Thursday, June 16, 2011

Is Amherst burning?

brianjeffrey.wordpress.com

No, in spite of a dramatic turn around and a decisive win in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, all was quiet in Amherst last night as all our potential hellions have gone home for the summer and it appears that even in Boston the celebrations were kept under control.

Although the same cannot be said of fans in Vancouver, some of whom demonstrated a distinct lack of class in handling defeat: turning over cars, setting fires and making lots of noise.

But in Amherst, where riots previously occurred over Boston teams winning big, all was quiet...well, except for one "disorderly conduct" arrest--a disgruntled Vancouver fan.

And why is that? Obviously because the usual suspects have left town for the summer (or at least that small minority of which cause B-I-G trouble). But I also notice nothing in the Boston Globe about disorderly crowds or party houses, something Amherst had to endure all year.

Since the "solution to pollution is dilution" perhaps spreading out the young hellions over a very large Boston area reduces the likelihood of a bad crowd reaching critical mass. Or perhaps living at home or in a neighborhood near fellow family members--or where those members would read of bad behavior in the local paper--increases accountability.

This September UMass will start enforcing the Student Code of Conduct rules for off campus behavior. Let's hope they read the Amherst police logs.

24 comments:

Ed said...

Larry, the BOT did NOT change the off campus clause in the CSC -- the language is what it was 20 years ago -- it applies to incidents "which occur in other locations when the behavior distinctly and directly affects the University community."

First, it makes no distinction between Amherst and Amesbury, nor Hadley and Hopkinton -- and pressuring the university to enforce rules that don't exist constitutes conspiracy to deny civil rights under color of law.

Second, words mean things -- "distinctly and directly affects the university community" means having an impact in the classrooms on this campus. As reprehensible as something like punching an Amherst Police Officer is, that does not affect teaching and learning on this campus -- there is no way you can say it has any influence on it.

Yes, the schmuck should go to jail for it, but it is the Town of Amherst's responsibility (not the state's) to enforce the laws in the Town of Amherst -- otherwise you are ceding your municipal police power to the state and you don't want to do that!


And Third -- they didn't change the language....

Anonymous said...

Good post, Larry.

Larry Kelley said...

Thanks.

I consider it fair warning that, starting in September, I will turn it up a notch or two with my "Party House of the Weekend" series.

Anonymous said...

What makes you so sure it was a disgruntled vancouver fan??? I didnt' see ANYWHERE where that was posted.. in fact.. i know him.. and he most certainly is not a vancouver fan....

Larry Kelley said...

I don't believe I published a name. Were you with him at the time?

Anonymous said...

Does Ed have squatter's rights on this blog yet?

Wondering said...

Over the years, I've given the Amherst Police a lot of credit for the fact that riots haven't erupted here as they have in so many other college towns, like our neighbor in Storrs, CT. I definitely want to give the police as much credit as they have earned, but are there other factors contributing to this outcome? I hope people with direct knowledge or non-wacky theories will post. No trolls please! I'm hoping to broaden my understanding of this important quality-of-life issue.

Ed said...

Over the years, I've given the Amherst Police a lot of credit for the fact that riots haven't erupted here

I do NOT give the APD credit. I actually argue that the APD is putting the town at risk for a major riot.

First, if you are not old enough to remember the farce that was the national 55MPH speed limit (eg you are over 40), you need to ask someone who is. Preferably a cop who will tell you that when they had to stop people for 60, most folk were doing well over 90 -- once they could only concentrate on those going over 80, everyone slowed down to 70.

At least 80% of the people have to voluntarily comply with the rules, or you have problems. And if something happens that brings together these people who only fear (as oppose to respect) the cops, the cops are outnumbered and all hell breaks loose....

Amherst has, so far, managed to isolate, segregate and separate the critical factions, but sooner or later, they will come together and all hell will break loose in Amherst....

Anonymous said...

One other thing Larry -- seriously -- think about the consequences of ceding town authority to the state, and what happened in other cases where the towns have done this.

Welfare used to be a local issue. In the early '70s, it went from the towns to the state, and when that happened, lots of folk who never would have received it as Amherst money started getting it as state money...

What is going to happen when the state starts means testing students?

Anonymous said...

"most folk were doing well over 90"

Ed,

Please try to not to say things that are obviously ridiculous. Oops! I forgot, you can't.

No one was driving 90, lot less "well over 90." That's just a completely silly statement. I was there. People were driving the same speed as they are now. People were driving 72-75 MPH. They were just getting a lot more tickets.

Anonymous said...

Ed is unfortunatly a glass half empty type person. He does have some good points but most of the time people lose them in his endless streaming rants.

Ed, you really need to calm down man. You need to stop read what your writing then hit the send button.

Now with that said, I have just feed into everything Ed wants and that is a reaction from everybody. so what we need to do is stop responding to his rants. Ignore them and he will eventually realize most people don't care. That is why his blog is so unresponsive he has an audience here that won't go to his just for this reason.

Anonymous said...

7:52 good point since Ed's been leaving the same stuff here that dogs do when they squat...

Anonymous said...

Don't tell Ed to stop! Ed, by all means please keep talking. You're about the only comic relief I get these days.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure Larry will want us to keep responding to Ed because it makes this blog so entertaining!!

But I totally agree with anon 9:32 I try hard not to respond to Ed but sometimes I just can't resist - his post are so absurd.

I also agree with anon 11:12 - Ed is a great source of comic relief!!

Anonymous said...

Ed, I have a question for you. Would you mind if you were identified by your complete, searchable name on this blog?

If not, why not? Are you not willing to stand behind every last word of your rants, nonsense, and self-important blather?

Anonymous said...

So here's a funny story for you all. A young woman that I work with (who has graduated from UMass) said she and her bf are going to move to Noho because their neighbors are giving them "the stink eye" thinking that they are students. As I questioned her a bit more, the real reason: she likes the night life possibilities in Noho better AND there are more employed young people there who are not students. Go figure.

another ed said...

Ed is obviously more than one person, fools

Anonymous said...

Ed is only one buffoon. I've seen him at SC meetings.

Anonymous said...

if you think Ed is entertaining here, you should google him, hes got alot of bizarre stuff out there.

Anonymous said...

what is ed's last name?

Ed said...

Anonymous said...
Would you mind if you were identified by your complete, searchable name on this blog?


Define "irony"....

I was also speaking of I-95 and not I-91, a road with far less traffic and thus the realistic potential for getting sopped.

Anonymous said...

Ed, what the heck does I95 have to do with APD?

Wondering said...

When I posted my question, I guess I should have stipulated that I didn't need or want to hear from Ed. What a useless, predictable tirade.

Anonymous said...

Ed Cutting has an expert opinion on everything. Unfortunately some people take his opinions for facts.