'age 6 'he Behrend Beacon ennState ■appa C’t.Jn, The Behrend me College A Collage Choir Behrend Concert Band Behrend College Choir Behrend Jazz Band Behrend Studio Singers Free Advance Student tickets at RUB desk. Large cheese bottles April 18th 8 p.m. Featuring: $3 at door. Behrend College Special! two NATIONAL CAM! PUS Friday, April 12, 2002 Hockey fans University of Minnesota in streets riot by Tammy J. Oseid and Lisa Donovan Knight Ridder Newspapers For more than six hours this weekend after the Gophers hockey team won its first national title in 23 years, a growing mob of stu dents smashed street lamps, jumped on passing cars, and torched furniture in a celebration- tumed-rampage. The rioters, estimated between several hundred and more than 1,000, poured into the streets at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, hurling full beer bottles and cans, rocks and insults at officers in riot gear who used tear gas to try to quell the crowd. In the end, the only injury was to a police officer whose shoulder was hurt by a flying object. Po lice made 25 arrests. The cost of the damage, including broken windows on homes, businesses and vehicles, had not been tallied by late Sunday. Using cell phones, students called friends to campus to “join the fun” and followed a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter’s spotlight to hotspots. “We’re celebrating,” said fresh man Emily Tinkham. “We’re not vdoing anything wrong.” Minneapolis Police Chief Rob ert Olson, who took a rock to the foot during the weekend’s out- 14- pizza 20 bursts, said officers allowed the excited fans to march and cheer in the streets. But when the “youthful exuberance” spun out of control, police here were not about to allow a repeat of what happened at the University of Maryland. After March 30’s semifinal and the NCAA basketball champion ship victory, Terrapin fans took their celebrations to the streets of College Park, Md., looting stores, burning cars and injuring a fan who lost vision in an eye. Sports sociologist Merrill J. Melnick calls this “indecent emo tional exposure” by alcohol-fueled fans whose celebratory waltz in the streets becomes antisocial, destructive behavior. “This is behavior off the tracks. Whatever parameters would be in effect, laws of decorum, a certain sense of civility - they’re pushed aside in this act of excessive exu berance,” said Melnick, who teaches “Sports Spectating in the United States” at the State Univer sity of New York at Brockport and co-authored the book “Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators.” Three chapters discuss fan misbehavior. The mob mentality, a type of contagion combined with the sense that there’s safety, if not ano nymity, in numbers, can make the situation worse, said Melnick. The presence of police and the nch & oz. pop media can often be provocative to fans who may feel at once threat ened and called on to perform. Gophers fans clearly hadn’t planned an uprising this weekend. The chaos began just before 10 p.m. Saturday and gathered steam after 11 p.m. “This is just a celebration of us winning. 6 A little unity, a little spirit,” said sophomore Mark Abdel as his fellow students be gan facing down cops on Univer sity Avenue. “Everybody’s having a great time.” Then someone on the street threw a bottle at police. As those in the street screamed for observ ers to join them and more bottles were hurled at police, the officers began to move toward the rowdy crowd. By 3:30 a.m., several thousand students had gathered around a bonfire of trash bins, garbage and furniture in the middle of Univer sity Avenue. By 4:30 a.m., things had finally calmed down. And by 5 a.m., the police finally felt it was safe enough to leave. In all, about 50 Minneapolis police officers re sponded to the chaos; the number of university police officers on the scene was not available. Even though St. Paul hosted the championship hockey tourna ment, police reported few prob lems in or around the Xcel Energy Center. $6.99- Free Delivery! 897-1818 Guy Reschenthaler, Wire Service Editor POSITIONS AVAILABLE Interested in joining the Beacon? What do you like to do? Write, edit, take photos, learn layout. Work with Adobe Page Maker and gain experience with Macs. Contact the Beacon Office at Behrcolls ©aol.com oM&W 898-6488. ■■■■■■■■■■%
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