RED SOX MOON ON THE RISE AT JSC



by AJ de Saint Phalle

October's full moon rose last Wednesday night during what was to be the
fourth and final game of the World Series. It turned Halloween orange as
it plunged into the earth's shadow towards a total eclipse. The Boston
Red Sox held onto an early lead.
A celebratory crowd of students gathered outside Senator's South
dormitory at Johnson State College in keen anticipation of the first
Boston Red Sox World Series Championship since 1918. The moon turned an
eerie red as the eclipse reached totality and the clock ran out on the
Curse of the Bambino. White and yellow confetti fluttered down from dorm
windows, covering the ground like freshly fallen snow. Spirits were high
in Red Sox Nation.
At 11:40 p.m. Red Sox reliever Keith Foulke stepped off the mound and
tossed the World Series-ending out to first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz.
The JSC crowd exploded in exultation. Boston had already made history,
coming back from a three game deficit to sweep the Yankees four games in
a row, and now this: sweeping the Cardinals in four straight. Five
minutes later the total eclipse ended and the moon's red cast began to fade.
Eleven minutes later the phone rang in the Lamoille County Sheriff's
Department. Deputy Sheriff Ronald Audet Jr. received a report of
"students throwing televisions... gathering in large groups... lighting
objects on fire." The first officer on the scene encountered a
boisterous group of what he estimated to be 100 to 150 students,
detected smoke in the air and immediately called for backup.
Several JSC students had distinctly different impressions. JSC student
government senator, Ryan Haggerty (21, senior) reported that " No TVs
had been thrown from windows. The only fire set was a small pile of
confetti and there were maybe 30 or 40 students involved by the time the
police showed up." Keith Brody, (20, senior), who monitored the entire
incident on a police scanner while doing his laundry in a nearby
dormitory said, "The amount of manpower brought to bear on such a small
campus was truly amusing." Tara Vladyka (21, senior) said, "There were
fireworks in the sky which were pretty cool. We've had them before."
Kara Casey (19, junior), speaking for herself and her Martinetti roomate
Rigel Stelle (20, junior) said, "We must have slept through it. This is
the first we've heard of it!"
According to a Lamoille County Sheriff's Department press release, "A
total of 25 officers (Lamoille County Sheriff's Department, Morristown
Police Department, Stowe Police Department, Vermont State Police, and
Johnson Fire Department) responded and prevented the crowd from becoming
out of control. Local emergency services were also put on standby. The
students were dispersed without any force used and order was restored
with minimal damage."
According to Sheriff Roger MarcouxJr., "After experiencing some minor
incidents at JSC following Boston's win in the A.L.C.S., and in light of
the riot at UVM, I met earlier in the day with JSC officials and area
law enforcement to prepare for any possible problems." He noted that
only half of the responding officers went on campus, while the rest
patrolled the vicinity and manned an incident command center which was
set up at the Municipal Building in Johnson for the purpose of booking
potential arrestees. The Johnson Fire Department was on standby in case
the reported fires got out of control.
Both The Burlington Free Press and WCAX-TV carried reports the next day
of the incident at JSC, even as the formerly red-hot UVM campus remained
conspicuously out of the spotlight. JSC Dean of Students Ron Chesbrough
said that in his opinion, "The tone of our call-in may have been
responsible for the unfortunate over-representation of the events in
early press reports. There was no damage - no arrests and a peaceful
resolution. Students cleaned up the site themselves." When asked if he
thought the police had over-reacted, Chesbrough stated, "Behavior, not
numbers is the key measure of appropriateness. Their demeanor and
response was appropriate. I just feel that JSC was unfairly singled out
in the media when there were actual arrests and real property damage at
other Vermont State Colleges and institutions."
Calls to police and college officials at VTC and Castleton State found
that there had been no incidents. Lyndon State College Community Affairs
Manager Judy Beaupre reported that, "A crowd of 200 students had marched
up the hill to the President's house after the Red Sox win, but had been
met by campus security, which had been waiting for them, and then
dispersed peacefully."
When asked if his department had over-reacted to the JSC incident,
Sheriff Marcoux said, "It's the sheriff's job to assure the public
safety. The incident was resolved peacefully." A Sheriff's Department
videotape was made of the event and is being reviewed to help decide
whether the estimated $500-$800 in costs should be paid out of the
Sheriff's Department's administrative fund, by the participating
jurisdictions or, if the gravity of the students' behavior warrants it,
by Johnson State College directly.