Pubdate: Sun, 14 Oct 2007
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2007 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Jamie C. Ruff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

H-SC STRESSES ZERO-TOLERANCE DRUG POLICY

Officials Are Spreading Anti-Drug Message Since Student Arrests In April

For Hampden-Sydney College, to steal a  line from Charles Dickens, 
April was the best of times,  it was the worst of times.

Founded in 1775, the school boasts it is the  10th-oldest college in 
the U.S. and one of only three  four-year, all-male liberal arts 
colleges in the  country.

On April 10, The Times-Dispatch ran a front-page  article about how 
the school is thriving, having  welcomed its largest enrollment and 
largest freshman  class.

The next day, seven Hampden-Sydney students were  arrested on federal 
drug distribution charges after a  months-long investigation. The 
Drug Enforcement  Administration, Virginia State Police, Virginia 
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Prince Edward  County 
Sheriff's Department and Farmville Police  Department were involved 
in the investigation.

David Klein, the school's dean of students, suspended  the men 
pending the outcome of their cases. Five  pleaded guilty to federal 
charges; one was found guilty  of two counts and not guilty of a 
third charge and is  appealing his verdict. A jury found the seventh 
man not  guilty.

Not surprisingly, the arrests would become major news  and would 
prove an embarrassment for the school.

Prince Edward County Commonwealth's Attorney James R.  Ennis has said 
he has no doubt there is a problem with  controlled substances on the campus.

"If you've got . . . DEA, the U.S. attorney, Prince  Edward 
authorities [involved], you've probably got a  problem," he said.

In April 1994, a drug task force including  representatives from the 
sheriff's departments in  Prince Edward, Lunenburg and Charlotte 
counties  arrested and charged two Hampden-Sydney College  students 
with selling cocaine, marijuana and  hallucinogenic mushrooms from 
their dormitory room.  Charges against both men were amended, and 
they ended  up on probation, one for two years and the other for  three years.

Klein said there is no way to determine the amount of  cocaine and 
other drugs on campus, though through the  years the nation's 
colleges and universities have seen  drug use grow from mostly 
alcohol in the 1970s to  include cocaine in the 1980s and 1990s and 
the abuse of prescription drugs today.

But the most common drug at Hampden-Sydney, as is the  case across 
the country, is still alcohol "without  question," Klein said.

The school requires its freshmen to take a  several-hours-long online 
program about alcohol and its  effects.

"The information we got suggests the course does  encourage the 
students to think about the choices they  are making and to 
[consider] intervening in a friend's  choices," Klein said. "We are 
delighted with that."

The school is looking for similar programs for  marijuana and cocaine, he said.

Since April, college officials have been emphasizing  their 
zero-tolerance drug policy to students.

Exhibit A, Klein noted, is the student handbook,  complete with a 
large zero on the cover.

At the beginning of the fall semester, Klein and  President Walter M. 
Bortz III spoke to the students and  their parents. The meetings, 
Klein said, "were to say,  'This is what happened last April 11, and 
you can't do  that here. If you do, we're going to deal with you.'"

The school has also brought in speakers to reinforce  the anti-drug 
message and is making sure students know  they have access to 
counseling services and that staff  members are there to talk to.

The school is also pushing student leaders, such as  class and 
organization officers and resident advisors,  to monitor activities 
and head off any problems, as  well as stressing its honor code and 
code of student  conduct.

Ultimately, Klein said, the point is for students to  step up and 
police themselves and be responsible.

"We choose not to establish marshal law," he said,  noting that if 
the school sent police officers to  search rooms, it would lose the 
trust of the vast  majority of students who abide by the rules.

"If we give freedom and then help them learn how  choices impact 
their lives, then they have learned  more."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman