Superblock noise angers students

A raging party that spread over Superblock late last month was not a welcome distraction to many students living in the high rises, busily hitting the books for what is commonly known as "Exam Weekend." At least 100 students called University Police Saturday, April 30 to complain about the noise level of the party, according to a University Police employee who requested anonymity. Physical Plant Facility Coordinator Flo Freeman issued the permit for the block party -- an annual festivity held in celebration of the Penn Relays -- to the Bi-Cultural Inter-Greek Council. She said she did not consider that students would be inconvenienced by the noise of the party. "I don't keep track of when Exam Weekend is," Freeman said. But College sophomore David Lazarus said he could not "believe the University gave a permit on the weekend of finals -- they basically fucked the 3,000 students who live in the high rises." College senior Rebecca Perlin said the music was turned up so high, "they might as well be playing in my room." Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said the Penn Relays block party is an important event because "Penn Relays is a big weekend for black collegiate gatherings." The unusually large size of the crowd was unexpected, though, he added. Moneta said the block party coincided with Exam Weekend because "that's the way the calender worked out." Because of the number of complaints the University Life Office received concerning the loud music, Moneta said more "pre-planning" will go into next year's event. Engineering sophomore Meng Weng Wong was so irked by the noise level of the Penn Relays block party that he started a petition on an e-mail newsgroup which he plans to give to the Office of University Life. In the petition, to which more than 30 students replied by e-mail, Wong calls the party "an event of particular inconsiderateness." Not all the replies were in accord with the petition. College junior Angela Nissel responded to the petition posted on the newsgroup by pointing out that she was "bothered by the heavy metal music that was played recently to celebrate Spring Fling, but nothing was done about that." "If you're going to complain about one event, complain about them all," she wrote. Nursing sophomore Mia Tepper, who signed Wong's petition, said she did not appreciate the noise level during Spring Fling either, or the other concerts that have been staged on Superblock this semester. "The past four Saturdays have been like hell," she said.