The income of the average college student generally doesn't allow for the purchase of a good porch swing. Instead, many renters will drag couches from their house onto the porch to enjoy the late-summer air or people-watch.

But now this activity could be outlawed by city officials.

East Lansing City Council plans to vote on an amendment that would disallow students from having couches visible from the street. Not only is this an unfair measure, but it will probably do nothing to curb any unwanted student behavior.

The city ordinance allows upholstered furniture to be outside only when it is in use, but the amendment would make even that illegal.

Obviously, this amendment targets MSU students. Most permanent residents of East Lansing don't keep couches on their front lawns. But if a couple can afford to buy a house in East Lansing, the pair can probably afford to spend a hundred dollars to buy a decent set of patio furniture to use outside, safe from the City Council's amendment.

This is not to say amnesty should be granted to everyone. If couches are left outside for days or weeks at a time, or if they are visibly in a state of disrepair, then the city should fine the owner of the furniture, just as if he or she had trash littered on the front lawn.

But simply using a couch outside isn't a crime. All residents of East Lansing, even students, should be allowed to enjoy their neighborhood and the fresh air, whether it be sitting on a couch or lawn chair. If students can't afford to buy more furniture for their house, the city ends up handing down an unfair punishment in the form of a $75 fine.

Councilmember Bev Baten said, "There is furniture left out in the spring and fall and it becomes a mess when it rains." It's true weather isn't good for upholstered furniture, but if students cared even the slightest bit, they would move the couch back in to their house when it's not in use. Many students do care about the condition of their furniture and take it inside.

Also, students don't only keep couches on their lawns, but on their porches as well. Yet porch-dwellers are also at risk to be fined. Awnings would protect the furniture from any adverse weather, keeping it from becoming a dilapidated eyesore or attracting rodents as suggested by council members in a Tuesday work session.

Couches that are visible from the street, even upholstered furniture in a resident's backyard, are subject to the amendment. As long as the couch is visible from the street, all it would take is an irate phone call from a meddling neighbor to slap a $75 fine on an unsuspecting group of students who otherwise would have been doing nothing wrong.

And if the council feels this amendment will curb other undesirable student behavior, they likely will be sorely mistaken. Regardless of any new ordinance, college students will continue to use alcohol and congregate on their front lawns, and it won't matter how many couches are present. Maybe they will become even rowdier without a comfortable seat.

East Lansing is a college town, inhabited by university students. While surely some students aren't respectful of their permanent resident neighbors, the council should be respectful of students and allow them to use couches outside.