October 1, 2014
Michael Phelps-Where is the Outrage- ReDux
Olympic gold medalist, many times over, has made news again
for driving under the influence. Following his arrest, Phelps
tweeted that he was sorry to have let everyone down and that he understands the
severity of his actions and takes full responsibility for his actions. “According
to Maryland Transportation Authority Police, Phelps was arrested at 1:40 a.m.
Tuesday and charged with driving under the influence after an officer clocked
Phelps’ 2014 Land Rover traveling 84 mph in a 45-mph zone. Police said that he
crossed double yellow lines while driving inside the Fort McHenry Tunnel on
northbound Interstate 95, and that he later failed a field sobriety test.” http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/will-michael-phelps-new-dui-charge-dim-his-sponsorship-gold-n215206 The discussion surrounding Phelps’ latest
arrest his what will his sponsors do. While
listening to an online radio show (The Bachelor Pad), the hosts went deeper
with regard to the double standard that seems to be exhibited toward Michael
Phelps. I listened with interest because I, too, questioned whether Phelps
would be held responsible for his actions. I wrote an op-ed nearly a decade
ago, following Phelps’ DUI arrest in 2004, that if Congress were as serious
about drinking and driving among our youth (Phelps was under 21- he was 19) as
they claimed to have been about fighting the war on drugs, then Phelps would
have been used as the face of drinking and driving as a means to address the
issue and to get young people to understand the severity of drinking and
driving under the influence of a controlled substance. Below is a copy of that unpublished
op-ed. It was saved to my email
account. The email is intact as it was
written in draft form- I resided in Houston at the time. Further, I cannot
locate the final version of the op-ed submission:
“hello (please proof if you have time)
Artemesia Stanberry
Jan 18, 2005
To
----
Hey, ---. I hope you
are doing well. I went to see Coach
Carter. It was good, and yes, I cried.
Attached is a rough
draft of the shortened version of my piece on Phelps. I have a longer version that i will shop
around. The Washington Post wants
submissions for its op-ed to be between 600-800 words. Let me know what you think about this. Please feel free to offer any comments.
Peace,
Artie
AStanberry
OpEd Piece on Michael’s Phelp’s drunk driving incident
Rough draft
Where is the outrage?
Last November, 19 year old Olympic star Michael Phelps was
arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. He was stopped by a Maryland state trooper
who saw him run a stop sign. In
December, Phelp’s was given his sentence; a $250 fine, one mandatory attendance
of a meeting sponsored by Mother’s Against Drinking and Driving, a series of
lectures to young people about the dangers of drinking and driving, and probation.
His record may be expunged if he follows the terms of his probation. In
addition, unlike others on probation, he doesn’t have to meet his probation
officer in person. He’s so busy, sayeth
the judge, that he can simply call his probation officer once a month. The more
serious charges of underage drinking, driving under the influence, and failure
to stop at a stop sign were dropped by prosecutors. Phelps was essentially given a slap on the
wrist for crimes that could have caused his death and the death of others. In Maryland , where Phelps is from and where
the crimes took place, in 2003 there were 646 total traffic deaths. According to statistics found on MADD’s
website, approximately forty percent of these deaths were alcohol related. Drinking and driving is a serious
issue. As MADD, the organization that
Phelps have to engage with for one meeting, says ..
“A drunk driver knows or should know that getting behind the
wheel will likely cause serious injury or death to him/herself or innocent people
on the roadways.”
Phelps said after his arrest “Last week, I made a mistake,
Getting into a car after anything to drink is wrong. It’s dangerous and unacceptable. I’m 19 and was taught that no matter how old
you are, you should take responsibility for your actions, which I will do. I am
sorry.”(insert source) Well, in 2003, 25
percent of 15- to 20-year-old drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes had been
drinking. Nineteen percent were intoxicated (insert source). This is Phelps’ age group. Fortunately no one was killed but Phelps
could have very well have been among those statistics. If he were, would he
have been the Len Bias of Alcohol related laws.
Len Bias was a star
athlete at the University of Maryland with a prime future in the sports arena. Indeed, he was drafted to play with the
Boston Celtics in 1986 when he died of a drug overdose. It was believed at the time that he died of a
crack cocaine overdose, congress was outraged that such a good boy, from a good
family with a promising career could be brought down by crack cocaine. That year, using Len Bias as an example,
Congress wrote some of the harshest laws regarding crack cocaine. A person can receive a mandatory minimum of
5 years from 5 grams of crack cocaine– even for the mere possession of this
small amount. It doesn’t matter if the
person is a first time offender. A 19
year old caught would end up spending the next 5 years of his life in prison, no
matter how much he apologized for his youthful mistake. Maryland is the state of both the Bias and
Phelps case. Phelps, if politicians were
truly serious about the dangers of youthful drinking, should be used as a
stimulus (use another word) to make a federal mandatory minimum law for drinking
and driving. They should insist that
Phelps serve prison time and name a bill after him– the Michael Phelps
Anti-Alcohol abuse Act. It is only then,
if we are to believe the rhetoric explaining the wholesale incarceration of
youth and others from crack cocaine violations, that young people will get the
message that there are true consequences to drinking and driving. The current message that they receive from
the Phelps’ slap on the wrist is that if you apologize, you, too, can go on
with your life without the consequences of a nasty prison record. Phelps, as the news stories tell us, is the
big man on campus at the University of Michigan (crack offenders lose out of
college education opportunities because Congress says drug violators can’t get
federal student loans), he has a million dollar contract with a swim suit
company, and he was bombarded with autograph seekers after his sentencing
hearing. This is no message to send to
young people, members of Congress should be on the Floor of the House sending a
message to the youth about this just as they did after Len Bias’ death. The fact that Congress is silent on Michael
Phelps’ arrest, conviction, and light sentence is “dangerous and unacceptable.”
Artemesia Stanberry
Houston , TX
phelpsshortversion.docDownloadView
____________________________________________________
A sign off on October 1, 2014
Peace,
Artemesia Stanberry
PS -- Here is a link
to include some stats from 2003 referenced above- http://www.driveandstayalive.com/info%20section/news/individual%20news%20articles/x_041216_madd-2004-statistics.htm
