On Saturday, The Register-Guard published a news article explaining why the Eugene Police Department will resume its “Party Patrol,” concentrating EPD energy on University neighborhoods where potentially unruly parties may occur.
Reporter Rebecca Nolan applauds EPD’s efforts, offering a few tongue-in-cheek insults directed toward the University population: “(‘Party Patrol’ is) much reviled by youngsters who believe that hosting a kegger in a cramped rental apartment is a right protected by the U.S. Constitution.”
The truth is, as long as everyone crammed into that apartment is older than 21, the right to have a party in a private residence is protected by the Constitution. Underage drinking is understandably a problem that must be dealt with, but not everyone comes to college hankering to get drunk and “start burning furniture in the street,” as is indicated in Nolan’s article.
More police watching over the West University Neighborhood may have helped prevent riots in recent years, but stereotyping all University students because of rioting more than two years ago only enforces the mentality that students are a nuisance to the Eugene community, no matter our current actions. Nolan’s article insults college students, not even mentioning the economic and cultural benefits that a University population brings to Eugene.
Eugene belongs to each of its residents equally; we must all live in this city together. Nolan’s “us and them” stereotypes will only encourage more anger and frustration from everyone. In the future, all Eugene media should encourage the value of mutual respect by using facts rather than stereotypes when reporting on University news.
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