Space race

One of the major factors that contributes to making Eclectic parties go out of control stems simply from logistics: tight venues lead easily to overcrowding, which leads to safety hazards and premature event shut-downs. Our campus lacks adequate student spaces.

The forthcoming Usdan University Center promises to have generous venues, but it is silly to expect a party atmosphere in the building you ate lunch in several hours earlier. MoCon can comfortably hold almost 500 students, but something was lackluster about this past October’s Eclectic Halloween Party.

Students need a space that falls between an administration-run Multi-Purpose Room and a student-funded WestCo Café. This space would ideally be suited for a variety of events, operated primarily (and responsibly) by students, and supported by the University.

This is a problem not only of space but a larger issue that pertains to student culture on campus. The Center for the Arts (CFA) fills its venues with world musicians and unconventional dance companies. Not that we are so blasé as to dismiss efforts toward artistic and cultural diversity on campus, but the calendar is missing an element of current pop or youth culture.

Financial considerations are important and we understand the University’s budget crunch. But it is important to acknowledge constructive steps that could be taken within the existing financial situation. The key point is that students themselves can make significant strides in bringing high-demand groups to campus for reasonable prices and should be supported in this.

Communities such as Eclectic and WestCo demonstrate the coordinating power that lies within students’ hands. Eclectic members have succeeding at consistently bringing popular groups to campus—recently, for example, the Akron Family. Even though no one took responsibility for the vandalism that closed WestCo Café, residents of WestCo mustered up the funds from their own pockets to get the café up and running.

Bigger student spaces would allow for bigger events. Bigger events would allow for greater student participation on campus. Greater participation would foster our student culture—and, not to mention, a stronger University reputation amongst prospective students. It did not go unnoticed that popular indie rock group The Decembrists played at Reed College in Spring 2006.

Sure, we’re budding intellectuals. Sure, we’ve got our noses in books at Olin (well, some of us). But even professors take weekends.