We as a student body need to take stock of how absolutely abysmal our relationship with Campus Police has become. We need to resist the temptation of pointing the finger at a stricter Campus Police force, and instead, consider a potential source of this trend-we need to acknowledge the role students have played in initiating this problem.

I will say my bit in brutally honest terms: certain individuals have taken the sorry road, spewing curse words at officers who are merely doing their jobs, snatching confiscated vodka handles out of police hands and otherwise relentlessly bad-mouthing Campus Police as if they were somehow affiliated with the Third Reich. Nine out of ten of us would never be outwardly disrespectful to an officer, but it only takes one person acting out to make Campus Police more inclined to heavy-handedness. They're stricter these days not simply because they feel like it but partly because we've made them that way.

This is really unfortunate. Things have to change now. We need to begin to self-police. Thankfully, the master keys were ultimately returned, but regardless, there were almost undoubtedly people who witnessed the taking of the keys on Thursday night who opted not to speak up during the act itself. They could have saved Campus Police and Physical Plant the hassle and worry of preparing a re-keying operation over the weekend. A number of people also know who pulled the fire alarm that same night, creating this situation in the first place. How come so often a fire alarm-pull is considered a comedic prank, something to laugh about as a party gets shut down, the residents file outside in their pajamas, and the fire trucks pull up? And why do we rarely turn our peers in when the greater good of the community is clearly and plainly at stake? We often seem content to allow the $100 fine to be split 50 ways amongst people who had nothing to do with the prank itself, instead of putting the onus on the actual, solitary perpetrator. And the fallout doesn't end there; we've also lost our freedom to trust others and leave our doors open, a humble privilege whose value is only realized when it's no longer available to us. And yet at the end of the day, some of us seem comfortable pinning the blame on Campus Police instead of conceding that students have contributed their fair share to the new wave of bad blood between "us" and "them."In my four years at Amherst, I can't ever recall a worse time with respect to these matters. In talking with seniors, I've realized that many of us are looking back and saying the same thing: "Wow, what happened?" What happened to our friendly relations with officers? What happened to parties that could last more than two hours before getting shut down? I'll tell you what happened: someone stole an ambulance, someone vandalized a police cruiser, someone tried to fight a cop, someone destroyed publicly displayed artwork and someone stole the keys to the school. Many of these individuals have been disciplined and genuinely regret having done what they did, and there's something very commendable about that. But even still-based on this (severely abridged) rap sheet-one has to wonder if we should all be put on house arrest.

But I know that we most definitely should not. Individuals have carried out these acts, not the student body at large. The strained relations are not due to all 1600 of us creating spider-webs on social dorm entryway glass every weekend; not due to all 1600 of us throwing beer cans at cops; and not due to all 1600 of us stealing master keys from parked Impalas outside of Mayo-Smith.

But we'll all pay for the momentary lapses of the few. Group punishments and across-the-board crackdowns are sad but real repercussions that all Amherst students will have to deal with unless we take it upon ourselves to self-police. We need to show a little more respect to these men and women who diligently work around the clock to keep us safe. The first step in this process is for students to speak up and let the rest of the student body know that they don't and won't stand for the inexcusably destructive behavior of fellow students. We need to raise the bar, and we can only begin to do so by admitting our past mistakes.

Let's stop this ridiculous cycle. Let's police ourselves instead of ceaselessly and senselessly trying to police the police. Let's do our part to repair our sorely-tattered relationship with Campus Police and acknowledge that we've sometimes been wrong. We can turn this thing around.

Bob Razavi '03

AAS vice-president

& interim president

Students at fault, not police

This letter is in response to a recent article regarding the current tensions between Campus Police and students. I believe this tension is caused more by an increasingly obnoxious and arrogant student body than anything else. If one spoke regularly with any of the Campus Police officers, he or she would know that they are not "out to get" students, they don't "hate fun" and they don't want to shut down every party they hear or see.

As a recent graduate and member of an off-campus "organization," I can speak to the issue of noise complaints and parties and the relationship to Campus Police.

During my four-year stint at Amherst, any time we wanted to throw a party we immediately went down to security and let them know of our party and asked them to contact one of us if there were any problems. They were very receptive more often than not and if there was a complaint, they would come to whomever we gave them as a contact and warn us that the next time they would take action. Our response to officers was one of "killing them with kindness." Even when confronted with an officer in a particularly bad mood, the consequences were muted due to our cooperation.

Once Campus Police decides to take a keg, they are going to, and a student giving them the finger will certainly not help. Furthermore, you can bet that once a student has a reputation of being confrontational with police, his and his friend's parties will be the first to go. By our showing the police respect, they were able to give us the privilege of taking care of our own problems before they did. Most of the officers with whom I interacted were usually pretty reasonable and wanted to confiscate our kegs about as much as we wanted them confiscated.

"They somehow found out about our party …" the article quotes a student as having said. Well, show some savvy, son. They should have found out about your party from you while you were meeting with them earlier in the day flashing your biggest sh-t-eating grin and delivering them cookies.

This is not to say that Campus Police can't be obnoxious themselves, and parties are certainly going to be shut down on occasion. But I can tell you that the fastest way to get no where with Campus Police is to be obnoxious toward them, or to throw a pretzel at their heads.

Chapin Fay '00

Rejecting race-based admissions

No doubt many of you have strong opinions supporting affirmative action for undergraduate admission. You may think that minorities need such programs to overcome their poor neighborhoods. Those of you who recognize that not all minorities are poor transform this argument into a call for economic-based affirmative action-the validity of which has been addressed in many past arguments and I will not bother to rehash them here. Those of us who attend Amherst College have had great advantages in our educational experience for our entire college careers. This letter is directed towards Amherst students who plan on applying to graduate school or applying to any program that employs race-based preferences.

You will soon face a grave temptation: to use affirmative action to boost your chances of getting into the law, medical or business school of your choice. Graduate schools will ask your race or country of origin, and some schools will want to know how you feel your racial or cultural background will help bring more to their institution. When facing such questions, ask yourself, do you believe that you will contribute to a school because of your earned merit, achievements, talents and character? Or do you think you will add to a graduate school because of your skin pigment, who your parents happen to be or the country where you were born? Do you want the admissions committee to accept you because they are impressed with you as an individual or because you happen to fit some racial profile they want to fill?

I challenge all racial minorities, people born in other countries and other persons from "disadvantaged" groups to leave that question blank on your applications to graduate schools. If that is not an option, I challenge you to explicitly ask the school to judge you only on your merit. (This same challenge would also apply to people who are potential legacies at graduate schools). I know it is tempting to say "admit me because I am diverse". If you do, you are cheating yourself and others, and you will never know if you earned your admission. If you accept this challenge, you may not get into the school you might have otherwise, but you will have the self-respect of knowing that you were accepted based on what you worked hard for.

To reiterate: you go to Amherst College, one of the best educational institutions in the world, and there is no longer even one iota of an excuse for you to use your race, country of origin or economic background to say that you somehow deserve advantages over any other applicant. You have had the best facilities-a great faculty, great resources, etc.-and thus the arguments about affirmative action "giving people a chance" do not apply to you. If you claim to oppose affirmative action and turn down this challenge, you should be ashamed of your own hypocrisy. If you are a proponent of affirmative action for those who have not "had the chance to compete," then you can clearly see that your arguments do not apply to your own situation.

Misha Tseytlin '03