When I was a child I got into my share of squabbles with some of the other brats who lived on the block. These fights usually were about something stupid, like who was a better athlete—Muhammed Ali or Joe Namath.

In any event, whenever such fights occurred, a parent of one or more of the combatants would come racing out of their house and break up the scuffle. The two kids involved in the fight would immediately blame each other. If my dad had a dollar for each time he heard some kid whine, “He started it,” he would be a millionaire.

The recent events at the West Lagoon possessed some striking similarities to a backyard skirmish. Like children arguing over who threw the first punch, both the University Police and students blew a situation way out of control. Students instantly pointed the finger at police for jumping the gun and overreacting by bringing in city and county police. Similarly, police accused students of inciting a riot and participating in mob action. Both sides, in effect, blamed each other for the trouble.

Vice presidents Jon Dalton and James Harder, consequently, have had to act like parents and get to the bottom of what happened the night of the disturbance. Like the parents in my neighborhood often found out, they discovered “it takes two to tango.” In their review, Dalton and Harder concluded that both the UPs and the students contributed to the lagoon fiasco.

The report blamed students for “misuse of alcohol” and further termed the throwing of objects at police as being “unlawful.” The police, through an overt display of force, also increased the level of tension by attracting more students outside to see what was happening, according to the report.

The results of the report indicate that the axiom of “two to tango” holds true for many situations involving a confrontation or altercation. Students cannot be blamed entirely for the riot. Bringing an illegal keg out to the lagoon is obviously just asking for trouble. However, UPs, who raced to the scene, called for help and later broke out riot gear, only added fuel to the fire.

Both sides have legitimate complaints concerning the situation and these have to be investigated thoroughly. Police have a real complaint that several students threw objects and damaged squad cars.

In addition, students have an equally valid counter-complaint that one of their number was subjected to a room search and arrested at 3 a.m., long after the confrontation had ended.

Avoiding similar confrontations in the future also is recommended by the vice president’s report. Investigating the disturbance to discover how it might have started and why it led to such a tense situation is essential to understanding how to prevent further confrontations of the same nature.

Dalton and Harder should be commended for releasing their report, which was both efficient and prompt. Instead of glancing over the situation and blaming one side, they examined what had happened and logically concluded that both sides were responsible for what happened.

Childhood fights usually ended witout any serious damage being done to either kid involved. Unfortunately, however, NIU has not escaped so easily. The physical effects of the disturbance can be repaired, but the lasting effects on the school’s reputation cannot. It is a shame that paranoia between students and police turned an otherwise normal and peaceful spring evening into an ugly confrontation.

The lagoon fiasco was an otherwise simple situation that got way out of hand because both sides overreacted. There was no need for students to throw objects at police, just as there was no need to call in “the riot squad.” The only comfort resulting from the situation is that neither students nor police have to bear all the blame for what happened.