PLYMOUTH, N.H. – At the College Community Council (CCC) meeting held last Tuesday, April 15, discussion was centered around the upcoming Spring Fling weekend (May 1-4) and possible noise or student misconduct as seen in the eyes of one town resident.
Spring Fling has a short tradition of congregating students producing excessive noise, a concern that has alarmed residents in the past. But this year’s activities are designed to keep things peaceful without disrupting residents’ evenings with loud music or student gatherings, while still offering a loaded weekend for students.
Janet Moorhead, a Plymouth resident, was outspoken at the meeting claiming that music will be heard and, because it was so late, students would not get back to campus or off-campus neighborhoods until early morning hours. “The concern was not about students being loud, it was about the music itself being too loud,” said J. R. Bridle, President of PACE and Spring Fling Committee member who attended the CCC meeting.
Currently there is a scheduled Battle of the Bands for Friday night where local musicians can enter a competition, as done in previous years. This year’s competition will end at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The following day, Guster will take the stage and play from later in the evening until 1:00 a.m. The preemptive complaints are apparently out of concern for loud noise while people are sleeping, but Bridle and the rest of the Spring Fling Committee appear to be ready. “What we’re doing is looking into decibel ratings to see if we can ease the concern of the townspeople. We’ll also have the patrols out there, and if they feel it’s getting too loud out in the neighborhoods they’re going to call us and we will turn the music down.”
Moorhead also expressed some disinterest at the scheduling of events. At the CCC meeting she recommended to Bridle that the musical performances be halted at 11:00 p.m. so students wouldn’t be too loud going home so late in the evening. However, Bridle says the reason for later hours is for both noise and safety. “Why we decided to go later this year is to try and get students in one central location, because no matter what time we start festivities they don’t come until later. So it was a balance of keeping students happy, as well as keeping neighborhoods happy.”
The original schedule for Battle of the Bands called for the event to last until two o’clock in the morning, but college administrators asked for something earlier and the committee compromised with just after midnight. The concerts on Saturday night are ending at a later time, but that time used to be used for fireworks displays. This year it will be filled with music instead.
Scheduling is not the only preparation for keeping things under control during Spring Fling. Following riots in Durham, N.H. for the UNH Wildcats hockey team, school administrators, Campus Police, and weekend