The severity of the incident at the Holmes Student Center almost two weeks ago was summed up by the individuals who yelled that the ruckus was “E2 all over!” while a crowd of 600 people fought the cold waiting to enter a dance.

What happened is not quite as troubling as what could have happened.

What did happen? Numerous fights broke out, people were trampled in trying to get through to the warmth of the HSC’s north entrance, police officers were attacked and one individual suffered a seizure.

What could have happened? One officer called the incident “one of the worst, if not the worst” he had seen at NIU.

Consider it good fortune that more individuals were not seriously injured – or, even worse, killed. Only 21 people were at the E2 incident, a stampede that occurred at a Chicago nightclub in 2003.

The chaos could have been avoided were it not for the few who chose to disrupt order for the rest who only hoped to have a good time.

However, the incident brings up some serious questions. Last semester, NIU suffered from a serious crime wave that included robberies, beatings and even a shooting – all within close proximity to campus. Most of these offenses were enacted by non-NIU students.

Many of the individuals who attended the Jan. 27 event at the HSC were also from out of town. The administration said in a Northern Star article printed Wednesday that there are no plans to limit or restrict non-students from NIU-sponsored events. But given the circumstances, shouldn’t there be?

The prime responsibility of the University Police and the NIU administration is to protect NIU students and the campus. We feel the administration should make some plans to limit non-student entrance into student-funded events, seeing how security catastrophes like the Jan. 27 event can occur.

Why not have students register guests in advance so security officers at least know individuals who are present and can hold them accountable if crime occurs?

To prevent a repeat of last semester’s crime, and to prevent incidents like the one in question from reoccurring, the administration needs to take action now, otherwise, events such as these will only continue.