COLUMN: Vandals need to learn lesson

From Roberto Mantaro's, "Kill the Octopus," Fall '98 From Roberto Mantaro's, "Kill the Octopus," Fall '98Last fall, police activity in University City received more attention than usual -- not because an unusually high number of students had their lunch money confiscated by local youths, but because of the alleged use of excessive force by the police themselves in the notorious "Sofield Incident." I must admit though, and without reference to the incident, that I am almost disappointed that we don't hear more frequently about students being apprehended for violent acts. No, I am not waving pretty pink pom-poms for the three-strikes - you're-out, lock 'em-up-'n'-throw -away-the- key camp. Rather, my concern is that delinquent students are rarely made accountable for their actions. What I found remarkable occurred shortly: just as I was about to open my window and shout at the vandals, five Spectaguards trooped around the corner. They halted and watched the cavemen, who briefly continued their savagery before suddenly noticing that they had been caught with their loincloths down. They froze. Nobody moved or exchanged a word. Then, the students turned slowly and shuffled away meekly like the naughty children they were. The guards proceeded with their beat. Spectaguards are not police officers and are not authorized to arrest individuals any more than I am. Just as I am, though, they are authorized to alert the University Police -- and this they did not do. The failure of security officers to act upon a clear, malicious act of vandalism can be rationalized in several ways. Perhaps the Spectaguards had joined an ascetical religious cult and taken vows of silence, non-violence and vegetarianism. Perhaps they deemed it sufficient punishment to have caught the students in the act. Or perhaps they feared strong action might escalate the incident, which was not too serious anyway. Vandalism as a crime is common, relatively mild and difficult to solve. According to the Almanac, there were 29 reports of "criminal mischief and vandalism" in or near the University Police patrol area between October 13 and November 30, most of the victims being cars and vending machines. This compares to 19 assaults during the same period, where the direct victims are people. When students (usually inebriated males) commit a petty crime such as vandalism, they run the risk of capture and a criminal record. University Police spokespeople, however, will tell you candidly that they are left to their own discretion when dealing with petty crime. Even in the case of more serious offenses, there is informal pressure from the University for complaints to be handled internally, without the involvement of the criminal justice system. Presumably, the argument is that "boys will be boys," and we boys need space in which to freely exercise our boyhood while we fumble around, drunkenly searching for our manhood. We are not all hardened criminals, after all, even if some of us are a little stupid. I admit to having committed gratuitous acts of vandalism myself while in college and -- who knows?-- perhaps I am the better for having personally explored the frontiers of respectable behavior. I am sure that my life and those of the Neanderthals would be very different today if we had been apprehended, treated without leniency and slammed with criminal records. Nonetheless, I would never say that justice was fully served by our never having been made accountable for our destructive, immature acts. A hapless West Philadelphia youth who is caught vandalizing a gray Peugeot and who does not enjoy a benevolent relationship with the University is unlikely to be treated with similar clemency. For a variety of reasons, many Penn students will end up in relatively influential positions, be they in government, business, academia or professional doubles' figure skating. Perhaps the vandals will be among the lucky ones. But people who become reckless upon leaving behind the shepherding of their parents and are not somehow disciplined learn to get away with things, to avoid responsibility. If they cannot even be trusted to walk by a stranger's car without clubbing it, why should they be entrusted with the reins of government, the steering wheel of business or the handlebars of academia? The fact is, some of them will be, and there is little to be done about it beyond granting less leniency towards students when they are caught and enforcing University alcohol polices to make it harder for us to "get in the mood." Or perhaps the next time one of your buddies pounces like an animal upon a stranger's car, you should consider stopping him.