"Steps urged at UMass after ‘Blarney Blowout’ melee" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent September 19, 2014
AMHERST — A report commissioned after a violent St. Patrick’s Day melee near UMass Amherst blames a “collective failure” for the drunken gathering, and recommends the town ban the event, that the university crack down on visitors and booze inside dorms, and that police act less aggressively.
Was a real melee, huh?
The recommendations are detailed in a 65-page report scheduled to be released Friday by Edward Davis, former Boston police commissioner, who was hired by UMass to lead a review after an unruly gathering led to dozens of arrests and clashes with police. It also renewed criticism about an inability by college and local authorities to prevent and quell such disturbances.
Known as the Blarney Blowout, this year’s celebration was at least the third straight year the event had caused problems. The town said it would take steps to end the gathering.
The wide-ranging report apportions blame all around, saying the event “was a collective failure by the town, the university, and the students,” and it said police were unprepared, overwhelmed, and unnecessarily forceful.
“The only way to navigate your way out of this difficulty is to work together,” Davis said in a phone interview. “Everyone that we’ve talked to has been very focused on moving forward, making sure this doesn’t happen again — or if there is another incident, that it’s handled better.”
In other key recommendations, the report calls on UMass to expand efforts to educate students about the dangers of alcohol; urges campus and town police to train and plan for events together; and advises the town to hire more officers.
Both Kumble Subbaswamy, UMass Amherst chancellor, and John Musante, town manager, said in separate interviews that the university and the town will implement many of the recommendations soon, if not immediately.
“I think everyone has the same goal in mind, which is to make sure that this is a very supportive and enjoyable college town that doesn’t periodically face these ugly incidents,” Subbaswamy said.
The report noted that riots and other large disturbances have occurred on other campuses across the country. UMass has had its fair share, sparked either by large annual off-campus parties or students reacting to numerous Boston sports championship runs during the past decade.
Such chaos has often gone viral via online video sites, frustrating administrators, students, and alumni who have taken concrete steps to temper UMass’ image as a “party school.”
It is still a wild place where you can have fun.
During the past several years, however, arrests and disciplinary offenses by students have dropped, according to federal data. UMass surveys show that rates of high-risk drinking have plummeted over the past decade, while the university’s profile, including the academic stature of students, has risen.
During the March riot, revelers swarmed apartment complexes near campus. Some party-goers damaged property, fought one another, and threw filled beer cans and bottles, snowballs, and rocks at police, who shot an estimated 600 pepper-spray and sting balls to scatter the crowd.
As people dispersed, some blocked traffic and bothered residents, the report said.
Of the 58 arrested, 21 were UMass Amherst students. They faced charges that included inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, failure to disperse, and alcohol violations.
Many of the troublemakers were not students, the report said, and the large influx flowing into Amherst on the eve of the party hinted it would be a massive gathering.
The night before the riot, some 7,000 people registered as guests in campus dormitories, which does not count the many who undoubtedly stayed at off-campus apartments. Campus parking lots, including some that are normally empty on weekends, were overflowing, as were dining halls, liquor stores, and bars. Young people were seen sleeping in dorm common areas, even in their cars.
Acting on the report’s recommendation, Subbaswamy said the university immediately will move to cap the number of guests allowed in dorms and will train resident assistants and dorm security staff to alert authorities whenever they see illegal activity.
Davis called for Amherst officials to ban the Blarney Blowout.
Musante said that the town, with help from bar owners, is committed to ending it and any other events that pose similar concerns.
The report said UMass and the town should offer more alcohol-free activities for students and that police make better use of social media to predict problem events, and use covert and public security cameras to monitor the gatherings.
That will catch you puking, kids.
It also urges the state Legislature allocate more funding to train and hire town and campus officers, and that the town, in particular, increase its police force of 46 officers — 15 fewer than the campus force.
The size of the university and town police forces can present a challenge to overseeing the town of 38,000 -- including more than 22,000 undergraduates at the state’s flagship university. About half of the students live off campus.
“The town is committed to identifying and pursuing both local and state resources to improve our police capabilities,” including trying to add personnel, Musante said Thursday.
Some students have accused town police, who handled most of the response to Blarney Blowout, of being too aggressive.
See: Blarney Blowout Brutality
And Davis, credited for leading successful Boston police responses to several large sports celebrations, questioned the tactics of Amherst police in trying to quell the riot. Davis provides security consulting services, including for The Boston Globe.
“The police response, including the donning of riot helmets and the use of chemical munitions had the effect of creating confusion and perpetuating the unruly behavior,” the report said.
Should be glad that is all they used.
Town and campus police should fully embrace community policing and building better relationships not only with students, residents, and business owners, but with each other, including by training together and sharing coverage of their abutting jurisdictions, the report said.
Student government president Vinayak Rao praised the report for its thoroughness.
“This is a learning opportunity,” Rao said. “This provides us an opportunity to come together to establish a line of communication between all stakeholders and to make a concerted effort to change the culture.”
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One culture that is changing for the worse:
"Police angered by criticism over ‘Blarney Blowout’" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent September 19, 2014
AMHERST — The chiefs of Amherst town police and campus police at the University of Massachusetts Amherst said Friday they disagree with a recommendation that they be less aggressive when handling large disturbances at the school and in the neighboring community.
The two law enforcement leaders said they do not believe officers were overly forceful or aggressive in their response when a large off-campus party spun out of control in March. Officers donned riot gear and shot an estimated 600 rounds of pepper spray and sting balls at revelers, some of whom threw rocks and beer bottles at them.
Tied to an annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration known as the Blarney Blowout, the melee prompted UMass to hire former Boston Police commissioner Edward F. Davis to review what happened and develop recommendations for the school, the town, their police departments, students, and local business owners.
Davis, a highly regarded law enforcement expert who has been commended for successfully handling numerous large celebratory gatherings in Boston, issued his report Friday.
The report described the event in March as “a collective failure by the town, the university, and the students.”
Amherst Police Chief Scott P. Livingstone said he believes authorities “did the right thing” in response to the disorder.
“The decision to use either chemical munitions and/or riot helmets came from a commander and in my opinion, at that time, was the right decision,” Livingstone said.
UMass Police Chief John Horvath agreed.
Many students were skeptical that law enforcement would change, particularly in light of the police chiefs’ remarks Friday.
Some criticized police for their defensive response to the report.
“I think they should come out with a formal apology,” said Cole Jaskoviak, a 21-year-old senior.
Students said they do not expect a significant result from the measures UMass plans to take to try to curb student drinking and partying.
Some expressed doubt that the university would be able to enforce promises it made Friday to reduce the number of visitors students can have in the dorms, and to crack down on smuggling alcohol into residence halls.
“Students will find a way around it,” said Jaskoviak. “We’re very innovative.”
Freshman Jesse Sachs, 18, said he opposes plans to further limit dorm guests.
“It’s a knee-jerk reaction,” said Sachs, who has three non-UMass friends staying in his dorm this weekend. “Just because there was some rowdy party and it went too far, why should students who just want to have a few friends over for a night or weekend to chill be the ones who suffer?”
Because collective punishment is the way of authority in AmeriKa, having rubbed of from their Zionist Israeli masters no doubt.
Davis and police have admitted Blarney Blowout will be tough to stop because the celebration over the years has changed from bar-organized events to more widespread partying.
However, town and campus officials said they have already successfully taken steps to stop similar events.
Livingstone said that some local bars had planned to host celebrations this weekend for Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day, formerly known as Halfway to Blarney Blowout.
“Halfway to anything — we’re putting an end to that,” he said.
Students lamented that the school’s reputation has been hurt by the actions of small numbers of students and by young people who do not attend the school.
“Other people who come here aren’t representing the university, but what they do still reflects on us,” said Dan Dobrosielski, 21, a senior.
Sounds like our leaders.
Of the 58 arrested people arrested at this past Blarney Blowout, 21 were UMass students.
In recent years, arrests, disciplinary offenses, and rates of high-risk drinking by UMass students have dropped, according to campus surveys and federal data. Meanwhile, the university’s profile has risen.
Robert L. Caret, president of the UMass system, vowed that the university will do its part to prevent disturbances such as the one in March.
“UMass Amherst is on the rise — and dealing with the issues this report addresses will allow it to climb even higher in the future,” he said in a statement.
Town residents said they were encouraged by the university response, but stressed there is much to be done.
Helen Berg, who lives near campus, said she wants to see more efforts to cut down on student drinking and that town officials should act more decisively to prevent the promotion of events like Blarney Blowout.
“The students are indoctrinated by the culture but the town is definitely complicit,” she said.
Davis’s report also said UMass should do more to warn students about the dangers of alcohol, urged campus and town police to train together, and advised the town to hire more officers.
Livingstone said officers in his department were upset by the report.
“They’re going to need some time to vent and they’re pretty angry right now.”
Uh-oh!
Be careful coming across cops on campus and in Amherst.
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
Good thing they banned it.
"Vulnerable students caught in ‘Red Zone’" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent September 27, 2014
College administrators call it the Red Zone: The weeks between Labor Day and Thanksgiving when college students are believed to be most at risk of sexual assault. It is also a period when students are more prone to accidental injury and alcohol poisoning, experts say.
What is this, Oklahoma?
The dangers hit home this month when two students were injured in separate falls from windows at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wesleyan University. So far this autumn, at least eight freshmen have died at US colleges, with causes including alcohol poisoning, accidental falls, car accidents, and suicide, according to the Inside Higher Ed website.
Sorry for not covering those things, and I will add links or pertinent information when and if I backtrack to unread Globes. I wouldn't be expecting anything, but you never know. Stay tuned (ha-ha-ha).
With the Red Zone in mind, colleges in the region are taking greater steps to reach students early.
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Freshmen are particularly vulnerable because most are living away from home for the first time, trying to fit in with new groups, and may be drinking or using other drugs for the first time or in greater amounts than in the past. And first-year students likely won’t, at first, have close friends looking out for them.
“They might take risks,” said Becky Lockwood, associate director of the Center for Women and Community at University of Massachusetts Amherst. “It’s a normal part of development where a young person takes risks when they’re in a new environment.”
Place is a zoo from what I see in my Boston Globe, but again I have been cutting a lot of classes if you know what I mean.
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I didn't dare risk anymore.
