Show us the card

By Editorial

We reported last week that during the Feb. 7 Neighborhood University Relations Committee meeting, neighbors proposed that birthdays should be brandished on student access cards.

This tactic was suggested to curb the underage drinking among students. (Another tactic, perhaps too ridiculous to mention, suggested that houses have a one-keg limit per month.)

This page believes these unrealistic requests will only further escalate tensions between students and neighbors.

One university administrator seemed skeptical even if students carried their access cards with them.

This point should be well taken, because students would most likely have a credit card on them before they would have an access card on a Friday night.

Access cards aren't meant to be used in terms of enforcement, especially outside the bounds of the university. Regular state identification serves that purpose. Therefore, it would be pointless to brandish cards with this information.

What we find disturbing in this proposal is that individual rights are being overlooked. The role of neighbors, the police and the school would be blurred into this Big Brother entity.

What's next, color-coded arm bands?

The point is we are students, not dogs in need of a leash.

While we understand that some neighbors have to put up with drunken hooligans on the weekends, this is by no means a reason to generalize the entire Santa Clara student body as a disturbance.

We hope the next NURC meeting is met with sound proposals and real solutions in regards to underage drinking; not with ridiculous sanctions that would indeed curtail the privacy rights of students.