I was at WGN-TV in June doing my Journalism Residency when I heard Matthew Sunshine had passed away from alcohol poisoning. What an unfortunate tragedy, everyone in the newsroom thought. It hadn’t crossed our minds that there could be a third party responsible, that the cause of death wouldn’t be merely attributed to a student not knowing his limits.

Fast forward six months, when it became clear that one person – former NU student Alex Krzyston – held some responsibility. Because he supplied Sunshine and his friends with the vodka, Krzyston was arrested from his home, taken away from his job and charged with unlawful delivery of alcohol to a minor, which became a felony charge because Sunshine died.

The anticipated court date for Krzyston was Jan. 14, but the trial was pushed back after prosecutors were not prepared. The delay could very well have been caused by one of two things: either the prosecution doesn’t have a strong case yet or they ran out of time to have the necessary components ready for trial.

So is it crucial to try to send this 22-year-old to prison for one to three years? This is someone who, last year, bought some vodka for a few underaged kids who couldn’t buy it on their own – and would have gotten it from someone else. Yes, it was illegal; yes, it happens frequently on our campus.

Krzyston hasn’t made any public statements surrounding this tragedy, but I can only imagine how much guilt the guy is already harboring. Sending him to jail is not going to bring Sunshine back. While it may bring some closure to the Sunshine family, a jail sentence will further ruin another family – the Krzystons.

I can’t speak on behalf of Sunshine’s parents, but I’ve got to believe if my parents lost me in an alcohol-related incident, they would consider the everlasting guilt enough of a punishment.

So does the responsibility end with Krzyston? Or are we all in some way as college students responsible? We are the ones who have gone against the university’s “dry campus” policy to create the drinking scene we have now.

Whether it’s buying booze for a minor or merely pouring a beer from a keg for that minor, it’s all the same in the state’s eyes – any sort of alcoholic gift is still a felony.

But if an example is being made of Krzyston, I don’t know that it’s working. His story will not scare the “suppliers” off because if there were no upperclassmen to facilitate freshmen drinking, where would the little ones turn? One of the homeless Evanstonians?

The court date has now been postponed until Jan. 27, and I can only wish Krzyston a fair trial. We’ve mourned the loss of one fellow NU student; I hope another won’t have to live behind bars.