Continued construction causes increased NOD security
Break out the men in tights, Wiess College’s annual Night of Decadence, themed A Night in NODdingham: Bring Your Stiffest Arrow, will be held tomorrow in the Wiess commons. Tickets will be sold for $8 in advance and $10 at the door. T-shirts are also available for sale.
Wiess Social Matthew Schumann said the expected attendance for the party is around 1,500 people, which is more than half the number of undergraduates. Student volunteers, police officers, Rice Emergency Medical Services and Students Organized Against Rape escorts will be present at the party.
“With so many people coming to the party, it is our responsibility as hosts to do everything possible to take precautions,” Schumann said.
Decorating for the event started over fall break. Trees and stone walls painted on the windows of Wiess commons will be part of the castle of Noddingham and Sherwood Forest. Partygoers will cross a drawbridge to enter the Wiess Acabowl and find a castle in the commons with food and drink.
The biggest change is that a student will be DJing. Wiess sophomore Kevin Johnson is a professional DJ who has had several gigs in different clubs around Houston.
Security has also been enhanced due to construction that is taking place outside the South Servery. Schumann, a sophomore, said the administration is primarily concerned with students interfering with the construction on campus. A designated walkway will be sectioned off, connecting the North Colleges to Wiess to prevent people from getting lost or wandering into the construction sites on their way to and from Wiess.
“[The construction] poses a different safety and security situation than what we’ve had to face in the past,” Schumann said.
Rice University Police Department Lieutenant Dianna Marshall said there will be two more officers than usual at the party, making a total of twelve police officers present. One of these officers will be designated to patrol the construction site in order to prevent students from wandering in. The other officer will be a dispatcher responsible strictly for incidents at NOD, while the rest of the officers will be in charge of all the events occurring across campus.
There will also be two student volunteers and two police officers at each entrance to the Wiess Acabowl.
“We are there to act as backup to the student volunteers, unless we see something that requires immediate action,” Marshall said.
Marshall also mentioned that private parties are a bigger problem this year than last year, and that another concern of RUPD is what occurs on the perimeter of the party.
“We don’t want people congregating on balconies outside private parties, because as soon as that happens it makes the party public,” Marshall said. “Those that are in charge of these private parties will have to control this on their own.”
Officers will issue a warning the first time this occurs, but Marshall said if they have to visit a private party a second time in order to contain it, they may have to shut it down. Officers will be patrolling on bikes around the perimeter to ensure people do not arrive at the party intoxicated.
Wiess Social Natalie Alderson also voiced her concerns about students arriving to the party safely.
“Our main concern is with students’ walk from their pre-party to Wiess,” Alderson, a junior, said. “We want people to arrive at NOD responsibly and have fun at the actual party.”
The Wiess Socials have been working with all nine chief justices, who are responsible for monitoring private gatherings, to reach this goal.
Brown College sophomore Chris Chen said he did not think NOD was any different from any other public party but still planned on attending because he had fun last year.
“I do think that the people that are planning the party are doing a really good job of security, such as with the student volunteers, EMS and the police officers,” Chen said.
Will Rice College freshman Abhishek Nag said he plans on being part of the NOD Security team.
“I wanted to experience NOD, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to strip down for it,” Nag said. “Being part of NOD Security solves this problem.”
Other news stories
- Former Indian President looks to the final frontier for hope
- Lawyers share perspectives at law panel
- Leadership through the lens of Leebron
- Massive server failure leads to campus-wide e-mail outage
- Newest proposed academic calendar features longer break, rescheduled finals
- News in Brief
- Rice receives $1 million for digital archiving project
- RUPD launches controversial anti-theft policy
- Wiess recognized for environmental sensitivity
Sports
- Football drops close shootouts
- Hanszen uses staunch defense to shut out Wiess 18-0
- Men's tennis concludes fall schedule in Austin
- Soccer suffers first loss in conference play
- Sports notebook
- Swimming starts season smoothly with double dual victories
- Volleyball takes on top team in C-USA tonight
- Women's cross heads to C-USA title meet as favorites
- Women's tennis finishes fall schedule
- Zivick leads the way at Chile Pepper Festival
Arts & Entertainment
- Bizarre Noise needs more dancing, less drama
- Book Club sheds chick flick conventions for original story
- Residential colleges go to war in new online strategy game
- RMC Visual Arts Coordinator mobilizes student art
- Verdi's Ball a performance of heartfelt story and skill
- Wilderness of disorganization at photo exhibit