Spring Break
URI students debate orange sticker policy at open forum
Lindsay Lorenz
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News
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![Student Senate External Affairs Chairman Tom Ahrens, [right] addresses those who attended the Orange Sticker Open Forum last night in the Memorial Union Ballroom.](http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper366/stills/8vy12up2.jpg)
Tom Ahrens, the URI Student Senate external affairs committee chairman, addressed students. "We need to unify on what [the issues are] in this policy," he said. "Unless we get your input we're as powerless as 10 people."
Upon entering, students were handed copies of the "unruly gatherings" ordinance, as well as a list of student rights and an explanation of off-campus jurisdiction.
After a general explanation of the policy, students were invited to step up to a microphone to voice any questions or comments. A panel of eight senate members sat on the stage and took turns responding to students.
"A house can't commit a crime, a house is not a person," said Jesse Whitsitt-Lynch, a former student senator. "Why are we treating students differently?"
Public urination and altercations, as well as littering are common complaints from year-round Narragansett residents that leads to an orange sticker being issued. Students argue that these actions are typically those of individuals.
Whitsitt-Lynch said he would like to see individuals held personally accountable for their actions and tried in municipal court, as any other offender would be.
"This is a public standard that's unacceptable," Student Senate President Neil Leston said. "It's unnecessary to punish someone having a 300 person rager the same way you would with people watching a baseball game and getting a little loud," Leston said, explaining that only five people need to be in attendance for it to be declared an unruly gathering.
Several students felt that the policy is worded vaguely.
When a student asked what constitutes a noise violation, Leston said that there is a specific decibel that noise should not exceed.
