Outsiders invade party scene

By Marcos Moreno

Santa Clara students hit the streets at least once a week with a social purpose: to meet, to dance, to consume.

But this kind of behavior is acceptable only when students know they are safe. But recently, it's become harder and harder to ensure the well-being of those of us who like to celebrate.

The party scene at Santa Clara has been attracting its fair share of crashers lately. In most cases these unknown party-goers are students from all around the Santa Clara and San Jose area looking to free-load. If they were looking to socialize like the students here are, that would be fine. However, these unaffiliated students have other agendas, and their increased presence is beginning to worry a lot of Santa Clara students who live off campus.

In fact, many residents have had items stolen from their homes or have been victims of vandalism. But it doesn't stop here; several students have gotten into confrontations with non-Santa Clara students, and unfortunately, the outcome of most encounters is a call to the Santa Clara Police Department.

This is keeping students and police on edge. I've noticed several locations where there has been heightened police activity, especially in the areas around Bellomy Street. It's clear to me that the police are more vigilant than usual.

I'm not going to claim that all of the vandalism and altercations that take place off campus are caused by San Jose State students. Yet, there are many Santa Clara students who are ready to pin all the recent blame on them. That's not factual and it isn't fair. But it's quickly becoming a popular way to look at the present situation. An officer from the Santa Clara Police Department said, "I have not seen an 'invasion' of SJSU students. There is an influx of outside students (both high school and college) every year that go to the SCU parties."

Maybe a good reason that we see so many San Jose State students here is because it's so close. The San Jose State University campus is about five miles away from Santa Clara, only a ten minute drive. "They probably come to our parties because they go to a commuter school that is not as social," says junior Patricia McGlynn.

And most students would agree. Eric Gotthelf, a sophomore, furthers the point by saying, "In my opinion I think they probably just don't have enough social activities going on over at SJSU and that's why they come here."

But for students who live off campus, the amount of San Jose State students running around their neighborhood is particularly unnerving. "They always start fights, are never invited to the places they show up and generally cause a ruckus," claims a Santa Clara Rugby player who asked to remain unnamed.

Are they really that much of a problem? The Santa Clara Police Department might disagree with that distinction. "The last incident that included 'violence' was not involving SJSU students, as the minors were from Santa Clara and were either school drop outs or from continuation school, but definitely not from SJSU," stated one officer, who asked not to be identified.

After putting up with these riotous mobs (whoever they may be) for weeks, off-campus residents think it's time to take action, by simply turning people away from parties or calling the police when uninvited students enter a house. Eric Ecklund, an engineering major, has found a clever solution to the problem. "We ask for student IDs at our house a lot of times to keep it so it's just SCU students and their friends."

But there are other concerns about the "turning away" factor. Some consider it a subtle form of profiling. Evan Sarkisian, a community facilitator in Swig, commented that "the Santa Clara general opinion of blaming San Jose State students for all the problems around campus, I think that's another form of classism."

For those not familiar with the idea of classism, classism.org defines it as "the systematic assignment of characteristics of worth and ability based on social class." Maybe we're not giving San Jose State students a fair shake, because they go to a public university. This maybe the case for some Santa Clara students, but I think most of these feelings are born out of fear.

It's reasonable to be afraid when someone you don't know enters your house. However, if there's an open party where alcohol is being served, then you should expect things to get broken or stolen and expect that not everyone will get along.

There's an easy solution: lock up or hide valuable items, make sure you know where everyone at the party is, and if things get out of hand, call the police. If you're too afraid to let people into your house then you shouldn't open it up at all.

McGlynn had this to say, "I feel like a majority of our parties are public parties and are meant to be that way so that people feel welcome. That's the type of atmosphere that should be created at a party anyway." I couldn't have said it better myself.

Marcos Moreno is a junior English major.