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6 posts tagged USC

Covered in Band-Aids: What does a rapist look like, and how does he come to be? (PART VII)»

My rapist’s name is Andrew Paul Bean. He was born in Ohio and graduated from Perrysburg High School in 2009. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where he studies theatre and desires to be an actor.

My name is Tucker Reed. I was born in California, and graduated from Ashland…

I recently read this unbelievable story by Tucker Reed, a student at USC who was raped by a fellow USC student named Andrew Paul Bean.

What was most egregious to me, is that she approached USC with a recording of Andrew admitting to raping her, and USC chose to do nothing about this.

Interestingly enough, the University of Southern California recently contacted me asking if I’d like to make a donation. This is the email I sent to the university president and alumni relations:

Dear President Nikias and the Alumni Association at USC,

My name is Erin La Rosa and I’m a graduate of the MPW program at USC. Recently I was contacted by an undergraduate at the college, seeking a donation.

I have always thought of myself as a proud USC alum. I loved my time at USC, and feel that my career has flourished as a result. I now work for a website called BuzzFeed, I’m currently in the midst of writing a book, and I thank USC for a significant portion of that success. The college gave me the tools I needed to make it in my career.

However, I no longer feel proud of USC. I was thoroughly disappointed to read about Tucker Reed, a student at USC, who was raped by another USC student, named Andrew Paul Bean. The rape itself was inexcusable, but what I found to be most bizarre was that USC had allegedly received a taped confession of the rape, and chose not to expel Andrew for his conduct.

Is USC an institution that serves as a shelter for rapists? Don’t you find it morally reprehensible to send the message to incoming students, who are promised safety, that you protect rapists over victims? What are the college’s plans moving forward to deal with Andrew?

Until my questions are answered, I won’t be donating any money to USC. I also certainly won’t be a proud alum. I have hopes that the college will deal with this manner in a fair way to bring justice for Tucker, as well as other victims of rape.

Please do the right thing here, and make this USC grad proud to be an alum again.

Sincerely,

Erin La Rosa

If you are a USC alum, or just a concerned/wonderful human being, I encourage you to also email the college with your concerns regarding this.

Here are their emails, just to make it EXTRA easy.

President Nikias: [email protected]

Alumni Association: [email protected]

xoxo

Completing My Master’s Degree…

This was the weekend for college graduations and I am no exception.

I walked in my grad school graduation this past Friday. WHAAAAAT?!?! Yes, everyone, I am a Master.

Initially I wasn’t at all interested in participating in the ceremony and I feel like I had some valid reasons. 1) I’m 27-years-old and, like Easter egg hunts, aren’t I a little too old for this shit? 2) My thesis was turned in on December 10, 2011, it has been a long time since I’ve actually been a student, so this felt a little overdue and 3) Is walking down an aisle in a smelly robe really necessary?

However, it was my Mom who convinced me to walk in my own ceremony. She got emotional over the phone, cited the fact that my grandmother hadn’t gone past the 9th grade and had always struggled with writing and then told me I was doing it and that was that.

So, I emailed the head of the department to let them know I would be walking, ordered my cap and gown and took time off from work to make my parents proud.

I have to admit that up until the day of the ceremony I was really not looking forward to this, any of it. I don’t relish being the center of attention and, to be honest, caps just don’t look right on my tiny, peanut head.

But as soon as I was back on the USC campus—fight on, Trojans!—something clicked. It was the same feeling I had the first day of classes two years ago and it can only be described as butterflies and a little bit of nervous hiccups. I was sweaty but beaming. I thought I might throw up but wanted more coffee anyways. There’s just something about being back in school that charges me up a bit and that morning I was really glad I decided to go through with graduation.

Our ceremony was scheduled for 10:45 but didn’t start until 11:30 a.m. I got to see a lot of my old classmates and it felt good to hear about their writing and what they’ve been working on. I forgot how important being with a community of writers can be, and that setting just reminded me that I need to keep up those connections and grab on to fellow writers like they’re a goddamned life raft.

My parents were so proud, all smiles and hugs, and it felt really great to have them there and watching what I had accomplished.

What I came away with, in spite of all my objections and apprehensions, was this: It’s okay to be proud of your accomplishments and actually celebrate them. I know it can feel self indulgent, and it did, but you need those times in your life to help you get to the next level.

Plus if your parents are anything like mine, they’ll reward you with a Congratulations card stuffed with hundies.

Thanks, Mom and Dad! And congrats to my fellow Trojan grads—we did it!

This “Better Red Than Dead” documentary is really fun and features a super sweet boy named Tucker.

Can Someone Publish My Book, Please?

There are a few things in life that can be discouraging, going to an agent panel is one of those things.

I went to USC tonight to listen to Barbara Lowentstein of Lowenstein Associates. The woman has repped some serious authors, including my thesis professor, Gina Nahai.

So I was excited! Because I’ve been working with Gina and she has made me feel much more confident about my own writing. And when I snuck into the discussion (I was running late because of traffic, oops), I was as hopefuly as I could be.

That is… until Barbara started talking out all the details of just how hard it is to get a book published.

Admittedly, I worked at Random House once upon a time, and a whole host of other publishers prior to that. I am aware of what a ringer writers go through to get their books made into hard copies. But part of me has always thought, “Me? Nah, that won’t happen to me.”

That is… until Barbara laid out that the only books being bought right now are sci-fi thrillers set in colonial times. You need to write a book about cowboys and aliens (already been done, so don’t even try it) in order to sell a book to a publisher.

And also there was the part where I pitched my thesis project to her and got crickets in return. Silence so deafening that I heard someone retie their shoelaces.

Granted, Barbara had explicitly stated that she wants a book set in an “exotic” location with “exotic” characters doing “exotic” things. And my humble piece of writing is set on a ranch in Florida with characters who are interesting, but also happen to be reflective of middle America.

My good friend, Tommy, reminded me of this when he said, “She’s not the agent for you then.”

Okay, yes, she’s not the agent for me, there are plenty of other agents in the sea, I’ll end up successful and she’ll end up begging to have me back, blah blah blah.

But it was still disheartening. What can I say? Rejection is rejection folks!

But you know what did make me feel better? A Cadbury Creme Egg (thank you Easter bunny!).

Now, onto my new book ideas:

-A story of sisters who land a reality TV show after one of them accidentally records the sex a rapper has on her.

-A story of two sisters who leave their LA reality show to move into a New York reality TV Show. Working title “Kourtney & Kim Take New York”

-A story of one sister who marries a handsome black athlete and they have a reality show where they have sex on each other.

Would you buy those?

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I went to an undergrad instituition where we didn’t have a football team and belonging to a frat or sorority was lame.

So, now that I’m at USC for my grad studies, I am totally bewildered by most of the rituals.

Last night was something called “CONQUEST”- which seems like an odd title to me- where they burn the UCLA mascot, drink beer, eat at food trucks, and ride a ferris wheel. It’s all to build school spirit, or something.

Bizarre.