. (more…)
Ordinary Earth ™ 