It isn't sex that kills--it's religion

Rebecca Alvarado, a 2004 graduate of Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School, an all-girl Catholic high school in Chicago, has filed suit against two teachers, the dean and the principal. Alvarado was hospitalized in March of 2004 with mononucleosis, hepatitis, jaundice, and dehydration. She says that while she was lying in a hospital bed, two of her teachers discussed her mononucleosis with the students, telling them that Alvarado had a disease "that whores get," and that sexually active girls contract mononucleosis.

Alvarado claims that she then was the object of a campaign of humilliation by the student body.

Assuming this story is true, there are so many crimes committed against Alvarado and all women that it boggles the mind. First, there is the crime of ignorance: Mononucleosis is not an STD. Second, there is the horrific invasion of privacy. Then there is the name-calling and condemnation. And finally, there is the "so what?" factor. If Alvarado had been a boy at a boys' school, does anyone believe his teachers would have thought his alleged sexual activity was evil?

Alvarado is suing for more than $450,000. Doesn't seem like sufficient punishment to me.