In Wednesday’s edition of The Lantern, an article ran entitled “Students debate root of rioting on campus.” In the article, Ohio State students blamed everything from the police to the lack of bars in the area — everything except people flipping over cars and burning front doors — for the violent disturbances in the area east of the university.

Much to the dismay of those who would rather point their fingers at something other than themselves, none of the reasons mentioned in the article were even remotely close to accurate.

Police do not cause riots; they stop them. It is not as if police get bored on a Saturday night and decide to go force people to start burning things. When police officers gear up in their riot armor to shoot tear gas, rubber bullets and knee-knockers at people, the intention is to get the rioters to stop, not to get them to start.

Then there are those people who claim the police attacked them while they were just “bystanders” to the riots. Here’s some news for the 1,000 or so people who thought it would be a good idea to go watch cars burn: There are no bystanders at riot scenes, only the people rioting and those watching and encouraging the rioters.

One would think it would take a person with an IQ of less than 60 to want to go anywhere near a place where police are firing guns, hitting people with nightsticks, and tear gassing the streets.

The police don’t see 10 people rioting and 1,000 people watching because that isn’t what is going on. They simply see the truth — 1,010 people rioting.

Police have good reasons to patrol areas where off-campus parties happen. Even though not everyone at the party is old enough to drink, a lot of other illegal activities happen. People deal and do drugs, harm others, damage property, vandalize and set things on fire. Whether the actions at these keggers are considered high crimes or otherwise, they are still illegal, and the police cannot ignore them just because the party patrons do not want to be bothered.

A couple of years ago, police responded to a call from a party about a rape. Instead of helping the police find the person who was potentially emotionally and physically harmed for life, the partygoers threw bottles, cans and cups at the officers. They did all this because they did not want a police raid to kill their buzzes.

Having a shortage of bars on campus does not cause riots, either. Violence happens at places that sell alcohol just the same as it happens at places that just give it away. That’s why bars have bouncers. When Panini’s south campus location closed two years ago, some patrons trashed the place — a few even joined together to throw a bench through a window.

In truth, the excuse is invalid because there is not a bar shortage on campus. Between Lane and Chittenden avenues, there are at least 10 establishments that serve alcohol, which is more than enough. Anybody who says it gets too crowded at those bars apparently has not been at a typical kegger, where people are huddled elbow-to-elbow around the tap.

Police do not cause riots. A company that took away “all” the bars on campus does not cause riots. Riots happen when a bunch of people drink too much and throw tantrums similar to those thrown by a child who couldn’t have a cookie before bedtime.