UCSB students are wondering what really happened to Noah Krom
In our continuing research into the death of Noah Krom, the son of Democratic congressional candidate Beth Krom, in June of this year, we stumbled across a website, called “The Dark Side of UCSB,” run by his fellow students at U.C. Santa Barbara.
On that website is an editorial entitled “The Dead Demand Answers.” The editorial openly wonders why the U.C. Santa Barbara student newspaper, the Daily Nexus, failed to follow up on the tragic deaths of numerous U.C. Santa Barbara students.
Of course we know that the entire media gave up on the Krom story. We were promised a toxicology report by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff back in June. We are now in December and the report apparently never was released. Calls and emails to the Sheriff have been ignored.
Here is the student editorial in its entirety:
“Dead” Demand Answers (Headline from the Daily Nexus 11/25/2009) should have read “Dead Demand Answers”
I have been drafting this editorial for over two months. There were two reasons that I have had trouble finishing it:
1. It is truly difficult and painful to discuss this topic, and
2. I was hoping that someone would steal the thunder and write (in a thoughtful and constructive way) about the people who died last year at UCSB.
I really hate to write stories about people dying – particularly young people with so much of life ahead of them. The purpose of the Dark Side is to stop the carnage at UCSB/IV; therefore, every death associated with UCSB (and most certainly those attributable to drugs, alcohol, suicide, and violence) is a failure for The Dark Side.
At first glance one could conclude that the Dark Side isn’t the only publication with an aversion to writing about dead people. UCSB and the Daily Nexus don’t seem to like to write about dead people either; however, I fear that my first-glace reaction was wrong – it is not that UCSB abhors the subject; it is that they actively avoid the topic on political grounds – you know, out of sight, out of mind. After all, it does call into question the benefit of the school maintaining its “party school” image. It appears that the UCSB community engages in intentional amnesia.
Let me test your personal memory, here are a few names:
Noah Krom
Sara Tahmassebi
Chad Andrew Briner
Jaymie Rose Darrow
Do you recognize any of these names? Probably not. All of them were UCSB students. All of them died within the past 12 months or so – and these are just the ones that were reported. They join the ranks of almost 100 people who have died in the past decade or so as a result of the UCSB/IV party scene.
The amount of coverage that the Daily Nexus (and UCSB) afforded the deaths of these four people was less than the coverage afforded to the new burrito options in a local student haunt – and certainly far less than the almost continuous coverage given to the “assault on student rights” by the diabolical Isla Vista Foot Patrol.
Without knowing why these young people died, how can we have an intelligent conversation about reducing the death rate? How can we reduce suicides, drug and alcohol addiction, sexual assaults, and a host of other crimes (that are far too prevalent at UCSB) unless we understand the root causes.
The student body is currently up in arms about a fee increase and play staging “die-in” protests. While I am opposed to the current fee increases, the truth is that the fee hikes are not a matter of life and death. My guess is that the families of those listed above would gladly pay the fee increase if they could have their loved-one back.
In the above cases, the actual cause of death was never reported. Nor was there any discussion about how the community might avoid similar tragedies in the future. Why? It is not because UCSB/The Daily Nexus doesn’t care about the dead students. The school cares a great deal about student deaths – but what they care about is saying as little as possible about it. They don’t want to discuss why close to a hundred young people have died because of the party scene at UCSB/IV in the past decade or so. They publicly shy away from discussing the problems associated with the party school image while continuing to use it as a recruiting tool.
The deaths of the students merited little coverage. Here are some excerpts of the reporting on the deaths from the Daily Nexus to give you an idea of how the deaths were handled:
“The last weeks of Spring Quarter were marked by tragedy after fourth-year student Noah Krom died from falling off the cliff along Del Playa Drive.”
“Sara Tahmassebi, a second-year UCSB student, died in her Isla Vista apartment Saturday. The cause of death is unknown, pending a toxicology report.”
“On Sept. 7, UCSB student Chad Andrew Briner died in his Isla Vista apartment at the age of 21. The cause of Briner’s death is still unknown, pending a toxicology report.”
“UCSB student Jaymie Rose Darrow died on July 19 (2008) while visiting the La Jolla Indian Reservation near San Diego. She was 19 years old”
That’s about it for these four students. The causes of death were never published – no follow-up at all. No discussion as to how these types of deaths might be avoided in the future – just silence from the UCSB Administration and the Daily Nexus. I am certain that Chancellor’s office must have made some statement to the families – Yang usually makes make one of his obsequious apologies to the family of the deceased.
Last week the Daily Nexus reported that UCSB students got upset because Chancellor Yang wasn’t responding to their demands to discuss the fee hikes. After years of the student body extolling the virtues of the good Chancellor, they have finally awoken to what many parents have known all along: Yang doesn’t discuss tough issues – he simple refuses to respond. And, when he does respond it is with mere platitudinous tripe. His favorite response is the vapid apology.
Regarding Yang, the Daily Nexus, reporting on the fee hike issues said, “
At that point, the crowd demanded that the chancellor offer an explanation as to why he failed to address the student body about the tuition increase before the initiative was passed.
“Yang expressed his sincerest apology to the crowd and informed the protesters of a series of town hall meetings he has scheduled for next week to discuss possible means of alleviating the budget deficit.
“Dissatisfied with his explanation, the demonstrators yelled ‘We don’t need sympathy! We need action, Why didn’t you publicly denounce the 32 percent increase?’
“Urvashi Nagrani, a fifth-year film studies major, said Yang’s lack of communication with students is unacceptable. ‘Can we get a cell phone number?’ Nagrani said. ‘Because we haven’t [heard back from you in e-mails].’”
I would like to pose a question to the student protesters: Which is more important, the lost of a human life or the fee increases? Chancellor Yang will not even publicly condemn the senseless loss of life, assaults, or rapes that occurs in and around UCSB. Do you actually think he gives a rip about you and your complaints about fee increases?
I’m still with Vern on this. There is simply no compelling public interest to knowing whether or not Krom was intoxicated.
Thanks Art for being the only Blog to cover this story. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Kroms BUT.. if this was a non-English speaking Mexican kid from Santa Ana no one would be complaining about these posts. BUT since it’s the son of a rich well connected Jewish politician then it’s so very insensitive and your blog should be ashamed to be talking about it! When was the last time you saw an outpouring of complaints after a blog wrote about a dead Hispanic youth? But then this young man’s mothers political machine doesn’t want it to impact her political aspirations. Those who want to be offended should be shocked that a mother who loses her son in such a tragic fashion would want to keep running for political office instead of spending more time with her family. That’s the shocker for me!
An officer from the coroner’s department in Santa Barbara tells me that it’s generally the case that a toxicology report is NOT available to the public, but only to those who have a “nexus” with the family. His superior will call me Monday to confirm that that’s true in this particular case, but there’s really no reason he or I can think of that this case would be different. In Michael Jackson’s case, OBVIOUSLY bribery was involved.
Art’s whole conjecture here (which he regularly even forgets is a conjecture) is absurd – What is so damaging about the information that your adult son had been drinking (and not even driving) at the time of his death? Damaging enough for a grieving family to engage in illegal activities and deals to cover it up, deals with a sleazy ambitious Republican sheriff and/or agreements not to sue over dereliction of duty that caused your son’s death? It’s just absurd.
On top of that, Art’s admission last night that the proximate cause of his returning to this story was revenge for Beth’s criticism of Steven Choi, and his boasting about how many hits the story has received. All in all, this is another moral low point for our beloved blog.
Vern,
Speaking of low points, I told you today, when you called me, that there were several media reports in June that indicated that the toxicology report was going to be released – soon. It never was. Now why would the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department say in June that the report was pending – and then change their story now? You think maybe a deal was cut? We spoke about this Vern and I am disappointed that you so quickly forgot our conversation.
Is there a public nexus to this story? Of course there is. Noah died on a public beach. He was a student at a public university. There are allegations that the Sheriff’s deputies failed to properly investigate the fall when they responded to a 911 call. There are further allegations that Noah was trying to ditch a cab fare when he vaulted over a fence – and fell off the cliff.
I also told you, in our conversation today, that when I read, over at the Lib OC, that Beth Krom was slamming Choi, it reminded me to contact the SB Sheriff’s department again. I had first emailed them, weeks ago, and they had not responded. As I related in my post yesterday, I called them again. I did not get a returned call.
Now to your question about what is damaging about this incident – so damaging that the Kroms or their handlers may have engaged in a cover-up, are you serious? This would clearly impact Krom’s congressional campaign, like it or not. How one’s children turn out is a direct reflection of the parents. Krom is running on the grounds that due to her work the City of Irvine is a haven of public safety. Believe me, if the report shows that Noah was drunk, it will reflect poorly on Beth, again whether you like it or not.
Lastly, as I already related in a previous comment, I mentioned how many hits yesterday’s story specifically to underscore the fact that despite your agitations the post was of great interest to our readers. Sorry to have to break this to you Vern, but our number one story today is this new post about what a UCSB student had to say about the fact that his college newspaper dropped the Krom investigation. And our number one post, over the last two days, is the post I put up yesterday, asking what really happened to Noah.
Be honest please Vern. If this story had to do with some Republican’s son, you can bet that the blue boys at the Liberal OC would be hammering away. Your reaction is a partisan one. That is OK. You are a partisan guy. I don’t have an issue with that. But you need to recognize that I am not. I don’t give a damn about the Democratic Party – or about the Republican Party. In my posts I take both parties and their candidates to task. If anything, I am the most even-handed blogger at the Orange Juice.
Yes, we spoke, and yes, I listened to you. I didn’t say I agreed. I don’t know why they told you in June that a report was pending, all I know is what they told me. The fact that your 22-year old son, off at college, drinks alcohol, is so innocuous that I can’t get my head around your certainty that it’s worth some elaborate cover-up. And I resent your characterizing my reaction as a “partisan” one, you’re way off base there. If I were partisan I’d be writing for the Liberal OC, you know!
Vern,
You are not paying attention. The SB Sheriff’s reported to the media in June that the report was pending. That is what I stated. I have not yet been able to talk to anyone at their department – not then and not now.
Vern, were you not the “Volunteer of the Year” for your party, for this region, what a year or two ago? Sounds pretty partisan to me!
I cannot imagine you ever writing for the Liberal OC. You would fit in better at the OC Progressive blog and I am glad you are cross-posting over there. The hacks at the Liberal OC cause more damage to their party than otherwise, particularly with their non-stop shilling for Republican Supervisor Janet Nguyen.
I am glad you write for us – and I think it is a good deal for both of us. We offer you the biggest platform in Orange County. None of the other blogs in town come close to our overall readership.
Just because you are partisan does not mean you are not independent. You are a very fair guy. I appreciate that and it is why you fit in with the rest of the misfits here at the Orange Juice.
Finally, I have described ad nauseum why I believe this case is a public one and why I believe it bears further scrutiny. I have even provided, above, an editorial from a UCSB student who agrees that the Krom investigation should not have been dropped by the media. I don’t know what else I can do here to convince you. I believe we may have to simply agree to disagree.
Art,
It wasn’t the post that was of great interest to us. It was seeing you knocked down a peg or two. THAT was the entertaining part, and the part that garnered “hits”.
#7,
That may have been YOUR motivation but it is rather presumptious to assume that all our readers had a similar mindset, particularly when many of them agreed with me. It would appear that you are projecting your feelings onto our readers.
And today’s story served to illustrate that I am not alone in asking these questions. No less than a UCSB student is wondering why the investigation was dropped.
Funny how you have not commented on that!
This is a tragedy, but Art is right.
“How one’s children turn out is a direct reflection of the parents.” And this parent is representing your household in government!
“How one’s children turn out is a direct reflection of the parents.”
That is such a vast over-generalization that I don’t even know where to begin. But since you seem to think it’s true in this case, would you care to articulate for us the very specific example(s) between the way Noah Krom “turned out” and the way his parents “turned out”?
Our hearts go out to the Krom’s but Art makes some excellent points. Politicians love to use their kid’s positive life stories as implied demonstration of their parental prowess. But if a son or daughter attending an Ivy League school or Military academy makes a candidate a better leader then surely it’s also true that negative news shows a certain weakness as a parent and leader. I’ve always been opposed to the use of kids as political props but it has become quite common. Too many politicians in Sacramento and Washington enjoy interesting political careers while their families suffer back at home. In the case of the Kroms it’s a fair question to ask if she would have been better off spending more time raising her kids and less in politics. For now we can only wish them all the best and hope that no one else ever has to live through such a tragedy.
#10,
James Baldwin: Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
Vern, were you not the “Volunteer of the Year” for your party, for this region, what a year or two ago? Sounds pretty partisan to me!
Well, they did name me that for 2007 which was flattering but surprising to me and others as I am such a non-partisan. Much of my volunteer work was pushing the Democrats to be stronger against the War in Iraq, and for impeachment of Bush and single-payer healthcare; I always attacked nearly as many Democrats as I supported, as we expect more of them.
I got in trouble with the DPOC for campaigning for two Greens in 2006 – that would be the senatorial and gubernatorial candidates as I didn’t think Angelides or Feinstein were progressive enough.
You’ve seen me just recently celebrating Republican Ahn Cao’s brave health care vote, and Republican Jim Silva’s lone vote to save the Fair.
Yet they gave me that award despite my being more progressive than partisan, and I think that reflected well on Jim Moreno and the others who chose me.
But back to the topic at hand… yes, we disagree big time.
“How one’s children turn out is a direct reflection of the parents.”
#9, that is an outrageous premise. A parent’s best efforts and intentions can yield a murderer. A crack addict or pedophile can raise a child who ends up professionally and ethically accomplished. I have watched horrible parents raise remarkable children. I have watched wonderful parents raise children who went “astray.” There are a myriad of factors that impact human behavior, so to pass judgment on a parent’s character based upon how their offspring behaves (especially an adult child) is categorically wrong. Any basic psychology course teaches that personality and behavior is influenced by many things. Some of it is upbringing, but some of it is also genetic. Some of it is social, some of it is environmental, some of it is nutritional and some of it boils down to “BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I!” Haven’t most of us, in our lifetimes, taken silly risks that could have proved catastrophic but for some graceful, intervening event??? There is so much judgment being passed here. Having watched too many of my friends or colleagues lose their children and observing their indescribable anguish, I can only hope that we all might be a little more thoughtful and empathic.
Sweetelle,
The difference is that your friends didn’t engage in cover-ups and then run for Congress.
“The difference is that your friends didn’t engage in cover-ups and then run for Congress.”
You still haven’t proven that. Yet you state it as fact. Shameless.
Blaming parents for the death of their child is just CRAP. Shame on Art for going there. His kids just are not old enough for him to experience the hard knocks that will humble him as his children make adult size mistakes using their developing adolescent impaired brains. Mark my words, readers, Art’s going to be eating humble pie over those ignorant comments about what kind of parents the Kroms have been. Sweetelle was more eloquent than…..so see her post for the civil reply
WHY would newspapers, cops, the city and the college campus all work in tandem to leave death report details out of the public eye when young people die in that town? BIG BUSINESS. If parents realized that the alleged number of student deaths is pegged at 100 over the last decade- an alleged 10 deaths of young college students PER YEAR – how many of those parents would simply tell their kid to pick another campus? The town bars make a TON of money by catering to the students who have flimflamed their parents into letting them attend this party town. The bars sponsor all sorts of binge drinking events all year round. The university makes HUGE money keeping accidents quiet. The city revenues would suffer greatly if parent consumers realized that their son or daughter could be ONE OF an ESTIMATED TEN STUDENTS WHO COULD LOSE THEIR LIVES THIS COLLEGE YEAR. Santa Barbara has a lot to lose if the city, school and bar establishments were held accountable by publishing something like TOXICOLOGY REPORTS when a young person loses their life in Par-Tay town, SB.
So what if kids are falling off cliffs, dying of alcohol poisoning, suffering sexual assaults while under the influence, or even just developing life impairing bad habits like alcoholism? Just don’t talk about it. Party ON!
Standard procedures in Santa Barbara:
1. Let college students die, avoid publicity as to cause
2. If a kid falls down a cliff, patrolling cops are only required to shine their flashlights from the top of the cliff for a brief time. Standard procedure dictates that there are NO consequences if a student dies on any given night. The city can expect TEN such fatal incidents a year, on average.
3. Let the liquor-serving establishments continue to promote binge drinking events all school year long. Even during finals and mid term weeks.
4. When yet another kid falls off a dangerous, unfenced cliff, let the negligent homeowner/landlord off the hook and blame the accident on the accident victim – DESPITE the NUMEROUS similiar cliff falling events that happen year after year – maiming and killing people unnecessarily.
5. Downplay the secretly promoted party atmosphere that bears deadly fruit to unsuspecting parents who unknowingly send their children to an irresponsible city that covers up the dangers that just might rob them of their future life with those children.
6. Use the “privacy” excuse to keep critical information out of the press in order to avoid liability and accountability at all costs.
7. When a student dies, cast a doubt of shame over families that are fearful that drugs/alcohol might be involved in the accident, essentially shifting ALL BLAME from the guilty parties (city, colleges, bars) onto the unsuspecting families dealing with shocking grief.
8. Don’t fix any of the dangerous problems. Conspire to keep the status quo. There are plenty of new students waiting in the wings for next year. What’s the cost of 10 lives per year, if you can keep them covered up? NOTHING. Their young lives cost the city of Santa Barabara NOTHING at all.
9. If you are a local Santa Barbara “news” paper or “news” outlet, let the story die out. The ONLY thing that matters is the revenue that can be generated by the BIG BUSINESS of party college town politics.
Red,
I don’t agree. As parents we are always on the hook. Sure, once a kid gets old enough it is up to him to act responsibly. But kids learn their values from us.
I have a daughter in college and a 16 year old. Trust me, I have already had plenty of grief.
Never mind the alleged drinking in the Krom tale. The worst allegation is that he tried to ditch a cab fare. That is just messed up! I hope my kids never try to rip someone off.
The Kroms are Jewish, right? The Old Testament is replete with stories about God judging parents for how their kids turned out. Look up the stories about the Prophet Samuel and his bad boys. God faulted him for not disciplining them.
Your other comments are spot on. UCSB has a vested interest in these cover-ups. Perhaps they conspired with the Sheriff.
The good news is that I now have a reporter looking at this story. The truth is on the way.
Art,
Your Hubris will cause you grief. Really. You have no idea. Just wait until you have a son who spends an evening drinking with his peers. Great parents deal with their kids’ immature judgment and impulsivity all the time. In fact, you will not be able to sleep some nights after your kid starts driving, when they get into some kind of close call, is my prediction. There is pride before the fall- spend more time talking to “good parents” that you know.
There are no “Values” in a young person partying with friends and using poor or impaired judgment. Anything could go wrong. But I’ll tell you, the chances of things going EXTREMELY WRONG are way too high in Santa Barbara where they actively cover up those life altering “mistakes” made by young people.
Your focus in on the Kroms being Jewish is suspect at best. Stop. It’s unnecessary.
Red,
Please. I am not anti-Semitic. My maternal great grandfather was a Jew whose family left Spain and settled in Mexico.
I mentioned the fact that the Kroms are Jewish because I referenced the Old Testament, which are their Scriptures.
It is obvious you are not familiar with the Bible. I was raised in a fundamentalist religion. I read the entire Bible by 4th grade. I am not a nutter but the lessons stuck with me. As I mentioned, a common theme of the Bible is that, as parents, we are responsible for how our kids turn out.
Are there other factors? Yes. Social pressure, and bad environments. UCSB appears to have both.
I am not a fan of sending kids to party schools. I would rather keep them in a JC and then transfer them to a near by school, or send them to a small college in a remote area.
Noah Krom was almost done at UCSB. He had his future on a silver platter. Beth Krom’s family is involved in the media, back East. Noah had an interest in the media, from what I recall. His death was doubly tragic as he had nothing but success awaiting him.
That so many young people die in Santa Barbara is a public outrage. That the media and the authorities fail to properly investigate the deaths is even more outrageous. That we the public fail to demand answers is disappointing.
Art,
I am well familiar with the Bible. I am also old enough to say that your “Jewish” references are not necessary and are presumptive in what you think the Krom family is all about. What one takes away from religious experiences is entirely personal. You should slow down and admit that. I’d object to references about one’s Muslim faith and what all significance that makes, if you were to direct comments like that about another individual or family. We’re all still hot off your “Asian” vote reference in Irvine, remember? No need to compound an image you probably don’t want to project around here.
I think we agree on a number of things in this story, despite your “cringe” writing style approach.
Nice one on getting the attention of a reporter. But good luck on that – the money sources won’t let that easily happen.
Art, you really don’t play by the rules if you don’t feel like it. That’s my experience of you. WHY do you assume your children won’t have that streak in them, also? I can think back on several incidents in my own past and can give thanks that I am alive and/or not seriously injured. Noah Krom was not so lucky. His precious life has been snatched away from those who love him the most. It’s a terrible tragedy to bear.
Can YOU honestly say that you never took one drink too many, that you never took a physical risk, that your judgement has NEVER been impaired because of a host of contributors, including sleep deprivation or emotional upset? Maybe you are the ONE guy who has lived a life of complete safety and riskless behavior, but somehow I doubt it. Pretending like your children are somehow the seamless extensions of your own adult behavior NOW is just silliness. Whatever “grief” your children have allowed to visit you so far, is the just the beginning. Not because they are bad, stupid or evil. But because they are young, inexperienced and unappreciative of a number of risks. There is a REASON why drivers under 25 cannot even rent a rental car. As a manager of risk and safety, you KNOW what the statistics say about young people and their budding judgement. Step back from hating other parents who have suffered grave misfortune. You know what they say, “There for, by the grace of God, go I…..”
Red,
My use of the term Jewish was entirely contextual. If you want to believe otherwise that is your problem, not mine.
So was my use of the word Asian. As I have pointed out to you before, and you have roundly ignored, your own city of Irvine uses that term on their demographics page. It is a demographic term, not a pejorative one.
I believe that the poster from Santa Barbara said it best. How our kids turn out is in part a reflection of us and there are other factors as well, which I have also stated. But you cannot absolve parents of all responsibility. That is crap, to use a term you referenced earlier.
I never said I was perfect, nor did I say my kids were. The point I have made, repeatedly, is that it appears that the investigation of Krom’s death was covered up. The toxicology report was smothered. Why? I don’t know. Why did the media give up on the story? I don’t know. Will we find out the truth? Perhaps. And perhaps not.
I believe it is important to find out what happened to Noah Krom. If people want to disagree, fine. But don’t kill the messenger. I am just doing what bloggers do when the media drops the ball.
Trying to insinuate that I am a racist is B.S. by the way. You know I quit the GOP because of their inherent racism. Not cool. By now you should know me better than that.
man, is Art Pedroza a sick individual. He wants so badly to be right(even when he is so obviously wrong) he does not care who he hurts.
thedarksideofucsb.com believes that both sides of the prevalent argument on this site (as demonstrated by the discussion between the posters) are off-point.
It is not appropriate to blame a parent for the behavior of an adult child. It is also not appropriate to completely absolve a parent from all responsibility. Good parents sometimes have rotten kids. Rotten parents sometimes have good kids and there are a thousand permutations in the middle. Moreover, this line of discussion obscures the true nature of the issue: How do we stop the deaths of young people at party places such as UCSB/IV? This should be our focus.
There is plenty of blame to go around but the nexus of all the blame is the complete failure of UCSB to even acknowledge that there is a problem – if we don’t admit that there is a problem, we cannot find a solution.
Clearly, someone like Noah Krom would not be thought of as the type of person who would engage in the alleged behavior that culminated in his death. He comes from a good family and enjoyed every economic and social advantage. Undeniably, police agencies should not be so callous as to not even investigate the report of a potentially fatal fall from a cliff that has been the site of many deaths. Surely, young people (UCSB students) should not be so uncaring as to merely accept the fact that “who cares if some dude went over the cliff, let’s get back to our party.”
What we know is that Noah was found dead at the bottom of the cliff many hours after he fell. What we don’t know is what caused him to engage in the behavior that is, at least in part, responsible for his death. What social forces allowed Noah to think that his conduct was appropriate and acceptable. What we don’t know is whether the police department’s failure to adequately investigate the incident contributed to his death – could Noah have been saved if he were found immediately after the fall? We also don’t know to what degree the cavalier attitude of the locals to aberrant behavior contributed to Noah’s death. Without knowing the causes (and all of them) of Noah’s death, we cannot work to stop other tragedies from occurring.
The public should have all the information surrounding this death and the deaths of all UCSB students. Yes, it might embarrass the family, the university, and the community as a whole. I, for one, am willing to accept some short term embarrassment if it might save a life.
I would again like to extend my sympathy to the Krom family. And while I am saddened that the publication of the causes of their son’s death may be painful and embarrassing, I would like to assure them that understanding the root causes of their son’s death could save someone’s child from a similar fate.
This is not and should not be a political issue; it is a moral issue.
Editor of the Dark Side,
Welcome to the Orange Juice and thank you for your comments. You are quite wise.
But this is indeed a political issue. Noah’s mother is running for Congress. She has a reputation for covering up corruption she has been involved in as a member of the Great Park Board of Directors and as an Irvine Councilwoman. You also have a County Sheriff in Santa Barbara who is somewhat of notorious Republican and he is eying an Assembly seat. And you have a UCSB administration that is less interested in protecting their students and more interested in their image.
It all sounds like a movie waiting to happen…
Thank you Art for again being brave enough to state the truth even when it offends a few people.
The politically correct blobs are boring and have not traffic. Your readers have come to expect your common sense approach to the issues. Sadly, many in our society today, like Red Vixen, want to blame everyone BUT the parents for problem children. If college kids think it’s OK to steal (not paying for cab rides) then that is something that is tolerated/taught at home. Maybe it’s not taught directly but often times by the parents example. It’s starts by parents not being honest in little things and leads to kids who don’t know right from wrong. As a previous poster stated, perhaps Ms. Krom should have spent more time raising her kids, and teaching them proper values instead of nearly 20 years spent in Irvine politics. We all make choices in life and where we spend our time says a lot about what we value most. If we put our kids second or third in terms of priority the results are often tragic. It doesn’t always lead to death but almost always does lead to problems. I hope that other parents will learn from the From tragedy. Hug your kids tightly today and when given the opportunity to spend more time away from home, resist it, and give your children what they want most, time with you.
Editor of the Dark Side,
Welcome. What, if anything, has been done to get the problem defined, so far?
Nothing. UCSB/SBCC/SO/UCPD and the rest of the power base simply try to ignore the issues. They do all they can do to underreport crime. Take sexual assault as an example. They do not support rape victims but rather allow a hostile climate to develop against women who come forward.
http://thedarksideofucsb.com/editorialDisplay.php?number=19
http://thedarksideofucsb.com/editorialDisplay.php?number=20
In our opinion this is done to discourage other victims from coming forward. They provide as little coverage about crime, drugs, alcohol and abuse as possible while at the same time putting on a happy face for the parents. The culture is to keep the party going and to use it as a recuriting tool and ignore all the bad stuff.
We do get more support each year; however, the Admin of UCSB is less than helpful. The only discussion they have ever had with us was when they leveled threats against us in an effort to shut down the website.
Editor of the Dark Side,
Those links lead to some pretty heavy issues. One in four female students will be the victim of a sexual assault while in SB is an awful statistic. I can see why your website would get attacked by authorities who do not want to be held accountable for addressing the problems you’ve outlined in your blog. The ONLY thing they can think to do is to threaten. But that will change. They WILL have to address the dangers of a “party” theme that is saturated in substance abuse, life threatening dangers, criminal activity.
OJ’s local school district was exposed, repeatedly, by this blog owner, Art Pedroza and various other posters. The initial reaction by the then-Superintendent was to go on a witch hunt to try and find out who the whistleblowers were. There were direct and indirect threats made to OJ and the district’s own guns-for-hire attorneys were tasked with monitoring the blog during the most contentious periods of time when the dirty little secrets were spilling out. Over the course of several years, the SAUSD thread has gained enormous readership, but the participation on that thread has diminished significantly – many of the previous illegal, harmful and mismanaged problems could not really continue going foward without further exposure.
The new superintendent has banned OJ from the school district’s computer system, by filtering it out. However there is ample evidence that school district administrators have been reading about the problems of the school district and have used OJ as a bit of a warning system and heads up to possible problems brewing.
The longer your blog exists and the more readership/contributions you get, the greater the pressure will be ON by the authorities to address the biggest issues. From a liability standpoint, they need your blog GONE. Because if there is ample evidence that these problems of assault, deaths with no explanations, crime sprees, life altering addictive patterns developing, etc… the more financially vulnerable those particular agencies will be. So good luck to your continued efforts. May you realize problem resolutions going forward (probably after a well-publicized lawsuit involving millions of dollars and forcing the resignation of do-nothing administrators, I would guess).
Another question: Is it true that if a drunk student is caught sitting down on like a curb, that they can be arrested, but if they “keep moving” they will not be considered a “problem” and will NOT be subject to arrest? If true, I see a multiple problems in this type of policy/procedure by law enforcement.
Again, welcome to OJ. WE appreciate your contributions on helping to understand this whole confusion on why a student’s death would be shoved under the rug, so to speak, in Santa Barbara.
I am very sad to hear that ten students per year die at UCSB. I can tell you from personal experience, many more near-death violent crimes of UCSB students are never published but are “party” related. Our family was personally affected. When we tried to speak with the administrators/sheriff concerning this safety issue, they took very little concern and just turned the other cheek. The perpetrator of the violent crime still runs free in IV.
A coverup?,–sounds logical to me.
UCSB Mom,
Welcome.
Thank you for taking the time to post your comments. The pedophiles and thieves in our local school district seemed to get away with things, too. However, at some point it catches up to them. I hope that the person who victimized your family gets what is coming to them, too.
You might want to click on the link to the “Darkside of SB”, bookmark the site, and contact the editor directly. If the problems are going to get addressed, it will take good networking, tenacity and being prepared for the opportunity to speak out. OJ’s Art Pedroza thinks he may have found a reporter who would be interested in doing more research on the problems in SB. That is sometimes the best way to get things moved forward: Involve the media. When the school district committed fraud and theft by manipulating class size in order to steal state funding, this blog was already in place and had similar stories about that kind of malfesance. The union went to the media. The superintendent was outraged, but she had to stop allowing that to happen. When the school district tried to cover up the arrest of a well-known molester, a local reporter refused to let the story die. The molester had been reported on the SAUSD thread at OJ previously, so at least one of the supervisors who covered up for him was removed.
Best of luck. Keep vigilent.
Read here about Sara Tahmassebi
http://www.independent.com/news/2009/may/14/beloved-ucsb-student-passes-abruptly/
#33 thanks for the link. Very sad story about Sara. I noticed that the toxicology reports did come in however by July, following her death in May of this year.
Alcohol played a part in this tragedy. I wonder if the city or the schools ever have informational projects to address the dangers of alcohol? 10 students dying each year, on average, seems like such a high price to pay for lax oversight by city/school leaders in SB.
Red, this is now a little old, but this link does address how this issue was being acknowledged back in Gray Davis’ time: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/20000. The National Institute for Health indicates 1400 students die annually (nationwide) due to alcohol-related incidents. I imagine much of these efforts have gone by the wayside with the State’s budget crisis (but I do not know this as fact). Also, much commentary on this post is attributing malaise to the SBSO, but the UC campuses have their own police departments. It would be valuable to know how much of their budget and time is spent on preventative policing since so many crimes (sexual assault, for a big one) are “facilitated” by alcohol consumption.
Re: your question about the curbside drunk (#30), generally (there are always exceptions), a person can be arrested for public intoxication [647 (f) PC], but that usually is reserved for someone who is being obnoxious/belligerant. If someone is of legal drinking age, “keeps moving,” and does not appear to be in danger to him/herself or others and is not bothering/offending others, then the police will usually let it go.
I live in IV. I can assure you that the assertions made by the Editor of the Dark Side are not the consensus of the community. A huge amount of effort by both the community and UCSB go into reducing drinking, the party scene and rape. Clergy, UCSB officials, County officials, and a variety of student groups labor hard, and their efforts are both ignored and belittled by the Editor of the Dark Side who doesn’t even live in Isla Vista or the South Coast of Santa Barbara County.
An example of the Editor of the Dark Side’s position concerns the tragic death of Jaymie Rose Darrow, which happened in the San Luis Rey River in San Diego County. Didn’t happen within a hundred miles of UCSB or Isla Vista, but somehow the Editor brings it up as an example of some sort of irresponsibility at UCSB or Isla Vista. And, in contrast to the Editor’s assertion, the cause of death was determined for Ms. Darrow.
The Editor of the Dark Side is an aggrieved person who is the parent of a young person who unfortunately did subscribe to extreme behavior while they lived in UCSB and Isla Vista. The Editor should inform everyone of this connection. I don’t think there is any room in the Editor’s consciousness for the possibility that individual responsibility exists; for the Editor there is only hanging extreme blame on really good committed people in the IV/UCSB community.
Concerning the tragedy of Noah Krom, remember IV residents did report to the County deputies at the time he fell from the IV cliffs that someone had fallen. The deputies investigated and for some reason did not find Krom. I don’t know why, but high tide comes right up to the cliff. Kind of contradicts the Editor’s assertions that no-once cares in IV/UCSB.
Sweetelle, Thanks and much appreciation for your usual efforts in providing links and other relevant information to deepen the discussions! U rock
IV Resident, Welcome to OJ and thank you for taking the time to read here and post your comments. Since you are a resident and familiar with the area, do you have any comments about the unfenced cliffs that are alleged to be very dangerous and have claimed the lives of many people and have been responsible for severe maiming of others who had the unfortunate circumstances to fall off of them? Have there been efforts to make them more safe by adding fencing, signs etc….?
Again, welcome to the discussions. Your comments are appreciated. Rv- -
Most if not all private properties (almost all rentals) on the Ocean side of Del Playa (the nearest street) have fences. Are they tall enough? Probably not, but people don’t want to lose their ocean views from the rooms behind the deck. So I’ve seen male students do all sorts of unwise things… tightrope walk down on the top railing, stand facing the ocean from the railing, etc. The feeling of risk and exhilaration of the huge drop and crashing waves below you. Particularly with some booze in your system.
There are a few parks (one or two of which look like empty lots). The parks have small fences, about 4 feet high. One of the one near me had a cliff death… the young man climbed over and was probably very confused from booze.
So the roots of the problem is that the great majority of people don’t want a fence so high it wrecks the ocean view, and booze removing careful thinking and inhibitions. BTW, the overwhelming majority (if not all) IV cliff deaths and injuries are male. I remember one female on the UCSB campus from the 1950′s… a UCSB student who was a date of a young military cadet from Vandenberg Air Force Base… they stopped to drink before or after a formal dance, on the east side of the UCSB campus. She fell down, died, and now there are to this day higher fences in that area… not IV, though.
Response to “I.V Resident” posting 12/15/2009.
I think I know this poster – he is a UCSB Professor who always avoids the actual issue by using misdirection. He attacks the messenger, but never addresses the issues. Whenever a meaningful discussion is started, he tries to throw cold water on it. The issue is that lots of young people die because of the UCSB/IV party scene – not who lives in what Zip Code. Many of the deaths associated with the UCSB party scene occur in places like King City while driving home from partying all night (actual case of a high school student) and their deaths are never reported in the SB papers or the campus publication. But the nexus to these deaths is the UCSB/IV party scene ethos.
The poster would have you believe that there is, according to him: “A huge amount of effort by both the community and UCSB go into reducing drinking, the party scene and rape. Clergy, UCSB officials, County officials, and a variety of student groups labor hard, and their efforts are both ignored and belittled by the Editor of the Dark Side…” Really? Here is an example of what passes for effort in the UCSB community: The Isla Vista Commission. The Isla Vista Commission was formed in 2005. Here is why, according to Chancellor Yang, it was formed:
http://chancellor.ucsb.edu/ivcommission/memo.cfm
You will notice that it was formed in 2005 as a result of issues that apparently arose as early as 2003.
Here is who is on the commission:
http://chancellor.ucsb.edu/ivcommission/membership.cfm
Please note that all but about three of the members are on the payroll of UCSB – not a single person with a dissenting voice was appointed to this commission. Which is just as well because here is what the Commission has accomplished:
http://chancellor.ucsb.edu/ivcommission/documents.cfm
That’s right, they haven’t held meetings, produced reports, or done anything of value. So here is the Isla Vista Commission – the type of group that “I.V. Resident” touts as doing all this great work to improve UCSB/IV. Here is a group with a budget, staff, and even their own website, and what have the accomplished? Nothing, nada, zip, bubkes. This is a classic example of how UCSB approaches problems. After some horrible event that elicits outside media attention, UCSB announces a study, a commission, some funding, or some other feckless activity, and then do absolutely nothing. The Isla Vista Commission is a good example of what passes for “a huge amount of effort” the UCSB world. It has done nothing, it continues to do nothing, and it will never do anything.
One final comment: Happy Holidays, Harry.
I think the Editor’s posting makes my point better than I could.