May 4th, 2008The murder of a Cal student a few days ago made me sad and angry at how bad things are getting in the East Bay. Crime is getting horrible in Oakland, and it quickly spills over to the areas around the Cal campus. Beyond the senseless violence and its impact on the victims, it makes me sad at how it affects the students at Cal. These people are there to get an education at one of the best universities in the world (yes, I’m biased), but I know firsthand that going to school at Cal is sometimes like living in a war zone. Guys from Oakland often come into Berkeley to steal, fight, and occasionally kill. Here’s my victim’s resume of my time at Cal:
- Bike stolen from my living room. (1988)
- Jumped by a gang while walking home from a bar in Oakland. Beaten up and robbed. (1989)
- Attacked by gang on New Years Eve in my own house. (1989)
- Room broken into, over $1000 worth of stuff stolen (1990).
And then there was the Henry’s shooting in 1990, where about a half a dozen of my friends were held hostage by an insane gunman for seven hours. (I was supposed to meet them at the bar that night, but I fell asleep in my room and didn’t make it.)
It pisses me off that such a great school is located in such a crime-ridden area. What’s the solution? Who knows.
