notes from the desk Get involved, don't just criticize

Author: Anthony Adragna

If I could count the number of reasons students give for remaining apathetic towards social life, I'd be counting for days. The biggest complaint at Midd is that there is never enough to do or that the activities that are available stink. But the vast majority of students do nothing for social life, except complain about it and blame those who are in charge of organizing activities.

It would be different if there were no opportunities for students to have an impact of their social lives. But there are. We just don't take advantage of them.

The commons exist primarily to offer students the chance to create ideas for social events and see them executed. Each commons has around $20,000 to spend annually on student ideas. No idea is too lofty. Or so the commons say.

And yet, the reality is that the vast majority of students have no say in how that money is spent. Commons Councils are attended by at most 40 students a week, and that is the exception to the rule. Most commons see attendance hovering around 10. That means that fewer than 10 percent of students have any say in how commons programming evolves, in the best of scenarios.

With such limited input it seems logical, if not inevitable, that many students are unhappy with what commons produce in terms of programming. Students who currently attend Council cannot encompass the wide ranges of interests that exist on campus. But don't blame the organizers. Those who don't like the programming should come change it.

The same thing goes for MCAB, which always catches a lot of flack for the decisions they make regarding campus-wide programming. Criticism abounds, be it for Pub Nights, comedian selections or the band choice for the spring show.

MCAB has literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on programming. The body welcomes and encourages student involvement in selecting programs by offering open, public forums for discussing potential bands, comedians and events. Few go.

The board offers students the chance to participate directly in the selection process by joining one of the five MCAB boards. And yet, several committees struggle to find reliable and talented members.

Criticism is not the problem here. Criticism is a necessary and vital part to ensuring the best possible environment here. The problem is complaining without action.

Social life is not perfect here. It is not even close. We don't have enough voices providing input into what students want. We do have hundreds of voices saying something stinks about activities here on campus. It's time to take those voices and get them involved in fixing the problems, not identifying and complaining about them.

There are dozens of avenues available to students who want to change social life on campus. Many choose not to take them. That's fine. But complaining is not acceptable if you stay uninvolved. We don't get to have it both ways.

Anthony Adragna '10 is a News editor from Bethesda, Md.