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Volume CXXXII, Number 12 |
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Police to crack down on noise
JENNIFER COHEN
STAFF WRITER
Local Brunswick residents expressing discontent about the noise level of Bowdoin students is not a new issue. However, the frequency of these complaints and the amount of action taken in response has increased greatly since October.
Last Thursday, The Times Record published an article which addressed the grievance of Brunswick residents about rowdy and intoxicated students walking to and from parties on weekends.
In an effort to remedy the situation, Brunswick police plan to place signs on and around Longfellow Avenue, the site of many of the complaints. The warnings, which will be installed in early spring, will read, "Public consumption of an alcoholic beverage is a Class E crime." If caught drinking within 200 feet of a sign, an individual can face up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000.
The Times Record interviewed Brunswick residents Lynn Frank who claimed that her 14 year old daughter witnessed someone urinating on her lawn.
Another resident found "a very inebriated Bowdoin student sitting on the edge of her bathtub."
Scott Hood, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, said that in these situations students had obviously acted inappropriately. Despite this, he contended that there are certain realities when dealing with this social context. "On weekends students are up late. That's a fact of life," said Hood. "This particular age group drinks and always has."
Hood also pointed out that students must understand that the College and much of its housing is located in the middle of residential neighborhoods.
Bowdoin representatives engage in monthly meetings with town officials; in the December session, they discussed the noise issue and the Brunswick police made the decision to post signs. Hood stressed that awareness among students is "most of the battle."
The Orient will follow up this story with the locations of the signs as well as specific details of the laws in the coming weeks.
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