2008 Woodie Awards
Ordinance proposed
Rose Francois
Issue date: 9/29/04 Section: News
For students living off-campus, the downside is often having to commute a little further than their peers, whereas the upside has been not having to live as close to resident advisors or campus security.
With a lesser authoritative presence on them off-campus, residents usually prefer their location to on-campus housing. But this may change if a new ordinance by the city of Boston is passed.
The University Accountability Ordinance is a proposal by Boston City Councilors Michael P. Ross and Jerry P. McDermott that would require all Boston universities and colleges to collect and provide to the city a list of the residences of students who are living off-campus.
This proposal would allow the city of Boston better access to the whereabouts of students who live off their respective universities' campuses, opening up many more possibilities for the city in terms of providing more precise security and giving the city better awareness of the locations with concentrated amount of students.
Many residents from the city of Boston who live in areas that are populated with many students often complain of too much noise and disruptive behavior.
These complaints received public attention in February of this year after a Super Bowl riot ended in the death of a Northeastern student and the injury of several more after a driver plowed his vehicle into a raucous crowd.
When asked whether this proposal was due to this specific incident, Ross stated that this ordinance was in response to general issues of university accountability.
Many students feel that this statute, were it passed, would violate their privacy rights. During a public hearing held on Sept. 23, in which Mission Hill residents and local college and university students were in attendance, those for and against the proposal testified.
The proposal of this ordinance has caught the attention of many wary college and university administrators and student groups. Suffolk University's Student Government Association attended the hearing as well as some students from Suffolk's Students for Peace and Justice club.