Drunk Dandies
Amanda Seef
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Campus Talk
I live smack-dab in the middle of the gateway of drunkenness to campus. While it may sound appealing to have an easier commute to the bars or the obligatory drunk food, it's getting kind of annoying.
The majority of the students who go out on weekends (and Sunday through Wednesday) are rather, um, loud while coming home. Whether it's the bars or coming back from Jimmy Z's, the typical route takes the kids right down Erie Street, to Utica Street - the area in which I live. My house, being on a corner, gets the brunt of loudness from two streets. I can handle the loud voices at all hours -- last year I lived next to a 7-year-old with a megaphone. He also had his own little playground in his backyard, which he insisted on playing on at 7 a.m., while using the extra-loud megaphone. As I'm not a morning person, it was kind of annoying, but I can tolerate the loud noises.
What is annoying, and not admissible at all, is the vandalism and littering that goes on in the village. I've woken to find nearly a six-pack of broken beer bottles in my driveway. One of the window screens on the bottom floor of the house was savagely ripped off. My roommate had things stolen from his car. My tires were slashed last year. There's brawls outside my window on a weekly basis. Pumpkins were stolen and smashed in the roadway. Shovels and brooms are taken from porches. The list goes on and on.
This list takes into account the annoying behavior by a core group of college kids, but it doesn't take into account the sheer annoyance to the residents of this village. They're the ones who have worked hard to keep the village the place it is now. College students come and go every four years (hopefully). We come in, terrorize the village, and leave. We go back to our hometowns, where we most likely wouldn't dare act this way. Why do we have more respect for our hometowns, but we can't respect the village that becomes our home away from home?
Last week as I drove down Utica Street, I saw an elderly woman in the street with a broom, sweeping up broken shards of a beer bottle. Why should she have to do this? Why should she, and the rest of the village residents, have to safeguard their personal belongings on their porches? Why can't we, as guests of the village, be a little more respectful?
An old journalism professor here once told me about quite the adventure he had while living on Utica Street, near Maxon. He woke one morning to see his entire car on its side - Thirsty Thursday enthusiasts had decided that would be a great topper to their night. I know when I get a little tipsy, I have the urge to turn over people's cars ... or not.
Brockport needs more sustainable weekend entertainment that keeps kids in one place. I'm not saying we need to make entertainment that will encourage students to not drink - it's not realistic for the majority of campus - but let's give kids somewhere to go. While their nursing hangovers the next morning, the village shouldn't be picking up their scattered red cups.v
The majority of the students who go out on weekends (and Sunday through Wednesday) are rather, um, loud while coming home. Whether it's the bars or coming back from Jimmy Z's, the typical route takes the kids right down Erie Street, to Utica Street - the area in which I live. My house, being on a corner, gets the brunt of loudness from two streets. I can handle the loud voices at all hours -- last year I lived next to a 7-year-old with a megaphone. He also had his own little playground in his backyard, which he insisted on playing on at 7 a.m., while using the extra-loud megaphone. As I'm not a morning person, it was kind of annoying, but I can tolerate the loud noises.
What is annoying, and not admissible at all, is the vandalism and littering that goes on in the village. I've woken to find nearly a six-pack of broken beer bottles in my driveway. One of the window screens on the bottom floor of the house was savagely ripped off. My roommate had things stolen from his car. My tires were slashed last year. There's brawls outside my window on a weekly basis. Pumpkins were stolen and smashed in the roadway. Shovels and brooms are taken from porches. The list goes on and on.
This list takes into account the annoying behavior by a core group of college kids, but it doesn't take into account the sheer annoyance to the residents of this village. They're the ones who have worked hard to keep the village the place it is now. College students come and go every four years (hopefully). We come in, terrorize the village, and leave. We go back to our hometowns, where we most likely wouldn't dare act this way. Why do we have more respect for our hometowns, but we can't respect the village that becomes our home away from home?
Last week as I drove down Utica Street, I saw an elderly woman in the street with a broom, sweeping up broken shards of a beer bottle. Why should she have to do this? Why should she, and the rest of the village residents, have to safeguard their personal belongings on their porches? Why can't we, as guests of the village, be a little more respectful?
An old journalism professor here once told me about quite the adventure he had while living on Utica Street, near Maxon. He woke one morning to see his entire car on its side - Thirsty Thursday enthusiasts had decided that would be a great topper to their night. I know when I get a little tipsy, I have the urge to turn over people's cars ... or not.
Brockport needs more sustainable weekend entertainment that keeps kids in one place. I'm not saying we need to make entertainment that will encourage students to not drink - it's not realistic for the majority of campus - but let's give kids somewhere to go. While their nursing hangovers the next morning, the village shouldn't be picking up their scattered red cups.v
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