By Josh Haywood
Writer
With the news of increased police activity on- and off-campus, I have heard many students voice their opposition to the effort. First and foremost I am glad to see an increase in police presence because it shows me that these law enforcement groups are doing their job. Neither group is out to ruin your day; they are there to uphold state and federal law.
It seems as if downtown has gotten more rowdy this year from the near riot on St. Catherine early during the fall semester to most recently police cars getting their windows broken and officers getting things thrown at them. Just the other weekend my teammate and I had to yell at some idiots playing beer can baseball in the street. We asked the students to stop but they for some reason thought we were infringing on their rights; it is funny how everyone becomes a lawyer when they are drunk. One girl started copping an attitude with my teammate, resulting in quite the argument between the two parties. I can see where the cops are coming from; I would not want to deal with some drunken idiot thinking he or she is above the law either. Students seem to be living in a fantasy world where they believe they can do anything they want without facing the consequences … too bad that’s not how the real world works.
This illusion between perception and reality exists on campus as well. Public Safety does not have it out to ruin your day. They, like any other law enforcement agency, have the sole purpose of upholding state and federal law. In light of 23 University Ave. and Kappa Sigma Fraternity raiding before spring break, Public Safety would not have searched there without a reason. For those who are not aware, 23 University Ave. is where a large percentage of Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers used to live, making it a sort of quasi-fraternity house of its own. Public Safety and Lewisburg Police Department were there in response to recent issues involving drug use. Crying about the two organizations doing their jobs is a waste of time and is pretty childish. Consider the following options: quit using illegal drugs, be more discreet about using illegal drugs or move to an ultra-liberal country like the Netherlands so you can use drugs in peace. Quit complaining about law enforcement being out to get you; certain drugs are illegal for a reason and I put full faith in our legislative bodies to keep certain drugs out of citizens’ hands.