June 16: Student union leaders go on the rampage at the Faculty of Commerce, demanding that the authorities do away with the implementation of the ATKT rule. Distribution of admission forms is stopped after their explanation is sought.

June 23: Another section of the union turns violent at the Faculty of Arts, protesting against the introduction of developmental fees for first year students. They submit a memorandum to the pro-vice-chancellor and are assured the matter will be looked into.

Abuses. Protests. Violence. A conflagration seems to be only a match-stick away at the M S University campus nowadays; discontent simmers just below a patina of calm, to erupt at reasons ranging from the demand of a departmental head's ouster or the price of admission forms.

The causes may be varied, but the fallout is almost always the same: broken furniture, shattered panes and a reputation in tatters. From one academic year to another, the university lurches through postponed examinations, ransacked cabins, stone-peltings, and disrupted schedules. Of late, the target has shifted to a more vulnerable quarter: outside the campus, on the residences and families of various syndicate members.

Yet there is little the authorities can do to contain the tempestuousness, the anger. They'd rather give in to the students' demands -- never mind if it concerns something that has been codified into law -- than watch them systematically destroy university property. Says PVC Dipak Kumar De, ``We cannot be present everywhere. And since we can't, we can't take action against unidentified students.''

The explanation would hold water if identified student-miscreants were subjected to something stronger than show-cause notices and warnings.

But then, as a short-term measure, it does seem easy to give in to demands, especially if they involve postponing examinations. Science Faculty Dean Bonny Pilo, however, says, ``Deferring exams does not mean we are succumbing to pressure. It is a way to prevent further destruction.''

While Pilo dismisses the option of seeking police protection, it is a fact that the authorities are hard-pressed to identify the miscreants. According to sources, most of the miscreants are not even university students, but the authorities are yet to take any steps to restrict the entry of outsiders in the campus.

For all that, it is next to impossible to absolve the students' union of all blame. As Syndicate member Nikhil Desai says, student leaders often run out of causes to fight for and are instigated by interested outsiders to blow up something that has nothing to do with the university at all.

Though it has organised the sporadic fair, rock show and musical night, the students' union has little to be proud of in MSU's 50th year. It even went back on its promise to have a separate float at the golden jubilee rally, after raising money for it.

De, however, prefers to console himself with the `fact' that the situation in MSU was better compared to that in other universities of the country.