I admit I am no longer privy to current recruiting practices at NIACC; however I once was, and I stand by every word I wrote.
“ONCE THE GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE, IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT BACK IN.”
I plant a garden, and I have found that if you pay attention to the weeds at the beginning they are much easier to control than if you let them run wild and try to eradicate them later. This is exactly what NIACC did in the beginning of their sports program. And lets be clear here, I am talking about Football and Basketball as the main draw. I am not necessarily talking about when the school first opened it’s doors but not that long ago there were contingents from the athletic department that traveled to the cities I mentioned to enlist players to come here to play ball. That is very easy to prove.
Now the damage has been done; it’s not about color it’s about drugs. Do any of you really think that the drugs that flowed through that school were going to be restricted to their property line? Do you think drugs are restricted to certain economic levels or gender? It is well known that whites use more drugs than blacks, but more blacks go to jail for these offenses than do whites. That does not interest me, I am only interested in this community where I reside. I know how the drugs got here…not all of them but certainly a considerable amount.
This has been one of those “untouchable” subjects in this town for a long time, but now that one young man has been murdered and gun shots are a common occurrence on the North End, the time has come to get it out in the open. Bring it out into the light of day, I’m tired of this “privileged bullshit. If you went to NIACC and had wonderful experience, then that’s great…but I have some standing by that were upset that the administration did not do more to police the dorms. They say the hallways were frightening to walk through on occasion, that you could buy any drug you wanted, and some drugs were offered free just to get you hooked…then it would turn ugly once you came looking and it was known you could not come with cash. One girl told me she had to “Service” all of the drug pushers friends or go without. “You gotta do what you gotta do,” she said. You want to think twice before you send your child into that swamp. For a collage there are more important things in life than bank balances. These young people moving in to the dorms from small towns surrounding Mason City are not without knowledge when it comes to drugs, but not the “in your face approach” that goes on in the hallways.
For too long the main focus of the school has been just to fill the desks and the dorms with little or no thought as to what took place after hours; this has to stop. There needs to be a serious plan with serious consequences set up at that school with the safety of the students as priority number one.
When NIACC instigated a drug plan, they ran it themselves. How nice. No football player got tested during season, no basketball player got tested during season….only off season, how nice. Why didn’t NIACC bring in an independent agency to implement the program? Because they probably wouldn’t have been able to field a team. It was all a God damn joke. If push comes to shove, most of these guys were offered “deferred” grading until the season was over…that way they could stay eligible.
I propose a citizen’s committee with some clergy, the police maybe a couple of hot shot regents that know it all, but have never been in those dank confining rooms; they should spend a few nights in there. Then of course some faculty and a couple students. Let these people set standards that must be followed with the consequences being eviction.
Although this city itself does not have a canine dog (about $15,000), but they can bring in estimators to propose a $65,000.00 to move Eric’s desk, the college needs to invest in such an animal that will go through those hallways constantly. That should be the rigor for every school. At least it would be a start.
Peter Children
You should read the paper published in the Animal Cognition journal in 2010 on handler beliefs affecting outcomes in drug dog seaches.
http://www.npca.net/Files/SWGDOG/LIT%20Study.pdf
It will change your outlook on law enforcements use of K9s. Junk science.
Sorry, Peter, but I’m totally against busting students for possession of marijuana. If you’re talking HARD drugs I might go along with you. 23% of teens use marijuana (harmlessly, I might add) and you’re talking about running a lot of good kids out of our community college.
If you think it’s right to arrest people for possessing small amounts of marijuana then you’re not as intelligent as I thought. I always thought you were a good Democrat but you’ve gone way over to the conservative side. ‘Splain, please.
I think you miss the point. Pot is illegal, end of conversation. Justify it all you wish, but at the end of the day, people who use it, people who grow it, and people who sell it, are breaking the law.
Is that really the kind of people you want your neighborhood, community, county, state? A bunch of drugheads? What these drug users are saying is, we don’t care about you or anyone else! Can you really trust such people? Sure, humans are less than perfect. But our society is based upon respecting and obeying the law. It is part and parcel of being a U.S. citizen.
Either you are on the side of a law abiding society, or you are not. No grey areas.
I am going to write an op-ed article calling out the President of the United States that since the 9/11 attacks….
“WE NEED MORE SECURITY CHECKS IN AIRPORTS!”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Or calling out Chevrolet, Toyota, and General Motor Company and saying….
“WE NEED AIRBAGS IN VEHICLES!”
But hey, if you say it loud enough it seems as if you are looking out for the betterment of everyone and you are onto something that others aren’t!
Little late to the party.
That phone call should be interesting. The follow-up article could be quite interesting.
I appreciate the honesty in clarifying the fact you have no clue about the recruiting practices at NIACC any longer. I respect that you admitted that.
I would do some research on NIACC athletics drug policy and testing now.
I would also do some research on drug dog’s going through the dorms. You might be surprised. Call someone. You might like the answer you get since this is what you want.
Looking forward to seeing your op-ed article after making that phone call.
You know, what is really apparent, NIACC and their bloggers do not want to take any responsibility for bringing some of the people to Mason City that ultimately sell drugs to other students and North Iowa Residents.
They would rather rag on the messenger, in this case Pete Children then step up to the plate. While not all the drugs sold in this town are due to NIACC students, in the case of the D-boys or the Detroit connection, NIACC is the logical source.
I hope your article don’t fall on deaf ears and NIACC calls for a joint community action plan to address this
scourge in Mason City.
Can you enlighten us as to which sport brought in players from Detroit?
OK Peter-Your work here is done for today. You have stirred up the native’s one more time. People are so nieve in thinking it doesn’t happen here or in NIACC. It does and it will. The government has been trying to stamp it out unsuccessfully for years and can’t get a handle on it. It is just like prohibition. It doesn’t work. Make it legal and tax and control it and the problem will be solved.
“It is well known that whites use more drugs than blacks, but more blacks go to jail for these offenses than do whites.” Really? This statement is well known? Now you’re just making stuff up. There is no way in hell you can prove that this is true or that it is well known.
Peter, at least this “op-ed” was not as non factual as your last one was on this subject. But you are still wrong about NIACC.
Yes, there will be problems in the Dorms. (All universities go through this, not just NIACC.)
I would encourage the 6 people that have contacted you as you claim to contact the police. If you are so concerend about it, why don’t you park your butt out there to find out the real truth? You are witch hunting. To say NIACC supports this and promotes drug pushing is over the top at best.
They don’t think the police will do anything against the school…and they’re right.
For the most part these are girls who have been out of school for about 4 years, one maybe 3 years.
Why don’t you offer your services to clean up the mess at NIACC? You have nothing but time on your hands anyway. After all you have done to make the world aware of the many ills Mason City has, you surely can get this little drug problem cleared up by next weekend.
Peter, are you sure about the K-9 unit?
As it relates to the MC Police, they have no dog.