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In This Issue

• Go Green: All the Cool Kids Do It
• At CU, You Are Where You Live
• Letter from the Feditor
• Portrait of a Columbia Hipster
• A Sneak Peek at Barnardʼs New Vag
• Facebook News Feed Charts Relationshipʼs Ups, Downs, Wrongs
• The Hierarchy of Columbia
• THE FED’s Primer on Columbia-Speak
• SEXILED! -- The Board Game
• Magna Carta Libertatum
• Point-Counterpoint: My Roommate Keeps Having Sex in Our Room While I’m There
• Dear Freshmen: How Right You Are!
• Your handy-dandy guide to Morningside Heights!
• Handy Dandy ID
• From the Desk of NSOP
• A Public Service Announcement
• The Fed Exclusive: Butler Library Gives Interview for the First Time in 74 Years
• THEY Watch
• The Staff

Sexual consent is a difficult thing to comprehend and can often be the subject of confusion. It is sometimes hard to understand whether someone has truly given consent or is simply going with the flow, and whether someone is abusing another person or is simply acting according to subliminal messages. Read these scenarios, which describe a possible situation of conflict, and discuss them as they relate to the topic of consent.

Scenario #1

It’s Saturday night. Jordan and Ariel have been partying, and are now returning to Ariel’s room. They are both pretty drunk. Ariel is roofied. Ariel enters the room and tries to sit on her bed. Actually, she ends up just standing there, and Jordan sits her on the bed. He then joins her. They make some small talk for a while. Jordan does most of the talking. He slowly moves his hand around Ariel’s waist whilst conversing. Ariel does not react. Jordan then moves in to kiss Ariel. Ariel vomits macaroni and cheese in Jordan’s face. Jordan responds with a cry and falls to the ground. Ariel starts to lose consciousness and, tumbling forward, slams into Jordan. Jordan’s finger accidentally slips into Ariel.

Discussion: Was consent given on Ariel’s part? She remains silent throughout most of their time together. Does this qualify as consent? Also, does Jordan give consent? When Ariel vomits in his face, Jordan was not prepared. Should Ariel have been moving a little slower? Jordan clearly was not ready for sexual contact. So there are some issues on both sides.

Scenario #2

It’s Saturday night. Jordan and Mary have been partying and are now returning to Mary’s room. They are both pretty drunk. Jordan sits on the couch. Mary sits next to him. Mary bitchslaps Jordan, which normally would not be of much consequence, except Mary is on the bodybuilding team. Jordan head flies backward, hitting the wall. Mary grabs Jordan by the crotch and lays him down on the bed. She pulls a pair of handcuffs out of her drawer and attaches Jordan to the bedpost. She then proceeds to rape Jordan.

Discussion: Was consent given on Jordan’s part? It’s true he was forcibly attached to the bed, but wasn’t sitting on the bed in the first place a sign Jordan that wanted sexual contact? If so, then he was implicitly giving consent. Still, if he felt that they were moving too fast, he could have told Mary to stop right after she banged his head against the wall, before she handcuffed him. As such, Jordan is at least partly responsible.

Scenario #3

It’s Sunday night. Jordan and Mike have been partying and are now returning to Mike’s room. Jordan is totally sober, and Mike is pretty drunk. Jordan gives the bed a wide berth and sits down in front of Mike’s TV. He notices a Wii, and decides to turn it on. He then grabs Mike’s joystick and begins to shake it violently until it vibrates. Mike takes his pants off and moves in front of Jordan.

Discussion: What kind of game is Jordan playing here? He seems to make it clear that he’s not interested in Mike by steering clear of the bed, but then, by playing a game that involves such an obvious sexual innuendo, he confuses Mike. Under these circumstances, it’s only natural that Mike takes his chances.