More than 800 students live on the Annadal campus, six hundred in Maastricht University’s Guesthouse and 225 in the M building of student housing company Xior. The inhabitants of the streets around the campus experience a lot of disturbance at night-time. Jo Hendrix and Mia Houben, who live on the Louis Pasteurpad, sleep with their windows and doors closed, but still literally hear every conversation that is held on the fire escapes of the M building. “There is a tremendous echo. And the conversations are usually not quiet, but with shouting, screaming and party noises,” they say.
Privacy
The agreement is that when residents experience a disturbance, they should phone the security guards. “They are kind and decent people, willing to help,” says Houben. “But they are overwhelmed by the large number of students.” Her husband adds: “The students don’t have to give their names because of privacy. Or they lie and make a fool of the security guard.” In addition, those causing trouble are often not residents, but from elsewhere, he says. Houben, with tears in her eyes and a shaky voice: “If we hear something at nine o’clock, we think: ‘Should we phone now? it might get worse later on’.” That is the way the couple are in bed at night-time too. Thinking about whether it might get worse.
René Dohmen, who lives on the Kochstraat, is among other things troubled by students who smoke next to the bicycle shed and who hang out at the parking lot or at the balconies during the night. “If there are ten people there, smoking and in a jolly mood, that can cause a lot of noise. Often there is alcohol involved too.” Dohmen also emphasises: “There is a huge echo. The security guards are powerless. There are law students among them and they know exactly what their rights are.”
Another frustration of the neighborhood: the fast turnaround on campus. “New students keep coming,” says Dohmen. “When the people who came in September are 'raised' by Christmas, they leave and a new batch comes. The excuse we often hear is 'they're still new and don't know the rules yet’ or 'they're almost gone and they know nothing can happen to them now'."
Police cars
They have tried everything: meetings with the city, a mediator, talks with the alderman and with the two letting agents. They set up an e-mail system to carefully register all complaints. Even telephone calls to the enforcement officers and the police yielded no results. Dohmen: “The enforcement officers are no longer available after 10 PM and when we call the police they ask: ‘How many cars do you think we have out and about at night-time, mister Dohmen?’”
Not a convent for nuns
But last Friday night it remained quiet. Students who go outside for a cigarette or who are returning from the city on their bicycles and cycle over the gravelled path on the Annadal grounds immediately hush their voices when the security guards speak to them. Even the can of beer is brought back inside after an urgent request: “No alcohol outside, please.”
So, the security guards are not completely powerless. When the sensors on the doors to the fire escape signal, they immediately go and check it out. Residents are not allowed to be there if there is no emergency. “In addition, we regularly do our rounds around the building to check things but also to show that we are here. And after 11 PM, at least one of us is outside just to keep the residents quiet. We really do our best, but it isn’t a convent for nuns.”
The students don’t appear to be aware of any trouble. “I do get that the neighbourhood wants to get a good night’s rest,” says a German student who - a little earlier - was asked to talk more quietly with his friends while having a smoke. “That is why it is a good thing that there is security. It also gives us a feeling of safety.”
A big stick
“The problem in the neighbourhood is real,” says Maurice Evers, head of the UM’s student housing. There was more disturbance last year than there is normally.” But he says that at the moment there is not much more that the UM can do. “We thought about acoustic solutions, but we can’t build a wall around the campus.” An entry system around the whole campus would be possible, but that would require serious measures and financial investments.”
That the security guards cannot ask names is incorrect, says Evers. “Students must show their key – which has their room number on it – when asked. The security guard then writes a report. The problem is that the disturbance is mostly caused by visitors.”
We don’t have a ‘big stick to hit with’, Evers admits. The Guesthouse works with a system of yellow and red cards. A yellow card is a warning and a red card is your gone. A yellow card chat often helps a lot, says Evers. But giving a red card is practically impossible. “Tenants are protected by law. We cannot evict them. If we want to do that, we have to compile a dossier and take it to court. That takes at least a year. They are not even there for that long.” Also, you cannot exclude them from their studies. “We don’t want to do that anyway. Someone who works for DSM is not fired because he or she has a party at home in their spare time and causes a disturbance. What does help, is having a chat with the exchange student’s home university. They often call them to order or even call them back.” Evers doesn’t have the ideal solution, but one thing is certain: “It is tough getting a grip on this situation.”
Enjoyment of living
The neighbourhood wants more investments in enforcement, but would prefer the number of student neighbours to be reduced drastically. Houben: “So many students living in a residential area; it’s not possible. The city needs to pay more attention to the ratios in society. The ‘ordinary’ people are moving away because of the nuisance caused by students. This is not good for the university’s reputation in the city either.” Fewer students is also the solution for Dohmen: “I understand that the city has a problem with student housing, but twenty years ago, there were 120 students living here, now there are nearly 900. The enjoyment of living in the areas around the campus suffers greatly as a result.”