Besides the substantial increase in alcohol-related EMS calls this last State Patty’s Day and those affected by the general debauchery that ensued over the weekend, the “holiday” ended badly for any resident of the Meridian thinking of throwing a party for the rest of the semester.

Following the events of this State Patty’s Day, it seems that the apartment managers–in a notice given to every resident–have banned parties in any apartment, regardless of a “signed social agreement,” for the rest of the semester. Citing the “inexcusable” damage as the reasoning, the ban will be enforced with a $300 fine for any violators–with no “warnings”. Meridian personnel would neither confirm or deny the new policy. As reported by The Daily Collegian, “it is company policy not to comment regarding any rules, regulations or incidents that may occur on property.”

Thus far unsubstantiated rumors of the aftereffects of the weekend range from an apartment missing an entire ceiling to damage in stairwells resulting from partiers throwing kegs down them, Donkey Kong-style.

A more realistic estimate of the damage was provided by a student living in the Meridian, who asked us not to reveal his name. He described the condition of the Meridian as “the worst it’s ever been”, stating that “there was trash and dirt everywhere” while “ceiling panels were taken down and shredded.”

Here is a photo taken from the Meridian last night showing that ceiling tiles are definitely missing from the complex:

In addition, he observed that on Saturday, the Meridian was “very crowded” and that “it seemed like people were congregating [there]”, ostensibly because of the lack of security at the Meridian. According to the student, “the fact that there’s no cameras means people know they’re not going to get caught”, but at the same time there was no one was patrolling, so “Meridian staff is at fault too”, at least in some capacity for the damage sustained.

Said the student on the new policy, “it makes me feel like I’m living in the dorms again”.

Evidently, despite the somewhat lower overall crime numbers for State Patty’s 2012, efforts to curb the detrimental effects of “holiday” have been ineffective in their attempt at damage control. If the Meridian has indeed implemented this drastic policy–as all signs seem to point to–it is but more proof that the adverse effects of State Patty’s Day affects even those who didn’t contribute to the madness.

As our own Matt D’Ippolito stated, “Crime rates went down this year, which is a step in the right direction, but once again we’ve seen that general drunken debauchery beyond that of a typical weekend at Penn State created a dangerous situation here and is a point that still needs to be addressed.”

In the meantime, the residents of the Meridian and those tasked with  repairing “the vast amount of damage sustained over the weekend” will have to endure the consequences of this year’s iteration of State Patty’s Day.