On Monday, November 4, members of the Senate and representatives selected by both the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council met with Dean of Students Mark Smith, a member of Rensselaer’s legal council, Troy Police Commissioner Mark Whitman, and Troy Mayor Mark Pattison to discuss recent issues concerning off campus students and their neighbors, the City of Troy’s response to neighborhood complaints, the Senate resolution, and Rensselaer’s policies and approach to dealing with these issues. Each representative from the Rensselaer Administration, the Troy Police Commissioner, and the Mayor spoke for a few minutes about their take on the recent arrests and our relationships with our neighbors.

There were a few messages that I took away from listening to the Mayor and the Police Commissioner: There has been a definitive increase in police action taken in an attempt to ensure quality of life for Troy residents, including issues involving noise, condition of properties, and general citizen conduct. The increased effort is being applied to all citizens of Troy including over 20 non-Rensselaer arrests involving noise ordinance violations. While it is clear that the level of enforcement will remain high, everyone seemed to agree that the solution to this problem does not rest in the law, but in managing relationships with our neighbors.

As I stated last week, Communiversity is a two way street. Rensselaer students deserve to live in the Troy community and receive equal legal treatment as their neighbors. Likewise, it is the responsibility of Rensselaer students to ensure that they are respecting the rights of their neighbors. We all have a right to live in this city and we all have an obligation to ensure that we are being good citizens.

It is clear that the City of Troy has stepped up their enforcement of the noise ordinance and the nuisance abatement resulting in the recent arrests of Rensselaer students. It seems that Rensselaer students are most often affected by the noise ordinance. At our meeting on Monday, the Police Commissioner was asked what the threshold for noise is in order to make an arrest when a complaint has been made by a neighbor. The response, as I understand, it was that if the noise level is reasonably loud enough to disturb someone, as determined by the officer at the scene, an arrest can be made. This is clearly vague so there are several steps that we need to take as students to ensure that we are doing our part as citizens and not making ourselves targets.

I am asking that students go out of their way to forge new relationships with their neighbors. Make sure that they know who you are and who they can contact if they have a request. Become involved in neighborhood organizations and communicate when you would like to have parties and how long they will last. Make sure there is a dedicated, attended phone that neighbors can call if they are having problems. We must do everything in our power to be outstanding members of this community. By forging these relationships we will no longer be in a position of defense, but a position to move forward in cooperation. I realize that it is often difficult, especially for off-campus fraternities, to establish lasting relationships with neighbors for a number of reasons. But, the Dean of Students Office has pledged that it will help us in forming these relationships. The Student Senate, IFC, and Panhel will also be doing their utmost to help.