2008 Woodie Awards
University joins local police to ensure safety on 'Shark Night'
Krystel Pakitsos
Issue date: 7/24/08 Section: Front Page
Phil Thomas remembers last year's "Shark Night" vividly. He remembers because he has a scar to remind him. While at a house party, Thomas, along with two other PSU students, was hit in the head with a gun.
"We were just standing there and a fight broke out and all these guys starting jumping on the guys standing there," Thomas said. "This dude came up and someone yelled, 'He's got a gun,' and then he hit me in the head with it. It cut through my baseball hat and cut my head really bad. Then I fell against the porch and cut my arm on a brick."
Travis Smith, program coordinator for campus activities, said that many different factors led to the chaos of "Shark Night," but that alcohol was his biggest concern.
"Last year there were students stumbling out into the streets, fights broke out, people were injured and no one seemed to be looking out for anyone else," Smith said. "Alcohol abuse is central to all of these issues. Students drinking responsibly do not put themselves in these situations or allow their friends to be put in these situations."
Steve Erwin, associate vice president for campus life and auxiliary services, said that even though there were students drinking irresponsibly and many problems arose from that, there were also other major issues at hand.
"We would take similar action even if alcohol wasn't involved," Erwin said. "The assembly of that many people in proximity to a traffic thoroughfare and dark settings and all those kinds of things lend themselves to an accident. There were situations with people who are of age, there were law violations, public consumption, open containers, disorderly conduct, a variety of things."
Erwin said that to avoid a reoccurrence of last year's anarchy, a collaborative meeting was held only weeks after it happened with local police, campus police, PSU faculty and members of the Greek community.
"There was a collective concern about it," Erwin said. "It wasn't just a city concern or a university or a Greek leadership concern. Collectively it wasn't a good scenario. And I think there was obviously agreement among everyone that it was a dangerous and negative situation. And everyone pledged at that point that we were going to take steps to avoid it in the future."
"We were just standing there and a fight broke out and all these guys starting jumping on the guys standing there," Thomas said. "This dude came up and someone yelled, 'He's got a gun,' and then he hit me in the head with it. It cut through my baseball hat and cut my head really bad. Then I fell against the porch and cut my arm on a brick."
Travis Smith, program coordinator for campus activities, said that many different factors led to the chaos of "Shark Night," but that alcohol was his biggest concern.
"Last year there were students stumbling out into the streets, fights broke out, people were injured and no one seemed to be looking out for anyone else," Smith said. "Alcohol abuse is central to all of these issues. Students drinking responsibly do not put themselves in these situations or allow their friends to be put in these situations."
Steve Erwin, associate vice president for campus life and auxiliary services, said that even though there were students drinking irresponsibly and many problems arose from that, there were also other major issues at hand.
"We would take similar action even if alcohol wasn't involved," Erwin said. "The assembly of that many people in proximity to a traffic thoroughfare and dark settings and all those kinds of things lend themselves to an accident. There were situations with people who are of age, there were law violations, public consumption, open containers, disorderly conduct, a variety of things."
Erwin said that to avoid a reoccurrence of last year's anarchy, a collaborative meeting was held only weeks after it happened with local police, campus police, PSU faculty and members of the Greek community.
"There was a collective concern about it," Erwin said. "It wasn't just a city concern or a university or a Greek leadership concern. Collectively it wasn't a good scenario. And I think there was obviously agreement among everyone that it was a dangerous and negative situation. And everyone pledged at that point that we were going to take steps to avoid it in the future."
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sckirklan
Steven
posted 7/25/08 @ 3:02 PM CST
As a home-owning taxpayer living in just that general area, I bear witness to the lack of officer present the city of Pittsburg provides for her inhabitants. (Continued…)
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