2008 Woodie Awards
Letter: Alumna to students: 'learn to like orange'
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion
03/04/08 - To the Cigar,
As an alumna of the University of Rhode Island I am beside myself to read that the American Civil Liberties Union will be opposing the "orange sticker" policy in Narragansett.
Defending the right of a student to party and often serve alcoholic beverages to underage students is ridiculous. Nobody's civil rights are being violated by this policy. Your right as a college student is to learn and act accordingly to represent the university.
Student behavior is deplorable and moving steadily downhill. Their actions and poor choices are not why their parents spend thousands of dollars every year sending their precious children to pursue higher education.
Don't get me wrong, everybody likes to cut loose, but this must be done in a responsible and moderate environment.
The town provides a guideline to gatherings and noise that must be complied by all residents, not just college students. However, students seem to be the brunt of the problem and tend not to refrain from committing these offenses.
The offenses do not just start and end at house parties. The list includes, but is not limited, to speeding, disorderly conduct, use of fake IDs at both bars and package stores, assault, property damage, theft, vandalism, motor vehicle accidents and the ultimate: drunken driving.
As residents we live Thursday to early Sunday morning plagued by these offenses.
Our tax dollars go to pay police and municipal employees who are not adult babysitters. The police are ridiculed, assaulted and underappreciated. The job they do day after day is thankless yet they are expected to patrol and control the unruly.
The ACLU should take a long hard look at the stand it may be willing to take.
Just reviewing the public arrest and court records makes this obvious to anybody who reads at a sixth grade level. It is not your right to destroy our town and party as you please. It is your actions combined with resident complaints that have forced the "orange sticker" policy.
Perhaps it is not the ACLU that students need to protect their rights from the big bad town of Narragansett. Just maybe it is time for students to own their actions, deal with the consequences and learn from their mistakes. Straighten up and fly right and there would be no need for orange stickers.
Keep up with the ridiculous parade of drunken and disorderly conduct and learn to like orange. The town of Narragansett and its residents have had enough and we are ready to stand our ground.
It is really our rights as residents that are being violated. Maybe the ACLU wants to think about that. The town of Narragansett does at every Town Council meeting.
Alicia Giordano
As an alumna of the University of Rhode Island I am beside myself to read that the American Civil Liberties Union will be opposing the "orange sticker" policy in Narragansett.
Defending the right of a student to party and often serve alcoholic beverages to underage students is ridiculous. Nobody's civil rights are being violated by this policy. Your right as a college student is to learn and act accordingly to represent the university.
Student behavior is deplorable and moving steadily downhill. Their actions and poor choices are not why their parents spend thousands of dollars every year sending their precious children to pursue higher education.
Don't get me wrong, everybody likes to cut loose, but this must be done in a responsible and moderate environment.
The town provides a guideline to gatherings and noise that must be complied by all residents, not just college students. However, students seem to be the brunt of the problem and tend not to refrain from committing these offenses.
The offenses do not just start and end at house parties. The list includes, but is not limited, to speeding, disorderly conduct, use of fake IDs at both bars and package stores, assault, property damage, theft, vandalism, motor vehicle accidents and the ultimate: drunken driving.
As residents we live Thursday to early Sunday morning plagued by these offenses.
Our tax dollars go to pay police and municipal employees who are not adult babysitters. The police are ridiculed, assaulted and underappreciated. The job they do day after day is thankless yet they are expected to patrol and control the unruly.
The ACLU should take a long hard look at the stand it may be willing to take.
Just reviewing the public arrest and court records makes this obvious to anybody who reads at a sixth grade level. It is not your right to destroy our town and party as you please. It is your actions combined with resident complaints that have forced the "orange sticker" policy.
Perhaps it is not the ACLU that students need to protect their rights from the big bad town of Narragansett. Just maybe it is time for students to own their actions, deal with the consequences and learn from their mistakes. Straighten up and fly right and there would be no need for orange stickers.
Keep up with the ridiculous parade of drunken and disorderly conduct and learn to like orange. The town of Narragansett and its residents have had enough and we are ready to stand our ground.
It is really our rights as residents that are being violated. Maybe the ACLU wants to think about that. The town of Narragansett does at every Town Council meeting.
Alicia Giordano