BOGUS SENSATIONALISM AT STUDENTS' EXPENSE

Want to know the truth about Operation Sudden Fall? I wouldn't ask
the Drug Enforcement Administration, the national news or even
Stephen Weber, all of whom have thrown the students of San Diego
State under the bus.

Last Tuesday, authorities wrapped up a year-long undercover
investigation that began after an SDSU student died of a drug
overdose. University officials feared this case was indicative of a
larger culture of illegal drug use and invited federal agents to
infiltrate the student body.

Breaking news on Tuesday morning made it appear that 96 people were
arrested that day, 75 of them students. Impressions were that SDSU
fraternities served as organized drug rings with strong gang
connections and had been financing themselves with drug trafficking.
National cable news companies were quickly on scene, describing with
shock and awe to America how embedded the drug dealers were at SDSU.

What's wrong with this picture? Well, it's totally bogus.

Looking beyond the headlines, it becomes clear the DEA wildly
distorted figures that have done irreparable damage to the already
shaky reputation of this school. Do you think 75 students were
arrested Tuesday? Guess again. Only 18 students were actually
arrested, less than a dozen of them fraternity members.

Over the entire year-long investigation, an additional 15 students
were arrested in conjunction with Operation Sudden Fall. The
remaining 42 of the reported 75 students were arrested through
routine police work, most of whom were charged with minor possession
of marijuana and were unrelated to the DEA's operation.

In essence, this "huge drug bust" amounts to no more than a few
individuals with serious drug trafficking charges, and only by
lumping in dozens of minor student drug offenders did this case
receive the attention it did.

Students should be up in arms over their implied connections to a few
shady individuals, but the failure to denounce this unbalanced
coverage stems from the continuous barrage of "party school"
accusations so commonly leveled at SDSU. Said enough times, many
began to accept the label and were not surprised to hear of the raid.
But SDSU is no longer a party school. With an average grade point
average of 3.77 for the incoming freshman class, potential $1,000
noise violations and the title of No. 1 small research university in
the nation, the truth is that SDSU is a prestigious and competitive
university and dismissing it as a party school is grossly inaccurate.

Renewed school pride and anger at the poor generalizations should be
students' overwhelming response to this incident. Make no mistake;
any degree earned at SDSU will be diminished unless a distinction is
made between the criminals and the 99.9 percent of upright,
law-abiding students.

It seems logical that those in charge of SDSU would immediately
refute and challenge these highly misleading figures by the news and
DEA, which reflect so poorly on the institution they've sworn to
promote. Yet the media and the government are allowed to make broad,
implicating statements that tarnish SDSU's name and unfairly demonize
the student body. More needs to be done to explain how small in scope
these raids were.

On the flip side, these events could also use a healthy dose of
honesty. On SDSU's Web site regarding the arrests, authorities
"believe (they) have arrested the majority of those involved."

Who are they trying to kid? Neither the parents who have been through
college nor most students who know how common drug use is will fall
for that. Anyone who has ever worn a pledge pin knows that almost
every single fraternity and sorority has members who are drug users.
It seems unfair that in some cases, one member's decisions could get
an organization thrown off campus. It seems additionally unfair that
only a few houses were targeted when it's common knowledge that all
houses have their share of problems.

Does anyone think the drug network will be set back by the removal of
a couple of dealers? Anyone naive enough to think so is in no way
qualified to be setting drug policy. Don't try to tell me 33 students
provide all or even most of the drugs to a student body of more than
33,000 - the math just doesn't work out.

If SDSU was serious about halting the use of drugs, which is endemic
to all colleges, the investigation would be escalated and sustained,
not winding down. Such a goal would be worth the money spent, lives
ruined and loss of this school's credibility. Unfortunately, in
stereotypical SDSU fashion, the commitment appears to be no deeper
than a one night stand.

Tucker Wincele is a political science and economics sophomore and a
staff columnist.

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