If you're on it, you can talk about anything from lost dogs to gun shots, solid waste collection to rowdy Duke students.
The Trinity Park Neighborhood e-mail list, created in 2001, may be the best way to find out what is on the minds of local community members including their thoughts on recent off-East house parties.
Like many other neighborhood email lists, the Trinity Park yahoo.com group and listserv was created to facilitate communication on neighborhoodrelated issues.
John Burness, senior vice president for public and government relations at Duke, said many people use neighborhood listservs as a tool to debate local issues. "They are particularly well suited for people using them for advocacy purposes," he said.
When residents log on to talk about Trinity Park, they exchange neighborly advice, post reminders and talk at length about problems associated with Duke student residents.
In a Nov. 3 message to the list that elicited more than a dozen positive responses, resident Bob Panoff suggested that neighbors adopt a zero tolerance attitude toward underage drinking and loud parties in Trinity Park. He promised to call 911 every time he sees obvious underage drinking or notices excessive noise or litter to help maximize incident reporting to the police.
Alcohol Law Enforcement officials have said neighbors' complaints alerted them to the severity of the problem and encouraged them to execute this year's "back to school" enforcement campaign during which 194 people were cited for violations of underage drinking laws near
East Campus. Don Bryson, another resident in Trinity Park, said he is more interested in encouraging rowdy students to move out of the neighborhood. "My wife and I love living next to Duke, and I think the students are some of the brightest and best you'll find anywhere," he wrote in a Nov. 3 e-mail to the list. "I also know that adolescent males (especially in groups) can be a scourge on a community. It will be easier to persuade them to change their address than to change their behavior."
Although there has been talk about running Duke students out of the neighborhood-earlier this year seven students were evicted from their house on 203 Watts St. because they violated their lease-it is easier said than done, officials said. "As far as getting rid of all the students in Trinity Park, I just don't see that happening," said Rick Hester, district two inspector for the Department of Housing and Community Development in Durham. "If you are renting a house you have the right to rent it to whoever you want."
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