The Embattled Bipartisan Bipartisan Bids Adieu with Farewell Statement on Timeless Controversies

Author: Brian K. Ashley

Dear Readers,

For better or worse I have decided that this will be the last installment of my column. I fear that continuing to stand upon my proverbial soapbox would only perpetuate a repetition of ideas. However, before I go, I would like to take this opportunity to impart the following suggestions to Middlebury College and the community:

1. Stop building such monstrous, modern buildings. There is a reason that everyone likes Old Chapel, Gifford, Starr, Mead Chapel, etc They have a timeless beauty that has style. Bicentennial Hall is fashionable. However, whether it has style is up for debate. Fashion is fleeting and changes quickly. At one time Freeman International Center was fashionable, maybe even a bit stylish, but now it is ugly and hated. Style, on the other hand, is permanent. Style is like a good navy blazer; through all of the awful fashions of our time — the Regis monochromatic look, for example — a good navy blazer has always been stylish. The plans for the new library scare me because they are so fashionable, and where one finds extreme fashion one rarely finds style.

2. Do not hate the social houses. I know this goes out more to the administration than the students, but there are those in both courts who need to hear this. While at some level the social houses appear to be elitist social organizations bent on exclusion and mayhem, they are really something very different. For many, college is a very hard place to socialize. Socializing in a dorm setting can be a very big change for many people who miss the familiarity of their home environment. Besides being a place to drink and party, the social houses provide many with the right jumping off point to forge new friendships and become more comfortable with themselves socially. Even the dreaded pledge is one of the greatest things about the houses themselves. For those in the administration who feel that pledge is nothing more than hazing and poor academic performance on the part of the pledges, you are wrong. It is a wonderful experience that bonds a pledge with many other people in a short period of time and gives them a place to which they feel they belong.

3. Not everything is the commons' fault. While in their present state the commons seem to cause nothing but housing and intramural sport problems, they are really out there to make this a nicer place. We are in a transition phase and simply need to give it some time. We need to remember that this is our institution, and it will be even as we are its alumni. If for one second we can realize that for a few small sacrifices we can ensure a greater sense of community and more pleasant residential life for future classes, then I believe that we can tuff it out.

4. There have got to be more places to do laundry on this campus and with driers that do just that: dry one's laundry!

5. Not everyone drives to class. In fact, few people do. Wanting parking near one's dorm is not about laziness, just common sense. If it is raining — or snowing and 30 below for that matter — and a student would like to drive into town to pick up something, there is no reason that they should have to walk a mile to a car to drive a mile into town. It does not ruin the pedestrian feel of the campus to simply allow students to drive into town for a bite to eat or a trip to the drugstore.

6. Finally, please unlock the doors at night. It really doesn't make any sense because as we all know, one can still get into the dorms without a key. It just takes a little waiting in the freezing cold, and I doubt that is going to stop anybody intent on robbing a flush student. The only thing the lockdown accomplishes is severely annoying many students at all hours of the night and causing a great hassle for facilities who have to constantly lock, unlock, and check all the doors on campus.

Thank you.