The congested roadways and full parking lots are always an unwelcome sight the first weeks of school.
While most of us rarely see our campus sheriffs in action, they are out in the streets directing traffic in the first weeks, sometimes gaining the blame for the less than ideal driving conditions.
Last week, the Roundup was informed that Sheriff’s Deputy Lynch was directing traffic near the stadium as a car swerved in and out of traffic near the crosswalk, causing a second car to swerve toward the deputy.
In his attempt to avoid both cars, the deputy injured his elbow, but was not hit by either car. While this is good news, this incident troubled Deputy Ron Nohles, the campus sheriffs team leader.
Neither driver stopped. The students using the crosswalk didn’t even bother to ask if the deputy was all right.
This is not acceptable.
In our rush to snag those coveted parking spaces, some of us have put lives in danger.
The sheriffs are no strangers to danger. Just four days earlier, a pipe bomb was discovered on our campus. While civilians discovered it, the sheriffs were the ones who had to handle the bomb and make sure the campus was safe afterwards.
The sheriffs are not there to ruin your morning because of traffic flow. They are there to protect us.
And we repay them by not showing even the slightest regard after they could have been seriously injured?
The sheriffs warrant the same consideration we would give anyone else, maybe even more.
The drivers of the two cars might have been too scared or too focused on their own selfishness to stop, but the students in the crosswalk have no excuse.
Indifference can be contagious. People will hear someone calling for help and do nothing because they figure someone else will help them. Apathy is not a thing we want on this campus.
So the next time you see someone in need, whether it’s an authority figure or a fellow student, don’t just pass him or her by. Because the next time, it could be you that needs help from them.
( Anthony Gonzalez-Clark)
