By: Annie Wilcox
Staff Writer
The Keene Pumpkin festival was nothing to celebrate last weekend when riots broke out in the small New Hampshire college town. Typically, the Keene Pumpkin festival is a family-fun event where thousands of locals and tourists gather to carve pumpkins and display them downtown. Last year, the event beat the Guinness World Record with 30,571 pumpkins carved and lit decorating the streets. This year took a turn for the worse. Hundreds of college students rioted in the streets causing disturbances, vandalism and many injuries. There have been upwards of eighty arrests and at least twenty people transported to the hospital. Students were destroying public property, flipping cars and burning fires in the streets. The police showed up with SWAT gear and tear gas to subdue the crowds. Sadly, this is not a first.
Last year, after the Red Sox won the World Series, there were large riots at three New Hampshire Universities, UMass Amherst and many Boston-area schools. Police intervened with tear gas and rubber bullets. St. Patrick’s Day parties turned violent at UMass Amherst and again, police made arrests and used SWAT gear to repress the unruly crowds. Mob violence is becoming commonplace on campuses and disturbing the peace for the many towns in which these colleges and universities reside. These cases raise questions about the relationship between a college town and its student.
While St. Lawrence hasn’t had any riots break out recently, there have been a lot of cringe-worthy incidents in the security blotter. Last year, there was a student who drunkenly walked in and fell asleep on a Canton resident’s couch only to be found the next morning. Earlier this year, the Canton Police had to disperse a large number of cars that students had parked along route 27. St. Lawrence and Canton have a relatively positive relationship, however the thoughtless behaviors of students are taxing on a town like Canton. When students pull the fire alarm late on a Saturday night, it requires Canton volunteers to come to St. Lawrence. Our actions disturb the peace of this town. St. Lawrence and Canton benefit each other. St. Lawrence is beneficial for the local economy and employment. Canton provides us with businesses and employees. The relationship should remain a positive one, instead of one of distrust and disorder like in Keene, NH. Although the disturbances are nominal, St. Lawrence students should make an effort to form a relationship with the town that we live in and its residents.