student expelled from UVAWise

[1inStripes]

Its not that people are necessarily defending him, but the fact that a creative writing paper is what lead to him being singled out. I wondered how long it would be before his high school essay was brought up that I had been told about after this first came out.

But come on, you can't honestly hold his prior issue against him because how many other college students have been busted for trying to enter the wrong dorm room drunk? A few thousand? At least he is of age to drink when its happened.

[imported_Counts]

Well it is kind of what i was saying before about there being a pattern IMHO the Story alone would not be reason enough but the probation for Drunkenness and the assault (which IMHO is the bigger issue) AND the story which was hitting pretty dang close to home given recent US events and the naming of his charters


I DO wonder if a court may supersede Public Schools "right?" to ban firearms (or other weapons) IMHO if that is the case I suspect that a new law covering that would be passed VERY quickly.


Again not saying things could not have been handled a bit better BUT could you imagine how the school would have been thrown under the bus if he had turned out to be crazy (A Man trained in combat possibly with PTS (just thinking how the story would have been given to us on CNN and FOX) on probation for attempted Breaking an entering and assault while Drunk. Then wrights a story where the Main Charter fantasizes about killing his professor who just happens to have the same name as the professor in the wrighting class. I can see the follow up stories as to why the collage did not take quicker action now.


Honestly I feel bad for the guy but at some point you have to follow the rules even if you do not agree with them

[yankeebaseball]

I could careless about the gun issues, I was commenting on the writing aspect.

[1inStripes]

Was the assault not attached to the drunk in public/attempted breaking an entering charge? Which all were dismissed.

Like I said before, and agree with yankeebaseball. Most are concerned that you are limiting someones ability in college by judging them suicidal and such due to the type of writings they put forth.

[imported_Counts]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Most are concerned that you are limiting someones ability in college by judging them suicidal and such due to the type of writings they put forth.
</div></div>

If that is the case I would object as well but was he expeled for the wrighting or the guns?

[sup-rbeast]

The whole problem with this is that his writing was singled out and led to the search which produced the guns. Now, given that his writing wasn't even the most violent of the papers, and given that the other "violent" papers didn't lead to a search, and given that there is no law in the Virginia that permits colleges and universities to ban concealed weapons carried with a permit, and given that I happen to know how ludicrous the HS essay was, and given that all he had done wrong before was be drunk in public (like every other student up there has been at one time or another)the expulsion is wrong. Nothing you say or write will convince me otherwise...and I stand by my view on this. (Counts, this isn't aimed at you, just this thread in general)

[imported_Counts]

No problem I am not sure myself that the paper on its on (I have not read it so it is kind of hard to judge) should have lead to the student being singled out and that is where his case is if he has one becouse once the search turned up the guns and the rule violation I think the Collage is in the right

[Unchained]

Looks like ETSU has a nut as well:

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tr...3-13-0030.html

[CoeburnCane]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Indian_Dad</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looks like ETSU has a nut as well:

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tr...3-13-0030.html</div></div>

See--here's where the situation's different. This dude called into the administrative offices talking about actually killing people on campus, and saying things that most psych eval's would find as threatening to himself and/or others.

This other dude wrote a fiction story that wasn't meant to be taken seriously. His psych eval was clean (otherwise he'd still be incarcerated). Even if the story were directed at anybody (i.e. the professor), it was done facetiously--not in a threatening fashion.

These two situations are REALLY different to me.

[the_alienist]

I've really debated whether to reply to this thread or not...but here goes.

As someone who is trained to recognize what society determines as "mental illness" and who has the right, by law, to have somone involuntarily admitted to a hospital, I think that things have gotten a little out of hand. I am not talking about the handgun issue, I think that the main reason Barber was suspended is because of his writings.
If we look back in history, some of the greatest figures suffered from mental problems/instability. NAMI Famous Persons with Mental Illness
Such as:
Winston Churchill- Bipolar Disorder
Charles Dickens- Depression and Mania
Goethe-Bipolar d/o
Handel - Bipolar d/o
Abraham Lincoln - Major Depression
Teddy Roosevelt - Bipolar d/o
Vincent Van Gogh - Depression (From personal research and interest, I think he was Schizoaffective)

I'm not saying that Barber's writings were Nobel prize worthy, but at the same time, his creative expression on a highly politicized and charged topic, is the major issue here.

If someone comes into a mental health clinic/hospital/office, presents within a given criteria and in the clinicians judgement, then that individual can have all of their rights reversed and be forced to enter a psychiatric hospital, and even be force medicated. Sometimes the individual does not have to speak or provide information, the people with them can provide enough information to the clinician to provide "probable cause" and that's all it takes.
With practioners so worried about being sued, especially after the Tarasoff vs. Regents of the University of California case in 1968, they are more likely to overcommit than they are to reccomend other alternatives.

In two recent cases, Lund vs. Northwest Medical Center, PA in 2003 and Robert L. Marion vs. Bellevue Hospital in 2004, persons who have been involuntarily committed have sued and won, both of these lawsuits were above $1 million EACH. If a lawyer wanted to take this, Barber would have a decent shot at winning.

If Barber was committed, then he would have been taken to a psychiatric hospital, either Woodridge, Penninsula, Lakeshore or St. Albans in Radford. That is the only option.