Housing's future

Without enforcement, the borough's situation won't change

It's the year 2050, and everyone roams around town on electric sidewalks like the Jetsons did. Penn State has long since given same-sex partner benefits to University employees, and 75,000 students are attending the University Park Campus.

And the State College Borough Council is still trying to come up with a plan to regulate student housing.

Hasn't this gone on long enough? The council has tried plan after plan after plan -- nothing seems to work. Students say the ordinances are discriminating against them and they should have the right to live anywhere they want to; permanent residents say the students are loud, have couches on their porches, party all the time and ruin their neighborhoods.

And at the borough council's public hour this Monday night, many of the same complaints and arguments were heard once again.

But hearing is not really listening, and talking is not really getting anyone closer to an ordinance that works.

So now it's time to act. Really act.

Although students have been voicing their concerns in increasing numbers, there could still be more support. Monday night, there seemed to be more students speaking out than permanent residents.

Students need to continue speaking at meetings and show the council how strongly they feel about this issue.

And although it's not the Undergraduate Student Government's job to create a workable ordinance -- that would be the council's job -- USG still has the chance to show them that a workable plan can be nondiscriminatory and fair for every resident, including students.

At the meeting, it was almost exclusively students who spoke of trying to get along with their neighbors, instead of just complaining about the noise, trash, parked cars, etc., next door.

Maybe it's also time to ask University administrators to step in on an issue that directly affects students so much.

Whatever steps are going to be taken, something needs to be done to ensure the fairness of any ordinance that is passed in the borough. That's right, just because an ordinance is legal doesn't mean it's fair.

Of course, the best, easiest and fairest plan would seem to be simply enforcing the existing ordinances.

After all, if students in borough neighborhoods are as horrible to live near as some permanent residents seem to believe, then enough fines could be slapped on students to discourage their violations.

The bottom line is that students can't afford the fines they might get if existing ordinances were actually enforced. Being broke is a great deterrent to violating the law a second time.

And the only students who would be fined would be those breaking the law.

So the responsible students who are here to get an education and maybe have some fun but not break the law -- that is, the majority of students here -- would not be punished for the actions of a few students who happen to live in the borough.