Melding Lifestyles

Students should mature and keep their neighbors in mind while drinking.

At the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester, The Temple News made a resolution to increase coverage of the community surrounding Main Campus. We’ve stayed true to our goal.

Each week, we send a reporter into Main Campus’ surrounding neighborhood to ask community members their opinion on a current event for our “Community Voice” segment, and the addition of community beat reporter Alyssa Saylor has allowed coverage of community news to flourish.

But as much as The Temple News has stressed the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship between students and the community, it seems students still aren’t listening.

In “Campus Safety problem-solves underage drinking,” Page 1, Josh Fernandez reported on an address to the Board of Trustees from Campus Safety Services Executive Director Carl Bittenbender, in which he cited a rise in complaints from community members rising 53 percent – from 58 complaints in 2009 to 89 in 2010.

While some might grumble and say “Students will be students,” there is no acceptable reason for such a significant number of community members to be disturbed enough to pick up their phones and alert CSS.

Bittenbender said alcohol-related issues are to blame, calling for a weekly $10,000 in funding for additional police coverage to patrol from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

It’s commendable for Bittenbender, who also attributes the need for additional patrols to the increase in arrests and citations for alcohol violations, to propose putting responsibility in CSS’s hands.

But The Temple News suggests that, along with a heightened fear that cops will bust their parties, students gain something else: maturity. Drinking only causes individuals to disrespect their surroundings.

“If you could stop parties from happening, you wouldn’t have people urinating on people’s gardens, destroying property and throwing garbage everywhere at 4 in the morning,” Temple Student Government Senate President Colin Saltry previously told The Temple News of TSG’s and Student Affairs’ proposed “Good Neighbor” policy [“Policy to mend student-community relations,” Cary Carr, Alyssa Saylor, Nov. 30].

As finals come to a close and students throw end-of-the-semester parties before they trickle out of North Philadelphia and back to their hometowns, students should remember to be considerate of their nonstudent neighbors – and continue that responsible behavior through the rest of their time at Temple.