Pubdate: Mon, 05 May 2003
Source: Daily Iowan, The (IA Edu)
Copyright: 2003 The Daily Iowan
Contact:  http://www.dailyiowan.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/937
Author: Casey Wagner

PANEL URGES UI DRUG-POLICY CHANGE

Members of a UI task force appointed to investigate student arrest and 
citation rates say the university needs to take a hard look at its drug 
policy in the residence halls, and it urged the school to be more proactive 
in teaching students about its policy.

A preliminary analysis of data collected by the Task Force on Undergraduate 
Arrest Rates from the Iowa City and UI police, the Department of Education, 
the Office of Postsecondary Education, and residence halls shows the UI has 
the highest per capita drug-arrest rate in the Big Ten.

The initial findings prompted panel members to suggest that the university 
correct variations in the substance policy - which shows a large 
discrepancy between how the university deals with the possession of small 
amounts of marijuana and small amounts of alcohol.

The task force - composed of three faculty members and three UI students - 
said it would like to see the university replace its harsh drug policies, 
which can harm students academically and financially, with more judicial 
referrals that would require drug-education programs.

Under the university's current drug policy, students caught with possession 
of small amounts of marijuana in university residence halls are 
incarcerated and stand the chance of being evicted from their rooms - with 
little chance of referral for a drug-education program. Drug charges can 
also be followed by a potentially permanent cut-off of all financial aid.

However, alcohol possession in the dorms is treated less harshly, said Judy 
Polumbaum, an associate professor of journalism and the chairwoman of the 
task force. These charges are handled within a residence-hall hierarchy, 
and policies give resident assistants discretion on how matters should be 
resolved. The alcohol is usually confiscated, and offenders are given a 
warning by dorm officials, she said.

"There just has to be a better way," Polumbaum said. "It's not something 
that's new, but in my days, the consequences were not so severe. Society 
has changed a lot."

In 2001, the UI recorded 123 drug-policy violations and 180 alcohol 
violations on campus. However, UI police gave 471 alcohol-related referrals 
while only issuing 13 for drug offenses.

"When you arrest someone, you're not going to teach them not to do it 
again," said UI junior and task force member Gillian Rosenberg. "That's not 
the way it's supposed to work. People are supposed to learn not to do it 
again, not learn how not to get caught."

She said the university does a poor job of educating students about drug 
policies and needs to teach students about their rights.

"A lot of college students make bad choices," Rosenberg said. "Students 
need to know what's going on and how their actions are going to affect them."

UI administrators were leery of commenting on the panel's recommendations 
without seeing the group's final report, which will be released in two weeks.

Duane Papke, the associate director of UI police, said he believes the 
residence hall's zero-tolerance policy is effective at enforcing the 
university's drug laws, but, he said, he would keep an open mind about 
instating a referral system for drug charges.

Tom Baker, the UI associate dean of students, declined to comment on 
preliminary recommendations and said he was unsure whether the 
recommendations would lead to policy change or how it would come about.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom