dannyboy
21 Jun 2007, 10:49 AM
link (http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070621/NEWS01/706210373)
BY JANICE MORSE | JMORSE@ENQUIRER.COM
OXFORD - The South Locust Street railroad crossing here remains a popular path for pedestrians - even drunk ones - even after a train struck and killed an intoxicated, underage Miami University student.
"Everybody walks here - and you see a lot of drunk people walking along the tracks. You can tell by the way they are moving," Michael Hadley, 18, said as he and his brother, Steve Brandenburg, crossed the tracks en route from their house to their office jobs.
Like many here, the brothers aren't sure how they feel about five of Beth Speidel's friends being criminally charged with helping the 19-year-old to get drunk. Speidel was struck and killed by a train in April after going drinking with friends.
Three of the accused women - Christine Carr, Kathleen Byrne and Kristina Sicker - have court appearances today on charges of permitting underage consumption at a private place.
Danielle Davis faces the same charge in court July 5. Maureen Grady is to appear June 28 on a charge of furnishing alcohol to an underage person while at an uptown bar.
Like Speidel, the women were themselves too young to drink legally.
Amid debate over the fairness of prosecuting them, in Oxford there seems to be consensus on one point: The case illustrates the damage wrought by irresponsible alcohol use.
In this case, it cost Speidel her life, and her friends face legal, emotional and practical consequences.
The case shows that many college students don't heed the messages they hear frequently about drinking legally and responsibly, says Harry Bauer, a Miami senior who has taught alcohol-awareness sessions.
"Drinking is such a cultural problem in college," Bauer said. "It has become a status symbol, almost, to tell about all the stupid things you did when you were drunk. People brag about how messed-up they got. It's almost like, 'Check out how hard I can party.' "
He didn't know Speidel, but he did notice the reports after she died that her blood-alcohol level that was more than twice the 0.08 legal driving limit.
"It's damn near impossible to do anything in your right mind when you've been drinking that much," Bauer said. "I feel so bad saying it, but her death really can't be attributed to anybody but her, unless they find some sign of foul play."
Bauer said the "drinking culture" is more to blame than Speidel's friends are. To him, and others, going after Speidel's five friends smacks of "selective prosecution."
But authorities disagree. Police say they press charges in such cases whenever they get sufficient evidence - which isn't often. And this case was even more uncommon because it involved a fatality.
In Oxford, police cited 243 people as underage drinkers during the 2006-07 school year. But police charged only nine other people - not counting Speidel's friends - with helping underage people get alcohol.
Why the gap?
It's relatively easy for police to catch underage drinkers, says Oxford Police Sgt. Jim Squance. But "it's hard to track back and find out how they got that alcohol," he said.
In addition to police citations, Miami University took disciplinary action against 747 students during the last school year for alcohol-related violations; 23 students were suspended for serious violations, said university spokesman Richard Little. However, Little said federal privacy rules prohibit him from saying what discipline, if any, might be taken against Speidel's friends.
Butler County Coroner Richard Burkhardt has called intoxication a factor in Speidel's death. In her condition, she would have been less able to hear or respond to the train's warning horn.
BY JANICE MORSE | JMORSE@ENQUIRER.COM
OXFORD - The South Locust Street railroad crossing here remains a popular path for pedestrians - even drunk ones - even after a train struck and killed an intoxicated, underage Miami University student.
"Everybody walks here - and you see a lot of drunk people walking along the tracks. You can tell by the way they are moving," Michael Hadley, 18, said as he and his brother, Steve Brandenburg, crossed the tracks en route from their house to their office jobs.
Like many here, the brothers aren't sure how they feel about five of Beth Speidel's friends being criminally charged with helping the 19-year-old to get drunk. Speidel was struck and killed by a train in April after going drinking with friends.
Three of the accused women - Christine Carr, Kathleen Byrne and Kristina Sicker - have court appearances today on charges of permitting underage consumption at a private place.
Danielle Davis faces the same charge in court July 5. Maureen Grady is to appear June 28 on a charge of furnishing alcohol to an underage person while at an uptown bar.
Like Speidel, the women were themselves too young to drink legally.
Amid debate over the fairness of prosecuting them, in Oxford there seems to be consensus on one point: The case illustrates the damage wrought by irresponsible alcohol use.
In this case, it cost Speidel her life, and her friends face legal, emotional and practical consequences.
The case shows that many college students don't heed the messages they hear frequently about drinking legally and responsibly, says Harry Bauer, a Miami senior who has taught alcohol-awareness sessions.
"Drinking is such a cultural problem in college," Bauer said. "It has become a status symbol, almost, to tell about all the stupid things you did when you were drunk. People brag about how messed-up they got. It's almost like, 'Check out how hard I can party.' "
He didn't know Speidel, but he did notice the reports after she died that her blood-alcohol level that was more than twice the 0.08 legal driving limit.
"It's damn near impossible to do anything in your right mind when you've been drinking that much," Bauer said. "I feel so bad saying it, but her death really can't be attributed to anybody but her, unless they find some sign of foul play."
Bauer said the "drinking culture" is more to blame than Speidel's friends are. To him, and others, going after Speidel's five friends smacks of "selective prosecution."
But authorities disagree. Police say they press charges in such cases whenever they get sufficient evidence - which isn't often. And this case was even more uncommon because it involved a fatality.
In Oxford, police cited 243 people as underage drinkers during the 2006-07 school year. But police charged only nine other people - not counting Speidel's friends - with helping underage people get alcohol.
Why the gap?
It's relatively easy for police to catch underage drinkers, says Oxford Police Sgt. Jim Squance. But "it's hard to track back and find out how they got that alcohol," he said.
In addition to police citations, Miami University took disciplinary action against 747 students during the last school year for alcohol-related violations; 23 students were suspended for serious violations, said university spokesman Richard Little. However, Little said federal privacy rules prohibit him from saying what discipline, if any, might be taken against Speidel's friends.
Butler County Coroner Richard Burkhardt has called intoxication a factor in Speidel's death. In her condition, she would have been less able to hear or respond to the train's warning horn.