The debate surrounding Beaver Canyon cameras continues tonight -- and it is going to get ugly.

The State College Borough Council will review a presentation from Police Chief Tom King and decide whether to move along with the implementation of surveillence cameras along East Beaver Avenue.

To King and the council: We strongly disagree with and discourage a move toward placing cameras in the Canyon.

Over and over we hear about including students in the process of making these decisions, yet the council is still pushing to vote on the issue during the last week of classes when students are swamped with work and have trouble attending events. We encourage students who can to attend
the council meeting at 7:30 tonight at 243 S. Allen St. in room 304.

Over and over we hear about improving the relationship between students and State College. This is going to severely deteriorate this relationship; there will be no improvement.

Do the police think the cameras won't be damaged? Do they think the cameras will deter crime? Cameras could lead to more crimes from those wanting to damage them. We can't even imagine the number of times these cameras will need to be replaced. What makes the police think cameras would cause a passersby to shudder with fear and behave like they would in church?

While it has been said that the cameras will be used for reviewing incidents that occur on Beaver Avenue -- which by the way, criminal incidents are not isolated to East Beaver Avenue -- why not use the time, money and effort by placing police on patrol and use more prevention? A patrol car is much more intimidating than a surveillence camera.

We are also concerned with how quickly the cameras might spread from Beaver Canyon across town, and from being used to review crimes to 24-hour monitoring.

Cameras won't stop objects from being thrown from balconies and won't effectively film those who do. They won't stop students from assaulting others. What they may do is tape some funny faces and middle fingers.

This decision is being made on incidents that occurred at three different disturbances almost two years ago. Now, police and council members are using a few more recent incidents as reasons.

Yes, crime is bad. Yes, people who throw things from balconies impair the safety of the public. No, cameras are not the answer to solving these problems, and the police and council members need to find a different solution.