The Marquette Tribune
Opinions
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
PAGE 10
Editorial Board
Alexandra Garner, Executive Opinions Editor Hope Moses, Assistant Opinions Editor Aimee Galaszewski, Executive Director Benjamin Wells, Managing Editor of The Marquette Tribune Skyler Chun, Managing Editor of The Marquette Journal
Megan Woolard, News Executive John Leuzzi, Sports Executive Randi Haseman, A&E Executive Lelah Byron, Projects Editor
Eleanor McCaughey, Copy Chief Grace Pionek, Design Chief Izzy Bonebrake, Executive Photo Editor Nancy Flaherty, Social Media Executive
Andrew Amouzou, Station Manager of MUTV Reese Seberg, Station Manager of MURadio Alex Rivera Grant, Editor of Diversity and Inclusion
STAFF EDITORIAL
MUPD must do better, promptly inform campus
Marquette University Police Department has a responsibility to promptly inform the Marquette community of incidents on campus, regardless of their threat status. A Milwaukee Police Department officer who responded to a welfare check of an individual sitting in a car at 21st Street and St. Paul Avenue was shot during the evening of Jan. 27. The officer and the suspect exchanged fire. Then the suspect stole the officer’s car, drove it and crashed it into another vehicle on 17th Street and Clybourn Avenue. The suspect fled the scene, but was taken into custody by MPD on 17th Street and Wisconsin Avenue near McCabe Hall, Humphrey Hall and The Commons, where many Marquette students live. Many MPD and MUPD vehicles lined up on 17th Street near these buildings, red and blue lights flashed and caution tape was strung up. Students were alarmed and panicked as they looked out of their residence hall and apartment windows. With no information from MUPD, students were left to speculate about what was happening and potentially spread misinformation to other students. Many sent
text messages to their friends and peers trying to figure out if it was safe to go outside. MUPD did not send out any information to students at the beginning of this time. Police officers were dispatched around 6:30 p.m. and arrived on the scene before 7 p.m. However, the first communication from MUPD was a safety alert at 7 p.m. Jan. 27 that said, “Situation stabilized, No threat to campus.” MUPD sent a safety alert at 7 p.m. Jan. 27. There was no information about the “situation,” leaving students and parents who have opted into safety alerts confused about what situation had been stabilized. One student said they saw someone getting put into an ambulance; another student said they saw someone carrying an assault rifle. Not providing adequate and timely information can create just as much panic as keeping students informed if there was an active threat to campus. The next MUPD alert was sent at 7:16 p.m.: “MUPD assisting MPD. No active threat to campus. Stay away from police investigation west of 16th Street.” The third MUPD alert was sent at 8:29 p.m.: “Continued police presence on campus due to MPD
investigation of non-MU incident. Situation is stable and no active threat to campus.” If MUPD would have sent out this information when they first arrived on the scene, students could have been put at ease and not left wondering about the safety of their friends and themselves. Students deserve to know what is happening on campus, even if there is not an active threat. When people see over a dozen police vehicles and caution tape, it is not unreasonable for them to think there is a threat on campus. MUPD could have easily said that they were assessing a situation when they arrived on the scene. Marquette University Police Chief Edith Hudson released a statement Jan. 28 to discuss the situation that happened Thursday night. Hudson assured the Marquette community that there was no active threat to campus, and that MUPD was assisting MPD with an investigation of the shooting. “During an active investigation, ensuring the safety of our community and the accuracy of information is critical,” Hudson said in the statement. “We communicated as soon as we could through social media and text that there was no threat to campus and that we were
assisting MPD.” Later in the statement, Hudson advised students, faculty and staff to opt into text messaging safety alerts, download the Eagle Eye app and follow the MUPD Twitter account for updates. The statement said that MUPD posts updates on Twitter “in real time.” However, the tweet had the same message verbatim as the safety alert and was sent out on Twitter at the same time as the text message at 7 p.m. MUPD needs to consider how students are feeling, and not leave them in the dark. Instead, they should be proactive rather than reactive with their communication. Additionally, failing to be transparent can cause parents to panic. With no information and many not being near Marquette, parents don’t have insight into what’s happening on campus and they will likely worry about the safety of their children. MUPD’s lack of transparency has been an ongoing issue. MUPD sent a safety email March 14, 2021 about a male individual who was threatening and striking women in the Marquette area. The March 14 message was the first direct communication with the Marquette community, despite the individual engaging in
more than one violent incident on campus prior to the MUPD safety email; the individual was also seen in Mashuda Hall the week before where he threw a water bottle at a desk receptionist. MUPD also failed to provide timely information Feb. 16, 2020 when a bullet entered a study room of Wells Street Hall in The Commons. A safety alert was sent to students nearly 40 minutes after the incident, merely saying that shots were fired near North 17th Street and West Highland Avenue. MUPD did not say a residence hall had been affected until nearly an hour and a half later. Another incident occurred October 2019 when MUPD and Marquette failed to provide information about a Marquette student who was missing for five days. Although the university said the incident was a family matter and wasn’t supposed to be public, the missing student’s friends did not keep the incident private, so MUPD should have communicated with the Marquette community to seek involvement in locating him. MUPD needs to reassess what they deem necessary to share with students. Failing to provide information in a timely manner is putting the safety of campus at risk, not protecting it.
guidelines. Some theaters require masks and/or proof of vaccination, while others don’t. And even when theaters check COVID-19 vaccination proof or negative COVID-19 tests, they often don’t o verify the information with a form of ID. Many also don’t implement social distancing in the theaters, making it easier to spread COVID-19 if people aren’t wearing masks to eat and drink, or at all. Additionally, for such an anticipated movie as “SpiderMan: No Way Home,” many theaters were likely packed to capacity. The movie prior to “No Way Home,” “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” came out in June 2019 and left off on a cliffhanger, making fans more excited to see the next movie which was still slated for its original December 2021 release date. And with the movie coming out during the holiday season, there
was likely to be a high viewership in the theaters. Social media was also not a huge help during this tim. Instead of encouraging people to stay home and wait until it was safer to see the movie or even wait until the movie could be streamed or bought at home, lead actors of the movie Tom Holland and Zendaya encouraged people to buy tickets early and see it in theaters. With the current rise of COVID-19 cases and a lack of enforcement of health guidelines in theaters, “SpiderMan: No Way Home” should’ve been pushed to a later release date. Being flexible and cognizant of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rise of omicron cases, would have been a safer choice for a lot of people and could have led to possibly even more anticipation of the release; with omicron cases expected to plateau or decline in the near future, more people may have felt
comfortable going to movie theaters and there would be less spread of COVID-19. Postponing movie release dates is not a new adjustment. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, “A Quiet Place Part II” was held and released in May 2021, instead of its original release date in March 2020. Another popular change has been sending movies straight to streaming services instead of movie theaters at all. The live action Disney remake of “Mulan” was originally slated to come out in March 2020, but because of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie came out on instead Disney+ in August 2020. If movie theaters were determined to have “Spider-Man: No Way Home” released in theaters, they should have enforced COVID-19 precautions. To help prevent the rise of
COVID-19 cases, movie theaters could have better enforced social distancing and face masks and verified proof of vaccination status and negative COVID-19 tests. They should continue these practices in the future, as big blockbuster movies like “The Batman,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Avatar 2” are expected to come to theaters this year. Movie theaters need to take higher precautions instead of solely focusing on the revenue the movie is going to make and be advocates of people’s health and safety. While a new and exciting movie is always fun to look forward to, the changing COVID-19 pandemic should be central to industry decisions as well.
Movie industry must be mindful of ongoing pandemic
Krisha Patel Although it seems the world is returning to a sense of normalcy, large industries like the film industry have a responsibility to take into account a changing COVID-19 landscape when deciding on movie releases. The most recent Marvel Studios movie, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” was released Dec. 2021 grossing $1.6 billion and ranking as number six on the box office list. Although it was the highest grossing movie yet to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, its release during the height of the omicron variant may have contributed to a rise in cases. Movie theaters play a key role for not adhering to COVID-19
Krisha Patel is a junior studying nursing and Spanish for the health professions. She can be reached at krisha.patel@marquette.edu
