[Penn] learned about the incident 2 1/2 months after the alleged events probably means she came forward to the police not long before that. She will probably claim that he carnally knew her without her explicit consent because she was in a state of intoxication. Even if legally that is considered rape, and carnal knowledge did occur, there is no way she will legally prevail because there probably isn't evidence of sex 10 weeks after the fact. Even if she had bruise marks, etc., there is no DNA evidence of intercourse with a specific, identifiable individual that much later. If it didn't happen, she might probably had some grudge against him for some other reason and she wins either way because his reputation is tarnished forever and he'll probably lose his tenure/professorship.... Imagine going through that! They put a warrant out for his arrest, and he immediately turned himself in so he wasn't chased by police. People assume that means guilt too. Basically any woman could get any man arrested and it would not be considered frivolous and they would have to go through an entire civil/criminal process, if they were ever alone together. It would not be immediately thrown out for lack of evidence. Amazing... Snoop Puppy, Investment Banker, W' 97 Cayman Islands seth@key-holdings.com

I have known Tracy McIntosh for nearly 10 years and found him to have the utmost integrity, kindness, and concern for the human condition. While I believe any man could relinquish himself to temptation, I do not believe Tracy could harm another human being, even (as alleged) under the influence of alcohol and cannabis. How can we allow the allegation of wrong-doing to permanently stain our perception of someone as good, and as giving as Tracy McIntosh? If this woman was not a UPenn student, faculty, or employee, what was she doing alone with him in his office? I pray for Tracy and his family, for the rapid resolution of the proceedings. Keep It Simple, Scientist Wyoming

While I believe that individuals should not be charged for crimes they have not committed (a basic ethical principle after all) I must say that, with the majority of women not coming forward after sexual assault in the first place and with Penn's rather blatantly ambiguous sexual assault policy, little will be done about this incident. Even if the professor is guilty, the unwillingness of the administration to follow-up on the assault of vulnerable individuals (read: women) at this university is deplorable and should not be tolerated. Carrie

#1, Carrie, are you a senior? #2, Carrie, were you wait-listed for Penn Law? #3, Carrie, do you know Lisa Pettinati? Heed the following advice, Carrie: Be ACCURATELY informed with the facts before starting a riot. Do your research, do it well, don't post unnecessary, unsolicited shit-faced claims/opinions unless you are 100% sure that you know the facts. not again!

Carrie: why look to Penn for the resolution of a criminal issue? Whether Penn, or the Catholic church in a recent issue, are supportive or cooperative or whatever should be entirely irrelevant: report crimes to cops not irrelevant administrators and if you do then what on earth are you complaining about? Bottom line: call the cops as criminal acts are NOT a private business's responsibility to resolve. Ben, Staff

Let's say that I am married, smoked marijuana and drank alcohol with a woman in my office, and then had sex with the woman that I was doing this with. Then she accuses me of rape, although I did not rape her. Every detail of this situation makes me look bad, even before the rape charge. It is simply her word versus mine. There is a chance I could lose and go to jail for a while, and rack up big lawyer's fees in the meantime. Why not accept some sort of plea bargain, to guarantee that the worst-case outcome won't occur? I'm not saying that it happened this way, but I definitely don't take a plea bargain as an admission of guilt. If I were in his situation and the truth was that it was not rape, I would still seriously consider a plea bargain. Chris

A consideration of a plea bargain most definitely does NOT signify guilt. Trials are costly both to prosecute and defend both in scarce public and private dollars and emotional damage to family, friends and reputation. Exploring alternatives is completely normal and expected. OT That very attitude of if you've attracted the attention of the police you must be guilty is what I really hate about the entire Ashcroft Justice Department: we only detain terrorists so why whine about the Bill of Rights? It's going along with that attitude that's going to get the FBI forensics lab padlocked one of these days. OT Some people just do not like playing you bet your life on the flip of a coin that "he said-she said" often can be. Ben

I am pretty sure that a plea bargain is an admission of guilt. He is pleading guilty to lesser charges, which doesn't make the man innocent. This cannot be dismissed and glossed over as a 'hey it could happen to anyone' scenario. These crimes are extremely serious. If the Philadelphia Police believes that there is enough evidence to take this matter to court then these charges are real. And the University was wrong for not bringing this to the police's attention earlier. Only a full acquittal to the rape charge can redeem his reputation. I find it a little disturbing that I will not know the truth about what took place. I wish I knew and I believe that all students, parents, and members of the Penn community deserve to know what happened as an issue of personal safety and the safety and well-being of their loved ones. He should never have been in that situation. He was fully aware of what he was risking once he walked into that office that night. He knew that he was risking his marriage, friends, career, and reputation; and he was risking all this by simply sleeping with the women. He knew all the possible outcomes of this gamble,(jilted lovers, false accusations, etc.) And now he doesn't have to face any consequences? And this is supposed to be done at a place where they are molding young minds? That will be a great lesson to teach an incoming freshmen.WE'RE GOING TO ILLUSTRATE TERRIBLE SCENARIOS WITH SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES THAT CAN BE EASILY AVOIDED IF YOU AVOID CERTAIN SITUATIONS, remember this part of freshman orientation?? the part that made you pay attention was the SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES without those everyone would pretty much do whatever the hell they wanted. I will not accept the notion that what has happened is not a 'big deal', because this is a very 'BIG DEAL'. And how Penn handles this should be up for national debate, and I hope that my University makes me proud. I hope my spelling has improved, it gets bad mid rant Peace and Love patrick, finance NYC

As a Penn Law Alum who has worked in the criminal law field for a long time, I can assure you that a plea bargain is in no way an admission of guilt. As Ben noted, several factors including family considerations and money go into the determination of whether to go to trial or to plead out. I have no idea who this Dr McIntosh is or whether he is guilty of this crime, but I am very VERY sure that you can NOT determine by his mere consideration (and or acceptance) of a plea bargain his guilt or innocence. And FYI Patrick, not many teachers, even Penn teachers, can afford the cost of a trial with a good attorney. The best criminal attorneys in this city charge at least $25,000 to go to trial, and that cost does not include all preliminary work done. Law Student Alum, law student alum Philadelphia

Please shed some light on this for me: In a usual plea bargain situation a person will plead guilty to lesser charges, perhaps a misdemeanor instead of facing trial for a more serious felony. Isn't this the usual scenario?? If this is in fact the case won't Dr. McIntosh have convictions on his criminal record?? Would Dr. McIntosh be hired for his research position if he had a criminal record, especially one that had convictions in his recent past?? You cannot put a price tag on your reputation. If he had done nothing wrong; he is going to miss the opportunity to clear his name. Which is really a shame. I don't believe that many companies would be able to stand behind their employees in a similar situation. The liability that the University is taking on is huge. It doesn't make practical business sense. patrick, finance NYC

Job applications leave room for explanations of such details so it wouldn't be a blind "conviction" where the details are left to the imagination and a misdemeanor is light years from a felony. If the explanation had sufficient mitigating details such as counseling etc. a strong professional qualification set wouldn't automatically be derailed by a plea. As to Penn's exposing itself to liability? This instance is set and so if further investigation shows Penn had ignored other warnings about his behavior and there is, in fact, a finding of guilt that does not now exist, then there would be the possibility of a consideration of liability that would have to meet the standard tests of due diligence. As to Penn's lack of punitive action at this point leading to exposure. What is the professor guilty of that requires his employer to take action? Hanging some one BEFORE the trial is popular among the zealous but would most certainly result in a huge judgment if after some punitive action on Penn's part he was not convicted of anything. Penn just wrote a multimillion dollar check in compensation for having precipitously acted against a faculty member and I imagine it is not an experience they want to repeat. One of the major joys of the law as the great equalizer: a big corporation hurts you and the little guy gets to sue their ass: and win enough to make it sting. Ben

I would like to make some comments about this issue. First, regarding the fact that the victim in this incident smoked pot with him. If you are going to try to use this to discredit her, use it equally to discredit him. Furthermore, in my eyes it is much more damning that a 49 year old married professor is smoking pot than a 23 year old student. second, about the whole issue of lack of evidence and 'why should one girl be able to make any accusation and ruin someones career.' many crimes involve one persons word against another. if you are walking down the street and i come up behind you, put a knife to your throat and make you give me your wallet and no one is there to witness it...there is no evidence, therefore it must not have happened. Or (this is addressed to the guys) if you get drunk and stoned to the point of unconsciousness and I, another man, rapes you and wears a condom...again, no evidence, so it must not have happened. And guess what...would you immediately run to the police or would you be a little embarassed? What if you 23 year old son calls you up and tells you his 49 year old professor/lab boss got him drunk and raped him. Would you want to make a nice big public deal about it. Maybe, but more likely, maybe not. This brings me to my third point. Most of the people here writing are men. And guess what, most men aren't raped. Men do not understand rape. I really don't care what you think about this issue unless your wife/daughter/sister has been raped. Fourth, regarding UPenn's handling of this situation. You know what, UPenn statistics largely report that rape doesn't happen at UPenn. Congratulations, UPenn you must be the exception to national statistics. Or perhaps UPenn deals with rape issues so poorly that women don't come forward. Just a thought. Fifth, oh this poor talented man, why should his career be ruined? How about the poor talented girl who worked her ass of to get into vet school and now has to put off her career because of some shi**y legal situation. Sixth, what is this girl's possible motivation for making this up? She was offered a position at his lab that she didn't take. So she has no motive via 'being pissed off at him for not giving her the job.' Furthermore, this guy is a family friend. I don't know about you, but I am not going to start throwing the word rape around when it involves a close family friend unless I am pretty sure that something bad happened. I just think that all of your comments would be a little bit different if it was your 23 year old daughter who likely got drugged and raped by a friend of yours and had to put off her education. Or maybe it happens to your wife who has a business dinner with her boss. Then perhaps if you came upon comments like, "well, she smoked pot", "well, what was she doing in his office", "a guilty plea doesn't mean it happened" you could see how fuc*ing hollow those statements are. Finally, I am sure I have some improper grammar somewhere in this comment, so according to some of you I must not know what I am talking about. You know, your right: attacking someone's spelling is incredibly sophisticated argument. "But... you split the infinitive." ha law student, student

law student: not awake during "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law"? not fucking hollow merely decent. Ben

What was this woman, who is not affiliated with the university in any way, doing in his office drinking and smoking pot? She loses credibility right there. Don't buy it

I have know Tracy McIntosh for over 30 years, both growing up and as an alumni of the University of Pennsylvania. I totally agree with the scientist from Wyoming in that Tracy is one of the most generous, kind, caring people you could ever meet who I can never imagine hurting anyone. He has rescued many people in trouble over the years and has committed his life and career to making lives better for people with brain injuries. I hope that he is able to continue this work soon so that children and adults with brain injuries will be able to have more normal lives based on the groundbreaking research he is doing. I am proud that he has been a lifelong friend. ABS Connecticut

I think it is deplorable that people think a woman is the cause of rape. Somehow women lure men into having sex with them and then make a mockery of it by reporting the case. There are women who are raped and never report the incident because the feel ashamed and or embarrassed. Regardless, of what she was doing alone in his office, she "didn't ask for it." No woman or man , who is raped "asks for it." (Men get raped too. Don't be so narrow-minded as to think it only happens in prisons.) The question is when will people realize they DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO VIOLATE ANYONE PERIOD?! No means no! Not maybe, not I'll think about, not I am saying no, but I really want you to come over here! This is nonsense. There have been other Penn professors who have raped women on campus. (Everything doesn't make it to the front pages of the DP.) You could know someone for years and never really know them. Maybe he wouldn't hurt another human being, but it is apparent from the other responses that rape is somehow not hurting another person. I am sure if this was your wife, sister, mother or daughter, we'd be having a different conversation. Penn alum Phila., PA

The University needs to separate themselves from this man as soon as possible. He has decided that it would be best for him to cop a plea and accept guilt to lesser charges than RAPE, which is a rather awkward admission of indisgression. It would appear that what happened on this night in question was not as innocent as the friends of Dr. McIntosh would have you believe. Another question that needs answering is this: Since when is smoking pot LEGAL??? HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD GET FIRED IF THEY ADMITTED SMOKING POT IN THEIR OFFICE/PLACE OF BUSINESS? RAISE YOUR HANDS? Is this the image that we, the alumni, want Penn to project? The last year has been a disgrace, the conduct that is now accepted is outrageous. The only thing that is more outrageous is the never ending line of friends, colleagues, cronnies, and a**-kissers that invariably line up to defend these criminal acts as total lies because he or she has been a friend of so and so since they were little kids. I am sure that every criminal on Death Row has someone how would vouch for them as a good person. Why don't you go ask this girl's uncle, the supposed friend of Dr. McIntosh, who he feels about him?? How about asking Mrs. McIntosh how she feels about him? The University must make a stand now, that this behavior will not be accepted. God bless this woman and I hope that she can put this all behind her. Dr. McIntosh needs time to rebuild relations with family and his social circle, as this has to be seen as an act of betrayal. The University applicant pool is not to be dipped into with the idea that academic standing can be bartered with sexual favors. This might not have been intended, but this is how it appears. If Penn were to dismiss this man it would be the best for all parties concerned. Penn would show the country and their alumni that they are no longer going to tolerate anything that is going to tarnish the image of the University. Hopefully the trickle down effect of this will be that the employees and students of the University will reconsider before they commence their next taboo act( rape, kiddie porn, dousing people with flammables???) I bet all of this man's defenders all felt foolish once he decided to cop a plea?? I bet that these same people will try and portray this as a heroic act that was not an admission of guilt, but more of a stoic attempt to save his wife and children the unavoidable embarassment that would have been caused by a trial. This particular spin tactic will be made by people who are unable to get proper perspective on this matter as they are too emotionally invested in this man, thus any more comments from his defenders from his social circle must be dismissed as biased bullsh*t, irregardless of their noble intentions. This man, regardless of the rank that he has attained in his specific field, must be dealt with in a swift and brutal manner. The University must take this opportunity to set the new course of their tolerance, which should be zero- tolerance. patrick, finance NYC

Penn alum: I don't think anyone here ever said that she deserved to be raped but just that they don't believe she actually was raped. ummm...yeah. rbowles rbowles@seas.upenn.edu

Regardless of whether or not you think Professor McIntosh is guilty you cannot deny that this development is extremely embarrassing for the Penn community. Along with a spate of other wildly outrageous incidents- the motor oil incident in the Quad, the library director being accused of possessing child pornography- this occurrence has attracted unflattering national publicity to the University and has sullied the school's reputation. These developments, while isolated affect the public image of the school. About the only thing we can do is hope that U.S. News & World Report will overlook these egregious, humiliating incidents, and still view Penn as a high-caliber institution. Again, I am not pre-judging the guilt or innocence of Dr. McIntosh. I wish him the best of luck in resolving this crisis. TheQuietOne, Penn undergrad

Patrick, I would hope that you would show more"Disgression" (see www.dictionary.com) in your assumptions about guilt. So, if I were to accuse some professor of an atrocious act, they should automatically be "distanced" from the university? Common sense (and spelling) probably wasn't a requisite for graduating with a concentration in finance, was it? Hint, if it's in yellow. Change it. Dillon Kuehn dmkuehn@sas.upenn.edu