After a long, hard day on Wednesday, I turned on CKWS to catch the evening news. Usually I pass out and leave the television on, only to wake up hours later to some infomercial or rerun of Roseanne. But Wednesday was different, as my attention was fixed on the anchorwoman who spoke of a new group of concerned citizens that are taking aim at rowdy Queen’s students with the aid of the Internet. By posting pictures of drunken street parties, purple jacket slamming and neighborhood destruction, the Save Our Neighborhood Action Group (SONAG) is hoping to raise awareness about the problem of living near the Student Ghetto Village. Will this finally bring about change at Queen’s?
I’m not even going to make you read this entire post to hear my verdict, which is no, a community driven website such as SONAG’s will not make a dent in the Queen’s problem. Just because a group of concerned citizens (Don Rogers) decides to start a website devoted to showing off the inebriated and disrespectful destruction caused by a few, doesn’t mean that parents are going to come to the rescue from Vancouver, Halifax and beyond. Archiving pictures of all the student-caused mayhem, might get the attention of some, but ultimately mom and dad are more concerned about their little scholar contracting listeriosis at the campus-run cafeteria, than whether or not they broke the code of conduct by attending the legendary Aberdeen street party.
The Internet is already filled with images and videos of all sorts of drunken traditions at Queen’s. From the sea of purple people slamming their GPA’s , to pancake keggers during Homecoming, and even random acts of public nudity, it’s all online. If anything, raising awareness about the plight of non-students living in the Queen’s student housing area might have the opposite effect. Surely most Kingstonian’s already have a good idea about what goes on around the University after dark, but broadcasting the debauchery to the rest of the world via the SONAG site might perpetuate the drunken shenanigans. Around the community it’s sure to ruffle a few feathers and be seen as an invasion of privacy. Not be the best way to improve town gown relations.
This Citiziens on Patrol (COP) -like website also made me think of the overall development and growth of this cities’ largest academic institution. As Queen’s prepares for a bigger and better tomorrow with projects such as their new student centre, it consumes city blocks that were once part of the student village. Hence the ultimate sprawl of the university will push the students into neighborhoods they’ve traditionally stayed out of. With the increase in student population, this too will contribute to campus sprawl. So for those of us on the outskirts, be prepared for the invasion in years to come.
Oh my goodness.. I had to check out SONAG webpage. It’s hard to call it a webpage though. It’s like one of those webpages that you make in highschool for a html course or something. If they upgrade to something that’s more Web2.0, I think they might get more people to see and comment on the issue. I’m hesitant to even call it an issue. Student partying issues have been happening for generations. I remember my highschool principal talk about the beer parties he attended when he went to Queen’s University. I wonder if the residents of the Student Area have a selective memory?
Good for SONAG – looks like someone is tackling the issue. I looked through the pictures, and it is obvious that there are major problems.
All I’ve seen so far on Kingstonist is apologists for this behaviour; is this blog written by students? Full disclosure is needed here.
Kingstonist purports to represent the community, when will that begin?
If you do some research, I mentioned that I am a Queen’s grad in a previous post (here), and at least one of our other contributors is as well. That said, a majority of the Kingstonist team members are neither students nor alumni. Obviously the scope of the content found on our site is limited to the experience and interests of our (volunteer) contributors. We are striving to provide a broader perspective that is representative of the community, however those who are affected by this particular problem have not stepped forward to blog about it. Although I sincerely doubt that SONAG will achieve success, please don’t interpret my skepticism as a lack of condemnation for the problem. I want to see things around Queen’s change, but like so many others I don’t know what the absolute solution is. Do you?
Apologist no…more like apathetic. Like Tyffanie said, it’s not as though students just started partying over the last 10 years. People forget that when they buy a house near Queen’s they inherit some of the universities problems.
The problems in this case are not inheritances for each new property owner to get screwed with anew, but rather they are police matters.
Just because somebody does something wrong for a long time doesn’t start to make it right. Public drunkenness, hooliganism, violence, burning and destroying property – are you now arguing that it is all just a tradition? I trust you are giving your head a well-deserved shake so that I don’t have to suggest it?
As for what the solution, perhaps it would be a good start for Kingstonist to fly down from your lofty perch and talk to SONAG.
But don’t ask Tyffanie…she doesn’t like their website. And isn’t that how we should judge every issue? By their website…easy peasy…
Lofty perch? Sir, you make me blush. I don’t know if I would limit it to a Queen’s-only tradition, but certainly communities have always experienced some degree of strife when young adults and alcohol combine. It’s appalling to consider that some Queen’s students are actually carrying on the tradition of destruction.
Tyff wasn’t bashing the SONAG site just to be mean, as she clearly pointed out that few ppl would find it engaging. I agree that raising awareness with an antiquated website (one that does not even allow comments such as this) will hinder SONAG’s success, but even if it was perfect, this is one problem that must be solved offline.
As That Guy hinted, I think this problem might be best solved by stricter policing, and heavier fines. Some might call that too harsh…but if we’re serious about a solution, let’s forgo the rock concerts, and move Homecoming to the dead of winter.
Yeah, stricter policing would help, as would Queen’s actually getting tough with students who are shaming the school/neighbourhood.
The students think they have a right to do this, and that any challenge to this right is somehow oppressive. They seem to honestly believe that they’re victims in all this! It’s remarkable. Check out
this article for examples of this thinking.