Program Council Says Working on Noise!

August 9, 2010

Dear Boulder Community Members:
The University of Colorado at Boulder will be hosting its annual New Student Welcome festivities on August 19-22nd, 2010. These activities are CU's way to welcome new students to the University and to Boulder. As a part of the weekend, Program Council will be hosting a concert on Farrand Field on Saturday August 21st starting at 6:30pm. The performance will run no later than 10:30pm. Additionally, sound check will begin around 2:00pm with some intermittent sound during the afternoon.
In the fall of 2008 the University received feedback regarding sound levels in the community from the two outdoor concerts held on Farrand Field. Since the first concert, CU has been working to address the issues raised to ultimately reduce the impact these concerts have on our Boulder neighbors. In the summer of 2009 a "sound test" took place to see if the sound equipment could be reconfigured and therefore more contained within the field, and the reconfiguration did significantly decrease the sounds levels projected to the neighborhoods that had been impacted last fall. During the 2009 concert, the University only received one sound complaint, and sound was much better managed because of the sound test. This year we will be using the same methods to manage the sound beyond the field.
For the August 21st concert, Program Council will be working in close association with the CU Police Department and the City of Boulder's Environmental and Zoning Enforcement Office to manage this event. We will ensure that the sound does not exceed the campus policy of 85 decibels at the edge of campus. We will be taking continual decibel level readings throughout the evening. The levels will be recorded to ensure that we are within appropriate sound levels.
On the evening of August 21st, if you feel overly impacted by the sound, please direct your calls to 303-492-7704. Finally, if you have any concerns or questions about this letter, please feel free to contact the Program Council office at (303) 492-7704.
It is CU's hope to provide concerts like these in order to keep students engaged in activities on campus, while also balancing this goal with the needs of our neighborhoods. This is especially important during this first weekend as we welcome the Class of 2015 to campus. For a complete listing of all New Student Welcome events, please visit http://www.colorado.edu/inthemix.

Thank you,

Justin Greenstein Deb Coffin
Program Council Student Director Associate Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs