Berkeley Blog: Street-people
Street-people
Since UC Berkeley is essentially part of the city of Berkeley, intertwined with the various buildings of the city and whatnot, parts of the campus are considered public use. Anyone can come by and eat or shop in various places on campus, or chill out on the benches and people-watch or join in with the Occupy protests. Even before I was a student, I wandered the halls and sat in some of the classrooms just for the hell of it without anyone batting an eye or freaking out that an old man was sitting alone in a darkened classroom (I imagined some passing students thought I was a aging, emotionally broken man, holding back tears, trying to relive his youth and having flashbacks of the good ole' days where things were just much simpler in college - Of course, these thoughts made me smile, which probably added an air of creepiness to the situation.
The creepiness amused me as well, which made me chuckle at random intervals, which probably made the situation even more weird and much more sinister than I had intended). Even as a student, with a campus full with 35,000 rowdy younglings looking to be all young and stuff, I have ventured off into some very strange, unlocked areas in search of quiet, quaint and inspiring places to study or rest. And, so far, save for a few curious glances, I've never been stopped or asked why in the dicken's I'd be doing such odd things. You will need a student ID to use the various research facilities like libraries, labs and the like, but for everything else it's public space.
What this means, of course, is that in some areas of campus you'll find the occasional homeless person asking for spare change or a cup of tea during cold days, or sleeping or taking a nap on a bench. Apparently to some, these people are to be referred to as "street-people," a term I overheard two faculty members use when discussing the campus with parents. "Yes, as you can see, we do have a few street-people," the pompous faculty member said in response to a question raised by a parent, "but there is plenty of campus police presence..."
Oh for heaven's sake! Police presence to protect children from...gasp!...a poor person!
At the time, I wanted to jab my pencil into the side of this person's neck, just to prove that more likely than not, a fellow student and not a "street-person" will be the perpetrator of a crime in need of police protection. But I was too busy walking away from these people as quickly as possible. Sadly, even at orientation, the chief of campus police warned of "street-persons" but also hypocritically mentioned that the number one crime on campus was bike and laptop theft...by fellow students.
Street-person is a stupid term. It's a politically correct term used to provide distance from any uncomfortable feelings fearful parents might have about campus safety and glosses over the tragic reality that some of the 99% are worse off than others.
Since UC Berkeley is essentially part of the city of Berkeley, intertwined with the various buildings of the city and whatnot, parts of the campus are considered public use. Anyone can come by and eat or shop in various places on campus, or chill out on the benches and people-watch or join in with the Occupy protests. Even before I was a student, I wandered the halls and sat in some of the classrooms just for the hell of it without anyone batting an eye or freaking out that an old man was sitting alone in a darkened classroom (I imagined some passing students thought I was a aging, emotionally broken man, holding back tears, trying to relive his youth and having flashbacks of the good ole' days where things were just much simpler in college - Of course, these thoughts made me smile, which probably added an air of creepiness to the situation.
The creepiness amused me as well, which made me chuckle at random intervals, which probably made the situation even more weird and much more sinister than I had intended). Even as a student, with a campus full with 35,000 rowdy younglings looking to be all young and stuff, I have ventured off into some very strange, unlocked areas in search of quiet, quaint and inspiring places to study or rest. And, so far, save for a few curious glances, I've never been stopped or asked why in the dicken's I'd be doing such odd things. You will need a student ID to use the various research facilities like libraries, labs and the like, but for everything else it's public space.What this means, of course, is that in some areas of campus you'll find the occasional homeless person asking for spare change or a cup of tea during cold days, or sleeping or taking a nap on a bench. Apparently to some, these people are to be referred to as "street-people," a term I overheard two faculty members use when discussing the campus with parents. "Yes, as you can see, we do have a few street-people," the pompous faculty member said in response to a question raised by a parent, "but there is plenty of campus police presence..."
Oh for heaven's sake! Police presence to protect children from...gasp!...a poor person!
At the time, I wanted to jab my pencil into the side of this person's neck, just to prove that more likely than not, a fellow student and not a "street-person" will be the perpetrator of a crime in need of police protection. But I was too busy walking away from these people as quickly as possible. Sadly, even at orientation, the chief of campus police warned of "street-persons" but also hypocritically mentioned that the number one crime on campus was bike and laptop theft...by fellow students.
Street-person is a stupid term. It's a politically correct term used to provide distance from any uncomfortable feelings fearful parents might have about campus safety and glosses over the tragic reality that some of the 99% are worse off than others.
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