Pool party flips but does not flop

Author: ERIN DOHERTY '05.5

I would first like to congratulate Brainerd Commons for hosting the very successful "Jaws" screening in the Natatorium. The overall praise from the many students that attended the event far outweighs the criticism from those who simply read about the event in The Campus.

I would next like to address the small number of those in the College community that have criticized the student organized, one-time only Brainerd event. It is truly difficult to take the criticism seriously when you examine the reasons given by those opposed to the event. One reason has been that the College and the commons system should be spending money to invite a speaker, or an artist or a musician. People claim that the $2,000 was simply a waste of money. That may be true, but many of those same people making those claims don't seem to mind when the college and the commons host events where large sums of money are spent on alcohol and fancy food alone. How is that not wasteful? Why is nobody standing up to criticize the fact that the College does not charge for alcohol at events? The reason nobody is protesting may be because those criticizing the Brainerd event enjoy the other "frivolous and wasteful" events that are often held on campus.

Also, if these students are truly concerned about money that is wasted, then maybe they should start asking their friends to leave their dishes in the Dining Halls. A lot more money would be saved if these critics along with the rest of the student body would simply do that.

Another complaint that has been brought up has been the blatant waste of oil and energy in order to raise the temperature in the pool. While the amount of energy used cannot be disputed, is it really worth criticizing this single one-time event? If we claim to be a green campus, there are most certainly bigger issues to tackle where changes of habit would actually make a significant difference in our overall energy consumption, rather than harping on an event that will not happen again this year. What about the Snow Bowl? How much energy is wasted on a freezing cold day so that three lifts can run and a lodge can be heated for a grand total of 20 PRIVILEGED people? Where are the critics calling for the College to stop wasting vast amounts of energy over the course of a winter that has several days where there are only a few skiers on the mountain, especially on those frigid mornings? No one would ever oppose the Snow Bowl being open, especially if you are one of the few people there on a slow day. Who doesn't like a mountain to themselves? Then there is energy wasted in the library. How much energy do we waste as a community by heating the library and keeping the lights on all hours? Why do we not tell everyone to be better prepared and get there work done during the day so that we can save energy there? The reason that the critics of the Brainerd event have not opposed these forms of energy waste may be because they themselves greatly benefit from the entertainment provided at the Bowl or by what they do during the earlier hours that they could be studying or writing that paper, and then going to the library later.

The $6,000 budget granted to each commons to host an all campus event may be completely ridiculous. I think the majority of the campus will agree with that statement. However, before people start complaining and criticizing how this money is being spent, maybe they should try coming to commons meetings to voice their opinions BEFORE events actually take place. Events are going to be planned at these meetings and money is going to be spent, thus if you have ideas, it is wasting money if you are sharing those ideas with everyone else in the community. Again, congratulations to Brainerd for pulling off the successful pool party! I respect your decision to be responsible with the money allotted to you, spending only the $2,000 necessary to host the event without trying to waste the additional $4,000 that you were given. I also suspect that many of your critics would agree.