Hopefully that employer who interviews you when you graduate in May wasn't watching CNN on Saturday. Hiding behind the veil of "celebration," students cut another slash into the credibility of our alma matter this weekend.

In a fashion that is becoming dangerously ritualistic, students headed toward Beaver Avenue in the final seconds of Penn State's loss to Temple late Friday night.

And so, the familiar sight of "Beaver Canyon" appears once again on news broadcasts inside and outside Pennsylvania. Last Sunday, when students took to the streets after the men's basketball team's last win, they truly had something to celebrate. Friday night, however, erupted into an unnecessary display of violence that had nothing to do with basketball.

Displays like this are only self-destructive. Each riot invites the placement of further infringements on personal liberties. For instance, last week, Borough Council voted to force businesses like Acme pizza to close their vendor windows at midnight because they think this will prevent riots.

Right now for students, that may only mean depriving us from grabbing pizza from the traditional downtown landmark, but for businesses, this represents a restriction on their rights.

Whether it means the sealing of Beaver Avenue balconies or other measures, Borough Council could continue to place restrictions on the rights of students, businesses and other residents until they feel they can ensure public safety.

Students are doing this to themselves. Unfortunately, it hurts the reputation of all of our degrees, not just those that belong to students dropping beer bottles from 10-story buildings.

The less tangible loss in credibility from the riots leads to financial imitations when disgusted alumni no longer dig into their pockets to support us. Penn State is not only our school; it belongs to generations of graduates, and we owe it to them to preserve its honor.

Problems go beyond our reputation, rights and damage. Beaver Avenue is a one-way street. The Alpha Fire Department sits at the west end of it. The mob of 4,000 would have cut off the quickest, most direct route for fire trucks and ambulances to pass through to a real emergency — not to mention the incredible tie-up of many State Troopers as well as university and town police, who could have been attending to other matters.

Fortunately, police dispersed the crowd fairly quickly. Unfortunately, because many innocent people report they were sprayed with a chemical substance, questions have arisen concerning the need for a stronger warning from the police. Some of these students simply needed more time to disperse.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of the incident was the sheer pointlessness of it. By the looks of it, some had planned to riot no matter how their team fared. In a sense, the riot was a self-fulfilling prophecy in which the students and police fed off of each other. It was expected to happen. It was expected to reach a violent point.

At one time, we could say past riots here were isolated incidents, but that is no longer. We must stop this dangerous trend before someone is seriously hurt and while we Penn State students still have some integrity left.