Taylor Behl: Some VCU Perspective

This is an interesting read from Scott Bass. Apparently some of the TV talking heads have irritated more than just the Aruban PD.

Don’t ask about Taylor Marie Behl. It’s off-limits. Lt. Mike O’Berry would love to set the record straight, detail everything his Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department did to locate Behl, the pretty 17-year-old freshman who disappeared Sept. 5 and sparked a national made-for-cable-TV drama. He and a few others would love a shot at Nancy Grace, the brash CNN talk-show host who repeatedly lambasted campus cops for waiting “eleven long days” to turn the investigation over to the true blue, the Richmond Police.

“They sat on it for eleven days before law enforcement came in and took it over!” Grace shrieked Sept. 19 on CNN, emasculating the 76-member campus police force.

h/t Cindi 

Comments

[teresa]

Yes, the local police should have been involved from day one but it was the VCU police that found Taylor. Lets give them some credit.

[cindi in pa]

Yes, the local police should have been involved from day one but it was the VCU police that found Taylor. Lets give them some credit.

Posted by: teresa | Nov 9, 2005 1:19:03 PM

I would assume local LE has set standards when dealing with a University police network, especially in a large area. I was not aware it was the VCU police that found Taylor's remains. I would think they would have provided a good deal of information on BF however, provided they interviewed Taylors known contacts on campus.

These media folks remind me of teenagers. Jumping to their own conclusions and acting without concrete information, or going to the source.

[VASteve]

Terribly unfortunate. Now a journalism degree allows journalists to become self-proclaimed experts on any subject known to man.

Awful.

[teresa]

I would assume local LE has set standards when dealing with a University police network, especially in a large area. I was not aware it was the VCU police that found Taylor's remains. I would think they would have provided a good deal of information on BF however, provided they interviewed Taylors known contacts on campus. >>

Yes, VCU detectives were the ones that showed Erin the pictures and then drove to the site the next morning. They found the body and then called police.

[Captain Joe]

I thought the criticism was justified with respect to the issuance of the Amber alert. I know it was VCU policy to jump through all the right hoops before issuing the alert, but I thought 11 days was excessive in anyone's book. If the case was not transferred to RPD (the real police) the Amber alert would still not have been issued yet. VCU police are politicized to keep crime from being reported in the first place. The fact that VCU, a city of 29,000, does not have a jail or any courts to administer trials of crimes commited on campus is proof that the police are not really police, but rather baby sitters and masters of sweeping any real crimes under the carpet so that the university's image is not tarnished.

[jacndaves]

There are one to three homocides a night in Richmond, VA.

It took them longer to find her since the VCU Police sat on this in the beginning.

The City of Richmond and especially in the VCU area is not one of the safest places to live.

[bob]

The law requires some type of crime be committed before an amber alert can be issued. If a crime wasn't committed, an Amber Alert can't be issued for a missing child. That's not just VA, that's all the states.
Not so with "A Child Is Missing Alert" http:// www.achildismissing.org This alert is new, and no crime is required before LE can use it. Time is of the essence though, and we are talking minutes or hours, not days or weeks. The best alert system in the world isn't going to help much a day after a disappearance. Taylor wasn't even reported missing for 24? more? hours after she actually went missing. No alert system would have helped much by then. Perhaps America's Most Wanted TV show would have helped, assuming she was being held somewhere alive.
Re the police, it seems to be a question of jurisdiction and i don't know how that went. VCU police found the body after local LE got involved. It seemed odd to me that VCU cops had jurisdiction to go to Mathews County to even look for a body. Someone will have to research that one.
Nancy Grace is not a journalist, she's a talk show host. There's a HUGE difference between TV talk show hosts and journalists. If you actually look, you'll see that most of these people don't even have journalism degrees. Read a newspaper if you want to find out what journalists believe. I challege anyone to post a link from the Richmond Times, Washington Post, any newspaper, where the reporter criticised LE in a news story. Bet you can't find one. Cause that breaks rule #1 in journalism, YOU DON'T OFFER YOUR PERSONAL OPINION IN ANY ARTICLE.
Nancy Grace is an embarassment to professional journalists.

[nova]

well Nancy is what she is. no one has to watch her. just hit the remote and change the channel. I never watch her since I dont like her loud voice.
However what interest me more is how VCU responded to this. After the fact they instituted some warnings to incoming freshmen and freshwomen about the internet. That seems foolish. These kids are way ahead of the school administrators. They know more about the internet than any of their instructors.
My mine grip is with the housing at VCU and other colleges in this nation. Same sex dorms are a terrible idea. Having boys/men in girls dorm rooms in a terrible idea. What ever happened to single sex dorms and curfews? I guess women's lib and the sexual revolution of the 1960s did away with those old fashioned ideas,right?
Taylor would be alive today if her roomate had not had a man in her room. The boy/man is the one who should have been told to leave. It was HER room not his. You cant blame the roomate too much since she was just doing what VCU allowed her to do. Have a man in her room at 10pm. THe next day was a school day. Monday was Labor Day. The last day of the holiday. There should have been a curfew in effect. The University no longer acts in loco parentis I guess. You are on your own. Even if you are a 17 year old girl away from home alone for the first time.
I went to college in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The schools then protected their young females. Especially the freshman girls. With a freshman dorm for girls with strict curfews and no man or boy was allowed up on the floors. I guess certain workmen had to go up their from time to time and the girls would holler "Man On The Floor".
In olden days a glimpse of stocking was considered shocking. But now heaven knows.
Anything goes.
I really do blame VCU and its housing policies for contributing to this murder which is what it was.

[o.t.]

How can Nancy Grace be an embarrassment to professional journalists if she isn't one?

[bob]

read my post on Nancy Grace again see if you can deduce it.

[Diane]

Taylor's mom told the vcu police that she thought her daughter was dead and they ignored her.I for one don't feel these police did a whole lot for Taylor period. They should have turned this case over to the richmond police after 24 hours of her being reported missing.One of Taylor's friends was putting up flyers of her and they made him take them down as she was not a missing person at that point. A child leaves her dorm not to be seen again and is not reported missing for a few days by her roommate.No phone call to her mom or dad and we hear from vcu kids do this all the time.Give me a break!!!My feeling is you should suspect foul play until that child is found period!! I personally don't feel this case was handled well from the beginning.

[lotusjani]

Terribly unfortunate. Now a journalism degree allows journalists to become self-proclaimed experts on any subject known to man.

Awful.

Posted by: VASteve

*******************************************

Nancy Grace is an attorney, former prosecutor, therefore, that makes an expert, whether some like her style or not, she knows the law and what she proclaims.
No one has to watch her if they do not like her style, like the other person stated, just change the channel. Period.

[justathought]

I don't blame VCU police. I know I will probably here about this too BUT. Here are MY thoughts..... Every day there are students all over the country, not just VCU, that don't show up to class, stay with a friend if they were watching movies late and fell asleep, or go to a party and have to much to drink and don't go back to there dorm. So should college police call the local police for all of these and get teams of police out looking for some one that fell asleep at a friend's room? I don't think so. Because of man power and money that is not something that could be done.

I mean YES I think VCU police should have been notified that she didn't come home that night the next morning, NOT days later. But no I don't think that as soon as someone does not know where their friend is should local police be called. Because if they get people out and the student was at a friend's room then that is time and money that could have been used on something else that was going on in the city.

Now Yes I do agree when Taylor was not hear from for days that when VCU police found out about it they should have went to Richmond police because there was already days wasted. But how many days did it take for the room mate to report it in the first place?

[abigail]

I heard that the VCU police were at first treating this as a runaway kid that was on drugs. That may have been the reason why they waited. Although Taylor was already dead by the time she was reported missing much more forensic evidence could have been found if she was located faster.

There are one to three homocides a night in Richmond, VA.

It took them longer to find her since the VCU Police sat on this in the beginning.

The City of Richmond and especially in the VCU area is not one of the safest places to live.

Posted by: jacndaves | Nov 9, 2005 4:50:35 PM

Most of the murders that occur in Richmond and surrounding areas are drug related. If for some miracle we could erradicate all of the drug dealings going on Richmond would not be recognized as one of the cities with the highest murder rates per capita. However, VCU and Richmond are generally "safe" if you stay out of the drug scene. Taylor was murdered because she trusted an unstable adult who took advantage of her, not because she was out to buy drugs from some hard core dealer that she may have screwed over.

[abigail]

Now Yes I do agree when Taylor was not hear from for days that when VCU police found out about it they should have went to Richmond police because there was already days wasted. But how many days did it take for the room mate to report it in the first place?

Posted by: justathought | Nov 9, 2005 6:58:32 PM

I think her roomy was an upper classman and I'm sure had in the past had friends and/or previous roommates that stayed "out", so maybe she did not think much of it. She barely knew Taylor. IMO it should not have taken VCUP so long to get serious about this. Why make someone take down missing posters? Why is putting up posters of your friend a "crime"? The VCUPD at that time had never heard of her, so how did they know what her actions and habits were? Why did they not take all the help they could get?

[Rick]

Thought there was something new here. Nancy Grace is an idiot only slightly smarter than Rita (broken voice) Cosby. VCU cops waited too long to call in outside resources. Yet still investigated their way right into finding the body. Uh, it wouldn't have ben different if RPD had been called the same day. And generally yet another inner city is a combat zone.

[abigail]

Rick,

Perhaps you are correct that nothing different would have been done. Hindsight has no future in this case, but we sure do like to talk about it!

Where you been all my life? ;)

[Will]

I know I am not a frequent poster here, and perhaps I have missed something in past threads. I am going to weigh in on this "Nancy Grace thing."

Someone else has already posted the correct information that Nancy Grace is a former special prosecutor from Atlanta, GA. That poster was also correct in his assessment that fact makes her an expert - at least to the degree that her LLM in Constitutional law and criminal law affords her. She is not an expert, however, in the laws of every state. She freely admits that during nearly every controversial story when she says things like, "I'm not sure about the law in [insert state] but in Georgia, the law is..blah..blah."

She does offer her opinions, seemingly at times without thinking first. She is a talk show host now, and controversy brings ratings. Like it or not, ratings bring success or death to TV shows. While in the moment, she may seem earnest in her convictions, I seriously doubt that she invests so much emotion over the long term to every story. Nobody could do that and still maintain any grip on sanity. Her only function is to make the viewers THINK about the story at hand, and to keep them coming back for more.

Her personality and voice tone do grate on my nerves at times - many times. I will not watch a televised sports contest if John Madden is one of the commentators for the same reason. I just cannot stand his voice and false sense of knowing all there is to know about football. There are millions of you that can probably cite his winning record as a coach to support his personality, but that does not matter if I cannot stand to listen to him. That same discretion can and should be exercised with any TV personality. If you do not like them, do not watch them. Personally, I love my remote control.

I, too, was extremely concerned with the campus police response to Taylor's disappearance. In fact, it was her Amber Alert that got me involved in the first place. I read the date of the Amber Alert 09/15/2005 then the date of disappearance 09/05/2005, and thought there had to be a typo. Ten days is an extremely long time to wait before issuing an Amber Alert considering that statistics show that missing persons cases usually end in death after 48 hours. In most cases, the first 24 hours are spent waiting because most police department will not even take a report without some evidence of a crime leading to the disappearance.

The following statement in no way indicates approval or support of the way the case was handled initially. We now know that the entire US military could have been called out to search for Taylor and the outcome would not have changed. She would still be dead, since she was dead within hours of leaving her dorm room.

The campus police need to examine their protocols for handling missing student cases. Unfortunately, they deal with many students that do not want to be found from time-to-time. In defense of Taylor's roommate, they had only known each other two weeks, and may have believed that Taylor was staying the night with friends. She became concerned, and rightfully so, when she returned to her room and discovered that Taylor's books had not been moved. Then she did the same thing that you or I would have done and that is to begin looking for Taylor. Perhaps she made a few calls, perhaps she talked to others in the dorm. She may have also believed that she could not alert authorities until Taylor had been missing for 24 hours. Since she believed, Taylor would return to the dorm within 3 hours of leaving at 10:30 P.M., which means that Tuesday at 1:30 A.M. was the time that Taylor's status officially changed to that of missing. Most reports have the roommate calling the campus police at, or about, 1:30 A.M. on Wednesday.

I know I rambled a bit, please forgive me.

By the way, I know the site has been offline for at least the past 24 hours. I am still waiting to hear a reason from the tech people, as well as still waiting to be given a restoration time.

Thanks for listening!! :)

Will
http://taylorbehl.notagz.com

[abigail]

Hey Will, thanks for posting. Visited your site via this blog before, but have been to so many. Please refresh my memory what it's about, since I am unable to access it right now.
My belief at the end of the day is that we can be angry at the police, her roomy, whomever. There are no more "what if's" left. One person murdered her and we just have to accept that. Whatever mistakes or whatever was looked over by LE needs to be a lesson for the future for the rest of the kids out there. However, they knew BF was the last to apparently to see her alive. They plug in his name and see his rap sheet. That should have been a "red flag" right there. People have mentioned 'well, you cannot convict someone on their past'. No, you cannot, but when a young child goes missing what does LE do first? They check the database for all of the pedofiles/sex offenders in that missing childs area and go question them. So that alone means that LE does base some things on someones past. They knew bf was last with her but why did they not persue him quicker? They had to have known he had a restraining order agianst him at one time, they knew he was a felon...I don't know, it makes me wonder if VCUP did just try to brush it off as a runaway case.

[teresa]

I wonder if parents know how much this boy/girl stay in my room takes place at college. My son's girlfriend is a freshmen at UVA and he goes up on the weekends.

Stays right in her room. The first time he went up, I asked him where he stayed and I was SHOCKED. I thought UVA was a strict school. Let me tell you if you don't know, they are WILD and CRAZY!

[Diane]

Teresa, my son attends msu in montana and his girlfriend flew out to see him.All he had to do was get a three day pass for her to stay in his dorm.I think alot of colleges do this.I wanted to point out on my last post that I was not putting blame on the roommate of Taylor's what I was saying is that Taylor was already missing 2 days that should of been a big clue to the vcu police.I know the outcome would not have changed in this case but I think abigail is right let the mistakes be a lesson for the future for the rest of the kids out there.

[nova]

Someone please explain to me the rationale behind unisex dorms and letting young men and women stay in the same rooms over night. Is there no curfew? Is there nobody checking on these young people? Oh, I guess they are considered adults and allowed to do anything they please.
Nancy Grace is no idiot. She is a smart woman. I just cant stand to listen to her yell all the time. I think they must teach this yelling to women in law school. That woman who defended the Menendez brothers screeched and screamed through the whole trial. I had to turn that off too. She lost the second time around on that as I recall.
But all the cable shows with screamers like Chris Matthews and others are unwatchable. Men do it too you know. And talk radio is even worse.

[teresa]

Teresa, my son attends msu in montana and his girlfriend flew out to see him.All he had to do was get a three day pass for her to stay in his dorm.I think alot of colleges do this.I wanted to point out on my last post that I was not putting blame on the roommate of Taylor's what I was saying is that Taylor was already missing 2 days that should of been a big clue to the vcu police.I know the outcome would not have changed in this case but I think abigail is right let the mistakes be a lesson for the future for the rest of the kids out there.

Posted by: Diane | Nov 10, 2005 8:52:30 AM

I agree, I think The RPD should have been notified after 24hrs of her not coming back. Even when a grown adult is gone that long, someone reports them missing if it is not like them.

[bob]

NOVA have you ever heard Michael Savage? He's the king of all screaming it's almost comical because he surely has mental issues and I almost feel guilty for laughing.
I have to dig out an article for you about co-education. It was written in 1923, and it was from a male perspective in that co-education, at least through high school, was especially bad for men. That women served as an unhealthy distraction for men, particularly in the years where men's minds were developing intellectually. You go back though history, a lot of great male thinkers, Socrates, Aristotle, all studied and sharpened their minds in their early years without the distraction of women around. Oh sure, some will say that is total BS maybe they right I don't know. It's just an alternative view. And yes i'm sure women will agree that co-ed is just as bad for them.
I tend to agree. Ever see the movie "Dead Poet's Society?" Now there is a school every boy should go to. Biggest mistake ever making Princeton University co-educational.
It's just silly today. G/F staying at his dorm for 3 days? Ha! I'm sure there's a lotta studing going on then! What a joke. What are they running, a dorm or a motel? If I ever have kids, I hope I am rich enough to send them to a private school that is NOT co-educational. He or she will still find a way to socialize...
I can't wait to see the hate mail i get from this one...

[nova]

Hi Bob. I agree 100 per cent with every thing you wrote.
I was very lucky in that my wife got our daughter enrolled at Smith College(women only)in Northhampton,Mass. They still know something about the value of same sex education. And they seem to know how to protect the young women who enroll there. She graduated some time ago with an excellent education.
My wife went to a Catholic girls high school in Washington,D.C. back in the 1950s. It is now out of business. Then she went to Catholic University in D.C. I went to a public high school in Mobile,Alabama and a state college/University in the South. Believe me she got a much better education than I did. In fact, I have never met a person yet who went to Catholic schools who did not receive a first rate education. Public schools began to decline(according to my mother who was a teacher and grew up in the 1930s)when they dropped the dress codes and started making all kids stay in school until age 16. What ever happened to trade schools by the way?
I guess what happened is after birth control pills and women's lib and the sexual revolution of the 1960s all the women said "Hey boys and girls are all just alike. No difference so they must all be treated just alike". Hence unisex dorms and boys and girls shacking up together in state supported colleges and University dorm rooms.
Here is another point. Do you know why state colleges were originally placed in small rural towns and not in cities? Obviously to keep the young students away from the corrupting influence of big cities. The fact that VCU is in Richmond is something to note in this case. It is an urban environment. Not rural or small town at all. Drugs are commonplace and because of the art scene around VCU it is a hip fast lane environment. True there are many that are not part of that scene but the so called "art scene" has always drawn to it oddballs, risk takers,and creative types some of whom are faking it.
Final point. Boys and girls are not alike. They are not even interested in the same things.
The main difference is in size and strength. At least they dont have women playing baseball or football with men yet in college or the pros.
I know there are some rough burly female truck drivers and such but there are also many girly girls still around. The French are right about one thing. Vive la differance!

[teresa]

Hey Nova..

I am so glad my son is doing heating and air. (TRADE) His friends are off to college, most of them probably pissing their parents money away. I know a couple will end up doing what they went there for. My son is 19 and still at home. Pays his own bills but building a NICE bank acct. I am proud of him and wish more kids were like him. Believe it or not, he was a very popular kid in school. I am kinda glad he didn't go to college.

[southern girl]

Nova:

Glad your daughter is enrolled at Smith--great school. But most of the women I knew who attended there shacked up with each other fairly prolifically. LOL at the previous entries about being so damned concerned with schools allowing oppsosite sexed partners to stay with one another, or even share a dorm.

Ya think if the college forced seperation that students would stop having sex? You folks need to catch up. And hey--hate to break it to ya NOVA, but there's a whole LOT of sex going on at Smith College.

[GDS40k]

As a graduate of VCU and a lifelong resident of Richmond, now residing in Jackson Ward, the next neighbohood over from the Fan, I think it is important to make something clear: The VCU police are legitimate law enforcement officers. They are not rent-a-cops or the goofy campus cops you see in cheesy eighties movies. They are essentially Richmond PD that stick to the VCU campus as their beat. They can make arrests and if they do, the take the arrested individual to Richmond City lock-up, just like the RPD. They also can and do enforce the law around the campus whether they are dealing with students or not. I'm sure their officers are trained in a similar fashion as RPD officers (perhaps even through the same academy, I know they share facilities such as the RPD shooting range) and I'm sure their detectives are equally qualified. People seem to be making a judgement that the RPD would handle a case in a far more professional manner and the VCU police are not "real" law enforcement, and that is a misjudgement.

[nova]

Why did not Taylor's dorm know she was missing and report it right away? Dont they know who is in their dorms or not? I think young freshman women should have curfews and if necessary be locked in their rooms at night away from older male predators like BF. that is what they did back in the good old days of the 1950s. locked 'em up at night. 730pm on weeknights and 11pm on the weekends. curfews are good things for freshmen women. if not, who is to watch out for them?
Southern Girl: There are lesbos everywhere now. Not just at all girl schools.
If Taylor's roomate had not had a boy/man in that room when Taylor went back to HER room(not his)she would still be alive. That boy/man should have been told to get out. He should not even have been there at that hour.
Dont the dorms know who is in and who is out?well they should. whatever happened to dorm mothers and floor monitors? too bad they didnt have and enforce a curfew.

[teresa]

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/HTMLPage/RTD_HTMLPage&c=HTMLPage&cid=1031785226582

I check this everyday for updates. I can't believe this reporter who was on it from day one has just stopped. Just for FYI if you want it.

[k]

NOVA,
I am a VCU mom and the school offers all sorts of dorms. Students choose the type they want to live in. The GRC is really the only choice for students who don't want the lock down type...which VCU does offer. The GRC does have a security check in and they are very vigilant as to who comes and who goes. Guest male or female must stay in their hosts room and must leave with the host and at no time may they be left alone without their host. This is strigently enforced even with the parents who stay over. I have witnessed this first hand.
Taylor's roommate would have to have left with the boyfriend to check him out at the front desk...he could not just leave on his own. Unless, his suite was also in the GRC.

[southern girl]

nova

I do not agree with you at all, for two primary reasons:

TB was associated with a sociopath, so whether it was that night or another, her chances of running into some shit was pretty high. Secondly, educational institutions could do a better job at security; however, the opportunity for friends and lovers to see one another within campus residences hardly contribute to the crime rate. I'll bet VCU is no different than any other campus. But if you have literature that shows correlation to such a thing, I'd enjoy reading it.

It's really easy to get ramped up on what might have turned out for TB if she didn't have to vacate her dorm room, but I believe it's her assoc. with BF that was the real kicker.

[bob]

Of course the kid was heading for trouble with fRawley.
If it was his intent to silence her, indeed if it was his intent to silence anyone, he surely would have found a way to do it, whether it was that night or another. Truly, when a man decides that he will kill a woman, she is indeed powerless to prevent it. That is Southern Girl’s point as I read it. The fact that the roommate’s boy friend was in the dorm just made the opportunity come earlier, not later. Security stops at the dorm walls; once she leaves those four walls, any manner of harm is possible. Personal safety has a lot to do with lifestyle and the "risks" one takes. However, being stalked like an animal can hardly be prevented by the stalkee, regardless of risk taking or lifestyle.
The point about co-education being bad has nothing to do with sex. You missed the point entirely. I submit the REAL point of going to college is to refine one’s mind and perhaps learn a trade. There’s something positive to be said about intelligent deliberation between men and women who are educated. We aren’t born with the ability, we learn it along the way. That should be the aim of higher education.
But somehow, somewhere along the way, younger people got it backwards: college is a place to drink beer and have sex, and if one actually learns something, well, that’s a bonus.
I think this is the great "benefit" of co-education---distraction, distraction, and still more distraction. Anyone who believes that those who attend single sex schools are libido-less is quite mistaken. Likewise anyone who believes "forced separation" will make the sex drive less.
There is a time to be serious, there is a time to have fun. During the week, college should be a time to be serious. On the weekends, it’s a time to have fun. There’s nothing wrong with socialization, but I think the odds are improved at a single-sex school at getting a better education, which translates into choosing a wiser mate, which translates into higher incomes, which translates into a better future for the family. And the family itself will produce more intelligent offspring, and the cycle will continue.
It astounds me that tuition at my alma mater, Duquesne University (a Catholic school BTW) is now $30,000 per year. Perhaps they feel that the more expensive they make it, the more seriously it will be taken by the students. A good many students succeed and thrive in co-educational institutions. Wonderful. I fully expect there are many in co-educational settings do well in spite of the distractions along the way. And there are very real distractions.
NOVA makes many good points. Unfortunately they come too late for the kid.
In our society, we have been trained that college is the next logical step. But family financial hardships limit to what extent one can take advantage of higher education. It’s the old story of the rich getting richer. Those who come from moneyed families can afford to send their kids to Yale, Harvard, Princeton and any other school or their choosing, including single-sex schools, for these schools are not inexpensive.
The quality of education you get I think can be directly correlated to how much money one has to spend. And the beat goes on.

[abigail]

When I went to college we had separate floors for the guys and girls, there were cameras in the halls and the doors to the outside locked at 10 on weeknights and 12 on weekends. Bummer being on floor one though, because people would knock on your window after hours until you got up and opened the door. We still managed to hang out on the opposite floors. The RA's were just upperclassman mostly doing their own thing. It's not like we would get in any kind of trouble if we were caught, unless we were causing "problems". At first it was sort of like a "challenge" to venture up a floor after "hours". Once we realized there were no real ramifications we did not worry about it. There were also the people who lived off campus and obviously had parties. No matter how structured any school is in promoting safety for the students, the kids are still going to get out there and do what they want. Security/police cannot follow every naive freshman girl around to make sure she is safe. Perhaps they should follow around every bf! That's just my personal experience at a very small college. However, I've been to others visiting friends UVA, U of R, Longwood, VaTech, Radford, ODU and it was the same thing. You could "sneak" and do almost anything without getting caught. That being said, if I'm correct Taylors roommate was older and at least 18. I guess she had every right to have a "boy" in her dorm room. After all her parents are paying for it, either out of pocket or loans or Emma has student loans that she will have to pay back. College should not be considered a "baby sitter" for our kids when we don't have control over them. It's essentially up to parents and other adults to make sure they know where they are headed. Not saying Taylors parents did a damn thing wrong, but another adult did. My guess is that if your baby is dead you could care less if she had sex or got drunk, or whatever. I'd be mortified if I found out my kid was having sex that young, but I'd rather that then to never have the chance to hold her again. One person fuckered up here. Not Taylor, not her parents, it was bf. If that slimy scumbag did not exsist we would not be here right now. That's JMO.

[justathought]

Abby--

I agree!!!!!!!!!!

But I have decided that my son will go to the local community college and then transfer to JMU. That way he can drive everyday LOL

He said I was crazy that he was going where he wanted to go but I have 4 years to brainwash him into seeing things my way LOL :-P

[abigail]

JAT--I think I've mentioned before that my kid will be home schooled for college!:) Yeah, like that will work! I'm sure she'll be ready to get the heck out of here since we will have "ruined" her life by the time she turns 15!
She's getting ready to lose her first tooth, she won't choke on it if it comes out while she's sleeping will she? I mean I guess it's possible, but should I be worried about that?

[justathought]

Abby--

First off if you would like the name of a WONDERFUL home schooling school that really does go through college let me know. I use to home school Wm. That was until he could not play football and baseball anymore unless he played JV.

Now for the tooth. Any thing is possible but I would not worry about it! If it should come out while she is a sleep she will more than likely wake up and if not she will pass it fine!

[abigail]

Jat,

Well we've got some years to go before we think about home schooling and now she says she never wants to leave us but that will change! I've just got to learn to let go and teach her to be safe and make wise decisions, but just because we instill something in her does not mean she will follow it! Kids become very vunerable in a situation that is out of their realm.

So do I have to go through the poop to retrieve the tooth or does the tooth fairy do that?:) That sounds like a job for the daddy! hahahhaha!

[justathought]

Abby--

I agree I think that is a job for Super Daddy LOL

[abigail]

Hahah! He said, "yeah, right". The man gags trying to help me clean up vomit when she is sick! He said he would knock out the dogs tooth and present it as Belsies before he dug through poop! :)
Are you watching Primetime? Absolutly disturbing!

[justathought]

No I am watching Ghost Hunters it is on for 6 hours tonight :-)

[abigail]

Right now dsl is pissing me off more than dial up! I keep trying to post and I'm getting locked up! Maybe it's Windows, and that's why hubby hates it and has been trying for years to get me to switch. Anyway, what channel? Have you gotten my email? Would not be surprised at this point if you have not! Anyway, where is everyone? Bored I guess, but we have got to keep Taylors case going. Does not matter what we talk about as long as we keep the "light" on! Have you heard about the "diva cup"? Cracked me up at work today talking about it!

[justathought]

No no email yet.

And no I haven't heard about the Diva Cup

[abigail]

Geez! Well, you have not told me the channel yet! I can't explain the Diva cup here!

[justathought]

oh sorry it is on Scifi

[bob]

You mean the diva cup is on sci fi?
Seriously, i wonder how long it takes to perfect the empty process, especially in a public restroom. You have my sympathy ladies, men got off cheap in the game of life...

[oldline]

This merely points out one glaring fact to me: the baby boomer generation and their immediate offspring are completely fucking oblivious to how the new gen operates. This is NOT Frankie Avalons Beach Blanket Bingo, folks. I dont blame the VCU pd or Rpd for this, i blame halfassed parents who actually take Dr. Phils advice on stupid inner child tactics. Why act surprised when your son has a gf on campus and stays there? I mean you prolly helped it along yourself by catering to his whims i.e. shifty curfews as a youth, turning the other cheek, using boys will be boys philosophy. A double standard, really. You pretty much hand the keys to the kingdom to unbridled youth, then have the nerve to act shocked when something horrid occurs. The VCU pd didnt go Hawaii Five-O with the situation , because unlike PARENTS? they see this sort of activity almost nonstop, the housing for vcu students ranges from dorms, to apts located all over the fan, with bars aplenty, and decadence easily provided. Its not amazing or disturbing to hear about a roomie not showing up bright and early next day in a college town. In fact, people like that are considered bookish, boring, and bland. I blame parents. Simple as that. Youve lost touch with us, and i find it severely hypocritical that you have lost sight of your own reckless abandon as youths and displaying a how dare thee approach to your own childrens misbehaviour. I think wed all be lying to ourselves if we said going to a college out of town to get away from our parents view wasnt an overriding factor, in our determination of where to attend.

[nova]

k: thanks very much for your information. I think I understand the housing policies at VCU better now. I went to the VCU website and read up on the GRC and looked at the pictures and read the information. Very informative.
I still believe it is reasonable to have curfews at colleges and universities for freshman women.
As far a college as a place for partying goes that has not changed since colleges were first founded in this country. UVA is a prime example. I recently looked at a UVA Yearbook from a recent year and the first 200 pages in the book were all about partying. They have tried to tame it down a bit in recent years. Easters sounded like a drunken brawl.
In one of William Faulkner's early books he has a character say that "young men are sent to the University of Virginia to learn how to drink". That is what college is for some people and E.A.Poe had to leave UVA because his step father would no longer pay his gambling debts.
So yes young people drink and gamble and do many other foolish things. Some die in car wrecks some die of disease or other accidents. A few die of excessive drinking. I just think this case illustrates how wrong headed it is for a freshman girl to be out of her dorm late at night. She had only been at VCU 2 weeks. You send a child off to college you DO expect the college to provide some guidance and protection. And curfews!!!!!!!!!!

[error404]

The following letter was sent to a VCU Student from Eugene Trani (VCU President):

To the University and Health System Communities:

I want to update you on our University-wide efforts to find one of our
VCU students, Taylor Behl. I am very heartened by the outpouring of
concern and support that our faculty, staff and students have shown for
Taylor, her family and friends. These past two weeks have demonstrated
that our Virginia Commonwealth University and Health System communities
care deeply about the safety and well being of one another.

Although the Richmond Police Department is currently in charge of the
investigation, we continue with aggressive efforts to find Taylor.
The investigation has been thorough with many resources brought
to bear so that Taylor can be located and reunited with her family.
Between the time Taylor was reported missing to VCU Police in the early
morning hours of September 7, and the time her mother arrived on campus
a few hours later, VCU Police already had established leads that the
task force is now pursuing and that are being reported in the media.
Our detectives are working tirelessly on the case with law enforcement
officials from the Richmond Police Department, Virginia State Police,
the state Attorney General's Office and the FBI.

We continue to encourage the VCU community to contact the Richmond
Police Department tipline, 804-514-8477, or VCU Police at 804-828-1196,
with any information related to Taylor's whereabouts. In order to
aid in our efforts to find Taylor, VCU pledges a $20,000 reward to
anyone for information that leads to the location and return of Taylor.

VCU remains committed to providing support for Taylor's family and
friends. VCU officials have been in constant contact with the Behl
family and friends, have arranged for the parents' lodging while
they are here in Richmond, and have offered counseling services
to the family and Taylor's friends. Our neighbors in the City of
Richmond also have been supportive, as was evidenced by this past
Monday night's candlelight vigil in Monroe Park.

Finally, let me reassure you we remain dedicated to providing a
safe and secure environment for our students, faculty and staff.
As always, VCU Police regularly patrol our campuses and surrounding
areas. Our residence halls have 24-hour, seven-day a week security
staff to monitor electronic card and visual access by our residents
and their guests. Emergency call boxes are located at all of our
major facilities. We encourage our students, faculty, and staff to
use the free VCU Escort Service by calling 828-WALK.

Please keep Taylor, her family and friends in your thoughts as we
hope for her safe return.

Sincerely,

Eugene P. Trani
President, VCU
and
President and Chair, VCU Health System

Copies:
Mr. Donald C. Gehring
Dr. Stephen D. Gottfredson
Dr. Francis L. Macrina
Ms. Sue Ann Messmer
Dr. Sheldon M. Retchin
Mr. Paul W. Timmreck
Mr. Peter L. Wyeth

-=-=-=-=-=-=

Hmmm...