As stories of wild West Campus parties continue to become the exclusive domain of yarn-spinning alumni, administrators have considered a move that could effect a final death knell for the raucous ribaldry that once ruled the Gothic Wonderland: enforcing quiet hours.
Residence Life and Housing Services Director Eddie Hull said he feels obliged to ensure an environment that is conducive to the academic needs of students, and as a result, will evaluate current regulations on quiet hours.
Quiet hours--a time, usually at night, in which loud noise is prohibited--already exist, at least according to Hull's understanding of the rules. "In a sense, we already have [quiet hours]," he said. "If you look at the Residence Hall Survival Guide, it states that students have the right to study at any time they wish."
The decision on quiet hours will ultimately be left to students, Hull said, with Campus Council playing a prominent role in obtaining student feedback on the idea. Both Hull and Campus Council President Anthony Vitarelli predicted mixed reaction and mixed, if any, implementation of quiet hours.
"It will be a localized decision," said Vitarelli, a junior. "Different quads have different personalities, and that will influence their decisions on things like noise limitations." He said quiet hours would most likely be handled on the Quad Council level.
Many students have stories of being jolted from sleep or their studies by loud music, rambunctiousness or crowds.
"I wouldn't mind having more enforced quiet hours," said senior Danielle Behr. "One year, I had neighbors that blasted goth music at 9 in the morning!" However, she added that an effective resident advisor could have handled the problem just as easily as quiet hours could have.
Senior Cem Goncu said he has become a library studier because his West Campus dormitory is so noisy. However, he acknowledged that many students would be much more receptive to quiet hours on weekdays than on weekends, perhaps making enforcement of the rules infeasible on the loudest nights of the week.
For some, quiet hours are a hopelessly misguided rule, and administrators' efforts would be better expended on improved facilities. "Instead of making quiet hours that are bound to be broken," said freshman Mark Stoltenberg, "there should be more study rooms that stay open after 2 a.m. for people to go to."
The issue of sleep deprivation has been newsworthy lately, as a recent American College Health Association survey named sleep disturbance as one of the most significant factors affecting academic performance. Statistics from the Student Health Center showed a strong correlation between illness and sleep deprivation, which has brought much interest in creating quiet hours.
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