After the first two fests of Spring Quarter left a house on fire and town-gown relations on the fritz, Student Senate has decided to up its “fest safety” efforts for the rest of the season.
“It is really important to make sure our fellow students do things that are smart during the fests and really remind them to look out for each other,” senate President Kyle Triplett said. “We want (students) to have a good time but not doing anything that they will regret later in their life. It is really important to get the word out for fest safety.”
Senate created an online campaign at the end of March located at Facebook.com/festsafety, which provides daily “fun facts” and helpful hints to students.
In addition, senators have “tabled” on the first floor of Baker University Center during the past few weeks. The plan is to continue these efforts from 1 to 2 p.m. on Thursdays during the next two weeks.
“At Baker, we play fest safety flip cup, and on each cup there is a fact, like what the standard drink size is or what do you do if you found your friends in an alcohol emergency,” said Mary Kate Gallagher, senate’s city and county commissioner. “Students can win prizes based on the amount of facts they’ve answered, and basically it’s supposed to be an interesting and fun way for people to learn about fest safety.”
In addition to tabling at Baker Center, senate members handed out slices of GoodFella’s Pizza, bottled water, and cups with fest safety information printed on them at Palmer Fest.
“When we were tabling at the fest we talked (to students) about what was acceptable behavior at fests,” Gallagher said. “I think that getting the message out is important because there are a lot of people who come into the university with inadequate health education.”
Senate spent $300 on 20 pizzas, $50 on water and $25 for printing costs during High and Palmer fests, senate Treasurer Chris Wimsatt said.
“We are hoping to continue to do these types of things for the other fests as well,” Triplett said. “Just the initiative that we have been doing is helpful; we informed students, especially underclassmen, on what to expect and we gave them hints on how to stay safe.”
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