The neighborhoods surrounding City College have been getting progressively more rowdy over the years, giving the community an overwhelming amount of concern with student behavior off-campus.
In order to tackle the issues at hand, The Neighborhood Task Force met last week with the community and local officials to present a report listing possible solutions to be implemented by Fall 2015.
The neighborhoods in question include Barranca and Oceano streets, as well as the La Brezza apartments.
The report was just as comprehensive as it was complex, but it boiled down to three main solutions that will be taken into consideration. A noise ordinance modeled after Cal Poly SLO, a larger police presence on campus and more landlord accountability.
Members of the Channels Editorial Board are all thankful that the city is willing to work with the college on such complex issues, and we think that some of the ideas are definitely worth exploring.
However, there are some very clear concerns with some of these ideas, particularly with increased foot-patrols on campus by police.
The Ed board unanimously agreed that this seemed more like a scare tactic, and less of a proactive solution resembling Orwell’s 1984. Considering campus crime is hardly an issue at City College, this wouldn’t seem to deter much of anything.
With that being said, the noise ordinance on the community could go either way.
The noise ordinance is designed to have student workers patrol the neighborhoods and warn residents of complaints. It could very well put these students at risk in uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situations. Adversely, it could also make those in the neighborhood feel safer at night.
The Channels Ed Board feels that all of these issues boil down to the landlord’s absent responsibility in these neighborhoods. Landlords need to have a stronger presence at their properties and maintain responsibility over their tenants while enforcing signed leases.
While probably not popular with students, expanding Friday and Saturday classes could uproot many of these issues. City College is notorious for being a four-day-a-week campus. If some prerequisites were offered on Fridays or Saturdays it could decrease the amount of partying Thursday and Friday nights.
As a side effect, it could also help those students who desperately need to enroll in those highly impacted classes have a better shot at completing their units. Students who don’t want to enroll on those days won’t have to, and those who need them will have to take up that responsibility.
While the college is making a strong push to embrace the surrounding communities and student issues, they need to implement these changes in a smart and effective way. The safety and success of students should be the priority, not scaring them into compliance.
