The Heights hit a low

In any college town, Buffalo included, there is the constant battle between temporaries and permanents. Preventing the separate issues of resident conflict and crime continues to be a goal of citizens and administrators alike.

According to an article in The Buffalo News, University Heights residents feel their calls to 911 are often ignored. UB is trying to develop a protocol so that calls regarding UB students are handled by the University Police.

However, students do not solely inhabit the University Heights. The Heights are off campus, and therefore not subject to UB's jurisdiction.

As active as UB administrators and programs try to be off campus, it is not up to UB to fix the alone. According to The Buffalo News article, UB has created a "problem parties" task force, to little avail.

Instead of trying to implement a policy, UB should work with Buffalo Police to increase patrols and presence in the Heights area. There simply is not a large enough police presence in the Heights. Officers need to do more than just break up parties. They need to be present to prevent crime from happening. What happened to police walking a beat?

At the same time, students need to have their freedom so they can develop into adults. To some degree, it's up to students to learn to respect the community in which they reside.

They should be allowed to have parties and do what they please, but within reason. Advertising huge parties and being rude to residents trying to sleep is inappropriate in the real world. Remember, student-residents represent UB and they need to do it respectfully.

The feud between students and permanent residents has been waged for a long time. Both sides have little respect for the other. Residents blame the students for anything that goes wrong in the neighborhood.

What we don't consider is that people outside the neighborhood could be responsible for increased crime, not students. According to the March 7 issue of The Spectrum, gangs of youth could have been responsible for several muggings and assaults.

Safety has always been a concern for residents of the Heights. Whether it's media hype or not, the recent crime gives residents reason to be on edge.

For everyone's safety, there needs to be more police presence.