OFFICIALS HAD WATCHED ENGLAND HOME FOR DAYS

On social occasions, David England proudly proclaimed his literary
heroes as icons from the drug-saturated beat and hippie cultures: "On
the Road" author Jack Kerouac and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
author Ken Kesey.

England, second-year president of Des Moines Area Community College,
boasted at college functions of bringing Kesey and "Terms of
Endearment" author Larry McMurtry together at a Texas college forum
after the two writers had been estranged for nearly 20 years.

He even gave his daughter the middle name "Kesey."

Narcotics officers who raided the England family's home in Johnston
last week said they discovered another, less innocuous, parallel
between England and the 1960s counterculture: a bounty of marijuana.

The drug and an assortment of pipes were left in plain sight "in
everyone's room" in the $407,000 suburban house, authorities said,
while another pound of marijuana was found in a freezer. Police said
England himself appeared to be smoking a joint when they served their
search warrant Wednesday afternoon.

Soon after, they said, they found 72 young marijuana plants under
cultivation in a locked basement room. The key to the lock on the
room's door was in England's desk in the home.

Investigators said they watched England and his family for days after
they received a pair of tips from acquaintances that the Englands
might be dealing marijuana.

The Englands, particularly their 16-year-old son, nicknamed Charlie,
reportedly attracted attention by speaking openly about their
association with drugs. Two people independently reported their
suspicions to police, who launched a full investigation that included
surveillance by undercover agents, an investigator in the case said.

Investigators corroborated the tips by collecting marijuana remains
outside the two-story house, an official said. The evidence enabled
the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force to get a search warrant.

The 50-year-old college president, who was home alone from work at the
time of the raid, was arrested on the spot. Police said they found a
marijuana cigarette burning in his bedroom.

Arrest warrants were issued the next day for England's 49-year-old
wife, Donna Ferrell England; 22-year-old daughter Jessica; and son
Charlie. All three turned themselves in on Thursday. Donna and Jessica
England were released from jail the next day; Charlie was turned over
to the care of a relative.

David and Donna England face the most serious charges: possession with
intent to deliver and conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, felonies
that carry combined sentences of 10 years or more, if they lead to
convictions.

England, who is paid $183,750 a year plus $30,000 for expenses, spent
a night in a solitary holding cell at the Polk County Jail before
posting $50,000 bond. Corrections officers said he was served the
regular jailhouse fare: beef tacos, beans and rice, applesauce,
cookies and milk.

The college president was placed on paid leave Friday by the DMACC
board of trustees while police and college officials conduct separate
investigations that will include an audit of England's college expense
accounts. DMACC's trustees said they did not know about England's 1971
conviction for marijuana possession in Texas, which was discovered by
The Des Moines Register last week.

David and Donna England's connections to the Lone Star State are
extensive. England, born in Oklahoma, was a part-time English
instructor in Dallas when he and Donna married on New Year's Eve 1976.
The two lived in various college towns throughout the state,
interrupted by a brief stop in Baltimore, before moving to Des Moines
for the job at DMACC in the summer of 2001.

Donna Ferrell England, an art teacher in Texas, taught and did
administrative work at the Des Moines Art Center.

DMACC administrators and students, and Art Center officials, expressed
shock at last week's turn of events. But acquaintances of the
Englands' teenage son were not so surprised.

Several Johnston High School students said the England house, on a
recently developed cul-de-sac, was often abuzz with activity.
Neighbors attributed the traffic to normal teenage goings-on.

Classmates described Charlie as a known source for pot and recalled a
New Year's Eve party that included underage drinking and the smoking
of marijuana. One student said England and his wife were home during
the party but did not take part.

Investigators said agents found the 72 marijuana plants under heat
lamps in the basement. Agents also seized potting soil and a how-to
guide on growing marijuana.

Detectives continue to work with Texas authorities to identify the
sender of a postmarked box found at the home that is believed to have
contained marijuana.

Despite all the evidence, England's attorney stressed Friday what
police didn't find: scales, plastic bags, cash and a list of customers
- - routine tools of the sophisticated drug dealer.

"I'm not conceding that marijuana was in that house, but assuming,
hypothetically, that it was, that's a hell of a lot different than
being a dealer," said attorney William Kutmus. "To me, there's a very
significant absence of materials there."

Dan Gray, a retired Rockford, Ill., police detective who oversaw
undercover drug investigations, said surmising whether the Englands
sold the marijuana depends on the period of time it took to go through
the drug. The penalty for dealing marijuana is much more serious than
for mere possession.

"If they moved 2 1/2 pounds in a week, that could be a pretty big
circle," Gray said. "But if four people are going at it every day, 40
ounces aren't going to last that long. Based on what you're telling
me, I would almost have to think it was for personal consumption and
friends."

Authorities are seeking an indictment against the entire adult England
family for drug trafficking. An investigator said Charlie England was
not charged with selling marijuana because, as a minor, he could not
have had legal control of the house.

Tom Baker, a former state lawmaker now in charge of career
opportunities at DMACC's urban campus, said news of England's arrest
wasn't completely shocking - "You probably have more drugs at 801
Grand than on University Avenue," he said - but it was a
disappointment. Baker said England had quickly distinguished himself
as a ground-level administrator who understood the needs of the
college's inner-city students.

"He was going to be a champion for us up here," Baker said. "He
recognized that we had to keep up with the times, that we had to help
with the educational opportunities.

"But I have to agree, from a child-endangerment standpoint, it's not
good to have people that liberal working with kids, maybe."

Kutmus compared England to the vilified main character in Tom Wolfe's
"The Bonfire of the Vanities," a larger-than-life stockbroker who
becomes a target of overexuberant prosecutors.

"At best, this is a possession case," Kutmus said. "But because we're
dealing with a figure such as the president of a college, they're
making it headline news."

Wolfe, incidentally, also penned "The Electric Acid Kool-Aid Test" in
1968, the account of LSD-laden travels with Ken Kesey.

The Charges

* David England, 50, DMACC president: possession with intent to
deliver marijuana; conspiracy to manufacture marijuana; possession of
drug paraphernalia; violation of the state drug tax stamp law.

* Donna Ferrell England, 49, England's wife and a Des Moines Art
Center administrator: possession with intent to deliver marijuana;
conspiracy to manufacture marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia;
violation of the state drug tax stamp law.

* Jessica Kesey England, 22, England's daughter and a senior at Iowa State
University: possession with intent to deliver marijuana; possession of drug
paraphernalia; violation of the state drug tax stamp law.

* David Charles England, 16, England's son and a Johnston High School
junior: possession of marijuana; possession of drug
paraphernalia.

The Contract

In addition to his $183,750 annual base salary as president at DMACC,
David England is under contract to receive:

* Four weeks' paid vacation per year.

* A sport utility vehicle, including a mileage and maintenance expense
account.

* $36,750 a year set aside for a retirement annuity.

* $1,500 per month housing allowance.

* $1,000 a month for "miscellaneous" expenses.

* A laptop computer for business and personal use.

* A life insurance policy that would pay twice his annual salary.