Monday, May 11, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 15 Policing the police BELLA SHAH E-MAIL BELLA AT BELLZ@UMICH.EDU Living in Ann Arbor, rallies and protests aren'tanything new to me. But a few weeks ago I became curious when I , ran across my friends' photos of a rally at Pur- chase College, located about a half hour north of Man- hattan. EarlierE that week, Pur- ED chase held its MCPHEE annual spring festival "Cul- ture Shock," featuring an evening concert performed by the fairly well-known ska band, Streetlight Manifesto. As with many other ska concerts, a mosh pit quickly formed and just as quickly grew out of control. The show even had to be stopped a few times to ask the audience to move back from the stage - and from the cops that guarded it as well. Naturally, one student was pushed too hard out of the mosh pit and into one of the cops. The student, Hart Seely, fell backward, and his hand hit the policeman's hat. When other students asked what had happened to Seely after the show, the police responded that he had been removed from the scene for hitting a policeman. Any sensible person would realize that this collision was accidental. And maybe so did the cop. But something got under his skin, because he didn't react as any sensible person would. When Seely asked why he had been taken from the scene, the cop responded with "You know what you did" - a generic one-liner straight out of a Bruce Willis movie, rather than a precise description of formal charges. It wasn't until 11 a.m. the next day after a night spent in transport between three law-en- forcement facilities that the police informed Seely of the charges being filed against him. At this point, it could only be assumed that he was beingheld for assaulting a police officer. What else could he be charged with? But by the next morning, attempting to steal an officer's firearm was added to the assault charge. Since his release from jail, See- ly's life is in shambles - and he hasn't even stood trial yet. At a hearing by Purchase College, he was suspended from the school, banned from the residence area and isn't even allowed in his room. He's been allowed to finish classes this semester, but his return to the college afterthatisupinthe air. It's as if he's already been found guilty before his trial has even started. How could he have imagined on the night of the concert that by the next morning he would be a crimi- nal for falling into a cop? Now he's worrying about his ability to finish his education and escape the situ- ation without a conviction for the ridiculous charges. Hart's story isn't the first one about a cop taking advantage of a citizen. From the 1991 police beat- ings of Rodney King to Seely's mis- treatmentinApril2009, policemen breakingthe lawsthey'resupposed to uphold is nothing new. But the practice of cops ignoring citizens' rights should be the exception, not the rule. It's as though the police have forgotten they're supposed to keep people safe, not cause more trouble. How can we ever trust the police when they continue to take advantage of harmless citizens? So much for the call to "protect and serve" us. There has to be a check on the police. Dirty cops seem to be everywhere, and it's difficult to tell the good from the bad. Our legal system frequently doesn't help the situation, either, as a cop's word carries more weight in court than that of a normal citizen. A cop usually has to get caught in the act to be charged with a crime - and that's easier said than done. In the end, there's no one to police the police, and as we continue to see abuse of their authority, a way to check cops seems all the more essential. It's sad that those assigned to "protect and serve" aren't held to the same - if not better - stan- dards of the law than the rest of society. The police should be held accountable, so that everyone still trusts the force as they ought to. If cops were held accountable, Hart wouldn't be headed to crimi- nal trial. His future has been put in jeopardy by a cop abusing the system - a cop seemingly disin- terested in protecting the masses. If those meant to protect consis- tently fail at their job, how safe can we feel? - Ed McPhee an be reached at emcphee@umich.edu. "7 *, 4 rne s,. cii D ttf The most dangerous game No more than five minutes after the marching band arrived in Columbus for the Ohio State football game, we had already been flipped off by about 30 Ohio State fans, many of whom were not students. - Let me JEREMY repeat that. Ohio State LEVY fans, some well into their thir- ties and forties, were giving the finger to members of the Michi- gan Marching Band, who ranged from 18 to 22 years old. Really? I don't mind being ridiculed by Ohio State students, but any full- grown adult who still flips the bird at a college marching band needs to get a life. The problem, of course, was that these overzealous Ohio State fans were caught up in the intense rivalry between the University of Michigan and Ohio State. Rivalries and intense compe- tition in sports are an integral part of nearly every culture. Whether you are talking about enmity between Michigan and Ohio State, the Red Sox and the Yankees or even the soccer teams from Argentina and Brazil, rivalries are unavoidable in the sporting world. Of course, these rivalries can be fun. I enjoyed lying on my couch with a bag of chips and a tub of guacamole to watch the championship round of the NCAA Basketball Tour- nament. I would also love to see our football team demolish Ohio State next year. But it's a stretch to assume, as many people do, that rivalries are inherently good. As spectators, overly intense rivalries in sports shape our views of competition and can indirectly affect the way we perceive higher education and politics. Let me start with the afore- mentioned Ohio State fans who were so entrenched in college rivalry that they never grew out of mocking Michigan students. I hope that by the time I reach my forties I will have moved on to better things. But Ohio State fans are not the only people who treasure foot- ball rivalries as one of the most important aspects of attending college. As I'm sure you know, their view is fairly common. Two of my high school teachers, both alumni from the University of Illinois, booed when I told them I was going to college at the Uni- versity of Michigan. I know they were joking and whatnot. But it's a problem that even among pro- fessional educators - who are supposed to encourage higher education - any mention of a Big Ten school conjures up notions of sports rivalries. Maybe you don't mind that our society often values sports more than education. But sports also seem to reinforce the competive- ness of politics - and I doubt that anyone thinks politics should become more competitive. After Barack Obama was elect- ed president last November, the celebration in Ann Arbor bore a strange resemblance to a sports rally. People with cowbells led the same "Go Blue" chant that is typically heard in the Big House and at some points the crowd often burst into choruses of "The Victors." Sports and politics are competitive, but potential voters should not view both from the same perspective. Contrary to Meg Young's column about March Madness (An amateur at the Big Dance, 03/23/2009), I am less con- vinced that competition in sports encourages meaningful pas- sion. Young argued that sports fields were often the place where important social battles could be fought. She used events such as Jessie Owens' victory in the 1936 Berlin Olympics or Jackie Robin- son's entrance into Major League Baseball to indicate the uplifting quality of sports. But these events were monu- mental because they were reflec- tive of the political and social environment in which they occurred. Jessie Owens's gold medal symbolized ideological differences that already existed between the United States and Germany, and Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier was one event in a pre-existing move- ment against segregation. These events certainly deserve praise, but they do not prove that rivalry in sports is intrinsically valuable. I hope I won't be flipping off Ohio State fans at 40. When I tell people about my spite forunnecessarysportsrival- ries, they usually tell me to go complain in Europe, where soccer matches often cause riots. While Americans' sense of rivalry cer- tainly pales in comparison, it isn't any more justified. I understand that rivalry can make sports more fun, but in many instances it goes to far. For example, it worries me that my roommate wants to burn an Ohio State effigy in front of our apartment next year. Sports are intended to be entertaining, but they can also influence our societal mindset. If we recognize this, we can stop sports from shaping our view of more socially relevant institu- tions like education and politics. In the end, these are the institu- tions that have a more import- nant impact on our lives. -Jeremy Levy can be reached at jeremlev@umich.edu. * LIKE WHAT YOU SEE HERE? WANT MORE? Read more from Daily columnists and check out new cartoons online on Wednesday and Friday at michigandaily.com/section/opinion.