Boys will be boys and girls will be girls, but idiots don’t need to be idiots.
It’s undeniable that the amount of off-campus crime at Ohio State is out of control. Every week, new cases of robbery at gunpoint, kidnapping and shootings occur within easy reach of the university. The Columbus police have their hands full with heinous acts.
The frequent crimes of significance leave the police with little time to monitor the mass amounts of petty wrongdoing.
My roommate bought a brand new Honda SI a few weeks ago to replace the Honda Civic he owned that was on its deathbed. It took four days for the SI to be vandalized in the parking lot behind our apartment. The culprits spent the time and effort to detach his driver-side mirror, then left it on the ground next to his vehicle. No other damage was done to the car.
Was that worth the adrenaline rush to the drunk morons likely responsible?
The perpetrators gained nothing from the act of vandalism, save for whatever thrill they got out of breaking the law. The only net effect was the $150 my roommate had to fork up to pay for a new mirror and its installation.
The typical goal for someone committing a crime is that the person values the gain — the money acquired in a theft, for example — more than the potential consequence.
In this instance, though, the criminals stood to receive nothing. In the instance of most nonsensical, alcohol-driven crime, there is no point. No one benefits, and everyone stands to lose. So what’s the point?
Sure, an abundance of alcohol hampers one’s decision-making. But that serves as no excuse to commit a irrational act just to display a liquor-driven rampage. An offense such as vandalizing a car is plain childish. With a lack of widespread surveillance, Godzilla could get away with such a crime. The fact that the local police already have enough to keep busy, focusing on more serious lawbreaking, means that the likelihood of getting caught breaking into a car or slashing someone’s tires isn’t great.
That means that it’s up to the belligerent students to display a sense of maturity and responsibility. If you can’t keep yourself from committing a senseless crime when drunk, then you shouldn’t be drinking.
As for off-campus crime (the REAL topic), don't lecture the individual for parking a new car behind his apartment. He has every right to do so. Just because he wasn't car-jacked doesn't make this is non-issue. WHY DON"T STUDENTS PICKET IN FRONT OF GEE'S OFFICE TO DEMAND ATTENTION TO OFF-CAMPUS CRIME??? HE IS CLUELESS--HE LIVES IN A MANSION IN BEXLEY AND NEVER WALKS INTO THE OFF-CAMPUS AREA. He is worried about winning blood drives while blood is literally being spilled outside his very campus.
About Me
Wayne T. Lewis, 38
Wayne T Lewis Take America BackRead my Blog:
The Spirit of '76I am originally from upstate NY where I came from a modest, middle-class background. I put myself through college and started a publishing business while a college student in 1997. Today, my company is headquartered in Columbus, OH with over a dozen full-time and 100 part-time and freelance employees. We publish a monthly magazine, two weekly newspapers and operate a web development firm. I'm really just one of countless Americans who has managed to achieve my American Dream through education, hard-work, perseverance and surrounding myself with great people.I have always been interested in politics and history even before I received my B.A. in Political Science from Louisiana State University. Now, as a small business owner I have a front-row seat to many of the challenges being debated today: taxes, budgets, health insurance, regulation and more.Yet, I feel a tremendous disconnect between many of our elected representatives and the regular citizens like me who live these issues day in and day out. Somehow we have allowed our government to get out of control; seeking to grasp more and more power and in turn, reducing our freedoms by equal measure. There is little more than lip service (if any) played to the rules of governance set forth in the Constitution. Rules which, set the ground work for building the greatest nation in human history.The first half of 2009, under total Democrat party control, has seen the government attempt to grab unprecedented powers for itself and turn our private economy on its head. From Cap and Trade tax and nationalizing auto companies and banks, to unprecedented and unnecessary deficit spending and the health insurance power grab, I had seen enough. It was time to stop watching and complaining and time to do something (albeit small) about it.That was my inspiration for creating the "Take America Back" bracelets. It is designed to be a symbol that we are coming by the millions to the polls on November 2, 2010. We are coming to return America to the hands of leaders who respect and agree to uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the United States.It is my hope that this bracelet will add fuel to the fire of this great American awakening by creating a visible element of solidarity among us who will stand firm against those who seek to socialize this nation.As Andrew Jackson saw clearly, "The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage; and this when used with calmness and deliberation will prove strong enough."Let's prove him right.