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RFH 2010, Colgate News

Party Weekend Includes Taylor Lake Swim

Wed, Apr 28, 2010

Campus Safety remove swimmers from Taylor Lake.

Hamilton weathered another Spring Party Weekend, that time each April when Colgate students take the lid off the id as classes wind down and exams and/or commencement looms.

Depending on who you speak with, it was a mess or a modest inconvenience. For certain, it was a time for a heavy police presence in the village.

Hamilton Police Department Officer in Charge Gary Mlasgar said his department had five officers on duty each day during the weekend. He said there were members of the Madison County Sheriff's Department and the State Police in the village. Mlasgar said that while there was an intentionally visible police presence, there also were officers undercover on patrol during the weekend.

The HPD was not called Sunday morning to assist Colgate Campus Safety in breaking up a large-scale skinny dipping outing at Taylor Lake. According to a source familiar with the event, a large number of students -- more than 100 -- went swimming - many naked -- in the lake. 

Colgate prohibits swimming, wading and boating on the lake.

Mayor Sue McVaugh, who lives on Broad Street, is no stranger to the distractions and inconveniences that come with Spring Party Weekend. Her home is on the preferred route between downtown and campus, and in the past has had some minor vandalism done to her property.

This past weekend, she found an unusual piece of litter on her lawn: a pig's head. She said she does not believe it was meant for her specifically because she is the mayor, and added that members of a fraternity that had a pig roast came and cleaned it up.

McVaugh is surprisingly philosophiocal about the weekend.

"These are bright, articulate, caring people most of the time," she said of the students. "But with so much poverty, do we need the conspicuous consumption? Do we need that much beer? Do we need that many bands?"

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