Neighbors and Neighborhood Bars By JENNIFER TETI Editorial Assistant The Pine Hills Neighborhood As- sociation met on Thursday, October 18th at the Vincentian Community Center to discuss ‘Neighbors and Neighborhood Bars.” The panel, which included repre- sentatives of bar owners, the Pine Hills student community, neighbor- hood representatives, and enforcement authorities, discussed the problem of student drinking and carousing in the area. In the last two to three years, the situation has gotten worse. Of the 1,000 students who live in the area, approximately 100 of them are out in an evening, acting as if the neighbor- hood belongs to them.. Naturally with house parties, there is loud noise and music. The citizens complained about being woken up at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. They also complained about vandalism. Wooden fences are often broken, litter is strewn all over people’s yards, porches and driveways. Previously, when the drinking age was 18, all the partying was in the bars, and bar owners were more responsible. Now people drink il- legally at house parties, or by bar hopping. Bar owners understand the problem and realize that, although they can’t control what someone does after he leaves the bar, they can control the amount of liquor they serve him. Another problem lies with the police. In times of trouble, it took them 2% hours before they arrived. Something must be done to improve police response time—either by ex- panding the number of police officers or putting them on the street. Naturally, none of these problems will be solved overnight, but rather with patience and hard work.