The_Rambler_1999-05-15

              • V O X . UM jr;7f • • ^ : ;
S X A T E VPf I V E R S I T Y O F N E W V O ^ K A T WOlD Farewell to Farmingdale Fiasco By: Christopher Collora
On the night of May 7, 1999, SUNY Farmingdale healed an annual event
entitled Farewell to Farmingdale; it is a dinner cruise around New York City.
It was intended to be a night we'd always remember, it turned out to be a
night we'd never forget. Two fights would change this event from a fun
social event into a horrible disaster.
Three bus loads of formally attired Farmingdale students departed that
Friday around 5:30 p.m. bound for New York's Chelsie Pears. After the 3-
hour bus ride, we arrived. We boarded the Spirit of the Hudson cruise ship at
around 8:30 and dug into the buffet. After, several students went to the top
deck and viewed the sky line. A few made little references to Titanic, hang-ing
on the railing, foreshadowing the coming disaster. The rest of the cruise
was nice, we passed the Statue of Liberty and saw the Manhattan Skyline.
The rest of the night was dominated by a live band, dancing, and entertain-ment.
We arrived back at the dock at about 10:00.
We had 40 min left to party and enjoy the evening; it only took 5 to spoil it
forever. I was on the downstairs deck at the time, when I witnessed a brief
yelling match between two girls; they were very emotionally hostile. Several
other girls separated them, trying to calm them down. Thinking nothing of it,
I went up to the top deck. Several moments later, I heard a loud commotion
downstairs as several students ran up the stairs in mass as someone yelled
fight. One of the girls smashed the other in the face with a glass. When I
went downstairs, there was shattered glass and blood, her face was cut up; it
was just a horrible situation. The subsequent commotion and reaction from
the student body at large was extremely emotional and chaotic. One guy was
flipping chairs around in anger, one girl's purse was apparently stolen, the
entire situation was so erratic and heated at that moment, that the threat of
more violence entered my mind as a possibility. The tension in the room felt
like it was going to explode any second. It was then^that security made
everyone leave the boat. As we were exiting, the whole story began to
emerge from the students. Apparently the two girls had discovered that they
were both involved with the same guy. Upon this revelation, they felt the
need to combat each other with a brutal vengeance. As we continued walking
back to the busses, the group ahead of me gradually raised an argument into
a fistfight, one student was assaulted with another glass. According to a bus
driver who saw the incident from the front, one guy punched him, and the
other guy smashed a glass in his face and right eye.It was later alleged that
the student who was smashed instigated and started the fight. Students were
yelling in chaos, there was blood all over the pavement. At that point in the
middle of this horrible situation, all that I could wonder was "why"? Why
did these students deserve to be smashed in the face? Why was there so
much violence and hostility here? Most students were as horrified and
appalled at this, SGA President Neil Kellman stated: "...This is ridiculous,
every thing we do (turns out like this)... Do they have any idea how much we
spent on this?, to them it's a quick $20.00... the whole bunch of them (the
assailants) should be locked up." Which reflect the majority opinion. Several
other students made similar remarks, one student stat ed " If they don't
know how to behave and present themselves in public, then they're going to
jail, they've got to learn how to act in public." another stated "I thank God
these cops came, this is insane..."There was no valid reason that justified the
use of this violence. How could these college students be so hostile and un-self
disciplined? Why? Why do four undisciplined students have to ruin an
enjoyable evening for everyone else? Isn't there any regard or respect for
other people?
The situaticJh was diffused as the police pulled up. Several offices investigat-ed
the matter gathering facts, names, and possible suspects, but the attackers
were not identified. Finally the busses were instructed to take us back to
Farmingdale while those involved stayed to sort out the matter. On the ride
home, I heard and pieced together some of the full story. I have the names
and further details of this fight. But even though I saw the entire thing, was in
the middle of it as it occurred in harms way, and was present during the
police investigation, I still can not release any of that information under the
threat of lawsuits.
It is completely ridiculous, now we will loose this event and possibly others
because of four students who had to get angry and take out their fnistrations.
The total lack of self control and intense emotion displayed in public was not
appropriate for college students or even human beings, this is not the Jerry
Springer show which encourages people to fight when there partners sleep
around, this is real life! Why can't people just behave themselves, is that so
hard? Another contributing factor is the rather loose control of the alcoholic
beverages and other undisclosed substances, which intensified the emotions
that night. Although there are rules in place about such things, no one can
control what students absorb into their bodies prior to such events, this is col-lege.
It was obvious that a few individuals were under the influence of some
substances that night, as reviled by the messy bathroom floors and students
hurling over the side of the boat. Let's face it, this is college, and this event
was a party, but students should try to keep it clean that's what the parties
after are for. (However, in the dorm's afterwards, some one set ofFM-80's
and blew up the garbage room, and a Chinese delivery guy got assaulted.)
Aside from blaming it on the media, alcohol, and the glasses used (we
should sue the manufacture), the final and ultimate accountability comes
down to the students themselves. If we strip this down, it is a fight over a
relationship. A guy was messing around, and they both found out about it.
That is why we can't have anymore parties at Farmingdale, because some
greedy, homy bastard had to cheat! Thanks a lot! In these cases, I always
wonder why the girls go after each other and don't blame the guy?
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