UCSB OFFICIALS SHOULD STAY IN SCHOOL, OUT OF I.V.

Zachariah Hubbell got many things wrong in his article, "UCSB Should
Punish Serious Crimes Committed in I.V." (Daily Nexus, May 17). The
article discusses the Campus Regulations Review Committee's proposal
to punish students for their criminal behavior out in I.V. Here is
its first deceiving statement: "The Associate Dean of Students
promised students that administrators would not put drug and alcohol
offenses in the hot seat." Well, perhaps the student body should also
know that Dean was quoted by the Nexus as saying, "What we're
proposing to do is include explicitly arson and prohibiting alcohol
to minors and sales or provision of illegal substances to other
people," They should also know that Vice Chancellor of Student
Affairs Michael Young stated, "We're only looking at egregious
provisions of alcohol to minors." Seems to me that the people in this
committee are quite interested in busting people for alcohol and other drugs.

One of the next arguments is just downright illogical: "It is not
that far-fetched to suggest that severe violators of the law -
meaning the rapists and drunk drivers, not the Friday night boozers -
be suspended or expelled from our school.

Wouldn't this likely improve the quality of the student body as a
whole?" Wow, Zach, you're so right.

If only there were some way we could separate the people who don't
follow society's rules from the rest of us - maybe some place where
we could lock them up to keep them separate from those of us who are
not dangerous. Oh wait, that's prison.

You see, it's the criminal justice system's job to decide when a
person should be removed from a community, not the school's
responsibility. I mean, think about it, if you are convicted of
raping someone, you are going to jail, not back to UCSB. This
committee could suspend or expel people who only had minor offenses,
like possession of marijuana or providing alcohol to minors.

If you feel that it's crazy for the University to try to police our
behavior off campus, don't just bitch about it. Please do something
proactive, like write and e-mail or call the people involved in
making these decisions and let it be known know that the students
won't stand for this. Here is the e-mail that I am sending to Dean of
Students Yonie Harris, Isla Vista Commission Co-Chairs Walter Yuen
and Harry Nelson, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Michael Young
and Chancellor Henry Yang. If you really have a bad case of sloth,
feel free to just copy my letter and send it in:

"While I appreciate the idea behind the Campus Regulations Review
Committee proposal, I disagree with how it is being carried out.
Trying to increase student safety and the quality of our community
are both admirable causes.

However, the University should only concern itself with what occurs on campus.

The administration's job is to keep UCSB running in top shape, keep
the students safe (while on campus), and to attract new students.

I can tell you that the thought of having a college police my
behavior off campus is most unappealing, as I'm sure many prospective
students would agree.

Also consider that the committee will most likely fail in its goal of
deterring crime: Unwanted behavior cannot be stopped by increasing
punishments. Let me evidence the war on drugs. Despite a marked
increase in arrests for marijuana-related crimes over the last 15
years, the number of marijuana users has increased in that same
period of time. In fact, despite the passing of more draconian drug
laws, drug use as a whole has been on the rise. Please don't make the
same mistake as the government by believing that you can stop people
from hurting themselves by punishing them.

It is not the University's job to try to control our actions outside
of school - it is law enforcement's responsibility. The purpose of
the criminal justice system is to make sure that citizens behave
themselves. If the law decides that someone has done something so
heinous that they should be locked up, then problem solved.

The offender will not be able to attend the University because he or
she will be in jail. However, if someone commits a minor crime that
doesn't require jail time, I fail to see how cutting someone off from
his or her education will benefit anyone.

Is it going to help that person turn his or her life around?

Is it going to benefit our community to have some young adult's
future put into jeopardy?"