HaCKeRz KrOnIcKLeZ 3/HaCKeRz_KrOnIcKLeZ.iso/drugs/nyt.article

Text File | 1996-05-06 | 5KB | 76 lines

                STANFORD FACES SANCTION IN DRUG DISPUTE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Katherine Bishop                                Special to the New York Times
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Fransisco, April 22 - In its latest attempt to force universities to enforce
anti-drug policies, the Government has warned Stanford University that it risks
losing Federal money because an instructor there has advocated drug use and
boasted of carrying illegal drugs on campus.
        Stanford announced today that Donald Kennedy, president of the
university, had ordered an investigation to determine whether the instructorm
Stuart T. Reges, a lecturer in computer science, had "intentionally violated
university policy on drugs and alcohol."  The School of Engineering has placed
Mr. Reges, 32 years old, on paid leave pending the completion of the
investigation, said Susan K. Hoergor, senior university counsel.
        Mr. Reges said in an interview today that he was stunned by the
Government's action.  "It seems obvious to me that it is an infringement of
my privacy and free speech rights and of intellectual freedom for me to express
an opinion," he said.  "What they call drug education is indoctrination.  Drug
users are becoming in the '90s what Communists were in the '50s."
                        OBJECTING TO BOUNDARIES
        Mr. Reges said that while he supported efforts to stop drug use among
high school and elementary school students, he believed the Government was
"trying to move the boundary to include university students among the children."
        The Government's warning comes a month after a drug raid involving
Federal authorities at the University of Virginia and a declaration last week
by Bob Martinez, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, that
the Bush Administration would be monitoring how well universities were complying
with federally imposed anti-drug policies.
        Stanford rules prohibit possession, distribution or use of drugs on
campus, in the workplace or as part of any university activity.  Violations can
result in sanctions including dismissal.
        The dispute comes as the private university in Palo Alto is already
reeling from criticism about its use of public money.  A Congressional panel is
looking into whether Stanford might have overcharged the Government as much as
$200 million in the 1980s through improper claims for reimbursement on
federally financed research projects.
        The University moved after Mr. Kennedy was notified by Mr. Martinez that
Mr. Reges, an instructor at Stanford since 1979, had written the Office of
National Drug Control policy to express his disagreement with the Government's
anti-drug campaign.  Mr. Reges took particular exception to provisions
requiring universities receiving Federal money to take action against illegal
drug use on campus.
        In the March 28 letter, Mr. Reges told Mr. Martinez, "I am doing
everything I can to make fools of you," including carrying illegal drugs in his
backpack while on campus.
        Mr. Reges told of how he had advised an undergraduate about
experimenting with the drug MDA, a chemical variation of amphetamine that
produces euphoria.  he also indicated that de had used university money to
provide alcohol to students under the legal age of 21 at a university-related
dinner.
        In his letter to Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Martinez said, "In all candor, I would
find it beyond comprehension that a man who openly professes to have encouraged
an undergraduate to ingest MDA could continue to enjoy faculty privileges at a
pace-setting institution like Stanford University."  Mr. Martinez also reminded
Mr. Kennedy that the university must insure that its drug policy was enforced
if it was to "retain eligibility for Federal funding and financial assistance."
        In copies of his correspondence furnished by Mr. Martinez's office, Mr.
Reges says that an undergraduate student sought his advice about MDA, telling
Mr. Reges he had already had "positive experiences" with other hallucinogens
like marijuana and LSD.  "I naturally reassured him that he had nothing to
worry about and should go ahead and experiment with MDA," Mr. Reges wrote,
adding that the two had a long discussion about the "important intellectual and
spiritual lessons to learn from our drug use."
        In letters to the campus newspaper last November, Mr. Reges described
MDA as "my own personal favorite drug: because its primary effects are euphoria
"and a sense of liking everyone."
        "About the most dangerous thing you might do under the influence of MDA
that you wouldn't do otherwise would be to hug or kiss someone," Mr. Reges
wrote.  He advised readers to openly defy campus drug policy and to refuse to
allow the Government to dictate private behavior between consenting adults.
        Benjamin F. Banta 4th, Mr. Martinez's press secretary, said today that
Mr. Martinez had no further comment beyond his letter to Mr. Kennedy.
        Federal money makes up nearly 30 percent of Stanford's annual budget.
The university expects to receive $122 million for the 1991-1992 school year.
Only tuition provides a larger source of income.