Marshon said that charges such as underage possession of alcohol and using a fake ID are the two primary reasons for people coming to the young offender program.
A Tech sophomore, who wished to remain anonymous, had to go through this program after he was caught .06 BAC deep into some whiskey in a friend's car on the way to University of Virginia last September. The car the 19-year-old was in, which featured a sober driver, had been pulled over for improper use of its high beams while driving down interstate 81 at night. After facing charges in Botetourt county, the local judge assigned him 50 hours of community service, suspended his license for six months, and required that he complete the young offender VASAP program.
Once he was properly registered for the course after court in October, the next eight weeks would find the sophomore carpooling with others down to 175 Independence Blvd., site of the Christiansburg VASAP. Past the Christiansburg high school, the building is a two-story modest, brown brick structure whose backdrop features a large construction yard. The waiting room for the place has the sterile feeling of a doctor's office; there are comfy blue chairs and magazines lying around, but the fact that one has to be buzzed in to go past the main room and can only talk to the receptionist behind a teller's plate of glass reminds any individual of what the score here really is.
The student would arrive at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday nights to a classroom on the lower level of the NRV VASAP building where an ex-police officer who was his instructor would be waiting for him.
"He'd have us blow into a sensor," Phillips said, "and figure out if any of us were boozing up before the meeting."
The material taught in the class is based on criteria used by the rest of the state.
"We have standard curriculum throughout the state," Marshon said, "and each instructor is trained in how to use those curriculum. There's a standard curriculum that every ASAP uses, so if you go to an education program here, you'll go to the same education program in Fairfax. The state has a standard set of curriculum for every intervention program that we offer."
To the 19-year-old, the class seemed mostly composed of videos and discussion. Some of the discussion covered alcohol laws, what behaviors police officers look for, what rights a person has versus what the police have the right to do, and brainstorming sessions on increasing safety or awareness.
"One of the activities was along the lines of what could students do to decrease the number of alcohol-related deaths or something like that, and we're supposed to come up with ideas like student-run alcohol classes or students DDing or making sure your friends don't drink entire handles in an hour."
"There were some heavy videos," he later added. "There was one video about a guy who had 700 drunk in public arrests over the course of 15, 20 years, and after like three years of picking this dude up one of the jailers at this California beach jail started filming him."
The student claims that he is not a heavy drinker, that he drinks only once a week at maximum, and that his circumstance was the product of bad luck. Because of this, the program did not have much of an effect on the chemical engineering major, and he does not plan to change his drinking behavior while presently in college.
"I don't think anyone really came away with it with any sort of revelation," he said. "It wasn't a life-changing experience. He didn't go about the course in a way that it was supposed to correct our behavior. It was kind of like, how to keep us from getting in trouble again."
The sophomore is not too worried about the underage possession of alcohol that currently stains his record either.
"Career wise," he said, "I'm sure that I'll be doing entry-level shit for a while anyway, so by the time it's important, it'll be irrelevant."
While the student may be unphased by his experiences, other members of the Blacksburg community feel that many college students do not think far enough into the future before taking risks such as excessive drinking, drinking underage or getting behind the wheel intoxicated.
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This is a ridiculous article. VASAP is the last place anyone who actually needs help should ever go. Biggest joke on the face of the earth. The only goal of VASAP is to violate you so they can send you back to court and give you more fines. They don't work with you they work for themselves only and try to do anything to mark you as non compliant and send you back to court. And I mean anything from missing an irrelevant assignment to "not participating enough". They just have you sit there for two hours and watch you like a hawk while they play video after video about drinking. After the 4th week of having two hour classes it gets old really quick and they will have no problem violating your probation for accidentally dozing off during one of their 100 videos saying the same stuff over and over again. Don't go to vasap just let the court take your license from you.
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Obviously, someone who couldn't man up and pass the class ^^^^
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Actually "ROCK", coming from someone who is in this moronic program currently due to someone lying about me purchasing alcohol for them to save their own ass, I can agree with what Jake has said 100%. VASAP is an absolute joke. It is the most disgustingly greedy program on earth and they only exist to profit themselves. The fact that this program exists honestly makes me question everything that I have ever been taught. I understand that it seems like Jake is only saying that because he didn't pass it but he is right. I go to Randolph-Macon college, I completed all of my community service hours for the program, I went to turn them in and my trailer trash "case manager" decided that the college itself was not a legitimate enough site. I ended up getting a "non-compliant" and now, I have to return to court. My VASAP instructor is a fantastic man, one of the nicest people I have ever come in contact with, but the people who handle the disciplinary issues in the program are absolutely terrible people. My "Case Manager" makes me feel like nothing less than a 19 year old criminal. This program should be dismantled promptly along with the entire Hanover County general court system. I have never met people as rude as the ones that work inside that courthouse.
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^^^This is obviously a second repeater who didn't learn his lesson.
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This isn't a "learn your lesson" type of deal. This is a "be smarter and don't get caught again" thing. They nickel and dime you for everything. It is your first offense ever and they are trying to get all they can from you. It is a great idea for those who receive DUIs but not for underage possession. Just drop the drinking age to 18 and call it a day.
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so obviously - if you're willing to have your license taken, you don't mind being a less than 45 mph scooter boy or you don't have to work for a living or have plans for law school or anything with a blemished record. your mom and dad must be loaded to afford your car insurance after something so mundane. you broke the law, period. throw a little time and money at it and be thankful you can and get it reduced or expunged.
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Also, best kept secret? Whoever wrote this article needs to take a dirt nap. You absolutely suck.
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