After years of threatening us with expulsion and arrests, the city of Boston has apparently found the perfect way to discourage post-celebratory riots: Leave us with the bill.
A proposed plan brought before the Boston City Council would charge area colleges $100 per student per semester essentially for property tax, a portion of which would be used to pay for police presence in the event of a riot.
Between NU and nearby Boston University, students will foot the bill for nearly $7 million worth of police protection. For perspective, the massive police presence during the season-ending Yankees-Red Sox series cost the city $600,000, according to City Council.
So what happens to the other $6.4 million? People wonder why this state is referred to as Taxachusetts.
Seven million dollars! And that’s before Boston College, Emerson, Emmanuel, Simmons, Wentworth and other area schools chip in.
The primary flaw with this proposed plan? Not everybody participated in past riots. Despite the 70,000 revelers following the 2004 American League Championship Series, many area college students stayed at home (and not just Yankees fans).
Why should the innocent be taxed for the actions of the guilty?
Where does it end? If a party is broken up on Mission Hill, will the entire student body be sent to OSCCR? If NU football loses, do we all have to run laps? If a student goes to sleep drunk, do we all wake up hung over?
In airports, this is called profiling. For the Boston Police, it’s called safety.
In this case, if you’re 18 to 22 years old and attend school in the biggest college metropolis in the country, you automatically set a car on fire last October and should be charged as such.
Doesn’t some semblance of ageism take precedent here? How about charging the elderly more to drive a car? Does that sound right? Of course not. But it’s just fine to antagonize all college students.
Furthermore, after the horrific incident following last October’s riot around Fenway Park and in Kenmore Square that culminated with the tragic death of Emerson student Victoria Snelgrove, the celebration in the streets following the Patriots’ Super Bowl four months later was minimal. Rioting, it appears, has gone the way of Direct Connect. Cool in 2002. Not anymore.
Boston Police doesn’t want to chance it, but there must be a more logical and less taxing method for safeguarding the city.
And there is. To crack down on rioting, focus on the rioters. Threaten jail time and serious fines in the event people get out of control. Turning to Big Brother Northeastern is unfair and yes, prejudiced.
Even City Councilor Michael Ross (Michael Ross!) has expressed opposition to the plan. Hopefully the rest of the local government follows his lead. This proposition could actually result in more rioting, if not so much from disagreement with the bill, simply so students at least get their money’s worth.
