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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2002)
Opinion Methodist ir u *rch on fail v Insh highligtj L ‘ a,m g theni. : miming the a trolled the fc U ) work pas Leahy. Theti ft ytics’ lofts up the echoe ‘Issays beltt txtal champs- 'J- "I think i they truly, i g to hdiese rushing char- tave been as t if coach La - ' hecinninr Dame's by all ong playcn. ion lawsuit ist.uit coach also NCAA emale re than Si •ycr seas I ukl tnpsaii )tten. thepr: h. - team has: ta* Damci ngan late v. ay to mei; | yes-sirs arc: Iplayers an usher t rstanding v; s time iok >ome Insh ir between at sights. ife and y«r. nd met an s ar about ih cd to kne*' all thanksti predectss’ and passed! I LENTI SMITH Minors will not stop drinking t’s like a game between law enforcement agencies and minors to see if minors will nake it to their 21st birthday dthout receiving a Minor in Possession (M1P) charge, eachers even joke about it in heir law classes, using an MIP as one way to relate the judi cial system to students. And while not everyone drinks, it is lot uncommon for minors to engage in activities involving ilcohol. While this may not be legal, the availability of alco- lol to minors is difficult to change. In recent years, underage drinking has become a nation- vide issue. People are more concerned about traffic safety and are more aware of drivers around them. College students especially have become the main area of concern by law nforcement because alcohol is prevalent on college campus es, and Texas A&M is no exception. According to University Police reports, they issued 29 citations for MIPs during the veekend before school started. Numbers like these are why 3razos County law enforcement has continued to try new >rograms to help reduce the risk of minors obtaining alcohol and have succeeded in doing so. According to The Bryan-Col l eg e Station Eagle, Brazos ounty has a program funded by the Texas Department of ransportation that has helped reduce underage drinking locally. The program set up by County Attorney Jim uboviak is referred to as the Comprehensive Underage drinking Enforcement Program. Through the program, off ers set up surveillance and undercover stings at bars and tores that are known to provide alcohol to minors. The pro gram also investigates large purchases of alcohol, which ■often leads to people over the age of 21 supplying alcohol to vninors. This program receives state funding matched by local f unds to help supply video equipment and any other equip- ®nent needing by the undercover officers. Kuboviak explained to The Eagle that the officers involved in these ■operations do this in addition to their regular duties, so the funding also goes towards paying for their time during the ■operations. Now the program is up for more funding from the state. The amount of funding requested is not currently public information, but more funding would not reduce the statistics further. The program has limited the percentage of establish ments selling alcohol to minors to only 25 percent, while in neighboring counties it can reach 50 to 60 percent. Kuboviak told l he Eagle. Some of our most famous landmarks here in College Station are Northgate and the Dixie Chicken. If the program is already helping to reduce the problems with the funds they Have received, then more funds would limit the resources available that could go towards other problems facing Brazos ounty. Each year the program must be approved by the Brazos bounty Commissioners Court. The program has proven itself orthwhile and that it is necessary in the community. But me cannot expect to sink a lot of money into a program like this and have no problems with minors and alcohol. Being a :ollege area. Brazos County may seem a-high-risk area for ilcohol-related accident. According to Kuboviak, the county ranks near the bottom of the 254 Texas counties for alcohol- related deaths per capita. It is commendable that the program has aided in the drop )ff of underage drinking, and it should continue its work, but in increase in funding cannot guarantee minors will not drink. Lenti Smith is a junior political science and journalism major. MAIL CALL Wiatt's comment ^ disrespects students In response to Melissa RE the Sullivan's Sept. 18 article: :erut! Bob Wiatt was quoted as fol lows: "When kids get in apart ments they go crazy, and other residents don’t like the drunk screaming." I cannot begin to express how much respect this state ment instills in myself and the rest of the student body for his fine department. I mean, obviously, as "kids," many of us supporting ourselves while learning how to become his boss, we need him to watch over us and make decisions about our lifestyles for us. Furthermore, 1 do not think it would be unfair to consider it an undeniable fact that as evil children throwing these dangerous TV-watching ses sions, our status as college students automatically implies that the second a beer hits our mouths we begin scream ing incoherently and uncon trollably. Donald H Clapp Class of 2002 The Battalion Page 5B • Thursday, September 19, 2002 A drug problem Kicking students out of school does not end drug use GEORGE DEUTSCH E ver since the “war on drugs” was first conceptualized, the U.S. government has lauded public school districts’ relatively straightfor ward anti-drug policy: suspend or expel all students caught using drugs. But recently released guidelines in a report from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy now discourage schools from using such excessive and short-sighted “solutions” in favor of more realistic ones such as providing counseling and treatment, a decision that will prove to be beneficial for troubled students and the communities that harbor them. Drug abuse is not a new problem to public schools, and it is a shame this nation’s highest office is only now deciding it is bet ter to help these students than deny them an education. Believe it or not, there is actually some credibility to the old “stay in school” adage students have received from countless teachers since before kindergarten. School personnel should adhere to the report’s suggestion and do its part to help at-risk teenagers stay in school instead of simply washing its hands of these students when they need help most. Drug-abusing students kicked out of school can clearly blame drugs for their bad situation, but the untimely refusal of their right to an educa tion is only going to compound their problems. National Education Association spokesperson Kathleen Lyons says her group agrees. “We endorse helping kids, not simply punishing them. It doesn’t do anybody any good just to (administer) a drug test and kick the kid out of school,”she said. “Where’s he going to go?” Lyons has stumbled across perhaps the biggest fallacy in public school districts’ means of disciplining student drug users: the no tolerance approach. Getting student drug users out of schools doesn’t rid the schools of drugs, it rids them of their students, thereby freeing teachers from their respon sibilities as educators. In the grand scheme of things, learning to overcome addiction will prove to be a much more valuable life lesson for a young person than anything taught in a public school. That is the harsh reality. The report issued by the drug control agency concluded that expelled students not afforded the privilege of counseling or treatment often become “drug using dropouts.” Though this is a painfully obvi ous point, the report nonetheless forces schools to consider what effect their hasty disciplinary actions are having on the streets of America. It stands to reason that, if put out on the streets, these school rejects will only slide further down the slippery slope of drug addic tion, likely turning to crime to support their habit. This is not a good sit uation for anyone. While parents and teachers would like people to believe the drug problem is at an all-time high and they are doing all they can to pro tect other children from its grasp, the statistics indicate other wise. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy released a separate study prior to its school guidelines recom mendation showing that 2001 saw a decline in first-time mari juana users. This decline is not mere coincidence, but rather a result of this country’s drug-education efforts. Marijuana, often demonized as the gateway drug, may not deserve its harsh label. A study issued by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws declared that only one in 104 marijuana users went on to use cocaine or heroin. However, schools typically punish marijuana use in much the same fashion as the use of these two illicit stimulants. They should consider looking at the facts instead of merely treating students like a parole-violating Robert Downey Jr. Not every one that tries drugs is a lost cause. Ultimately, the implementation of this report’s suggestions rests in the hands of each individual school district. No official laws regarding the proposed policies have been made. But if this country really wants its young people to succeed academically, it will afford them that opportunity, or suffer the consequences if it does not. George Deutsch is a junior journalism major. LEIGH RICHARDSON • THE BATTALION Everyone loses in child’s death Mother, 12-year old baby sitter deserve murder charges A ccording to The Eagle, on the night of Aug. 17, 2- month-old Tierra Lashay Jones and 12 other children were left alone in an apartment in the care of a 12-year-old girl while their mothers went out. In addition to Tierra, seven of the other children were under the age of 5, including a 4-month-old, a 1-year-old and two 2- year-olds. According to Brazoria County’s daily newspaper, The Facts, court records reveal the mothers left their children with no means of communication. On Aug. 18, several hours after the mothers left to a nightclub, Tierra died of what the autopsy later revealed to be blunt trauma to the head and asphyxiation. Marlaina Brooks, Tierra’s mother, has been justly charged with injury to a child by omission, a second-degree felony, and reckless injury to a child charges are pending against the baby sitter. Ultimately, an infant’s life was lost as a result of four grown women’s negligence and a deadly blow dealt by a young babysitter. Everyone involved should face the consequences to the full extent of the law. The Facts reports that a grand jury will decide whether the other three mothers and the mother of the baby sitter will be charged as well. According to the Lubbock Online, when the court questioned one of the three other mothers, she said her decision to leave the children with the young baby sitter was a “bad call” and she had “learned from her mistake.” In this gross understatement, the woman does not acknowledge the severity to the severity of her mistake and one can only hold the slightest hope that counseling, parenting classes and drug and alcohol testing will help correct her immature parenting techniques. According to The Facts, if Brooks is convicted of injury to a child by omission, she will face up to 20 years in prison. There is clear reason for Brooks to be charged and convict ed of injury to a child by omission. At the same time, the other three mothers committed the same irresponsible act, but only Brooks’ child died and therefore she is the only one who should be punished as severely. It is not illegal to leave your children with a 12-year-old baby sitter. However, there is no reason to exempt the young girl from being punished by the juvenile court system. According to The Facts, the records show Jones had a large skull fracture to indicate her head hit a hard object. “It took a lot of force to kill this baby,” District Attorney Jeri Yenne told The Facts. Although the 12-year-old girl will suffer tremendously from the emotional and psychological repercussions of this tragedy, it can only be hoped the juvenile system will help to “rehabilitate” her, as prosecutors believe it will. “I think calm, rational minds know that this girl is in need of some treatment that can be afforded by the juvenile justice system,” Yenne told the Facts. Now and then an event takes place in which no matter how many atonements are made, everybody involved loses. Unfortunately, in the tragedy of the untimely death of Tierra, this is the situation. Although the mothers who left their chil dren under inadequate supervision are primarily to blame, the 12-year-old baby sitter committed murder and will have to be accountable as well. Jennifer Lozano is a junior English major. JENNIFER LOZANO
