| How to party the right way |
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| Written by Adam Venezia | |
 Like many colleges, UMR advertises that the college experience is not only one of learning and job preparation, but also one of leisure and socialization. Hosting and attending parties is more or less a given for a UMR student. However, there are restrictions on what we can and can not do, and it is important to know them, as for most of us, having a little fun is not worth jeopardizing the years of time and stacks of cash we have put into our educations.The most restrictive of all student housing options is dorm life. I’m not going to go into too much depth about whether or not the rules and regulations are reasonable or just. The no-alcohol policy, the quiet hours, and the restrictions on the having of guests are all by design. Those in charge are trying to create an environment where learning comes first and where everyone can live comfortably. Whether or not we think the policies are fair, we have to understand them, and we have to realize that it is in our best interests to respect them. Hosting any sort of an event in a dorm room is obviously going to have some limitations attached to it. First of all, there is no alcohol allowed in any of the dorms (The only exception being the over-21 community in Holtman 7). So, plan on keeping the party dry. The specifics on this rule, though, are that one can not be in possession of alcohol or alcohol-related paraphernalia, and implicitly that one cannot consume alcohol, within the dorms. However, according to Senior Resident Assistant Kristin Determan (on behalf of Res. Life) it is not strictly against policy to be intoxicated within the dorms, so long as the intoxicated person is of age and legally allowed to drink. What this means is, if you want to have a party that involves alcohol and your entire party is of age, you do have some options to consider. There are bars and other establishments in Rolla that you can take a party to, have a few drinks, and then come back to the dorms to wind down and play some Halo, or whatever your thing is. Just be sure to arrange for sober transportation, obviously, or alternatively, plan on walking back. Although Kristin advises that residents “be mindful of the surroundings and the residents they may impact with their behavior.” Another concern in the dorms is space. A suite in the Residential College can only hold so many people comfortably, and a room at TJ or the Quad can hold even less. Most of the time, for a small gathering, these spaces will be sufficient, cozy even. And so most of the time, this limitation won’t come into play. But occasionally, you may wish to hold a larger event, in which case you will need more space. My Senior RA contact says that many of the common areas such as TJ’s South Lounge and the RC’s Seminar Rooms can be reserved for event hosting. Doing so requires prior approval though, so speak to the appropriate front desk for details and/or reservations early. Another damper on your fun at the dorms is the quiet hours and quiet floor policies. Typical quiet hours are 7 p.m. to 10 a.m., except Friday evening through Sunday morning, when they are from midnight to noon. So the best time to plan an on-campus party will usually be in the evening on a weekend, with the plan being to wrap things up around midnight. As far as how loud you can be, Kristin says “if it is causing a disturbance to any resident, it’s too loud.” That’s pretty vague, I know, but that’s the policy. Just be respectful, and give others the courtesy you would expect from them, and you should be in the clear. If you get loud enough to upset someone, odds are you’ll hear about it, and you may have to quiet your guests down some. So, there are a number of ways to hold parties and host events within the confines of dorm life. However, there are still things that you just can’t do. And so, at some point, it will be necessary to move the party off campus. For those living in the dorms, this means finding a friend who owns or rents a house, and convincing him or her to let you use it. When asking for this privilege, be sure to take all responsibility for cleanup, destruction of property, or any other problems that may arise, and then also try to only invite people who are not likely to cause these problems. Similarly, if you yourself are the owner or renter, realize that these problems can arise, and know that most of the time the responsibility will fall on you. Hosting a party at a house does offer a number of advantages. Primarily, alcohol is allowed. If you’re having a party and you’re bring alcohol into the mix, off campus partying is the only practical way to go. Even then, there are some problems to avoid. First, as we are all keenly aware, underage people cannot drink legally. Missouri law has recently gotten much stricter about this law. You must know that as the host of a party with alcohol, any underage people consuming alcohol will likely be considered your responsibility, and the punishment can be harsh. Do not invite underage people to a party with alcohol. Or, failing that, do not supply them or allow them to drink. It is simply not worth the risk. That’s all there is to say about that. Now, assuming everyone at the party is of age, there’s still the problem of drinking and driving, which is not a huge problem if you deal with it beforehand. Make sure that there are enough designated drivers for everyone, or that everyone has someone who can come pick them up afterward. Alternatively, if you have enough space, plan on having people stay the night, sleeping on couches or floors or wherever, and not letting anyone leave until the morning. If you use this plan, the best way to ensure that no one will be driving illegally is to take up a collection of keys as soon as people arrive, and hiding them somewhere. Hopefully, though, you will be drinking with people who are adult enough that this won’t be necessary. Keep an eye open, though, just to make sure. People do some unexpected things when they drink. The only other real issue to talk about when planning a party at a house is the noise level. When a party gets a noise complaint, the ordinance they have allegedly broken is disturbing of the peace. To find out exactly what is illegal, I went to the Rolla City website, www.rollacity.org, where the Municipal Code of Ordinances is posted publicly. Section 30-5 states, “A person commits the offense of peace disturbance if…he unreasonably and knowingly disturbs or alarms another person or persons by…loud noise….” Other methods are listed but they are not applicable to this argument. The key thing to take from this ordinance, as written is that the words “disturbs or alarms” are highly subjective. There is no real way to define these terms in any legal sense. The point is, you won’t be accused of breaking this ordinance unless you receive a noise complaint. And, you won’t receive a noise complaint unless someone is upset by what you are doing. So the usual advice applies. Keep the noise level reasonable and don’t do anything you wouldn’t want your neighbors to do. One local, Clenton Shippen, a recent graduate of UMR, said of party noise “Too loud for me to sleep is the only time it bothers me.” It is a sentiment that I believe most people will share. If you have neighbors you haven’t met before, they will be more likely to call in a complaint than neighbors you have met and talked to. So if you are planning a party and you haven’t met your neighbors yet, it is as good a time as any. Knock on a few doors up and down the street, introduce yourself, tell them you are planning a party and that you mean to keep the noise down, and suggest that if they do get too loud, that they call you first so that you can deal with it. Doing so will not only encourage the neighbors to leave the police out of the situation, if there is a situation, but it will also make them more amiable to you. They will know your name and your face, and that you’re a pretty decent person, and they will be less likely to have a problem with you in the first place. Say, despite your best efforts, you get a noise complaint anyway. As I said, the laws are highly subjective, and an officer who is sent out will have to judge when he arrives whether the party is too loud. Unfortunately, there isn’t any real rule of thumb that applies. The ordinances posted online, Section 30-20-b limits the audible distance of presented music to fifty feet from the house, between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., and double that distance at any other time. You can’t really expect an officer to bust out a tape measure, though. So it’s all still subjective. But hopefully that will give you at least a ballpark of where the noise level can and can not be. As far as sororities and fraternities go, I’m not going to talk about them in depth. Much of the advice concerning houses can be applied here as well, but I suspect that each of these organizations will have its own practices and regulations which are likely known by its members. Also, I would assume that most of them have party planning officers or committees already, and so they probably don’t need my advice. So I’ll leave them to do their own thing. |
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