<p>How has Burgie Howard been on this issue, and how is he in general? Mostly just obsessed with stomping out every drop of alcohol, like so many of them seem to be?</p>
<p>I wasn’t real impressed with his “This is what it means to live in Evanston”, but that was the only line of his in the article.</p>
<p>Anybody know anyone from UF that knows about the incoming VP of Student Affairs? The article above that I linked is probably not the most objective thing out there - it would be interesting to know more about that whole fuss and about her in general.</p>
<p>Burgie’s a great guy overall- I can’t even express the improvement he represents from his predecessor. But he seems to not care about this, and to take Evanston residents a little too seriously, and not quite realize they’re entitled upperclass snobs.</p>
<p>Agree that Burns should be fired. Still shaking my head at her comments.</p>
<p>Who in the admin cares about students, and not just writing up punishments? Who is capable of some flexibility and will go to bat for a student in a difficult situation, such as illness, hospitalization, death in the family, etc. ?</p>
<p>This is a real problem, especially since off campus housing selection is happening right now. Evanston is very foolish because who else is going to rent a 4-6 bedroom house or 3-4 bedroom apartment if not students? Evanston is really a one company town and that company is Northwestern and all their students. If students move out of Evanston and commute to campus what will happen to all the shops that rely on them? It’s not like there’s nothing but cornfields beyond the Evanston city line. Talk about creating your own recession and the death of a town.</p>
<p>I suggest sending an email to Burgwell Howard (<a href=“mailto:b-howard@northwestern.edu”>b-howard@northwestern.edu</a>) and copy Morton Shapiro (<a href=“mailto:nu-president@northwestern.edu”>nu-president@northwestern.edu</a>) and Remington (<a href=“mailto:j-remington@northwestern.edu”>j-remington@northwestern.edu</a>) and emphasize your concern that Northwestern administration should be supporting the students and working with the City Council to come up with alternative solutions to this potentially devastating problem. Maybe even suggest that student acceptance rates will go down if families know that their students are not welcome in Evanston and need to live a train ride (or cab or private car ride) from campus.</p>
<p>Agreed amtc. I do not understand the administration’s approach to this issue (essentially throwing up their hands) - pretty shocking. I think it is important that the email is addressed to President Schapiro. This is a huge problem. 40% of NU students live off campus.</p>
<p>jrpar, thanks for that stat on how many students live off campus. Where do you get it? I was pondering how much of an issue this was going to become. My S is a freshman (on campus in Hinman) and he said a few of his friends who live off campus were going to attend the town meeting on this subject. From the student written articles thus far, it appears that both Evanston and the university administration are being short sighted.</p>
<p>Does anyone know whether there was a “straw that broke the camel’s back” incident that resulted in this planned enforcement, or has this been brewing in the background for some time? This could make a difference in the strategizing on how the students may want to attack this.</p>
<p>This ordinance is not unique to Evanston; you’ll find it in virtually every “college city.” Boston has it, as does Cambridge and the Brookline and Newton neighborhoods surrounding Boston University and Boston College (except it’s 4 unrelated persons). And it’s enforced. This is just one of the manifestations of the “town v gown” controversy that has been going for years.</p>
<p>FindaPlace, I read it earlier today in an article on one of the NU student media sites - either the Daily Northwestern or NorthbyNorthwestern.</p>
<p>I think the “straw” was a weekend last fall (really warm weekend in November, I think, with a 4:00 p.m. home football game). There were a lot of pre-game tailgate parties at off campus homes and some were pretty rowdy. Residents were ticked. There was media coverage of this last fall. I think this has been brewing for years - Dillo Day is also not a favorite of Evanston residents. </p>
<p>Chedva, I think the issue here is enforcement after years of looking the other way. NU students have been renting large homes just a couple of blocks west of campus for years, but the law has not been enforced. If it is, a large number of students will have to scramble to find alternate housing, or pay more for the housing they are in since the rent can’t be split among as many students. There would not be enough housing on campus.</p>
<p>I’m glad to see that 500 students showed up for the town meeting to voice their opposition to this nonsense.</p>
<p>Even happier that President Schapiro responded to the uproar and came to the rescue. Agree that Betsi Burns may need to take a remedial course in PR at IMC or Kellogg.</p>
<p>Even happier still that this was resolved as it was.</p>