Daily Hampshire Gazette letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

All the recent reports of fights and altercations, involving mostly college age people, around the Amherst area present a troubling problem. Almost every incident seems to involve a party atmospheres where liquor is more than a little bit involved. Every year the University of Mass. takes steps to try and cut down on the number of violent incidents, including removing what was previously known as "Frat Row" and applying the students code of conduct to both on and off campus behavior. The annual "Hobart Hoedown" has been discontinued after its rather infamous riots several years back, yet despite all this, the violence seems to continue. Cutting down on parties and gatherings to try and reduce the number of conflicts is clearly not a fair option; the rest of the student body should not be punished for the acts of a few. Yet of course from the University's point of view, safety for its students is a paramount objective, especially when it has continually made national news for several different violent incidents over the past few years. There is no clear solution to this quite troubling problem. What is clear, however, is that if the violence continues to be such a major issue the University could be forced to take even more drastic measures, no matter how wildly unpopular they might be with the student body.

-Jamaal Bollinger