{"id":1469,"date":"2015-06-04T18:53:25","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T02:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=1469"},"modified":"2015-06-04T18:53:25","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T02:53:25","slug":"public-safety-experiences-temporary-rise-in-on-campus-alcohol-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/public-safety-experiences-temporary-rise-in-on-campus-alcohol-violations\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Safety experiences temporary rise in on-campus alcohol violations"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Jack Armstrong\r\n News Editor<\/pre>\n
Campus Public Safety\u2019s weekly crime reports have seen a rise in the number of alcohol-related violations reported over the past few weeks. For the past two weeks, over half of the reported contacts made by CPS on campus have been for alcohol-related incidents.<\/p>\n
Both CPS and the University Housing Program stated that the rise in contacts made by CPS is not indicative of a wide spread problem on campus, but simply more violations requiring the intervention of CPS.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a year [the number of violations] ebbs and flows, there are times where there are more incidents and times where there is less,\u201d said Charisse Loughery, University Housing program coordinator.<\/p>\n
Loughery stated, \u201cthere might be more incidents being reported to CPS right now, but I wouldn\u2019t say there has been an overall increase in alcohol issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Often, incidents that happen within the resident halls are dealt with directly by either the Resident Assistants or the Resident Director.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to use our RA and RD resources rather than public safety,\u201d said Tina Fuchs, dean of students and judicial affairs. \u201cBut sometimes the involvement of CPS is necessary, and perhaps that is what is being represented in the blotters.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the end of the term approaching and the summer weather taking hold in the Pacific Northwest, more and more students are looking to spend their free time outdoors. This change in activity could be responsible for the increased CPS activity in on-campus housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpring hits, and it\u2019s a little nicer out; people tend to be out and about, so we can experience more violations of housing policy in general,\u201d said Fuchs.<\/p>\n
Director of Public Safety Rebecca Chiles offered a counter-point, suggesting that the number of incidents overall has remained fairly stable despite the weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my experience, it\u2019s not unusual this time of year versus any other time of year,\u201d Chiles said. \u201cThis is my first year here, but I haven\u2019t noticed anything out of the ordinary with the numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the restless students at the end of the term, CPS and University Housing are faced with the possibility of a sharp increase in the number of marijuana violations when the fall 2015 term begins.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking to campaign with a lot of education up-front concerning the marijuana policy. I believe we might have confusion due to the legality in Oregon,\u201d Fuchs said. \u201cI think some kids will think that it will be okay for them to bring it to campus.\u201d<\/p>\n
University Housing and CPS were both quick to stress that despite Oregon\u2019s legalization, Western\u2019s campus policy regarding marijuana will be unchanged.<\/p>\n
As stated by the WOU student handbook, \u201cthe university will initiate disciplinary hearings for possession, consumption, manufacturing, or sale of illegal drugs or any other controlled substance on or off university owned or controlled property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to comply with the drug-free schools\u2019 policies,\u201d Loughery said. \u201cWe receive funding from the federal government. Our current zero-tolerance policy in university housing will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the federal government\u2019s prohibition, Western recently implemented a complete non-smoking policy on campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect our marijuana policy will mirror the non-smoking policy that will be taking effect on campus in the fall,\u201d Chiles said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
University Housing to focus on education with new marijuana laws<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}