Drugs are cause for arrest, not judgment, according to some NIU students and faculty.

Robert A. Shorty, 19 and Terry D. Stephens, 18, 445 Stevenson Towers South, were arrested this weekend by the DeKalb North Central Narcotics Task Force in connection with the possession of marijuana and $2,100 in cash found in their room.

Shorty posted bond Monday at 1:30 p.m. and Stephens posted bond Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. from the DeKalb County Jail.

“It was a big shock that it was happening,” said Karen Thompson, the resident assistant on their floor.

People who get involved with drugs are also people with a life beyond drugs, said Jim Thomas, an NIU sociology professor specializing in criminal justice.

“Terry talked about his brother a lot,” said a floormate, who wished to remain anonymous. Shorty was “proud, not embarrassed” of his girlfriend and child, he said.

Both have been banned from the residence halls and the NIU Judicial Office is considering expulsion for both of them, said Judicial Office Director Larry Bolles.

Thompson said she had no suspicions of any drug involvement before the two were arrested. “They’ll be missed by everyone on the hall. Neither of them got into any trouble except this.”

However, another anonymous floormate said rumors had been milling and there was “so much hearsay” that no one was shocked by the arrest.

Shorty and Stephens always kept their door open and “I never saw weird people at abnormal hours,” the floormate said.

During the investigation, police discovered possible connections to the Chicago-based Vice Lords gang.

The notion of Shorty and Stephens being involved in gangs is “new to me,” said a floormate. Shorty never mentioned gangs to any floor residents and Stephens talked about gangs in his school, but he never said he belonged to a gang, the floormate said.

Many floor residents were unwilling to talk about the situation and are “uptight,” worried about what might happen if they said anything, he said. “I don’t think he (Shorty) would threaten” anyone.