A Very Sad Commentary  [UPDATED 1/27/2007]

This is one of the more difficult editorials that I have written.  It is difficult because it deals with the after-math of an all-too-often repeated tragedy in the UCSB community.  There are three areas of concern I want to address:  

1. The death of a UCSB student 
2. The culpability of a fellow/former UCSB student in that death. 
3. The families of all involved who are trying to cope with the issues

First, I would like to extend deep condolences to Alex Baer’s family.  To lose a young and healthy family member is heartbreaking.  To lose him to the stupidity of an out-of-control drinking party and a drunk driver is gut wrenching. 

In addition, I would extend my sympathy to the family of Jessica Binkerd.  It must be terrible to come to grips with the fact that one of your family members is criminally culpable in the death of another person.    

Here is where is becomes difficult. 

The victim’s mother, in a letter to the probation authorities and the press, has requested leniency for the drunk driver, Jessica Binkerd.  Rather than demand the maximum sentence, the victim’s mother has requested probation for the person responsible for the death of her son.  Quite an extraordinary act!  Perhaps this gesture is this mother’s attempt to put this matter to rest – forgive and move on.   (If you would like to read an extended version of the mother’s comments and more than a few unkind remarks directed towards the poor woman, visit the Google Blog.) 

While forgiveness may be granted by anyone as a voluntary act without consideration (some say that this that purest form of forgiveness – unilateral and unconditional), generally it requires that the offending party seek forgiveness and show some contrition.  That may have happened in private moments between the drunk driver and the bereaved mother – we may never know what actually transpired.  However, according to published reports, the drunk driver is still drinking and has maintained that the incident was not her fault.  For those of you who have not experienced the state of intoxication brought on by a 2.5 blood alcohol level, let me tell you what it is like: the person is not in control of any of her senses.  You cannot make or execute any rational decisions.  You are bombed, blitz, wasted, or what is commonly joked about around UCSB as being “shit-faced.”  In order to have that level of intoxication, assuming that you were at the party a few hours, Jessica may have had in excess of 10 or 12 drinks.  This is not a case of having one to many glasses of wine with dinner. 

One wonders if there is any contrition here given the reports that Jessica still drinks and continues to maintain that the accident wasn’t her fault.  Apparently, killing someone while abusing alcohol was not enough to convince Jessica that she should stop drinking. 

While we must allow the grieving mother the right to express her forgiveness, that forgiveness is a personal act.  It has nothing to do with the administration of justice.  Jessica needs to answer for her actions.  It is the prosecutor and defense attorney who are in the best position to assess the crime, the perpetrator’s history, contrition, and other factors and then present those to the court.  The defense has maintained that Jessica has no former criminal history.  But what about a history of alcohol abuse?  Does anyone think that this is the first time that Jessica abused alcohol?  It is the court’s responsibility to fairly apply the law to the facts and circumstances of this crime. 

The person who drives drunk is the person who is ultimately responsible for the death.  Collateral mitigation such as when the victim has also been drinking (the blood alcohol level of Alex has not been reported), allegations by the drunk driver that it wasn’t her fault, the fact that she helps children, or that she may be interested in creating world peace and stopping climate change are not relevant.  What is relevant is that she drove drunk (almost two and half times the legal limit) and killed a passenger in her car.  She also seriously injured the other driver.     

The fact that the victim may have been partying with the perpetrator, or that the victim’s family doesn’t want the perpetrator to got to jail, or that both the driver and deceased have been imbued with a UCSB party-till-we-puke-without-consequences attitude do little to mitigate the crime.  And make no mistake, a crime, which resulted in the death of Alex Baer, has been committed.  

What I also find troubling about this incident is that without the mother’s impassioned letter, which made news statewide, the death of Alex Baer would have gone all but unnoticed by the UCSB community.  The UCSB Nexus (the official student newspaper of UCSB) mentioned the death of Alex Baer’s in one article that described his death along with four other UCSB students who died in unrelated accidents or criminal actions over the summer break.  So much for the alleged concern of the UCSB community who claim to truly care what happens to UCSB students.  A few families are displaced by a landlord who evicts them to lease to more affluent UCSB students and there are protests, street demonstrations, a takeover of the UCSB admin offices, and dozens of articles are written condemning the landlord.  The death of a person seems more important to me, but apparently not to the “activists” at UCSB.  Where are the scathing articles, protest marches, and sit-ins against drunk drivers?  Where is the angst over the loss of human life? 

Paige Reid, Mr. Baer's girlfriend, commented,  " Drunken driving happens all the time in this town.  We just hope his death can make at least one person think twice."   This comment could only be the result of too much higher education.  Only a person who has spent too much time at UCSB would utter such an inane remark.  Jessica, the drunk driver, grew up in a time when students were hammered with anti-drunk driving education.  All those thousands of message did nothing to make her “think twice.”   Page has stated that she and her friends intend to organize a concert to educate the community about “the dangers of drunk driving.”  My guess is that it will be a classic UCSB party complete with bands, drugs, and booze.

By some estimates, close to 100 UCSB/IV partiers have been killed over the past few decades.  No one has an exact count; no one really wants to keep track – it would be too embarrassing to the UCSB image.     

At the end of the day, I don’t have enough answers, but I do have a few questions.

My question to the UCSB administration is when will Chancellor Yang take some effective action to stop the carnage?  When will UCSB decide that the lives of young people are more important than continuing the party-till-we-puke image.  When will UCSB decide that the lives of young people are worth more than continuing the party-school image of UCSB so that UCSB can attract more and more students?  When will UCSB stop using the abuse of drugs, booze, and sexual exploitation as a marketing gimmick?  When will it no longer be funny or tolerated?  When will Yang realize that the chance of saving but one life is worth the risk of injuring the academic career of a few miscreants who abuse drugs and alcohol?  When will Yang stop being afraid of being labeled as “judgmental” for merely protecting students?  Think that I exaggerate the level of neglect on Yang’s part?  Take the case of Cervin Morris as just one example.  Cervin had several arrests (over a two year period while attending UCSB) that all involved alcohol abuse.  The most recent was a felony assault (with the use of a weapon that sent a young man to the hospital) when Morris was 20 year old and under the influence of alcohol.  UCSB took no action.  Not only did Cervin remain in school, he remained the President of the student organization.   Apparently Yang uses the PC version of “Zero Tolerance” – no matter what offense is committed, UCSB takes zero action. 

My question to Jessica is: what will it take for you to stop drinking?  Is being a party girl more important than someone’s life?  Is the abuse of drugs or alcohol so important to your social self-image that nothing else matters?  Let’s hope that Jessica has not been so imbued with the self-righteous UCSB party-till-we-puke-without-consequences lifestyle that she can put her life back together after she pays for her criminal actions. 

To Jessica and Alex’s putative friends who let them drive away from your party smashed out her mind, I have a few questions.  What were you thinking?  Are you all so arrogant and self-absorbed to think that the rules of law (and chemistry) do not apply to you; or, in the alternative, perhaps you were too drunk to even notice or care.  Who are you people? 

My question to Alex’s mother is:  What if your wishes are granted and Jessica does not go to jail – what responsibility do you have if she kills someone else while driving drunk during the period when she would have been in jail?  While many of us are uplifted by your act of forgiveness, some of us are flummoxed by your total disregard for some form of justice and protection for society.  I personally fall into both camps.  But is this a risk you are willing to put on society?    ORIGINAL PUBLICATION DATE 1/12/2007

UPDATE 1/27/2007.  Jessica was sentence yesterday to over five years in prison.  It was reported in the Santa Barbara News Press that her family and the family of the deceased were shocked.  After sentencing, the bailiff took Jessica away in handcuffs while  Jessica's mother was crying, "Where is she going? Where are they taking my baby?"

The judge pointed to photos that Jessica posted on her my space page showing the her "... drinking in downtown bars with friends in the months that followed the death of Mr. Baer."  The judge said, "... The community will not tolerate this kind of behavior."

Unfortunately, the community (UCSB) that Jessica has been partying in the past four or five years does tolerate the drunken behavior.  They even encourage it.