Individual rights: Up in smoke on CU campus
Posted: January 1st, 2008 by R. Lee WrightsAuthor: Jessica Peck Corry
Smoking first. Then cheeseburgers. So goes the logical extension of Michael Carrigan’s thinking. The well-intentioned University of Colorado regent is currently pushing a system-wide ban on all outdoor smoking. He says he was inspired by his desire to protect young people from dying of lung cancer. “I’ve had a number of close relatives die from smoking, including my grandparents and my uncle, who was my namesake,” Carrigan told the Rocky Mountain News. “I would like to see the next generation be free of smoking.”
But if saving people from the bad decisions they want to make is what this crusade is all about, shouldn’t banning cholesterol-laden fast food as a way to fight heart disease be his top target? After all, it’s heart disease–and not lung cancer–that is America’s number one killer, taking nearly a million U.S. lives every year.
But then why stop at heart disease? Let’s take on all of America’s most lethal killers. Diabetes must be next. As a diabetic myself from an immediate family of five diabetics, shouldn’t the government also protect my daughters from the future possible complications of the disease?
Candy bars must go. And no more sugary cereals in the dormitory cafeterias. Carrigan could push to impose fat-taxes on all off-campus pizza joints. Surely, he’d be able to find receptive allies in the Boulder City Council. Perhaps CU could mandate an hour of exercise every day.
Think our universities wouldn’t go that far? Think again. Over the last few decades, universities increasingly have defined their role as the moral enforcers of good student behavior. As a result, we’ve been left with campuses where administrators eagerly serve “in loco parentis”–or “in the place of a parent.”
With the aid of nannyist legislators at all levels of government, universities have established strict policies forbidding alcohol consumption by anyone under the age of 21. They’ve worked with the federal government to enforce legislation that revokes financial aid for anyone caught for even the most minor of off-campus marijuana offenses. And now, of course, smoking is under attack - even when it’s done outdoors and outside the smelling distance of another person’s unwilling nostrils.
All three of these policies have one thing in common–they’re destined to be miserable failures. CU’s alcohol woes have been nationally documented, with hundreds of CU-Boulder students arrested for alcohol-related offenses every year. And since 1998, when President Clinton signed into law the federal government’s anti-marijuana financial aid ban, more than 200,000 students nationwide have lost publicly-funded loans and grants. With an estimated 25 percent of college students doubling as smokers, we can assume that under Carrigan’s plan, the number of smoking tickets will rival those given out for marijuana or alcohol possession.
Now, let me give my full disclaimer. Drinking too much can be bad. Drugs can lead to trouble. And smoking can kill you. But all of these facts are secondary to the larger questions we should be asking.
Our universities should not serve as moral enforcers. Instead of punishing students based on their out-of-class behavior, the focus should be instead on how such behavior impacts in-class performance. Universities can start by imposing rigorous attendance requirements.
If a student is perpetually too drunk to attend class the next morning, he’s going to learn the hard way that college is about more than partying. If another student is too stoned to study for finals, she’s going to learn pretty quickly that the entire university–including her professors–means business.
In a time when CU students are facing back-to-back tuition increases, and administrative bloat continues to spin out of control, Carrigan and his fellow regents clearly have their hands full. That’s before you consider the impact his proposal would have on the workload of campus police–who could easily fill their days fighting the scourge of smokers.
When my daughters attend college, I want to be the first person they call when they’ve made a mistake and need help. I don’t need Carrigan or any other university official parenting for me. I’d rather they focus on what we elected them to do–which is to run a top-tier research institution as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Jessica Peck Corry, a Denver-based public policy analyst and political strategist, specializes in civil rights, land use policy, and higher education. In 2007, she was named one of Colorado’s top political “Movers and Shakers” by the Colorado Statesman.
© 2007 The Independence Institute
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January 1st, 2008 at 5:18 pm
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June 23rd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
When we last saw Independence Institute “Campus Accountability” merc Jessica Peck Corry, she was having a little trouble getting elected to the state senate. Happens often enough.
Then the job writing for the Colorado Daily ended, and it seemed for awhile as though her special brand of race-baiting and academic witch-hunts would relegated to the occasional Rocky Mountain News Speakout rant or bulk-mail from the Double-Eye.
corrybakesale.gif
There’s Jessica (upper right corner) at the CU College Republicans’ infamous “affirmative action bake sale” in the spring of 2004. What a treasure.
“The purpose was to show the true atrocities of affirmative action,” said Jessica Corry of the Campus Accountability Project.
Naturally with her keen insight and sensitivity she was the perfect choice to seat on the CU Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity (please note sarcasm). You know, after the hard-core racists fell through. And she didn’t disappoint her handlers.
Timeout?
CU alumna Jessica Peck Corry of the Independence Institute, a conservative think tank in Golden, wrote a letter to Brown on Thursday asking for the delay so the university can provide more detailed data about how CU-Boulder spends $21 million annually on diversity programs.
In Corry’s letter to Brown, she writes, “I hope you will join me personally in denouncing any suggestion that ‘fostering’ an environment that celebrates diversity is ‘the highest priority of the university.’”
Former Denver mayor Wellington Webb, more politely than I would be:
He agrees the group could use more time to review spending, but said any such review should be to find more money for diversity programs - not to question their efficacy or try to cut them.
“Diversity programs did not cause these (racial) problems,” Webb said. “That’s like blaming the victim.”
Fortunately, there’s a quick end to her predictable little outburst, with the headline “CU says diversity commission’s work will go as planned.” Much like ABOR, successful College Republican chapters, or getting one of my favorite professors fired, it’s an extremist swing and a miss. She’ll be back though. Being well-funded gets inept treachery a long way. Just ask her boss Jon Caldara. And, of course, watch out if she has cookies.
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This post rocks
Reply
By RampantProgressive Feb 11th 2006 at 9:21 am MST
She’s a witch! Really.
She could die her hair, divorce her gun-toting hubby (or has that already happened?), and mate with Ann Coulter and we’d have …
Twin Witchies!
Re: This post rocks
Reply
By jimmy Mar 6th 2006 at 4:13 pm MST
That is true! Not only is her husband a gun lover but he is apparently now accused of sexual assault. But, I have heard that they have moved out of that district and now they’re working for her father Kenneth Pecck.
Re: This post rocks
Reply
By Alan Franklin Mar 7th 2006 at 12:04 pm MST
I’ve confirmed this.
People of The State of Colorado v. Corry, Robert John
Case Number: 2005CR004142
Sex Offenses; CR -Criminal
Case Status:
Protected Adult
Restrained
Temporary Restraining Order Granted
Oh my goodness…
Re: This post rocks
Reply
By Jim Jun 26th 2006 at 2:03 pm MDT
Do you happen to know the status of his case and what’s going on with her political career?
Rob Corry Pleads Guilty
Reply
By none Jan 27th 2007 at 3:37 pm MST
Attorney Robert Corry Jr. was charged with sexual assault in November of 2005. As part of a deal worked out with the District Attorney, Rob Corry plead guilty in exchange for a lesser charge. He was recently sentenced on January 22nd. 2007 to 60 days in jail, five years of probation, and extensive treatment and therapy for sex assault, alcohol and drug abuse.
As a criminal lawyer, Robert Corry handled many medical marijuana cases. He is married to Jessica Peck Corry. Jessica Corry is a political activist affiliated with the Independence Institute.
Robert Corry was supported in the courtroom by Scott Gessler, Jessica Peck, and Jessica’s father Kenneth Peck.
Rob Corry and his wife Jessica Peck Corry
Reply
By Brad Jones 10 minutes ago
I’ve seen Rob Corry and His wife Jessica Peck Corry use marijuana and cocaine in their own home. I’m not judging them, but Rob Corry did rape his wife’s best friend, and Jessica Peck Corry did lie to the court. Plus, Jessica Peck Corry has political ambitions, which makes her dangerous. I don’t think cocaine users and wives of known rapists should be leading anything other than Marijuana rallies.