Raucous UP Students

I find this both surprising and disturbing....
http://koin.com/2014/10/14/raucous-u-portland-students-offend-neighbors/

It also could be much ado about nothing as no UP has been specifically identified as a vandal.

But it would seem that UP and the police are not acting very strongly to fix the problem after one neighbor alleged that,  “They’ve threatened to kill me, to kill my daughter, to burn my house down and that was recorded on a 911 call.”  

Six weeks ago KOIN News reported the same tense situation:
http://koin.com/2014/09/01/neighbors-fed-up-with-u-portland-students-disrespect/

Are any of those kids Upsilons?

(Ahem)

Geezaldinho wrote:Are any of those kids  Upsilons?

(Ahem)

Well, I suppose it's possible.....if the miscreants are aged 35 to 85.

Easy solution:

Not really the school's issue IMHO. Students are adults, and if they break the law they should be held accountable by the police. But it appears maybe the police aren't doing a very good job if these threats are true.
That said, it's interesting that these articles seem to be more about someone being "offended" and "disrespected" than anything else.

Edit: Don't they always say "it's worse now than it has ever been?" They were saying the same thing 10 years ago.

Let me know when this generation puts a cow in the bell tower and they have to slaughter it to get it down.

What I find interesting is that the primary complainant on the KOIN story lives 2 blocks from the Twilight Room... So, couldn't it be that maybe they need to finally be held accountable for over-service as well? I live about 2 blocks closer to the University from the complainant, and have had 100% less issues with property damage etc... which to me (if this were purely a University problem) should be the other way around.

From the Oregonian:

The University Park neighborhood has quite the meeting planned for next week. They'll meet Monday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at the University of Portland's Chiles Center, to talk about ongoing tension between residents and UP students. Neighbors have argued for years that the young people party too loud and leave the area in disarray.

I certainly plan to be there!!

aleppiek wrote:What I find interesting is that the primary complainant on the KOIN story lives 2 blocks from the Twilight Room... So, couldn't it be that maybe they need to finally be held accountable for over-service as well? I live about 2 blocks closer to the University from the complainant, and have had 100% less issues with property damage etc... which to me (if this were purely a University problem) should be the other way around.

Wait, wait, wait.  This person lives, at most, two blocks off of Lombard, and the focus of their complaints is UP kids?  Cause it had to be them, right?

Attended the University Park Neighborhood meeting this evening at the Chiles Center.  Well organized, well led by the President of the neighborhood.  

Discussions were, for the most part, without a lot of hysteria/emotion, and the concerns were well thought out and articulated.  

Bottom line....yes, there are some students who are making their way back to campus on foot from the taverns and house parties who might be noisy, but the other big factor was the number of private homes (not UP owned) that are rented to UP students and non-students in the neighborhoods where loud parties spill outside.  I spoke to one woman who said she is now the only home owner on her block; the rest are renters.

Without getting into details of jurisdiction or responsibility, I would say the majority of homeowner would just like to see more UP Department of Public Safety officers in the neighborhood and responding to calls on Friday and Saturday night.  DPS would like UP neighbors to call them if there is a complaint about students....but the neighbors would like to see DPS become more effective at stopping loud student gatherings and would like to get follow-up reports on what actions may have been taken.

Annoying but not criminal or even worthy of Portland Police actions is how I would describe the behavior I heard about.  UP staffers, UP students living on and off campus, and neighborhood home owners need to have more dialogue.  Tonight all the UP staffers listened with interest and were not defensive in any way....but what was really good was the number of students that showed up that live off and on campus, as they put a "face" to the students and were actually quite mellowing in their discussions with the various groups we were organized into.  Oh, and it was no surprise that the students were both bright and articulate.

Good meeting....problems not serious, but DPS appears to need additional staffing as they are spread way too thin, and UP communications with the neighborhood need improvement!

KOIN's version....http://koin.com/2014/10/27/college-students-respond-to-behavior-complaints/

The neighbors listed by name in the article are the same people interviewed in the KOIN TV pieces earlier...they had nothing new to offer....especially the woman who asked for the apology and the man who showed up at the end of the two hour productive meeting to bang his fist on the table and ask for immediate action.  

OBTW....the woman who just wanted the apology just couldn't seem to stop using that as her theme throughout the meeting even though she received an apology from UP long ago.

The "Player of the Match" goes to the neighborhood association president for his handling of the meeting....with an assist from the UP student quoted in the article for articulating the student's perspective.

EDIT: Not mentioned in the KOIN article were the number of "positives" mentioned about UP being part of the neighborhood and the vast majority of students who are good neighbors and citizens.

DoubleDipper wrote:EDIT: Not mentioned in the KOIN article were the number of "positives" mentioned about UP being part of the neighborhood and the vast majority of students who are good neighbors and citizens.

QFT