Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Despite worries, changes to Mifflin improve block party

Fear not the changes and reformations to Mifflin this holiday season – the Mifflin Street Block Party will unquestionably maintain its status as the best day of the year. In the midst of 14 revisions, including new beer vendors and bracelet laws, my greatest concern centered around whether the reforms would have an ill effect on the case of 30 beers that I will be carrying around in my backpack. They won’t. The reality is that my worrying has been all for naught, because the adjustments that have been made to the bacchanalia will, in fact, create a better Mifflin.

For all those naysayers who slander the changes as just another conspiracy by corporate America to weave its way into the fabric of UW-Madison, you are plainly missing the mark. For the underaged, Mifflin remains the same, except for the fact that there will be fewer 21-year-olds competing for prized lawn space. The plot I would have commandeered from a group of Chadbourne wieners is now solely theirs; everyone wins. Also, the tenants of West Mifflin will certainly have no complaints about the increased number of port-o-potties that come with the revisions. They will surely enjoy their holiday much more now that they need not worry about vagrant students leaking all over their houses.

Sponsored beer vending is not a subterfuge to target underagers. Rather, it is designed to draw students off of crowded porches and out of dangerously packed house parties. This has always been the MPD’s primary concern. This is no secret. It’s always easy to spot the next party about to be broken up. God knows, there isn’t a year that passes without a porch collapse that sends a bunch of innocent, drunken revelers to their splintery doom. Not to go off on a tangent, but any senior will attest to the fact that college real estate companies do not exactly keep their properties in stellar condition. I, for one, live in a shit-hole next to the Red Shed that could slide into the lake at any given moment.

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I applaud Scott Leslie and Matt Gerding, owners of the Majestic Theatre, for genuinely reassuring students that added music is not entirely profit-driven. Their position is that this event costs thousands of dollars to host and that expanded music stages, food and other additions are intended to make the block party more enjoyable while enhancing safety measures for all. In this way, the block party that originated in 1969 can be sustained for decades yet to come.

The fact of the matter – and one that everyone must come to realize – is that the presence of 15,000-20,000 absolutely hammered kids on one city block is an issue that was inevitably going to be addressed. Further, eliminating the open container law removes the illicitness of drinking on the street and validates what has been done for years, which constitutes good common sense.

Majestic Madison’s is a progressive measure to make the yearly Mifflin block party a tenable one for years to come. The shift toward emphasis on music and entertainment and away from drinking will also give bands some worthy PR. Accusing them of having Freak Fest machinations is bogus.

So in reality, I’m not sure how historic these changes really will be. With just a few extra beer carts and a DJ set, it sounds like there has been a lot of crying over spilled milk.

Dennis O’Reilly ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in economics.

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