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Miffed over 420
We here are still talking about 420, the pot smoking "holiday" observed at Skidmore and thousands of other college campuses last Monday. Why? Because we've been accused of exaggerating the number of participants in the event.
Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy met with Skidmore officials and others on Thursday, and after the meeting, he told other media sources that "some reports of the event were exaggerated." The article then notes that in conferring with "college security officials, Saratoga Springs police and others who witnessed what appeared to be overt smoking of marijuana reported that about 20 students participated in the event."
WAIT
First of all, it's been my understand all along that Saratoga Springs Police did NOT witness the event, because they were not called to campus on the afternoon of 4/20. Were they there or not? I've been consistent of my defence of the police, arguing that they can't be blamed for not arresting people when they were never alerted to the commission of a crime, and I will continue to do so -- as long as they were not, in fact, on campus.
Skidmore College Campus Safety? We know they were there, we took photos of them driving by. They defended their in actions by saying students would put the weed away if they approached students. Maybe so, but surely if these keystone cops had bothered to get out of their trucks and walk across the South Park green, the students would have dispersed, and gone on with their pot smoking in their dorm rooms, happily out of sight. Remember campus po: you're job is not just to site violations of rules, but to break up situations that might lead to such violations. Please also remember that The Saratogian was on campus with permission from the college's Media Relations department.
Gee, if I were a campus safety officer, I think I'd be able to figure out that a big cluster of kids smoking or drink or whatever isn't the best public face for a college, and that it'd be a good idea to break it up, if for no other reason than the appearance. Sure you might not be able to charge anybody, but at least you've broken up a "potentially dangerous" situation. How many house parties does campus safety bust up on any given night for exactly that reason. How is this any different?
To get back to the exaggeration bit; Murphy is saying, Campus police is saying, and (according to Murphy) the city police are saying, that the number of participants has been exaggerated. They say they've looked at photos that consisted evidence to that effect. I'd like to know what photos they're looking at, and I'd like to see those photos. If they're basing their pronouncement solely off of the photo we printed on Tuesday, 4/21, they should know that those photos were never intended to portray the entire gathering, just a small part of it.
Furthermore, they should know that both our reporter and photographer who were on the scene and walking among the students -- unlike any of the alleged "witnesses" -- are both very confident in the number we originally reported (about 100).
Finally, as I've said to everyone I've talked to about this, when I was at Skidmore, 100 students getting high on the green on 420 would have been very poor turnout. I don't know if the student body is less partial to drugs than it was a few years ago, of if rain kept most of the smoking activities inside, but either way, I hope that Murphy and all those in law enforcement realize that this is involved more than 20 students, even if they feel the need to minimize it for the sake of giving the appearance of working to protect and maintain public safety.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy met with Skidmore officials and others on Thursday, and after the meeting, he told other media sources that "some reports of the event were exaggerated." The article then notes that in conferring with "college security officials, Saratoga Springs police and others who witnessed what appeared to be overt smoking of marijuana reported that about 20 students participated in the event."
WAIT
First of all, it's been my understand all along that Saratoga Springs Police did NOT witness the event, because they were not called to campus on the afternoon of 4/20. Were they there or not? I've been consistent of my defence of the police, arguing that they can't be blamed for not arresting people when they were never alerted to the commission of a crime, and I will continue to do so -- as long as they were not, in fact, on campus.
Skidmore College Campus Safety? We know they were there, we took photos of them driving by. They defended their in actions by saying students would put the weed away if they approached students. Maybe so, but surely if these keystone cops had bothered to get out of their trucks and walk across the South Park green, the students would have dispersed, and gone on with their pot smoking in their dorm rooms, happily out of sight. Remember campus po: you're job is not just to site violations of rules, but to break up situations that might lead to such violations. Please also remember that The Saratogian was on campus with permission from the college's Media Relations department.
Gee, if I were a campus safety officer, I think I'd be able to figure out that a big cluster of kids smoking or drink or whatever isn't the best public face for a college, and that it'd be a good idea to break it up, if for no other reason than the appearance. Sure you might not be able to charge anybody, but at least you've broken up a "potentially dangerous" situation. How many house parties does campus safety bust up on any given night for exactly that reason. How is this any different?
To get back to the exaggeration bit; Murphy is saying, Campus police is saying, and (according to Murphy) the city police are saying, that the number of participants has been exaggerated. They say they've looked at photos that consisted evidence to that effect. I'd like to know what photos they're looking at, and I'd like to see those photos. If they're basing their pronouncement solely off of the photo we printed on Tuesday, 4/21, they should know that those photos were never intended to portray the entire gathering, just a small part of it.
Furthermore, they should know that both our reporter and photographer who were on the scene and walking among the students -- unlike any of the alleged "witnesses" -- are both very confident in the number we originally reported (about 100).
Finally, as I've said to everyone I've talked to about this, when I was at Skidmore, 100 students getting high on the green on 420 would have been very poor turnout. I don't know if the student body is less partial to drugs than it was a few years ago, of if rain kept most of the smoking activities inside, but either way, I hope that Murphy and all those in law enforcement realize that this is involved more than 20 students, even if they feel the need to minimize it for the sake of giving the appearance of working to protect and maintain public safety.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
posted by The Saratogian City Desk at
4:04 PM
11 Comments:
Andrew,
I think the key word here is 'exaggerated,' even though I think you're correct in saying Murphy is trying to minimize the event to save face.
Exaggerated was the reaction to an article that seemed to place Skidmore at the epicenter of a movement that occurs nationwide. How come no one bothered to check UAlbany's event. Or at Union College? Or any of the campuses across New York? They all have similar observances. Yet the end result of the article -whether intended or not -was that Skidmore was demonized and the local officials were made to look as though they condone pot smoking. I don't think that could be any further from the truth, which makes the whole issue very disingenuous to say the least.
I think the root of this exaggeration grows from your managing editor, who seems to be the one making this whole thing a big issue.She sees her chance to sell a few papers by making a big deal about something that is essentially a bunch of nonsense.
And the reporter 'covering' this self-created issue seems quite complicit; even dramatizing the reaction from Skidmore's dean("Beyond that I can’t tell you," she said, then paused. "I can’t tell you," she repeated."). I won't label this poor journalism, but I will say it's liberally tinted yellow. There are a thousand real stories in Saratoga Springs. To chase this farce is the text-book definition of yellow journalism. You being a former Skidmore student, I'm somewhat surprised to read that you're joining in the fray.
You need to start paying attention to more serious local issues. For example, the city budget shortfall or the recent rise in break-ins in the city or the new rush to get zoning changes past the planning board before the next election cycle. I guess if news doesn't happen between 4 an 8 p.m. it doesn't get reported in the 8,000 circulation Saratogian.
Horatio:
I can't speak to the decision to report on 420, or on the way we reported it, as I wasn't privy to those conversations. I also agree that the reaction has been overblown.
However, I don't think that Barb or The Saratogian is driving the continued interest. The article saw a tremendous outpouring of comments in a variety of forums, including our website, this blog, the Soundoff column, letters to the editor, calls to city officials, and a City Council meeting. If the article had come and gone without comment, there is no question that the story would have gone away.
Such has not been the case. Would you have had us ignored an issue that was -- quite literally -- the talk of the town? If you were a reporter or an editor, would you have ignored an evolving story?
As for my own involvement in the story, when I first wrote about 420 (http://saratogacitydesk.blogspot.com/2009/04/420-skidmore-and-pass-ganj.html), it was in an effort to express how ridiculous I find the overblown reaction.
This post was intended to express my feelings over seeing my newspaper and my colleagues being called out in the press, apparently without an presentation of evidence. Perhaps this stance would have been better taken in an editorial, but frankly, I think I was able to express my feelings were more effectively stated here than they could have been in the paper.
But please understand, I would have had the same reaction if we'd been accused of exaggerating anything, this post was not unique to 420.
anon 3:48:
I agree that there are many other issues that deserve attention in the media. Today's paper has stories on ways to cope with chronic pain, the state of politics in the city's GOP committee, and a new town hall in Saratoga.
In addition, here are some links recent stories we've published on school budgets: http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/04/23/news/doc49efcc984369d063887739.txt
and
http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/04/28/news/doc49f72f1492945795976409.txt
I'd like to chime in, if I may. I think good points are raised here (except for anon 3:48) on both sides of the issue.
It seems the mindset of people who are angry we published this article (and subsequent editorial, followups, etc.) have a "kill the messenger" mindset. As a newspaper, sometimes our job is to go out and report what's happening. This thing happened at Skidmore. We reported on it, and the community reacted.
Don't like the reaction? Boo hoo.
Personally speaking, I think anyone would be a fool to blame D.A. Jim Murphy or the Saratoga Springs police for being lax as to what happened. Murphy's job is to prosecute criminals; and the PD shouldn't have been expected to go up there just to ticket all the celebrants.
The real issue here (and please note, this is my opinion) is the college's administration and campus safety for so obviously looking the other way on this "event." How do you allow 100 or so people to gather (I don't care how Murphy et. al try to mask it to cover their asses: We have two newsroom staffers who put the number at 100) and then expect to enforce your own drug policy?
From the original article:
"The college’s drug policy states that possessing, using or selling illegal drugs is a Level III offense, the highest offense in the Student Handbook. For a first offense violation, a student would face alcohol and/or drug assessment by a certified provider (at the student’s expense).
"'Anytime we have a violation of our policies, we take action,' Conway said, adding that Skidmore often collaborates with city police to investigate drug and alcohol use on the campus. A second offense would result in the student being referred to an Integrity Board for administrative discipline, or even suspension or dismissal from the school in some cases."
And by commenters' own admissions, 100 people was a tiny turnout from previous years.
Whether you think marijuana should be legalized or is the devil's leaf is irrelevant to the article itself; it's relevant to the discussion the article sparked (pun half-intended).
Horatio: I can only speak for UAlbany, but in my four years there as an undergrad, I can tell you I was never aware of any students stupid enough to celebrate April 20 OUTSIDE - or at least, not in the middle of — campus. Nor, to my knowledge, did it become an institutionalized "event." We had Fountain Day for that (and it got out of control several years ago, thus forcing administration to make some changes).
It might have been a public school, but they must have laced the food with common sense.
I also can't speak for Syracuse University, where I spent a year, but I tend to think any on-campus celebrations would have taken place inside, as opposed to the middle of the quad.
Andrew,
Why are you still defending the lousy and biased hatchet job Barb and MN dropped on good old Skidmore? I wasn't there, but I would imagine that saying that 100 people were smoking pot is definitely an exaggeration. The articles reflected a bias and strong yellow streak that, I believe, off the record you would not deny. Good for the Gazette for calling the Saratogian out like that.
Steve,
It's not about kill the messenger. It is about how and why the story was treated the way it was. It is also about the fact that there are far more important things to focus on.
Just because you weren't invited to the epic smoke seshes in college doesn't mean there weren't any. And from what I know, UA and 'Cuse both know how to have a good time in some ways that pale in comparison to Skidmore's shindigs. There may have even been parties with drunk hotties too believe it or not...
Thank you steve...great sum up.
"Shanghai Dandy":
I cannot stress this point enough: I do not believe that the number of students present on the green on 420 was exaggerated by The Saratogian. I trust my co-workers who were present there much more than I trust those chiming in post-facto, who did not witness the event.
The Gazette's attempt to "call us out" relies on second hand reports. They were not there, neither were the people they quote.
Case-in-point:
"I wasn't there, but I would imagine that saying that 100 people were smoking pot is definitely an exaggeration."
YOU WEREN'T THERE. Neither was the Gazette or DA James Murphy. So how would any of you know how many students were there? We were there, we would know.
Finally, as a current or former Skidmore student, I find it odd that you believe there were less than 100 people smoking on the green on 420. If you truly do believe that, I would respectfully suggest that you pull your head out of the sand.
Drunk hotties, you say?
As a former Albany State student, I can say there was indeed a 4/20 event there...just the stoners there are a little more covert about it and did the thing at 4:20 a.m. Man, there were some good times. Drop a dose or eat some shrooms and play in the fountain. It happened every year I was there, and it was far more than 100 students.
Ah, the fountain. Good times. Is it just me, or was this year's Fountain Day extremely late in the year?
I think the key word in Anon 9:27's comment is "covert." There was nothing covert about what happened at Skidmore. Whether you think it was an act of civil disobedience (I don't), kids flagrantly flaunting the law and school policy with the administration's passive approval, or just college students doing what many college students do, they were there to make a scene.
And what a scene they made.
I don't know Steve, they didn't invite me to the cool parties either.
I had to settle for a few bong rips, cheap vodka and feeling up a chubby girl from the suite across the hall : )
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