Statement before Senate Judiciary Chair McDonald and House Judiciary Chair Lawlor-February 6, 2006
Comments by Stephen Guest: A year ago January, my daughter, Kristine, had the fortunate experience to work in this building as a Legislative intern for Senator Jonathan Harris. This was just before the spring semester of her junior year at Quinnipiac. Unfortunately, Kristine never returned home from the spring semester. She was a victim of a alcohol related accident. Coming to this building which Kristine recently roamed has special meaning today since the accident almost universally, send their children to college terrified of the prevailing drinking culture that exists on college campuses. Reports indicate that excessive underage drinking is increasing both on and off campus. Kristine was very much a victim of the prevailing drinking culture that students bring to campus. Carrying over from their experiences during high school, too many college students see campus life as an excuse to party uninhibited by whatever effective restrictions existed at home. Therefore, a tragic effect occurred one just year from this morning. Parent’s, State statute allowing police to effectively confront house parties with underage drinkers is an essential first step in altering the prevailing culture. Unfortunately, underage drinking will likely always occur, but aggressive measure to limit the opportunities will change the current reality that drinking is the norm at teen social events. Many factors compound the tragedy that Kristine suffered. One is the fact that although she was present in a large group of individuals drinking heavily, she had little, if anything. to drink that night. Compounding the tragedy is that employees responsible for campus safety at the college that Kristine and her friends visited had every opportunity to both intercede into the open underage drinking and halt the reckless activities that lead to her death. Therefore, Kristine’s death was caused as much by the inaction of the polices makers and others responsible for student safety as by the reckless actions of the partiers. This passage in a book by Harvard professor Harvey Cox describes the root cause Kristine’s fatal accident in February: “How many grave injustices are perpetrated just because the policymakers involved are bored, distracted, inattentive, or don’t want to be bothered? Inaction can be the source of as much damage as action.” I urge you as Leadership of the Connecticut Legislature to work towards passage the proposed social host legislation so that inaction will not be identified as the direct cause of future tragedies.
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In loving Memory of Kristine Guest |
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