Quiet down please

In an article printed in Thursday's Lantern, some of the South Gateway apartment tenants complained about the noise level of their neighbors - in this case, their neighbors just happen to be McFadden's, the Ugly Tuna and other South Campus Gateway businesses.

To the students who live in these apartments, they find the excess noise coming from the bars to be intolerable, however, they say they enjoy the convenience of living in that area.

Residents should not have to put up with music and yelling during the week, and The Lantern urges these businesses to consider changes to its nighttime activities. Is the loud music really necessary?

On the other hand, the tenants of those apartments had to know what they were getting themselves into. Along with the convenience of living next to a bar and being able to stumble home without driving anywhere comes the noise.

While living in a college community, it is to be expected that noise is going to be present, especially on the weekends. It is best that students who are sensitive to noise while studying or sleeping find options to help block out the noise, such as a fan, which is mentioned in the story, or earplugs.

According to the article, the students in the area need their peace and quiet on the week days.

"On a Wednesday night when I need to stay up and study it's blaring outside," said Michaelia Dunn, a second-year pharmacy student. "On the weekends it's OK because I just expect it, but it happens on the weekdays too."

This is a tricky subject, however, because while loud noise during the weekend is almost expected, it is fair to say that during the week people are studying, getting up early and trying to catch up on sleep from the weekend, so loud noise shouldn't have to be tolerated, from bars or from other students.

We believe students and businesses should respect the community in which they reside. The fastest way to discourage tenants and business is to have problems from one to the other, so we encourage both the leasing offices for the Gateway apartments and the businesses to meet and address the students' issues.