In the news today:
- An allegedly inebriated council member confronts Bradley fraternity students over being too noisy in the middle of the night. Bradley police, then Peoria police are called to break things up. Van Auken says that neighbors have complained about this fraternity, Sigma Nu, 1300 W. Fredonia Ave., multiple times, but that things haven’t improved. Bradley police wouldn’t give the fraternity a citation for being too loud, but Peoria police did. The fraternity thinks they’re being treated unfairly, since the police didn’t cite Van Auken for disorderly conduct and trespassing after she and her companions refused to leave the premises. Van Auken says she acted appropriately. She also admitted to having a few drinks before the confrontation, and fraternity members and Bradley police said she showed signs of inebriation. My take: It’s laudable that Van Auken is willing to stand up to the university on this issue, but her apparent lack of sobriety calls her judgment — about the loudness of the party, for one thing — into question. It would have been better if she had confronted them while sober.
- Public Works is going to recommend lane reductions for Main Street. The purpose of the meeting last night was to present their proposal and convince everyone in attendance that it was the best solution. They keep saying they want to hear from residents and are willing to do what the residents want, but when the residents asked for things, they were told that those ideas won’t work and we have to go with Public Works’ plans, based on their computer models. Perhaps the most telling statement was when I talked to Public Works Director Dave Barber after the meeting and expressed my concern over the traffic on Main Street consistently going 10-15 mph over the speed limit between University and Farmington Road, his response was, “The street was that way when you moved there, right?” So, apparently, if people are breaking the law, they’ve got a right to keep breaking the law. Good to know. Nevertheless, narrowing Main east of University will be a good thing.
- District 150 is considering mandatory uniforms for primary and middle school students. My take: Great idea. Make it so.
Re: School uniforms.. I believe this is an area where they should give heavy weight to the majority opinion of the teachers.
“Great idea. Make it so.”
Agreed.
Uniforms are great… so much easier to shop for school cloths. 8 pants, 8 shirts, belt, socks, DONE.
uniforms will not solve all of our education problems, but it is a step in the right direction. We need more of these “real” solutions, instead of the prevailing “throw money at the problem” attitude
My son wears a uniform in middle school. It’s a great idea and makes life as a parent easier. One less issue to deal with with.
Van Auken’s actions(if true) just go to show you how unprofessional some off our council members can be at times.
1. I’m no Babs fan but people have every right to have a few as long as they don’t do the disorderly part. Sounds like the BU brats were the disorderly ones.
2. Another pain in the ass is the COP insisting on watering their stupid hanging flower baskets from the back of a truck blocking traffic with practically NO traffic control.
Oh, we all have our moments don’t we Peoriafan? 😉
vonster, what do you think would happen if you went up to your neighbor’s door under the influence and refused to leave when asked, and they called the police?
I think you would at least be charged with trespassing, don’t you?
I don’t have a problem with someone having a few drinks, and I applaud her and the others for taking the matter up with the frat, but when you are on someone else’s property and they tell you to leave, you leave. You don’t refuse and go in to who you are and what you can do.
we do have moments but I am not a elected public official who thinks they are above the law.
I do have to agree about the flower watering. That is just dangerous and I would not allow one of my employees to be put in that kind of dangerous situation. They should not do it at noon and they should have another vehicle behind them with flashing lights.
I observed a Ryder truck in the right hand lane with flashers on blocking traffic last week in front on Jim Maloof Realty on Pioneer Park.
The reason?: Someone putting up a giant Schock/Krupa sign.
I guess it would have been too much trouble to actually pull in the parking lot.
I observed a Ryder truck in the right hand lane with flashers on blocking traffic last week in front on Jim Maloof Realty on Pioneer Park.
The reason?: Someone putting up a giant Schock/Krupa sign.
I guess it would have been too much trouble to actually pull in the parking lot.
Totally off subject, I know.
This whole situation with the Bradley students is skewed to one side. I am a teacher at Bradley and see these actions first hand all of the time. It is not new for neighbors of Bradley to come and harass the students. “The BU Brats,” as they were so eloquently referred to as, differ no other than any of the other students trying to receive an education. I am not trying to portray anyone as saints; in fact that is the point I am trying to make is that no one is perfect. So what gives her the right to attack the students, especially while inebriated? It sounds like this problem stems from something much more personal toward the fraternity. Is this the kind of people we want in office, those who blow up personal issue with a group of students for her own personal gain?
Amen Dr BU. The most sober post here on the subject. Van Auken should have known better and we as citizens should demand better of our Representatives. EGO EGO EGO and her friend Rand is good buddies with Lyons. Go figure.
School uniforms are fine, but . . . it seems an insignificant issue for the Board to focus on with so many other troubling issues facing the District. The Board needs to stop spending time on small matters and instead begin making some huge adjustments to the delivery of education to all students, not just those struggling with performance issues. Scoring a “meets standards” on the ISAT test is a long way from where a student needs to be, in order to be academically prepared for life and a successful career.
I know of 3 families that recently moved back to the area, all with high performing students. One located in Washington, another in Metamora, and the final family to Dunlap. None of these families even considered housing within District 150. Why is the District not more concerned with attracting families to the District?
Sure, why not uniforms? Then we can’t let people wear their own clothes can we … make em spend more for the uniforms… or are we gonna then give some parents vouchers for uniforms, too?
Anything to avoid facing the real issues… atta boy Mr. Hinton, keep people from talking about school vouchers and merit pay and tenure.
Just in case you are wondering:
Vouchers : YES!
Merit Pay: YES!
Tenure: NO WAY!
As long as District 150 is below 70% on the AYP scores, aren’t they failing? Shouldn’t they be being closed down?
I really didn’t want to weigh in on this one, but oh, well! First–wait until NCLB gets to the 100% goal–and it is inching closer every day because 100% is the final goal. Private schools, of course, will be exempt unless the voucher system is put into effect. Then even private schools will have to be tested to get “voucher” money. However, as long as private schools or “choice” schools can have control over their selection of students, test scores will probably remain high.
As a retired teacher, you can well expect that I do not favor merit pay or doing away with tenure–and I’m sure many of you will throw all kinds of words at my opinions.
I would love to see teachers held accountable, but I haven’t figured out how to do so. I’m certainly not in favor of merit pay dependent on students’ test scores. When that happens, there will be no teachers willing to teach in inner city schools. My opinion: Bad teachers at Dunlap (or Peoria Notre Dame or Peoria Christian) can’t be identified by the test scores of students. I certainly don’t want merit pay tied to an administrator’s evaluation. Jim Stowell recently asked me how I would suggest getting rid of bad teachers. I told him that they already found a way–they make them administrators. I’m not really as cynical as that–but there is some truth in it. In my own experience, “good” and “bad” evaluations are very, very subjective. Caterpillar (business in general) can decide on merit pay based on productivity that can be easily measured. Caterpillar has more control over the “product”–teachers do not have that kind of control.
As for uniforms–if you can guarantee that all students will be expected to conform, etc., fine. In my own experience, all dress codes were very difficult to “police” primarily because administrators aren’t willing to demand compliance. I’m not at all convinced that uniforms equal better academic scores. Maybe better discipline–but I’d have to see it to believe it.
As for the situation at the Sigma Nu Fraternity, by no means was it a “party”. Us so called “BU Brats” were just sitting out front of that house talking. We had no more than 9 to 10 of legal age students out front. Now if you want to get technical about the number of people there, then maybe you should come sit out front on Fredonia Avenue and see how many students actually sit out front of their houses. Sigma Nu Fraternity has BY FAR less students out front and yet they still are the only ones who seem to have trouble with Mr. Rand and now Van Auken. They are not trying to cause any more problems with the neighborhood association or Peoria for that matter. They are simply here to get an education like every other student and yet still be involved with the community. If I do remember right they have raised nearly over $80,000 the past 3 years for the Children’s Hospital of Peoria. I personally think that those students/men should be given a little bit more slack on these past events.
Hey Bradley Student you said “Sigma Nu Fraternity has BY FAR less students.” Shouldn’t that be “fewer students.” Maybe you AP’d out of English 101?
Thanks, Tulip–I hate to be the “grammar” police, so I’m glad you pointed out that this BU student has not yet completed his/her education. There are a few grammar rules left to conquer. I just returned from a West Peoria City Council meeting where we “older” adults (actually younger homeowners, too)are objecting to a proposed Bradley housing project. We were quite happy that the BU students and Van Auken provided us with such a good example as to why we do not want Bradley students (in mass) as neighbors. The wonderful thing about being young is that someday you will be old and will want peace and quiet in your neighborhoods,too. Nine to ten of legal age–just talking, right? Did the “legal age” have anything to do with the actual noise level–and the memory loss?
Gee thanks for the positive feedback besides pointing out that I missed used words. How about you give some ideas or options on how to help fix this situation instead of criticizing my use of words.
Tulip and Sharon:
Have to side with Bradley Student on this one. If my writing of blog postings and some emails were scrutinized in detail, many grammar errors would be revealed. But it’s always a good technique to criticize form over substance when you don’t have the facts to support your position.
EVEN if the students were louder than necessary / appropriate / desirable; it still doesn’t give either Ms. Van Auken or Mr. Rand the green light to act in the manner they did. A call to the police would be the appropriate action to have taken. Given that my understanding of the facts is limited to those printed in the paper, I have to say that, on balance, the students appear to have acted more appropriately.
I was just being a smart aleck about the grammar–that’s what I did for a living and I still make careless mistakes, especially on blogs. I certainly agree that Van Auken didn’t handle the situation properly. I have a neighbor that plays loud music day and night–so far I’ve refrained from calling the police. However, I do wish that young people would realize that neighbors should not have their privacy invaded by their music, etc.–even to the extent of being deprived of sleep.
Personally attacking Bradley Student for his/her grammar really does not advance your argument, nor does it help improve relations between Bradley students and neighbors.
Also, I’m a little disturbed by what sounds to me like prejudice against Bradley students, as if they’re all alike. You have no idea who “Bradley Student” is, yet you treat him/her with disrespect — unprovoked. I know there are strained relations, but attacking “Bradley Student” isn’t going to help resolve anything.
Wow, I started that comment before Peo Proud’s comment posted. I guess I type slow! 🙂
Sharon, is there any way that students who live in off campus houses would be allowed to attend one of the West Peoria City Council meeting? Would we have to bring along our landlord to have approval? I know plenty of students who would like to sit in on a meeting and just listen to what is said. Up to this point we were only hear complaints from Mr. Rand. Maybe if there was some other member that we could talk with about the situation, then possibly there could be a solution not involving police or the university.
One more thing — I had said in my post that it would have been better if Van Auken had confronted them while sober. After reading the comments and reflecting on it more, I have to agree with those who said it would have been better for her not to confront them, but to call the police and let them do their job.
Now, if she lived in the neighborhood, I don’t think it would have been inappropriate for her to go next door (sober) and ask them to keep it down, as long as she didn’t go into a tirade and refuse to leave when asked.
The students were BREAKING THE LAW by violating the noise ordinance. Here is some positive feedback: simply, obey the law. This means noise should not be emanating to the sidewalk after 10 p.m. This means don’t serve alcohol to any one under the age of 21. This means when someone approaches your residence and asks you to turn it down, please do so. Don’t say that person is “trespassing.” You have instigated the incidence with your unlawful noise. Someone who approaches and asks you to obey the law is not trespassing.
Bradley Student, I probably need to take a step back–and first apologize for my crack about the grammar; I jumped on that much too quickly and unkindly. Secondly, I truly don’t have anything against Bradley students–I was one–and many students right out of college have become my respected colleagues and friends throughout my lifetime. However, I do object to noise that keeps me awake, etc., and probably because of my age, I am more likely to sympathize with the neighbors in this particular case. As for the West Peoria meeting, it’s open to the public (as is any City Council meeting) and if you live in West Peoria we’d be glad to have you as a member of the WP Residents’ Association. However, the area around Bradley is not in West Peoria. The objection of some, if not most, WP residents to a Bradley housing project is really not because of a prejudice against Bradley students. We simply believe that it is better to have dorm-like housing in non-residential areas so that problems like the one mentioned in this latest news story don’t have to occur. Our other strong objection, of course, is that the proposed project is in no way connected to Bradley University–just housing meant to attract Bradley students.
Anyway, please accept my apology. There is a disadvantage to using one’s own name on these blogs. However, I prefer to take responsibility for my words, etc.–it keeps me from being even more rude than I was this time.
nice post, Sharon. Thank you.
Sharon, you are never rude… and your name lends great credibility to your arguments.. even if it is at times an argument I don’t agree with 😉
Thank you Sharon, I am not offended by you making a joke. Its natural to do so. I just hope that everyone on here understands what actually really happened at that house. We were asked to drop the noise level and to move to the front of the house. We did everything that was asked of us by the cops that night. We even saw the same cop drive by two times and the other Bradley cop drive by and not once did they stop to say we were being too loud again. Ultimately we would like to deal with these situations with other residents in the neighborhood other than Mr. Rand and Mrs. Van Auken. We as students do need to learn that times have changed like they did for people in the past. No longer is underage drinking tolerated or loud music and late parties. We do understand that we are part of a community and we do not want to keep ruining our relationship with our neighbors. I do want to apologize on behalf of us students that were there outside of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. We did not mean to cause so much drama or bother any of our neighbors. So again, sorry.
Double secret probation
huh? you disabled comments on this one? awwwwwww C.J. say it ain’t so.
scratch that…my first comment did not post correctly.
Ian — For some reason, my Akismet spam filter caught your first comment. Sorry. I rescued it.
Blogs are a great way of communicating–I think we can solve many problems by interacting in this way–at least, we learn by hearing others’ points of view, etc. Bradley Student, you just told your side of the story that hasn’t been reported by the press–which sheds new light on the story, and I appreciate your sincerity and that you will be a good neighbor–by the way loud parties, etc., have never been tolerated by us older folks–each generation has to learn that for themselves and then you become old folks and the cycle continues.
Knocking Main St. down to three lanes will choke it off with so much tied-up traffic that the swearing behind the wheel will rise 226%.
We have enough road rage around here. The traffic count on Main St. is far too high to make this work. Stupid idea.
“The traffic count on Main St. is far too high to make this work.”
The traffic counts presented at the forum support 3 lanes East of University. Even at 3 lanes, the roadway would be underutilizing its capacity. At least that is what their studies are showing.
Did you go to the forum Prego?
Of course not, Mahkno. I’ve said before that I much prefer to comment based on emotions, not fact. I believe I do a great job of that. Moreover, I really don’t care what they say at the forum. They’ll say whatever they want to in order to get what they want done. So, there you go.
A little mild research, however, on the internet will find that the traffic counts for a 3-lane road to work is just under 10,000-12,000 cars a day. I’d direct you to that research, but I can’t find it now. It was up a few years ago when I was checking it out. Anything over that figure is too much. I don’t know what the count is on Main, but I know this much: even with four lanes, it is VERY busy much of the day. I rarely see a clear lane at any time.
Just remember: I told you so. The only safe way for pedestrian to cross is at a stop light, regardless of how many lanes of traffic there are. Tell me how it will be easier when there are 3 lanes? It will just mean for cars in the 2 lanes that are used, where there isn’t a stop light. That’s gonna make it easier? How about the first time a pedestrian gets socked in the center turn lane, by a car illegally passing a car in the “real” lane?
These are things that weren’t considered at the “forum,” I’m sure.
Numbers are based on the current roadway.
~26,000 cars a day between Farmington Rd & University
~17,500 cars a day between University & Sheridan on the current roadway.
~12,500 cars a day between Sheridan and Kumpf.
~8750 cars between Kumpf and the River.
Tulip or anyone else: Where can one find the statutes for public intoxication and trespassing?
How does posting one’s property with a No Trespassing sign affect the enforcement of trespassing?
I feel that if someone is on your property and they are not invited and you ask them to leave they should comply — immediately. If said party does not comply, the police can be called and remove them and cite them with a violation. Is this analysis on sound legal footing?
Wow two things I can post on in one post!
(Bradley-Van Auken)
Karrie,
one of the people that commented on the pj stars site stated a portion of the Illinois Criminal Code of 1961. I did some research and found that the one they gave was wrong and gave, what I thought, was the correct one. Which I found here:
http://law.onecle.com/illinois/720ilcs5/21-3.html
stating that “Criminal trespass to real property. (a) Whoever: (3) remains upon the land of another, after receiving notice from the owner or occupant to depart;”. I did not look up public intoxication but it probably wouldn’t be hard to find.
Tulip,
I wasn’t there so I do not know what the noise levels where, saying this it sounds like Bradley Student was there. His side of the story is above. But from everything that I have read the students did everything that was asked of them by the police. And that they did ask her to leave and take it up with the school. In not leaving that would make her and her group trespassing as per the Illinois Criminal Code of 1961. To me it sounds like she was in the wrong there and that Sigma Nu got the bad end of the deal, at least for now.
(Main traffic issues)
Mahkno and Prego,
Let me do some research on what 3-lane roads can handle, vehicle wise. I should probably know this but I can not think of if off the top of my head. I wish I could have been to the traffic meeting the other night, but I could not.
C.J., do you have the traffic counts for Main Street that they are using? I have some “primitive” numbers from counts that I had to do for class, but they were only from one day.
Civil Engineering Grad.
Bradley class of ’08
Bill: Thank you! 🙂
From the PJStar:
The squabble ended with the fraternity being cited with a noise violation and the fraternity members filing a complaint against Van Auken and the two men for trespassing. No charges will be brought against the trio by the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Pattelli.
Why would charges for trespassing not be filed? Anyone know on a legal basis?