tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post2814152148832834886..comments2023-10-17T22:56:42.784-04:00Comments on Only in The Republic of Amherst: KumbayaLarry Kelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-36988150973520132832014-03-12T09:34:35.575-04:002014-03-12T09:34:35.575-04:00The town should simply ban ALL alcohol sales for t...The town should simply ban ALL alcohol sales for the month of March next year. Let the package-store owners and bar owners sit there paying rent and property tax without taking in any revenue, while they think about the wisdom of encouraging this kind of nonsense.<br /><br />And UMass students should be informed that anyone SEEN participating in the "Blarney Blowout" will be expelled. This would have the useful side-effect of improving the school's average IQ by a considerable amount.Emily "Riot Grrl" Dickinsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-46195761212566505582014-03-12T05:03:25.361-04:002014-03-12T05:03:25.361-04:00how about the judiciary meting out the maximum pen...how about the judiciary meting out the maximum penalty for all convicted lawbreakers. UMass can expel them w/ no appeal. Unfortunately, any fines will be paid by daddy, so the monetary fines are merely a farce.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-54668375386444024282014-03-11T19:05:01.893-04:002014-03-11T19:05:01.893-04:00Can I just point out the obvious and state that th...Can I just point out the obvious and state that the name Kyle Kielbasa has to be one of the funniest and most unfortunate names ever given to a person?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-51933148916073317812014-03-11T16:44:07.574-04:002014-03-11T16:44:07.574-04:00Actually I find plenty to write about in the summe...Actually I find plenty to write about in the summer when UMass is not in session (and the summer school kids seem to be well behaved).Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-1461020383028576452014-03-11T16:25:15.804-04:002014-03-11T16:25:15.804-04:00Sorry Larry, I'm still laughing at the fact th...Sorry Larry, I'm still laughing at the fact that you call yourself a journalist. You blog is nothing but bias, hate-fueled words targeting the UMass campus and it's students. Without the school you wouldn't even have this 'job' (if you can call it that.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-84044874049897282632014-03-11T15:18:19.354-04:002014-03-11T15:18:19.354-04:00As an undergraduate student of UMass Amherst, I am...As an undergraduate student of UMass Amherst, I am disgusted by the actions of my fellow students. I cannot fathom the amount of disrespect some of my peers have for the authority of the police, nor the audacity they have to then protest the actions taken. Four police officers were injured in breaking up your shenanigans. Take some responsibility for your own actions and stop hiding behind nonexistent "police brutality."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-1236277515914342232014-03-11T14:56:08.519-04:002014-03-11T14:56:08.519-04:00Anonymous March 11, 2014 at 11:36 AM said...
As a...<i>Anonymous March 11, 2014 at 11:36 AM said...<br /><br />As a parent of someone from this Blowout generation, I'm wondering where we collectively went wrong.</i><br /><br />You went wrong about the time you put the Baby on Board sign in the window of your car and gave your kid a trophy just for showing up at youth soccer.<br /><br />Kids of every generation have weaknesses. The weakness of this generation is a sense of entitlement and a beleif that they can do what they want, when the want. When repercussions happen they are appalled, APPALLED, because their whole life they've been told how great they are.<br /><br />This is not to say that the Amherst Police punching a young person in the face, dragging another through the mud, and apparently spraying pepper spray in someone's face without provocation are justified.<br /><br />It explains why students managed to put themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, despite numerous warnings and then are outraged when they get caught in the crossfire.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-62911403866992976352014-03-11T14:49:46.976-04:002014-03-11T14:49:46.976-04:00Ed: watch AND listen to that video closely. At f...Ed: watch AND listen to that video closely. At first you can see (what appears to be) the shade drawn as the cops lead 2 arrested people away. The camera jerks to the right before you hear ANY police response...but WATCH the ground near the police. You can see a bottle hit the ground and bounce away and smask next to the cops. Two of them in fact..THEN the police respond with non-lethal force (OC pellets not tear gas, which they do not use). These bottles come from a high vantage point. The cop responded to where the source of the bottles came from. Watch it over and over until you get it right. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-82656901250075340502014-03-11T14:33:59.883-04:002014-03-11T14:33:59.883-04:00Actually Ed, you CAN see the beer bottles landing ...Actually Ed, you CAN see the beer bottles landing near the cops and hear them shatter. Can't say much about what the kids lurking in the window are doing since the camera isn't on them. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-50424012147081874702014-03-11T14:31:18.545-04:002014-03-11T14:31:18.545-04:00Ed, you can clearly see bottles thrown at the cops...Ed, you can clearly see bottles thrown at the cops, I see no reason for them to face any charges. <br /><br />You are as childish as the kids who are protesting the cops. You all need to grow up and realize the police are doing exactly what is expected. I commend the police. I also attended very blowout in the past five years as I graduated last year, just for your reference. These kids need to learn to not act like animals. As stated before, you don't see tailgates getting out of hand like this when the football team was in townAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-34089035578958233962014-03-11T14:13:51.368-04:002014-03-11T14:13:51.368-04:00Larry -- you or any of your cop buddies want to ju...Larry -- you or any of your cop buddies want to justify <b>this?!?!?!?!</b><br /><br />Will the Town of Amherst be paying to replace the window that one of their officers broke (you can hear it shattering in the background)? And do you see beer bottles being thrown -- or kids trying to quietly watch what is going on?<br /><br />I think that an APD officer needs to be facing criminal charges for this -- reckless endangerment, destruction of property, etc.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO8Msu9wTWM<br /><br />This is what gives everyone in a blue uniform a bad name.<br /><br />Dr. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-7873968883744222092014-03-11T13:53:36.993-04:002014-03-11T13:53:36.993-04:00And will the APD be paying for the windows they br...And will the APD be paying for the windows they broke?<br /><br />Just wondering -- there is footage circulating of them *breaking* them...Dr. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-17217925436987975882014-03-11T12:41:12.196-04:002014-03-11T12:41:12.196-04:00Your difference between last year's Townhouse ...Your difference between last year's Townhouse event and this year is that last year was unforeseen and the police had 7 of their 45 on duty. Many people were brought to the hospital for head injuries before the police arrived with enough borrowed help to empty it. This year the police were prepared, thus more arrests.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-21900280409191557312014-03-11T12:37:55.272-04:002014-03-11T12:37:55.272-04:00UMass employee arrested:
Kyle C. Kielbasa, 28,...<i>UMass employee arrested:<br /> Kyle C. Kielbasa, 28, Belchertown and charged him with disorderly conduct, being intoxicated and carrying a firearm, improper storage of a firearm, leaving a firearm in a vehicle. </i><br /><br />OK Larry, will you join me in demanding that he be dealt with as harshly and accorded no more due process than the students who were arrested of far less serious offenses? Union be damned -- he be summarily fired?<br /><br />If not, why not?Dr. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-68491911358498683472014-03-11T12:35:20.841-04:002014-03-11T12:35:20.841-04:00Another standard rationalization: "we're ...Another standard rationalization: "we're just doing what you guys did".<br /><br />The scale, the ferocity, the property damage, and, most importantly, the squaring off with police is different from 35-40 years ago.<br /><br />Another difference: much more of the drinking was legal. <br /><br /> <br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-32830881489617938732014-03-11T12:15:59.243-04:002014-03-11T12:15:59.243-04:00Is this any different from what happened 10, 20, 3...Is this any different from what happened 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago? Not that I condone any of these kids actions, but all your comments that degrade this generation saying these kids are entitled and have had everything handed to them was probably said about your own generation back when you were in school. I'm sorry but I see videos of the Red Sox riots from 2003 and 2004 where they are throwing bricks at statie's cars and uprooting of signs all up and down North Pleasant Street, not just one stop sign. Back when the drinking age was 18 there was kegs on every floor of the dorms and kids were passed out wherever they could find a spot, even if it meant outside. How many students used to die from elevator surfing in the towers? The only difference between now and the past is the media exposure. About five or so years ago Phillips Street looked like that every weekend, not just once a year. All I'm trying to say is that although maybe you never drank or got rowdy in your late teens/early twenties, most people your age were so lets not act like these actions are all of a sudden barbaric. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-55709457934201842822014-03-11T11:36:24.311-04:002014-03-11T11:36:24.311-04:00See the first-hand account in the column from Mont...See the first-hand account in the column from Montague resident on today's Gazette editorial page. The drunken children were a frightening spectacle.<br /><br />There are some things that cannot be explained away by blaming the police.<br /><br />As a parent of someone from this Blowout generation, I'm wondering where we collectively went wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-61521967044072401062014-03-11T11:26:22.718-04:002014-03-11T11:26:22.718-04:00I thought these kids went to college to learn some...I thought these kids went to college to learn something. <br /><br />These parents are wasting a lot of there hard earned money on these NITWITS.<br /><br />OR, the apple does not fall far from the the TREE.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-49456036965869456002014-03-11T11:20:29.339-04:002014-03-11T11:20:29.339-04:00There is a difference between what is legally perm...There is a difference between what is legally permissible and what is politically problematic and morally repulsive -- and I think you will find that the police actions last Saturday were all three.<br /><br />I think we should all commend the students for taking the action they are and not something along the lines of what I feared they would -- not that they still won't.<br /><br />And Larry, it's Tuesday now -- you'd think one ought to be able to resolve the gravestone destruction rumor by now, wouldn't you?Dr. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-57880921788321307582014-03-11T11:02:25.054-04:002014-03-11T11:02:25.054-04:00Nothing was thrown out of that window. It was bare...Nothing was thrown out of that window. It was barely open wide enough for the person recording to record beneath it. Then the window was shot through.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-20705953719189974692014-03-11T10:56:52.141-04:002014-03-11T10:56:52.141-04:00Why was 2014 more problematic? Judging by videos f...Why was 2014 more problematic? Judging by videos from last year and this year, both seem to be "booze-fueled and destructive/violent episode of anarchy". So then why was there only 6 arrests last year? Maybe since it wasn't confined into the quad but I don't know , I'm very surprised at the disparity of the number of arrests. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-88034680269954029032014-03-11T10:51:01.106-04:002014-03-11T10:51:01.106-04:00Solution #1: Let it happen at the townhouses so it...Solution #1: Let it happen at the townhouses so it doesn't interfere with residents of Amherst.<br />Solution #2:Allow kegs so there is no problem with thrown bottles. A solo cup never hurt anyone.<br />Solution #3:Police supervision like that at the tailgates.<br />Solution #4: Don't cut off buses so no one attempts to drunk driveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-68746338974233747892014-03-11T10:40:59.531-04:002014-03-11T10:40:59.531-04:00The point of blarney for students isn't to be ...The point of blarney for students isn't to be problematic, its to have fun for a day when it finally is getting nice out. Blarney 2013 war far more "successful" for both students and police. The Students were allowed to have fun in the townhouse condominiums without causing problems for the residents of Amherst. Then at around 4:30 after the crowd began to die down, the police peacefully came through the complex removing everyone without excessive force and only 7 arrests were made.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-5523322952476414122014-03-11T10:37:19.258-04:002014-03-11T10:37:19.258-04:00What was being thrown out of the 3rd floor windows...What was being thrown out of the 3rd floor windows before the police responded? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-16753471152292679552014-03-11T10:35:27.863-04:002014-03-11T10:35:27.863-04:00My opinion is that the police were telling everyon...My opinion is that the police were telling everyone to go home and disperse. The people in that third floor balcony were ordered to leave the area, in this case go inside. That is a legal order. You see, in an exigent circumstance, such as the events those kids were filming, the police have the right to secure the area for themselves and the public. They were moving a line, and didn't want threats (i.e. drunk people throwing stuff) behind them or from balconies. They didn't go inside (which they should have, immediately). The police responded accordingly and were entirely in their rights. Personally, I would have gone inside as I was told, because that's what you do when you are told to go inside by the police in a situation like that. They didn't, and the police responded in a predictable and legal manner.<br /><br />You see, these individuals who were "brutalized" all had very simple decisions to make. They could do as they were told, or they could not. When they did not, they faced the consequences. To defend these individuals who made the wrong decision when faced with a very simple question by accusing police brutality is a poor argument.<br /><br />Another argument that I'm sure your mulling Anon 10:02 is that the kids were in their house/balcony, and that the police unjustly blah blah blah. True, but those are apartments with actual people in them (not just partying students), be it students who are responsible, or local residents and families. In addition, most leases include a clause for peaceful enjoyment, which guarantees everyone in that building has the right to enjoy their space without nuisance from others. To reiterate my point, they should have gone inside like adults instead of inviting the consequences that they ultimately were rendered.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com