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Matthew White

11/&/07

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Roxbury District Cowt

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My first encounter with the law was a surreal one. I never thouiht I would be the one to

get arrested out of a crowd of pcoplo; I iUe.s I really do not know myself ae well M [ thought,

With the Red Sox winning I spot in the World Series, I oelebrated with my friends along the

outskirtsof FcnwayPBlk. My m.ind..cJetma.yha.vebeen8.bit overzealousfor the situation,but I

was eostatio about belpg in the city while tho lU:d Sox WCfeabout to play in the World Serle!!.

My deoisions and aotion5 on that brisk October night at Fcuway Parle WCtOnaive and

in""CU8Ible. They have affeoted many different people on many di.ffctcnt levels. Besides

mysaff, my parents, my ftiends, tho Boston Police Department, Roxbury Distriot Court, Distriot

Attomey~ and M8.'ISl!ohusottsCalleao of Pharmaoy IIIJ.dHealth Sciences were all affected. After

tealizina how manyJ)cople WCtCcUfectedby my actions, I thought back to the night of Ootober

21. I have come to the conclusion that t1wsituation could have easily been prevented or

detained.

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My parents were not the people I ftrst con~ted that night, mostly beoaus6 of .fear and

dlsappoiDtmrmt. I was afraid at what they would eay to me.,and most of all how ashamed thoy

were going to boo I b8.vealways boon honest with my parents, but this WB!Ia little too hard to

IItOII18Oh.I finallytold my parents the devastatingnewI durina the Roeatlin oourton October22.

My mothorimmodlatelyburst into teaxtandukcd if r WI! ser10UII. ] ~sponded with '''Ye!! mom.

I'IIl 9eriQ~. I got attested Jut night." She kept asking if I WB8okay8Dd what was going to

happen. At that point I was not SWC,80 I oauld not u,Uher much~jUBtthat I W88being charged

with disordm:ly conduct and that I would oall her after the hearing WB8over. 011tho other hand,

my father took a more 4tmn &pproaoh. All soon as I told him what happened the night before, he

weDt silent. Then before I could speak:he bcKanto scold InCon why I would ev~ think about

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going down to Ftmway after the 2004 events. I had no response to my father' 8 remarb, just that

I WlUltedto celebrate and enJoy th6 win with my friends. Ho continued to toll me that there WII3

no CXOUgefor what happclned and the1'8was no resson to go down to the park.

I look baok on it now andthink to Xl1)'ftelfthat my father was right. I could have easily

stayed in tnJ' dorro.toom andwatohedthe oelClbrationon the televIsion with my friends, but we

lot oUt'emotions got the best of us, especIally in my case. [see now that one decision led me into

the wrong path that night, and my parents were just one of the many to pay the pdce. I let my

mother and father down by not living up to my reputation, 88 i well rounded ooUege student, and

mi!dng our last name, White, subtly infamous. My xnother cried fot days after she beard the

news. She was worried about what wu going to happen to mo legally and academically_ My

fhther was disappointed in me andshoo1c:edthat rwasinvolvedin somathiuahe heard ovorthe

news after the ~o that night. He oame 10 court with D1e011Ootober twenty-seoond, 2007;

which he badto lor.n work:to attend, resulting in loat waael. But my parents lost more than

monC)'; thoy lost some of their trust in DlC.

Someof my friendswere ~so directlyaffeotedby my aQttoosbackon Octobertwonty-

first. My friendBradenwas the fIrstpOISonI calledwhenr arrivedat the jait in Roxbury. He

had no transportation to get the police /ltadon, !lOhe called his sister who hat a oar in the city.

They both csmo to the police department in Roxbury to bail me out, Both Brad6l1and La\1rQn

Wetohappy to see that I was okay and.d. Just llke any goodmend, Bradenwu disappointed

in mt; but W8Bthere to hcs1pme In a time of dimss. I am very thankful for Braden and his

sl.st.er,Lauren. who drove out of their way at 4 o'olook in the mom!ng to Roxbury and bailedme

out ofJall. Ifthero WCl.1Inot "ble to pl.ckmc up. I would haw apentthe whole night in jail until

court the next morning. My other friendB WC1'OallSovery !lupportive. A few IWCDstayed up untll

4:30 A.M. just to see how I was doing. Two of my ftiends accompanied xncat my school's

judicial heq aDdwem very helpfultowardsmy ouo. .Anothertwo ftiends wroteemails to tho

DePn of Students regarding the events at Fenway Park on OctDber twcIIty;.firat. With the help ofL.

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these friends I am hoping the DCaLlhas a better understanding of what happened at FenwlLY Park

approximately three weeka ago.

,. The Boston Polioe Dep!rtment patrolled Fenway Park with ereat foroeon October

twenty-first. Officet'8 were not going easy on tM crowds. They were at full atrength and ready

to resolve any problem that came their way. Myself. Ii 'NOllIS twenty-five others, seemed to

pose a threat to the offioers and surrounding orowds. 50 WCIwere apprehended for out disorderly

actions. The Boston Police Department wu ..Imply doing their job, but some miiht sa)' they

were abuslni their power to an ex~nt. It 18understood that tlu! officers were not 80ing to put up

with any dillruptlveanticsafter the eventsfollowingthe 2004 deathof a collegostudent. Fair or

not, Boston Police mado twenty-six arrcm that night. Resulting in this WIL9a higher cost to tho

oity on top of the 1,000 police on patrol at FOIlwayand the SUt'1'ouruJ.ingareas. During this

exniting ocoasion. Boston Police had to bo on the top ofthelr game without lcttin&the Sm,1I1Iof

the rowdy fl1Ilsget to tMm. Many axtra hours are 8plmtconb:olling Red Sox playoff games and

the Boston police Departmmt make!!sure that tbcy enforoe all of the rules during the!!" iamol.

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Roxbury Dlstrlct Court is a p1acoof justice and business. The court itsolf. the judges,

prolCoutors, and defense attDr~8 aUmake sure th2t justice is met tOr IillcrlmC8,no m.atter what

level. The seventeen arrests, including m)'!ett: took up valuable time of tho oowt with all of our

dilOtderly oonduct oharFi. We oolt tht' court to spend more money than needed. The jud~c.

prosecutor, and defcrose BrtoIDfIYwere all appointed to this calle that WI.9very elementary and

hnmature. Althouah D1Yhnmaturc: actIons was the n:1ISOJlthat it WM lIummoned to court, I have.leamed and g1:Own&om simply sittiDj in the courtroom through other~. 1M court room

i.. a very somber and camcritplllQc. In thc courtroom, thorc i8 DOroom for error, and absolutely.

nQto10(8D.oefor foolisbne8s. I approaohcd II1YIIppc&'8D.Cein oourt with some naI'VOWIncm!.but

remained confidmt throughout the dwatlon of1hc hearing, The more timc 1 spent in the

courtroom, the more I felt comfortablo in there.RoxlnuyDlstriotCourtwu bom~ed with 17

peoplcswho were charged with disorderly conduct and filled with ~ proseoutors and

dd6nse attorneys. My aotions oontrIbuted to the W8iC8ooUorrtedon thDtday ftom the District

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Attomey. One of the attoroey&agreed to tak.c.tho case fot no cb.aq~e. He took time out of the

rest ofws da.y,maybo even his personal time, just to defend a group of people .&oing

xni.demeanor charges. The Roxbwy District Court was troubled. with the 17 cases of

adolescence whioh proloneed the day for the whole courtroom.

The expeotations of Massachusctts College ofPhBl1I1BCYand Health Sciences student.! do

not lower outsido the classroom. The ValU!!8of .responsibility,honesty. and respect Breall

requirements for every student enroUodat MCPHS. AI a member of tho MCPHS student body,

you representMCPHSno matttr wht.reyou are,on or o:ffoampus. MCPHStakes part in the

Good Neighbor Polioy. The Good Neighbor Policy shites that any student who attends MCPHS

illlexpeoted to behliveacoordinglyto any situation~utsidethe confJ.IUWenuof tileMCPHS

08!Ilpu8. If there are any Violatiol1Sof this polioy. it is oa:tain that cODlleqU8l1Cl!Swill fuUow the

student's prior actions. A hearingwith thoDean of Stud!'D-mwUl !oon followairer MCPHSis

aware of the violation at band. There is B.zero tolerance polley for violatlon of any rule in tho

MCPHS handbook. As health pIofessiona19, we aro held at a higher standard than most,

r"iBrdina conduct and self rel1aaae.

A dle1w.rdRed Sox fan Is what r am; tbis situation will not ohange that One thing I will

ohange about myself after fipcDdinaa night in jail, 8Ildmaking it through the comt process, will

be they way I go about celebrating fbturo Red Sox victories. I oannot xun BXoundft:eely

screeming ever:ything that oomes into my mind. Other 'WaY'of ~lebrating oan be j ust as

enjpyable as going down to FIIJ1W1LYto celebrate with a part of Red Sox.Nation. A wore srosiblo

alternative fur colebration would be watching the game on I big 8C1'CIenTV with my best friends.

Rwming down to Fcnway Park in a craze is only askiIJi for one thing, and that is trouble. I have

sadly leamed that the hard way. My oYerly'cxoited IItt1tudewas not acceptable and was not

tolerated at all. I have contemplated about my actions many times and oome to approoiate tno

:faotthat it i8 not alway! good to have the ligo big or go home" memtality. More times than not,

1bis mentB.\itywill hurt your per.onal aura and nlputation.

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One !lpJitdecision oan affect more than one penon. Many different people can be

Idfeoted by OD.8pfJt'Son'sactions. Most people do not think about who el~e their actions affect.

In fact, most people tblnk about these repercussions after they have performed theix actions.

Unfortunately, I have fallen in the large group of peoplo who do not t1Unkbefore the 1I.Ot.r have

a1socome to understand that confomtity is only aood to a certain extent. There comes Iipoint

where one has to become their own person and say whethet they want to or do not want to do

something. Conformity can pressure people into doing things they normally wouldn't do, In my

oue my inends oonfonned to my ideM that night. With tho burden of IIhowing my friends a

good time on my shoulders, I felt the need to become a lelider crfsome Red Sox chants. In the

long run, this W88not a 'lory lnt811eotualdcoision on my part. I should haye thought for myself

and toalilrd that my friends would have an aijoyable night. If I had acted 6Ccordingly and

controUedmy oxoitement, a lot ofstccss could have becn a'IJoided.

My parents, my fritnd8. BostoD Police pepartment, Roxbury Distriot Court, the District

Attorney, and my college, Massachusetts College ofPhmnaoy IUJdHealth Soienoos, have all

been burdened by this unfo~ occurrenco. My parcnUlook: at ma with disappointment, but

understand that I now know what I dcWW8!not.in charactm. My fricmdsb8.vebeen very

supportive. and IU'Overy helpful dwing this titne of distress. The Bosten Pollce Departmont wu

simply doing their Job that Sunday night. They may have been fOrceful. but that is why there

Wextlat the Park.,to control ~ fans. Roxbury District Court hae been overneeing and

doterminingthe consequcnoeathatrbave fBccd.As for M8ssaohuaettsCollegeofPhannacy and

Health Sciences, my actions on October mnty-first do not add up to the high standards ofllie

college. I know that 1can ~mplify the charaateriitio. of a model person and student for my

fellow pocrs. My apologies go out to everyone who bas been involved in this matter. My

s.ctionswereout of oh.m.oter; do not depict my intuitive reactions accurately. This bas boon a

very infonnativeand e~ opaningexpmm}("eand beGl1U8Oof it I BInnow a betterperson.-