As I explained to Englishman in another thread, the fact that the student made bail does NOT necessarily mean he handed over $175,000. Most people use the services of a bail bondsman who puts up bail in exchange for a fee, often 10%. Sometimes people borrow $ to pay the fee.
If you want to know more, read this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bail_bondsman
It’s true you don’t have to actually pay the complete amount, but you have to convince the bondsman that you are not a flight risk, and that you have assets in the amount of the bail.
If you need the services of a bondsman & your bail is $175,000, that is $17,500., you are paying out for bail, whereas if you posted it yourself, the entire amount will have been refunded minus administrative fees, after your case is over.
Not that this couldn’t happen anywhere, but bad press seems to be following Wes of late. Glad my kid ain’t going there.
The sad fact is I think kids are behaving this way at lots of schools. I volunteered to help an URM with her college apps 3 years ago. She ended up at uchicago. When she came back east for thanksgiving, I met up with her & asked what she was learning & she told me she was introduced to jello shots & pot. Really, at uchicago? It’s everywhere save some conservative schools. My s2 told me tonight that the kid who got into harvard in the class year before his was known as a big drug user. I have no connection to wesleyan but I’m not comfortable bashing it for drug use when I think this incident could have happened at too many other colleges to count.
This is too easy:
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/bon-jovi-daughter-busted-heroin-article-1.1201886
Not really related . . .
This will answer some of the questions about prescription pain meds and heroin
I said it could happen anywhere, perhaps you didn’t see that. Also, I know full well about Bon Jovi’s daughter. Thank God she and her boyfriend confined it to themselves, as far as I know/read. Also, glad to know you are stalking me and tracking where my kid is attending. With that, I’m out. As they say, the parents are worse than the kids. Especially Wesleyan parents, it seems.
@RenaissanceMom , my kid’s host at her accepted student visit at U Chicago had a fully stocked bar in her room (kid snapped a surreptitious photo and showed me later). And then ditched my kid in the evening cuz kid didn’t want to go to a bar. It is not our generation’s UC any more…
I was merely agreeing with you.
@intparent: Yeah, that was my impression, too. All I know is that as a parent, I’m reading this stuff & feeling really anxious. My husband & I spoke to both our kids often about drugs & drinking while they were home. Our expectations were clear. We continue to speak to them about it. I sent them cautionary emails yesterday linking to articles about what happened at Wesleyan & reminding them that our decisions can affect lots of other ppl we care about, what I also refer to as the ripple effect. But all these kids getting into all sorts of trouble are smart kids behaving stupidly. These are kids who performed well enough to get into wesleyan, Vanderbilt, Umichigan (where I attended grad school). Every week there seems to be a new college scandal thread or two on CC. It rattles my cage.
Being smart can have little to do with common sense or impulse control.
Those things come with age & experience.
Which means it’s time to plug EK’s advice of taking a gap year.
^that’s true. But how many of the kids involved were upper classmen? will one gap year suffice? I guess it’s a start.
One of the defendants is a 21 year old sophomore. I assume he took a gap year or two. If he is guilty, it doesn’t seem to have helped.ETA The sophomore, Zachary Kramer,seems to have spent a gap year working for the National Institute of Health.https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/pub/zachary-kramer/3a/105/867
Two of the defendants are 20 and two (including the sophomore) are 21. These aren’t first year students. Other news accounts say all of those who ODed were sophomores.
Bloomberg has a bit more info about the accused. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-25/four-wesleyan-students-arrested-after-overdoses-of-molly
Ha! This passage from the Bloomberg article cracked me up:
Jennifer Zito, an attorney for Kramer, said no drugs were found in his possession and he was released on $5,000 bond.
“He’s been caught up in a dragnet sweep by law enforcement,” Zito said in a phone interview. “He’s an exceptional kid and an exceptional student.” Kramer won a slam poetry contest and sings in an a capella group, she said.
Hmm…maybe I’m misreading something…or maybe Kramer wasn’t entirely honest in his linkedin profile. Read it yourself and decide. (ETA. Mea culpa: his internship at the FDA was while he was a senior in high school. He did a gap year after that. So my post # 94 is just plain wrong. He DID do a gap year, though.)
But, given EK’s comment that the accused students would have benefited from a gap year, I think this is relevant:
Nah…again, assuming Kramer is in fact guilty, I think he kind of proves that taking a gap year doesn’t stop you from making stupid decisions.
I dont know the students in question, but I think many students would benefit from a gap year to reflect and take stock into why they want to attend college, rather than it be the only choice permitted after high school graduation.
I do wonder what he would have done if he hadnt taken time off.
But Im not going to comb the web to try and find out.
And do what with the gap year? Does that presume that the parents have the money to pay for a program? Or the connections to find the kid a great job? Or would the kid be living at home with a minimum wage job? There may be good reasons for a gap year, especially if the parents have the money or connections to provide a great experience. Kids stuck at home may end up bored and partying with high school kids or going to visit friends at college on weekends to party there. If a kid is unsure about college, has a great opportunity, or is particularly immature, it may make sense. But not realistic in most cases.
My daughter told me that her sorority had to deal with some of the younger girls using Molly a few years ago ( she graduated from Northeastern in 2013 ) As far as I know, no one overdosed , but it wasn’t tolerated within the sorority…not sure if the school was even made aware of it.
I have a problem when someone refers to a " bad batch " as if any of it is safe.
We really need to stress to our children to stay away from these awful drugs.
As a side note, the heroin problem where I grew up in Mass is astonishing ! Young people are falling to this drug at an alarming rate.
We are hearing about it more and more in the area where I currently live too…