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November 16, 2004
The Associated Students have recently been pushing for
a "citizens' review board" to stop the police
from abusing students. Their basic complaint is that the
police should not be enforcing the laws related to alcohol,
noise, parking, and drug abuse. The police take the position
that these types of offenses often lead to other more serious
and violent crimes. Apparently the "I-hate-the-cops
group" around IV has "grievances" with "the
IV Foot Patrol, UCPD and other police agencies." I
assume that the "other police agencies" they complain
about mean anyone who actually enforces the laws they don't
like.
In a recent article written by Myles Rush and Thomas Fehrs
in the Monday, November 8, 2004, edition of the Nexus Online,
the authors pontificated about how they longed to see the
area returned to a "once peaceful, free-spirited community."
They assume that with the police "under control,"
the once peaceful community would re-emerge (with flowers
in its hair). They closed their article with the stirring
rallying call of "the Associated Students and Student
Lobby are fighting for you!" Marvelous rhetoric, but
in a pathetic way, as we shall see - prescient.
One of the major movers and shakers in the movement to
hobble the IVFP with their feckless campaign to divert the
police from their duty by overburdening them with bogus
complaints about police misconduct is one Cervin Morris,
President of the A.S. In another recent article in the Nexus,
the same Cervin Morris attempted to substantiate his claims
about police misconduct with the self-serving claim of "if
there's so many people complaining, why haven't [the police]
done anything about it?" Very close to the famously
perverse question, "when did you stop beating your
wife?" The truth is that there is no data to substantiate
this group's wild claims against the police - if there were,
the A.S. Lobby would have published it.
Well, the police did take some action last Friday night
by arresting a subject who, it is alleged, committed felony
battery. And my guess is that Morris didn't like this arrest
(of an alleged violent felon) any better than he likes the
cops "hassling" the local swells for drug and
alcohol abuse. You see, it was Morris himself who was arrested
for felony assault on two of his acquaintances. It is alleged
that he punched one person in the nose and struck the other
victim in the head with a beer bottle, inflicting a serious
head wound.
Since I assume that Cervin Morris is the type of person
who would see himself as the likely president of any newly
instituted I.V. citizens' review board, I feel compelled
to raise some alarm about the impartiality of such a board.
The fact that Morris was arrested is an issue that will
have to be adjudicated within the courts - he is, after
all, innocent until proven guilty, a state of being afforded
to him by the Constitution. Apparently, he and his ilk are
unwilling to grant the same status to the police - they
have proclaimed, without any substantiating evidence, that
the police are guilty of abuse.
What is more interesting than Morris' arrest is the way
in which Morris and the UC community will respond to the
arrest. Since I have not interviewed Morris directly (my
guess is that he will not be too interested in "hangin'"
with me after he reads this piece), I am using the quotes
attributed to him by Matt Dozier in the November 15, 2004,
Nexus Online to evaluate Morris' post-arrest demeanor.
Morris was released on Sunday after posting a $20,000 bail.
He then started shooting his mouth off. Before I dissect
Morris' immature rationalization for his actions, let me
give young Master Morris some advice: Shut-up and hire a
lawyer. Stop making incriminating statements to the press.
Just because you can get away with shining people on at
UCSB, do not make the mistake of believing that your post-arrest
comments will pull the wool over the eyes of the local DA.
While I believe there is more to this incident than meets
the eye, let's take Morris' comments at face value for now.
Morris claims that "alcohol was not a factor"
in the assault even though the weapon was a beer bottle.
Since Morris is not yet 21 he couldn't possibly have been
drinking - a minor in possession of alcohol would be a crime.
His claim is that the beer bottle used in the assault was
"just lying around." One could opine that Morris
is either a very bad housekeeper or he may have shaded the
truth about what he was doing with the bottle just prior
to the assault.
Next Morris makes an outrageous rationalization regarding
the assault (alleged, but now admitted by him in the Nexus
Online article): "Morris said the man who was hit with
the bottle sustained no lasting injuries." Thank you,
Dr. Morris, for your insightful prognosis of your victim's
injuries.
Then Morris prattles on about how the incident is being
"blown out of proportion" and how he worries about
the possibility "that students will take any exaggerated
rumors they hear about the case at face value." Of
course, he then adds the almost obligatory UCSB mantra,
"We all make mistakes." Mr. Morris, that is flat
out untrue and offensive - your comments disgrace the student
body of UCSB. Tens of thousands of students attend UCSB
and are never arrested for so much as a parking ticket -
let alone felony assault. Demonstrable, somewhere around
99% of the hundreds of thousands of students who have attended
this university have never been charged with a felony. Moreover,
Morris seems worried that people will jump to the wrong
conclusion after hearing a factual account of his arrest,
but he has been more than willing to encourage (with unsubstantiated
claims) people to jump to conclusions about the police.
Morris, of course, states he won't resign as A.S president,
but rather, will "admit his mistakes," and, of
course, he plans to "move on." He is saying this
while the victim is still oozing blood from the beer-bottle-inflicted
wound to his head. So Morris is ready to move on, but perhaps
his victim may be too incapacitated to move much at all.
What is truly sad is that it is my guess that he will have
support from the "don't rat out anyone" group
and the "it might hurt his career" contingency.
Even the victims will undoubtedly be pressured to mitigate
the incident to make sure that Morris does not suffer. It
may have already started with A.S. External Vice President
of Local Affairs Jared Renfro's claim that his "working
time" with Morris in A.S. has left him with a "favorable
impression of Morris' character and students should not
jump to any conclusions or make any assumptions regarding
Morris' future legal situation." Renfro abstrusely
added, " On the other hand, Morris may need to work
on his temper in situations outside of the office. Maybe
he'll have to take some anger management sessions."
Duh!
What is missing from Morris' statements to date (aside
from an apology) is how the police conducted themselves
during Morris' arrest. Since Cervin is an English major
and now has some actual experience with the IVFP, perhaps
he could be of help to the community by accurately disclosing
the events leading up to his arrest and then providing a
definitive statement about the comportment of IVFP's finest.
Cervin, how did the cops treat you? Were you abused? Did
you observe any of the misconduct you have so recklessly
attributed to the IVFP in the past?
In any event, being a student at UCSB should be viewed
as a privilege. Being a representative of the university
(such as President of the A.S.) demands exemplary conduct.
Perhaps the university community would be better served
by a simpler public pronouncement from Mr. Morris rather
than his tortured rationalizations. Here is what I have
in mind: Cervin, start with a simple apology and end with
resigning as president of the A.S.
The university should use this highly public event to set
a new tone by taking actions that will let students know
that criminals should look elsewhere for an education. The
university should do more than cluck its collective tongue
and utter inane psychobabble about how some students make
"bad choices." The university (and for that matter,
the student population itself) should demand a positive
environment where bad behavior is not condoned, ignored,
or dismissed, but rather, is universally condemned.
James Baron
Editor, thedarksideofucsb.com
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