By Mac Weekly Staff

The student body takes a night out of the craziness of the end of the semester to get up, get down and—if we’re honest—get totally sloshed. Tonight is Winter Ball, and it promises to be a great time for all who attend, with a timeless 1920s theme, casino games and the ubiquitous chocolate fountain. That being said, many of us certainly remember the chaos centered on the transportation to and from the ball last year. For those of you who are unfamiliar, here is a quick refresher. People waited for hours in the cold for buses to and from the event, and in the words of one senior acted like “a drunken, mindless horde…fools in the most debasing, demoralizing way.” At Mac at Nite, an event organized by program board last weekend, Dean of Students Jim Hoppe was jostled and shoved by a large group of students over the bag of chips he was bringing in. Hoppe was at one pointed pushed down onto a table. Both unfortunate incidents of immature student behavior can be, and have been in part, blamed on logistical issues. Last year at Winter Ball, the bus system was disorganized on both legs of the trip to Epic, leading to overcrowding and a general shortage of buses that students couldn’t really do anything about. And at last week’s Mac at Nite, almost all of the food was gone even before the advertised start time of the event, understandably upsetting many students. Nevertheless, The Mac Weekly would like to stress that in these and similar situations, the ultimate onus for responsible behavior lies with each of us as individuals. We aren’t here to be your parents, or tell you how to have fun tonight at winter ball. Feel free to go a little crazy and loosen up a bit. However, you are always responsible for how you act towards your fellow students and community members, no matter how much you’ll remember the actions later. When you start to interfere with others ability to have fun, it all starts to go downhill. So tonight, have fun, but keep it considerate of your co-partiers, and be safe.