Victoria Snelgrove was laid to rest Tuesday morning in her hometown of East Bridgewater. It is not likely that many of the 80,000 gathered in celebration of the Red Sox at the time of her death, and the probably equal number that saw pictures of her lying on the sidewalk last Wednesday night on the front page of the Boston Herald, were there to pay their respects.

Having the Red Sox in the World Series should be a momentous occasion filled with joy and celebration — not fear. All around the city, there is this intense feeling of worry for what will happen regardless of whether the Red Sox win or lose.

So, we’re here to ask: What will really stop the rioting?

It all comes back to the people who riot in the first place. If no one goes outside after the outcome of the World Series is determined, there will be no rioting, there will be no crowds to control, there will be no need for everyone to be worried. And as much as we’d all like to think countless letters, commercials, warnings and even Northeastern News editorials will make a difference; they probably won’t.

Northeastern is still dealing with the aftermath of the Super Bowl riots. James Grabowski wasn’t even a student and Northeastern still made every paper (and still does) and, as a result, lost its Springfest concert. The school’s reputation was tarnished because of a handful of individuals mixed in with the celebration.

Should we place the entire responsibility of controlling the city of Boston squarely on the shoulders of the Boston Police Department? Certainly some of the blame has to be on those officers who operated weapons they had not been trained to use. Despite claiming full responsibility for its actions, BPD will also have to deal with a tarnished image.

What it all really comes down to is that people are responsible for their own individual actions. Every single person who made the choice to leave his or her apartment Wednesday night contributed to the chaos that led to the death of a student.

When you see people take the celebration to the next level or if you see something that could potentially turn deadly, just stop what you’re doing and leave. You may not be the person flipping the car or throwing garbage cans through a bank sign, but you might be right next to the perpetrator when it happens.

This week could be an opportunity to start from scratch, for the Boston Police as well as Northeastern students to turn over a new leaf of public image.

Victoria Snelgrove wasn’t a Northeastern student — but she could have been. Snelgrove could have been the girl who sits next to you in your classes or who you see coming out of the library.

It could have been a Northeastern student standing next to the “Sausage Guy’s” cart. It could have been you.