Letters and Emails

Student experiences the 'longest night of his life'

TWO WEEKENDS AGO, I was imprisoned by the Santa Clara Police Department. Not for driving under the influence, not for contributing to the intoxication of minors, but for playing football too late. On Saturday, Feb. 9, I was detained by four of Santa Clara's finest and all I have to show for it is a little yellow piece of paper.

It was generally a good day, as I watched the Golden State Warriors' Jason Richardson win the Slam Dunk title. I was feelin' good and having a few drinks, when my friends and I decided to put down our drinks and head outside to play some football in the street directly in front of our house. The time was 11:45 p.m., and although the ball was difficult to see, a great time was had by all, that is, until Five-O arrived on the scene.

Officer Craig Stults administered the inquiry, asking if anyone had been drinking. "I have, sir," I said, raising my hand so as to be noticed in the dim light of the evening. "Maybe five or six, nothing substantial." I proceeded to explain that I not only was willing to cooperate in every possible way, but that I was also relatively sober, not to mention that we were less than 20 paces from my own bed and all of legal age to be drinking.

He then made a comment implying that five or six drinks seemed like quite a bit for someone of my stature. It was a completely disrespectful statement, that in my mind, was meant to offend me.

Nonetheless, I smiled, answered all questions, and was generally amiable. It was to no avail, however, as he asked me to step to the side, where some Barney Fife look-alike directed me to follow his flashlight with my eyes. Not a problem ... left, right, left, down, up, down.

Then it happened. Officer Stults, who by the way, was definitely not in the mood to "talk rationally about this," asked me to walk a straight line. I would love to tell you that I handled this task as well as the flashlight game, but that would be a lie. I was nervous from talking to cops and tired from playing football. I blew it. I tripped ... well I didn't really trip, just stepped to the side as I attempted to do the whole "heel-toe" thing.

Next thing I knew I was in the backseat, cruisin' with the boys in blue ... Now at this time it still hadn't hit me. It had all happened so fast. I wasn't doing anything wrong, football in the front yard ... innocent football.

Being handcuffed in the back of a police car is kind of funny. I was trying to muffle the occasional spurts of laughter that overcame me every time I truly evaluated the situation.

Five minutes later, I was at the station. I was patted down, and after waiting in a cold, dark cell, was fingerprinted and breathe-alyzed. (This is where the story starts to upset me.) According to the instrument, my blood alchohol level was a 0.06 ... a freakin' POINT-OH-SIX! I was pumped because even if I had been behind the wheel of an automobile at the time of arrest, I would have been told to drive home safely and go to bed.

I asked, "0.06, that's under the legal limit. Does that mean I can go home now?"

He oinked something about keeping an eye on me for a couple of hours, giving me some time to sober up. Even though I was already sober.

My head hung low as we walked to the place where I would spend the longest night of my life. I kindly asked for something to read, but was rudely snubbed and told to keep quiet. And I did.

During the longest night of my life, I watched a man and a women argue about giving the police the right to search a hotel room. During the longest night of my life, I watched a little surveillance monitor give me notice as to when new drunken arrivals could be expected. During the longest night of my life, I thought about the San Francisco Giants and all of their shortcomings, namely left-handed pitching and corner infielders. During the longest night of my life I celebrated the success of the aforementioned Slam Dunk contest winner, Jason Richardson. During the longest night of my life, I actually witnessed five or six police officers celebrate the fact that another student had a blood alchohol level of more than 0.21. I'm talking high fives, thumbs up and hearty laughter at the expense of this poor drunk soul. (Whom, I later found out, was also within 15 feet of his own house, and heading home for the night when he was arrested.) During the longest night of my life, I had several good laughs to myself, although none were as elated as the joy expressed in my first breath of free air.

When the time came, I received my canary yellow "Prisoner's Copy" of the pre-booking sheet. Then The Man handed me my belongings and explained to me that which I already knew - I was detained for the night. No charges were brought against me. Great.

Tears filled my eyes when I was set free. Several things crossed my mind as I walked across campus in the frigid night. Were my friends still up? How do I explain this mess to my friends? Do I explain this mess to my parents? As I walked in the back door of my house and saw that the clock said 5:00 a.m. the only thing that I thought was, "Five hours? ... Five hours!!"

Five hours of hard time for playing football and being honest with the SCPD.

I wanted to write this so everyone knows what he or she is dealing with when the SCPD tries to serve and protect. They drag your keister to the big house and make you sit and think about what you've done, even if it is as innocent as a little football.

August Sebastiani,

political science, '02

Criticism should be constructive, helpful

I AM WRITING in response to the recent editorials about the Greek system. I feel like we are destroying our community by criticisms of people rather than systems. For me, criticism is not a bad thing, it lies at the heart of creating better communities. But criticisms need to be of actions, structures, systems, ideas, but never of people at the heart of who they are.

I fundamentally believe that every person, even Osama bin Laden, is a beautiful and wonderful person deep down. But people sin and participate in systems that cause injustices. If someone loves all of humanity, they must change the systems that hurt people. As Martin Luther King, Jr. stated,"When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system." We all participate in injustices every day, but most of the time we are completely oblivious to it.

I understand where Blair Thedinger is coming from and I think he provides us all with a challenge that we need to face - to analyze how our actions cause injustices around the world. We need people like Thedinger to remind us of these systems that cause injustices and we need to be open to what he is saying. But I am upset that his criticisms of institutions attacked people directly and were not respectful, as they should have been. I am equally frustrated with the response and return of stereotypes towards Thedinger and others. This stereotyping of people in organizations must stop.

People may think SCCAPers are clique-ish and judgmental, but being heavily involved in the organization, I have learned that everyone in SCCAP is a wonderful person. Likewise, many think that Greeks are elitist and superficial, but every Greek that I have met has shown me that there is a lot more to them as well.

I hope for a community and a world where we can all respect each other's different opinions and love each other as human beings. One where we can voice criticisms of organizations and systems, but always love and respect the people who participate in them. We should all spend a lot less time judging and stereotyping others, and a lot more time treating each other with the respect that we all deserve.

Joe Albers,

religious studies and Spanish, '02

Greek 'bashing' inappropriate

MENTION OF THE Greek system often invokes images of college girls dressed in the latest designer outfits, guys sporting their letters around Benson and social events every weekend. After reading Blair Thedinger's letter in the Feb. 7 issue of The Santa Clara, I was astonished to discover that an individual could become so consumed by stereotypes that he is willing to criticize something that he apparently knows nothing about. Criticism is only effective when based on a secure foundation of knowledge on the subject at hand. It has become evident that students are finding it difficult to look past the social events of the Greek system in order to recognize involvement in a variety of causes and activities.

Ever since the Greek system left campus last year, people have equated non-involvement on campus with non-involvement in worthwhile activities. This is not true of the sororities here at Santa Clara. Alpha Phi's main philanthropy event each year is Star Search. Held in October, this event gives students the chance to display their talents and get involved. For Alpha Phi, Star Search is an opportunity to reach out into the community and raise money for the Alpha Phi foundation that focuses on cardiac care. Last year, Alpha Phi donated $17,000 toward the Alpha Phi foundation that allocated the money toward relief efforts in New York City after Sept.11. vSadly, much of the time and effort put forth by executive members of the sorority goes unnoticed, and the sorority's reputation as party-seekers continues. Alpha Phi continues to participate in various charitable activities and events such as Race for the Cure; and has plans to begin tutoring at Buscher middle school and working with Habitat for Humanity. Much of this involvement, however, is not publicized by the sorority because they are not depending on other students' donations or approval.

Attacking philanthropic efforts is an insult to the women who devote much time and thought to such activities. It is also an indication that one's views of the importance of philanthropy are skewed. It seems to me that people have started to become more consumed with the appearance of charity than the actual charity itself. This sorority does not boast of the money they collect from the outside community to support cardiac care - this is not the nature of philanthropy. Before you criticize another group you see here at Santa Clara, allow yourself to become knowledgeable in its purpose and try to forget the easily assigned stereotypes. You will be doing yourself a favor. You just might realize that sororities are not just about the superficial things of this world; behind these groups lies dedication and effort to raise money for charities that you may never hear about during lunch in Benson.

Maureen Offer,

sociology, '04