The following is a blog written by Northern Star Reporter Kris Collins about his experiences with various University Police officers Monday morning.

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I was sitting in the newsroom of the Northern Star working on the latest and final edition of the Nightly News Webcast for the semester, when I received news that would completely change the course of my week.

A campus alert had been sent out saying that a threat had been written on the stall of a bathroom including a racial slur with references to the Virginia Tech shootings.

This immediately became all that everyone could talk about. I didn’t know how to react to this. With this week being my first week of college finals ever, I was already nervous enough. Now with the threat of danger, my college experience was quickly turning from new and exciting to strange and nerve-wracking.

The next morning, I woke up early to find out the finals I had been studying so diligently for were canceled. I was already completely awake so there was no hope for going back to sleep, so I decided to head over to the Star to see if there was anything I could do.

I found out that there was a press conference being held by President Peters over the threat, so I decided to wait for two other Star employees before the conference.

I had about twenty minutes to wait before they got there so I decided to spend my time battling the thick sheet of ice that had grown on my car. As I was knocking the ice off, a University Police squad car pulled up. I didn’t really think anything of it; I figured they wanted to see what I was doing.

It turned out that someone called in saying that I looked suspicious. I told the officers that I work for the Star and that I was waiting to head to a press conference. They were very understanding and we parted on good terms.

I decided to move my car to the other side of the parking lot to avoid another suspicious call. This new plan, however, did not work out the way I thought it would. After about five minutes, the same two officers were back on a second suspicious call. I explained that I was just sitting in my car and that I was still waiting to go to this press conference.

After they left, I got a call saying to head over to Altgeld Hall for the press conference. As I was loading up the tripod and camera in my bag to try and get some footage of the conference for a feature, I heard the sound of a car pulling up behind me. I looked around and sure enough it was my good friends from the UP.

They cracked the window of the car and told me to “stay there” for a second. With no other choice, I stood there waiting to hear what my newest suspicious action was. All of a sudden, both officers got out of the car and told me to put my hands on my car.

I stood there in complete shock as I was being searched by this officer. I had no idea what I had done wrong. When I asked the officer what this was about, he told me that someone had called in saying that I was sharpening a knife in my car.

Then another UP squad car pulled up and the officer got up and they asked to search my car. I told them it was fine with me. The closest thing to a weapon that I have in my car is a lacrosse stick that is mainly used as a long ice scraper.

After a few minutes, the officers found nothing, but still told me that I should leave to avoid another call. I was on my way to the conference anyway, so I didn’t have a problem. Within about a thirty-minute time span, I had been stopped by the UP three times. As a freshman in my first semester, these finals are like nothing I have ever experienced before.

First, I am hit with the huge workload with an equal amount of stress to go with it. Second, the threat of danger strikes and cancels classes. Third, I have three nice chats with the University Police over calls that didn’t relate to me in any way.

I know that not all finals weeks are as eventful as this one, but this week will leave a lasting impression.

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