Posted on 10/11/2005 11:58:11 AM PDT by smartin
The body was too decomposed to determine cause of death. Autopsy has not been completed. Identification was done from dental records.
Very strange set of circumstances. Here we have a 17 year old freshman, and two weeks after starting school at VCU is sleeping with a 38 year old psueudo photographer. He must be one smooth talking dude.
Incidently, Fawley was charged the other day with illegal possession of a firearm. Seems that convicted felons are prohibited from owning a gun in Virginia.
I believe that is across the board in the US.
I'm not sure that parents even now realize it. Colleges can't tell parents anything. Even if a child were to end up in an emergency room, parents can't be called if they're 18 or over. Smart colleges have found slick ways of letting persistent parents know things that they can't legally tell, but I still think there's a huge problem. Parents foot the bill, but colleges can't tell them their children's grades. So they can literally flunk out before parents know there's a problem. My college student lives at home and I'm SO grateful. We can discuss her required ridiculous PC courses at the dinner table and the very fact that she lives at home imposes an order that she would love to be rid of (mom laughs, but lovingly).
Tell her to watch out for the brainwashing she'll be subjected to at orientation and beyond. The leftists do such a thorough job of convincing young college students that they mustn't be "judgemental", harbor "stereotypes", be "racist", etc., that the kids start to think it's wrong to be suspicious of 38 year old men who come around eager to pick up freshman girls for "relationships".
I attended a women's college that's typical of U.S. colleges in this way. While I was a student, there was a big "controversy" in a dorm where many students were complaining about one student's "boyfriend" spending a lot of time in the dorm and often spending the night. It wasn't that anyone was against the idea of normal college boyfriends spendig the night with their girlfriends, but this guy was way past college age and a member of the Pagans motorcycle gang (similar to Hell's Angels, but even rougher). I don't know how it ultimately got resolved, since it ended up being handled by the honor board, whose proceedings are confidential. But I do know that for most of the year, there was no official interference with this guy's semi-residence in the dorm, as his girlfriend was successful in several rounds of accusing the complainers of being "judgemental", "prejudiced", "elitist", yadda, yadda. So even young women who were smart enough to know to steer clear of men like this, were stuck having him wandering around their dorm and spending the night there.
Actually, if students are dependents of their parents for tax purposes, colleges are allowed to disclose most info about the student to the parents, including trips to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning, etc. But the colleges are not required to initiate such disclosures, and many have a policy of not doing so, for liability reasons, i.e. if they have a policy of doing so, and then miss one that turns out to have tragic results, the parents who didn't get important info will have grounds to sue.
Actually, they're not. My daughter is in college and in the parent orientation, they told us that any child over 18 can't be discussed. They specifically mentioned alcohol poisoning. Her school made the policy that if the child could talk, then they will follow their direction. If they can't, then they will call the parents. My husband is a college professor and he can't tell parents anything. But again, he has developed ways that he can share info if parents and students come in to talk. It's usually when Johnny knows he's not doing well and it's the professor's fault and he sics parents on him. Smart profs are prepared, though, and can stealthily convey info.
Maybe there will be a coffin with a picture and they will receive friends.
Way to go.
Things just fell through the cracks and we're gonna have to do something drastic (like change adulthood to 21) to save kids' lives.
I'm joking about the aliens. His story just sounds like an "I was abducted by aliens" story. ;-)
I agree re: "visitation". I have always hated the term "viewing", when used in this context...
It's not the only option. A number of stricter religious colleges have single-sex dorms with restricted and monitored visitation. There's signs that more of them may be trending back in that direction.
My kids are going to have the choice of paying their own way, living at home and commuting to somewhere close by, or going to one of those strict church schools.
She's interested in small Catholic colleges that are known for their orthodoxy and unwillingness to put up with stuff like this. She'll spend her first couple of years there, getting a good liberal arts base, then when she goes off to a secular college for the more technical courses, she'll get her own place and won't have to deal with that silliness.
EXCELLENT question! Obviously, the students wanted as much "freedom" as possible. Obviously, too, the schools wanted as little hassle (for as much cash) as possible. But it was the parents who had to agree, and they (really, we) did.
I remember when it really hit me how little interest the schools had in the welfare of students living in their dorms. At 16, my son as a freshman at Georgetown. His roommate had very serious mental problems. The roommate's closest friend had committed suicide shortly before the year began, and the boy seemed to be trying to follow suit. He never attended class, and he drank constantly, sometimes failing to come in at night. My son went to the residence hall assistants, to the director, and even to the priests on staff, but got no help--or even concern. Finally, he contacted the boy's parents and got him removed from school and taken for treatment. A 16-year-old should not have had to do that.
Thanks for the ping-
This story is so sad. And I noticed they took down all the missing posters in my office building.
I'm glad weird Ben Fawley is now an official suspect. That guy is a mother who is sending her daughter off to college's worst nighmare.
I think HE is just a plain nightmare. ;-)
There's a difference between a school's policy and the law. Any school that is eligible to enroll students using government-subsidized financial aid, or that takes any other federal money, is subject to all the federal laws on this topic. But beyond the limitations imposed by those laws, many schools impose further limitations via their own policies. Federal law makes a huge distinction between a student who is legally financially independent, and a student who is claimed by parents as a dependent for tax purposes. For instance, a school can't send parents the grades of an independent student, but can send parents the grades of a dependent student -- age is not the deciding factor (though IIRC, there is an age limit under tax law, for claiming a student as a dependent).
Actually it has nothing to do with the age of adulthood. It has to do with out of control liability law, some specific federal legislation relating to students' "privacy rights", federal (and state) funding which enables many students to attend schools without their parents' consent (e.g. if parents are deemed to poor to afford to contribute significantly to college costs, the taxpayers are forced to pick up the whole tab, while the horrified parents watch their kid go off and major in "Queer Studies" or "Creative Writing"). This results in most colleges treating students and potential students as the market they must sell to, and accordingly to both curriculum and rules being designed to appeal to 17-18 year olds.
As far as I know, even the strict religious colleges exercise little or no control over students' off campus travels and exploits. And of course those schools aren't a reasonable option for parents who don't agree with the religious beliefs promoted by those schools.
The parents only agreed indirectly, as nearly all colleges are heavily reliant on federal student loan programs, which are funded by taxes that none of us have much choice about paying. Per my post above, due to many parents not having the financial capacity to pay increasingly exorbitant college costs, this results in a huge pool of students who are carting around huge sums in potential tuition/room&board payments, which the government will deliver to any school that the STUDENT points to and says "Send the money there". Parents are completely cut out of the decision making process.
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