MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2004
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5A
GOWN: Noise complaints, fast food wrappers, beer bottles and empty cups biggest concerns
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
She understands students like to party, but wishes they would be more respectful. "It's hard when you've got a full-time, 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week job as a mom." Kim said. "You need your sleep."
She calls the police dispatcher when the music gets too loud for her to sleep. The police talk to the students, or sometimes only drive by, Kim said.
The police receive between eight and 10 calls a night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, said Sgt. Dan Ward of the Lawrence Police Department.
During that three-day weekend, the police received more than 70 noise complaints, he said.
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"Our peak was over Halloween," Ward said. "It sky- rocketed."
"As soon as they leave, the party keeps going," Kim said about the responding police officers. "The party usually spills out into the front or back yard."
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Kim is most worried about the drug use. She says her family will move by the time her son can understand what neighbors are doing when they pass the bong on the front porch.
"Our neighbors host some of those parties," she said. "Some nights are really, really loud."
Yount understands why neighbors complain about students like her.
"I'm not here to judge and I'm not here to point a finger." Kim said. "I worry about the students' safety."
Many students do not realize families live in the neighborhood. Students live next door to her in all four directions, she said.
Other neighbors, including Davis, call the police too, but only when about 100 people gather in someone's front yard and the noise is unbearable, she said.
"You don't see kids playing in front vardges." Yount said.
That happens about once a year on Louisiana Street where she lives, but neighbors on Tennessee Street have trouble sleeping every weekend, she said.
KU students collaborated for a classic key stand Saturday night at 13th and Ohio streets. Though students love to party, neighbors have growing concerns about the noise, trash and property damage that is associated with house parties.
Chris Cardinal threw a party two weeks ago at his house on Mississippi Street.
Chris Miller/KANSAN
Parties in the Oread neighborhood usually have a couple of kegs and can get as big as hundreds of people, he said. The fire department and a police car showed up at his party because they had a bonfire. He has a large backyard with a firepit, so he didn't see why there was a problem.
"You're living in a college town.I
"I don't think it's warranted if it only happens once or twice a
don't think people should be too surprised that their next-door neighbors or people across the street are throwing a party."
Chris Cardinal Salina senior
vear," said Cardinal, Salina senior.
Cardinal said he warned neighbors in advance whenever he hosted a party and told them they would clean everything up. If neighbors thought they took too long to clean up, they should come over and say something, he said.
"Most college students wouldn't see that as an unreasonable request." Cardinal said.
Sometimes students get tired of going to bars and want to have a party at home for just their friends.
"You're living in a college town," Cardinal said. "I don't think people should be too surprised that their next-door neighbors or people across the street are throwing a party."
Neighbors see it differently.
Neighbors see it differently. "Usually by the time I call, a couple other people have called," Davis said.
Calling the police at 2 a.m. makes neighbors feel awkward. "It calms down for a while then starts again," Davis said. "It's hard to get the police to be responsive."
If a neighbor wants to file a complaint, the police have to go to that neighbor's house after they've talked to the residents at the house with the party, Davis said.
"You don't particularly want the neighborhood to know you were the one who made the call." Davis said.
Currently, the police can't write a citation without a report from a neighbor, Ward said. But most of the time the neighbor doesn't want to be contacted, he said. When the neighbor calls, the police ask if they want to file a report.
In order for the police to cite an individual, the officer has to have a complaint, Ward said.
If a neighbor files a complaint, the police will set a court date for two to three months down the road. At the hearing, that neighbor would have to testify by the resident who had
"Its hard when you've got a full-time, 24-
hour-a-day, seventay-a-week job as a mom. You need your sleep."
Devon Kim Tennessee Street resident
the party. The resident with the party will face a $50 fine if the process is completed.
The meeting with the police chief two weeks ago didn't help much, Davis said. "There doesn't seem to be a way to simplify the process."
The police say they take neighbors' concerns into consideration and are working on ways to streamline the noise complaint process. Most calls, however, come in after the bars close when the police are short-handed. Ward said.
"We only have so many officers on the street," Ward said.
The police department is working with the Municipal Court to determine whether they can change the noise complaint policy and give citations on the spot. Ward said.
University officials meet with the police department each semester to ensure that KU has a
good relationship with the community, said Richard Johnson, vice provost for student success
"Our limitations of judicial behavior stops at our borders," Johnson said. "Our policies are for students when they're on campus."
The University believes students should be good citizens in the community but can only patrol University property, Johnson said.
Davis realizes that parties are inevitable but she worries about the deterioration of housing and maintenance of property.
"The focus is on stabilizing the neighborhood." Davis said.
"When it's totally rental, you have a lack of accountability."
Davis thinks affluent parents who buy houses for their children to live in are a problem. She said students would not treat their family homes this way.
"The parents won't do anything about it." Kim said. "They bought the house for the kids to live in."
Yount thinks some students see the houses as old and trashy rather than historical and beautiful.
Joshua Kendall/KANSAN
"A lot of people say 'We're renting this place, it's not really ours,'" Yount said. "They're on their own and they don't have
an adult to answer to."
The Oread Neighborhood Association is searching for answers. Last month, it submitted a proposal to the state of Kansas for a grant, which would provide tax credits to residents who renovated historical homes in the Oread neighborhood. Association members hope to hear about the grant early next year.
Now they're just happy it's December and the fall semester will be over soon.
"I think we all love it when there's a break." Davis said.
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