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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