The stalemate between the Athens City Council and Ohio University students over noise levels within residential Athens is far from over. As a home to Ohio University, one of the nation's top party schools, Athens is reputed to have become the hub of some of the wild parties in this country today, attracting students from across the state of Ohio and beyond on normal weekends.
Instead of the unique convivial college experience these parties are intended to offer college students over the weekends to calm their weary limbs and brains for the following week's schoolwork, they have rather become breeding grounds for drug experimentation and addiction among these youngsters who are mostly living on their own for the first time in their lives. It is revealing to know that cocaine, heroin and marijuana are some of the illicit drugs that are served as cocktails at some of these jamborees.
Obviously, when these youngsters get high on these illicit substances, they lose control of everything and the noise that follows can only be described as a shrill cry from the madhouse. This is not to say all college students who attend these parties indulge themselves in these anti-social behaviors. But the bald truth is, residents have become victims of the unruly behavior of students who can no longer distinguish between what is a reasonable level of noise and what can be downright nuisance.
Speculations are rife among residents who believe Athens is the new haven for drug-couriers who have found a burgeoning business among college students who are exploring and experimenting new drugs.
The new city council ordinance to clamp down on noise levels within residential Athens is therefore timely and in the right direction. The ordinance should even go beyond its current punitive stipulations of a fine and a jail term for students caught in breach of the act to include stiffer punishments for those found with illicit drugs while making noise.
It is not surprising that students who are unhappy with the new regulations have threatened to call for a referendum on the issue. While we believe it is their democratic right to call for a referendum, we also believe that Athens need a cap on noise levels and this is where the leadership of the council needs to be firm to ensure that the right limits are set on noise levels. The city
council might consider setting up a public education campaign to inform the public about the proposed bill and issues with drugs in the city and their correlations with noise levels.
Mr. Paul Wiehl, the mayor of Athens, should be mindful that there are a mammoth number of his constituents who support his action. He should therefore not be intimidated by those uncaring students who care nothing about how much
their unreasonable levels of noise affect members of the community who also have the right to enjoy some amount of sanity around them.
There is acceptable noise and then there is substance-generated rapture. Stop the insanity with a decisive ordinance and stop floundering.
Prosper Yao Tsikata is a graduate assistant at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and Center for International Studies.
4 Opinion
Letter to the Editor
