With Carolina Cup thankfully and mercifully behind us, many USC students can return to the daily grind of the semester.
This year’s Cup, however, did not have a quiet exit. A total of 225 students were arrested, marking an increase of 75 arrests from last year’s race. The charges were — no surprise — predominately alcohol-based. It seems the increased police presence that turned Camden’s racetrack into a veritable Fort Knox paid off.
It has almost become a running joke on campus that USC and Columbia police officers concentrate so heavily on enforcing drinking laws that they leave conditions favorable for harsher crimes to take place. And while it is easy to dismiss this notion as the typical student’s “stick it to the man” behavior, recent events have given startling proof for the state of police protection in Columbia. The same weekend that officers valiantly defended loyal steeplechase fans against drunk students, yet another student was assaulted and robbed on Main Street, within the boundaries of campus. This is just the latest incident in what seems a semester-long trend of robberies and assaults.
We realize that Cup is a special event, but we would like to see the same dedication and concentration that police forces used during this event in Columbia itself. Excessive drinking is the mark of Cup, but is it really the central concern in the day-to-day life of a city like ours? The answer: no. If local police can take the same drive they have shown against alcohol use — both at Cup and during most weekends — and apply it also toward the security of both students and their property, we can hope last weekend’s assault will be the last for a semester spent in doubt and worry.
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