In the great tradition of Dionysus, students from Ohio University and other universities lost themselves in the celebration of Palmerfest. Fire in the streets, near-riots, bottles hurling through the air; if I didn't know any better, I would have thought I were in Greece. The behavior of students at this year's springtime puke stain was unsurprising and frankly uninspired. Hey dudes! Wasn't it awesome when we set a couch on fire last year and embarrassed our entire community? Hell yeah! Let's do it again. Let me grab a couch and yell U-S-A a whole lot. George Washington is rolling over in his grave. People this intelligent would have difficulty winning an argument against a grapefruit, and for some reason they are allowed to buy lighters. What a country!
The most common defense I've heard of the Palmerfest debacle assumes that a few bad apples ruined the party. While that is a commendable attempt in ducking responsibility, I'm not buying it. Even a token effort by students to stop the chaos would have been something, but alas, it seems no one wanted to stop the good time or, as I like to call it, the reason OU sucks. You wonder why relatives and friends smirk when you mention you attend OU. Well, allow me to fill you in. They aren't laughing with you. They are laughing at you.
Why did it happen again? There's no incentive to stop. Limp-wristed efforts from Student Senate and proposed noise ordinance legislation from the city government will not and did not curb the desire to get obliterated to the point of ordering D.P. Dough. As with most problems between the town and gown, students don't realize the short- or long-term consequences of their actions. We are here for a defined period of time with the expectation to pursue paths beyond Athens; so, there's no hesitation to trash the city. This temporary sense of living adds to the nonchalant attitudes toward destruction in Athens.
Should we expect the same situation a year from now? As long as the Dirks and Biffs of the world are still allowed to party without consequence, I see no reason why students would adjust their behavior. Despite this rather grim conclusion, I do have a suggestion to alleviate the problem: Impose a tax on off-campus students. I see no reason why the residents of Athens County have to pay the bill for a party they don't attend. The expenses for additional police, firefighters and cleanup accrue up to tens of thousands of dollars, and perhaps next year's group of drunken buffoons would actually stop to use the booze-addled 10 percent of their brain if they had to pay for their reprehensible behavior.
As an out-of-state student, I'm fortunate that everyone back home confuses my school with Ohio State. I don't have to explain to friends, family or future employers why my school sets fire to the street for no apparent reason. I can happily avoid trying to explain how some people have IQs smaller than that of a glass of water.
Davis Chambers is a senior studying media management.
4 Opinion
