While students condemn police for unwarranted actions in Saturday’s riot, administrators and media are not cutting them any slack, making it clear that rioting is dangerous behavior and will not be tolerated.

University officials have never condoned the incidents, which date back to spring 2001, but they now express waning patience with student behavior after students rioted in celebration of the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s victory over Duke University Saturday, the second in four weeks.

“Enough is enough. The city of College Park is fed up,” said university spokesman George Cathcart. “It’s time to crack down.”

The (Baltimore) Sun published an editorial yesterday chiding students for their behavior and suggesting that expulsions may be necessary to make a difference.

“This is as simple as the don’t-play-with-fire lesson that everyone should have learned long before college. We’re incredibly sorry that this needs saying: Lighting fires, destroying property and confronting cops in full riot gear is not only downright dumb but very dangerous,” said the editorial, which also chalked the celebrations up to a “sports-and-alcohol-induced frenzy.”

The riots, which have consistently spilled onto Route 1 in downtown College Park, have cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. Saturday night, police forces equipped with pepper ball guns, tear gas and pepper spray intended to force crowds onto university property to better control them and limit damage to the city, police officials said.

Some students have suggested holding university-sponsored celebrations after big wins, but university President Dan Mote said he thought the idea was unlikely.

“From what I heard from students, they wouldn’t attend any university-sponsored events,” Mote said Monday. “They like the spontaneity of it all.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement said the repeated incidents are disappointing because of the university’s repeated efforts at curbing riotous behavior. Saturday’s events were especially disheartening for university officials because inside Comcast Center, sportsmanship had been so positively received, she said.

“We put an awful lot of time into sportsmanship,” Clement said. “It paid off in terms of what went on inside the arena.”

After the 2001-2002 school year, which included riots after both football and basketball games, the university spent $30,000 to launch its “Act Like You Know” campaign in fall 2002. This year, administrators encouraged good sportsmanship with its first Champions Week, which included drives for books, food and blood and a full day of service at Cole Field House Saturday afternoon.

Clement said she thought the series of events had a positive impact, but regretted that in the days after the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s victory, most media attention was on the postgame incidents.

“All of this detracts from the accomplishments … I thought we were a model of sportsmanship Saturday night, but the media attention is on [the riots],” Clement said.

The Sun’s editorial showed similar sentiment.

“Ironically, UM students deserve credit for notably forsaking profanity during the game inside the Comcast Center. But they flunked the postgame test,” it said.

Clement said she thought most students attended riots for peaceful celebratory reasons, but it is smaller groups of students that consistently start more dangerous activity that the crowds follow.