Spring Break
Board of Trustees debates future of Spring Weekend
Grace Harper
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: News
"Our aim is to get 5,000 people," said SUBOG President Brian Carabello. "[The concert] is one of the most celebrated events."
Events such as these are what many speakers said needed emphasis.
"It's not our job to out program Spring Weekend, but rather to provide alternatives [to off-campus activities]," said Saddlemire.
With attendance numbers for the concert never reaching full capacity, it seems the alternatives are not enough to completely deter students from venturing away from UConn to celebrate.
The issue of safety was one brought up repeatedly, with differences in both views and methods of how to go about trying to solve the issue. Many UConn safety experts as well as Mansfield residents spoke about the concern for the off-campus activities that take place at housing areas such as Carriage House and Celeron Apartments as well as at X-Lot.
The number of UConn students, as well as non-UConn students attending as guests, who go to these events on Spring Weekend is in the thousands, according to information shared by Matt Hart, Mansfield town manager. He informed the administrative board that 250-300 public safety officials are needed to attempt to maintain order at such events.
This magnitude of necessary safety involvement is an enormous burden on the town, Hart said.
"We're making progress but we're investing [a lot] of taxpayers dollars," Hart said.
Though speakers such as Hart expressed concern that the environment at UConn is merely amplified during Spring Weekend, there were speakers who wanted to try and fix the situation by more extreme means.
According to Cathy Cocks of the Office of Community Standards, there is an expectation to be reckless among students and in order to end it there should be a reduced number of emergency personnel. Cocks believed this severe amount of emergency personnel presence only cultivates the unsafe environment; it does not prevent parties at Carriage House, Celeron Apartments or X-Lot.
Events such as these are what many speakers said needed emphasis.
"It's not our job to out program Spring Weekend, but rather to provide alternatives [to off-campus activities]," said Saddlemire.
With attendance numbers for the concert never reaching full capacity, it seems the alternatives are not enough to completely deter students from venturing away from UConn to celebrate.
The issue of safety was one brought up repeatedly, with differences in both views and methods of how to go about trying to solve the issue. Many UConn safety experts as well as Mansfield residents spoke about the concern for the off-campus activities that take place at housing areas such as Carriage House and Celeron Apartments as well as at X-Lot.
The number of UConn students, as well as non-UConn students attending as guests, who go to these events on Spring Weekend is in the thousands, according to information shared by Matt Hart, Mansfield town manager. He informed the administrative board that 250-300 public safety officials are needed to attempt to maintain order at such events.
This magnitude of necessary safety involvement is an enormous burden on the town, Hart said.
"We're making progress but we're investing [a lot] of taxpayers dollars," Hart said.
Though speakers such as Hart expressed concern that the environment at UConn is merely amplified during Spring Weekend, there were speakers who wanted to try and fix the situation by more extreme means.
According to Cathy Cocks of the Office of Community Standards, there is an expectation to be reckless among students and in order to end it there should be a reduced number of emergency personnel. Cocks believed this severe amount of emergency personnel presence only cultivates the unsafe environment; it does not prevent parties at Carriage House, Celeron Apartments or X-Lot.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Ms. Cocks have you lost your marbles?
posted 10/10/08 @ 10:51 AM EST
"According to Cathy Cocks of the Office of Community Standards, there is an expectation to be reckless among students and in order to end it THERE SHOULD BE A REDUCED NUMBER OF EMERGENCY PERSONNEL. (Continued…)
jeff
posted 10/10/08 @ 12:34 PM EST
They should just do the wristband thing. If someone doesn't have a wristband, and can't immediately point to a uconn student they are with as a guest, they should be arrested or if that's too extreme, asked to leave. (Continued…)
ed
posted 10/10/08 @ 4:14 PM EST
I'm with Jeff. It could/should be pretty simple to administer and watch over, though it might mean more staff/police to make it work.
fizzy
posted 10/11/08 @ 3:26 PM EST
Spring Weekend costs UConn alot of money. I say, the heck with Spring Weekend and all its attendant problems and put the money towards helping the janitorial staff keep their jobs. (Continued…)
Ike Logan
posted 10/12/08 @ 4:13 PM EST
I don't understand why the University is so concerned with tip-toeing around the Spring Weekend issue. If the economy continues to get worse, our little displays of college decadence are only going to make us look worse than we already do. (Continued…)
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