'Jaws' screening drowns in luxury

Author: KELSEY RINEHART '06

After seeing the front page picture of Midd-kids bobbing about on pool floaties in the Natatorium and watching "Jaws," and after reading the accompaning article [Commons assert campus presence, Nov. 3, 2005] I felt compelled to respond. Those interviewed in the article praised the new role the commons system is playing in the campus social scene. The commons are patting themselves on the back for creating attractive alternatives to social house fests. But while we're all congratulating ourselves on these "new paths" that the commons are forging, we should stop and take a look at what those paths are, and where, exactly, they are leading us as students and as a College community, in general.

I don't think I'm alone in saying that, to me, the Brainerd Commons pool party was the height of frivolity, luxury and wastefulness. Frankly, when I heard that the College spent $2,000 to put Midd-kids' butts in inner tubes, I was disgusted. Talk about Club Midd. Why on earth are we spending that kind of money on something so useless, so silly? Is the image of pampered students lazing around the pool really what the commons point to as evidence of their success? Is that a representative image of us as students, one that we want to present to the greater College community and to the Town of Middlebury? I certainly hope not.

I know many people may disagree, but to me, the fact that the SGA Finance Committee allotted each commons an extra $6,000 to spend on a single event is just ridiculous. Why did they require us to throw a $6,000 party for ourselves? Surely, the SGA Finance Committee and the commons thought, only something so lavish, so expensive, could "lure" us away from those dens of sin, the social house basements. Surely this one grand event, this "score for Brainerd Commons" would be worth it, whatever the cost. So what if we use gallons and gallons of extra oil to heat the pool up to 87 degrees? Heaven forbid that the Middkids' toes get a little chilly while they're drifting about, watching their movie. Good grief. How did our green-thinking campus green-light this?

To me, the $6,000 "bonus fund" indicates that the commons are so desperate to make themselves more popular with students that they will spend whatever it takes to gain this admiration. The multi-colored, flashing e-mails haven't worked! The barrage of candy and cookies and cocoa and caramel apples has failed! They're vetoing the birthday brunch! Only if we roll a two-story projection screen into the Natatorium will we "assert a campus presence" and make the students accept us as a legitimate aspect of their College careers.

We've read plenty of anti-commons diatribes in these editorial pages, so I'll curtail my rant and instead pose a few questions. Are events like the pool party representative of us as students? Do we believe that they will enhance our campus social scene? Do they make the commons system "work"? My answer to all of these questions is, of course, a resounding no. Because I do believe that the commons system has a unique role within the Middlebury community, I think we should turn away from the over-the-top entertainment and work towards fulfilling the commons system vision.

I'd be the first to praise the commons for their support of events on campus. I am thankful to the commons for helping to make possible so many of the academic, cultural and social events that I've attended and enjoyed at Middlebury. But if we're going to give the commons seemingly endless funds, why do we spend them on pool parties and candy and caramel apples? Why can't we direct them towards more fulfilling, informative, truly entertaining events? We should be using our funds to attract high-profile, engaging, successful artists and public figures. We should be giving more funding to students who devote ceaseless creativity and energy to entertaining us through student organizations, publications and artistic groups. Using funds in these ways, I believe, would help in what Cook Commons Dean Dave Edleson described as "building a sense of community and making the commons work as envisioned."