Seattle Crime Reports : Seattle Crime Blog : Seattle, Washington

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The Jesuit university with the community-based, progressive ideals has taken a turn for the oppressive.

After an incident that occurred during with winter quarter of this year, administrators at Seattle University have decided to take a proactive approach to shutting down any kind of controversial behavior by its students.

You may have already seen the story on the front page of today's Seattle Times detailing how one Glen Butterworth, a Jesuit scholastic at the university, has created a Facebook account in order to get word of student-planned, off-campus parties...which he follows up with some strong "encouragement" tactics to prevent the parties from ever happening:

So, too, did another group of students hosting an off-campus party earlier this month — also advertised on Facebook — when Butterworth showed up on their doorstep. Butterworth told those students he knew of their plans and that city police and state liquor authorities would be enforcing any code violations.

For students at the university, most are aware that these motives are the result of a "c*nt hunt" party - women were to dress like animals, men like hunters - that took place earlier this year that led to panel discussions, mini-protests of the uptight kind, and a new approach to dealing with students that involved Butterworth's gross invasion of the personal lives of students. 

As a soon-to-be alum of Seattle U, I am disgusted at the tactics of the university. Yes, it is a private institution, so S.U. is not required to follow the same statutes as public universities. But wasting everyone's time and invading adult students lives - the hosts of the part were 21 - is sickening. 

I see no valid reason for alerting police and liquor officials of possible misconduct. Seattle U charges a large amount of money for the education it provides. Mr. Butterworth insists that education does not end in the formal classroom. Yes, Seattle U...it does.

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This week brings yet another sex scandal for my alma mater Seattle University...and this one not involving members of the clergy:

Andrew Douglas Franz, an associate professor of military science at SU, was arrested Friday by the Canon City Police Department after he flew into the Colorado town about an hour away from Colorado Springs.

Franz, 41, believed he was meeting an underage female he had corresponded with online, authorities said. He didn't know he had been communicating with investigators from the Fremont County Combined Investigative Response Team.

If the details provided in this King 5 broadcast are any indicator, Andrew Franz is in some serious hot water.

Using the username sugardad4u33, the suspect apparently began chatting last December with an undercover agent posing as the mother of a 13 year old girl. After the meeting was arranged, Franz told the "mother" that he'd bring muscle relaxants and alcohol for the girl (and that's not all...when arrested, he also had a necklace adorned with cherries, some Viagra and lingerie). Doesn't take much to guess he what he was planning.

Oh...and If that wasn't creepy enough, Franz also supposedly commented that the girls at Seattle University were "too old" for his interests. Because everyone knows that 18 is the new 40.

After the jump, check out the full e-mail that Seattle University's outgoing provost John Eshelman sent to the student body shortly after news of Franz's arrest broke. Not much new information in Eshelman's letter, but the message is clear: SU wants to distance itself from this suspect as much and as quickly as possible:

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

A Colorado media outlet has reported that Andrew Franz, an assistant professor in the ROTC program has been arrested and charged in that state in an incident last week that allegedly involved intended sexual contact with a minor.

Franz was appointed to the ROTC program by the U.S. Army as an employee of a Virginia company called Communications Technologies, which provides personnel to the Department of Defense for ROTC programs around the country.

Franz first taught at SU in 2000 and is scheduled to return to active duty status June 1 for deployment with his National Guard unit to Iraq.

The university is cooperating with Colorado law enforcement authorities in their handling of the case.

I have directed the Army to end Franz’ assignment with the university.

Our university policy is clear: we have zero tolerance of any sexual abuse of a minor.

Sincerely,

John D. Eshelman
Provost

According to SU's student newspaper The Spectator, Franz will be formally charged on May 27. More on this as it develops.

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The U.S. Border Patrol has been getting a bum rap from the media lately.

First, we heard about the sex-craved customs inspector who let drugs through at the Blaine crossing in exchange for sex acts from a Canadian prostitute.

Then, a group of uninformed Seattle University students embarrassed their entire campus earlier this month, when they protested the university's Career Day event. Their anger stemmed from the mere presence of Border Patrol agents - who, like most of the law enforcement groups represented, were there to recruit - at a Jesuit institution. From The Spectator, SU's student newspaper:

Protesters also encouraged passing students to sign a petition against recruiters at Seattle U.

“The Border Patrol should not be allowed to recruit on our campus because their tactics are responsible for thousands of deaths of migrant people trying to cross the border,” explained Lauren Ressler, freshman environmental studies major.

“The policies of the U.S. Border Patrol seem to contradict the policies of Seattle University; it’s shocking that they would be invited,” said Marianne Mork, sophomore humanities major.

You're right, Marianne. It's absolutely shocking that the university would give a legitimate government agency - an agency you and the rest of the idealistic social justice monkeys blame for doing their job effectively - the chance to give students jobs in a workforce where employment are getting harder and harder to find. It's not like the immigrants they work keep out of the country are illegal or anyth---oh wait. My bad.

Finally, in yesterday's Times, the Border Patrol is under fire yet again:

A couple of months ago, the U.S. Border Patrol began occasional "spot checks" of every vehicle and passenger arriving in Anacortes off state ferries, the lifeline between these islands and the mainland.

[...]

In the islands' coffee shops and the editorial pages of the local paper, then in a crowded, heated meeting last month, a number of people have complained that islanders are being unfairly treated and questioned, even though they haven't left the country and normally wouldn't be subject to such scrutiny.

Terms like "police state" are hurled around, as they say the searches are illegal, unconstitutional — and just a ruse to catch illegal immigrants and petty drug users.

A prime example of when rural folks with too much time on their hands let their conspiracy theories run wild. As the article points out, we're not talking Nazi Germany here; you don't have to answer any questions if you're on a domestic ferry, and Border Patrol agents have only arrested 43 people (38 of them Mexicans) in nearly two months of investigation.

While I would take issue with using the Border Patrol to make arrests for "petty drug use" - or anything that doesn't involve bringing people or products across the border illegally - the article makes no further mention of such activity other than in the sentence quoted above (unsubstantiated fear mongering, perhaps?).

The local stance on illegal immigration baffles me, when the answer to this fiery debate is simple: if you don't want to be hassled for being an illegal immigrant, then don't enter the United States illegally. And if you're an American who has problems with how we guard our borders, then do something constructive about it; immigration is an issue that has to be dealt with through an overhaul of our legal system (which is run by people we elect), not through appeals on emotional grounds. And blaming the Border Patrol is a ridiculously misguided approach to take.