For some students, college can be an intimidating place. But apparently, some people are so intimidated they feel the need to carry a weapon around campus. And what some people do seems to have become a dangerous trend.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last week MSU leads the nation in campus weapons violations with 32 in 2001. Police made 19 similar arrests in 2000.
Around the nation, the Chronicle said, the number of weapons-law violations went up from 1,337 to 1,478 between 2000 and 2001, an increase of 10.5 percent. MSU's number was a 68 percent increase.
These numbers complement the 898 arrests for alcohol violations at the university in 2001 and 852 in 2000. During the same period, nationwide arrests went up 4.7 percent. The university's increase in arrests was 5.4 percent.
While the university prides itself in being a leader, this is an area where something needs to be done to put MSU at the bottom of the pack. Students are carrying an array of weapons, from knives to guns to brass knuckles.
But instead, people are making excuses. MSU police Chief Jim Dunlap noted about half of the arrests made are not university students. University spokesman Terry Denbow said these numbers are representative of MSU's law enforcement, not the behavior of the students.
Both of these are valid points, but the fact of the matter is people are bringing weapons to campus when there's really no need to. According to the Chronicle, which pulled the statistics from the U.S. Department of Education, 17 campuses out of the 4,711 reported murders or non-negligent manslaughter in 2001. MSU was not among those schools, nor did the university make the top five list for drug arrests.
And if you think 32 is a small number, it really isn't. Behind those 32 arrests are countless others that are slipping through the fingers of the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety.
Some people might say because MSU is such a big place, weapons arrests are inevitable. But trailing MSU on the weapons list are the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Bridgewater State College (Mass.), Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Those schools had 22, 15, 12, 11 and 11 arrests, respectively.
The only other school on the list with comparable enrollment is Duke. MSU has more than 44,000 students enrolled. If size is a determining factor, schools like University of Minnesota and The Ohio State University should be on the list. But they aren't.
Regardless of how many people are on campus, there need to be fewer weapons arrests on campus, which means students need to stop carrying weapons.
Because Sparty, though he may be the tallest free-standing ceramic statue in the world, isn't going to jump someone anytime soon.
