Spring Break
Orange sticker policy to face its day in court next week
Brenna McCabe
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Campus
09/04/08 - Unfinished business in Narragansett kept University of Rhode Island student senators busy with more than just homecoming activities at their first meeting of the year last night.
In June, the Student Senate approached the American Civil Liberties Union in hopes of taking the town of Narragansett to court for its "Unruly Gatherings" ordinance. The ordinance fines renters and owners of "party houses" or sources of noise disturbances with gatherings of five people or more, and requires the posting of an orange sticker on the front door of the home for the full academic year.
On Sept. 9, the ACLU will go before Judge Ernest C. Torres to determine which court will be used to present the lawsuit and whether or not the ordinance will be suspended during the trial.
"Over the past four years, [the ordinance has] been abusive to the students," Ahrens said, adding those living off-campus should "be careful" with rising tensions in the town. "We're not the only town with an ordinance like this. This is not just going to affect our students, but other students across the nation as well."
Another hot topic on the agenda was Homecoming festivities. Senate has several activities in the works for Homecoming weekend, including Battle of the Bands and a night of tents and fun for students and alumni. Special groups will be able to set up tents in front of Keaney Gymnasium with activities and contests for kids, alumni and students.
In other business, the Senate must decide whether to renew the newspaper program that provides copies of the Providence Journal for a reduced price. The program is currently active on five college campuses, and offers the paper for 14 cents per copy.
Also in other business, the External Affairs Committee Chair position is up for grabs. Senate's Chief Operations Officer Josh Feinberg, who was the source of some controversy last year after he was disqualified from the senate presidential election, remains the sole nominee for the position. Feinberg was disqualified from elections after his supporters were spotted campaigning in the Memorial Union, a violation of election rules.
Elections Committee Chair Nicole Pelletier also announced that Senate would start to gather nominations for remaining open seats. "We still have open seats here," she said. "We'll be opening up all freshmen seats and the remaining seats we've always had. Those positions will be reserved until Sept. 18."
Those positions include five freshman seats, two on-campus seats, two off-campus seats, four at-large seats, one College of Business seat and one College of Human Science and Services seat.
In June, the Student Senate approached the American Civil Liberties Union in hopes of taking the town of Narragansett to court for its "Unruly Gatherings" ordinance. The ordinance fines renters and owners of "party houses" or sources of noise disturbances with gatherings of five people or more, and requires the posting of an orange sticker on the front door of the home for the full academic year.
On Sept. 9, the ACLU will go before Judge Ernest C. Torres to determine which court will be used to present the lawsuit and whether or not the ordinance will be suspended during the trial.
"Over the past four years, [the ordinance has] been abusive to the students," Ahrens said, adding those living off-campus should "be careful" with rising tensions in the town. "We're not the only town with an ordinance like this. This is not just going to affect our students, but other students across the nation as well."
Another hot topic on the agenda was Homecoming festivities. Senate has several activities in the works for Homecoming weekend, including Battle of the Bands and a night of tents and fun for students and alumni. Special groups will be able to set up tents in front of Keaney Gymnasium with activities and contests for kids, alumni and students.
In other business, the Senate must decide whether to renew the newspaper program that provides copies of the Providence Journal for a reduced price. The program is currently active on five college campuses, and offers the paper for 14 cents per copy.
Also in other business, the External Affairs Committee Chair position is up for grabs. Senate's Chief Operations Officer Josh Feinberg, who was the source of some controversy last year after he was disqualified from the senate presidential election, remains the sole nominee for the position. Feinberg was disqualified from elections after his supporters were spotted campaigning in the Memorial Union, a violation of election rules.
Elections Committee Chair Nicole Pelletier also announced that Senate would start to gather nominations for remaining open seats. "We still have open seats here," she said. "We'll be opening up all freshmen seats and the remaining seats we've always had. Those positions will be reserved until Sept. 18."
Those positions include five freshman seats, two on-campus seats, two off-campus seats, four at-large seats, one College of Business seat and one College of Human Science and Services seat.
