The Kennesaw Police Department is accused of breathalyzing Electric Cowboy customers as they leave the club in an effort to catch underage drinkers, according to patrons.

In an anonymous tip sent to The Sentinel in early April, one informant said a “sting operation” occurred against minors at the Kennesaw club, in which the word of a bouncer at the club could have a patron sent outside, where officers were waiting to test the blood alcohol level of individuals suspected of underage drinking.

The tip also called for a boycott of Electric Cowboy because of what the author referred to as “Gestapo tactics,” which could result in a permanent arrest record that could negatively impact students applying for jobs or transferring schools.

Attempts to contact the anonymous informant were unsuccessful, as the informant did not respond to The Sentinel’s follow-up to the claim that 65 students were arrested in one night at Electric Cowboy.

Justin Gillis, the general manager of Electric Cowboy, said that while the club does use Kennesaw police to help with safety precautions, no such sting operations are occurring.

“The only point at which a Kennesaw police officer will [test the blood alcohol level of ] an underage patron would be if they are suspected of underage consumption,” Gillis said, “or if one of my staff has seen an underage person drinking.”

Gillis denied that the club or the Kennesaw Police Department screened underage patrons as they were leaving the club.

According to Kennesaw State student Robbie Cox, this simply isn’t true.

Cox, a junior majoring in Business, said he was just one of the club’s many guests asked to submit to a blood alcohol test one night in March.

Not denying that he blew over the legal limit, Cox said he believes the methods used by police to catch underage drinkers are unethical. He said he saw a number of minors being tested and arrested as they attempted to leave the club.

Suspects younger than 21 can be arrested if their blood alcohol content is .02 or higher.

After being tested and arrested, Cox was sent to jail where he was placed in a cell with other underage drinkers from the club.

“I was in a cell with 15 guys,” he said, “and in the cell next to ours was about the same number of people from the club.” That figure doesn’t include the number of women allegedly arrested at the club that night, which Cox said was around eight or nine.

Officer Scott Luther of the Kennesaw Police Department denied that such methods are used, saying that officers are not at the club simply to catch underage drinkers.

“The city ordinance states that a concert hall of that size has to hire two off-duty officers to help with security outside the business,” Luther said. “If there is any suspicion of a minor drinking, part of this operation is that you check in with an officer.”

Luther said that arresting underage drinkers isn’t a nightly occurance, but if there is suspicion that someone has been drinking, whether seen by an officer of the Kennesaw Police Department or one of the staff at Electric Cowboy, the patron’s blood alcohol level would be tested.

As to the the claims that most, if not all minors are tested when trying to leave the club, Luther said, “that’s impossible.”

“There’s no way we could test 50 minors or every underage person within one night.”

Officer Luther said the only time an investigation begins is when a club employee smells alcohol on a minor trying to pick up his/her I.D. from the front desk.

“As soon as an underage person comes out, they don’t just stop them and start an investigation,” Luther said. “There’s a lot more to it than that. There’s not enough minutes in the day to test every single underage person who comes in there.”

A normal Friday morning in March was transformed into one full of patrolling, scoping and ticketing during a ride- along with KSU Police officer Garry Dicks.

The KSU Department of Public Safety is composed of 34 sworn-in, certified police officers dedicated to enforcing state laws, federal laws and local ordinances as well as patrolling and providing security for the campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

According to the KSU Police mission statement, “The Department of Public Safety exists to ensure that Kennesaw State University remains a safe and secure community, conducive to the free exchange of ideas within an active setting.”

After signing a waiver relieving KSU Police of any liability from injuries that may occur during a ride-along, any individual involved within the KSU community is free to climb into the passenger seat of a patrol car to spend two hours living the life of an on-duty KSU campus police officer.

In the early morning of March 8, Officer Garry Dicks prepares himself for a regular day of patrolling– execpt this time he will be accompanied by a ride-along passenger in his squad car.

At 9:30 a.m., Dicks begins his day patrolling areas such as Chastain Road, Frey Road, Busbee Drive and George Busbee Parkway.

“We cover a lot of ground,” Dicks said. “Technically our jurisdiction runs 500 yards off of any state property. Then if you wanted to get more technical, being that we’re state employees, technically we’re state police officers, so our jurisdiction is statewide.”

The official jurisdiction for all KSU police officers includes any property owned, rented, leased, controlled or occupied by the Board of Regents and spans another 500 yards in all directions from these properties. Excitement sets in at 10:17 a.m. as Dicks turns on his flashing lights to flag down and pull over a Toyota Solara for having an expired tag. After speaking to the driver and looking closer at the tag, Dicks realizes that he’s made a mistake and the driver’s tag is actually accurate.

“Her decal was valid,” Dicks said. “So I smiled, I apologized and I told her the tags are busy and it was hard to tell whether [hers] was valid or not. She said she completely understood.”

At 10:45 a.m. Dicks pulls over a Nissan Xterra for making an illegal U-turn at a red light. This time Dicks ticketed the driver for a traffic violation.

Dicks is allowed to ticket drivers both on and off campus because all KSU police officers are authorized by Cobb County to enforce all county codes related to traffic enforcement.

According to Public Safety Director Ted Cochran, however, when a KSU police officer makes an arrest, the suspect must be transferred to Cobb County’s detention facility.

“We do not have holding facilities,” Cochran said in an email. “When an arrest is made, the subject is transported to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.”

Several members of the KSU community were honored at the inaugural Presidential Diversity Awards for their involvement with the university and recognized for their commitment to making KSU a more diverse, equitable and inclusive institution.

KSU President Daniel Papp was in attendance along with nearly 100 others for the first-ever Presidential Diversity Award Ceremony held Monday, April 22 at 1 p.m. in the Prillaman Hall auditorium. The purpose of the event was to recognize outstanding members of the community and award them for their various achievements and efforts to make Kennesaw State a unique institution of higher learning.

KSU’s Chief Diversity Officer Erik Malewski welcomed the audience members before speaking about the importance of recognizing individuals who promote diversity across campus.

“As many of you know, diversity work can easily go unrecognized,” Malewski said. “For this reason, diversity and equity work often comes from a different place within us.”

Malewski said the hard work of individuals within their communities, although important, often goes unrecognized and unrewarded. He said the award ceremony is important because it honors the “trail-blazers” of the institution, the individuals who compel others to become better people and challenge their assumptions.

“The work they do is a result of a calling, a sense of being called to do work for the collective good of different communities– to making things better– to righting wrongs so that humanity as a whole might be better.”

President Papp delivered the ceremony’s opening remarks.

He said the awards “epitomize our continued pursuit of inclusive excellence.”

“These awards speak to our past and offer a glimpse of what our future can be,” he continued.

Following Papp’s speech, Kennesaw State’s Presidential Commission Chairs were introduced. These faculty members gave brief speeches before recognizing the Diversity Award winners and presenting them with plaques for their various accomplishments.

Disability Strategies and Resources Chair Elizabeth Tindel awarded Jill Sloan the Carol J. Pope Award for Distinction for her role as assistant executive director and program coordinator for the Academy for Inclusive Learning and Social Growth. Sloan works to improve opportunities for KSU students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Gender and Work Life Issues Chair Robert Wise honored KSU student Flora Lowe-Rockett for her efforts to develop a childcare facility on campus for non-traditional students with children.

Ana Baida, the associate director of Career Servives and chair of Kennesaw State’s GLBTIQ Initiatives, presented Kennesaw State’s Associate Provost Teresa Joyce with the Gender and Work Life Issues Outstanding Contribution Award. Joyce was recognized for working to improve the college experience of KSU’s LGBT community.

Sociology Professor Jesse Benjamin was awarded the R.O.H. Social Justice Award for Racial and Ethnic dialogue for his role as faculty adviser for KSU’s African and African Diaspora Studies and well as his work with the school’s NAACP chapter.

Benjamin has been teaching for 16 years, seven of which have been at KSU. Benjamin, a self-proclaimed “Pro-Palestinian Israeli,” said he “stands for all forms of social justice” and identifies with oppressed groups around the world Kennesaw State Biology Professor and Director of Sustainability, R.C. Paul, was presented the Sustainability Award for Distinction for his help in creating KSU’s Climate Commitment Council.

Lastly, KSU Student and Iraq War veteran Derek Ridings was given the Excellence in Service and Leadership Award for his work with fellow KSU veterans.

Ridings, who works at the Veterans Resource Center on campus, served in the Army and spent three tours of duty in Iraq over the course of five and a half years.

“It was nice to be recognized for my work,” Ridings said. “It was a neat experience and I was honored to receive it.”

On March 26 and 27, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for cases concerning the constitutionality of same-sex marriage.

Proponents argue that gay marriage is a constitutional right and same-sex couples should be afforded the same federal and state benefits as other married couples.

Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that marriage, by definition, is between a man and a woman and therefore gay marriages should not be recognized and same-sex couples should not be given the same marriage benefits as heterosexual partners.

Russell Matherly, a freshman Musical Theatre major, opposes gay marriage.

“I have grown up as a Christian,” Matherly said. “I understand that homosexuality in and of itself is wrong. It’s a sin.”

Kim Riggins, a senior Communication major, says same-sex marriage is a civil right.

“I don’t think that anybody has the right to dictate who you can get married to and who you can’t,” Riggins said, “especially if their reason for doing so is based on a religious belief. That’s a direct violation of the First Amendment.”

Political Science professor Kenneth White agrees that same-sex marriage is a First Amendment issue.

“As I see it, marriage is about friendship,” White said. “We marry our best friend. The government cannot pick our best friend for us; we get to choose our best friend and whether to marry him or her.”

In late March, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments concerning both the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, and Proposition 8.

The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law by President Clinton in September 1996.
It restricts federal marriage benefits and federal recognition of same-sex marriages. DOMA defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman for federal tax purposes, refusing to recognize the marital status of same-sex couples that were married in states that permit gay marriage.

The bill also gives individual states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in another state.

The constitutionality of Section Three of DOMA is what is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court. Section Three of the bill permits only couples in opposite-sex marriages to receive federal marriage benefits. These benefits include tax breaks for married couples, spousal and survival Social Security benefits, hospital visitation rights and pensions received from working as a government employee.

Jessica Bull, the program coordinator for KSU’s GLBTIQ Student Retention Services, said the issue concerning DOMA is whether the federal government should recognize the legal marriages of another state.

“Some justices on the Supreme Court look at this as a federalism issue,” Bull said. “Marriage has always been left up to the states. The question here is [whether] the federal government is overstepping their bounds by making a legal definition of marriage.”

The other case brought before the Supreme Court concerns the legality of California’s Proposition 8, a referendum placed on the state’s 2008 election ballot in which California voters overturned the state Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

The referendum resulted in a ban on same-sex marriage in California. Same-sex couples married before the law was reversed were grandfathered in and allowed to stay married and receive full benefits but no other same-sex couples have been allowed to marry in the state since.

“There’s a good possibility that both cases will actually just get thrown out,” Bull said. “If that doesn’t happen, they can make a ruling that is specific to California and say ‘you can’t take away rights that were already given and agree with the lower court.’”

Bull also said another possible outcome could be that the court rules that states cannot offer same-sex couples anything less than marriage. This ruling would require states that offer civil unions and domestic partnerships to offer full marriage to gay couples.

Heather Patterson, a sophomore Psychology major and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, thinks gay marriage should be legalized.

“It should absolutely be legal,” Patterson said. “It has no effect on me as a ‘straight’ person. It’s ridiculous that people who love each other can’t get married and get benefits. When I was married, that automatically entitled my husband to a huge number of rights. If I had died in Afghanistan he got my flag.”

Riggins said she thinks gay marriage will be legalized in the near future as the younger generation grows older and takes charge of the country.

“That’s how it usually works, unfortunately,” Riggins said. “A good many citizens in this country will have to wait for full recognized civil rights. In 2013, it’s kind of ridiculous.”

Despite his opposition to same-sex marriage, Matherly said he also believes gay marriage will be legalized sometime in his lifetime.

“If you were to ask my grandmother her views on it, she would say ‘Oh, there’s no way this would ever become legalized,’” Matherly said. “It’s almost like a completely different world nowadays.”

At the April 18 SGA meeting, Diane Walker, director of the Department of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, announced that policy changes would be made to the KSU Student Code of Conduct concerning both hazing and sexual misconduct.

She said the proposed changes to the current hazing policy in the Student Code of Conduct would not change the existing rules and policies so much as they would define and elaborate on them.

“It doesn’t change the hazing policy,”Walker said in the meeting. “It just makes it more clear to students.”

She said the changes to the Student Code of Conduct concerning hazing policies would do a better job defining and listing examples of hazing.

The new entry will define hazing as “any intentional, negligent or reckless action, activity or situation that endangers or is likely to endanger the physical health of an individual or causes an individual pain, embarrassment, ridicule or harassment as a condition or precondition of gaining acceptance, membership, office other status in a student group, whether or not such group is formally recognized by the university and regardless of the individual’s willingness to participate.”

Walker said punishment for hazing would now extend to groups outside the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. Walker also announced new additions to the current sexual misconduct policy, including new definitions of what constitutes consent.

Consent will now be defined as a “freely and affirmatively communicated willingness to participate in particular sexual activity or behavior, expressed either by words or clear, unambiguous actions.”

She said the Title IX office would now investigate cases of sexual misconduct and the hearings would go through the SCAI office.

Walker then turned the floor over to Deidra Dennie, the director for KSU’s Equal Employment Opportunity Office and Title IX and Nwakaego Nkumeh, assistant legal counsel for the university. The women presented data about sexual violence before discussing what constitutes sexual misconduct.

Dennie said that any claims of sexual misconduct must be followed by an investigation.

She said that the police must be contacted following any allegations of sexual misconduct but the police report could not be used as evidence in the school’s investigation.

Dennie made it clear that any student who reports any act of sexual misconduct will have their identity protected.

“Although KSU is a very safe campus, it’s also a very public campus and we want to make sure you guys are safe,” Dennie said.

The Women’s Resource Center and the KSU Student Taskforce on Interpersonal Violence co-hosted the Take Back the Night event Wednesday evening, April 17 on the Campus Green to raise awareness about sexual violence and assault.

Located on the third floor of Kennesaw Hall, the Women’s Resource Center strives to promote healthy campus community relationships and improve KSU’s response to and prevention of interpersonal violence.

Emily Ramirez, director of the Women’s Resource and Interpersonal Violence Prevention Center, works to provide the resources and support needed by students who have been affected by interpersonal violence.

“We hope to bring awareness to the campus community that sexual violence exists, particularly on college campuses,” Ramirez said in an email.

Meanwhile, the Student Taskforce on Interpersonal Violence looks into the issues of sexual violence, domestic abuse, harassment and stalking while providing counseling and psychological services on campus.

The two groups co-hosted the Take Back the Night event to inform the campus community about the dangers of sexual violence. The event takes place every year in April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“STIV and the Women’s Resource Center hope to start a conversation about interpersonal violence in our community,” said Alyssa Varhol, a senior Psychology and English major and president of STIV. “We also want to help give a voice to the survivors in our community.”

For more than 35 years, the main focus of Take Back the Night has been to eliminate sexual violence in all forms.

The KSU event began with speeches from guest speakers, including a KSU faculty member, a sexual violence survivor with experience in minority and immigrant discrimination, a KSU Police Department lieutenant, a YMCA domestic violence shelter representative and a local high school sophomore activist. After the last speaker, the event held an open-mic survivor speak-out where sexual assault survivors within the audience were given the opportunity to tell their stories on the crowded Campus Green.

Several students, including Tara Latimer, a junior majoring in Psychology and Criminal Justice, said they were touched by many of the survivors’ stories and shocked to see how many people within their community had fallen victim of sexual assault.

“I really loved that they opened up the mic for survivors to speak out,” said Latimer. “That part really allowed reality to sink in that this happens every day to people I know. It’s not some far away problem.”

The event concluded with a candlelight procession to University Village, during which audience members were able to reflect on the stories they heard as they experienced walking safely at night.

Junior Exercise and Health Science major Leslie Wade said she felt the event was very informative and eye-opening.

“Most people, including myself, aren’t aware of how many women are sexually abused and violated throughout their lifetime,” said Wade. “After attending this event, I feel more aware of the dangers and reality of sexual violence everywhere.”

The A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research sent out voluntary email surveys to Kennesaw State students, faculty and staff to determine whether the KSU community supports a campus-wide ban on smoking.

KSU’s current restricted smoking policy permits members of the community to smoke only in designated areas around campus.

The first page of the survey states “the intent of this research is to gather opinions regarding the possibility of making KSU a smoke-free campus.”The survey asks participants if they encounter second-hand smoke on campus and whether they support the idea of a campus-wide ban.

“We currently have 336 completed surveys from faculty members, 691 completed surveys from staff members, and 3536 completed surveys from students,” said Paul Vaughn, Assistant director for Survey Technologies at the Burruss Institute.

According to Vaughn, the Burruss Institute is a research institute within KSU that conducts telephone, email and Internet surveys on behalf of the university and other non- profit entities throughout the state.

Essentially, organizations come to the institute seeking to acquire data. The Burruss Institute then compiles and conducts surveys before analyzing the results.

The principal investigator of the “KSU Smoke-Free Campus Survey” is KSU’s vice president for operations, Dr. Randy Hinds.

His office contacted the Burruss Institute and asked if the institute would be interested in conducting the survey.

“The idea of conducting a survey was the outcome of a meeting between KSU Student Government Association President Rosalyn Hedgepeth and myself,” Hinds said in an email. “The survey will close on April 26 and then an analysis of the data will be conducted.”

He said the university’s smoking policy has been a “perennial topic” for years.

“A substantial effort was made to accommodate both smokers and non-smokers with the construction of designated smoking areas around campus,” he said. “What unfortunately continues to happen, and the number one complaint expressed by students, faculty and staff is that some smokers congregate outside the access doors to the various buildings, creating a gauntlet of smoke to be maneuvered.”

Hinds said that several confrontations have occurred between these smokers and KSU faculty members.

“Any changes to the campus smoking policy will depend on the results of the survey, discussions with the SGA and briefings to the faculty, administrators and staff senates,” Hinds said. “A logical outcome of this process could be redesigning the campus as a smoke-free environment.”

Kenneth White, professor of Political science and Criminal Justice and president-elect of the Faculty Senate thinks the proposed smoking ban is a bad idea.

“As a general rule, prohibition is a bad idea for nearly everything except nuclear bombs,” White said. “If people are currently not smoking in designated zones on campus, then step up enforcement of the current policy. When people break a parking rule, we don’t ban parking.”

Political Science major and non-smoker Lyndsey Perez said the smoke outside the Social Sciences Building sometimes bothers her.

Guillermo Dominguez, a smoker studying International Affairs, said he empathizes with the non-smokers.

“I could see how it would be beneficial to ban it, but at the same time I could see students having a fuss about it,” Dominguez said.

Derek Kleiber, a junior studying Psychology, said he took the smoking survey.

“I think it’s important to have these [smoking] areas,” Kleiber said. “I used to go to Georgia Highlands and they don’t. You’re supposed to smoke in your car. Several times I’d see people sneaking around the building or sneaking onto the roof and it’s much easier with the smoking circles.”

Kleiber said that if KSU implemented a smoking ban, students would probably do it anyway.

The Sentinel will continue to follow the story and report on the results of the campus smoke-free survey after the survey closes and the data has been analyzed.