Senate meeting should be first step

The meeting between Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators, Tufts Director of Communication Barbara Rubel, TUPD, and the Somerville Police Department on Sunday needs to be just the beginning of an attempt to bring about a strategy to deal with loud off-campus parties that actually involves student input. The outcry over the last few weeks about the crackdown is not because students are unsympathetic with our neighbors' plight, but rather because they felt like the city's new policy targeted any student who left his room Friday or Saturday night with the intention of going to an off-campus party.

TCU Senators should push for a continued dialogue between all the interested parties. The senators' prompt action in bringing about this meeting is commendable, and students should show interest in future Senate action if a priority of theirs is preserving the right to have parties off-campus without police interference.

The fact that Somerville felt it necessary to create a Tufts-exclusive police patrol for Friday and Saturday nights is distressing. The police task force effectively takes away the responsibility of the students to keep the noise level of their party acceptable to their neighbors, and assumes that any gathering of students will soon be noisy and out of control.

As this page has argued before, the harsh crackdown on parties is not a solution to noise complaints. Like the mythological hydra, two new parties will sprout for every one that is broken up. A real solution must provide a long-term plan for student social life that will not infringe on the rights of Somerville residents, as well as short-term measures to prevent the current situation from degenerating.

The meeting that took place on Sunday will hopefully result in a satisfactory policy for all sides. It should not be a singular occurrence, but the first of a series of dialogues between the City of Somerville, the Somerville Police Department, the Tufts administration, TUPD and students. If the student voice is considered during the creation of a new strategy, then students will understand the sacrifices they must make and punishments they will suffer if at fault. For now, students should voice their opinions and hope that the Senate continues to pursue a dialogue with all the parties involved in the decisions that will be made in the near future.