Letter to the editor: ‘Welcome Week’ a drunken disaster

As an incoming freshman to Western Michigan University, all I heard about was how crazy Western’s “Welcome Week” was, and what went on during that time. After experiencing it for myself, it truly lived up to its reputation. I wanted to take the time to tell about the problems that occur during Western’s “Welcome Week.”
As my friends and I walked around near Campus Point [Mall on the corner of Howard Street and West Michigan Avenue], we noticed that most problems that occurred were between Lafayette Avenue and Fraternity Village Drive. Some even happened on West Michigan Avenue, which is a main road in the city.

Among the problems, underage drinking was indeed the biggest. We noticed that many of the people drinking on the streets and at the parties were all underage age, some were even throwing up on the side of the road and others passed out on the ground.

Another problem that I noticed was fighting. It didn’t happen a lot but when it did, it was brutal, people losing teeth along with heavy bleeding. I remember one specific instance where my friend and I were walking along West Michigan Avenue. There was a man standing in the road, and another man told him to stop being stupid and get out of the street, the man in the road was drunk, so he took this the wrong way, and a fight broke out. This problem started all because one man was looking out for the other mans safety.

As I look back on “Welcome Week,” I feel like many of these problems can be fixed by taking certain approaches. Don’t get me wrong; the police did do their job over the week, but not in the best way possible. My call to action would be to get more cops on duty for that week, patrolling in cars and on foot. This could prevent fighting and other violent situations that occur with people under the influence of alcohol.

Ian Caple
WMU freshman

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=12123

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Nov 18 2009. Filed under Letters to the Editor, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com