I was excited to come back to school. As a transfer student who has never experienced a fall semester here at Geneseo, I was interested to see just how different the campus would be in the fall.
During these first few weeks I noticed a few obvious differences such as the weather, an increased amount of campus activity and a definite change in apparel. There is one difference, however, that has left me scared to leave my dorm every weekend: the increased presence of Geneseo University Police.
Coming into Geneseo during tundra season, I didn’t really see much of the UP officers last semester. It seems from the reaction of my friends who have been here a while, however, that Geneseo must have upped their ante and hired more officers.
This came to my attention when my suitemate had her boyfriend come and stay with us the second weekend back at school. The two of them were walking down the street, her boyfriend holding a water bottle. My suitemate informed me that officers stopped them on the street, proceeded to check the bottle her boyfriend was holding and then issued him a ticket for an open container. This is only one example reflecting the sudden increase of distribution of tickets and citations.
Deeply unnerved, the next weekend we all proceeded with caution, fearful that the cops were waiting for us at every turn. We weren’t the only ones. Our hosts asked us to please remain inside so as not to draw attention to ourselves as the cops drove by. The Inn Betweem has also tightened security, pulling a friend of mine aside because the bouncers were concerned with the validity of her out of state license. These occurrences have left students frustrated and nervous.
Now officers, I don’t mean to complain. It makes us feel safer having you here and knowing that you’re always on patrol on nights when we make reckless decisions, occasionally running away from our friends, insisting that we can make the walk home by ourselves. However, you’re beginning to cramp our styles a bit. We don’t want to have to worry about carrying around a soda bottle, even when it’s closed. For most of us, we’re more nervous about the confrontation than we are of the punishment.
Not all of us are irresponsible teenagers. Recently I attended a party where the backs of my hands were marked with large black Xs in order to identify me as under 21, and there were signs on the walls that read “18 to enter, 21 to drink.” We’re young, we go out with the intention of being loud and having a good time and you’re beginning to infringe upon these rights of passage.
As college students, we understand having parties broken up for noise pollution and houses being over capacity. We appreciate your assistance when we’re stumbling down hills or sick on the side of the road. We’d just appreciate if you backed off a little and let us walk around in peace, not glare at us suspiciously every time we let out a laugh or take a sip of what we’re carrying. If we are being responsible and not causing a problem, is a ticket really necessary? No harm, no foul.