Quiet, please!

Animal House's John Belushi proved in 1977 that college students are loud. It's a fact. Even in the sometimes sleepy town of Bloomington, the nightlife of youthful college students might get out of control. \nTo combat this tendency, the city of Bloomington instituted Quiet Nights Initiative in January, in the hopes of deterring excessive noise infractions, especially in family-oriented neighborhoods. Although many Bloomington residents approve of the new initiative and feel that plugging their ears isn't enough to overcome the increased noise since the arrival of IU students last month, local musicians and clubs refuse to keep their mouths shut about how the new Quiet Nights is quelling the local entertainment scene. \nThe initiative, although well-received by Bloomington families, has forced local bands to turn down the volume, and reconsider when they practice, where they practice and how loud they can play. Junior Chris Welz, guitarist and singer of Indiana Trip Factory, is not a proponent of the new ordinance. \n"Our only place to practice now is in our own house, Welz says. "So, we have to set times with our neighbors as to when we can play and when we can't. We actually have to sign a contract."\nBut Welz understands he's not the only musician who has been affected by the new rules. He added that the crackdown has deeply effected house parties. \n"We used to play a lot of parties, now we are more into clubs," Welz says. "But if we were still really big at house parties this would definitely be an issue."\nOn the other hand, the Bloomington Police Department's intentions are not necessarily intended to curb late night noise all over. \n"It's the neighborhoods where we concentrate our efforts, or the residential areas," Deputy Police Chief Randy Williamson says. "They are the one who are affected by the noise."\nOne might not think that noise would be a major concern for the city's law enforcement officials, but obviously the citizens in the area have made enough noise themselves about the late-night disturbances to prompt a change. The city's 2001 budget includes a substantial $60,000 increase in police funds to help reduce late-night noise in city neighborhoods. \n"According to the residents of this community, yes, noise is very important," Williamson says.\nMarsha Bradford, Safe and Civil City Program coordinator, says she kept this concern in mind when outlining the details of the new regulations.\n"What is very clear is that Quiet Nights has been extremely well-received by the community," she says. "Individuals and neighborhood associations are very supportive of the very real improvements in a significant quality of life issue on our community." \nAs far as bands are concerned, Bradford relays, "The number of live bands getting ticketed appear to constitute a very small number of tickets issued since January of this year."\nDave Kubiak, general manager at Bluebird Nightclub, understands the motivation for the new initiative, but tends to relate more to youthful opinions like Welz's.\n"It's really unfortunate for local bands because they normally get popular at house parties," he sympathizes. "That's where it all begins."\nLocal clubs feel the pressure as well to maintain some sort of norm when it comes to the musical entertainment they exhibit. "We haven't been warned, but then, nobody has really complained, either," Kubiak relates. \nHe thinks the recent additions of downtown buildings might be the explanation. The more buildings that go up downtown, the less the noise gets around. \n"On the other hand," Kubiak maintains, "if you have speakers outside now that's a problem."\nKilroy's Sports Bar, which used to play music outside late into the night hours, has had to become conscious of the new initiative in hopes of avoiding any sort of confrontation with the police. \n"We work around it," says Maggie Prall, a manager at Sports. "We don't play as much music outside anymore because of the initiative, and if we do, we restrict it from 6 to 8 p.m."\nThough willing to comply with the new rules, Prall says she doesn't think they're entirely necessary.\n"It bothers me because they ticket people in a college neighborhood," Prall says. "They're college students. It's not really going to disturb them."\nAlthough Prall admits the new requirements were a bigger deal last spring, now that students have come back to their college homes, house parties are frequented by many students.\nSenior Jeff Yoder has seen the effects of Quiet Nights firsthand. He received a $50 noise violation about a month ago at his North Lane Condo residence, where the majority of the leases belong to students. \n"It kind of pissed me off in a way," Yoder says, "because there was no warning or anything." \nAlthough the violation would normally require that all people on the lease, present or not, be ticketed, Yoder's roommates had yet to move in.\nThe party was on a Friday night and no formal complaints were issued to the police, but Yoder's, and the house across the street, reparation for the clamor they had instigated. \n"The cops were just driving around and patrolling," Yoder says. "Although it's a deterrent that they are doing it more often, it's really not necessary." \nSenior John Jackson who lives across the street agrees with his neighbor.\n"Nobody complained," Jackson protests. "We've had parties a lot, and plus, they are all college students who live around us." \nThe Quiet Nights Initiative doesn't seem to be the only way that the city has cracked down on the local entertainment scene. In early July, a statement was issued about the posting of fliers in downtown Bloomington -- it was no longer allowed. As an attempt to spare the telephone poles and savor the beauty of the area, fliers were banned from being posted. \nJunior Matt Armstrong, bassist for the local bands Little Joe Gould and Drowse, says he has personally been discouraged by the ban of fliers.\n"If we're not allowed to flier, then basically the only way to publicize is through the Indiana Shows Email List, and that doesn't cover as many people as you want," Armstrong says. "Sometimes people would just come to our shows because they saw our fliers and were interested. This takes that away and makes us rely on word of mouth."\nIndiana Trip Factory has also tried to find a way around the prohibited publicizing. \n"We make a bunch of small hand bills, so people can put them in their pockets," Welz says. \nOn the contrary, Kubiak cites local businesses who have been kind enough to allow bands to flier in their stores, in an effort to keep the musical arts culture alive, and the city clean.