UMass Amherst: A city unto itself (inside our little town)
Yes for the second consecutive year the combined efforts of town and UMass officials won the day, squashing any large scale uncivil gatherings of college aged groups clad in green before they could spin out of control.
Much in the same way they retired the Hobart Hoedown.
Mainly due to increased police presence directly at the flash point sites. Since Hobart only involved one street and Blarney encompassed almost a dozen, APD called in their brother and sister officers from all over the area.
The thin blue line was as wide as it will ever get in our little college town.
Of course the problem is you can't rely on that sort of backup every weekend between now and graduation. And as the weather warms, all it takes is one really nice Saturday combined with last second promotion on social media and a new -- yet to be named -- storm is unleashed.
Or maybe the Saturday morning peace marchers brought us good luck
#####
Editor's note: While I'm honored to have Turtle Boy Sports trumpet to his purported massive readership that I single-handedly killed the Blarney Blowout, it does at least underscore the value of an unwavering light being shined on a particular pernicious problem.
I can only hope that beacon outlasts the rowdy behavior it focuses on.
I don't think it's very nice of Turtle Boy to call a guy who made $450,000 in the first year of his state contract "the worst coach in the NCAA".
ReplyDeleteHe has strong opinions for sure.
ReplyDeleteI just wish he had the guts to sign his name and stand behind those opinions.
Real names are overrated.
DeleteTurtleboy is right about the DDR circa 1985 -- and Larry, remember that the wall came down in 1989...
ReplyDeleteWhen an authoritarian regime begins to collapse, it is forced to inexorably increase repression until it is logistically impossible to continue to sustain and/or the tactics necessary become reprehensibly to those ordered to employ them.
Amherst is at that tipping point, Larry -- as you admit, it isn't possible to sustain this show of force -- nor can UMass afford it, look at all the empty seats in the BBall game, that's what happens when you ban parking at a game...
And what you want to worry about is an overreaction in the other direction -- like in Chicago where cops feel a need to "go fetal."
Larry, stop trying to perpetuate the notion that Amherst is on the cusp of dangerous 2014 Blarney situation every weekend they gather at the quads. That's just not the case. Blarney 14 was the exception not the rule.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Blarney 13 when the little darlings threw bottles, cans and chunks of ice at AFD trying to get to a passed out drunk female in the middle of the packed quad?
ReplyDeleteTurtle Boy would probably have to endure threats if he did, like others who sign off on their opinions sometimes.
ReplyDeleteLarry, why did they consider AFD to be the enemy?
ReplyDeleteAs you may (or may not) be aware, providing medical assistance to the population is a standard tactic of the US Armed Forces -- and has been for over half a century. By treating the sick & injured, by providing medical care to even enemy combatants, we show that we are a kind & decent people who aren't intent on hurting & killing people whom we don't have to.
When we sent the USS Lincoln to Indonesia a decade ago, after the tsunami, folks saw both that we were delivering food & medical supplies *and* what the resources of an aircraft carrier were, a lot of the Moslem radicals decided that being friends with the infidels was best. And 20 years before that, when Soviet Armenia was so devastated by an earthquake that they had no choice but to accept American help, they not only were surprised that we actually left afterwards but disappointed that we left as quickly as we did -- the expectation was that we'd occupy it the way the Soviets had after WWII.
And Larry, you don't want to hurt people whom you believe are trying to help your friends.
Hence why was AFD seen as the enemy? And now, after the past 3 years, to most UM students, they are....
Because they were under the influence of alcohol, and that tends to cloud judgement.
ReplyDeleteAlcohol may cloud judgment but firefighters used to be considered helpers.
ReplyDeleteYou'r not trying to say that there weren't drunken students in years past, are you?
Sort of.
ReplyDeleteBack in my UMass days (early 1980s) we knew how to handle our liquor.
Visitors have always caused most of the problems at umass. End of story.
ReplyDeleteTypical Amherst playground contains 20 children playing and 43 parents. This is what college has turned into...
ReplyDeleteAfter 9-11 all men and women in uniform were represented as equally brave with equal roles: to save us from the terrorists. Without writing an essay, that was a major change in how we perceived them.
ReplyDeleteThen in the nineties all over the country there were instances of police and fire skimming money from tax-payers, through all sorts of tricky means, and that continues today, locally and nationally. That contributed to eroding our sense that public safety are selfless people focused on helping us.
And then when fire departments started going out of their way to defend any and all police behavior, over their focus which is life and safety of people, and when they went out of their way to tell us how the recommendations we procured that seem like maybe they're working, are an insult to them and their "brothers and sisters" in the PD, was another turning point in our perception of firefighters.
Fire Departments could do a lot in terms of PR just by communicating more regularly with the general public that they serve, in educational and fun ways, rather than giving us impressions of what the culture of the department is like only through inter-departmental chatter online in public places, that seems to exclude every tax-payer who doesn't support every one of their requests blindly. Why not give the tax-payers an opportunity to talk to you each week on live television like many of the other administrators do?
And I've read many things written online that imply to me that some firefighters resent and maybe even dislike the people they serve, and that's worrisome, because firefighters should look upon every human being equally.
In case you are unaware, the '90's did not follow 9/11.
DeleteAnd with my vast experience, I'm happy to report they do.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to consider that 15 years ago someone implored us to hold up men and women in uniform, and their budgets, above all others, which necessarily excludes teachers, reporters, social workers, children, et cetera.
ReplyDeleteTeachers? Don't exactly put their lives on the line every day. I don't care how awful the kids behave.
DeleteLarry, those things your mom put over your eyes is a blindfold and those things your dad put in your ears are earplugs. They likely installed them about 50-60 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI would assume that is why you look at the police and fire departments like you are a 8 year old boy in 1956.
But that begs the question, why wait for these two groups of wahoos when Superman is just about to swoop down and save the day. BTW, if you recall, Superman did not know how to hold his liquor any better than you and your cohort or these kids today. Though I will say the quality of parenting, those that should teach their kids how to drink, is pretty low in Mass, now even more than back then when you learned to drink. I guess the irony is that your generation did a very bad job of teaching their kids how to be adults and now we all have to pay for this in addition to police BS that seems to come from it. A generation of failed parents blaming their kids....
Your perspective on these two groups is different than the average citizen. The police lost their reputation with the race and drug wars against our families - these wars go on today - they are willing to maim, lock up and kill for their leaders - pretty scummy. This happened during the whole of your life experience, but you did not notice. The firefighters, while they are certainly sitting on high horses, should not be related to police, as the police are orders of magnitude more violent. As you know, fires are rare today and departments nationwide are working hard to make up new activities so they don't loose funding or jobs. They should be proud of reducing fires (actually that was those who built better buildings). Now that fires are mostly prevented, they need to step up constant inspections of our private property to help us prevent the last 1/10% at any expense (ours). Ambulance can be private as it is in many places, like hospitals and medicine, we already accepted that medical care is a private business. Why is the town even doing this? I am sure multiple companies would step up if the government exited this sector. And of course, they would do it better, faster, cheaper with competition.
I think it is also worth noting that far more carpenters die each year working to provide essential housing than police do working for corporate America beating up minorities. We would give up police before we would give up housing....every time...and it would always be the right choice. Police today, like the firemen, take care of the last fraction of a %, otherwise we are primarily safe due to our culture, so let's not ruin this by putting on blindfolds and earplugs.
Larry, this, writ large, will end Amherst...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/business/dealbook/court-to-hear-suit-accusing-law-school-of-inflating-job-data.html?mabReward=A3&moduleDetail=recommendations-2&action=click&contentCollection=Science®ion=Footer&module=WhatsNext&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&src=recg&pgtype=article
All the lawyers I know are doing okay -- especially the ones who advertise here.
ReplyDeleteUMass--build dorms and apts to house 3,000 more students and keep your problems on campus.
ReplyDeleteAmherst -- build a 6-lane divided highway to get students to & from said campus.
ReplyDeleteKUDOS TO TAKING ALCOHOLISM SERIOUSLY-THIS IS A LETHAL PATHOLOGICAL SOCIAL DISORDER-CRIMINALITY-IT KILLS-MAIMS-AND IS BLATANT ABJECT TERRORISM ! THIS IS MURDER-KUDOS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT-POLICING PUKE-UP TERRORIST IS JUST ESSENTIAL !
ReplyDeleteUmass has the Boltwood social program which visits local nursing homes-students work with victims of drunk drivers-crippled for life by DUI crimes-many have a cavalier attitude toward alcoholism-what this means for hospitalized/nursing home victims-consider it a "Teaching Moment" that Umass ACTUALLY CARES about SUBSTANCE ABUSE-and the potential for death/ maiming/ destruction booze abuse creates-PUKE-UP attitudes-not what's needed with future healthcare workers-Heads Up !!
UMass is a bastion of leftism on borrowed time.
ReplyDelete"Policing puke-up terrorism."
ReplyDeleteLONG pause...
Larry, remember that part about how "I didn't speak up when they came for the Jews...."? People want to be cautious about expanding the definition of terrorism lest they become so defined.
Larry Kelly is inbred
ReplyDeleteThat what happens when you don't spell your surname with two e's.
ReplyDeleteLarry's picture is in the dictionary under the word "curmudgeon" and he embraces it.
ReplyDeleteGet off my lawn!
ReplyDeleteOr at the very least stop urinating on it.