Time change disturbance comparatively mild to previous years

by Natalie Myers and Erica Ryan
Staff Writers

The sound filled the cold air for several blocks when a crowd of chanting students overtook a part of Court Street early yesterday morning as clocks shifted for daylight-saving time and the bars closed early.

Starting at about 1 a.m., EST, students began yelling, crowd surfing and setting off firecrackers and smoke bombs. Despite the antics, no arrests were made.

Police did not estimate the crowd size, but a large group of students gathered between Washington and State streets. Mounted officers at the intersection of Washington and Court streets established a police barrier.

Mike Sostarich, OU vice president for student affairs, said the night went better than in previous years.

"It wasn't absolutely perfect in that the street was still taken over illegally, but the (crowd) numbers were down," he said.

Sostarich attributed this decrease to the campaigns headed by OU's Student Senate and graduate student Ben Shoemaker, as well as police efforts.

APD had four foot patrol officers on the street this year. Last year more than 25 APD officers were stationed on the street, APD Officer David Malawista said.

"Last year people complained we were too confrontational," he said. "With less officers to get people agitated, there is no focal point for it."

APD Chief Richard Mayer said the department did handle the incident differently from last year. Many mounted officers came from local agencies outside of Athens for backup purposes.

"This year we elected to, instead of making a bunch of arrests, wait it out," he said. "Had it escalated, we were prepared to move them out of the street."

Students' opinions on the police presence varied.

"I thought they would be arresting everyone," said OU senior Karen Buell, watching the crowd. "It's just pleasantly crazy."

Other onlookers expressed disappointment in the lack of police aggression.

"I wanted to see people get shot with wooden bullets," said OU junior Matt Reedy. "It's pretty lame."

Several students said they enjoyed the antics.

"I'm not too proud of OU, but I think this is really funny," said OU junior Jill Galati.

Karin Groot, who is visiting Athens to take an e-business course for her employer, compared the crowd to a party in her home country. "This looks just like the carnival in Holland."

About an hour and a half after it began the crowd dispersed around 3:20 a.m., EDT.

"I'm really amazed and pleased at how quickly the crowd dissipated," Malawista said. "It built up and dissipated much quicker than last year."