In the latest effort to help University students and West Philadelphia residents mesh together, several Penn and community organizations are working on a series of "Getting to Know Your Neighbor" receptions. The program is designed to examine student interaction with the surrounding area, under the assumption that as students and community residents get to know each other personally, they will be more likely to treat each other with respect. Representatives from the University's Program for Student-Community Involvement and the Undergraduate Assembly have been meeting with members of the Spruce Hill Community Association to plan the receptions. Office of Community Relations Director Glenn Bryan said residents often feel animosity toward students because of the excessive amounts of noise, partying and trash they bring to the neighborhood. "Residents have been annoyed, angered and insulted by students' parties, but the residents and students have never even met each other," Bryan said. UA Chairperson Noah Bilenker, a College junior, added that "if students had a better relationship with the residents, maybe they wouldn't throw beer cans all over the place." Bryan said the receptions "would benefit students by giving them an idea of what it's like living in West Philly and would also give residents an idea of what it's like to be a student living off campus." Bryan noted that if students and residents were to establish a friendly relationship at the onset of the academic year, students would be less likely to deface their neighbors' property during parties. "We're not going to be disciplinarians, but we're just trying to facilitate interaction between students and residents," he said. The project hopes to create such interaction while students are still settling into the neighborhood in order "to establish a welcoming committee for everyone living in the area," Bilenker said. He added that "there are target blocks which may be a little loud" -- such as Beige Block, Pine, Delancey, Spruce and Walnut streets. Bilenker and College junior Hillary Aisenstein worked closely with the Office of Community Relations to develop a brochure -- directed toward students living off campus -- featuring tips on how to be a responsible neighbor. Aisenstein said several West Philadelphia residents expressed interest in handing the brochures out to the students, as part of an effort to meet the students living in the area. She stressed the project was designed to take "the proactive approach" to alleviate hostility between students and area residents. "We're all ingrained with this 'Don't go past 40th Street' garbage," Aisenstein said. Bilenker added that several residents who had introduced themselves to their neighbors last year had succeeded in developing positive relationships. "[Residents] used to completely resent students, and now some of them have students house-sit for them, fix their computers or take in their mail while they're away," he said.
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