As a former MSU student some 40-plus years ago, I was, to say the least, a little embarrassed by the students' behavior in the 1999 riots.
This is in response to Ashley Harding and Holly Newland's letter titled "Red Lake travesty warrants concern" (SN 3/30). Although I agree that this school and the town of Red Lake, Minn., need continued support for the recent school shootings, I disagree that the media needs to highlight the spectacle in more depth.
I was in East Lansing Saturday night, meeting up with some old college buddies for the Final Four game.
Students have been up in arms about the excessive police force that followed Saturday's basketball game, and rightfully so.
In response to the actions of the police on Saturday night, we as citizens have to stand up for ourselves and not let things like this happen.
As a resident of the Cedar Village area, I had a firsthand look into the progression of the events on Saturday night.
I am writing in regards to the police actions this weekend against MSU post-loss crowds. I am sick and tired of all the people out there vilifying the MSU student body.
As I was walking across campus on my way to class Wednesday, I was utterly appalled to see a melee near the Administration Building on the banks of the Red Cedar River.
Life without a familiar computer is no cakewalk. I learned that lesson the hard way recently, after a small brush fire in my PC fried my motherboard, hard drive and possibly my flux capacitor. Unless it was homework time on my roommate's computer, I was forced to end my compulsive away-message-checking ways and find a new hobby.
Here's the scenario: You're walking home from the game, a little upset about the loss, but not enough to light a couch on fire.
I see that Lee June has made statements to The State News about this past weekend's riot-turned-civil disturbance.
Congratulations are in order for the student groups that have campaigned diligently for almost five years in an attempt to get MSU to join the Worker Rights Consortium.
As I sit down to think and write about Saturday night's events, the familiar lines of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Who'll Stop the Rain?" keep replaying in my mind. Frontman John Fogerty's line, "Clouds of mystery pourin'/Confusion on the ground," typify the experiences of soldiers who went to war in Vietnam and faced enemies they couldn't find and gases they didn't understand.
I can only speak for what I saw at M.A.C. and Albert avenues Saturday night and not at Cedar Village.
It's apparent no East Lansing City Council members were around to personally witness the tear gas attacks police officers launched against peacefully celebrating students following the MSU men's basketball team's loss to the University of North Carolina on Saturday.
MSU plays in the Final Four and people celebrate, but then cops attack. Just as they've always been, the East Lansing Police Department and other local cops are still anti-student, anti-youth thugs.
The editorial "Excessive force" (SN 4/4) is right on the money.
According to East Lansing ordinances, "assembling or acting with four or more other people for the purpose of engaging in a riot, or being nearby and remaining there with intent to riot, is illegal" ("Experts: Police used tear gas legally" SN 4/5). Unfortunately, the police got to decide if my intent was to riot, when it actually was showing MSU spirit and navigating the maze of blocked-off streets to get home. Can I make assumptions, too, and say the four or more officers assembled outside on Saturday were intending to riot?
The Tar Heels out-gunned and out-finessed the MSU men's basketball team in the second half on Saturday, but they never broke the team's spirit.
Following the basketball game on Saturday, my friends and I decided to go to another friend's house to visit and continue celebrating in a reasonable, responsible manner.