Students attend college to be educated. Everything from Plato’s Republic to the Bertrand Equilibrium is jammed into the brains of those eager to learn. And while they no doubt pick up many useful bits of knowledge, one thing is overwhelmingly understood: students like to have fun.

Northeastern students like to party so much, in fact, that they’re willing to travel great distances from their cozy on-campus apartments to areas where pesky Resident Assistants are less likely to pry into their nighttime activities. They go to Mission Hill, where students lured by cheaper housing, bigger bedrooms and more freedom reside.

After a late night of partying, students living on campus have few options when it comes to getting back to Northeastern, since the T closes shortly after midnight and cabs cost money. So they walk, stumbling around a potentially dangerous neighborhood in the wee hours of the morning without some of their key motor skills. It’s a recipe for disaster, but one that’s easily remedied: a Northeastern-sponsored shuttle that runs to and from both Mission Hill and the Landmark Center.

Unfortunately for these students, plans for the shuttle were dismantled, an action that is disappointing. There is a clear need for the shuttle, the program had funding and the university had already approved it. Futhermore, there’s a city-wide precedent for such a shuttle; Boston College, Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard all fund shuttles for students. And yet, Huskies are still subjecting themselves to danger while the university does nothing.

What’s more, the reasoning for the dismantle is less than reasonable. While it’s understandable the university would have concerns that students would simply use the shuttle inappropriately, in a Sept. 24 article in The News, Ed Klotzbier, vice president for student affairs, said it was made clear that it would not be a “booze bus,” and that plans for the shuttle were “prepared and we tightened the whole thing up and it was ready to launch.”

The issue that ended-up killing the project was the concern for residents of Mission Hill and increased traffic coming from the Landmark Center. Northeastern put concern for residents ahead of the safety of its own students.

We understand that long-standing residents of Mission Hill are frustrated by the influx of students living in their neighborhood, but the fact is students are probably not leaving anytime soon, and it’s in everybody’s best interest to prevent crime in every way possible. Imagine the negative affect on housing prices if students continue to be attacked on their way home, making it hard for the neighborhood to prosper.

Futhermore, canceling the shuttle from the Landmark Center because the potential for an increase in traffic is silly. One bus every hour is not going to clog the streets. Fewer students would be taking cabs if there were a shuttle. Students coming back from a night at the movies may be forced to walk either out of their way or through the Fenway, which, evidenced by a recent student mugging, has proven dangerous.

Northeastern’s first priority should be the safety of its students. The university draws many students because of its city location, but attending a city school carries risks. While students should obviously be held accountable for their actions and it’s not up to the university to babysit them, we all need to wake up to reality. Students are going to travel across the Fenway and to Mission Hill, regardless of a shuttle. It may upset the permanent residents of Mission Hill and possibly crowd the streets, but Northeastern needs to first and foremost look out for its own.