It was a night for celebrations. The women’s volleyball team had just defeated Occidental College to assure it of at least a tie for the conference title, and the jubilant players, fans, and coach departed from the Supertents feeling satisfied and victorious.
Just before the clock was to strike 10 p.m., they descended on local nightspots and homes to revel in the important victory and put a capper on what was surely a perfect evening.
However, when many of the celebrants returned to the University parking lot to retrieve their cars after midnight, they were greeted by a sight that ruined the “perfect evening” immediately.
Several cars parked around the University had had their tires slashed. Not just one tire, but all four.
Vehicles damaged in the destructive spree included the Volleyball Coach Jim Paschal’s tires and the Television Department’s equipment van, along with other cars parked along C Street.
Whoever was responsible for this senseless act of destruction obviously showed and felt no respect for the private property belonging to the victims, but we feel that the University is equally guilty.
How? Negligence. That’s how.
The University administration has continually denied requests by the Director of Security Al Dobrick for more men. Despite the relative smallness of the campus, the present force is simply not enough to provide adequate coverage and protection to the University.
In our view, this is too much territory for a single person to effectively cover.
Despite the concern over rising tuition and other costs, the security of the people who inhabit and work at the University should be a top priority with the administration.
We believe this can be accomplished by having two officers on duty during the night hours. This would leave one officer to patrol the off campus locations and the other to patrol the central campus and be close at hand when needed.
La Verne College is now the University of La Verne and has become a slightly bigger and more complex institution. Well, the world surrounding that institution has become bigger and more complex and perhaps a bit more violent, as evidenced last week.
That is why we feel the school needs a larger security force, because like they say, it truly is better to be “safe than sorry.”
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.