Maryland homeowners fed up with rowdy university students came outin force last week in Annapolis in favor of a proposal to increase funds for late-night patrols in party-prone neighborhoods.

Several urged a House of Delegates committee to advance legislation authorizing the state?s Department of Housing and Community Development to provide grants for governments to hire after-hours code enforcement officers in university areas. The move, they said, would free up campus and county police to focus on higher priorities.