EDITORIALS
Every recent freshman class in recent years has complained about how crappy our university is. What each of those classes fails to see is where we came from the year before. This type of ignorance is to be expected, and is the fault of no one. But, it should be said that as an organization that has both a past and a future here, we’ve seen it get it getting better. The Press has consistently been as critical of organizations such as the University Police, campus administration, and especially the Undergraduate Student Government as many incoming freshman have. We never waste time in finding fault or catching error. In hindsight, we have been justified in the majority of our statements to the campus community about these organizations and the events they have put on. However, what we all too often fail to acknowledge is that Stony Brook University as a whole, and the Undergraduate Student Government, are getting better. As a group of students no older than those they lead, they are constantly taking in feedback and attempting, however condescendingly, to put on events that we will like. While attending The Cataracs and Mac Miller concert over the weekend, an SB Press alum said that when he was freshman in 2008, the university would have never even attempted to put on events of that magnitude in such an uncontrolled space. Last year was the first ever Back to the Brook concert, featuring Reel Big Fish. This year’s concert appealed to an even wider fan-base. Our university and leadership also failed to draw artists as successful as Mac Miller, who while having a very specific fan base, managed to have a number one album from an independent label. A feat that’s almost unheard of. The reasons the university has been resistant to hosting events on the Staller Steps previously became very apparent
4 Sept 11,2013
during the Mac Miller concert, when a stampede of students broke out towards the stage. We do not pretend to be experts on crowd control or security procedures, but even a layman can see how having six 3-feet cement drop-offs compiled with approximately a thousand students could turn in to an exceedingly dangerous situation in seconds. It is very easy to attend a concert and flip the bird to USG and other organizers who are trying to push back students and put up an extra safety barrier. Clearly there was a mistake made by organizers when setting up the event that day. But what should be understood is the effort and work that predicated that day. The type of discussions and litigation that USG had to go through with the university and police to even make that spot a possibility were immense. There were mistakes made at the concert, USG should not deny that. Such as failing to provide water stations inside of the barriers, forcing students to either stay in the barriers waterless for upwards of four hours or leave and wait in line to re-enter. Attempting to feed upwards of a thousand students through a single check-point, which caused a line to extend beyond the gap between and Psych and the SAC also seems like poor planning. Even with these mistakes, as a campus we ended up with a concert that won’t be forgotten for quite some time. By the end of Mac Miller’s set, even the crowd on the top step were waving their hands in unison. The energy of those who chose to wait the forty minutes between acts was overwhelming compared to the Reel Big Fish performance a year ago. So Stony, stop fighting against an enemy that isn’t there and help USG out once in a blue moon. Stony Brook has and is getting better.