Alan Berkowitz spoke to members of the Community Relations Coalition and the Responsible Hospitality Council on Thursday evening about improving the relationship between East Lansing residents and MSU students.
About 20 people packed into the board room of the Administration Building from 4:30-6 p.m. to hear the William Smith College professor speak.
Berkowitz co-created the Social Norms Theory, which was adopted by MSU in its campaign against alcohol abuse.
The theory says actions are often based on misinformation or the misperception of others’ attitudes or behaviors. It explains that students often think others drink more than they actually do, causing them to drink more.
Berkowitz said this same concept could be applied to the East Lansing community. He said residents often have a problem with student neighbors and can blow the problem out of proportion.
“Many remember the most visible behavior and attribute that to everyone else,” he said.
But Berkowitz said he is not denying the problem.
“You can’t be part of the solution until you understand how you are part of the problem,” he said.
Berkowitz suggested using an advertising campaign to eliminate the misperceptions of neighborhood situations and create a positive environment with open lines of communication.
Ideas for the campaign included surveys to conclude how much of a problem there really is and methods to relay that information to the public.
Nancy Schertzing, president of the Community Relations Coalition, said that the organization is in the beginning stages of a five-year plan to achieve a greater sense of community. She said this is one of the directions it could take.
“I really liked this approach,” she said. “There’s little to lose and a lot to gain.”
Jonathan Rosenthal, director of community affairs at ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, agreed.
He said this approach also could benefit the greek community.
“I’m here to open the lines of communication,” he said. “You are what you do, not what you say you do.”
Rosenthal said he usually tries to take action and say hi to his neighbors before any problem occurs.
Berkowitz said the program could be very successful at MSU.
“Potentially this could be very effective, but it’s very important that if students are skeptical about the information they can talk to someone who is knowledgeable about the information,” he said.
Berkowitz also said that students can promote communication in East Lansing by avoiding overgeneralization.
“When something bothers you about another group don’t assume that it is true about all of the members,” he said.
