Mary Washington College [that should be the University of Mary Washington] in Fredericksburg was embarrassed by its president last month, when William Frawley was arrested on drunken driving charges -- twice in three days, in Fairfax and in Fredericksburg. Yesterday, the college's board sacked Frawley.


Just like that, with cause, without a golden parachute, without any compensation. Frawley, a former top administrator at George Washington University, was told to just get out. The decision, the board announced, was in the best interests of the college.

This is called "doing the right thing." It is a concept that never quite got through to the Alexandria [Virginia] school board, which in 2004 decided that a DUI charge against its superintendent, Rebecca Perry, was occasion to extend her contract, give her some paid time off, and raise her salary.

Pretty much everyone else on the planet saw not only that Perry had done wrong, but that her continued employment - let alone the various special gifts she then received - was an awful message to send to high school kids, parents and just about anyone. Ethicists even used the coddling of Perry as a case study in what not to do.

Like Perry, Frawley is by all accounts a smart and accomplished administrator. Like Perry, he has defenders who believe that he merely made a mistake, or that he has a problem that needs addressing, but doesn't necessarily detract from his ability to do his job. And perhaps if he were an accountant, lawyer, mail clerk, or janitor, it wouldn't matter so much. But as leaders of educational institutions, Frawley and Perry were obliged not only to balance the books and set good policies, but to serve as a moral and intellectual beacon, calling on young people to commit themselves to the service of knowledge and the betterment of self.

Their irresponsible actions disqualified them from those missions. Mary Washington College's board saw that plainly. The Alexandria schools still suffer from the devastating loss of credibility that Perry visited upon them and that the school board decided to pretend never happened.

38,000 killed on the roads every year, with over half of those involving drivers impaired by alcohol and/or drugs. ... It's time to shut down the good-ol'-boy, nod-nod, wink-wink approach to impaired drivers. First offenders need extended jail time with long-term loss of their driving privileges. If they truly have an addiction to alcohol and/or drugs, the jail sentence should be open ended (as long as possible) for the criminal to complete rehab and counseling before they are released. After they are let out - any further offenses would be felonies with mandatory state prison time. Also, change the law so driving without a license after it has been revoked is more than a lousy ticket.