Published: October 10, 2006 11:51 pm      

SHSU hosts town hall meeting

Extending hours of operation for local bars and transportation in and around the city took center stage during Tuesday evening’s forum in the Lowman Student Center theater on the university campus.

The discussion was part of the sixth and final forum dedicated to gathering community input regarding the proposed Huntsville Comprehensive Plan. This forum was specifically aimed at university students, staff and faculty.

Jason Myers, a graduate student at SHSU, explained how he believes allowing the city’s bars to stay open until 2 a.m. will not only be safer for students but may also allow for better academic performance. Myers said, because Sam Houston is a “suitcase college” and much of the student population goes home on weekends, Thursday nights have essentially become the de facto party night. Myers suggested that extending drinking hours until 2 a.m. could eventually phase out Thursday night as “party night,” thusly resulting in higher class attendance on Fridays.

“I don’t know if any of you have ever been on campus on a Friday, but this place is a ghost town and the people that are here are not feeling so good and there is also little learning going on,” Myers said. “Extending the drinking time from 12 to 2 is not going to keep the students from going out later, because they are already out by going to The Woodlands or College Station. What it will do is keep them here on the weekends and staying on during the week.”

Several students remarked about the necessity of a shuttle system to offset the increasing lack of available parking.

“As a long-time resident of Huntsville I know that there is nothing more irritating than coming home and seeing cars in my neighborhood that do not belong there,” student Heather Williams. “I recognize the growing problem with transportation and think that the investment in a shuttle system would be a very beneficial to, not only Sam Houston State University, but also the residents who live around the campus as well as there is a lot of clutter and a lot of traffic and parking problems.”

Justin Berry, an SHSU senior and bartender at Shenanigans, said the shuttle system could work in tandem with extended drinking hours.

“Extending the hours has its ups and downs with problems of students drinking and driving, and this is where a shuttle system comes in. We had a problem the other day where we called a taxicab service come and pick up one of our intoxicated guests and they refused service to us,” Berry said, suggesting that a shuttle service could provide an additional means of transportation to students who have not arranged for a designated driver.

Several students said they would like to see additional shopping venues, restaurants and entertainment spots but one student urged, should those eventually make their way here, for developers to retain the current aesthetic of Huntsville.

“As students, our role is much like a rent paying tenant and we are simply borrowing this city,” said sophomore Michael Perkins, 21. “I welcome change but I hope the city doesn’t abuse the history that we have here just to be able to add a few more places to eat.”

John Fennessy, who described himself as one of SHSU’s non-traditional students (married, with children, living off campus), said he hopes to see developments form to better accommodate the growing non-traditional student population.

“We don’t live in the dorms or apartments, we are buying homes and we would like to stay here. You invest four years into a community and you would like to stay here, but there’s no jobs,” Fennessy said, adding that available housing is also of great importance. “Being close to the campus is a big issue. You don’t want to be living in The Woodlands, drive up here, spend 15 hours at the university every day and then drive back. If you’re married you want to be able to have a job for your spouse.”

City Planner Stan Hamrick said all the data collected at these six forums will be taken into consideration and discussed by consultants who will then present the information to the Comprehensive Plan Advancement Committee. The CPAC will then make initial drafts of a comprehensive plan to present to the city council for consideration.