There can be little question that city and university officials blundered with regard to establishing a date for the Mifflin Street Block Party. That the University of Wisconsin academic calendar for 2004-2005 has been available for nearly a decade and the lunar calendar has been available for at least a couple millennia suggests there is no reason area leaders could not come to this epiphany of inevitable conflict long before a few months ago.
But we are further disappointed that with the alternate suggested date of spring’s largest party now a mere 11 days away, no decisive action has been taken to notify residents and students when live music, balcony-side keg stands and public drunkenness will be tolerated. Chancellor John Wiley insists May 7 to be the day — relying on the quasi-valid point that if students have procrastinated their studying until 24 hours before exams, they are probably in over their heads than one large party can either help or hurt. But we also realize there to be a significant difference between having not yet even bought that economics textbook and merely needing a few hours to prepare for questions about supply-side theory.
City leaders, including Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, also advocate for May 7 but rely instead on a largely economic and logistical argument. The cost of holding the annual spring festival April 30 ranges from between $40,000 to $50,000 more than May 7 for various reasons. This number is inflated because parties on both dates are now inevitable. Madison citizens will now pay for their government’s lollygagging.
Our biggest concern, however, lies elsewhere. As illustrated by the “calendar” that has run on this page for much of the last two weeks, no one is positive at this point in time when the sanctioned party will occur, with less than two weeks to go before the first potential date.
Should the city choose to only recognize May 7 as a viable party day, such an announcement this late in April will likely not serve to deter April 30 party plans. This sets up an inevitable confrontation between revelers and police, a confrontation that could not only clog the patty wagons but also serve to ruin the good will between students and cops that makes Mifflin such a wonderful event every year. Indeed, there can be no doubt April 30 arrests and citations will only lead to further agitation as the same students and officers of the law square off a mere week later in the same locale.
So we call for restraint from the Madison Police Department. That city officials have put this matter off so long — largely through their own ignorance — means a sizeable portion of the blame for any “illegal” April 30 revelry will fall as squarely on blue shoulders as those of partygoers.
Finally, this board has shown restraint from endorsing one day over another. We recognize the financial and logistical rationale for a May 7 party but we also realize no price can be easily affixed to a study day. With these two contrasting interests in mind, we’d like to hear from you. Students are encouraged to write letters to the editor of no more than 200 words in the coming days (please e-mail them to [email protected]). Early next week we will publish a selection of the responses we receive. And if the arguments are strong and the reasoning is valid, we’d love nothing more than to take some advice from our readers and finally be confident in endorsing a day for the party.
