Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508230108
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: WS-53 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lindblom had plenty of time to mull over this wisdom while mowing grass. In 90-degree-plus heat. For more than a week.
On the Fourth of July, the 21-year-old was arrested on charges of being drunk in public as he walked from a barbecue to the downtown Blacksburg bars.
"When the cop slapped the cuffs on me, I guess I got a little out of hand - talking about my rights under the First Amendment and stuff," Lindblom said, smiling guiltily.
For his misdemeanor crime, a judge sentenced Lindblom to 50 hours of community service. He was assigned to the Virginia Tech Airport and spent the final days of his sentence wiping down planes, whacking weeds and mowing nearly a mile of grass that stretches between the two landing strips.
The penalty seemed a bit harsh to Lindblom - "The guy I was walking with only got 12 hours." - but he admits it's better than the alternative.
"It's better to graduate with a clean record than have a conviction," he said, taking a break in the air-conditioned lobby of the airport.
Quite often, explained Lindblom's community sentencing counselor, Carrie Collier Owens, a judge will sentence a first-time offender to community service. If the person completes the hours, the conviction will be erased from his or her record.
People should be thankful to have that option, Owens said.
"When you're 19 and you put a fake ID in your pocket to get into Arnold's, you're not thinking about when you're 25 trying to get a job," she said. "If you list [a crime] on an application, you're not going to get in the chair across from an interviewer to explain what happened - that application is trashed."
Community service also helps towns like Blacksburg and Radford just as much, Owens said.
She assigns people to places like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, YMCA and Montgomery County Parks and Recreation Department. Virginia Tech and Radford University use the free labor for everything from maintaining grounds to shelving books in the library.
Many of the students referred to Owens are there for alcohol-related violations. On a court day after one particular Virginia Tech home football game, she had about 50 students stand in front of the judge for various alcohol violations.
Another tip, this time from Owens: Never lie to a judge.
"I can't tell you how many times [judges] hear 'It was the first time I used the fake ID, Judge.''' Better to admit your guilt and get on with it, she said.
And don't argue with the community sentencing counselor - they keep track of every meeting and every hour worked.
Owens remembers one "non-comply" - someone who doesn't complete his hours - who was less than kind to her each time they met.
"When he went in front of the judge again, and the judge read all the things he'd said to me, [the student] said, 'I would have been more careful if I'd known you were writing down everything I'd said.'''
Workers need to complete a minimum of eight hours each week, and counselors work hard to accommodate people's schedules.
Lindblom tried to pack his hours in quickly - he graduated this summer with a civil engineering degree.
The whole process - from spending the night on the cement floor of a jail cell to driving that lawn mower in endless circles - is something everyone should go through at least once, Lindblom says.
Or, at least, they should learn from his example.
by CNB