Several weeks ago, The Pioneer listed “town-gown tension” as the seventh-worst thing about attending Whitman.

“Townies,” as citizens of Walla Walla are called, are viewed with amusement, fear and ignorance by Whitman students.   Any male between the ages of 18 and 30 is considered a threat if he ventures anywhere near our little enclave.

Indeed, several targeted attacks against students this year have given us justified reason for alarm. But our response to these attacks has been largely misguided and fails to understand the problem. Until students realize that these assaults are our own creation, they will continue.

Last month, The Pioneer Editorial Board accused the administration of taking insufficient steps to protect students and suggested hiring more security guards and improving lighting around campus.

Would the Board have the beauty of the amphitheatre at dusk destroyed by floodlights?   This approach to student safety misses the point entirely.

The first step to actually resolving this problem, especially for students living on-campus, is to realize that a permanent community with permanent residents exists outside our bubble.   We, on the other hand, cycle out every four years, never really getting to know the nature of Walla Walla proper.

Our presence here has real effects, many of them negative. Aside from the wine industry, Whitman is probably the greatest factor raising tax rates and property values in Walla Walla. This is not lost on residents.

Not only are we separate from the greater Walla Walla community, we love it that way. I personally find a perverse glee in knowing that, as a Whitman student, I am largely exempt from several laws that would otherwise be an annoyance.

A cancerous otherizing of Walla Walla residents has taken place among the student body. The perceived “townie threat” is inflated to the point of being self-fulfilling.

I was once walking by Prentiss in a group of about eight people, when an unfamiliar man fell into step behind us. A nervous fear infected the group, and whispers started: “Is that a townie? Why is he following us? What should we do?” From all the glances and hushed voices, it must have been quite obvious that we were talking about him.

Of course, a lone man is never going to bother a group of eight. But if I were in his shoes, I may have gone off and scared another student on purpose: if I’m being demonized, it might as well be justified.

This is the sort of self-reflection that violent encounters with community members should create, not an argument over how many security guards is enough.

Considering our status as privileged tourists in this middle-class town, we might as well make ourselves likable. This begins with not assuming every strange face is a mugger, and continues with actually making friends from the community.

Perhaps an era of peace and mutual respect between Walla Wallans and students awaits. A little humility from students will go a long way toward meeting this goal. Until then, a few unlucky students will pay the price for our collective aloofness.