While students praised the first Quad Night with its ZOX performance last Saturday, multiple faculty members complained about the noise. Though the Student Activities Board booked the event last spring and faculty members were told about Quad Night a few weeks prior to the event, the Student Activities Office and cluster deans received numerous complaints from faculty about the lengthy festivities. Quad Night featured refreshments, games, student bands and Zox, a rock band from Providence. Some faculty members were irked by the apparent lack of full disclosure about the festivities. “The information [regarding Quad Nite] was available in print, such as on the Student Activities posters, but it was not specifically brought to my attention that a rock band would be playing until 11 p.m,” said Taylor Hall House Counselor Kevin Cardozo. Other faculty members said that they were informed of these important details with very short notice and did not have the opportunity to make other plans for the weekend or leave campus during Quad Night. Canceling the event would have caused many problems – foremost among them the cancellation of ZOX. Booking ZOX for a performance at Andover cost the SAB $6000, a $2000 increase from the last time ZOX performed at Andover in 2005. SAB’s weekly budget is $1800. Jeff Ashworth, Assistant Director of Student Activities, said, “Quad Night is only one night. The entire year there is only one Quad Night, so canceling the event or moving its location was not a viable choice. Instead, we should just work on having better communication next time around.” During the event, noise level was the most prominent issue. PAPS received a noise complaint from someone outside the PA community. Andover Police were not involved, but the Student Activities Office received the complaint during the concert and consequently requested the band to lower the volume of their music. Some students within the concert’s vicinity also found the noise of Quad Night to be excessive. Some students in the quads who wanted to rest before 11 p.m. were kept awake by the music. Kelicia Hollis ’08 said, “Quad Night focused on music more than Quad Day, which was similar to a carnival with cotton candy and blow-up rides. Quad Night was fun, but Quad Day was just better.” Carried over from Quad Day were dorm booths, which allowed residents of the Quads to showcase many different assets. Calendars from Andover Cottage and the s’mores and massages from Bancroft were very successful, though students selling mocktails were disappointed in their low profits. The Student Activities Board hopes to make Quad Night an annual Andover tradition, though changes might be made in the event’s length next year. The dinner in the Quads started as early as 5 p.m. Many students were already in the Quads at 7 p.m., so by the time ZOX started playing, the crowd had dwindled significantly. Ziwe Fumudoh ’10 said, “There were too many bands before ZOX. The event started to lag, since there was the pre-show, the pre-pre-show, etc.” Although this event was not as flawless as its organizers would have hoped, the Student Activities Board promises to continue improving this event in the following years. Ashworth said, “Every event has kinks the first time, but hopefully that will just give us a chance to improve and not put a stop to the event entirely.”
