Officials from Ohio University and the city of Athens have been meeting since April to discuss how to control Palmerfest, an annual street party that in the past has been marked with violence and destruction.
Both the Athens and OU police departments, representatives from OU's Division of Student Affairs, the Athens Code Enforcement Office and the OU Center for Legal Services have met together and with students in recent months to prepare for Palmer, Mill and High fests.
Jim Hintz, coordinator for the Office of Off-Campus Living, said university and city representatives met last Thursday with students who live on Palmer Street to discuss the concerns of both sides -namely what sort of fences residents could put up to regulate who comes onto their property and other ways to keep unwelcome guests out.
Hintz then visited the students who did not attend the meeting to talk to them about police strategies and what was expected of them this weekend.
Our goal is to provide students with information
he said. We want them to realize that their actions have consequences. In the end we do want to address some of the student behavior down there.
Kate Kryder, a commercial photography major who lives at 5A Palmer St., attended last week's meeting and said it helped both sides find some common ground.
It's really a good way to bridge the gap between the university's expectations and the students'.
Kryder said many students at the meeting had questions about the city's nuisance party ordinance and what the police would do if a party got out of control. She said she and her housemates plan on fencing in their backyard and having a guest list to limit who gets into their party.
Mike Sostarich, vice president for student affairs, said the university's efforts to educate students about the weekend have worked well.
We just want to make sure the students have appropriate information about their rights and responsibilities he said.
Sostarich said he and other university administrators will be out patrolling Palmer Street on Saturday night to talk with students in an effort to defuse any potential problems.
Everybody's aware of what happens (at Palmerfest)
he said. And its history.
In the past, revelers at Palmerfest -an annual collection of house parties on Palmer Street -have set fires, overturned cars and thrown glass bottles at firefighters.
We didn't have that problem last year
Sostarich said. Our students have been very responsible party hosts and
generally
people have been very responsible.
Athens Police Department Chief Rick Mayer refused to say how many extra officers his department would have on duty to patrol parties and that he had not yet calculated how much the extra officers' overtime would cost the city.
However, Mayer said he would have additional officers on duty and some officers would patrol with OUPD officers.
He said police would patrol the areas near Palmer Street to maintain a visible presence
but would not focus all their attention on it because students have demonstrated they might not need an overwhelming police presence.
Students so far
especially this quarter
have shown a remarkable amount of responsibility
he said. And they have kept their parties so we don't get inundated with noise complaints.
Judy Piercy, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of University Judiciaries, is in charge of the so-called green jackets -volunteer OU administrators who patrol street parties. She said there would be 12 administrators working Palmerfest in teams of two from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Piercy said that after meeting with students last week, she is optimistic about the weekend. As long as they're attentive to their parties
