The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

What Happened to Professor Bealer?

Posted on | May 21, 2016 | 13 Comments

 

Tara Bealer taught sociology at East Stroudsburg University in Nazareth, Pa. She got her bachelor’s degree from Cedar Crest College (annual tuition $35,600) in Allentown, Pa., and in 2006 got her master’s degree from Lehigh University (annual tuition $46,230) in Bethlehem, Pa. Somewhere along the way, however, Professor Bealer went astray.

Having counseled recovering addicts in New Jersey and taught sociology at East Stroudsburg University last year, a Northampton County woman was charged with selling heroin authorities said was found in her home during a Wednesday search.
Tara E. Bealer, 41, of East Chestnut Street, Nazareth, is charged with four counts of drug possession with intent to deliver, six counts of drug possession, 71 counts of drug paraphernalia possession, two counts of marijuana possession and one count of endangering a child’s welfare by selling drugs with a child in the home.
Nazareth police said they responded Nov. 21 to a reported overdose at Bealer’s home and found heroin packages, but did not say if anyone was charged at that time. This prompted an investigation involving police having someone make three purchases of heroin from Bealer at her home.

What bizarre madness is this? Were there no warning signs?

“I was shocked at first when I saw this in the news,” said ESU senior Gabrielle Marcantoni, a social work major who took Marriage and Family and Intro to Sociology courses under Bealer in 2014 and 2015. “Then again, I’m not surprised because something about her always seemed off. I remember her missing a lot of classes and sometimes being late. And she seemed to have this rude attitude toward some of the students.”
ESU junior Kathleen Kraemer, an English and sociology major, is editor-in-chief of ESU’s student newspaper, The Stroud Courier.
“Professor Bealer was animated and tried to engage the class, but she wasn’t very successful because of the large class size,” said Kraemer, one of Bealer’s Marriage and Family students last spring, not recalling any rude attitude. “She did miss quite a few classes. When she did, not even her student assistants knew where she was. I was initially surprised myself when I became aware of the criminal charges because she didn’t come off to me as the type to use or traffic in drugs. Then again, she did miss a lot of classes.”

If your sociology professor doesn’t show up for class, kids, it’s because she’s too busy dealing heroin. Paying off her student loans, I guess.

Professor Bealer was teaching “Marriage and Family” classes, and her family is very important to her, as the judge heard in court last month:

A suspended Northampton County Community College professor facing more than 80 charges after selling heroin from her Nazareth home wants bail conditions amended to see her teenage daughter . . .
Following the hearing, Anthony Rybak, the attorney representing Bealer, said she is seeking a bail modification that would allow her to see her 14-year-old daughter.

Professor Bealer is such a positive influence in the lives of young people:

Nazareth police Chief Thomas Trachta said a fatal overdose from heroin in November led to borough police setting up the undercover operation. . . .
Trachta didn’t identify the overdose victim at the time, but Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli previously said the victim was 26-years-old.
Nazareth police on Jan. 3 learned from an informant that Tara E. Bealer, 41, of the first block of East Chestnut Street, was selling upward of 50 bags of heroin daily from her home, court records filed by police say. . . .
Nazareth police Commissioner Randall Miller said the borough will continue to investigate and follow-up on other narcotic crimes in an effort to crack down on illegal drugs in the community. Morganelli in a Jan. 5 news conference said the Northampton County Task Force also is cracking down on heroin use in the county.
“There is a growing epidemic of heroin in Pennsylvania,” Morganelli had said.

An epidemic of dead junkies. Because your professor is dealing heroin.

(Hat-tip: Kirby McCain on Twitter.)





 


Category: Crime, Education

Comments

13 Responses to “What Happened to Professor Bealer?”

  1. Scuttlebuttin'
    May 21st, 2016 @ 5:42 am

    If only student loans were dischargeable . . .

  2. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    May 21st, 2016 @ 10:23 am

    But ending the war on drugs will solve this all…

    I am not for locking people up and throwing away the key, only because that is just one strategy for dealing with drug abuse (appropriate in some cases, not appropriate in others). I am for drug courts and treatment to address this problem. Heroin is an especially insidious drug right now because it is cheap and powerfully addictive. But any trip to rural America will show people ruined by meth and host of other pharmaceuticals are taking their toll. Even Rush Limbaugh had his brush with this.

    It can happen to anyone if they don’t avoid it in the first place.

  3. SouthOhioGipper
    May 21st, 2016 @ 4:38 pm

    So this lady should just be allowed to peddle poison? We are not talking about an addict here in this article. We are talking about a dealer. Anyone who deals this stuff knows what they are doing.

  4. Kirby McCain
    May 21st, 2016 @ 4:44 pm

    An Atlanta shrink was just arrested in connection with 3 overdose deaths.

    A forklift operator gets random drug testing not teachers or professors.

  5. Jonah Goldberg lays out why he is not voting for Donald Trump
    May 21st, 2016 @ 6:07 pm

    […] I find a few adult beverages do help mitigate things…Drink Responsibly (and don’t go for the heroin) […]

  6. Jonah Goldberg lays out why he is not voting for Donald Trump - Big Sky Headlines
    May 21st, 2016 @ 7:17 pm

    […] I find a few adult beverages do help mitigate things…Drink Responsibly (and don’t go for the heroin) […]

  7. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    May 21st, 2016 @ 7:22 pm

    Where in the hell did you come up with that conclusion? I said locking then up and throwing away the key is one strategy for dealing with this problem. Yes, I support dealers getting jail time.

  8. Joe Joe
    May 21st, 2016 @ 8:07 pm

    It looks like she learned more from the addicts than they did from her.

  9. Steve in Greensboro
    May 21st, 2016 @ 8:42 pm

    Dealing horse…the most useful thing that any sociologist has ever don.

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  11. News of the Week (May 22nd, 2016) | The Political Hat
    May 22nd, 2016 @ 3:44 pm

    […] What Happened to Professor Bealer? Tara Bealer taught sociology at East Stroudsburg University in Nazareth, Pa. She got her bachelor’s degree from Cedar Crest College (annual tuition $35,600) in Allentown, Pa., and in 2006 got her master’s degree from Lehigh University (annual tuition $46,230) in Bethlehem, Pa. Somewhere along the way, however, Professor Bealer went astray. […]

  12. Finrod Felagund
    May 22nd, 2016 @ 6:04 pm

    The sad thing is that the crackdown on prescription pain medicine has led people in pain to worse drugs like heroin just to get pain relief.

  13. Critical Eye
    May 23rd, 2016 @ 8:32 am

    … no one would make them. Except the government, in order to buy the votes of Academia, students, and their parents.

    We tried that, and it didn’t work. Have an 18 year old walk into any bank and ask for a $60,000 unsecured loan. Having the government guarantee the loan is a back door subsidy – it removes the risk from the lender and transfers it to the public at large.