Today's Gazette (note Police Chiefs happy expression )
So the Gazette does pretty much a long form story on the Blarney Blowout prominently placed front page above the fold and forgets to mention the number one contributing factor to the mayhem over the past three years: It's the WEATHER, stupid!
In 2012 when the event first caught everybody's attention (and probably was the first time "Blarney Blowout" was actually used as a title) there were no major riots but general mayhem all over town, the temperature was in the 40s.
In 2013 when there was a riot (6 arrested) the temperature was in the high 50s.
In 2014 when there was a major riot (58 arrested) the temperature was in the low 50s.
So I take little consolation in the Gazette telling us how prepared everybody is this year. After all last year two days before the most riotous Blarney in history they posed Town Manager John Musante in front of McMurphy's downtown bar telling us how prepared everybody was.
Gazette 3/6/2014 (two days before the Blarney to end all Blarney's
And we know how well that turned out.
The previous year, just after the major riot in North Amherst at Townhouse Apartments, they ran a headline about how great things went in the center of town.
So here's the scoop. If it's cold and miserable on March 7, 2015 then Blarney Blowout will be a thing of the past. If it's sunny and warm -- God forbid hot -- then officials should consider mobilizing the National Guard.
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Today's Bulletin carried inside the Gazette
As you probably heard by now (or can see on the front page of the Gazette above) UMass surrendered on that stupidity quicker than the 1940 French army.
8 comments:
You are so right! Blame global warming!
Banning guest from dorms, so be it. What about all the off campus apartments? What about the people who come into Amherst Saturday morning?
Like Larry said, it's weather.
How many "college aged youth" live within a two or three hour drive of Amherst?
Everybody better do a blizzard dance the day before.
The kids view this as a challenge.
Or people pooling money and sharing a hotel room. Holiday Inn Express have rates in the $110 range. Worst case is college kids come in Saturday, party and drink all day then because they can't get into their friends dorms they attempt to drive home...
No mention of banning alcohol sales in that article. A major problem downtown was the drunken/rowdy kids waiting to get into the bars and Cousin's Liquor store, whoops I mean Market. I will avoid going to town on that day.
I am of the opinion that the Gazette is an execrable paper. Puryeyors of liberal Kool-Aid. Have you seen the political cartoons? Infantile.
UMass is trying hard to avoid another Blarney Blowout.
Yesterday, this email went out to the campus community regarding visitor & parking restrictions for that weekend (of course, this may lead to lots more people parking/partying off-campus), but it seems like it can't hurt.
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UMass Permit Holders
From: Parking Services
Date: February 23, 2015
Subject: March 6-8 Campus-Wide Parking Restrictions
Last year, thousands of students from other campuses came to the town of Amherst during the first weekend in March. This event became known as “Blarney Blowout.” Many of these out-of-town visitors stayed in our residence halls and utilized our parking lots as staging areas. The ensuing large scale disturbance resulted in personal injuries, destruction of property, arrests, and numerous student discipline cases. The lasting impact of this disturbance and recommendations for responding to this type of incident was outlined in the Davis Report - http://bit.ly/196BIgz.
This year we are limiting access to our campus in the residence halls and parking lots. Consistent with the changes to the residence hall guest policy for the weekend of March 6-8, please note that all campus parking lots will be restricted to valid UMass Amherst permit holders from Friday, March 6 at 5 PM through Sunday, March 8 at 5 PM.
During these dates, all campus parking lots will be considered 24 hour restricted lots. Vehicles parking on campus without a valid UMass Amherst parking permit are subject to ticketing and/or towing.
Faculty, students and staff who do not have a UMass Amherst parking permit and need to park on campus for work during this restricted period may call Parking Services at 413-577-PARK for additional information.
For any other questions regarding parking, please call Parking Services 413-577-PARK, or visit: http://parking.umass.edu/
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