Police Arrests at Drinking Party

[valpopal]

The bottom line is their motives were wonderful but their methods left something to be desired.

Unfortunately, I think this sentence accurately sums up a number of the difficulties I see in the relations between the university and the town. Since I have deep ties at the university and in the town, I often find myself in personal conversations or official meetings trying to explain one community to the other and bridging an evident divide. Without addressing the activities of Walt and Lois, a longtime good friend, or any other more contemporary specific instances, I can attest much of the suspicion or resentment expressed to me by townspeople arises from feelings that members of the university present an impression they think they know what is better for everyone and attempt to impose their views on the community "for its own good," often without regard for the perspectives of city residents. This is perceived as a condescending attitude, and the local resistance grows greater when those members of the university wishing to transform the community have recently transplanted to the area or are young faculty and students, who seem to display a lack of understanding regarding complex and long existing local sensibilities. 

[LaPorteAveApostle]

And really, it is the faculty who are at the epicenter of this; they are the ones with a foot in both camps.

They send their kids (generally) to the VCS, the high school more than the others (St Paul and Immanuel of course, especially the latter if Lutheran!), so they care about the community as well as their university community.  But there aren't a whole lot of others in the intersection of that Venn diagram.

I said to Paul something to the effect that he is in a position to do some community building, and has done so; yet he can't feel like he has to accomplish this Sisyphean task, because not even Bryce could do that. 

Now, Bryce did maybe more to bring Valpo and VU together than anyone else did or could, but we're still where we are.

Perhaps, rather than try to make some utopian 'it's a small world after all' harmony happen, we need to find how best to coexist given that we'll never be 'buddy-buddy', town'n gown...

[FWalum]

I said to Paul something to the effect that he is in a position to do some community building, and has done so; yet he can't feel like he has to accomplish this Sisyphean task, because not even Bryce could do that. 

Wow, I hope everyone reading this has had mythology 101!

[valpocleveland]

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2014/12/16/valparaiso-university-drinking-party-busted-athletes-arrestes/20471261/

"Of the 45 arrested, 26 were Valparaiso University athletes, including 17 football players, two members of the men's basketball team, two volleyball players, three women's basketball players, one woman's soccer player, one woman's tennis player and one women's track and field member. They were charged with minor consumption of an alcoholic beverage."

I am thinking they sign a code of conduct at beginning of the year which may include not drinking (or being arrested).

[humbleopinion]

We know that two were arrested.  I wonder if others of age were there and were in violation of team rules.

Now I'll venture over to the other thread to see if this has been approached.

[talksalot]

OK, fine... I'll make it easier on everyone: 

and I'll even cite my source:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus

In Greek mythology Sisyphus (/ˈsɪsɪfəs/;[1] Greek: Σίσυφος, Sísyphos) was a king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He was punished for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever.

HCU.

[FWalum]

OK, fine... I'll make it easier on everyone: 

and I'll even cite my source:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus

 In Greek mythology Sisyphus (/ˈsɪsɪfəs/;[1] Greek: Σίσυφος, Sísyphos) was a king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He was punished for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever.

Wasn't being critical, just had not heard a reference to Sisyphus since probably my Humanities class with Kurt Jordan at CLHS. (Kurt was a Valpo alum and one of the best teachers at Concordia)

[covufan]

Examining the list of students charged, I know quite a few of them, some better than others, and I regard them as good young men and women, usually positive ambassadors for Valparaiso. Paul knows more of them than I do, and he knows them even better; therefore, I want to repeat an interesting point Paul raised that seems worth noting, the fact that more than 100 students were at a party and apprehended by the police, yet all the authorities found was alcohol, and the worst offenses concerned underage drinking. Among all those students, most of whom are athletes, not a single discovery of any kind of drugs and no incident of violence.

I think it is odd that all of those under age were arrested.  I don't know about the town versus University problems, except that all towns with universities will have some problems.  I lived in Valpo as a young child and attended VU in the 1980's  I also had aunts, uncles, and cousins from Valpo the town, as well as VU grads.  When I was in school and there was an off campus party that the police had reason to stop and investigate, there were never 100 people in a house that size.  Were there some underage people there?  Yes.  Were they drinking?  Yes.  The police were there to respond to some complaint - noise usually, but I'm sure parking would have been an issue in last weekends case.  The police were not there to make arrests, but to get people to leave and not return, due to the noise. 

I don't know all of the situations from last weekend, but I'm sure that not allowing them to enter the house provoked some of the response.  It is possible that the Valparaiso Police now have a policy when finding underage people drinking to give them all breathalyzers, and if found with alcohol in their system, to arrest them.  Such a policy could be to limit liability - just imagine if they had broken up the party and someone leaving the party was later injured (or worse), or caused damage.  The judge could have also advised the officers to use the fullest extent of the law.  I'm sure the first officers at the scene wanted their superiors to make such a decision.  Other than hiding, it appears there was little resisting arrest.  As Tx recalled from his experience, why did the young lady that fell through the ceiling need to hide, especially if she had nothing to drink?  If you run, they catch you; if you hide, they find you.  Why push/provoke the police? 

As valporun has stated, most of these students are good people.  I don't envy the coaches nor the administration in coming down with some punishment.  In one-on-one situations, most of us would tend to know when a 18-20 year old that we work with on a near daily basis is truly remorseful.  Especially when they have been respectful, honest and full of integrity in your dealings with them in the past.  I'm sure running, community service and some kind of game suspension will be involved.

Had I been one of the police officers, I think that I would have used the breathalyzer to determine which people of age would be able to drive others home.  Those that were under 21 with alcohol on the breathalyzer would have their name taken down, sternly warned that they could have been arrested, and told that in mid May, when their name had not come up again with the Valpo PD, the list would be thrown away.  The main thing would be to break up the party and make sure everyone gets home safely. 

[jack]

Examining the list of students charged, I know quite a few of them, some better than others, and I regard them as good young men and women, usually positive ambassadors for Valparaiso. Paul knows more of them than I do, and he knows them even better; therefore, I want to repeat an interesting point Paul raised that seems worth noting, the fact that more than 100 students were at a party and apprehended by the police, yet all the authorities found was alcohol, and the worst offenses concerned underage drinking. Among all those students, most of whom are athletes, not a single discovery of any kind of drugs and no incident of violence.

I think it is odd that all of those under age were arrested.  I don't know about the town versus University problems, except that all towns with universities will have some problems.  I lived in Valpo as a young child and attended VU in the 1980's  I also had aunts, uncles, and cousins from Valpo the town, as well as VU grads.  When I was in school and there was an off campus party that the police had reason to stop and investigate, there were never 100 people in a house that size.  Were there some underage people there?  Yes.  Were they drinking?  Yes.  The police were there to respond to some complaint - noise usually, but I'm sure parking would have been an issue in last weekends case.  The police were not there to make arrests, but to get people to leave and not return, due to the noise. 

I don't know all of the situations from last weekend, but I'm sure that not allowing them to enter the house provoked some of the response.  It is possible that the Valparaiso Police now have a policy when finding underage people drinking to give them all breathalyzers, and if found with alcohol in their system, to arrest them.  Such a policy could be to limit liability - just imagine if they had broken up the party and someone leaving the party was later injured (or worse), or caused damage.  The judge could have also advised the officers to use the fullest extent of the law.  I'm sure the first officers at the scene wanted their superiors to make such a decision.  Other than hiding, it appears there was little resisting arrest.  As Tx recalled from his experience, why did the young lady that fell through the ceiling need to hide, especially if she had nothing to drink?  If you run, they catch you; if you hide, they find you.  Why push/provoke the police? 

As valporun has stated, most of these students are good people.  I don't envy the coaches nor the administration in coming down with some punishment.  In one-on-one situations, most of us would tend to know when a 18-20 year old that we work with on a near daily basis is truly remorseful.  Especially when they have been respectful, honest and full of integrity in your dealings with them in the past.  I'm sure running, community service and some kind of game suspension will be involved.

Had I been one of the police officers, I think that I would have used the breathalyzer to determine which people of age would be able to drive others home.  Those that were under 21 with alcohol on the breathalyzer would have their name taken down, sternly warned that they could have been arrested, and told that in mid May, when their name had not come up again with the Valpo PD, the list would be thrown away.  The main thing would be to break up the party and make sure everyone gets home safely.

My guess is, had the two hosting the party have cooperated when the police arrive, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. When you demand a search warrant, the police must call and wake up a judge who will issue it. If I'm that judge, you can bet that inconvenience is going to cost someone some headaches. We've probably all been to campus parties a time or two, and back in the day, they would have just told everyone to go home. Times have changed, the hosts provoked the officers, and there you have it. If you wake up a judge, someone will be getting arrested. The fact that there were so many athletes involved isn't too surprising, but the fact that there were any involved that are "in season" is a bit troubling. The university invest an awful lot in these athletes, and now the in season athletes will be suspended, I'm guessing, at least 2 games. This hurts their teammates as well. As someone else mentioned, these players have to realize that they are being held to a higher standard, and the punishment for their actions should highlight why. As a scenario:  What if it was tourney time, and 3 or 4 of your top players were caught and couldn't participate. You lose the game, and your shot at making the NCAA big dance? The financial hit to your school would be huge. I know it's a stretch, but it certainly could go that way. That's exactly why these schools, who have a lot invested in these players, absolutely have a right to hold them to a higher standard. Another longer lasting byproduct of all of this is that these kids now have a police record. This could affect job opportunities and insurance premiums. It's a shame what happened as I'm sure these were all good kids that just made a bad decision.   

[a3uge]

Via ValpoWikiLeaks, word is that the house renters told the neighbors to f* off, and did not cooperate with police and enticed them to get a warrant. The cops apparently were going to just break up the party, but things escalated.

[bbtds]

Oh crap!

Thank God none of my colleagues here at work saw that story in the Indy Star. That would have been a hard one to live down with all my talk of Valpo having exemplary student athletes compared to Butler, IU, Purdue etc.

[vu72]

Examining the list of students charged, I know quite a few of them, some better than others, and I regard them as good young men and women, usually positive ambassadors for Valparaiso. Paul knows more of them than I do, and he knows them even better; therefore, I want to repeat an interesting point Paul raised that seems worth noting, the fact that more than 100 students were at a party and apprehended by the police, yet all the authorities found was alcohol, and the worst offenses concerned underage drinking. Among all those students, most of whom are athletes, not a single discovery of any kind of drugs and no incident of violence.

I think it is odd that all of those under age were arrested.  I don't know about the town versus University problems, except that all towns with universities will have some problems.  I lived in Valpo as a young child and attended VU in the 1980's  I also had aunts, uncles, and cousins from Valpo the town, as well as VU grads.  When I was in school and there was an off campus party that the police had reason to stop and investigate, there were never 100 people in a house that size.  Were there some underage people there?  Yes.  Were they drinking?  Yes.  The police were there to respond to some complaint - noise usually, but I'm sure parking would have been an issue in last weekends case.  The police were not there to make arrests, but to get people to leave and not return, due to the noise. 

I don't know all of the situations from last weekend, but I'm sure that not allowing them to enter the house provoked some of the response.  It is possible that the Valparaiso Police now have a policy when finding underage people drinking to give them all breathalyzers, and if found with alcohol in their system, to arrest them.  Such a policy could be to limit liability - just imagine if they had broken up the party and someone leaving the party was later injured (or worse), or caused damage.  The judge could have also advised the officers to use the fullest extent of the law.  I'm sure the first officers at the scene wanted their superiors to make such a decision.  Other than hiding, it appears there was little resisting arrest.  As Tx recalled from his experience, why did the young lady that fell through the ceiling need to hide, especially if she had nothing to drink?  If you run, they catch you; if you hide, they find you.  Why push/provoke the police? 

As valporun has stated, most of these students are good people.  I don't envy the coaches nor the administration in coming down with some punishment.  In one-on-one situations, most of us would tend to know when a 18-20 year old that we work with on a near daily basis is truly remorseful.  Especially when they have been respectful, honest and full of integrity in your dealings with them in the past.  I'm sure running, community service and some kind of game suspension will be involved.

Had I been one of the police officers, I think that I would have used the breathalyzer to determine which people of age would be able to drive others home.  Those that were under 21 with alcohol on the breathalyzer would have their name taken down, sternly warned that they could have been arrested, and told that in mid May, when their name had not come up again with the Valpo PD, the list would be thrown away.  The main thing would be to break up the party and make sure everyone gets home safely.

My guess is, had the two hosting the party have cooperated when the police arrive, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. When you demand a search warrant, the police must call and wake up a judge who will issue it. If I'm that judge, you can bet that inconvenience is going to cost someone some headaches. We've probably all been to campus parties a time or two, and back in the day, they would have just told everyone to go home. Times have changed, the hosts provoked the officers, and there you have it. If you wake up a judge, someone will be getting arrested. The fact that there were so many athletes involved isn't too surprising, but the fact that there were any involved that are "in season" is a bit troubling. The university invest an awful lot in these athletes, and now the in season athletes will be suspended, I'm guessing, at least 2 games. This hurts their teammates as well. As someone else mentioned, these players have to realize that they are being held to a higher standard, and the punishment for their actions should highlight why. As a scenario:  What if it was tourney time, and 3 or 4 of your top players were caught and couldn't participate. You lose the game, and your shot at making the NCAA big dance? The financial hit to your school would be huge. I know it's a stretch, but it certainly could go that way. That's exactly why these schools, who have a lot invested in these players, absolutely have a right to hold them to a higher standard. Another longer lasting byproduct of all of this is that these kids now have a police record. This could affect job opportunities and insurance premiums. It's a shame what happened as I'm sure these were all good kids that just made a bad decision.   

Understand your point, but there hasn't been any information concerning being drunk, just that they had "consumed".  Not making excuses, but if a player had a glass of beer versus being falling down drunk, are different concerns and issues.  Only the five basketball players (three female and two male) were there during their season.

[Valpo89]

Wow, that is quite a discussion that interests me on many levels - as a one-time full-time reporter for the newspaper, as a parent of a college student, as a sports fan and as a native of Valparaiso.

Throwing in my two cents (or more):
1. If a VHS party of 100 kids was busted, there would be more than 45 arrests. Because they would all be underage. And if the person answering the door requests a search warrant, you can bet the cops would round up as many as possible.
2. Most VHS kids are smart enough NOT to attend a party with 100 people in a small house in a residential neighborhood. You're just ASKING for the cops to show up.
3. I hate the "kids will be kids" argument. If you're under 21 and you're caught drinking, tough. Pay the consequence. "But you did the same thing when you were in college." Maybe a couple times, but not very often. And I attended a "party school" in Bloomington. My 19-year-old son who attends IU will not be dumb enough to attend a 100-person party when he is in Valparaiso for Christmas break, I guarantee it.
4. The "divide" between the university and the city is not as bad as it may have been at one time, and it's not as bad as a certain VU professor/sports writer seems to believe.
5. The university needs to just come out with the truth and announce the suspensions (or whatever) for the athletes involved. It's better than rumors and speculation for all involved. No use hiding all week, acting like it didn't happen, and hoping people will forget.
6. The phrase "Drinking Party" has been around for years. It has appeared in the pages of the Times and formerly the Vidette-Messenger since the early 1990s. It is an inevitable phrase that usually appears in the Tuesday Police Blotter. Youthful stupidity and alcohol - a surefire combination to get your name in the arrest column.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Oh, man, a top-ten life highlight was made by the words "drinking party" appearing in the Vidette-Mess' crime notes.

There I found (was an early and voracious reader) the name of a certain babysitter who had recently told my mother she would no longer babysit for me since I was a 'problematic kid'.

[valporun]

It's also very possible, after the search warrant was requested, that the city of Valparaiso put a 'zero tolerance' policy/law into effect, regardless of who was drinking, athlete or general student. The cops had reasonable cause to put it into effect when the hosts of the party requested the search warrant.

[wh]

Wouldn't anyone one under 21 who registered anything above 0 be charged with underage consumption?  It might make us all feel better to paint a picture that these athletes just stopped by a party to socialize and innocently sip on a beer, but in reality we have no idea how long they had been there or how much they consumed.

[Vinny]

If the school doesn't come down hard and swift on these kids (scholarships revoked, public flogging, quartering, etc.), it'll just be a matter of time before they're adults removing tags from their mattresses.

   

[jack]

Making light of it certainly won't help either. Is it the end of the world? No. Will this pass? Yes. But consider this. Apparently there was a recruit visiting  campus and was at this party along with their freshman sponsor. A high school senior!!!. How does this paint the coaching staff that invited them here? As I said, student athletes MUST be held to a higher standard for very obvious reasons. At the end of the day, some very poor decisions were made by a lot of young people.

[justducky]

If the school doesn't come down hard and swift on these kids (scholarships revoked, public flogging, quartering, etc.), it'll just be a matter of time before they're adults removing tags from their mattresses.

Exactly what I was thinking. I mean you can never be too careful! This is just like Bill Clinton trying marijuana and not inhaling. I mean it obviously still turned his life into a disaster and if you don't believe me then just ask Fox News!

Will the redshirt Hamnik (sp) be flogged this year or should we wait until next year and feature it in our schedule of halftime entertainments?   

[wh]

Making light of it certainly won't help either. Is it the end of the world? No. Will this pass? Yes. But consider this. Apparently there was a recruit visiting  campus and was at this party along with their freshman sponsor. A high school senior!!!. How does this paint the coaching staff that invited them here? As I said, student athletes MUST be held to a higher standard for very obvious reasons. At the end of the day, some very poor decisions were made by a lot of young people.

...and, not to mention that due to the large number of student athletes involved this is getting national publicity.  Do a Google search - it's everywhere.

[jack]

Making light of it certainly won't help either. Is it the end of the world? No. Will this pass? Yes. But consider this. Apparently there was a recruit visiting  campus and was at this party along with their freshman sponsor. A high school senior!!!. How does this paint the coaching staff that invited them here? As I said, student athletes MUST be held to a higher standard for very obvious reasons. At the end of the day, some very poor decisions were made by a lot of young people.

...and, not to mention that due to the large number of student athletes involved this is getting national publicity.  Do a Google search - it's everywhere.

It certainly is. I hate it for the kids that are doing the right things and honoring the commitment they made to come to Valpo. I said it was kids making bad decisions. To take it a step further, it was a very selfish decision at that. They never considered how this would affect their school, teammates, and coaches. I am surprised there are some here making light of it. I feel for all who were adversely affected that had no part in it. Getting dragged through the mud for something you had no involvement in is a tough pill to swallow.

[justducky]

Making light of it certainly won't help either. Is it the end of the world? No. Will this pass? Yes. But consider this. Apparently there was a recruit visiting  campus and was at this party along with their freshman sponsor. A high school senior!!!. How does this paint the coaching staff that invited them here? As I said, student athletes MUST be held to a higher standard for very obvious reasons. At the end of the day, some very poor decisions were made by a lot of young people.

...and, not to mention that due to the large number of student athletes involved this is getting national publicity.  Do a Google search - it's everywhere.

It certainly is. I hate it for the kids that are doing the right things and honoring the commitment they made to come to Valpo. I said it was kids making bad decisions. To take it a step further, it was a very selfish decision at that. They never considered how this would affect their school, teammates, and coaches. I am surprised there are some here making light of it. I feel for all who were adversely affected that had no part in it. Getting dragged through the mud for something you had no involvement in is a tough pill to swallow.

You boys need to learn how to relax!

On the surface with what we now know, the only way this could approach a dragging through the mud national scandal is if some or all of our coaches fail to deal with it appropriately. I have full confidence that the coaches we have selected will find all of the knowable facts and deal fairly with all those athletes involved (even if it means stiffer penalties than for non-athletes).

I am going to interpret this as yet another instance where my ordinary northwest Indiana fan viewpoint might be vastly different than those of you who are more VU-centrically involved.

[valpopal]

As I expected, public penalties for Adekoya and Hammink will be two game suspensions. Adekoya now and Hammink when he becomes eligible next fall.

[wh]

Per Paul Oren

Valparaiso's Jubril Adekoya to be suspended two games for last weekend's minor consumption arrest. Bryce Drew didn't indicate which games.
5:10pm - 18 Dec 14

Shane Hammink will also be suspended two games once he eligible next season.
5:10pm - 18 Dec 14

[Vinny]

Even if there was a recruit at the party - and I've yet to read that anywhere else - it doesn't reflect any more poorly on the coaching staff than it does the Man in the Moon. I don't know the coaches personally but I'm sure that him/her didn't invite a high school senior on campus with a kegger as part of the nightly agenda.

College coaches are under enough stress as it is from the million things on their plate. I refuse to hold them responsible for what their players do at midnight on a Saturday.

I can only imagine what's going through Hamnik's mind right now. He came from an SEC school where this stuff was a nightly occurrence.