By Kristina Bui
February 9, 2011
Arizona Daily Wildcat

You know that photo of you, bleary-eyed and smiley, red plastic cup in hand? You know the one. You look like a hot, drunk mess, your friend keeps tagging you in it, it’s on Facebook for the whole Internet to see? That one. I bet you’d be having words with your tag-happy little pal if the UA administration were keeping tabs on your profile.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, much of the discussion at the National Conference on Law and Higher Education centered around issues presented by Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. These issues have colleges wondering if there is a need to police the Internet in order to monitor what their students and faculty members are doing or posting online.

In May 2006, Stacey Snyder was a student at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, just days away from her graduation at the time. Then the university denied her a teaching degree. The university claimed it was because a photo on her MySpace profile. Remember, it was 2006 and people still used MySpace. (more…)

Amy Crawford | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Monday, January 17, 2011

Like many of her peers, Hempfield Area senior Ali Weatherton uses the social networking website Facebook nearly every day.

“The first thing I do when I come home is check Facebook,” said Weatherton, 17, who called the site “addictive.”

But though Facebook makes it easy to keep in touch with friends, Weatherton has discovered that the constant connection has its downside.

For most of her junior year, Weatherton was harassed online by a jealous former friend and her allies, who posted insults on Facebook and made fun of the clothes Weatherton wore to school.

“It got really embarrassing,” she said.

Though the bullies did most of the tormenting through Facebook, their reach was not confined to the Internet. The stress caused Weatherton to suffer seizures, and she was afraid to attend school activities.

“It had a real impact on my life,” Weatherton said. “I didn’t want to go to school some days.” (more…)

By Senator Dodd’s office

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) today, along with Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), introduced the Sober Truth on Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act Reauthorization, legislation designed to prevent underage drinking. According to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey released yesterday, the largest national survey of adolescents regarding their drug and alcohol use, underage drinking has decreased significantly and alcohol use among 12th graders marks the lowest level of alcohol use since the study’s inception in 1975.

The reauthorization builds upon the success of the original STOP ACT, which Dodd shepherded through Congress in 2006. The bill will continue federal government efforts to combat underage drinking and increase prevention activities in states and local communities, including college campuses. It would also continue public service media campaigns to increase adult awareness of the threat alcohol poses to their children, as well as increase research and data collection done at the federal level on adolescent alcohol use and brain development. (more…)

By Jessica Tully and Christina Gallagher
December 7, 2010
Daily Collegian

State College attorney Andrew Shubin said Centre County police officers are too concerned with generating a high number of student arrests for low-level offenses at the University Park Undergraduate Association-sponsored town hall meeting Monday night.

“What the students don’t understand is that Penn State is not Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. State College is like Mississippi — the prosecutors, defense attorneys and jurors are very conservative,” Shubin said.

Shubin, a guest attorney at the meeting, said that if he was defending a client in a Philadelphia county, the first thing that he would tell the judge is that his client is a student at Penn State because it is highly recognized institution.

But he said if he were representing a student in Centre County, it would not matter that the student attended Penn State because his client’s background would be nearly identical to that of 40,000 other students.

Shubin said that it is important for students to realize that State College is a school zone, so low-level offenses, such as drinking and selling marijuana, are treated much more harshly. If his client lived in Philadelphia and was caught selling a quarter pound of marijuana, he would get a misdemeanor charge at the most, Shubin said. If his client was caught selling the illegal substance in State College, he would most likely receive a two to four year mandatory prison sentence.

“I hate that I am paying taxes to incarcerate engineering majors,” Shubin said. (more…)

November 12, 2010

By Ashlynn Cannata, Fort LeBoeuf High School

The tougher drinking laws that are being considered by officials from Pennsylvania are an excellent idea. It seems to me that underage drinking is a problem that is only getting worse, and I’m not the only one noticing this trend.

Many homeowners living near campuses are becoming worried about this drunken behavior, too. Unless someone steps in to increase the consequences for these behaviors, they are just going to continue to escalate. If the penalties for underage drinking and public drunkenness haven’t changed since the 1970s, how can anyone expect this problem to get better, let alone solve itself?

Currently, underage drinking fines range from $300 to $500. You can be fined up to $300 for littering, a less serious offense than underage drinking. So, why would someone who was caught drinking underage potentially pay the say amount as someone who littered?

Underage drinking is a serious offense and should be treated as such. According to reports, some have been charged and paid the current fine, only to return to their bad behavior later. If the fine reached $1,000, it would significantly deter individuals from repeating their crime.

Bob Heisse, Centre Daily Times

Usually, the Pennsylvania General Assembly comes back into session after the November election for a final flurry of votes.

That won’t happen this year, because the Senate leaders signed off before the election and the House leaders decided afterward not to return.

That means that 253 full-time legislators, being paid handsomely with nice benefits, are essentially off for almost three months.

When they return to Harrisburg for swearing-ins, there will be a Republican majority not seen since 1994, when Gov. Tom Ridge took office. Gov.-elect Tom Corbett will have a GOP-led House and Senate to work with as they consider unfinished business and new ideas.

Will they finally pass some kind of pension reform, as huge pension payment increases loom for taxpayers, schools and municipalities? Will they approve a severance tax/fee on gas drilling operations, enabling Pennsylvania to join other states in taxing the growing industry? Will they ban texting while driving? Will they talk seriously about downsizing the legislature itself and a legislative staff that is one of the biggest in the country? (more…)

By Jason Mercier and Anthony Randazzo
October 29, 2010 | FoxNews.com

Seventy-seven years after the end of prohibition the battle of the “wets” versus the “drys” is alive and well in those states considering ending their government monopolies over the sale of liquor. Though not as colorful as the epic battles between Al Capone and Elliot Ness, the underlining debate continues over whether government control of liquor sales has measurable societal benefits.

As one of 18 monopoly control states (only government sale of liquor allowed), this question is front and center in Washington State where not one, but two ballot measures are being considered on whether to end the state’s liquor monopoly. A similar debate is occurring in the control states of Virginia and Pennsylvania. (more…)

Chad Lear – For the Centre Daily Times
Oct. 21, 2010

Alcohol offenses and thefts continue to be the biggest problems at Penn State, according to the university’s annual crime report.
“If you look at driving under the influence, liquor law and public drunkenness, those numbers are still high,” said Penn State Deputy Police Chief Tyrone Parham.
In 2009, those three offenses alone accounted for 783 of the 1,726 Part II offenses. Part II offenses also include drug offenses and weapons possession.
During the past three years, alcohol-related offenses have gone up, along with the blood alcohol content levels of Penn State students who have required medical attention for alcohol overdoses, Parham said. (more…)

By Vera Greene
Collegian Staff Writer
October 13, 2010

At its meeting on Tuesday night, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) hosted State College attorney Andrew Shubin.

Shubin talked about knowing one’s rights, Vice President for Standards Nick Rodriguez said, but the presentation was aimed more at fraternities.

Tom Piarulli, Vice President for Risk Management, said this kind of presentation is especially important for organizations like fraternities that have a house and property.

“It’s good to know your rights as a college student and a fraternity in general,” Piarulli (senior-security and risk analysis) said, “Plus, we want to make sure we’re in compliance with borough regulations.”

Shubin originally reached out to the IFC to come to Tuesday’s meeting.

“He’s really proactive,” Vice President for Public Relations Dan Cartwright said, “He did his presentation for free in order to get fraternities to bring him to their house for a more formal presentation.” (more…)

by Sara Ganim
Centre Daily Times
October 13, 2010

STATE COLLEGE — Every Tuesday for the first 12 weeks of the fall semester, police officers and Penn State and borough officials meet to digest the weekend happenings in the four neighborhoods near campus where town-gown relations are often strained.

The group — dubbed First 8, or F8, when it started in the fall of 2007 — tries to get to student and non-student residents early in the academic year, giving them information about what’s expected of them when they live in State College.

“Data that we’ve looked at historically are that the largest number of issues that occur in the community occur during the first few weeks of the fall semester when classes start up and students return to campus, it tends to be a busier time,” said Borough Manager Tom Fountaine. (more…)