"Professor, Students Arrested on Drug Charges"

Rarely does a news story reverberate across the campus and surrounding community as fast as the arrest of well-known communications professor Gerald Goldhaber over winter break. The situation is certainly not a comfortable one and might have crossed some lines of appropriateness, but as it stands, it is a personal matter that should be dealt with as such.

On Jan. 8, Goldhaber and two students, Bernardo Nocolo Tagliareni, a senior communication major, and Jose Antonia Sierra, a graduate student, were arrested in Goldhaber's condo in the Cayman Islands for possession of various drugs. The three men spent two nights in prison and paid a $2,500 fine.

Obviously, there is still a lot about this story that is unknown. Neither Goldhaber nor the students have given any details as to why or how the three ended up in this position. The university should be responsible for finding out if anything inappropriate happened, especially since one of the two students is currently enrolled in Goldhaber's Political Communication class.

While the three were engaging in drug use in the privacy of Goldhaber's home, it is still terrible judgment to engage in those activities. Interaction between students and teachers is not completely taboo, but a relationship of mutual drug use is clearly inappropriate.

This issue is certainly a huge scar on the career of Goldhaber, who is well known as a pollster on the national level. Even if he does not face a reprimand from the university, his reputation will be a punishment he has to deal with. Goldhaber and the two students already paid fines and did jail time in the Cayman Islands, so they have received some punishment.

The various elements of Buffalo's media establishment are already all over the story, with the notable and curious exception of The Buffalo News, which chose to bury the story on the back page of its sports section.

There is still a lot of investigating that must be done by the school. The way the trip was set up and how drugs were introduced to the situation are still unknown. Those details will and should affect any additional punishment from the university.

As the information stands, Goldhaber deserves to keep his job, as his fine and jail time and tarnished reputation are punishment enough for his actions. If there was an inappropriate connection between Goldhaber and the two students, the university should investigate and punish accordingly.

Goldhaber and his students exercised terrible judgment in several cases leading up to their arrests. Hopefully each will learn from their mistakes and get everything sorted out. These poor decisions reflect not only on those involved, but the entire university. The damage has been done, and it will take a long time to regain everyone's trust.