The Problems
Last year, word got out that Southern University's (Baton Rouge, LA) registrar's office was accepting money to change grades. Students lost credits, alumni lost degrees, and many were brought to hearings with administrators and faculty members. But the Baton Rouge, LA, school isn't the only institution to be the subject of scandal.

In February 2004, St. John's University (Queens, NY), also found itself amidst controversy when a woman claimed she was raped by the men's basketball team in a suburb near Pittsburgh. It was a false claim that resulted after the students broke curfew, left their hotel, and met the woman in a strip club.

At the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO), the sisters of Gamma Phi Beta allegedly urged members to donate blood despite poor health. Before you get jabbed with a needle, you need to complete a short questionnaire that asks if you're sick with a cold, if you've been pierced or tattooed in the last six months, and if you have any sexually transmitted diseases. In an effort to collect a record--breaking amount of blood, sisters were told to ignore these questions and donate anyway.

These are just a few examples of on--campus situations that can go very, very wrong. But don't think nothing is being done to combat these major faux pas. It is possible to earn an ethical education despite controversy and scandal.

The Solutions
At Southern University, new internal controls have been created to monitor the registrar's office. St. John's suspended the players involved in the incident, mailed letters of apology to students and alumni, and imposed two years of sanctions on the basketball program after learning that a former player was receiving money from an athletic department employee. And fortunately, the Red Cross always tests for bad blood - just in case.

Sometimes the best way to fix such problems, however, is to prevent them from happening in the first place. One school working to curb controversy is Northeastern University (Boston, MA), whose MVP (Mentors in Violence Prevention) Program has been growing since 1993. MVP is responsible for training thousands of people in over 100 high schools and 90 universities to prevent violence against women.

Another way violence can be prevented is by forewarning students about the consequences of their actions. Since there's often a sense of anonymity in a crowd, one way to diminish the 'It's not me, it's everyone else' mentality is to install surveillance cameras all over campus, suggests Jack Levin, professor of sociology and criminology, and director of the Brudnick Center on Violence at Northeastern University.

How to Deal
Last year at Harcum College (Bryn Mawr, PA), a live rabies vaccine was thought to have been given to veterinary technology students. The pharmaceutical company was unsure if the vaccine was dangerous, but it notified the school after vaccines had been administered. Scary!

"We made sure to communicate to faculty via face--to--face efforts, and published internal e--mail newsletters to faculty and students. [We also] urged faculty to contact students and their families in order to make sure the students were notified that they had to come back to the health office on campus to get revaccinated," says Joseph J. Diorio, a Harcum representative. "It doesn't hurt for a student to ask the school administration if it has an emergency communications plan. When bad news hits, it's important to communicate with your internal audience, and Harcum tries its best to do that," Diorio continues, stressing that communication is key.

Andra Medea, author of Conflict Unraveled: Fixing Problems at Work and in Families (Pivotpoint Press, 2004), used her educational experiences at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago in writing her book about conflict. "Chaos is contagious, but you don't have to catch it," she says. "Whether the campus trouble is politics, snotty sororities, or binge drinking, there's always something going on. It doesn't mean you have to be in the middle of it."

Medea suggests that in the face of trouble, you head in the other direction. "Chaos is a lot less exciting than it seems," she assures. "If you've seen one frat boy throw a beer can at a campus cop, you've seen them all. Don't fall for false drama. If you have real friends and real interests, the raucous scenes can go on without you."

Frank Krystiniak, a journalism and public relations professor at Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, TX), feels that students need to be aware of all the facts before they get involved in the frenzy. "Students should not believe everything they read and see in the media," he says. "There are always two sides to a story, and the media often covers only one, or a very small portion of an entire story." Krystiniak suggests consulting a university's Web page for information. "My Today@Sam Web page (www.shsu.edu/~pin_www/index.html) has up--to--date and accurate information, even if it's not flattering to the university," he says.

It may be hard to get past college drama, but like a good play, resolution always comes before the curtain closes. It's easy to get caught up in gossip, rumors, and even scandals at times, but it's important to remember why you're in school. No one ever picks a college based on dirty details. Rather, you choose a school because you believe you will get an ethical education.

So instead of letting campus mishaps bring you down, rise above them. Hold your head up high, and cling to your school's values and traditions -even when it seems others will not.