Committee must stay

By Editorial

When officials suggested disbanding the Neighborhood University Relations Committee last week, they were ignoring the important role that a venting outlet plays for neighborhood residents. Though we recognize the failures of the board in effectively addressing emerging issues, NURC, as it exists today, is better than nothing: NURC needs to stay.

While both AS Vice President Jasper Seldin and Neighborhood Relations Community President Claudia Daw believe that NURC has failed in continuing to accomplish goals, neither wishes to see NURC disappear altogether.

Both believe that reform is necessary. "The NURC meetings need to be more goal-orientated rather than report-orientated," said Daw. Seldin agrees that NURC's meetings focus too much on statistics read by the police department and the university. "Too often," says Daw, "police are just spewing facts."

The Santa Clara agrees that NURC needs to develop more goal-focused meetings instead of providing an outlet for neighbors' "animosity," as Seldin called it.

Refocusing NURC towards communication, compromise, and goal-setting seems to be more beneficial to both neighbors and students than Mayor Mahan's short-sighted, plug-pulling solution.

While the mayor was right in claiming that the original goals of the group, like noise ordinances, have been accomplished, there is no reason to end what could be an important and productive dialogue between students and neighbors.

Instead of disbanding, NURC meetings are important enough to occur more frequently. More meetings would allow the goal monitoring and assessment which Daw believes is the only way to get something accomplished.

We also call on students to be active within NURC to help solve problems without police involvement. We also ask that neighbors be willing to compromise ---- leaving what may be justified frustrations at the doors of the meeting.

Neighborhood residents must realize that Santa Clara is a college town, and as such will probably not be tucked-in and in bed by 10 p.m. every night. But neighborhood residents should not have to clean off what Daw claims is an "amazing amount of garbage" from their lawns.

Regardless of disagreements or current effectiveness, NURC is important enough to merit continued, reformed meetings.