Is Cambridge the Next New Haven? or Why Harvard Should Rethink Their Late-Night Security Budget
Before the sound of the TV news 'copters faded after the shooting at Harvard today, another student got almost stabbed outside of the Crimson building. The victim of the shooting was not a Harvard student, it turns out, but the knifepoint mugging victim definitely was. Already a day full of violence and irony, the story broke not on the Crimson's website but on the Quincy Open list:
yeah I was there I missed it by about 3 minutes on my walk back up plympton. i asked a cop. it was a mugging at knife point. they think they got the guy (yes he is arrested leaning against the wall on the street sitting on the ground) but I believe they don't have his knife so they're searching up and down the streets for it. there were cops all over the place. I counted between 7 and 10 cops on foot alone, not counting the 2 police vans, and 4 or 5 police cruisers.
Now, we can really abuse the word "irony." Ok, kids who are scared of walking around in the dark even through the well-lit, well-trafficked Harvard Square. You're validated. Alright, Harvard. Maybe the MBTA Police Academy is not the best place to recruit men to protect the future leaders of the world.
If Harvard kids keep getting taken down at this rate, we'll have to educate our next president at Dartmouth, where the crime is more hilarious than horrifying. Because everyone knows New Haven is in a state of perpetual gang warfare.
After the jump, read the full Quincy Open thread and the Kirkland House letter sent out by the house masters just a few minutes after the shooting earlier.
First, here's the letter sent out by Kirkland house masters Tom and Verena Conley immediately after the shooting. It might give you nightmares.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kirkland House Administrator <redacted>
Date: Mon, May 18, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Subject: URGENT Kirkland News
To: <redacted>Kirkland House Students and Tutors,
We have been informed that a shooting took place minutes ago in J-Entry of the Annex.
The Annex where the police are proceeding with an investigation has been cordoned off.
We ask everyone to cooperate with the police and staff in the hours ahead. We will apprise everyone of further developments.
Please be patient and use the dining hall, the basement, or the JCR for the next few hours until you can return to your rooms.
Anyone with any information should talk to the Harvard Police immediately.
At this time, identities of the victim and perpetrator(s) are unknown.
Tom and Verena Conley
And here's more about the near stabbing.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Loyal Barrett Egan <redacted>
Date: Tue, May 19, 2009 at 12:28 AM
Subject: Re: [Quincy-open] police outside quincy on mt. auburn
To: Quincy-open@lists.hcs.harvard.eduyeah I was there I missed it by about 3 minutes on my walk back up plympton. i asked a cop. it was a mugging at knife point. they think they got the guy (yes he is arrested leaning against the wall on the street sitting on the ground) but I believe they don't have his knife so they're searching up and down the streets for it. there were cops all over the place. I counted between 7 and 10 cops on foot alone, not counting the 2 police vans, and 4 or 5 police cruisers.
Quoting Chava Kenny <redacted>:
> There's also a Cambridge cop, lights flashing, blocking off Linden at
> the corner of Mass Ave... he's been there about ten minutes.
>
> Jon Mizrahi wrote:
> > i asked a cop outside and he mentioned a robbery outside of the crimson.
> > there is a guy handcuffed on the ground at the corner of dewolfe and mt.
> > auburn.
> >
> > On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 12:04 AM, Ke Xu <redacted> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> apparently they're searching for something. suspects' guns maybe?
> >>
> >> On 5/19/2009 12:02 AM, Alexandria Eisenbarth wrote:
> >>
> >>> Just fyi... no one has sent anything yet but there seems to be a lot
> >>> of something and if its related to earlier today just... so you know
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May 19th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Harvard square is one of the most ghetto places I’ve seen in Cambridge. The buildings are OK, but the trashiness of the place is really unsettling. Considering it makes the “campus” look like shit by comparison, I propose that Harvard should annex everything within a 3 block radius and expel all the bums, goths, and overall sketchy goons from the land. Call it “The Final Solution” part II.
May 19th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Sorry your school sucks. Enjoy the rats. West Philly and New Haven are loads better these days.
May 19th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Who knew it would ever come to this? They are really going to need the H bomb to clean up the place,,,,
May 19th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
It was still very much a freak incident. I live in the entry where the shooting occurred and was there when it happened. It was surreal–the place is usually REALLY safe. I didn’t even think the sounds were gunshots until my friend called and confirmed it. A lot of the media hoopla was (surprise!) exaggerated. (They asked me if I was “afraid,” and somehow my answer of “well, it was certainly a little frightening to hear gunshots, but our doors are metal and lock securely” got translated to “_____ was to afraid to go outside her room”.)
Exaggeration or no, I do think the administration is making a pretty big mistake in cutting late night shuttles–it doesn’t send a great message to students and the timing (in conjunction with these two incidents) is beyond belief. I’ll be surprised if we don’t see some major backpedalling in the next few days.
May 19th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
It was still very much a freak incident. I live in the entry where the shooting occurred and was there when it happened. It was surreal–the place is usually REALLY safe. I didn’t even think the sounds were gunshots until my friend called and confirmed it. A lot of the media hoopla was (surprise!) exaggerated. (They asked me if I was “afraid,” and somehow my answer of “well, it was certainly a little frightening to hear gunshots, but our doors are metal and lock securely” got translated to “_____ was too afraid to go outside her room”.)
Exaggeration or no, I do think the administration is making a pretty big mistake in cutting late night shuttles–it doesn’t send a great message to students and the timing (in conjunction with these two incidents) is beyond belief. I’ll be surprised if we don’t see some major backpedalling in the next few days.
May 19th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Ack, sorry about the double post. I thought it was a slow connection.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:41 am
Central Square (1 MBTA redline stop away) is significantly more “ghetto” than Harvard Square.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Good ol’ safe little Princeton.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:36 pm
New Haven is a much better college town than Harvard Square these days. The place is chocked full of restaurants, cafes, bars and new development, and it isn’t a cookie cutter bore like Harvard Square. I would take NH over any of the other Ivy college towns. Second place would probably go to Philly.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:14 pm
New Haven over New York and Providence? You really must not know much about any of the other Ivy “towns” to think that.
May 25th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Two above said “college town.” Last time I checked, New York ‘City’ was never a college town. And Providence is even more boring than Princeton.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:21 am
He also makes mention of Philly, which is also distinctly NOT a college town, so I don’t think he was being exclusive.
And NYC not being a good college town is such BS. Cheap+convenient+24 hr public transportation, tons of bars and restaurants ranging the gamut in prices, and millions of young people. Some of us don’t want to exclusively hang out with students at our college. I once heard something about college broadening horizons and what-not, so it helps.
June 2nd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Suck it up.
An “almost” stabbing and a homicide is not whine worthy, ya sissies.
Welcome to our world.
-Penn
June 14th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I think Hanover trumps all