Don’t disrupt the parties
The epicenter of last Friday night’s party/riot was only a couple of blocks from my apartment, and truth to tell, I slept right through it.
Actually, being a somewhat “nontraditional” student, I don’t go to parties anymore. I hate getting drunk, and I’ve gotten shy about smoking my young fellow students’ dope without reciprocating, which I am almost never able to do anymore — who’d sell to an old geezer like me? Still, I have some questions.
Why should a pleasant gathering of well-behaved young people, who are doing nothing worse than getting drunk and peaceably stoned, be hectored by some officious cop with a bullhorn and told to “disperse” at 11:30 of a fine Friday night? What gives him the right? And if it comes to that, why not throw bottles at him? Seems like a natural impulse to me.

Douglas Snow

senior

romance languages
 

Partygoers must respect

neighbors’ rights
In virtually every discussion about undergraduate partying and rioting off campus, one of the most important elements is missing. The police do not simply show up at parties. They are there because someone has called them in response to obnoxious, disruptive and/or illegal behavior. Neighbors in my area have endured students urinating in their yards, broken beer bottles, massive amounts of litter, walls vibrating with loud music, cars speeding down streets and more during student parties, large and small. Our peace in our homes, our children’s sleep and our pets’ safety have been marginalized by selfish, self-centered, spoiled undergraduates who have no perspective on the effects of their behavior on others.
This is not an issue about big, bad police that won’t let anyone have any fun. It is about highly disruptive behavior that negatively impacts the permanent residents of some terrific neighborhoods. While there is no “right to party,” as some undergraduates would advocate, homeowners do have the right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes and property, and there are laws to protect those rights. When students trample on those rights with large, loud gatherings, we will call the police to break up those events. When this happens, the partygoers are in the wrong, not the police.

Jane Steckbeck

Eugene