It seems that tensions between Tufts students and local residents are coming to a boiling point as the semester winds down and Tufts students attempt to get in a few more parties before winter break.
Unfortunately, for all involved, the reality of living in densely populated Somerville and Medford gets in the way: loud students disturb residents, and the ensuing reaction from the community brings all students under the microscope. Surely, there has to be a better way.
Everyone at this University is smart, and yet many still have to figure out how to have fun without letting everyone in the neighborhood know about it. This sort of neighborly dissatisfaction with students produces the inevitable response: "It's not my fault, they just hate us." Unfortunately, this is not true and is not so simple.
Do some of our neighbors dislike their student neighbors? Maybe, but the far more likely truth is that they like sleep much more than they dislike students. Problem is, some from the Tufts community cannot co-exist with the neighbors without keeping them awake. The result is bad for all involved.
It goes without saying that the noise almost always adversely affects non-student (and sometimes student) neighbors. Many feel that every year, their neighborhood is invaded by a new set of party-hunting students, whose aim for parties keeps them from hitting the target of good neighborly relations.
What is less obvious, however, is the adverse effect that sour neighborhood relations have on every Tufts student, regardless of complicity. More dissatisfaction from neighbors leads to more calls to local officials, which then results in action that, while intended to crack down on a specific problem, ends up adversely impacting most students who live on or around campus.
Somerville Alderman Bob Trane, for instance, has identified several houses on Whitman Street that are to be scrutinized for noise violations. Although not all of these houses are occupied by students, the impact of noise complaints to local officials - which have plagued off-campus parties from College Avenue to Conwell Avenue to frat row - is clear to anyone who has been on this campus for more than a year. We have seen an increased local police presence that is often accompanied by increased tensions.
These extra patrols may help to reduce noise violations in the campus area, but they also make every Tufts student a suspect. Students, instead of being viewed as innocent until proven guilty, are viewed with extreme suspicion by local authorities. This is simply not fair and should offend anyone's sense of justice.
No one likes being a target while walking around their neighborhood at night doing nothing wrong. Students need to work hard to get to know their neighbors, and make the giant fences of class and attitudes that separate many of us just a little lower, so that locals do not feel their only recourse is to divide Somerville behind police lights.
Being an active citizen starts on your street: students would certainly be remiss in priding themselves on receiving a great education that emphasizes worldviews, while being unable to empathize with their neighbors. This page has maintained the importance of respecting our neighbors; it cannot be overemphasized now, when the situation screams out for dialogue.
Certainly this will not solve every problem that exists in town-gown relations on the Hill. But it may be a good first step, and it certainly will make it much more probable that future conversations will be with your neighbors, and not with a police officer.
