From Mike Madden's, "Opiate of the Masses," Fall '98 From Mike Madden's, "Opiate of the Masses," Fall '98Judging from what I've heard from students since Sunday night, it seems like The Daily Pennsylvanian and its editors got the mood of the campus exactly right in Monday's editorial. Letters to the editor, more than 100 posts on the upenn.talk newsgroup and a slew of students -- and their tuition-paying parents -- have been sounding agreement since shots rang out on 33rd Street after the city league championship Sunday afternoon, killing one man and injuring three other people. But as they decide whether to allow the city league title match back on campus again, University officials should -- just this once -- ignore the knee-jerk cries of students all over campus and find a way to keep the game at the Palestra. It is feasible. It just takes some creative, clear-headed thought. Sunday's shooting was definitely scary and tragic, and you can't blame students for getting jittery about it. In the aftermath, though, some distinctions have gotten blurred, and no one should make decisions until everything is cleared up again. The University has taken a lot of flack for hosting the game this year, and the implication seems to be that the game and the people that go to watch it ooze violence out onto our tranquil campus. Unfortunately for proponents of this view, that's not the case. More than 3,700 people came to the Palestra from across the city on Sunday. To tarnish them -- including the vast majority who thought Sunday's shooting was just as scary and tragic as everyone at Penn did -- with blame for the gunfight is wrong-headed, at best. Yet that's exactly what's going on here. "It shouldn't have taken a genius to figure out that this event was going to put both Philadelphia schoolchildren and Penn students in danger," Medical student Ben Jackson wrote in Monday's DP. But a report in yesterday's DP said police don't believe the game had anything to do with the violence -- an important detail that was somehow buried inside. Philadelphia Police Sgt. Alex Strong said the incident was the result of an "ongoing altercation between the victims and another group of people?. It wasn't related to the schools." Is the game really to blame for the violence afterwards, then? Or did the shooter just know the intended victim would be there -- which could be the case at any intersection in the city, including on-campus ones, any day? As for the arguments in the stands, the Princeton student who shot off a firecracker gun in the Palestra at last night's Penn-Princeton basketball game makes it problematic to claim impassioned fans lead to problems only in the city league. The firecracker shooter is in the Ivy League, despite his or her obvious lack of sense. So the game wasn't the cause of the shooting, and the fans weren't any rowdier inside than your typical Princeton student. Why the uproar? In light of incidents involving Penn students brandishing guns, it's hard to keep the words "double standard" from creeping into my head. Three years ago, two Penn students with loaded shotguns started harassing two other students as they walked down Pine Street late at night. The incident began with an argument, and then escalated -- or sank -- to the point where the two harassers, sitting on their porch, ran in, got their guns and started calling the other two "Jew boys." Only two weeks later, a Wharton student brought a loaded 9-mm semiautomatic pistol into his Steinberg-Dietrich classroom. The gun wasn't registered to him, and he had apparently been under suspicion of assaulting another student beforehand. "But those are just random acts of violence," you might say. "That didn't have anything to do with where they happened, or who had the guns." Which is, of course, exactly what the Philadelphia Police now think about the shooting on Sunday. Random violence happens in a city. Period. Sandwiched between Friday's stabbing and Sunday's shooting on Penn's campus were two brutal double homicides in other parts of Philadelphia. Trying to brush it under the rug by pushing it to another part of the city doesn't make the problem get better, or even go away, except for the Penn people whose world ends with the campus boundaries. The fact is, it is worth it for Penn to keep hosting the city championship. It strengthens our ties to the rest of the city as a token of goodwill to thousands of Philly residents who otherwise don't have much reason to think about the University at all. Especially after Sunday's tragedy, for Penn to shove the game off campus would damage its credibility and reputation within the city. It would further alienate many Philadelphians from the University. And it would legitimize the fears of some students that all city dwellers are gun-toting hoodlums that can't be trusted. Wouldn't it be a powerful statement if the University worked hard to make the game safe and kept it here, as a sign Penn doesn't believe the city is doomed? And there really are ways to make the game safe, if officials take some time to think about them. For one, try closing off some streets near the Palestra to traffic before and after the game, so the dozens of police officers in the area would be able to watch nearly everyone. Or try joining the growing clamor of voices that seek to do something about the horrific violence that keeps breaking out spontaneously every day. It seems inconceivable that there won't be a concerted effort to keep things peaceful at next year's game, no matter where it is. Instead of recoiling from the whole thing, Penn could get involved -- heavily -- in movements along these lines. If officials really look at the game, really examine the actual risk, not the perceived risk, and take a close look at how the Palestra -- one of the most magical basketball gyms in the world -- can forge new bonds between Penn and the city, they won't take the easy way out and send the game somewhere else. Don't bow to scared, frantic pressure from people who have scant attachment to Philadelphia and seek some validation of their fears. Don't make a snap decision that evicting the Public League will make people feel safe and therefore happy, even if their safety isn't really threatened. Instead, take a stand against violence that doesn't mean shoving it away to another arena, redouble efforts to help fix what ails the city, and keep the basketball championship at the Palestra.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.
