UPDATED: Oct. 13, 2015 at 11:30 a.m.

The Syracuse Common Council will be voting on an ordinance Tuesday that, if passed, would make drinking off campus while making excessive noise a prisonable offense, Student Association President Aysha Seedat said Monday.

Seedat discussed the ordinance, which will be voted on Tuesday, with the assembly at SA’s Monday night meeting in the Hall of Languages. Additionally, SA passed a bill calling on Syracuse University’s administration to make restrictions to the “Kiss Cam” at football and men’s basketball games.

Seedat and Vice President Jane Hong learned of the ordinance on Friday at a Student Affairs Advisory Board meeting, which Common Councilor Pamela Hunter attended.

If passed, the law will be complaint-driven; Syracuse residents could call the Syracuse Police Department if there is excessive noise coming from a house. If the police deem the noise to be extreme and find evidence of underage drinking, they would give the offenders court summons. The penalty would then be up to a judge, who could fine the offenders between $100 and $500 or send them to jail for up to 15 days.

Hong said student offenders would be issued a warning for their first violation, and that wouldn’t count as the first offense. The next offense would be considered the first offense.

The fine for the first offense would be between $100 and $250 if the offender were to not be incarcerated. The fine for the second offense would be between $150 and $300. The fine for third and subsequent offenses would be between $250 and $500.

Hunter told Hong and Seedat that it is unlikely that a first or second offender would go to jail and that it would likely only happen if a situation were completely out of control. Still, Seedat asked Hunter to consider amending the ordinance so first and second offenders would not face imprisonment, but Seedat doesn’t believe that will happen.

Hunter told Hong and Seedat that the ordinance will most likely pass on Tuesday. Seedat and Hong will be meeting soon with Eric Persons, SU’s associate vice president of government and community relations, to discuss their displeasure with the fact that students committing first and second offenses could go to jail. Additionally, Seedat told the assembly it could draft and pass a proposal taking a stance on the bill.

Later in SA’s meeting, the assembly passed a bill calling for reform of the use of the Kiss Cam at SU football and men’s basketball games. The bill proposes that the SU administration ensure that the Kiss Cam “prevents non-consensual situations” by pre-determining the people who would appear on the Kiss Cam, both in the student section and elsewhere in the Carrier Dome.

The bill is meant to represent the student body’s stance on the issue. It won’t necessarily change anything; rather, the administration will take the bill into consideration as it decides what to do.

The Kiss Cam has not been used at an SU football game since a letter to the editor on Syracuse.com said it condoned sexual assault and male entitlement.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the punishment for offenders caught underage drinking was misstated. Offenders would receive a court summons. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on October 12, 2015 at 11:33 pm

Contact Michael: mdburk01@syr.edu