don't drink & drive, DON'T DRINK & WALK

College Life
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<p>Grieving friends face charges </p>

<p>Allowed Miami student killed by train to get alcohol, police say </p>

<p>Sunday, April 22, 2007</p>

<p>Associated Press </p>

<p>Oxford, Ohio -- Five friends of a Miami University student killed by a freight train were charged with helping the 19-year-old get drunk, police said. </p>

<p>Beth Speidel, a sophomore from Strongsville, became separated from her friends and was killed April 14 while walking away from campus about a mile from her dorm. </p>

<p>Her blood-alcohol level was 0.229 percent, authorities said. Under Ohio law, a driver is considered drunk at 0.08 percent. </p>

<p>Speidel visited an off-campus apartment and at least two bars before she died, police said. </p>

<p>Four Miami students -- Kathleen Byrne, 19, of Perry; Christine Carr, 19, of Canton; Danielle Davis, 20, of Perry; and Kristina Sicker, 20, of Louisville, Ohio -- were charged Friday with permitting underage consumption at a private place, a misdemeanor, police said. </p>

<p>Another student, Maureen Grady, 20, of North Canton, was charged with furnishing alcohol to an underage person at a bar, also a misdemeanor. Grady gave Speidel a drink at an undisclosed bar, police said. </p>

<p>Court hearings were scheduled for next month. If convicted, each student faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. </p>

<p>Oxford police Sgt. Jim Squance said the situation is sad because Speidel's friends are facing criminal accusations while grieving her death. </p>

<p>"We're very sensitive to the victim and the victim's family and friends," he said. "We know that emotions are running very high now, but we have an obligation and a duty to issue citations if we feel there's been a violation of the law -- and that's exactly what we did."</p>

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<p>Freight train??? Does it run through the center of town?</p>

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<p>6 months in jail for a misdemeanor would be ridiculous.</p>

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<p>when i was in high school, something like that happened. the kids were walking on the train tracks when the train started to come... one girl was still on the tracks, so the boy dove to save her and ended up being killed (she lived).</p>

<p>thing is, the tracks were on a bridge-type thing which ran above a busy street. he wasn't killed so much by the impact of the train as he was by falling onto the street below and being hit by a car. i think he was 17 or so. it was horrible.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Four Miami students -- Kathleen Byrne, 19, of Perry; Christine Carr, 19, of Canton; Danielle Davis, 20, of Perry; and Kristina Sicker, 20, of Louisville, Ohio -- were charged Friday with permitting underage consumption at a private place, a misdemeanor, police said.</p>

<p>Another student, Maureen Grady, 20, of North Canton, was charged with furnishing alcohol to an underage person at a bar, also a misdemeanor. Grady gave Speidel a drink at an undisclosed bar, police said.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>and yet the 21-year old who supplied the 20-year olds with alcohol doesn't get charged with anything?</p>

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<p>The story about the guy getting hit by a train AND car - omg, what a horrible way to die.</p>

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<p>so whats the point???? everyones suppossed to stop drinking because some moron did something stupid...i dont mean to be insensitive, but things like this almost never happen...it was a fluke and that does not mean that people cannot drink</p>

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<p>"Allowed Miami student killed by train to get alcohol, police say"</p>

<p>Congrats to the reporter for making this nonsensical statement. </p>

<p>P.S. Don't freight trains run pretty damn slowly? (thus also allowing runaways/criminals to hop on) The girl was dumb.</p>

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<p>I'm going to be totally honest, the kids were completely irresponsible for letting someone who was that drunk wander off alone, but at the same time they're not tally at fault because it may not have been obvious how drunk she was, and she may have been difficult to stop from leaving.</p>

<p>On the other hand, she was also stupid for taking the actions she did (though I'm not so much talking about the train, which is understandable as she was drunk, but rather the fact that she actually let herself go that far).</p>

<p>Overall, this smacks of justice that depends not on the actions but on the consequences, which I dislike. If she had just been a public nuisance the odds of her friends even being charged would be low, and I think it's a bit too much of a double standard for my liking to crack down so harshly with recommended sentences for such a minor charge - in spite of the tragic consequences.</p>

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<p>cards4life, i see no mention of a 21 year old. The fact that they were drinking at bars in no way means someone was 21.</p>

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<p>"cards4life, i see no mention of a 21 year old. The fact that they were drinking at bars in no way means someone was 21."</p>

<p>Actually it does. You have to be > 21 < in order to purchase/consume liquor in this country. SOOooo, by induction, someone over 21 HAD to have purchased them alcohol. Now whether it was by a direct or indirect purchase is another story. If no one bought liquor for them that means the people checking for ID bought them the liquor. So someone had to be 21. And they are to blame :) </p>

<p>I find it funny about who actually gets prosecuted for these "crimes." I would love to see these college towns actually investigate how much money is transfered between the bars and the police. It is NEVER the bars fault for underage minors drinking in THEIR vicinity. Hell, most bars actually promote underage drinking with their stupid 21 "checks."</p>

<p>I see no reason why these kids should be charged. Unless they specifically bought her the alcohol (even if they did, it is the person who is OVER 21 who really is to blame) they should have nothing to do with the accident.</p>

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<p>Fraud on the part of the student using the fake ID makes the server culpable? I think that is what you are telling us?</p>

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<p>Nothing was mentioned about a fake ID that I read. </p>

<p>And no, that is NOT what I was telling you.</p>

<p>It is VERY easy to get into bars and get around the "21 checks." Hence me mentioning it in my former post. </p>

<p>Where I go to school, the minimal age to enter a bar is 19. All the bars do something different to check your age for 21. MOST use a wristband. A WRISTBAND. I can literally walk three blocks away to the damn party store and buy all the color wrist bands I want. My favorite way to get into the bars and still be a 21 year old (I'm 19) is to just give them my right hand to stamp with the 21 sticker when they check my ID.</p>

<p>It is not hard. </p>

<p>Now, if she purchased her drinks illegally, the fault rests on her, and NO ONE else. Which is what I stated in my last post...</p>

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<p>
[quote]
**My favorite way to get into the bars and still be a 21 year old (I'm 19) is to just give them my right hand to stamp with the 21 sticker when they check my ID.

[/quote]
**</p>

<p>I totally do not understand this. Apparently you can enter the bar at the age of 19 but cannot purchase nor consume alcohol? If your ID is for 19 and they are certifiying you as 21......it is fraud. You know how old you are, you are posing as an age older than fact.</p>

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<p>Yes, at my school the bars allow you to enter at 19, but you can't consume alcohol. The have another test (besides checking your ID) to identify you as someone of legal age (wristbands, hand stamps, etc). </p>

<p>I should have been more clear. As for what you posted, they either put a 19 stamp on your left hand or a 21 stamp on your right. When he goes to stamp, I just hold out my right hand and the guy assumes he read my ID wrong and gives me the 21 stamp. Not too much of a hastle...</p>

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<p>This is ridiculous, why should someone be charged for the independent actions of a 19 year old. When are we going to start holding people accountable for their own actions god dammit, when they're 40 years old? This makes as much sense as the pawn shop owner getting charged in the virginia tech murder.</p>

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<p>Clearly the bar cares more about your money than about the legality of selling you beer. Sounds easy enough to get in and pay for drinks. Do you walk or take cabs out of curiosity?</p>

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<p>I walk. The bars are on average...idk 4-5 blocks away. I have never put myself in a position where I can't think clearly. I don't like losing too much control of my body lol.<br>
The only cabs we have are those emergency cabs, like when girls get too wasted and don't want to be picked up by some sicko on the way home.</p>

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<p>I was stunned when I visited friends on other campuses about the lack of cabs. Seems to me that walking back home leaves one open to citation for PI but hey, what do I know. Much of the USA drinking community is set up for violations and revenue from citations. Hard to figure. Cab should be easy to flag and honest enough to deliver folks from the bar to home......seems to me.</p>

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<p>Lol, they love to get you at the lights around here..</p>