09/10/12 Issue

Page 1

Oracle The

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

HENDERSON STATE UNIVERSITY

VOLUME 105, ISSUE 04

Police issue citations, arrest former professor

Photos by Ryan Klare

BAD BREATH Students were surprised by the appearance of police during a party Thursday night. Many students were given breatha-

lizer and field sobriety tests, leading to the writing of several tickets. Subsequently, Dr. John Crawford, retired Henderson faculty member, was arrested. Crawford owns the former fraternity house of the local Phi Sigma Kappa chapter where the party was taking place.

New law gives law enforcement added power Zach Dutton Staff Writer Minors in Arkansas may now face losing their licenses for being intoxicated, according to a bill passed by the Arkansas House of Representatives in late July. This bill will not only cost minors driving privileges for six months, but will also require offenders to pay a $365 fine and appear before a court. Last year, Arkansas declared that minors with alcohol in their system must face charges of minor in possession, which is no different from this change in legislation. The addition to this law not only calls for harsher punishment among violators, but also

gives officers more grounds to further investigate these incidents. The amendment states that driving privileges will be revoked for the accused if a sworn report from a law enforcement officer states that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe that the arrested person was under 21 and purchased or was in possession of intoxicating liquor, wine or beer. This means an officer need only suspect underage drinking to pursue the matter. Once an individual is under suspicion of committing the crime, the officer will then continue to investigate by administering a field sobriety and/ or breathalyzer test. If an individual fails, the officer will write

a citation to the minor requiring a mandatory court appearance along with the fine. The officer will also relieve the intoxicated person of their driving credentials at the scene and write a temporary identification to be used until the court date where all driving privileges may be revoked. If the situation includes an underage and intoxicated driver, the consequences compound substantially. The most crucial phrase in the law is reasonable grounds to believe. This can include having the odor of beer or alcohol on ones person or being clearly underage and blatantly intoxicated, such as stumbling while walking or slurring of speech.

Family protection laws on the books for student rights Taylor Smith Staff Writer

Index

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts, also known as FERPA, is a federal law in the United States. The law was created in 1974. It allows students to access, change and have control over the disclosure of information from their education records. Without the student agreeing to the disclosure, it cannot happen. If a student is under the age of 18, a parent will have to provide written permission stating that the school can reveal the student’s grades and other school related records. The only time a student can be under the age of 18 is if he or she graduates from high school. Once this happens, they will be classified as “eligible students.” Executive Director of the Student Press Law Center, Frank D. LoMonte, explained that FERPA goes into effect for students as the student is admitted to college.

News

2

Opinions

3

Features

4

Diversions

5

Sports

6

“Some may say that you are admitted when they offer you [a scholarship] or [when] you pay tuition. But if you apply and are turned down, it will not be FERPA record,” LoMonte said. LoMonte believes technology is causing anxiety because of information sharing. “Schools are concerned about sharing school work online,” LoMonte said. “Georgia Tech students built a Wiki placing school work online.” LoMonte does not believe students should be able to do this because incoming students can find previous work from a class on a particular Wiki. Do paper documents and electronic documents have the same guidelines? “Yes,” LoMonte said. “Colleges may not have certain information on paper, but maybe a scan of the document.” In an incident involving Ohio State, the courts cited FERPA, supporting the college’s view to keep the documents confidential. FERPA is intended to keep education records of a student

confidential, and criminal allegations are not supposed to be seen as education records. Education records are seen as a student’s written documents, microfilm, and any kind of multimedia, film or photos. Information that contains anything personal regarding the student is classified as a FERPA educational record. However, students’ notes of faculty members that are not kept in advising folders or medical and campus police records, and statistical data complaints that do not personally identify the student, are not considered educational records. All students should be able to get any information about FERPA from the Registrar. If the Registrar cannot help, the school legal office will be able to help since they are trained on the law. Eligible students who need assistance or want to file a complaint involving FERPA can contact the Family Policy Compliance Office at 1-800-8725327.

Physical cues consist of glazed eyes, droopy eyelids or a flushed, red face. The law is not limited to public intoxication either. If an officer pulls over a sober driver who has three drunken passengers with whiskey on their breath and a childish gleam in their eye, he has reasonable grounds to believe the individuals are intoxicated, and may issue three citations and take three driver’s licenses. Johnny Campbell, Chief of Police at Henderson, plans to enforce this amendment whenever necessary. Trying to control underage drinking can prove to be a daunting task for legislators and for local law enforcement. Upperclassmen might re-

member a time, years ago, when minors possessed, and the intoxicated were in public along fraternity row just off of campus. Since then, lessons have been learned and order restored on ‘thirsty’ Thursday nights to prevent danger for inexperienced freshmen in unfamiliar places. Campbell recognizes the increased availability of intoxicants since Clark County voted to go wet just a few short months ago, but calls for a measure of control and safety to be observed. Adults over the age of 21 are within every legal parameter to partake in alcoholic beverages, but as a word of caution, police urge responsible habits to ensure private and public safety.

Egypt leader visits Iran Wire Report Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s visit to Iran last month is still stirring debate in the Iranian parliament. Lawmaker Ali Mohammad Bozorgvari lashed out at Morsi on Sunday for failing to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his August visit. At the time, Morsi attended the meeting of 120-nation Nonaligned Movement in Tehran but stayed in Iran only for a few hours. Bozorgvari told lawmakers that during a Muslim leaders’ summit in Saudi Arabia earlier in August, Morsi met the Saudi king but didn’t meet Khamenei while in Iran. The lawmaker called the Saudi monarch a “dirty and (pro-) American” ruler. Morsi’s Iran visit was the first by an Egyptian president in decades. In a speech in Tehran, he attacked Iran’s key ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and called it “oppressive.” The Egyptian Islamist leader also said Assad has lost legiti-

macy as president amid the civil war, which activists say has left more than 23,000 people dead in Syria, and should step down. Also Sunday, foreign ministry official Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Iran would welcome Morsi’s proposal on a four-nation contact group that would spearhead a new peace initiative for Syria’s conflict, reported the semi-official ISNA news agency. Morsi’s proposal — which named Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran as the four nations to lead the push — was dismissed by Syrian rebels as a dead end because of Iran’s inclusion. But Amir Abdollahian also criticized Morsi for his antiAssad remarks, saying the Egyptian president should have a “realistic attitude” toward developments in Syria. Syria has come under deep international isolation because of its escalating civil war although it still has the iron support — including weapons shipments — from allies in Russia and Iran. Iran has repeatedly denied any military support to Syria.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.