‘Horseplay’ too kind a word for jackasses at Ohio U.

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By D.L. Stewart, Contributing Writer 5:38 PM Tuesday, May 12, 2009

This is an apology for the actions of some jerks, drunks and morons. On behalf of the 17,000 or so other undergraduates currently at Ohio University and all those of us who are alumni, I’m embarrassed, I’m puzzled and, yeah, I’m angry.

When the story broke on a local television station about a ruckus at an “area” university, I wasn’t surprised that an incident involving rowdy young persons had occurred at OU, even though a station in Dayton referring to a university in Athens as an “area” school seemed a bit of a stretch. We rowdied every St. Patrick’s Day weekend when I was there. Succeeding generations of Bobcats have made their bar-rimmed campus an annual Halloween destination for scholars throughout the Midwest. I’m not bragging about that but, hey . . . college kids, beer, rowdiness? It happens.

What happened Sunday evening, though, went beyond college kids being college kids, according to all the news reports, none of which reflected glory upon my alma mater.

That’s why I’m embarrassed.

Near the campus, an annual party escalated into a near-riot. Debris was set on fire. When cops and firefighters arrived to dampen the emotions and douse the blazes, some of the jerks, drunks and morons sitting on the roofs of nearby houses threw bottles and cans at them.

That’s why I’m puzzled.

When I was a college kid, I wasn’t the smartest guy on Court Street and I have the GPA to prove it. But even I wasn’t dumb enough to assault someone who carried a gun. And even if — as some are bound to claim — the cops got a little heavy-handed, what’s the excuse for throwing things at defenseless firefighters? I can’t recall any of them ever being accused of firefighter brutality.

Fortunately, no cops or firefighters were seriously injured. But, as was reported in this newspaper, five police horses were. One was cut above the hoof by a breaking bottle. One was hit between the eyes by a bottle that shattered on impact. Another was hit above the eye by a full beer can, causing the eye to swell shut.

And, no matter what it might say about my priorities, that’s why I’m angry.

No, I don’t want people to be injured. With a few exceptions. But it takes a special kind of coward to intentionally hurt a defenseless animal. And a horse is a pretty big target. Hard to miss if you’re trying. But, even giving them the benefit of that doubt, the best I can say about the jerks, drunks and morons is that their aim was every bit as lousy as their judgment.

So far, as many as 20 persons have been arrested, although it hasn’t been established that all of them were OU students. Some of them may have been townies. If so, throw them into the local jail for a lifetime or so. But, for any students involved, jail is too easy. Put them on a bus and send them home, so they can tell their parents why they got thrown out of school.

Then they can explain what kinds of jobs they’re going to get to repay all that tuition money.

Contact this writer at dlstew_2000@yahoo.com.

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I am appalled you would write an article like this when you are completely misinformed, YOU WERENT THERE. The police were completely wrong in using mounted horse patrol in this situation; period. The officers might even admit themselves, horses are hard to control in this situation; causing them to 'accidently' trample students who in almost every circumstance did not even have time to react. Not to mention the obvious, why would you lead horses into an area full of broken glass?

Witness
8:44 PM, 5/17/2009

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Don't try and blame it on OSU students. Everyone has crazy people who don't go to the school come into campus when there's a football game, party, etc. so trying to put the blame on someone else when there's that big of a riot is just denial.

Rose
3:30 PM, 5/15/2009

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The thing is that most of the kids harassing the cop/firefighters most likely weren't OU student. Just like all big weekends at OU its mostly out of towners that get arrested. If the students were to be booted out of school my guess is that Miami, OSU, UD, and UC would be missing a few students next quarter. Don't generalize by saying the OU students did this because every one that went to OU knows how laid back the campus is.

Casey
2:35 PM, 5/13/2009

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hey mike, I do get the point. bad decision all around. And I didn't say SWAT team, just the vehicle, or A Vehicle, (fire truck) other than a live animal to control the human animals. I work with police, I work with horses and I went to college. At U.D. if you attended a fire, you got kicked out. I GET the picture. Everybody had a role in the situation just too bad it included the horses. Again, bad decision.

twila
9:56 AM, 5/13/2009

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You guys are totally missing the point! SWAT team for a college party? Get real. Everybody's down on cops? I don't think so. Stewart is right. Take the spoiled brats and boot them out of school. OU needs to send a message that this sort of bahavior in unacceptable. That's what you do with unruly kids, don't you? (Except perhaps the parents of the kids in question. Perhaps they didn't have the time for proper parenting, they were too busy getting their BMW's detailed.)

mike
9:46 AM, 5/13/2009

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