John Della Contrada, UB’s spokesperson, believes WIVB News 4 “sensationalized” its coverage of student parties near South Campus on the first weekend of the semester.
On Sept. 1, WIVB reported on student parties that disrupted the residential community. But Della Contrada argues that most colleges have rambunctious opening weekends. Many students say that local media should report on the crime, housing issues and absentee landlordism they’re subjected to when renting homes in the University Heights, the neighborhood that borders South Campus.
“The recent media coverage has sensationalized the issues, but student parties and underage drinking are issues that all colleges and universities confront every year, particularly at the beginning of a semester when students are learning about the boundaries of respectable behavior, the need to adhere to local laws and the importance of being a good community citizen,” Della Contrada said in an email.
This wasn’t the first time the UB community was unhappy with WIVB’s coverage of South Campus.
Last November, Channel 4 dedicated a segment to students publicly urinating on South Campus buildings after partying at nearby bars and student-rented homes. And while many students admit they party often in and near the Heights, they also say that there are more issues going on that they hope local media will address.
“They should be focusing on bigger, more essential problems, like burglaries, rapes and vandalism, rather than teenagers partying,” said Lauren Gasparini, a sophomore psychology major.
Susan Ivey, a junior speech and hearing major, thinks having the police focus its efforts on curbing parties on South Campus would be a “waste of time.”
“People would just move to another house or drink in their rooms,” Ivey said. “There’s going to be alcohol, there’s going to be underage drinking, there’s going to be parties.”
Not all UB students live and party in the Heights. Della Contrada said approximately 1,300 now live in the neighborhood.
Della Contrada said that UB is trying to work with Buffalo Police and address the noisy homes that distract many permanent residents in the area.
UB visited over 10 houses after the first weekend of the semester that received complaints and were cited for noise violations for loud parties, according to Della Contrada. Representatives from the Office of Community Relations, Off-Campus Student Services, Buffalo Police and University Police were at these visits.
The WIVB segment also featured Heights residents saying they believe UB is to blame for shuttling the students to South Campus on the Stampede bus, which runs 24 hours. Some students argue the bus service is vital. Some use the buses to travel from their rented homes and apartments to the libraries on opposite sides of campus late at night. Others use the buses to avoid getting in the car with drunk drivers.
“There are students who study 24 hours at Capen [Library], and it wouldn’t be fair for drunken teenagers to take that away from them,” Gasparini said.
Della Contrada said the buses are necessary to “connect students to Main Street businesses and enable students to reside in the Heights neighborhood where they pay rent and contribute to the economy of the city.”
Ivey realizes the late-night buses, which some on campus nicknamed the “drunk buses,” are “a little out of control.”
But most, like Ivey, believe students’ partying in the Heights is “inevitable.”
The subhead of this article has been correct to not include the UB spokesman.
email: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
