Popular Posts

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Choose Responsibility-

I received a response to one of my post that encouraged me to look at the Choose Responsibility website (see link http://www.chooseresponsibility.org/for_educators/)  It is an interesting discussion about the issue of the drinking age of 21 being lowered and explores a graduated licensing system.  It examines some of the rational for exploring changes.  I am not sure lowering the legal drinking age is the answer but I found the web site to be helpful to explore thinking about  possible changes in law and policy that might impact the binge drinking pattern of young adults.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

JMU Professor arrested for public intoxication 12/4/2010

JMU Professor arrested for public intoxication 12/4/2010  JMU The Breeze; (see link: http://www.breezejmu.org/news/article_2025ae7e-00d3-11e0-94f7-0017a4a78c22.html)

According to the article in the JMU The Breeze newspaper a JUM professor was arrested for public intoxication while teaching a class at JMU.  Professor Karen D. Evans was reported to have a legal history of alcohol violations.

According to online court records:
Evans was charged Sept. 9, 2009 with a first offense DWI. She was found guilty on Dec. 2, 2009 of a reduced charge of reckless driving and received a six-month suspended license, a $2,500 fine, an 180-day suspended sentence and court ordered Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program classes. Two months later on Feb. 2, Evans was arrested for DWI, felonious assault on a police officer and operating without a license. The felonious assault and operating without a license charges were dropped. Evans was found guilty on April 20 for DWI and failure to comply with VASAP. She received a one-year suspended license, a $250 fine and court ordered VASAP classes. In August, Evans was arrested again for non-compliance with a court-ordered VASAP and was ordered to appear in court on Nov. 16. Evans did not appear in court and received a failure to appear charge that same day. On Sept. 22, Evans was arrested for an alleged second DWI, operating under a suspended license and refusal of a breath test. Evans is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 15 for the Sept. 22 DWI charge, operating under a suspended license and the Dec. 1 charges of public intoxication and violation of pretrial release.

 ******************************
I find this to be a sad and tragic story of the impact of alcohol on someones life. It makes me wonder again about the JMU negative alcohol culture and the need for students who violate alcohol laws to have consequences for that behavior.  Professor Evans is an example of what can happen with continued alcohol problems over time.  JMU has an opportunity to  use this sad and tragic story as a catalyst for changing it's three strikes policy and to have suspension as a consequence for student alcohol violations.  The sooner one experiences consequences the sooner behavior change is possible.