In the wake of the debate surrounding State Patty's Day, it seems that the creation of drinking holidays is becoming a bit of a fad at University Park. Many students seem set on creating and celebrating additional "holidays" to prove our ability to party regardless of the concerns expressed by the local community and the university or the measures taken to control our actions.
For many reasons, the majority of students were unwilling to accept the pleas and suggestions of borough and university officials and their own elected leaders regarding State Patty's Day. Some said they earned the right to celebrate this fabricated "holiday" because of their work in the classroom and with the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon. But is that why we work hard in class, and is that why raise money for children with cancer? I hope not.
Others questioned whether the crime and hospitalizations are actually worse on State Patty's Day weekend than during football weekends. Well, not only has State Patty's Day weekend produced significantly more alcohol-related crime and hospitalizations than a normal football weekend, it also easily trumps recent Homecoming weekends and primetime football games.
This year's State Patty's Day weekend saw an increase in police calls by 17.3 percent, disorderly parties and noise violations by 19.4 percent, and alcohol overdoses by 14.3 percent. Most notably, though, the number of arrests more than doubled. In fact, there were more alcohol-related arrests just this year than there were in the first three years combined. If the hospitalizations aren't alarming enough to make us question the celebration, I would hope that the continuously increasing threat of being arrested and risking our futures would be.
The downfalls don't end there, though. Consider how foolish it is for us to come together to rebel against the people who determine our tuition, class schedules, judicial affairs policies, local laws, zoning ordinances and more. For example, there is currently a proposed ordinance -- the Nuisance Gathering Ordinance -- that, if passed, would make "the hosts or other organizers of a gathering or event (of 10 or more people) responsible for the activities of their guests and visitors on the site of the gathering or event and for the spillover of guests or activities onto adjacent properties." In other words, the borough council controls a large portion of the liabilities attached to all of our off-campus partying, and we're sitting here and essentially telling the mayor, the borough manager, the chief of police, other prominent officials and our neighbors to "shove it." Hopefully you all see the problem with that.
Now, I'm not anti-fun; those who know me can tell you that I enjoy partying just as much as the next guy. But since when have we needed to create "holidays" in order to enjoy ourselves? Never, and we don't need to now. Realistically, because we go to a school with approximately 45,000 students and don't party with 99 percent of the campus anyway (even on these holidays), we can just stick to our theme parties with our circles of friends and use them to celebrate whatever we want without fostering an unsafe environment full of cops that simultaneously angers those who we rely on to act in our best interest.
The creation of these holidays has turned into nothing more than students jeopardizing our own health, safety, lifestyle and futures because we're hell-bent on instant gratification and refuse to see the big picture. The only added benefit -- seeing people we don't know dressed for the same occasion and the camaraderie that comes along with that -- just isn't worth everything we'll lose if we don't swallow our pride and start to party smarter.
We have found ourselves in the middle of a political game in which we have no leverage. We cannot simply "party" those whohave expressed concerns into submission. The longer it takes the student body to recognize this and to make the appropriate adjustments, the more we stand to lose.
So, if you've been a supporter of these drinking-centered "holidays," I urge you to reconsider your stance -- if not for Happy Valley or the university that you all claim to "love," do it for yourselves.
