Editorial : Students display general respect for 9/11 at Juice Jam

Sunday’s Juice Jam concert, which drew the greatest attendance in the fall concert’s history, had elicited mixed reactions from students and community members for falling on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

With student turnout at its highest and the memory of the reckless drinking and drug use at last weekend’s Dayglow event that sent more than a dozen attendees to the hospital, an electronic and rap concert certainly could have overpowered any feeling of respectfulness on Sunday. The behavior of this year’s concertgoers showed that underneath the fist pumping and the neon sunglasses, students paid a common, if not universal, respect for 9/11.

A sense of camaraderie and patriotism was found not in the officially sponsored moment of silence, but in the individual acts of student acknowledgment. The red, white and blue sweat bands, the American flag polo shirts, the enormous waving flag at the center of the crowd and the subtle crimson ribbon pins may have been, individually, superficial tributes. But the effect was a visual reminder of the day and an atmosphere similar to the Fourth of July.

The tent devoted to charity and civically minded organizations also added a higher sense of consciousness to Juice Jam. University Union and collaborating organizers should consider inviting these organizations to future concerts, as their presence balances the rowdiness in some way.