Students do not go through four years (plus) of university education and incur thousands of dollars of debt to throw their degrees out upon graduation. Similarly, the State College Borough Council should not do away with the Beaver Canyon cameras after investing nearly $25,000, as some council members have recently suggested. Much money has been spent and much ink has been spilt in analyzing the cameras' installation. Now, they have finally been up and running for a year. Mayor Bill Welch has said that the continued upkeep of the cameras would be "modest" when compared to the initial cost of installation -- $24, 409.05. The cameras do not require an around-the-clock staff to operate and the tape is only accessed if it is known that an illegal event occurred within the viewing area. Therefore, the cost of upkeep must be dwarfed when compared to the original price tag of the package, as Mayor Welch says. What sense would it make to undo all the work that went into getting the cameras running in the first place? Probably about as much sense as staffing Beaver Avenue with a score of police officers within the viewing range of the cameras. Council President Tom Daubert has said that the cameras have done "essentially nothing at this point." Perhaps one reason that the borough has not been able to use the cameras to catch crime in action is because there is a surplus of State College police officers walking the same beat that the cameras were meant to "walk" electronically. In any event, one year may not be enough time to accurately tell the value of the cameras. Their value can be calculated more effectively over a period of time.

In a Daily Collegian report from Fall '03 some, like Kappa Alpha Order -- located near one of the cameras -- member Joe Chiodo have said that people are more "cautious about acting unlawfully" near the cameras. Apparently the cameras are serving their original purpose, which was to prevent against riots and unlawful actions in a particularly raucous part of downtown. The cameras have already been noted for their insurance-like effect in pre-empting unlawful behavior. If they remain in continued use they may act as a deterrent against crime more pervasively in the future. Quite frankly if they do not lower crime in the area, the cost will have been minimal and some crime may have been avoided in the meantime, as appears to be case.

Students make an investment in their education because they expect a payoff in the long run. The borough should allow the cameras to remain and do their job in Beaver Canyon. The long run may yield some benefit to the community in terms of a lowered crime rate in downtown's most rowdy area.