protest at Valparaiso University
 

http://nwitimes.com/articles/2006/04...5b0006e85b.txt

I just heard from some of my sisiters at my undergrad about all of the stuff that the campus police as well as the town police have been doing. Another hot point of the protest deals with the valparaiso university police stopping the van used to transport students around campus just to breathalize whoever is on them. they are ordering the service to allow them to ride the vans to make sure that no students that drink are using them for a free ride. The director of the service as well as almost all of the drivers have quit over this.

We've had many back and forth discussions on this board about drinking and everything but the fact remains that college students do drink but there is a fine line between picking up a drunk student walking home or breaking up a rowdy party then what it appears they are doing. They had been getting out of control for a long while. Last year they broke up one of the sig eps lock ins with their new guys and even though no drinking was discovered underage they still kept them otuside for hours breathalizing and threatening to get them kicked off campus.

I guess the point is, at what point does it turn from their job to them actively trying to make trouble for students, both greek and non-greek and what should be considered over the line?

I have a friend at OU (Oklahoma) that told me earlier this year that the police were doing this too. They would follow the Safe Ride Vans, which are for students only, back to the dorms and fraternity houses and then stop them once they got out of the vans and test them for PI's and MIC's. Complete BS if you ask me.

So then students stop using the "Safe Vans" and drive home themselves... that's a lot safer:rolleyes:

Campus police in general, and alcohol task forces in particular, suck.

Im so sorry
 

It really upsets me to hear that our greeks and college students are being subjected to this type of behavior. Its really messed up and it changes your college experience when you have cops or campus saftey staff doing such acts as to what has been mentioned in this posting. I feel that your study body need to get togther and protest, talk to your college personnel, adminstration, and the mayor of that town where the college is located. Not only will it cause a stur when it comes to the mayor but it will also effect how money, and students enrollment in the future. Sometimes it need to be put on TV, Newpapers, the media cause a uproar, but make sure its justfiable....

There have been quite a few news stories already and the protest will be getting news coverage so hopefully that will wake up the university's administration. Unfortunately our President has always been an anti greek advocate and would have no problem closing down all of the fraternities and sororities so I suspect this plays a part in the tactics the police use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valpara...nt_Controversy


The fraternites all have signs out side of their houses in protest and some do say things about the safety van raids encouraging students to drive drunk.

that pig will get his one day

Even if students don't turn to drunk driving (NO! BAD!) walking home tipsy or drunk isn't safe either, especially at night and/or alone.

I feel that campus police are supposed to protect you, not harass you. And that includes making sure that you have a safe way to get home after drinking (especially legally!)

What law are you breaking by being intoxicated? You're not driving and you aren't purchasing alcohol even.

-Rudey

public drunkeness is a crime in some states/cities but i suspect they're trying to catch underage students in particular

When I was in school, campus police officers would often drive students home from the bars and I know that a few local police officers did as well. It didn't matter how old the students were. The cops were just happy that the students weren't driving themselves or walking home in the dark.

I'd say that boarding a safe-ride van to conduct breathalizers is a pretty stupid move. Way to encourage drunk driving, guys! :rolleyes:

I don't think a car in public though. I also thought it's illegal to purchase or sell but not consume under the age of 21.

-Rudey

This varies by state. In Michigan, it is illegal for a Minor to Possess (MIP=Minor in possession) and if you blow a breathalyzer higher than .001 and are under 21, then you are considered an MIP. It's the new Zero Tolerance focus.

For my 10,000th post...

In the Oklahoma City metro area (of which Norman is a part), it seems like all of the towns except for OKC have a bunch of OKC police acadamy rejects in their respective departments. Edmond, where I went to school is kind of hit and miss. Sometimes, you'll be pulled over by a meathead who just wants to beat the heck out of you and will do so (and make up charges that you attacked them) in order to get their giggles.

Norman cops are jerks as you can tell. This, of course is a new low for them. If the D.A. doesn't drop the charges on these things, I sincerely hope he gets voted out of office. There's simply no excuse for that.

In Indiana, from the best I gathered from living there for 4 years, you can be arrested as an intoxicated minor or a minor in possession. Most of the arrests at Valpo are intoxicated minor from the police giving breathalyzer tests to students they stop on the street, pull over in cars, or bust at parties. I could fill pages and pages with stories I heard over my 4 years there, like the time cops stood outside the student union one weekend morning hoping to catch people drunk from the night before coming to breakfast.

The Chicago Tribune article this morning about the van controversy:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ck=1&cset=true
Also, the rumor on campus is that CBS news in Chicago will be on campus today and tomorrow.

The raids on the Sigma Pi and Phi Sigma Kappa houses this weekend are particularly troubling because the police had their guns drawn when they entered the house, and if you know Valpo, you know how ridiculous that is. My sister (biological) was at the Sigma Pi house when it happened, and she was terrified.

That means that cop is a terrorist.

Protests at the Victory Bell tomorrow! Fight on

This really speaks highly of The Law Enforement in these areas.:rolleyes:

This is stupidity at a new high!

As ktsnake said, some are bigger city rejects and then feel they are The Law West of The Pecos!

They may have a hard on for college students because they never were one. This dud at Valpo saying He saw someone firing up a bong was probably Just B S and used that for an excuse to go to the front door. He must be a real idiot if He is dumb enough to go into a party situation with out back up in the first place. In the second, to have a weapon drawn is just asking for trouble.

Trust Me speaking from personel experience, they need a heck of a lot more training.

College Students pump a lot of money into College Towns economy and with out them some of these peice of crap little towns would be dead.

Just naming a few in the Kansas and Missouri area, Maryville, Warrensburg, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, in Mo. and Pittsburg, Emporia, Hays, Manhattan, and Lawrence, in Kansas.

I am sure the same can be said for many towns in the Mid West, Neb., Ark., Ok., Co., Ill., ETC!

They better soon learn. A Town gets a reputation of treating Students like trash will get more than the city bargened for.

Fight the power! We gotta fight the powers that be!

Fight the power! We gotta fight the powers that be!

As KDWxgirl (my old roommate) said, us valpo alumnis have tons of horror stories of the police using haphazard and pointless stratgies to arrest kids. The biggest problem is the way they react if noone is drinking. When they busted the sig ep house only to find everyone sober they were extremely angry and threatening. Why treat sober students like they're criminals?

The other thing that is ironic is that although they have a file of alleged rapes on one of our basetball players that never went through, nor was a string of car robberies ever solved....they were too busy hoping for a drunk girl to wander around to pick up...and then lecture her about how she's lucky that she was arrested and not raped.....

Suggest they contact the Local Sate Investigative Beaurea of The State for Miss Conduct.

They could file a class action suite against the Locals and ask for a Grand Jury Investigation.

This is so stupid when students of Greek Orgainzations and just Students try to do the moral thing. Ride a bus and not drive.


Oh Yes, Drinking, being in possesion of, or Drunk in Public is against The Law after Our Federal Govt. Held States feet to the fire to Make 21 The Legal Drinking age or lose Highway Funding.

If you look t hrough the videos you can find the news clip on the protests. It starts today at 5:00 and will be a silent protest. The students organizing the march are trying very hard to keep it respectful and to keep people out of trouble. Hopefully everyone follows the rules and there aren't a few idiots that take do something to take away from the message

http://cbs2chicago.com/

where is depuaw located?

The whole situation is just scary. I spent a lot of time in that particular house. It seems weird to see it and other pics of campus in the news.
Even when I was there, the escort van was used by everyone to head down to the fraternities for parties and then back to their dorms. Not everyone who rode the van was drunk, but for those who were, it was definitely a safer option than driving or even walking (Not that Valpo is in a bad neighborhood, it was just a long walk back to campus sober, let alone slightly intoxicated.)

Did you mean Valparaiso? There is another thread on DePauw. (DePauw Establishes Fact - Finding Commission on Greek Life )

Valparaiso University is located in Valparaiso, Indiana, southeast of Gary. While DePauw University is located in Greencastle, Indiana, southwest of Indianapolis toward Terre Haute.

At least Valpo cops don't shoot drunk college students like they do at my alma mater (Ball State).:(

After reading about experiences people have had at other universities, both public and private, I'm glad for the set up we have. I thought it was odd that Idaho didn't have campus police, but I think that having the local law enforcement (town, county, and state) handle campus matters as well as town matters makes it more of a community and closes the gap between "town and gown" so to say. Perhaps it also makes students more accountable as the police calls are reported in the newspaper, and things can't be kept quiet by the University, nor are students unfairly targeted by campus police.

The cops here aren't jerks, and I like it.