Holly Fenner was reluctant to call the police on her South Oakland neighbors, but when a drunk guy tried to push through her front door in October, she hesitated no more. When the officer couldn't find the invader and refused to write a report, Ms. Fenner launched a crusade to get police and the University of Pittsburgh to take seriously her concerns with the partying next door.

	Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette Holly Fenner has been trying to get problems with her South Oakland neighbors resolved. Click photo for larger image.

Eight months later, she doesn't feel she's succeeded. Though she and other neighbors have called the police more than a dozen times to report noise, obscenity and urination, and she has tried to engage Pitt's disciplinary system, her student neighbors have gotten off with warnings from the school and the judicial system.

Police and Pitt officials "would say they would take care of it, and nothing came of it -- it just got worse," said Ms. Fenner, a 29-year-old Pitt science student who also works. "We've got the 'boys will be boys' thing going on."

Yesterday, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration sent a letter to the city's institutions of higher learning, asking them to join him in trying to "encourage favorable conduct by students not only on campus, but in the community."

Ms. Fenner's case demonstrates how far from that ideal the city and schools are today.

September parties spurred her concerns, which peaked after the drunken man's attempt to enter her first-floor Dawson Street apartment. She then began calling police when people there got loud, urinated on her yard or called her obscene names, she said.

"There have been huge parties, there have been people passed out on the porch," said Cassi Schaffer, who is Ms. Fenner's landlord and lives on the same block.

"She has called the police when there are five people over here," fumed Jesse Weber, one of Ms. Fenner's neighbors. He denied that anyone urinated from the house he rents onto her yard or called her names, noting that there's a Pitt shuttle stop in front of the house and people waiting for a ride sometimes misbehave.

"She's just on her little vendetta," he said.

"They are pretty nice boys over there," said Rich Tsui, their landlord, adding that he believed the complaints were exaggerated.

Ms. Fenner said that from the very first call, police didn't take her seriously, refusing to write a report on the attempted entry even after she engaged in a "screaming match" with the officer. "He told me it was a waste of time," Ms. Fenner said.

Police responded to her later calls, but did nothing but knock on the guys' door and ask them to knock it off, she said.

Zone 4 Cmdr. Kathy Degler did not respond to requests for comment.

"Police have come to the door, and said, 'We've had a complaint, there's no witnesses, we can't do anything,' " said Mr. Weber.

Police twice cited him and his housemates for noise, he said. A district judge just told them to quiet down, imposing no fine.

Ms. Fenner also complained to Pitt and was put in touch with Deborah Walker, a student conduct officer. Ms. Walker met with Ms. Fenner, and left her with the impression that there would be a meeting involving university officials, police and her neighbors.

No such meeting occurred. Pitt contacted a fraternity to which two of the students belonged, determined that the fraternity did not own the house, and let the matter drop. In the past week Ms. Fenner reached another Pitt disciplinary official, who sent her a complaint form on Monday.

Pitt maintains that its conduct code extends to off-campus activities, but that it's up to the aggrieved party to file a complaint with the University Judicial System.

"My understanding is that it was made clear to her on more than one occasion what the procedure is for filing a complaint," said Pitt Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill. "If this young lady wants action, she's encouraged to file a complaint on the form provided."

Ms. Fenner said her frequent calls to Pitt should have already triggered action.

"If they see a consistent problem, especially in South Oakland, they really need to step up and increase action and impose a level of discipline," said Ms. Fenner, suggesting fines, academic suspensions, behavior classes or letters to parents.

Mr. Weber disagreed.

"The university doesn't own this house," he said. If Pitt tried to punish them over Ms. Fenner's complaints, the process wouldn't afford them the rights they have in a court, he said. The university "can kind of do what they want, even when the law can't."

Mr. Ravenstahl has touted Duquesne University, which works with community groups to ensure that its code of conduct is enforced on students living off campus, as an example of what he'd like to see from all schools.

"While some of you may have effective legal review boards, perhaps we can share ideas and suggestions to further the safety of our city," he said in his letter.

He said he's convening a meeting of university officials on the issue in the next month.

"We're happy to work with the mayor," said Mr. Hill. "We have a very good system of handling neighborhood issues as they affect Pitt. ... Can there always be improvement? Of course."