MSU is considered a party school with rambunctious students.
We like to celebrate, and riots have been known to happen with either a sports victory or defeat.
However, the riots in East Lansing over the years don't compare with what's happening in France.
Rioting by French adolescents spread across 300 towns in 14 days of violence and led to several injuries, including 36 police, and one death.
More than 1,200 rioters were arrested, and more than 2,000 cars were burned.
French officials have been unable to stop the riots within their own country, which have already spread into Belgium and Germany.
East Lansing police could probably handle it.
In comparison, the situation in France shows the perception of the April 2-3 disturbances as a "riot" is overblown.
When a riot or disturbance occurs on campus, those who participate aren't filled with anarchy but just want to rattle cages. We can attribute their actions to one too many drinks or a wish to celebrate.
Rioters in France, however, are full of tension and unrest. The French working class, fed up with unemployment, racial tension and other societal issues, finally exploded.
The death of two adolescents, who were accidentally electrocuted while hiding from police (it's unclear if police were actually chasing them), set off an already-tense population. The two youths were of Muslim descent, which leads many people to believe their deaths were the result of racial discrimination.
This is as real as it gets.
French officials and police find themselves incapable of controlling the situation beyond pleading with their citizens to stop, arresting suspects and speeding them through trial proceedings.
French President Jacques Chirac declared a state of emergency and enforced a curfew on citizens in the towns where violence occurred.
In France, the police are underprepared.
In April, the East Lansing police were over prepared.
People who call the April 2-3 disturbances a "riot" have no idea. The crowd that night wouldn't have escalated to the degree it has in France. Although police and some student actions were wrong, there are worse things.
In fact, campus riots in the 1960's were much worse than what is seen today.
A crowd of 3,000 people and a few hours is nothing compared to an entire country and two weeks.
