University freshman Skylar Koon doesn’t remember much about receiving his first violation for being a minor in possession of alcohol during Halloween weekend. He woke up the next day with a ticket under his pillow, he said.
“I was still dressed in my costume, and so I wanted to know what exactly happened,” Koon said. “I went and talked to the DPS officer that gave it to me and he explained the situation.”
The officer told Koon that he had been found drunkenly stumbling around outside Lawrence Hall, Koon said. When the officer contacted him, Koon didn’t know where he was coming from or where he was going.
“I guess I was really cooperative, and he liked that so he called DDS to take me back home,” Koon said. “He put the MIP in my pocket and I woke up with that.”
Because the incident happened on campus but not in the residence halls, he was referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs, where he was punished under the Student Conduct Code.
Koon was caught a second time drinking in the residence halls and once for stealing from the Fire ‘n Spice Grill. All together, Koon has gone through the University’s conduct code process three times. For his second alcohol violation and the theft charge he was also cited and sent to Eugene Municipal Court.
Koon estimates that he paid approximately $405 total in fines and fees to both the city of Eugene and the University for the three incidents.
Koon, whose cases are representative of many conduct code violations, said he believes the University should have a conduct code and be able to punish students for violating it, he said.
But he disagreed with how the Department of Public Safety and judicial affairs handle alcohol violations.
“The only thing that is going to happen is make people more careful about getting caught,” Koon said. “They’re not going to stop drinking because they got an MIP.”
Koon chose an informal hearing because the violations weren’t egregious, he said. He met with a mediator in the judicial affairs office and admitted that he violated the code, Koon said.
For his first alcohol violation, Koon was required to take a class called Choices and pay approximately $40 in fines and fees, he said.
Koon’s second alcohol violation occurred during winter term while he was drinking beer in his friend’s residence hall room. As a result, he was referred to University Housing, which found him guilty of minor in possession, possession of an open container and disruptive behavior for not cooperating with the resident advisers, Koon said.
Koon was required to take another Choices class and to pay more fines and fees, he said. The first Choices class, which he hadn’t yet taken, counted for both violations.
Koon was also cited by DPS and sent to municipal court for his second minor-in-possession citation. Through the city, he was required take a diversion class and pay fines for the drinking ticket, he said.
Koon estimates that he paid approximately $230 for the two alcohol violations to both the University and the city.
“I liked the diversion class,” Koon said. “I thought it was really cool actually. I mean it was really long, but really informative, I guess, is the best way to put it.
“I don’t think it was a waste of my time. I think the Choices class was kind of stupid, but I’m glad we have it because it’s something for them to give us that’s not too hard,” Koon said.
– Susan Goodwin