The month of April is usually a special time at Hopkins, thanks to Spring Fair, Homecoming and other activities that students often look back on as some of the more special moments during their four years here.
Tragically, as this April has passed us by, the nasty cloud hovering over Homewood in the form of strained student-community relations has not. Changes in recent years have moved the heart of student life from St. Paul Street to farther away areas such as Howard Street, East University Parkway and Guilford Avenue. Accompanying this transition have been some problems that negatively affect present students, and threaten to continue to do the same for future students.
Despite the efforts of administrators, the widespread student community faces an ever-growing firestorm from community members who will do anything to curtail social events and parties of any kind. Our "neighbors" are intent on having parties broken up, having police cite students while in transit to or from these parties and placing added strain on already overwhelmed campus security.
Second, our appointed student government has been busy attending to the ever-controversial issues of meal plans and graduation speakers, while grossly overlooking the situation with the community. In effect, community leaders and their political allies have taken it upon themselves to address the issue without student input.
The newly formed Homewood Students Association (HSA) hopes to change this. The HSA was formed by a group of undergraduates and is continually growing as students from the Graduate Representative Organization, College Democrats, the APO service fraternity, Greek fraternities and various others enlist. The goal is to bring together all 6,500 students to work with the city, community and University on the issues that matter to us most.
And there are many issues. Who's picking up the slack with security now that the city is cutting back during a time of a budget surplus? Why, after two student deaths in two years, is the University still having security issues such as insufficient sidewalk lighting and community patrols? How can we foster closer ties with our community members whose tarnished relationship is at the heart of this discussion? Finally, what's being done regarding the day-to-day issues that confront us, such as parking shortages, student quality of life and anti-social outcries from the community?
One sad development of the past 18 months has been the lack of student response in the wake of major changes in the community. This has allowed a disproportionate amount of the blame to fall on us, the Homewood students, while our views have been heard, at best, through ineffective University focus groups or, at worst, not at all.
In taking its message to the street and mobilizing student groups, comprised of those who have the capability to enact some change, the HSA has already made a difference. It successfully organized a community action day on April 15, bringing students and community members together, taking the first steps toward establishing the rapport that will be necessary to ensure further accomplishment.
Many students are skeptical and/or apathetic about this, and think there are better alternatives, such as attempting to drive Mary Pat Clarke from office, reliance on the University to carry the weight for us or simple inaction because certain students feel the issue is irrelevant to them.
That's wrong.
Having been active in this undertaking for several months now, I can tell you all three alternatives are toxic for our interests. Clarke is the most successful city councilwoman in city history and, with a Hopkins student population dominated by non-local students, that task is next to impossible. The University has more pressing interests on its agenda. Good luck trying to work through its bureaucracy in an attempt to get a streetlight fixed or more parking spaces, if it infringes on local development. We might as well be silent and wait until graduation for someone else to deal with this, an approach which has sufficed for too long now.
It's time for all of us to put a fraction of the effort we invest in our research, internships, practices, class work and other activities, to represent ourselves on issues which affect us. It's time for Hopkins students to step up and do what we do best when we care: research our options, act on the results and make a difference.
--Jake Wittenberg is a junior International Studies major from Scarsdale, N.Y. He is a member of the Homewood Students Association.
