No one is optimistically expecting enraged students wreaking havoc and igniting immense fires on Grand River Avenue during this year's March Madness. With MSU's history of past riots, however, it inevitably is on the community's mind whenever basketball fever hits campus.

There is no purpose in rioting; all it does is ruin property, students' careers and reputations. But nonetheless, a few thousand drunken idiots take it upon themselves to light a garbage can on fire or turn over a car from time to time.

After the MSU basketball team lost in the Elite Eight last March, rowdy crowds caused more than $40,000 in damage to MSU's campus and the city of East Lansing.

While a minority of the students on campus took part in the disturbances, their actions ended up representing the campus as a whole. We are all adults here, whether we act like it or not, and it is important that our actions reflect those of responsible adults.

The climate on campus this year seems a lot better than last, but probably because nobody expects a Final Four appearance from the Spartans. Last year, most students had not been here to experience the calamities of the 1999 riots. But now, current students are wiser.

They've seen their peers get arrested and kicked out of school, along with the damages done to parts of campus and East Lansing. They understand that the university is serious about punishing students that decide to partake in the drunken debacle.

The MSU community has learned from past mistakes and now can think responsibly, no longer believing "We won't get caught," or "It's no big deal."

As representatives of a nationally respected university, we should reflect what we really are: some of the brightest and best of our peers. These type of events make national news, putting us in a negative light for the entire country to see.

It is important for people to recognize MSU's greatness, not the idiocy of a few students.