'Red Hot' music leads to complaint

At about 2 p.m. Monday, senior Bridget Meskauskas was disturbed while taking her statistics midterm on the second floor of Ballantine Hall. \n"All of the sudden I hear really loud music, and I could tell it was the Beatles," she said.\nThe music she heard was coming from outside Ballantine, where Red Hot Presidential Candidate and junior Lenny Weiss was playing a keyboard and singing "happy tunes," as he said in an e-mail. Red Hot is running against Hoosier in elections for IU's student government, the IU Student Association. \n"It was great, it was a lot of fun," Weiss said. "We set up, I had a nice keyboard, and we sang songs for the people in the passing period, and people sat around and watched and sang along."\nAccording to the Student Handbook, on-campus, outdoor events not only need to be registered with the office, but they also cannot include amplified sound before 6 p.m. on weekdays.\nAssistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Activities Steve Veldkamp said since this is Red Hot's first violation, it will not receive any punishment.\n"The first (violation response) is to educate students about the policy," he said.\nHoosier Vice President of Administration candidate Andrew Lauck said the display was inappropriate.\n"We think that Lenny's talents would be better used for an 'American Idol' audition rather than an IUSA campaign," he said. \nThe handbook states "any outdoor event sponsored by a student organization on University property must be registered with and approved by the Student Activities Office." Additionally, Outdoor Campus Event Registration forms, need to be submitted to the SAO at least 10 business days before an event.\nSAO Manager and Administrative Assistant Cindy Moore said Red Hot Vice President of Administration candidate and junior Brett Stewart filled out the request form Monday before the event.\nMoore said another group, Circle of Life, had already reserved that space.\nMoore said when she told Stewart the group couldn't have the space, he commented about having a keyboard and said Red Hot would take its performance to Starbucks instead. \nThe handbook also has a rule against amplified sound before 6 p.m..\nMeskauskas said she went straight to the IUSA office to find contact information for someone to complain to, and she went to the SAO to make sure her understanding of campus event rules was correct. \n"It blew my mind that someone trying to represent the student body and better the campus community is sitting in the middle of campus disrupting classes, she said."\nStewart said Red Hot decided to stay outside because it didn't see the other group and their equipment was already set up.\nWeiss said they were under the impression that they were allowed to perform.\n"We were asked to stop because we didn't know we weren't allowed to have amplified sound," he said.\nMeskauskas said Moore reported the noise violation to the IU Police Department. Stewart said the group left Ballantine as soon as IUPD officers asked it to.\n"We had no idea we were bothering anyone," he said. "...We had people watching, we were getting requests ... who wouldn't love Elton John?"\nWhile Red Hot may not suffer any punitive consequences, it may suffer electoral consequences.\n"I'm going to tell my friends not to vote for him because I could have gotten a bad grade on my midterm," Meskauskas said. "He disturbed class, frustrated peers and (avoided) administrative rules. I don't care who you are. That's not acceptable. You're held to a higher standard when you're representing the student body"