 "Photo: Mariam Bier / Staff Photographer")
Rowdy parties, excessive trash and the increase in crime that typically follow fall move-ins causes residents of the College Area to wish they had better neighbors.
To address this issue, Associated Students will be building upon the well-established Good Neighbor Program (GNP) to further educate students about how to get along with their neighbors.
Doug Case, president of the College Area Community Council, said the GNP - started by the A.S. 18 years ago - will build upon past efforts to encourage good relations between neighbors around the San Diego State campus.
Led by Tim Velasquez, the A.S. vice president of university affairs, the GNP will undergo several changes this semester, Velasquez said.
Since April 30, 2007, fines of up to $1,000 have been handed out to dissuade students from noisy parties, and since then "more than 100 fines have gone out," according to Velasquez. "This program will serve as a direct link between students with the community, and hopefully cut down on the fines."
The program will focus on four key components this year, Velasquez said.
"The first element is a 'Community first-response team'," Velasquez said. "This involves notification of a noisy house's first offense to the program leaders, at which time the tenants will be informed about regulations and expectations.
"We have a great relationship with the (San Diego) Mid City police. On a first offense of noise, they will send info to me, and we go out and educate the students on being a better neighbor."
The second area of focus is education.
"Fliers and information on the GNP will be going out within the month to students," Velasquez said.
These fliers, titled "Successful Community Living" include information ranging from parking, noise and alcohol, to tips on how a student can approach and form a friendly relationship with non-student community members living nearby.
Another focus area for the GNP will be to reach out to neighborhood associations such as the CACC and others.
"We will gather feedback from the community to see if education is helping the situation for them," Velasquez said. "This will help us to determine how to better improve the quality of life for both students and the people living around them."
The last part of the program focuses on community service and will include a cleaning team. The program will include both students and community members working to clean up College Area neighborhoods.
"The community is very impressed with the concept of the program," Case said. "The students are really going above and beyond."
Written by Velasquez, a "Proposal for College Area Clean Team" states: "The College Area program would be modeled after a number of other successful community organized clean up groups."
One of these other groups is the "Hillcrest Clean T.E.A.M." which was "highly successful and garnered support from a number of government officials and community leaders," according to the proposal.
Members of the local community however, have mixed reactions to the GNP. While Case said some members of the CACC reported high hopes, Norma Huhn, a local homeowner in the community, does not feel that way.
"In my neighborhood, I think the students are beyond the help of program, but I do hope it will work," Huhn said. "It's not going to save all of them, but maybe it will make an impact on some students."
Eric Hofmann, another community member, also has a skeptical opinion of the program and questions its real intentions.
"I think they're just trying to dodge the system," he said. "If not for the fines, the students would not be changing their attitudes."
The program has A.S. hopeful for good results, but some students do not agree with the choice of continuing the program.
"It sounds like a waste of taxpayer dollars to me," political science senior Andrew Sale said.
More information on the GNP can be obtained online through http://as.sdsu.edu/good_neighbor/index.htm or calling their phone line at (619) 594-SAFE.
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