tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post3240143751019960338..comments2024-01-30T12:46:10.810-05:00Comments on Yappa Ding Ding: Waterloo's Student GhettoYappahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126433451905766475noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-50234231790875914722008-05-02T11:20:00.000-04:002008-05-02T11:20:00.000-04:00William, I am aware of these policies, but to my ...William, <BR/> I am aware of these policies, but to my knowledge they are generally applied almost exclusively situations of serious criminal misconduct – though I’m not sure so feel free to correct me. The fact that they are not rigorously enforced, though, does indicate to me how difficult it would be to follow-up on such measures in practice. Certainly a university is well within its rights to regulate conduct at university sponsored or related events, or academic conduct. But outside of that, where is the line drawn as to how far the universities should be involved in regulating students’ personal lives? <BR/>I’m also not sure that your comparison holds with the private sphere. I can hardly see your employer sanctioning you because you had a loud party at your house during non-work hours or because you were given a ticket for drinking a beer in public (provided of course, this conduct does not impact your job performance). I’m not suggesting we should excuse conduct which violates the law, but rather that students should be held to the same standard as everyone else.Warrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13627695740454014696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-88840691628902682102008-04-30T23:09:00.000-04:002008-04-30T23:09:00.000-04:00The garbage problems in my (student-dominated) com...The garbage problems in my (student-dominated) complex seem mainly due to unclear overlapping responsibilities between landlords and multiple tenants. E.g. it's predictable that moving out will require throwing out more stuff than usual. Ideally tenants would plan ahead, but they probably won't. Students move out en masse at predictable times, and landlords don't always think to ask for extra dumpsters then.<BR/><BR/>I wish Ann Arbor was friendlier to high rises downtown, which could open up more walking-distance-to-campus housing for students to compete with the split-up houses in the downtown neighborhoods. But who knows.<BR/><BR/>It would be nice if there were ways to frame regulation as helping students as well--most of the students aren't necessarily happy with their loud neighbors either, but it's sometimes harder for them to deal with those problems (e.g. here last I checked I think noise regulations only applied to noise across property lines, not to noise from the neighboring apartment).<BR/><BR/>Our complex isn't actually that noisy, despite being student dominated. There are neighborhoods south campus that seem noisier and messier, and are what lots of people probably think of first when they think of student neighborhoods. But it may be a relatively smaller self-selecting group of students that lives there.<BR/><BR/>The Ann Arbor city council has wasted time on some regulations (e.g. an attempt to ban couches on front porches) that seemed more an expression of contempt for student culture than an attempt to deal with real problems.<BR/><BR/>Ho-hum. It's an eternal battle.Bruce Fieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07816198402689137636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-22574561917989511912008-04-27T11:30:00.000-04:002008-04-27T11:30:00.000-04:00Warren, Wilfrid Laurier University already has a p...Warren, Wilfrid Laurier University already has a policy in which students' off-campus behaviour may be sanctioned, which is accepted upon studying at the university: https://www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=158&p=8383&pv=1<BR/><BR/>And those kinds of agreements are not unusual to see in contracts when working with private companies either. I think it's not demeaning, but holding students up to a higher standard. We can't simply expect the local police to deal with everything.<BR/><BR/>Yes, we should consider what students bring into the local economy, but residents of Waterloo should also consider if they're willing to stand up for their own right to live in peace.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-3732525679361793332008-04-26T17:04:00.000-04:002008-04-26T17:04:00.000-04:00As a Waterloo student, I very much disagree with y...As a Waterloo student, I very much disagree with your interpretation of our town’s mentality as it pertains to students. Enforcement is generally quite rigorous by both the police and the by-law officers. Most loud parties are broken up promptly and those not respecting bylaws are fined. Moreover in comparison to many other university cities - and certainly in comparison to the city where I am currently living (Berlin) – Waterloo is downright puritanical. As to the suggestion that university’s step up their regulation of students’ off campus behaviour, this is akin to suggesting that your employer sanction you for your private activities outside the workplace which, besides being demeaning to students (who are after all adults, not school children) would be pretty difficult to enforce in practice against all but the most outlandish offenses. <BR/><BR/>Growing up in Waterloo, I have grown accustomed to the biannual tradition of complaining about student’s which occurs every spring and fall. However, I think that Waterloo residents should consider what our city, and its economy, would look like without the presence of these troublesome individuals.Warrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13627695740454014696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-49224193538691255952008-04-26T00:08:00.000-04:002008-04-26T00:08:00.000-04:00Being an ex-student at Waterloo, I can tell you th...Being an ex-student at Waterloo, I can tell you the easiest solution to this problem.<BR/><BR/>Demand the university spend their money on building more student residences for higher-years (beyond first-year) instead of building corporate buildings for offices.<BR/><BR/>Without that, students will need to find a place to live cheaply, and the student ghettos are naturally the only place they have. Not everyone in those ghettos are bad, but when you have 100 students with 2% who are bad, that's 2 students who will screw everything up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com