By Erin Miller

Editor in chief

Kent County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Kolenda sentenced Marvin Odell Hawkins, 22, to up to eight years in prison for calling in a threat to Calvin in September on Monday.

Dorms were emptied, college employees were sent home and classes were cancelled on Friday, Sept. 21 after Hawkins left a phone message on the voicemail of the Alumni and Public Relations Office threatening fire and other violent acts. The campus remained closed from 11 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20 until 9 p.m. the following day. Over two thousand on-campus residents were forced to relocate temporarily because of the threat.

Hawkins also received a fine of $100,000 that will be used to restitution for money lost on the day the college was closed because of the threat.

Although the prison sentence and fine may seem unusually stiff to some, Kolenda said both were justified when the evident forethought seen in Hawkins' actions - he used a stolen cellphone to place the call and blocked the caller I.D. before dialing - were considered.

``He had to have known he would scare people very badly,'' Kolenda said. ``It was of a whole different kind and nature'' than more typical bomb threats, such as those often made by high school students looking for a day off of class. ``His [threat] was just remarkably different. This guy ... closed down an institution.''

According to information from the Michigan Department of Corrections provided in a story in the Grand Rapids Press, the prison term is considerably larger than what would usually be assigned to someone else committing a similar crime. Only one person of the 52 charged with making a false bomb threat was sent to prison in 1999, the most recent year for which such statistics are available.

Also factoring into the judge's decision was the timing of the threat. Placed only a week after the Sept. 11 hijackings of four airplanes by terrorists, college and city officials were hesitant to write the call off as an empty threat.

After Sept. 11 nobody could take any chances, Kolenda said. There was, he added, heightened sensitivity. The kind of threat he made was almost certainly more frightening than usual.''

The amount for the restitution, Kolenda said, came from the amount Calvin reported as the very least amount they were certain had been lost while the school was closed. Last fall, Calvin officials reported losses nearer to $250,000. Had he known the money lost was that high, Kolenda said, he would have likely fined Hawkins $250,000.

The Grand Rapids Press reported that Kolenda addressed Hawkins' likely inability to pay that fine at the trial's conclusion on Monday.

``I recognize that you probably won't ever that the ability to do that (pay $100,000), but you should be required to do it,'' Kolenda said.

Because the restitution has been ordered, if Hawkins does acquire the money within his lifetime, he will be required to repay the college.