Ball State’s “Ass Slapper”

(Yeah, I decided to go there.)

Personally, I can see both sides of this controversy, but probably lean more toward being against the Facebook fan page.

I will admit, the e-mail alert did make me chuckle, because I did not really know what to do with that information, which is how a lot of people felt. I didn’t feel any more unsafe and didn’t feel like I needed to be any more careful, so maybe the e-mail alert was too much. I don’t think there would be all this controversy without that e-mail. This relates to how we think of what constitutes “news” as well.

I think it has turned into waaay too much with the Facebook fan page. After thinking about the whole situation - we have no idea what the female victims are feeling. Maybe they have been raped and this incident could have brought back terrible memories. Maybe they just didn’t know what else this guy would do and decided to call the police to be safe. Maybe not, I haven’t read any more details. Everyone’s different – maybe some would take it as a compliment or just laugh it off. It’s like the discussion in class today about the mainstream vs. alternative news; we need to look at diverse opinions, then make our own judgments.

The fan page of this “ass slapper” is basically glorifying someone that committed a crime, according to laws. Whether everyone agrees with these laws is a different debate. I just hope this group doesn’t lead to any further glorification of other negative things. While this may be “part of college” and happens at parties, it doesn’t mean it should be.

If this makes the news, I will feel pretty embarrassed to be associated with this kind of community. Yes, laughing off some situations may be a good thing to do too, and I understand that. Maybe I’m more conservative than others, I don’t know, but I do think we need to look at all sides of this story.