This is Ball State University - we're proud, we make a big crowd and we're going to keep being loud.
Get over it, Muncie.
We don't intentionally try to disturb our neighbors who want to go to sleep early. But this is a college campus and we are going to have late night events and celebrations. And sometimes we might get excited and happy during these events and yell, play music or shoot off fireworks. At least when we are on campus, we are not running across neighborhood lawns.
Muncie is voting on restricting the amount of noise people can make at night, even with a permit. Despite complaints, Muncie's noise ordinance doesn't need to be any stricter. It's already gone a long way to quieting this campus community and putting a lid on loud house parties. Muncie doesn't need to kill all the fun of being a college student. There's no good reason to stop Ball State from having pride-building events that are supervised and drug- and alcohol-free.
Even if the noise ordinance is restricted, Muncie's not going to turn to one of its biggest employers and tell it to turn the volume down. There have been three noise complaints against it in the past year - obviously, Ball State isn't really the problem. With 18,000 students here, we could be rocking Muncie every night if we all got together on campus.
It's not Ball State, with its three strikes against it, that will be harmed by further restricting volume levels. We'll keep being loud. It'll be the little man and woman trying to hold their annual barbecue, the family celebrating their reunion, the neighborhood throwing its New Year's party. Those are the people's celebrations will be quieted because of volume restrictions.
Ball State, Downtown Development and other municipal organizations will get all the permits they want, which isn't necessarily bad when the activities improve the community. The smaller activities aren't bad either. Muncie: don't let a couple of complaints put a clamp on the spirit and excitement that would make this a place where people can enjoy themselves.
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