LSAClassOf2000

April 12th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^

Speaking of that, Tennessee is a solid 6th right now in the most current Fulmer Cup standings, although I think there are some things that are being egregiously underreported that would affect those results. In any case, they do need to step up the game here with only a few short months left until crunch time and the award presentations for the Cup. 

NotDudeButGuy

April 12th, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^

Should go over well.  Not to get into any debate, but it's the correct charge based on campus laws.  

jmdblue

April 12th, 2016 at 12:04 PM ^

I try to view these publicized offenses through the lens of "would I have done this in South Quad in the mid 80s?"  In this case, absolutely.  No, I wouldn't be so dumb as to bring a bb gun to campus, but yes, I would absolutely have had a few beers and shot plastic cups with one if it were around.  A felony?  Preserve me.

As for the politics of this thing for those who know nothing about guns .... Comparing most pellet guns to a 0.38, shotgun, or rifle is like comparing a joint to a loaded syringe of heroin.  Sure they're both drugs, but they aren't the same thing.

jmdblue

April 12th, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^

Get caught with pot in South Quad in 1987 and it costs you a visit with your RA and/or a $5 fine at the city courthouse depending on who caught you.  Get caught with heroin and you were likely on the verge of dismissal from the university along with mandatory drug intervention and you were facing a heavy fine, a court date, probation, and it would be strike one on the way to three.

IncrediblySTIFF

April 12th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^

my assertion is that according to the letter of the law, the two were treated the same way.  not about whether it was a good idea or whether it was enforced.  I just thought it was funny that you started with "in the 80s" and then ended with "treating pot like it is heroin" (exactly what federal and state laws were written to do in the 80s)

Gr1mlock

April 12th, 2016 at 12:21 PM ^

Difference between McGary situation (and "rules are rules" being more applicable here): (A) this is a criminal offense, not an NCAA violation and (B) the rule was changed after McGary but not retroactively applied, which seemed extra unfair.  The NCAA being capricious and dumb makes it easy to say "the rule is wrong", especially when the rule changes without warning.

 

That said, it's still a ludicrous law to include BB guns and spitballs in the same category as assault rifles, but it is what it is (I have more detailed thoughts than "it is what it is", but in the interest of no politics, I'll decline to discuss).  I do put some of the blame on the school here for not making this clear to students, because I definitely would not have assumed a BB gun would count as a "weapon" for these laws.  

ScruffyTheJanitor

April 12th, 2016 at 12:38 PM ^

So a few years back, my wife was subjecting me to Country music when I tried to make the argument that all country music sounds the same and is based off of really, really, painfully stupid "hooks" and "lines" surrounded by terrible music. Rigtht when she was about to mount her defense, the song "Trailerhood" came on the radio, and I was all like "QED."

The Mad Hatter

April 12th, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^

All of this zero tolerance bullshit is ruining our kids and society at large.  It has to stop.

I live in an middle class suburb and my daughter's middle school had a police liaison officer!

WHY?!  In case two 13 year olds got in a fight (felony assault and battery), slapped someone's ass (sexual assault), or had a little weed on them (MIP of a controlled substance).

All of those things would have been handled by suspension / detention when I was a kid, and I'm not that goddamn old.

/end rant.

 

UMxWolverines

April 12th, 2016 at 2:47 PM ^

I mean schools did without them for a long time. I just find it a little ridiculous that a school pays a cop 70k per year to break up a fight maybe once a month when teachers make shit and there's no money to hire more of them. It probably doesn't help that the guy I had in high school was a complete prick for no reason and the one I had in junior high who moved to a nearby high school was accused of letting a kid in school after hours and getting test answers but he said he was just letting him into the weight room. Okayyy.

NRK

April 12th, 2016 at 12:37 PM ^

The vast majority of issues could be resolved without an officer, but when a major incident occurs the officer being there is huge for the school.  

 

There is also the position that having that type of presence deters violent incidents from occuring. I don't know if that's been proven, but it's one of the reasonings behind those positions. 

jmdblue

April 12th, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^

Formerly maybe the same as yours if a cloudy memory of an old post serves.... I have no problem with having a cop on site.  A few times a year things are gonna get out of hand with a few kids and I'd rather have a trained person dealing with separating kids in a fight or taking a pocketknife off a kid than telling a teacher he/she has to do it.

That said, the zero tolerance thing is crap.  My daughter is in high school and a bunch of her friends got popped on a Friday night with a case of beer and some jungle juice.  You'd have thought they were running a shooting gallery.  Cops, suspensions, year long bannishments from sports.  It was nuts.

 

 

The Mad Hatter

April 12th, 2016 at 12:32 PM ^

I could understand the officer in High School, but not middle school.  Those kids are 11-13.

Hell, I went to a gigantic HS (4,500 kids on the same campus) and we didn't have a cop on the premises.  There were security guards, but no police.  

One of the guards later married a student after I graduated.  He was high all the time and would never bust someone for smoking weed outside.  Cigarettes yes, weed no.

jmdblue

April 12th, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^

Divorce has found me in A2, but my kids are in RO.  My boy is in ROMS and I frankly have no problem with having a cop there.  If he were to get in a beef with some kid and face expulsion I would have a huge problem with it.  Cheers and Go Blue.