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Eagle Point keeps watchful eye Photo by Jim Craven Rick Bender, school disciplinarian at Eagle Point High School, approaches students gathered during their lunch break. He and another staffer are keeping an eye on students off campus to keep problems to a minimum. Staff enforces rules off campus By VICKI GUARINO EAGLE POINT -- Rick Bender squints and cocks his head for a better look at the cluster of teenagers on the opposite side of the foot bridge. "See? I can see smoke down there," Bender says. And where there's smoke, no doubt, there's a rule being broken. Some unfortunate Eagle Point High School student is about to lose open-campus privileges for a week. Smoking, littering, loitering, fighting, gathering in large groups that block sidewalks -- Bender and other high school staff this year are on the lookout for all manner of minor crime and nuisance. What makes this new patrol different from other monitoring duties is that it takes staff several blocks from high school grounds. Every noon hour, school staff follow students off campus to favorite lunchtime hangouts. Top spots in Eagle Point are the wooden covered bridge over Little Butte Creek and the nearby Little Butte Market, which happens to be the closest place for a snack. School disciplinary staff make sure students obey the school and state smoking prohibitions, put their trash in trash cans and basically aren't becoming pests around town. Those who cause problems are sent back to school. "I didn't like it at first, but now I think it's actually a pretty good idea," says ninth-grader Jenny Carlson, who stops to greet Bender. She and classmate Heather Chapman say the patrols have made the bridge a safer and more comfortable place for students. John Goessling, also a ninth-grader, says the school's presence off campus has eased parents' concerns about the kinds of trouble their kids could run into when no adults are watching. "I think it was a big concern for the parents," John says. "Everyone thought they were doing drugs out here." But other students say the monitoring is an unnecessary invasion of their lunchtime privacy. "They barge in on us," tenth-grader Brandon Fernandez complains. "We're trying to have our lunch." "It's pretty rude," says senior Jesse Seib. Kristina Marlia-Johnson, a tenth-grader, and a group of friends say lunch should be a time when they can get away from the scrutiny of school. "It's like we're in jail," Kristina says. "We have no privacy." "You can't be here; you can't be there; you can't stand on the sidewalk," says junior Ashley Roundtree, mocking the reprimands of the off-campus monitors. "You can't be anywhere." The girls insist they're doing nothing wrong. Yet as they turn their backs and continue across the bridge, one in the crowd says, "Let's go finish our cigarette." Smokers actually get a break from Bender, partner Joe Meerten and other school personnel on the street. The school simply disciplines smokers, Bender points out; police would cite them for violating state law. The school patrols began early in the school year, says Superintendent Bill Jones, after a weekend dispute of some kind spilled over to a Monday lunch hour. Suddenly, some 80 students were on and around the bridge. Jones estimates that half of the kids were from other school districts. No fight ensued, says Jones. "But let's say it wasn't a cordial visit, OK?" High school staff decided to take action, he says. Jones visits the bridge frequently enough these days for many students to recognize him. His office is just across the street. "I'm usually out there a couple of times a week," he says. "I think it's working well." Little Butte Market owner Michelle Earle says her many student customers have never been a serious problem, but she has noticed better behavior since the patrols began. "I spend a lot less time picking up trash," she says. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA