This week I really got a lot of great information to be used in my article. I met with two West Lafayette police officers, and with the director of Purdue Legal Services. I learned a lot, and I feel that I got a significant amount of information.
I met with Captain Arthur Choate and Lieutenant Jon Eager on Monday, March 9th. They talked to me about impaired driving, issues in states where weed is legal, medical marijuana, arrests, opinion, and more. These officers were more open with their opinions and gave me a little more information than the Purdue police did. They also sent me statistical numbers for marijuana arrests in West Lafayette over the past five years, which will help infographics in my article.
The meeting with Leslie Charter, Purdue Legal Services director, went smoothly as well. I really learned a lot from her and how student perceptions of what she does can be wrong. I thought that Mrs. Charters was a representative for Purdue students. This is not the case. She does not represent any students in court. She is there to give students the best possible legal advice for their situation and to explain legal terms to them. She helps them understand what the likely outcome of their case might be. If a student does need/want representation, she gives them names of attorneys to contact. She stated that the majority of cases she helps is issues with landlords, and then criminal cases being the second most common. She also sent me a lot of statistical numbers about many factors of marijuana (like number of arrests, OWI charges, etc.) because she had just given a presentation on her marijuana research.
I plan on interviewing the student I am in charge of from the survey next week. She has responded, but we do not have a set day or anything like that.
Now, I am going to start compiling all the data I have received from the police officers and Leslie in order to determine the best ways to incorporate all the information in my survey. I will be working on these graphics.
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