Fines for loud parties? Sounds like some students at the University of Oregon need to run for Eugene City Council. If they’re members of the community don’t they deserve to have a voice in local politics?

Ben Schorr of the Oregon Commentator reports.

The Buzz Has Been Killed

Overpriced campus area housing and beer should be the only costs of partying (not including physical costs like hangovers and those damn mystery bruises), but Eugene City Council doesn’t see it that way. Yesterday they approved the Social Host Ordinance, legislation that raises fines for party goers, in an attempt to cut down on underage drinking and rowdiness.
Apparently the council wasn’t swayed by student’s enthusiastic turnout against the bill.

We’ll see how the stats look in a few years, but it’s safe to assume that college kids will be college kids, and bigger fines will do nothing but give more money to the city of Eugene. Maybe that doesn’t sound so bad, but paying to party certainly does.

More about the ordinance can be seen in this previous blog post and in our November issue.

The ordinance Mr. Schorr references is summed up here:

The Eugene City Council unanimously approved a controversial social host ordinance at Monday’s city council meeting. Eugene Police says it’s happy it passed.

The social host ordinance is meant to put a stop to excessive parties and ultimately prevent underage drinking by offering more punishments for the party’s hosts. Not very many people spoke out about the ordinance at Monday’s meeting, but previous meetings have drawn dozens of students.

Some argued the ordinance violates their privacy. Violators can be fined up to $1,000 and it’s the host of the gathering that could receive this citation.