HOUSTON – “Not in my neighborhood.” That’s what some Kingwood residents are saying about a proposed drug and alcohol recovery center.

The city maintains the Federal Fair Housing Act overrides deed restrictions.

It’s a claim most residents aren’t buying.

But at a town hall meeting on Monday, one high school student voiced his support for the plan.

Congressman Ted Poe is pledging his help in the neighbors’ fight against the proposed treatment center.

Watch the video to hear that teen.

[ [ [[‘amanda knox’, 15]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/amanda-knox-1309358621-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/r3TksBVwTFWkrYaROarvCw–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00NzE7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/84dea2d038558516fa0e6a706700ff32.jpg’, ‘630’, ‘ ‘, ‘AP’, ], [ [[‘Conrad Murray’, 15]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/dr-conrad-murray-on-trial-in-jackson-death-1317135792-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/OcnZ1oL8b35HJTX7lYEc_g–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00MDI7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/fa85fed941f16915f90e6a706700f31e.jpg’, ‘630’, ”, ‘AP’, ], [ [[‘ralph steinman’, 12]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/nobel-prize-winner-ralph-steinman-dies-1317648781-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/6SIHluTeqosOBRTu37LgdQ–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00ODk7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/d0147b7437cf8316fa0e6a706700c233.jpg’, ‘630’, ”, ‘AP’, ], [ [[‘diana nyad’, 13]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/u-s-swimmer-nyad-begins-swim-across-florida-1312776343-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/prkREWxb4pKoOEJPbofPGA–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zODQ7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/b662d816a5dfd315f90e6a70670000e6.jpg’, ‘630’, ”, ‘AP’, ], [ [[‘Joshua Komisarjevsky’, 10]], ‘/photos/connecticut-home-invasion-trial-1316719606-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/A1N8mGB5Dh811ytFRPmjhA–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00NTk7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/ec21b03eeea50514f90e6a70670007ca.jpg’, ‘630’, ”, ‘AP’, ], [ [[‘CASCO Signal’, 13], [‘Yu Yuan station’, 13]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/shanghai-subway-trains-crash-1317124688-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/hPUVHzepCJiFHzudiNhNVw–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00NTk7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/TRHkg5396284.jpg’, ‘630’, ”, ‘AFP’, ], [ [[‘It is difficult to assess how many birds are affected’, 7]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/sweden-hit-by-substantial-oil-spill-1316444749-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos of the oil spill’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Ii9HcyoayObiPRmw7Ik4PQ–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00MjA7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2011-09-18T165741Z_01_STO04_RTRIDSP_3_SWEDEN.jpg’, ‘460’, ‘341’, ‘Reuters/Erik Abel/Scanpix Sweden’, ], [ [[‘Andy Rooney’, 9]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/andy-rooney-leaving-60-minutes–1317174717-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/pMvL4lFxAn54rFTcZ0xwcA–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00MjA7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/b4cf0a91be6cfd15f90e6a706700f8ed.jpg’, ‘630’, ”, ‘AP’, ], [ [[‘villages where people are trapped under collapsed houses’, 8]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/6-9-quake-strikes-india-nepal-1316432147-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos of the quake aftermath’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/ArZHT7_ugJNvdNZr7rXg7A–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zNDA7cT04NTt3PTUxMg–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/AFP/photo_1316422839782-8-0.jpg’, ‘512’, ‘340’, ‘AFP’, ], [ [[‘The absence of Borders is going to be felt across the industry’, 6]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/last-borders-bookstores-close-1316449248-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos of the closing of the last Borders’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/B__uksKyx_HwEP3gUum2qA–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00MzM7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/aed64c8a04652215f90e6a706700965e.jpg’, ‘460’, ‘313’, ‘AP/Amy Sancetta’, ], [ [[‘Anders Behring Breivik’, 8]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/norway-attacker-anders-behring-breivik-1311602377-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos of the confessed mass killer’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/_E5OB1E6rdgShUt41KVZaw–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00ODk7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2011-07-25T141034Z_01_SIN725_RTRIDSP_3_NORWAY.jpg’, ‘460’, ‘357’, ‘Reuters/Jon-Are Berg-Jacobsen/Aftenposten via Scanpix’, ], [ [[‘like there is no way out’, 9]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/the-faces-of-poverty-real-lives-real-pain-1316453315-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/OlSRGp1pKLgvYSpy6XCRkw–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zOTM7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/45d7db4304d12415f90e6a706700ca26.jpg’, ‘460’, ‘ ‘, ‘AP/Robert F. Bukaty’, ], [ [[‘including snipers picking off protesters from rooftops’, 5], [‘Violence has flared anew in Yemen in frustration’, 6]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/yemen-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos of unrest in Yemen’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/UUZ_CmgwS6mLf75U4D9flA–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00MjA7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/ea314f80041a2115f90e6a706700681f.jpg’, ‘460’, ‘ ‘, ‘AP/Hani Mohammed’, ], [ [[‘Dolores Hope’, 7]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/dolores-hope-dies-at-age-102-1316466341-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos of Dolores’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/PVmQlI81830Gw1RqCrESFA–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD02MzA7cT04NTt3PTUxNg–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/4ca0b51519923d15f90e6a70670063b1.jpg’, ‘460’, ‘ ‘, ‘AP’, ] ]

* The Small Business Development Center at Santa Fe Community College will hold the following workshops. For fees, times and more information call 428-1343 or visit www.nmsbdc.org/santafe.

Oct. 11 — Information Session for CRS Taxpayers.

Oct. 12 — Steps to Starting a Small Business.

Nov. 3 — Steps to Starting a Small Business.

Nov. 8 — Information Session for CRS Taxpayers.

Nov. 9 — Marketing to the Media.

Dec. 2 — Steps to Starting a Small Business.

* THE BUSINESS SUPPORT GROUP SCORE -as been holding a series of free seminars at the Santa Fe Business Incubator. The seminars run from 6 to 9 p.m.
To reigster call 424-1140.

Today — Effectively Marketing Your Business.

Wednesday — Creating Your Web Site and Getting Visitor Traffic.

Thursday — Web Strategies to Build Your Business.

September Bankruptcies
Chapter 7

* 11-13980-JG — Ester P. Griego, Santa Fe. Debts $192,218; property $218,296.

* 11-13999-JG — Joseph J. La Ve, Santa Fe. Debts $182,277; property $184,239.

* 11-14008-JG — Scott A. Lewis, Santa Fe. Debts $353,217; property $417,014.

* 11-14009-SG — William R. Spencer and Robbyn Garden, Santa Fe. Debts $213,714; property $153,124.

* 11-14010-JG — Amber L. Montoya, Santa Fe. Debts $200,664; property $171,250.

* 11-14011-JG — Raymond R. and Kathleen R. Herrera, Santa Fe. Debts $399,641; property $365,260.

* 11-14021-AG — Henry Tapia, Santa Fe. Debts $60,000; property $530.

* 11-14061-JG — Rodolfo Lopez, Santa Fe. Debts $533.377; property $17,160.

* 11-14096-JG — Reid Pierce, Santa Fe. Debts $13,869; property $49,730.

* 11-14145-SG — Ivan C. Brutschke, Santa Fe. Debts $749,739; property $267,563.

* 11-14190-SG — Joseph C. Dimarco, Santa Fe. Debts $48,175; property $2,370.

* 11-14205-SG — James Johnson, Santa Fe. Debts $77,794; property $85,368.

* 11-14223-JG — Mike Mora, Santa Fe. Debts $269,857; property $259,102.

* 11-14225-SG — Dale A. Ortega, dba Gallegos Professional House Painting, Santa Fe. Debts $262,842; property $133,704.

* 11-14326-JG — Norman D. Aragon, Santa Fe. Debts $260,121; property $231,372.

* 11-14238-JG — Suzanne L. Stark, Santa Fe. Debts $40,851; property $8,035.

* 11-14254-JG — Eugene E. Tauer, Santa Fe. Debts and property not available.

* 11-14257-JG — Robert C. Salazar, Santa Fe. Debts $302,104; property $281,531.

* 11-14261-SG — Peter L. Connick, Santa Fe. Debts $2.4 million; property $12,960.

Chapter 11

* 11-14184-S. James G. and Sharon K. Bruce. Debts $687,324; property $85,250.

Chapter 13

* 11-13945-SS — Trudie J. Jordan. Debts and property not available.

* 11-13939-JS — Cynthia J. Backlund, Santa Fe. Debts $1.2 million; property $1.1 million

* 11-14952-SS — Anthony A. Rivera, Santa Fe. Debts $266,808; property; $599,196.

I was invited to the UK and Denmark to speak by harm reduction activists who are worried about the impact of AA and the 12 steps in their countries. Both Patrick O’Hare, who founded in Liverpool the organization now called Harm Reduction International, and Nanna Gotfredsen, founder and director of Copenhagen’s Street Lawyers, who run a clean needle program and other services for drug users and addicts, watch with alarm as the gains they have made dealing with addicts over previous decades erode. You see, both the British and the Danish governments are increasingly buying into the AA line that abstinence is the best and most achievable goal, both for individual addicts and for their nations.

Oddly, in Denmark, the newly-elected socialists are most susceptible to AA’s abstinence uber alles message, while in Britain it is David Cameron’s conservatives who seem to be swallowing the AA message hook, line and sinker. Politicians of all stripes tend to like magic bullet solutions, especially ones that hold out the promise that their constituents will stop taking drugs. Drinking is a thornier matter, since politicians and public health savants themselves drink, and the issue there is obviously over-drinking. (Of course, in reality, drugs present the same problem.)

Here are four reasons AA is harmful and will hurt their societies.

AA denies reality. I present data generated by the American government’s own research showing that each age cohort after the 18-25 age group has a substantially lower percentage of problematic drinkers and drug users — including alcoholics and addicts. Yet, the large majority of former abusers do not enter treatment or join AA — they have simply “matured out.” Since the 12-step mantra is that substance use problems only grow worse without their intervention, AA members must deny this reality (“All the youthful drug users have died!”). I then ask how many members of the audience have quit smoking — which they acknowledge to be the hardest drug addiction to quit. Of the large number who raise their hands, I then ask how many did so due to medical treatment (e.g., nicotine gums and patches) or support groups. If 1 in 10 former smoking addicts present raise their hands, it’s a lot.

AA overemphasizes its own success. As these sorts of interactions reveal, AA-ers always overestimate their own role in recovery, both its pervasiveness (only their members quit) and their success rates. Although, in the latter case, not really. If you ask what percentage of people who attend AA stick with the program, AA-ers themselves will usually guess the correct 5-10 percent figure. Their argument is that those who depart are bound to fail altogether, since theirs is the only road to recovery. Within AA groups themselves, people who leave the program are ostracized by their former “soul mates” who predict — some might even say they hope for — the prodigals’ failure and demise. That is, unless they return to the fold.

AA rules out other, often more effective, approaches. AA is a jealous lover. A body of research has grown that investigates the efficacy of alcoholism and addiction therapies, with names like motivational interviewing, life skills training, community reinforcement, brief interventions, harm reduction, etc. These therapies share a number of general characteristics relative to AA and its 12 steps: They are more pragmatic and impact addicts’ functioning and life situations, they often permit reduced or less unhealthy use in addition to abstinence, they tap into users’ personal value systems rather than imposing their own, and they don’t rely on a “higher power.” And they generally demonstrate greater success than AA (no clinical study of AA has ever found it superior to any alternative offered to randomly selected alcoholics). And how do AA-ers feel about such alternatives? Disinterest is probably too positive a way to describe their reaction.

AA’s underlying temperance message actually creates alcoholism and addiction. The American temperance movement anticipated every aspect of the 12-step approach (keep this in mind when reviewing Ken Burns’ documentary on Prohibition). These include the claims that drinking problems inevitably progress to death or other forms of self-destruction, the permanence and irreversibility of human substance abuse problems (which in turn leads to the fixation on abstinence and disbelief in moderation), the need for divine intervention and the reliance on God and a higher power, etc.

But this type of black-and-white thinking is actually associated with the greatest drinking problems — think Irish-style versus Italian-style drinking. (Pat O’Hare, with his Irish and Liverpool background, says with amazement, “In my 12 years in Rome, I never saw a drunk person — not even a tipsy one.”) In other words, the cultural outlook underlying the 12-step model is the one likely to lead to the most excessive drinking/alcoholism/addiction. This is particularly true when, in the same society — as is true in contemporary America — people are ubiquitously exposed to the very intoxicants whose use they are taught that they are incapable of controlling. Consider that a higher percentage of American youth disapprove of those 18 and older having 1-2 drinks daily than disapprove of weekend binge drinking.

The ascendance of AA and the 12 steps in the UK, Denmark and elsewhere in the world won’t be associated with greater abstinence or relief from addictive problems (has it had that effect in the U.S.?). It is a self-fulfilling philosophy — that is, its own failures feed its claims for its own necessity (ask someone in AA if the rate of alcohol and other substance use problems has declined or increased in America since AA was formed in 1935). Most important of all, the 12-steps deprive people — societies — of the belief in their own ability to manage substance use. And this loss of personal efficacy is not likely to be a good thing in the coming century.

 

 

 

Follow Stanton Peele on Twitter: www.twitter.com/speele5

CINCINNATI – In just a few short years, Serenity Recovery Network has grown to touch hundreds of lives and its goal is to touch thousands in the years to come giving hope to those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. You can be a part of that success Sunday evening.

The Network, as it is now called, runs two recovery houses–one for men and one for women–in Price Hill. The organization runs entirely on private donations and its residents come from all over Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana.

On Sunday, there will be a gala banquet and silent auction at the Evergreen Retirement Center at 230 West Galbraith Road in Hartwell. It will be hosted by Good Morning Tri-State anchor Kathrine Nero and the featured speaker will be Cincinnati State Technical and Community College President Dr. O’dell Owens. The silent auction will feature many items from the Donna Karan collection as well as a fabulous dinner prepared by award-winning chefs.

You can find more information on the banquet at http://serenityrecovery.net/ .

Serenity Recovery Network began its work in 2006 by opening Serenity House, a recovery house for men, in Price Hill. The goal is to provide a foundation for those seeking recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Two years ago, the House of Freedom and Miracles joined the Recovery Network offering a place for women.

The programs have several unique features, including the “Shelter from the Storm”, which gives addicts a break to focus solely on recovery when they first get to either house allowing them to better understand themselves and what’s happening with them before they go about getting a job and becoming responsible members of society. Since its inception, that aspect of the program has led to a 50 percent increase in people remaining in longerterm recovery, according to Serenity Recovery Network Executive Director Ivan Faske.

The program has big plans for the future, including an outpatient program and even expanding the program to other countries in other languages.

Serenity Recovery is a spiritual-based program heavily influenced by the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous but is not affiliated with those organizations in any way. Those who participate in the program are required to go to meetings, have a sponsor, and shown how to live differently.

“Recovery is not about just not using drugs. Recovery is about changing your life,” said Faske. “Our program is not the end of the problem. It’s the beginning of the solution.”

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Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)

30 September 2011

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Nairobi — A Catholic priest has described alcoholism as a major threat affecting the family institution.

“Many families are ruined today through a heavy drinking habit within the family circles,” said Rev Fr Baptiste Mapunda as he presided over a family Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe, Nairobi on September 30.

The Catholic priest, who is the director of Farijika, Kiswahili word for healing, a non-governmental-organization within the Catholic Church, said his organization planned to put up a family centre to assist families battle issues pertaining to alcoholism and drug abuse.

“We plan to put up the centre, Farijika Family Rehabilitation Centre at Rumuruti, 230 kilometres North West of Nairobi,” said the Catholic priest, who founded the organization in Kenya in 2008.

He said the proposed Centre will cost 1Kshs million.

During the occasion, more than ten families presented themselves for the blessing.

Some of the families had come from Rumuruti in the wider diocese of Nyahururu.

He said every effort should be taken to safeguard the family, adding that it was from the family that both the Church and society evolved.

He hails from Tanzanian and belongs to the congregation of Missionaries of Africa, also known as White Fathers.

Farijika also operates in Tanzania and Burundi.

More News on allAfrica.com

AllAfrica – All the Time

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SALT LAKE CITY — The father of an 18-year-old USU student who died of alcohol poisoning in 2008 is pleased with the quick action of both students and school officials over the latest incident involving binge drinking. Utah State University has suspended the Gamma Epsilon chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha indefinitely after a 17-year-old girl was rushed to a local hospital last week after consuming an excessive amount of alcohol. But in this case, because other students reported what was happening and got the girl to the hospital, the 17- year-old girl made a full recovery and was released from the hospital the day after it happened. George Starks told KSL Sunday he was pleased with the response of everyone involved, from the school to the students who helped. “We had pushed very hard as a family for the Good Samaritan Law, and hopefully in this case it came into play,” Starks said. “The lives of our children must never be weighed against the possible self-incriminating legal risks we take in alerting emergency personnel to life and death situations.” In 2008, Starks’ son Michael was bound with cords, body-painted and forced to drink vodka during an off- campus initiation while pledging at the Sigma Nu fraternity. His body was later found to contain more than four times the legal limit of alcohol.

Twelve students were charged with hazing. Only five were convicted of lesser offenses for supplying the alcohol and obstruction of justice by hiding the bottle. They were sentenced to short jail terms. The Starks family filed a lawsuit against the university but earlier this year announced a settlement when USU agreed to increase its efforts to prevent alcohol abuse. George Starks said the latest binge drinking incident at the school was tragic, “but I’m not terribly surprised. Things have a way of repeating themselves.” But in this case, the university and police took swift action — something Starks said did not happen after his son’s death. If it had, he thinks this latest incident may have been prevented. “We’re not displeased with what the university has done by any means. What we are a little bit displeased with is the fact that people have to know there are consequences for their actions and when we mitigate the results of the consequences of what we do, it takes away the example of what we should be doing,” he said. “There’s always consequences to our actions, but when we do away with the consequences as we did in my son’s case, there’s really no lesson to be learned.” In the latest incident, the female student was taken to a local hospital with “an extreme blood-alcohol” content,” said James Morales, USU vice president for Student Services. Authorities say there was a good chance the girl could have died if she did not receive the attention she did. “Those are very serious matters and when they come to our attention, we act quickly. We act reasonably and in a fair and considered fashion. But we don’t wait around to see what’s going to happen before we take the action that we’re capable of taking,” he said. If there is any “silver lining” to the incident, Morales said, it’s that the education the university has been giving students since Starks’ death about reporting incidents immediately and not hiding for fear of prosecution, seems to be working.

The fraternity issued a prepared statement saying that “appropriate actions for the situation at hand” were taken and “we saved this young woman’s life.” The chapter, however, said it was disappointed with its suspension and hoped a fair and objective investigation would be conducted by the university. George Starks admitted there is a little bit of envy because no one took the action for his son that students did for the 17-year-old girl. But he is also “ecstatic” that she will be OK. “We think about Mike everyday. We think about what might have been, what could have been, what should have been. But life is still a gift and we have to take advantage of that. We have to move ahead,” he said. Starks is also pleased with the efforts the university has made since his son’s death. “They are rising to the occasion in attempting to make meaningful changes in campus policy — changes that help save lives, changes to win the confidence of parents, and changes that so admirably affect their own commitment to the safety of our children,” he said. Those charged with Michael Starks’ death were mostly unrepentant, his father said, and blamed Michael for his own death.  “We live in times when the buck stops nowhere — no responsibility, no blame, no pain. Michael paid for his own mistakes with his life.” But George Starks said both parents and students need to be made more aware of binge drinking and how students are essentially on their own when they leave home. “We know how peer pressure works. We know how when kids get together you suddenly stop being one. You’re a group. There’s a certain herd mentality that loses sight of the individual,” he said. “Our failure to look after each other is an issue. We are our brother’s keeper and we have to acknowledge that. We can’t simply go on our merry way and say ‘I’m OK and you’re not.’ That’s not the society we live in. If we claim to be a Christian nation we have to stand with each other and support each other. “And in this case they did.”Witten by John Hollenhorst and Pat Reavy.

SALT LAKE CITY — The father of an 18-year-old USU student who died of alcohol poisoning in 2008 is pleased with the quick action of both students and school officials over the latest incident involving binge drinking.

Utah State University has suspended the Gamma Epsilon chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha indefinitely after a 17-year-old girl was rushed to a local hospital last week after consuming an excessive amount of alcohol.

But in this case, because other students reported what was happening and got the girl to the hospital, the 17-year-old girl made a full recovery and was released from the hospital the day after it happened.

George Starks told the Deseret News Sunday he was pleased with the response of everyone involved, from the school to the students who helped.

“We had pushed very hard as a family for the Good Samaritan Law, and hopefully in this case it came into play,” Starks said. “The lives of our children must never be weighed against the possible self-incriminating legal risks we take in alerting emergency personnel to life and death situations.”

In 2008, Starks’ son Michael was bound with cords, body-painted and forced to drink vodka during an off-campus initiation while pledging at the Sigma Nu fraternity. His body was later found to contain more than four times the legal limit of alcohol.

Twelve students were charged with hazing. Only five were convicted of lesser offenses for supplying the alcohol and obstruction of justice by hiding the bottle. They were sentenced to short jail terms.

The Starks family filed a lawsuit against the university but earlier this year announced a settlement when USU agreed to increase its efforts to prevent alcohol abuse.

George Starks said the latest binge drinking incident at the school was tragic, “but I’m not terribly surprised. Things have a way of repeating themselves.”

But in this case, the university and police took swift action — something Starks said did not happen after his son’s death. If it had, he thinks this latest incident may have been prevented.

“We’re not displeased with what the university has done by any means. What we are a little bit displeased with is the fact that people have to know there are consequences for their actions and when we mitigate the results of the consequences of what we do, it takes away the example of what we should be doing,” he said. “There’s always consequences to our actions, but when we do away with the consequences as we did in my son’s case, there’s really no lesson to be learned.”

JACKSONVILLE — An organization that helps women who have been abused or are addicted to drugs is in the process of taking up permanent residence in Jacksonville.

“We have a place for them to stay, and we try to help them get back into life — that’s our goal,” said H.L. Shirley, executive director for Reclaiming Addicted and Abused Women (RAAW).

Shirley said the organization does a lot of things, including personal counseling, teaching life skills and help with getting a job. He said they teach a program called 12 Steps to a Closer Walk with God and a life skills program called New Life Behavior.

“We not only help them, but we demand they get a job,” Shirley said. “We try to start showing them how to pay back everything they owe and get their life financially on track. If they have children, we help them get their children back through Child Protective Services.”

They also run The Thrift Store, 50599 U.S. Highway 69 North in Bullard, and proceeds help fund the ministry.  

Shirley said they currently are assisting about 16 women in various ways, but said they do not fill the same role as other organizations in the area.

“We are not a treatment center,” he said. “We do not do medications. We are not a crisis center. We are not a homeless shelter. We are here to take people addicted, abused or both who want to make a better life.”

RAAW received its non-profit status from the IRS in July 2008 and had previously been stationed near Henderson. Shirley said they made the move to Jacksonville to open a larger facility, but the initial place they had in mind fell through. They have been operating out of a temporary facility for about five months, he said.

The spot Shirley hopes to move to is zoned for heavy manufacturing, said Jacksonville Chief Building Official Jody Watson.

“For every zoning district, there is a special use and it’s required to get a special use permit,” he said. “There is a whole list of things that you can have in this district, but it will require a special use permit.”

Watson said the process of rezoning includes printing a public notice of the change, mailing letters to neighbors within 300 feet of the location and a public hearing in front of the planning and zoning committee where neighbors can state their case for or against the change. The committee will then vote to approve or deny the request and send their recommendation to the city council for the final stamp of approval.

Shirley hopes to be in the new facility in two months, but Watson said he has no way of knowing if the rezoning request will be approved.

“I always tell everybody that the things you think are going to be a slam dunk always end up being a fight and comes down to one vote, and things that you think that will never have any way of making it just go straight through,” Watson said. “It’s kind of hard to say. It depends on the neighborhood, council’s view on it and planning and zoning’s recommendation.”

No matter the outcome, Shirley said RAAW will try to keep their numbers small.

“We don’t do what I call cookie cutting,” he said. “We don’t put everybody through the same thing. We try to personalize based on their needs and try to get them where they need to go.”

Bryan Egnew grew up in an observant LDS family in Arizona, the fourth of ten children. After graduating high school, he attended Brigham Young University, served a proselytizing mission in France, and then married in an LDS temple. He became the father of five children. He served in his local LDS congregation. He did everything that was asked of him.

And over the course of more than twenty years, Bryan slowly came to terms with the fact that he was attracted to men. Six years ago, Bryan confided his attraction with a friend he’d known since BYU days. Jahn Curran was a fellow Mormon, a father, and someone who’d also come to terms with his own homosexuality a few years earlier.

Jahn offered Bryan a listening ear, and some practical advice. When Bryan called a few months ago, saying he could keep his situation from his wife no longer, Jahn told him, “Be prepared to fight a legal battle. Get a lawyer. My wife was very upset with me. I was in the hallway of my house on my knees pleading with her for understanding. She yelled and screamed at me. She left the next day and never came back, and withheld the kids from me for months. She claimed that I was not a fit father unless I repented. I have spent thousands of dollars in court to preserve my relationship with my kids.”

The reaction, Jahn says, was much the same when Bryan sat down with his own wife to confide in her. She also became very upset. And she packed the five kids (ages 6 to 16), moved them across state lines from the family’s home in North Carolina to Tennessee, and initiated legal proceedings to prevent Bryan from seeing them. She also contacted the bishop in her local Mormon congregation and “confessed Bryan’s sins for him.”

Within two weeks, Bryan was excommunicated from the LDS Church. From the perspective of Mormon doctrine, his excommunication severed Bryan’s relationship to his children not only in this life, but also in the hereafter.

Alone in his home in North Carolina, Bryan was devastated. His parents flew out to be with him, then brought him back to Arizona for intensive treatment for depression.

After a few weeks of therapy, Bryan convinced his parents and his therapist that he was stable enough to return home to North Carolina, so he could look after the family home. Back in North Carolina, on Saturday, September 10, Bryan bought a gun at Wal-Mart. He fed the family’s animals, cleaned the house, handed the keys to a neighbor, sent a message to a family member that they needed to come to the house, and then went on the front lawn and shot himself.

News of Bryan’s suicide immediately circulated on the LGBT Mormon grapevine, where some voices expressed concern that publicizing the death would exacerbate strain on relationships within Bryan’s family as they tried to come to terms with the loss of son, husband, and father.

I’ve heard LDS Church members ask whether excommunication is the best institutional response to gay Mormons in acute spiritual struggle or crisis. I’ve also heard Mormons reflect on how despite some signs of increased awareness and outreach by top LDS leaders, messages of understanding and compassion are not getting down the line to local congregations.

Every time a gay Mormon interacts with a local pastoral leader, he or she faces what some Mormons describe as “priesthood leader roulette.” Mormonism has a lay clergy, and the administration of the Church depends almost entirely on local volunteers who vary widely in their knowledge, experience base, and dispositions. For every local leader who acts out of love and inspiration, there is a local leader who sometimes acts out of a lack of knowledge, repulsion, or fear.

Compounding the situation are the many stories Mormons have been told and told ourselves about what it means to be gay. We’ve been taught that it is an abomination—the choice of selfish individuals. We’ve believed that same-gender attraction is comparable to a disease like alcoholism, or to pornography addiction—an unhealthy compulsion to be battled and overcome. We’ve bought into the idea—and many Mormons still do—that it is possible to change one’s sexual orientation through various therapies, or marriage, or prayer and fasting. We’ve been led to believe that equal rights and protections for same-sex couples constitute a threat to our religious freedom.

But do any of these serve the thousands upon thousands of young Mormons who are coming to terms with their attraction to people of the same sex? Do any of these prepare non-gay Mormons to respond to gay sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, or fellow Latter-day Saints?

How does it feel to be the LDS parents of a gay child in a culture where unthinking people feel they have divine sanction to verbally abuse and discriminate against homosexuals?

How does it feel to be a volunteer pastoral leader with little training or understanding of LGBT issues facing a married Mormon man confessing that he is gay?

How does it feel to be a Mormon woman who has been taught from childhood that the primary achievement of her life will be a temple marriage to a worthy LDS man, and who is then confronted by the fact that her husband is gay?

How does it feel to be an LDS man who has done everything that has been asked of him by his religion, but who finds himself during the most difficult spiritual season of his life immediately cast out by excommunication and cut off from his family—his wife and children—now, and for the eternities?

Can any human being bear so much? Can this religion we love do any better?

As members of the LDS Church prepare for one of the Church’s worldwide General Conferences this weekend, Bryan’s friend Jahn hopes Church officials will offer stronger, more compassionate guidance and leadership on LGBT issues.

Jahn remembers that it was a year ago this weekend that Elder Boyd K. Packer gave a controversial General Conference talk shaming homosexuality.

“I have a brother who said to me on the phone last Christmas, ‘Elder Packer says God does not make gays. This is your choice.’ And then he used some very hurtful language with me,” Jahn relates. “I had to hang up on him. But he feels he has been given permission to speak this way by the prophet.”

“Even a simple phrase uttered by a General Authority can give Church members broad permission to look down on, discriminate against, or not entertain more compassionate ways of thinking about homosexuality,” Jahn continues. “For many years, I’d sit in General Conference and plead with God that this would be the session that one of the General Authorities would get up and say that treating LGBT people without respect is not becoming of a Mormon.”

May this weekend’s Conference bring some kind of strength to all those who love and care about Bryan–including his family, LGBT Mormons, and the families of LGBT Mormons around the world.