Despite the rain Friday and Saturday, turnout for Late Nite's Carnival was respectable this year.
Bad weather can be a double-edged sword: Students get less of a wait time in line, but the organizers get less visitors.
By extending the event to two days, the Carnival is more accessible to the community. A separate section with kiddie rides helped as well.
However, while pulling in more of the Muncie visitors, Late Nite shouldn't forget about its target audience. It's understandable that in order to provide the Carnival to students for free, an effort has to be made to get paying customers to come as well.
It's a fine line to walk between extending the event to the community by providing child-appropriate rides and daytime hours and making Ball State University's Carnival just like every other carnival you see in a supermarket parking lot. Don't forget your college-aged target audience.
We might not pay at the gate, but our student fees ultimately fund events like this.
Additionally, all the rides were the same types of spinning rides, which is something students might not have expected because of the new vendor this year.
Also, in some instances, those who waited in line couldn't ride the rides due to their size. If weight was an issue, maybe this should have been more apparent before taking the time to wait in line.
It's a great effort toward Ball State having its own "signature" event — Indiana University has the Little 500 and Purdue has the Grand Prix as their heralded activities, respectively.
The want and need for a well-known Ball State event is there. With a few tweaks and twinges, the Carnival can eventually be as great as we know it can.
Read More
AP: Biden's upcoming graduation speech roils Morehouse College, a center of Black politics and culture
By The Associated Press / YesterdayWhen he gives the commencement address at Morehouse College, President Joe Biden will have his most direct engagement with college students since the start of the Israel-Hamas war at a center of Black politics and culture.
Indiana Capital Chronicle: Rokita warns Indiana college officials to guard against campus antisemitism
By Indiana Capital Chronicle / 2 days agoAttorney General Todd Rokita on Wednesday issued a warning to postsecondary officials: “Hateful antisemitic acts against Jewish students will not be tolerated.”
Battling Lupus: Ball State student shares his battle with an autoimmune disease
By Ball Bearings / 2 days agoThroughout my life, I would’ve never assumed that something “bad” would happen to me. Growing up generally healthy, the thought of being ill would’ve never crossed my radar, but sometimes life takes you in an unexpected direction.
