Stiff fines levied for homecoming keg party

Police in Kingston are hoping the penalties handed down to several students from Queen's University for liquor infractions will send a strong message.

Six students who organized a huge keg party during homecoming were each fined $750. They were also ordered to attend a workshop about the legal responsibilities connected with hosting a party.

But a group representing undergraduate students at Queen's says the authorities are focusing too much attention on the party and are missing the bigger picture.

"In general I think this debate recently has just been focused on the one homecoming night," said Gord McGuire. "It's just addressing student behaviour and it's already not addressing the full gamut of problems we face."

So, I don't think levying fines against students for having a keg party on homecoming will really do all that much to make inroads into this problem."

McGuire says a much more pressing issue is the poor state of off-campus student housing.

He says solving that problem will go a long way towards repairing the sometimes difficult relationship that exists between students and the rest of Kingston.