5:45 Monday morning. 1998. Cold. Dark. The kind of day that makes you wonder why you didn’t choose Stanford.

You should still be curled up in bed. But instead, you’re huddled outside Norris University Center, eyeing other Northwestern students competitively. You’re ready to push through the revolving door, and not just because you want to get out of the biting Lake Michigan winds.

It’s fliering time, and sleepy students from every imaginable NU walk of life are lugging posters and masking tape, ready to claim their space on the open walls of Norris. Once the doors unlock, they rush into the building to plaster the walls.

But that was 1998, when student group members could post as many fliers as they wanted — as long as they got out of bed before sunrise. This is 2000, when Norris limits groups to only three 8.5-by-11-inch fliers per event — and fliering doesn’t start until noon Monday.

And some student group leaders said they are already seeing drops in attendance at events since the policy was instituted in September.

“Theater majors might still go to plays, but with the new policy, I question how many non-theater majors know what’s going on in the theater community,” said Kevin Seldon, outgoing co-chairman of Arts Alliance.

But Bill Johnston, director of Norris, said the old policy needed to change because it was disorderly and dangerous to the students involved.

Seven months after the fliering policy became more restrictive, students are still struggling to find effective alternatives for advertising. Some groups don’t even bother to advertise in Norris, despite the 6,500 people flowing through the building every day. Now student leaders and administrators are questioning the policy’s validity, raising possible solutions — and suggesting that the real flaw with NU’s programming is that there’s too much going on.

chalk it up to the new policy

The new fliering policy exacerbates the difficulties of advertising. For example, more groups are relying on sidewalk fliers, but these fliers are far from permanent.

Alternative Spring Break co-director Katie Stearns said her group’s sidewalk fliers are sometimes destroyed overnight and “more often ripped up than they are put down.”

“It’s discouraging because fewer people hear about our event, and it’s frustrating to the people who spend time making the posters,” said Stearns, a Speech senior.

Chris Rhee, Special Olympics co-chairman, said he also has experienced problems advertising events. He said he’s even chalked the sidewalk in front of Norris only to see it washed up with mops two hours later.

But administrators have their own worries.

Mary Desler, assistant vice president for student affairs, said chalking can cause problems for the facilities management staff.

When students chalk on buildings or in areas that do not receive rain, the university must pay for the chalk to be removed, she said.

However, when the fliers stick and the chalk remains, OASIS publicity chairwoman Sara Cantor said this sort of highly visible publicity works best.

“You have to read them when you’re walking down Sheridan,” said Cantor, a McCormick junior. “People skip over e-mails and banners go unnoticed, but I believe appealing, eye-catching fliers do the best job.”

Patrick MacLeamy, president of Asterik, said he is grateful for Norris’ current fliering policy.

“It used to be one big free-for-all,” he said. “People would push others out of the way and throw things at each other. Students don’t really take a hard look at posters anyway.”

MacLeamy, a Music senior, said Asterik has found other ways to publicize its shows, such as listserv messages.

Johnston said he encourages student groups to explore other advertising options in addition to fliering at the student center. He, for one, is happy with the policy.

“There’s nothing those 16 million pieces of paper on the wall have done,” Johnston said. “Now students can see what’s up there.”

Too much going on?

But is there too much up there? Johnston said he thinks advertising problems might stem from an excess of activities and events.

For example, the A&O Productions ball and Spike Lee’s speech are both scheduled May 4.

“We are approaching overkill in programming,” he said. “For a campus that is so demanding academically, there are just too many choices. Students just can’t be everywhere.”

To eliminate problems such as this, Johnston said a group should be established to oversee all campus programming.

“Right now there is an absence of coordinated effort on everyone’s part,” he said.

But while many student groups are struggling with the traditional methods of advertising, others have become creative with their publicity.

Listserv messages and fund-raising parties are some ways that student groups are publicizing events.

Jordan Heinz, ASG executive vice president, encourages student groups to use Calendar 2000, an ASG-sponsored online calendar found on the HereAndNow Web site.

Student group leaders can submit their groups’ events to the calendar, which is available to all students, said Heinz, an Education sophomore.

ASG Technology Director Ed Sawma said that although the calendar has not been widely used by student groups or the campus at large, it will gain popularity as students become more Internet-oriented.

“It’s just hard to get people to do things they’re not used to doing,” he said

Change in the works

These concerns haven’t been invisible to administrators. At the end of Fall Quarter, Desler organized a Campus Publicity Committee to address publicity problems. The group consisted of students and representatives from facilities management, Campus Activities Office and Undergraduate Residential Life.

Desler plans to create a publication for student groups that describes effective ways to advertise.

The committee also discussed increasing the amount of bulletin boards on campus, installing a kiosk by The Rock and expanding official banner space to North Campus near the Technological Institute, Desler said.

Both Johnston and Heinz said they are trying to give student groups alternatives for advertising their events.

Johnston said that although he thinks the current fliering policy is effective, he is considering allowing groups three 11-by-17-inch fliers.

In addition, he is exploring the idea of putting high-resolution TVs in Norris, on which student groups could advertise their events free of charge, he said.

Johnston said he is also considering gobolights. These lights, which will be tested in the beginning of May, would project from the roof of the library to the front of Norris so advertisements could be seen on the facade of the building.

Heinz said he is trying to get funding to install TV monitors in the dining halls to advertise student group events, a proposal that was part of his platform during the race for executive vice president.

Heinz said the TVs will target primarily freshmen and sophomores — because mainly freshmen and sophomores eat in the dining halls — but he is trying to formulate a plan that will target juniors and seniors.

But for now, the quiet on early Monday mornings is echoed by the emptiness of Norris’ walls.

Described as “too sterile” by ASG President Adam Humann, the walls of Norris no longer display the efforts of exuberant student leaders trying to get the word out.

“The signs contributed to the vitality of the student center,” said Humann, a Weinberg junior. “No one goes to Norris anymore to find out what’s going on on campus.”

Arts Alliance’s Seldon agreed: “During the old days of postering, there was a lot of pushing and fighting, but people loved being there. Going to flier at Norris made us feel united, like we were working as a team.”