There are two thoughts when it comes to public musical events held on campus. One: They’re good, exciting and fun, and two: They’re aggravating obstructions.
These two opinions exist because people have conflicting interests about how to use to public university space. Some people think of a walkway as a place to walk and some people think of it as a dance floor.
Of course, no one in authority is going to come out and say that either of these opinions is wrong. Instead, those at SGA have simply decided to suggest a resolution to move Plaza Time from Library Plaza to Unity Plaza.
Admittedly, Unity Plaza is more out of the way than the Library Plaza, the absolute epicenter of campus. This means the move is sure to relieve much of the congestion caused by said events and that’s a good thing.
Also, it solves the noise issue since throbbing bass will no longer be heard in even the most remote corners of the fifth floor of the library nor will it be heard in neighboring classrooms.
Still, no matter where the events are held, they’ll be an unavoidable presence as long as they’re held during school hours.
It doesn’t take a neurosurgeon to see that the resolution won’t completely solve the issue; it just relocates it.
The debate will not be resolved by a mere relocation because the central disagreement is not over where the events should be held but whether they should be held at all.
The same students who walk through the Library Plaza on their way to Student Center, Sparks Hall and the library also walk through Hurt Park on their way to the University Commons.
SGA’s suggestion to move the events to Unity Plaza proves a majority of students would prefer the events not take place on campus. But those who organize the events don’t want to stop, so the relocation is clearly SGA’s compromise. But, as Watterson wrote in “Calvin and Hobbes,” “A good compromise leaves both people unsatisfied.”
So how can people on both sides be satisfied? On the one hand, it would be pretty authoritarian to disallow the events from happening altogether. On the other hand, they are disruptions that have no place anywhere on campus during school hours.
The best way to resolve the conflict would be to move the events away from campus during the normal school hours entirely — not ban them but restrict them to after-hours or private indoor spaces where they will not be disruptive.
This way, the parties can be as loud as desired without disrupting anything. Also, those students who want nothing to do with these events won’t be inconvenienced.
I might sound like a buzzkill writing this, but I think anyone reading can agree with the old adage that there’s a time and a place for everything. Whereas some of the student body feels like having a party Tuesday and Thursday mornings, a lot of us don’t.
