St. John's College Independent Bi-Weekly • Volume 2, Issue 9 • Friday, February 20,1998 A letter from the Dean...... .....2 Fasching Ball Superstars.... ..... 5 Inside Reichman blurs the lines........3 Movie Reviews................... .... .6 A Letter from the Assistant Reality update................... .....4 J. Bielagus on Darwin........ ....7 Dean..........2 2 The Moon • February 20, 1998 • Volume 2, Issue 9 A Letter to the Community from Assistant Dean Basia Miller To the College Community, views of the two individuals and moved on or even fear in the college community. The Dean and I want to let you all know to include a number of other people from The Dean and I have been particularly about an event that has required our investi- each side whom we called upon or who aware of our responsibility to let you know gation over the past few days and how it came forward on their own. promptly as many of the details as possible was concluded. Writing an open letter to However, before the college concluded in order to squelch any rumors and allay any the campus community seems the quickest its investigation, the male student decided to anxieties you may have had. and most complete way to do this. withdraw, in part for financial reasons. His It disturbs the whole community to hear As you may or may not have known, one voluntary withdrawal from the college rumors and to be caught up in puzzling over of our female students allegedly suffered a meant that our investigation was terminated how this could happen on our campus. It is sexual assault by one of our male students. at that point. No finding was concluded always painful to catch a glimpse of our- The President, Dean and Assistant Dean against the student and his transcript indi- selves as vulnerable in our generally peace- were apprized of the allegation. cates simply that he withdrew. able surroundings. In these circumstances, This kind of situation, that is, a possible In choosing to make our own investiga- some of you may find it helpful to raise your felony, must first of all be reported to the tion, while the Santa Fe Police make theirs, concerns with your friends, and some may Santa Fe Police Department for their investi- we were taking the measures that we needed want to draw on the resources of our coun- gation. (However, in this case, the female to take to assure the safety of everyone on selors. The Dean and I will be glad to meet student made the report herself and the city campus as much as possible. We are aware with you by appointment to discuss specific investigation is continuing as I write this.) that, because our investigation must go on concerns you may have. Then the allegation must be subjected to behind closed doors to protect the privacy of an investigation by the officers of the the individuals involved, there may well be Basia Miller College. Our investigation began with inter- at the same time a sense of tension, unease. Assistant Dean A Letter to the Community from Dean James Carey To the College Community, tage of such specification would be maxi- In sum, use or possession of any illegal In a meeting with senior residents shortly mum clarity among students as to the conse- drugs will remain an expellable offense. before winter break, it emerged that there quences of illegal drug use on College prop- This does not mean that expulsion is the were several misconceptions current in the erty. But the application of these penalties only penalty we could impose. We are free student body regarding the College’s recent would have to be strict to preserve that clari- to expel if we think expulsion is warranted, disciplinary action pertaining to illegal drug ty and to avoid even the appearance of and to impose a lesser penalty if we think a use on campus. The residents thought it inconsistency, high handedness, and so lesser penalty is warranted. We shall exer- would be of interest for the community to forth. And yet sometimes leniency is called cise our best judgment as to the course of hear from me that the students who were for, and we are reluctant to adopt procedures action we should take in a specific case. asked to leave were not expelled. Instead, that would virtually preclude it. This may make some people nervous, but they were permitted to withdraw, and the Ms. Miller and I discussed this issue with we are convinced that, on balance, students effective date of their withdrawal was the the Student Review Board. Their advice, are better served by the present policy than end of the fall semester. There is no indica- which we think is sound and which accords they would be by one mandating specific tion on their transcript of the reasons for with our own judgment, is that we maintain penalties. withdrawal. a flexible policy which allows due consider- Ms. Miller and I are happy to talk indi- The president, assistant dean, and I have ation of the circumstances of each case and vidually with students who think there is a been deliberating over possible changes in preserves the freedom to match offenses more reasonable way to enforce a drug poli- the College’s policy concerning illegal with appropriate penalties. Instead of cy that we are legally obliged both to adopt drugs. There is indeed a distinction between changing the policy itself, their recommen- and to enforce. marijuana at one end of the spectrum and dation was to include, to the extent possible, heroin at the other, and there is a distinction a student voice in the deliberative process. James Carey between use and dealing. The question we At present we are exploring ways of doing Dean were considering was whether we should this consistent with maintaining a confiden- specify a graduated set of penalties reflect- tiality that would not be compromised in the ing these differences. The seeming advan- event of subsequent legal proceedings. The Moon • February 20, 1998 • Volume 2, Issue 9 By Chris Reichm an , '98 The mantra chants through your head: follow pretty quickly behind those first erally do not enjoy the company of revelers “Follow the lines. Follow the lines. Don’t times. in their cups. So, you have to feel all bad weave. Follow the lines.” You watch the Don’t get me wrong, most drinkers drive about asking them to watch out for you, and, lines on the road split into two or four blurry safely most of the time, it’s just those off- all to often, you forget their role and offer yellow streaks. The mind wallows, and you kilter nights you have to worry about. This them a drink, which is just bad form. Good shake your head to clear the growing numb- will not comfort the sober night owls, as designated drivers are a rare breed, and not ness. Two steps into the door at home the sheer numbers indicate that there is at least often found—hence, this option is usually drunkenness you have been fighting one person out there every evening having not an option. descends like a lead belch. an off kilter night. For those of you who are The only real option to playing chicken Sound familiar? God (and a few of you) frightened, I apologize. I have to claim with the semi of fate on the blacktop is to knows it does to me. Considering the num- credit for a few of those nights. remain wherever you partied. This means bers, drunk driving is by far the most popu- Unfortunately, it must be said that having a sleeping in uncomfortable places and wak- lar automotive sport. For although we dis- good party evening often involves at least a ing up hungover and disoriented. But, hey, dain dangerous, deadly drunk driving, most misdemeanor, if not a felony. You can talk a scum-grimed floor is better than the daily everyone who has chugged a whiskey or about the beauty and grandeur of a slow sleeping arrangements of most men only a sipped a beer has played "stay within the moving adult party, but most of the barf few hundred years back. If you make sure lines" on the way home. Many people try to mats in attendance have little more to talk to pass out early on, you have the best shot scare a drunk driver with horror stories, and about than what they wore at the last party. of a couch or carpeted floor space. It may ask why he or she would do such a thing. Plus, it’s hard to get any real thrill out of even happen (unlikely, but possible) that a First of all, the horror stories are not dancing when done at the regulation dis- beer or two survives the party to magically scary to the usual six-pack driver. It is high- tance. A real party must have some element turn into a makeshift hangover cure in the ly unlikely for an inebriated driver to run of the Bachannal to produce the kind excite- morning. into a busload of children at 2:00 am when ment that really lets you forget your life and I know that this is out of the usual bom- the bars close down. Besides, most drunk your pain. bastic mean of my articles: however, I feel drivers are not going to swerve into the walk Even with this definition of a party, some the need to speak out. Believe me, I know space behind the convenience store where people can’t understand why a designated what you're thinking: Reichman, you've the school children are smoking pot.