In a weird series of political machinations, it looks like our favorite lawmakers in Olympia have convinced the student government [asuw] at the University of Washington to have the student code of conduct [washington] apply to off-campus behavior:

Student leaders said Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, told them he would introduce legislation to expand the student conduct code unless they addressed the issue soon. He’s sponsored legislation in the past that would have required all state universities to adopt rules and sanctions regarding disruptive conduct in nearby neighborhoods, businesses and public places. The proposals have never passed.

UW student body president Cullen White said students want to have a chance to address the issue and not have the Legislature force something on them. [p-i, (emphaisis & links mine)]

Certainly, things in the University District appear to be on the downslide and no one wants to appear to be in support of blight and squalor, loud parties and public drunkenness, let alone their potentially deadly aftermath. But it does seem odd that a liberal senator has leveraged a legislative threat to push students to actively undermine their rights rather than resisting.

Given that the student plan appears to be focused on serious crimes, it’s not particularly clear what effect this expansion would have on the nuisance behavior that irks neighbors. This might be a nice symbolic gesture on the part of the students, but it seems unlikely to have the effectiveness of beefed-up community policing, honest dialogue, and a recognition that a lot of the problems in the district are caused by non-students.

(partially informed by the discussion at the uw livejournal community [uw.lj])

Related posts:

1. yikes! u.w. students to be hearing from r.i.a.a., increasing student loan balances?
2. uw to lure faculty with condos
3. No further info on campus assault
4. UW Police: Still figuring out how this e-mail thing works
5. Guns on campus?