Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Noise Law Perpetuates Neighborhood Animosity

With the recent implementation of the Disorderly Conduct Amendment Act of 2010 in Washington, D.C., the ongoing squabble between Georgetown residents and students has seemingly reached a boiling point. From suggestions for further on-campus housing to past efforts to limit the number of non-relatives per household, the neighborhood community has long been making efforts to diminish the off-campus student population. Yet since the beginning of tensions in the 1980s, residents have been hard-pressed to find strong justification for their complaints.

The weakness of neighbors’ complaints begins and ends with one simple truth: Georgetown’s students pay for the right to live in off-campus residences, just like the rest of the Georgetown community. Blinded by a few big keg parties gone awry and the unseemly sight of two-weeklong beards practically crawling out of bed themselves on Saturday afternoon, Georgetown’s residents have become a multitude of malcontents, lobbying for change while struggling to locate any real justification against students.

From a proposal to prevent more than three unrelated residents from living in a single home in 1996 to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission’s (ANC) rejection of a local Papa John’s in 1997, residents of both Georgetown and Burleith have gone to virtually unconstitutional lengths to limit off-campus student life. In 1998, a group of local residents even attempted to sue Georgetown students who had won positions on the ANC following a wave of D.C. student voter registration — proving beyond a doubt that residents would rather point fingers than compromise with an open-minded student body.

The Disorderly Conduct Amendment Act marks the pinnacle of such neighborhood antagonism, placing a completely unjust weapon in the hands of Georgetown’s aggravated residents. According to the act, the maximum penalty for noise violations will now be arrest with potential jail time as opposed to a fine. Not only is putting offenders in handcuffs an absurdly harsh penalty for noise violations, but the new law creates an easy opportunity for residents to inflict undue punishment upon their student neighbors. Already harboring a bias towards students for a few past instances of typical young adult stupidity, residents are likely to call in at the slightest hint of a party. Since the classification of a noise violation is both vague and subjective, even truly harmless levels of noise will inevitably result in unnecessary arrests. The sick sense of sadistic redemption the first scrooge who calls in will feel as his neighbor is led out in cuffs certainly could have been mitigated by a friendly request to lower the music. If residents thought students were obnoxious and unruly before, imagine how a student would feel about the cranky man next door after his mug shot has been snapped and his record irreversibly tarnished. Obviously, such situations are unlikely to resolve town-gown tensions in the way that simple neighbor-to-neighbor communication and respect could.

While the Disorderly Conduct Amendment Act is not directly targeting students, it is clear that the provisions of the law can be used by residents of the community to excessively punish their student neighbors. Residents clearly have a right to a quiet and safe neighborhood, and admittedly that right is occasionally violated by student conduct. But in light of the fact that the university has been here since 1789, residents should be realistic and expect at least a moderate aura of a college town.

Increased communication between the university, students and residents would be a far better solution to neighborhood tension than incessant efforts to stymie the presence of students off-campus. It is time for residents to accept the fact that the students of Georgetown are going to live in Georgetown, and that the best solution for both parties is a fair balance between student rights and a reasonable neighborhood environment.

Michael Berardo is a freshman in the College.

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