Congratulations, law enforcement! Great job, ISU Department of Public Safety, Ames Police Department and the Iowa State Patrol. You really taught those students a lesson, didn’t you? You sure showed those nasty students who’s the boss in this town.

Ames Police Chief Dennis Ballantine, you said that your officers were trying to keep the crowd back to prevent them from going over the wall and someone getting hurt. Iowa State DPS Director Jerry Stewart said officers were on the field because they saw people being crushed by the crowd.

Protecting the crowd, huh? Any person with sixth-grade intelligence (e.g. a Hawkeye fan) could tell you your old method of surrounding the goal posts with officers was extremely effective over the past several years.

If you really must save the goal posts, you should use that safer method. First, the crowd spills onto the field and doesn’t get “crushed.” And, they are allowed to support and celebrate with the team on the field. Isn’t that why fans go to games? Finally, you have saved your precious goal posts.

While I am not educated on the statistics of such things, I would guessyou could compare the injuries caused Saturday (two broken limbs, one injured officer) to those that occurred from the great “goal post relocation projects” of the past.

Take Nov. 14, 1992, for example —ÿthe Nebraska game for those who don’t remember. While there were 10 times as many people on the field, I don’t remember there being 120 arrests, 20 broken limbs or even 10 injured officers.

There may be a reason this new strategy of blocking the wall of the student section caused more injuries than mass chaos and tearing the goal posts down would have.

For typical public intoxication and trespassing arrests, I don’t think you usually pursue quite so zealously. Of course, normally you aren’t trying to teach students and Cyclone fans a lesson. Saturday’s display of diving gang tackles AFTER the game redefines the term “pig” pile.

Chiefs, don’t think the students will soon forget the lesson you taught them this weekend. It wasn’t the lesson you thought you were teaching, but they’ll remember all the same.

Every time they see a quote by you in the paper or hear a sound bite about how cooperative and helpful you are, they’ll remember the truth. No one, especially any student, is going to show up the law enforcement in Ames. If anyone tries, you’ll just pile six officers on top and show them who rules this town.

You can explain all you want about protecting property, but here’s the thing: while you thought you were arresting 12 vicious criminals, you made all of us at the stadium who watched feel like we were the ones getting bludgeoned on the turf.

When you just protect the goal posts after the game, we can forget that … but what you did Saturday is going to sting for a while.

Ryan J. Schon

ISU Alumnus

Class of 1995