You’re in your residence hall room studying for a major exam. It’s quiet hours so you hope to get a lot done. Much to your dismay someone outside the building has decided to gather with a bunch of friends and talk. Once together, the group turns on a radio and before you know it, the noise level has gone sky high.

At many universities like NIU, the weekend unofficially starts on Thursday night, turning the areas surrounding the residence halls into a popular place to hang out.

This, unfortunately, is an all too familiar scenario around the Grant South, Douglas and Lincoln area. And some residents say they’re fed up.

Residence halls have established quiet hours for the residents’ convenience and consideration. Quiet hours are from 9 p.m. to 10 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight to noon Friday and Saturday.

According to residence hall policy, residents can be written up for violating quiet hours if noise can be heard from their room from two doors away. Noise can be music, the TV, or people talking loudly.

According to Roxanne Fudacz, a junior nursing major who works in security for Grant Towers South, “The noise is made by car radios and people continually talking louder to talk over the noise made by other people.”

The outside noise does not fall into the immediate jurisdiction of resident assistants and senior staff or other resident oriented bodies like hall council.

Residents can call their hall’s night security and complain about the noise. Night security then can call the University Police to come and break up the group.

As Fudacz, who also serves as president of Grant Towers South Hall Council, said, “There is not much we (hall council) can do.” The most they could do is form a committee to look into solving the problem, she said.

Freshman Shannon Reilly, an elementary education major, lives in Douglas Hall and says the noise outside doesn’t bother her unless she is trying to study.

However, Reilly is more concerned with the noise in the building. “A particular neighbor of mine loves to blast his/her music every time I’m trying to get work done. That annoys me,” she said.

Undecided freshman Danielle Dvorak, a resident of Grant South, wasn’t too particular about the noise outside. Dvorak said, “It depends on what time it is. Up to a point it’s okay, but after a while it gets obnoxious.”

“A particular neighbor of mine loves to blast his/her music every time I’m trying to get work done. That annoys me.”