Students should not be suspended for fireworks prank

The students are receiving legal consequences and the university should not be involved in this case. If MSU wants to take on this case, maybe they should first become involved in the football players, some with many convictions!

Maybe they were on academic probation or already had strikes against them? It is possible other factors may have contributed to the suspension.

Only football players skate – MSU official policy, look it up.

If I knew that a classmate had had a reaction to someone they disliked that was violent and potentially harmful (even if they “didn’t mean it” to be), I sure wouldn’t want them sitting next to me in class. I wouldn’t want to grade their tests either! Or be there on the day they get a test back with a bad grade…you know, in case they pull an explosive out of their backpack, “just as a prank.”

There are plenty of jobs out there where a criminal offense will get you fired. I don’t know why being a student in a university would be any different.

When I was a kid, my friends blew things up with pipe bombs for fun. Now, they’re all respectable professionals in various industries.

These kids took threw some 10 dollar mortars in a yard and were treated like terrorists.

Now, the school suspends them.

F you, MSU.

Also, yes, 10 dollars, you who make the yearly trek to the fireworks stores down south know this is true, even the huge mortars are cheap…

MSU Judicial Affairs has a long track record of abusing students rights or streaching guidelines to impose harsher sanctions.

And why should we expect differently? It’s still run by the same administrators who were temporarily suspended in the past for violating students rights. Why would they do differently now?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,462845,00.html

This whole thing is way over the top. These poor kids and what they have suffered because of a silly prank. I couldn’t say it any better than the author of the article “Suspending the students only will move them backward when it comes to getting their lives back on track. There’s no need for MSU to double up on duties. MSU should stick to what it does best: education.” Wow where is the compassion and mercy for these young people? You would think they were terroists wanting to kill and destroy others the way they have been condemned. Competely unfair, I feel so badly for them. I for one plan to pray for greater justice in their lives. Let’s start taking that darn plank out of our own eye first, no one my us God!

*made

First, I want to thank the SN Editorial Board for doing their homework in preparation for this article, and hope that this is a trend for future such opinion pieces.

I see two separate issues here. First, should a university care about and involve itself in the behavior of its community members when they are not on campus? Second, if the university should care, then what is its role and its responsibilities in that process?

The first issue may be more complex than some commentaries have made it seem here. Some appear to find NO circumstance for MSU to involve itself with the off campus conduct of its community members. Really? I am guessing that our collective imaginations can come up with scenarios where we would object to someone’s continued presence on campus, even if they had not yet been proved guilty of wrong doing in a court of law. To avoid sidetracking this point, I will not offer my own examples here. From a philosophical perspective, I believe universities should have an obligation to get involved when someone’s conduct has a severe and adverse effect on the educational process. What constitutes a severe and adverse however is ripe for debate.

Assuming that we can identify circumstances exist that would necessitate university involvement, what is the university’s role and responsibility in that process? For me, this is an even harder question to answer and truly requires an individualized approach. Naturally, general community standards and processes that reflect core democratic values should guide any approach, and must be tailored to the unique demands of a teaching and learning environment. Again, these issues lead a rich discussion about fairness, justice, ethics, integrity, standards, accountability and more.

While this may not be the best forum to flush out these concepts, I thank the SN Editorial Board for bringing them to light.

Would you add that having administrators who follow the rules and dont break them by making up illegal boards of self-picked people instead of going through the vetting process would also be critical?

I would.

Well said. If I had to have a jury, I would want each person on that jury to think in the same way in which you think. Fair and wise. Thank you.

What you guys are all missing is — WHAT THEY DID WAS ILLEGAL They were suspended by a jury of their peers (actually, all but one admitted guilt, and took a plea deal). Owning and launching morters in the state of Michigan is not legal. Buying them is not legal.

What these kids did is threw ‘bombs’ out of a moving car, covered the evidence it was their car, and lied about it. What would have happened if they hit somebody? What if some of the schrapnel would have damaged a house, a person, or a pet?

Actions have consiquences. You are all adults now, and you should know that doing dangerious things may have an impact in your life. This is not high-school.

Correction: Suspended should be changed to ‘convicted’ in the first sentence.

Nick K, they threw a big firecracker and that’s all. An actual mortar is a small tubed gun (60 to 81mm) that launches a high explosive round that when it explodes sprays shrapnel in a pattern meant to kill or maim an enemy. They also shoot WP rounds to give smoke cover for advancing troops (Marines only, for the Army it’s to cover retreats). I don’t think these kids had that type of set up. You sound like a very fearful individual to make this into something way beyond the reality of what they did. This whole affair is completely overblown and an utter waste of money on all levels. By the way, learn to spell.

Point well taken. The story could have had a different ending. Thank goodness no one was harmed and there wasn’t any damaged done to the property. That is something alone to be grateful for.

I respect the editorials defense of the students, but I believe the defense comes from something a little more personal and close to home. I see two things at stake here. First, the defense comes mainly from fear. The fear that many students can relate to the position of these students and possibly see this happening to them. While it is nice to see them experience empathy, it would also be nice for them to experience something else… In the last paragraph of the article, it was stated that “MSU should stick to what it does best: education.” And I believe they are. But I feel that this writer is forgetting something: “education” is not limited solely to the books, readings, notes, homework and lectures of a classroom. Education is something we should experience everywhere, in all facets of life. And one of the biggest educations that these students – and writer – can get, is that everything has consequences. They made a choice to do something. And as dumb and harmless as it may have been, it has a consequence. Yes, a felony charge is harsh. Calling it an IED (improvised explosive device) is an insult to the soldiers fighting in the Middle East; I highly doubt when those soldiers refer to IED, that is what they’re describing. However, it was dangerous, and that danger aspect needs to addressed and the responsible need to be held accountable.
Another thing they stated was that “suspending the students will only move them backward when it comes to getting their lives back on track.” You’re exactly correct. It will. And that is also part of the consequence. But this is not necessarily a bad thing as will also test the resilience and determination of these students to make the best out of a very bad situation. In other words, it is an opportunity for them to learn something about themselves – mainly their character. All the university is saying by this action is that is does not agree with the actions of these students – and should not be seen as anything more (such as a personal vendetta to ruin their lives). That, in their defense, is an acceptable position.

Why is it that MSU football players can assault people with minimum punishment, and these kids are about to get kicked out? I agree what was done was illegal, but punishment in east lansing seems to be based on whether or not you are an asset to the university, not based on fairness

These turds got what they deserved. If you wanna come to MSU to get an education, great! But dont cheapen my decgree by being a complete nimrod and throw exposives out the window of a moving car and terrorize neighborhoods. A number of people thought there was a drive-by shooting and were scared half to death.