Editorial Cartoon by Christian Ray Blaza
Each year, incoming freshmen are bombarded with essential lessons in campus safety, but unfortunately, these lessons were entirely disregarded when students rushed to obtain Spring Bash tickets.
Unlike previous years, the Student Government Association actually strictly enforced their policy for students seeking Spring Bash tickets to not line up outside the Commuter Lounge until 7 a.m. As a result, hundreds of eager students roamed around the Student Center only to stampede to the Commuter Lounge minutes prior to ticket sales.
At first, there was no form of crowd control for the 400+ students that crowded the hallway. Eventually, the police arrived and directed the students waiting outside the Commuter Lounge to vacate the hallway. Students packed themselves, elbow-to-elbow, into the nearby staircase, causing the building’s exit to be obstructed.
Looking back at all the immense amount of safety exercises and training over the years at Montclair State University, it is beyond clear that this year’s Spring Bash ticket sales were handled poorly.
Had an emergency taken place during the Spring Bash ticket sales, people would have had difficulty exiting the building and the proper emergency personnel would have been unable to enter, especially if someone in the packed crowd had been injured or had a panic attack. With that many people crammed into the Student Center, any form of emergency would have become that much more of a disaster and a Spring Bash ticket is not worth being put into that kind of danger.
Each student’s safety should be held to a high regard and the Student Government Association and everyone else involved with this year’s Spring Bash ticket distribution process undeniably dropped the ball. Although the SGA’s call for students to line up after 7 a.m. could work next year if there are more precautions in place, it does not seem likely that a 7 a.m. line-up is a viable option.
For the future, students have expressed a need for an online system for Spring Bash ticket distribution. Students could apply online to receive tickets and a raffle could decide who receives tickets. This would definitely ensure that this year’s safety fiasco would never occur again.
Students would not be required to stand on a line for hours without the guarantee of receiving tickets. Also, people cutting the line would no longer be a concern like it has been in past years. This distribution method seems to be a fast and easy way for student to obtain Spring Bash tickets.
Spring Bash is a perfect way for students to relieve stress and have a great time, but it is not great enough for someone to put their safety at risk. The outcome of this year’s Spring Bash ticket distribution was a poor showing for Montclair State University and its community of students.
Due to the problems that occurred this year, one can only hope that student safety will be at the forefront of the Spring Bash organizers’ minds as next year’s Spring Bash is planned.
