But who will get the coffee?

Here's a tip I got last night. We'll know in short order whether or not the rumors are true.

Normally, the South Dakota State Senate has 4 sessions of different legislative pages. And during each of those sessions the Senate hosts 10 high school kids.

What did I just hear on this? There will not be the same number of kids. In fact, I'm told that the rumor is that numbers are down.

Why? Well, that whole Dan Sutton thing has thrown a bit of a wet blanket on the interest level of kids to come to Pierre to fetch coffee from the cafe' for legislators and to update their bill books.

As a legislator related to me, one future page's dad approached him and very clearly stated "if that Sutton thing is not dealt with, there's no way my kid will ever do that."

I can't blame the dad. Heck, with my oldest child having the name of "Paige," I'm considering calling her by her middle name until this all blows over.

You know, I wouldn't want her to be exposed to anything negative because of that whole mess.

Comments

Anonymous said…
PP call your poor daughter by the name that you and your wife gave her. No one thinks of Sutton and this page groping scandal when someone calls her Paige.
PP said…
Nick -

that was a joke.
Anonymous said…
I suppose that same father would keep his kids from being altar persons, cause the church has pedophiles. Or keeps them from going to the state basketball tournament because someone might not behave properly.

Or keeps them from being an intern in Washington because someone might send them anthrax.

Or maybe you just made this up.

But when is the FBI going to solve that anthrax case?
Anonymous said…
I agree with 4:43. I would hate to be the child of a parent with such a high level of risk aversion.

I also agree that his child has a much greater chance of sexual assault as an altar person than a SD Senate page.
Anonymous said…
If the rumors are true that the pages are out every night drinking, I would be concerned for my child, notwithstanding any Sutton crap.
Anonymous said…
Those "rumors" are only given life because commentors refuse to differentiate between pages and interns, to say nothing of ignoring the great host homes that have historically been a part of the success of the page program in Pierre, or of the parents' responsibility to not send a child to Pierre if they can't stay out of trouble at home.
Anonymous said…
there has been alot of abuse exposed recently concerning alter boys and priests, yet people still attend the church. I don't think I would prohibit children from attending Catholic church any more than I would restricting them from being pages. The system is probably a good one,and I trust LRC,and Mrs. Melmer if they are in charge.
Anonymous said…
In 4 years in Pierre, I never once witnessed a page drinking, or even heard of it happening. Interns, yes, some of them did,but I assume they were of age (21).
Anonymous said…
It's sad that the whole Sutton mess is hurting the page program. It's a great opportunity for kids to learn about gov't, increase their self-esteem, and even though not the reason kids do it, it looks great on a resume for college application.

My daughter did this. She stayed with great host families, she made friends that carried thru into college and beyond, and this was the stepping stone to many exciting things in her life.

If any parents are reading this and thinking of not letting their kids be a page because of the Sutton affair, please rethink your decision. This was a one-time happening, occurred when a page shared a room with a Senator, and occurred between "used to be" friends. Not the usual fare for pages in Pierre.

Once again,the whole page program is great. Please don't let this mess sully it.
Anonymous said…
Sutton is Catholic. He was heavily involved in the alter boy program.

Sutton was also a chaperone for the Flandreau Junior High music program.

Does anyone know if he is still involved in those activities or did the charges drive him away from that stuff?

Has anyone from those two programs asked him to leave? Or, have the local sponsors of those two organizations asked him stay on?
Anonymous said…
Who will get the coffee? Jennifer Giannonatti. Even if it requires breaking the law.

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