Jason Poreda Columnist

ASUA may have stumbled a little coming out of the gate, but it's slowly getting back on track this year. There are several reasons why they are righting the ship, not the least of which is the decision to get involved with relations between the students living around campus and the community.

On Thursday, senators polled students on ASUA Day to find out if students support ASUA stepping in and getting involved in community relations. I'm sure everyone can agree that there is a problem and, of the 120 students they managed to poll, 88 want to see their representatives help out in rectifying the situation.

Every year you hear about the struggle between students living around campus and the rest of the people in the community who have made this area their home. The main source of tension between the two groups stems from the parties students throw that are too loud and too big ÷ at least in the opinion of their neighbors.

Complaints like these rain down from both sides of the conflict.

This is what the student government should be doing ÷ it should be seeking out the issues ... and attempting to fix them.

I'm sure everyone has a friend who lives in one of these areas around campus and has shared his or her personal fight with strict neighbors. Maybe they threaten to call the police in the event of a rowdy get-together. Maybe they vindictively parade their dogs through the front yard, leaving a mess. Regardless of the type, these problems can be a real burden on the college lifestyle.

However, it is not solely the members of the community at large that are in the wrong; their concerns are important as well. They have equally valid complaints about the students who have chosen to make their surrounding communities their own personal raves, throwing parties with loud music, alcohol and green leafy substances at all hours of the night.

Something has to give here ÷ both sides have to recognize that each group has a right to live the way it wants to. The students want to be left alone to have fun and enjoy their college experience. Their neighbors want a safe and quiet community to live in. Both are valid desires and simple goals, and both sides should be able to attain them.

How do we make that happen? It's difficult to say whether it will ever be possible for the two groups to live in harmony. After years of animosity, a lot of damage has been done and it may not be possible to repair such a fragile relationship. Universities around the country have this same problem, but no student group has taken action to get involved and help.

Finally, a student government ÷ our student government ÷ is willing to take a chance. ASUA would be the first such group ÷ that's right, I could hardly believe it myself.

"I think that's a workable goal; it's common courtesy. Students just need to think about other people," ASUA Sen. Sara Birnbaum said in the Wildcat last Wednesday. She is the pioneer of forums designed to facilitate the healing process, and both sides seem eager and grateful to have a moderator.

UAPD is very happy to see this problem, one previously left primarily in its hands, addressed by the student government. "I believe that any attempt to solve the problem, whether real or perceived, is a step in the right direction," UAPD spokesman Sgt. Eugene Mejia said.

This is what the student government should be doing ÷it should be seeking out the issues that students are most concerned with and attempting to fix them. The issue of student-community relations is this year's hot topic for a variety of reasons, and ASUA is doing the right thing by getting involved.

Now we can only wait and see what happens. It's time for ASUA to follow through and put its best foot forward. The forums may not work, but they are a start; and taking the risk and helping the community with the single most important issue to everyone is a laudable action.

-Jason Poreda is a political science and communication senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.