COMMITTEE CONSIDERING POT CRACKDOWN HEARS STUDENT CONCERNS

Ohio University's Review and Standards Committee on Monday listened to
arguments from a student group that's fighting an OU proposal to enact
harsher drug penalties on campus.

Jessica Markwood, president of OU's chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug
Policy (SSDP), and Abby Bair, vice president of the chapter, spoke during
the Review and Standards Committee meeting in Baker Center.

"The meeting was productive and turned into a roundtable discussion of the
pros and cons for amending the Code of Conduct," Bair reported. The two
SSDP leaders spoke against the "closed voting" procedures used by the
Review and Standards Committee and also recommended that an SSDP member be
added to the committee, Bair added.

Members in attendance included Richard Carpinelli, chair of the Review and
Standards Committee and Vice President for Student Affairs; Judy Piercy,
director of OU Judiciaries; Joe Burke, director of Residence Life; an OU
professor; Student Senate President Jim Hintz; and another representative
from Residence Life, according to Bair.

"The Review and Standards Committee (meeting) was devoted solely to hearing
from SSDP," Piercy said of the meeting on Monday. "We listened and then all
engaged in a discussion about the issues, sharing viewpoints."

Another issue at the meeting was SSDP's objection to a proposal to make
possession of drug paraphernalia a Class A offense in the Student Code of
Conduct. Class A violations have a maximum penalty of expulsion, whereas
lesser Class B violations, which currently cover paraphernalia and
marijuana possession, have a maximum penalty of disciplinary probation.

The stricter marijuana penalty is the main thing that has prompted protests
among some students, including the SSDP, though their concerns aren't
confined to that.

"We voiced our opposition to (including drug paraphernalia) on the basis
that it is incredibly difficult to distinguish what is or is not
paraphernalia," Bair said. "The paraphernalia part of the amendment has the
potential to affect even more lives than the marijuana part of the
amendment. They are the same amendment."

SSDP had hoped to have a solidified coalition of student organizations to
present at the Monday meeting, but were unable to complete all the
necessary networking, Bair said.

"SSDP is in the process of forming the coalition and hopes to invite
organizations to sign on in the next month," Bair said. "We will invite all
campus organizations to sign on to the coalition, including Student Senate,
Faculty Senate, sororities, fraternities, Habitat for Humanity, etc."

The group does not foresee the Review and Standards Committee taking action
before a coalition can be formed. Bair observed, "The committee is still in
the 'thinking phase', and I do not expect a vote to be made (on sending the
proposed amendments to the Board of Trustees) in the near future."

Also proposed at the meeting by SSDP was a public forum to involve students
and faculty in the decisions on amending Code of Conduct. This way students
and faculty can express their concerns and have questions answered, SSDP
members argued.

"I am imagining a discussion similar to what took place today, except it
will be public and there will be a Q&A opportunity for concerned students
and faculty," Bair said.

The meeting on Monday was closed to outsiders, despite a request from SSDP
and an earlier request from The Athens NEWS to keep the committee's
meetings open. In responding to the newspaper's past queries about ad hoc
committee meetings, OU has said that in most cases these committees are not
"decision-making bodies" as defined by Ohio law, and as such don't need to
hold open meetings.

The Athens NEWS has argued in the past that university-appointed committees
discussing and voting on business of importance to the campus and/or
community should hold open meetings under the state's Sunshine Law. While
the standards committee doesn't have a final vote on amending the Code of
Conduct, its members do vote on recommendations to the president and Board
of Trustees.

Referring to Monday's meeting, Bair said, "We asked that the meeting be
open to the public to assure democracy and accountability, but Carpinelli
and other members believe that it is more difficult to hold honest
discussion if the meeting is open."

Piercy of OU said earlier this week that the committee has not made any
decision yet on when the vote on the Code of Conduct amendments will take
place. "I believe the next step will be to process and discuss the issue
again as a committee and see where we stand," Piercy said.