:)

surprise surprise the AAA party uses deceit and political BS to once again take office. looks like we get another year of a senate that caters to the administration and doesn't fight for the rights of students. congrats to th ebirthday party though for a hard fought battle. As we can see by the election turnout it's obvious that not enough people care about their university and the way it runs. I can't say I'm surprised about your win Allissa given that you abused your position as a columnist. At least we know you won't be able to unfairly influence voters with your unethical column next year. By the way it always was "just you". I wouldn't be so upset if I thought that the AAA had the general students interests at heart. But it's obvious given the last few years that it does not.

Or, maybe the voters saw right through the Birthday Party's platform and knew the students would lose what little influence they had by trying to flip the Administration upside-down.

'Gratz, Michael. I know you'll do a rockin' job.

The day alissa got fired was one of the most tragic days I have had at this University. I miss her "highly" LOL NOT. intelligent columns, and bias reports.. but in the end as donald trump would say "your fired". serves you right. Hope you enjoy this little peice of victory, because you will have little success in life, as it already shows with your sucess working with The Post.

what influence? we have designated free speech zones clearly violating our rights as students and Americans, a substance abuse policy that is unsupported by most of the school and stricter than almost any other public university in the nation, and you think the general student body is more concerned about how much international students have to pay for housing during breaks>

we never had designated free speech zones...we have reservable spaces. you are free to say whatever you want any where on campus. the reason for the reseravable spaces is so that if a group wants to use a specific space on campus for their activity it will be there's during that time..ignorant.

of course students are not coming to support a tough drug and alcohol policy. and we need such policies because our past weak policies did not work. if you look at the data ran after the implimentation of the new alcohol policy you will see a large decrease in the number of violaters. i know this because i worked in the office of judiciaries.

I DONT LIKE YOU!

good.

The entire policy is bogus. The letters home are a serious violation of our rights as adults.

What up shawty???

no the the letters are not a violation of our rights as determined by the congress and the us supreme court. this is known as ferpat...ignorant

ferpa*

more stringent policy = less violators?? since when? I find a hard time believing that without seeing some evidence. Hat e to tell you this but if your citing the sources I think you are then I hope you are aware that the validity of these studies has been questioned by both school administrators, senior researches in the psychology department and third party state researches. The thing about that info is that a comparable study was not done before the implementation of the new alcohol program. The results of the effectiveness of the old policy vs. the new don't even translate. the studies are incompatible

what is your ambition??

How are students supposed to combat a university that has near limitless funding on an issue like this. The student senate refused to argue the case against the new policy so we really had no voice.

first of all, let me say how completely and utterly ASHAMED i am-- NOT toward the winners of today's elections, but the petty, melodramatic, and cowardly comments I've seen on this message board. Regardless of what anyone says, the entire process has been 100% democratic. EACH student had the opportunity to vote in this election, so to claim that any one party stole the election from another is completely absurd. Second of all, I would like to proudly say right now that I am damn proud of this year's student senate and everything that has been worked on and accomplished...... most of you nay-sayers probably couldn't name one thing Senate did this year because you didn't take the time to do your research or, hell, maybe I'm crazy in saying this-- ATTEND A SENATE MEETING AND SPEAK OUT!! It's a lot easier to accuse the people in power of not doing one thing or another, than to stand up on your own two feet and dive into University politics.

With regard to these drug policies on campus that are "unsupported by most of the school and stricter than almost any other public university in the nation"... dude, do your research. I'm the Director of Students Defending Students, I've been in the organization since Spring of '04-'05 and I can very confidently tell you this: Ohio University is a *public* institution. Therefore, it is compelled to be compliant with all the rules, laws, and regulations set forth by the city, county, and state. The University has a vested interest in curbing the use of illegal activities from taking place on this campus. The new marijuana policy that will be going into effect this fall, while yes it is stricter, the penalties for a student being caught with marijuana on-campus are STILL less severe than if that very same student was caught with marijuana on Court Street.

Do you think that because you're one of the priveleged few in this country to be able to attend college that you're somehow ENTITLED to less-strict penalties than non-students? If you think otherwise, you have some serious screws loose in your head.

Like I said before, I've been actually working on student rights at this school for the past four years-- not many students at OU can say that-- and if you think that somehow your student senate doesn't care about student rights or students in general, you're flat out wrong.

Do your research people... and stop making wildly absurd accusations about things you don't have any knowledge about.

And on a last note-- I'm not a coward. Here's my contact info if you want to talk things out:

Mike Tomlinson
mt330404@ohio.edu
Director, Students Defending Students
mike-tomlinson.com

how is it democratic when only 10% of the school population voted?????

100% chance of the school had a chance to vote. I mean, we could FORCE everyone to vote, but I don't see what that accomplishes. Fact is, 90% of the student body didn't care enough. You have the right to not care and not vote.

well.. maybe that shows that you guys aren't as important as you think you are?

look, its simple math. when there are less violators the year following the implementation of a new policy, what are we to think? more stringent policy does equal less violators.

with that being said. even if the data i have seen is flawed, does it matter? the new drug and alcohol policies are the right policies because they can be consitently implimented from student to student no matter who the hearing/board is/are/. yes, the new policies lead to more suspensions but only on a violation while on a 6-9 month probabation. the suspension is usually for only one quarter. numbers ran by malcolm smith concluded that more than 90% of students come back, graduate on time, and are not repeat offenders. you must keep in mind that these sanctions are ment to help the students and it turns out that these policies to help the student.

what a dumb argument, thats like saying because only 30% of Americans vote in the presidential election that this is not a democracy. Voting is a right and an option. If you didn't vote, that's your own fault.

This high school drama mentality and tomfoolery needs to stop, and if you have sincere objections to the way things are run by student senate... GET INVOLVED

Don't want a letter sent home? Don't get caught doing things that warrant a letter.

Simple as that.

No the university policy is not "less stringent" than Athens policy. If you get caught with marijuana on court street not only do you get the hefty penalties from the city but you also get reprimanded by the university. To me that seems a little unfair.

I won't argue the case of marijuana policy, it's an illegal drug and I won't defend it's use. However I do believe the alcohol policy is quite unfair to students, and you cannot tell me you beleive the new universities policies of alcohol education are effective?

And yes you are right I cannot name one thing the senate has done this year I have been happy with because honestly I'm not sure they have done anything that effects me in a positive way.

the only accusations I have made have been about things I know a fair amount about. It's not as if what I said about Alissa are false, The post itself said they will no longer print her column because she violated their ethical standards.

I don't feel as if I am entitled to less strict penalties I do feel I am entitled to adequate representation in the student senate. The election is in I don't agree with the results and I hope with all my heart the AAA will represent the student body but I am highly skeptical.

for once i am in agreement with mike. :) you have done a good job this year mike as director of sds (the real sds)!

Lol.. the funny thing.. i really dont care.. i just like to act dumb and let you guys argue over my stupidity..

Also, if you're whining about how many people voted, either push for make voting mandatory or do more PR work. Otherwise, shaaadaaaaaap.

Thanks Curt, but it's easy to appear smart on this message board..

what's the old saying?

"In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king..."

mmm sorry but the act that 90% of the violators are not repeat offenders does not make the policy fair and it certainly does not stop people from drinking. It makes them get creative and makes them do their drinking off campus. Do a survey of how many students have reduced their overall drinking due to university policy rather than drinking in the dorms. I guarantee you that if their is any results that say the university policy is working they will be negligible.

"of course students are not coming to support a tough drug and alcohol policy. and we need such policies because our past weak policies did not work. if you look at the data ran after the implimentation of the new alcohol policy you will see a large decrease in the number of violaters. i know this because i worked in the office of judiciaries."

Who is to say people just haven't gotten smarter with their illegal activities? Why would a freshman drink in the dorms and risk being caught by a nazi of an RA, when they can go off-campus to a friend's house and get wasted. If anything my worry is more illegal activities are occurring off campus where there isn't someone keeping an eye on students and they aren't being in a sense, "babysitted".
I think the main reason so many students are so irate about the marijuana policy is because most of the administration that supported this policy went to college when marijuana use was not very criminalized. I know just because the past generation did it does not make it right, but at the same time I look at all the war on drugs and cash the government sinks into it and then look at Meigs county and the same people who used to grow, smoke, sell, harvest marijuana, still are doing the same things, they just got smarter at it to not get caught. If you want to be an idealist and think that some words on paper and some penalties will deter someone from doing something a law creating body states then you truly must be crazy. If anything it works along the lines of reverse Psychology. You tell someone they can't do something, ram it down their throats, and suddenly people want to do it.
I don't smoke marijuana, grow it, or sell it, but I could care less if others do. Our government needs to get sensible because what people are smoking in their bongs is not nearly as bad as what Dr. so and so at the clinic is prescribing to people.

As to Mike Tomlinson's comment, I agree totally that are school policies are far less harsh for most infractions of the law such as underage consumption or marijuana, however I disagree on the sense of double jeopardy our student legal system gives out. Student A gets high at a house party and is caught by Athens PD while smoking a joint. He then is booked through the city's legal system, then also can face charges at the university. This is in effect, double jeopardy. Our school judiciary system also prides itself on education being the main basis behind the punishment, but I've seen time and time again people being made examples of rather being educated. Is writing a paper on drinking or attending a class on alcohol for a weekend going to deter me from drinking while being underage? Hell no. It's just going to make me think of better ways not to get caught. Harsher policies just make more creative criminals and it will always be this way.

As for sending letters home to parents when a rule infraction occurs at college, I find this to be extremely intrusive, harsh, and down right angers me if the student is paying for their own education. If I am taking out loans to pay for my schooling and my parents aren't supporting me, then they don't need to know what I am doing at school. They will know what they need to know and what I choose to tell them. Most students would tell their parents if it was a serious offense. OU simply wants to make the parents be the disciplinarian most of the time and use it as an excuse to pass blame. Well sorry Mrs. Jenkins, little Tommy wouldn't have been expelled for drinking if you had taken up responsibility for his drinking when we sent that letter freshman year.

Education, not punishment needs to be the standard.
Mike I also applaud your work at students defending students, although I hated to see you guys not really helping out the students the RIAA sued. That sucked for them.

news flash, people: underage drinking, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief.... these things are still illegal and should not be tolerated by the university! Just because you came to OU to party doesn't mean you're gonna get a free-ride for four years..

Southeastern--- the RIAA was an actual lawsuit. Students Defending Students advises students through the OU Judiciaries process only. The Center for Student Legal Services handles actual court cases. Plus, by the time OU has caught you pirating music, they definitely have enough evidence to find you in violation...

I love the "Don't want a letter don't get caught" sort of thinking. That is like thinking you don't want to be water boarded then don't be a terrorist. In both cases it is a violation of peoples' rights. Even if someone doesn't do anything that warrants a letter they should still be concerned that the rights of others are being violated.

In any case the election is over with and whether I agree with the results or not I don't believe the implementation of this election by the university was unfair in any way. I may have issues with the way parties conducted their campaigns and issues with their platform but the results are in the students(who cared to vote) have spoken and their is nothing more to do but hope for the best in the future. I hope that both AAA members and Birthday party members can work together to ensure students opinions are heard by the administration and that everyone is adequately represented. I don't want the student senate to purposely combat the university but they should not back down because their opinions differ from the administrations. I apologize if I may have come off as hard headed or brash but I feel very strongly as I'm sure everyone who has responded has. we may have different opinions but I think we all want what we feel is nest for the university and the students.

first, mike; i hear ya...but i have made some bad arguments on these posts in the past. it comes and goes.

second, 90% success rate "not" fair, not a good policy? are you kidding? what other policy has that high of a success rate? i think it does stop some people from drinking in excess and perhaps makes them more responsible when they do drink...the old policy certainly didnt do that. the only thing that will cause our students to vastly decrease their drinking is if we focus on the kinds of students we are letting into OU...ie OU is a hot bed for students who were binge drinkers in high school....thats the best way to stop high risk drinking.

Drinking in a dorm room /= terrorist activity. That's just a very poor analogy.

As for less violations because people are getting smarter, it makes sense to me. Build a better mouse trap and nature will build a better mouse. We did "illegal" things in the dorms all the time, and us smart ones didn't get caught. Unfortunately, it does two things: the less attentive students get caught and kicked out, and the rest of the drinkers/etc turn into functioning alcoholics who stumble through undergrad with a constant hangover.

Anyway, congrats to AAA. I remember when I first saw their shirts, I kept thinking, "Wow, the the American Automobile Association has a huge presence on this campus!" Took me a while.

CNash, I agree totally. Make it harder to get into OU and you will find the students who can make the grades, make responsible decisions. When you cut out the people in the lower end of the spectrum, you usually cut off a lot of the problems. Grades aren't everything, but they do and should mean something. Same with graduate school. The policies for funding for education need to be amended. The school needs to be rewarded for quality not quantity. I look at certain undergraduate majors and laugh because many of the students in them are idiots and will never make it into a job because it will require graduate school and they won't have the grades.
Newsflash, if you are an HSLS or Psychology major and don't have a 3.5 or above for your major GPA you better learn the phrase, "paper or plastic" or "would you like that supersized?" because you are just wasting space. It was quite upsetting to sit in classes where students obviously had no interest in their education and the easiness of classes let those students float through a major. Many programs on this campus need to have the admission standards, class standards, etc. all raised and be more weed-out in nature. Before you knock me on things I took pre-med classes as a pre-med major, got my major in Psychology, and got my minor in HSLS and I can say that Psychology and HSLS harbored more easy classes and had a lot more students just taking of space and the teacher spent way too much time dumbing things down.
I am not saying students who drink are idiots, just saying many of the ones who you see at court street bars every night are probably not going to be in the harder majors.

i think the should have just been "AA" Accountablity& Ability...maybe more of the drug and alcohol policy violators would have voted for them.

hahaha...

I'm hearing a lot of is/ought discrepancies on this message board.. people talking about how drinking penalties are too harsh for college students, etc etc etc..

Look, if you want to *change* the laws, then become a congressman. OU is only concerned with becoming compliant with the laws that *already exist*.... think it through, people..

i like that mike: deal with what actually IS. live in reality.

what a novel concept :)

I am sorry it wasn't the best analogy but I stand by the fact that it is a violation of our rights as adults. The fact is that people should be concerned that others rights are being violated. It should concern those who don't violate the rules because once peoples' rights start getting removed it is a slippery slope down.

ugh...can't you get in through that thick head of yours...OU is not violating anyone's rights! they are following the law as laid out by the law makers..ie the congress. these laws have been challenged before the courts and guess what they are indeed legal. stop your bitching. if you want to change the law then become an elected public servant.

AND it does not concern me that non-violators arent worried about the "rights" of the violaters. Non-violators need to hold the violaters to the same high standard they follow.

It's not a violation of your rights. If you can find me a federal, state or local law that says you have the right not to be embarrassed in front of your parents, I'll be more than happy to side with you. :)

It's adding insult to injury, but it's not illegal (ie, a violation of your rights). It's tacky. That's about it.

But think about it: it's actually quite ingenious. If you're financially independent, it won't matter because your parents can't take anything away from you. If you're dependent on your parents and they don't care what you do, then it doesn't matter. If you're dependent on your parents and they _do_ care about it, then the treat of not having money for college is a pretty good deterrent.

So, I'll say it again: if you want to do something that's against the rules, either don't get caught or be willing to face the consequences (which are very plainly stated in the Student Code of Conduct).

*then the threat of not having money

yes.. and i'm just gonna throw this out there........ how many students do you think actually read the student code of conduct before they move in Freshman year?

Ignorance of the rules just isn't an excuse, people..

note to the independents out there: you can go to Chub and fill out a form so that if you are caught in violation a letter will not go home.

the main reason the senate incerted letters home into FERPA was due to an increase in the amount of college deaths associated with high risk drinking from repeat offenders. they believe that if a letter is sent home after a first violation students would be less likely to repeat. this appears to be the case. even if it is embarrassment that saves the life, it may be worth it.

Does anyone know if that columnist won her seat?

She did not win.

Screwyou:
If you're going to be a complete moron and attempt to use my real name in your idiotic username, you could at least spell my it right. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I mean, if you're going to be obsessed with me (which it is clear that you are)....

I ended up not being on the ticket, after all. So, no, "that columnist" didn't win ;)

*spell my name right*

Why hasn't will klatt commented on this article yet? Before the election he was quick to insert his two cents along with phrases such as "I look forward to working with everyone in the student senate next year..." I, for one am pleased as punch that the fool did not win this election. Congrats Michael

I see Alissa has become like Herzog in thinking everyone is obsessed with/stalking her. Sure, screwyou is annoying, but get over yourself.

JFlossy,

As pleased as you may be that Will did not win, no one can deny that he handled the election diplomatically. I think that deserves some credit. All of the candidates deserve credit for attempting to make a difference--thats more than I can say for most students.