VOLUME
CXXXI, NUMBER 22--OPINION--FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2000
A
new tradition
The
fledgling College House System has been repeatedly criticized
for its inability to present an adequate range of social
activities for its affiliates. The news and opinion sections
of the Orient have frequently featured student dissatisfaction
with many of the system's current features (see letter,
page 6). Keg parties are often seen as the only social event
provided by the houses- one that fails to appeal to a large
number of students. This situation makes it even more important
that those social house events that require significant
creativity and hard work be honored. Howard Hall's "Who
Wants to be a Thousandaire?" contest is one example of what
the fruits of social houses' labor can accomplish.
From
the opening cinematic scene, the care that has gone into
the undertaking is apparent. There are businesses that pay
lots of money for commercial websites with less clarity
and professional look-and-feel than that at http://thousandaire.bowdoin.edu
(which, incidentally, closes at 5 p.m. tonight if you have
not tried your hand at the trivia questions). A few bugs
and misspellings notwithstanding, the interface is easy
enough for even the most rabid Luddites among us to understand
and use.
The
Howard affiliates could have just set up an online contest,
but that would have avoided the interpersonal contacts the
social houses are supposed to encourage. So while the website
serves as a qualifying round of sorts, the real event will
come next Friday when the smartest (at least in trivia)
among us gather to try for the top prizes. Given the high
attendance at last semester's Think Fast event, the Thousandaire
night might prove to be one of the most highly attended
social events of the semester.
In
addition, the Thousandaire contest further fulfills the
social houses' goal of uniting all members of the Bowdoin
community. By encouraging faculty and staff to join the
fun, the event could help mend the division between students
and faculty. While professors sometimes give lectures at
social houses and fraternities, and staff members occasionally
put together intramural sports teams that compete against
students, this even goes one step further in the original
College House System's mandate of providing academic as
well as social events for all members of the Bowdoin community.
As
the wellness housing opinion on campus, Howard Hall is unable
to fall back on keg parties as the default social event
for its members. This restriction, instead of making Howard
a less effective house, has propelled it to a high standard
of creativity in finding new and exciting events for its
affiliates and the campus as a whole. It is likely that
next year the wellness program will move into the oldest
"social house" on campus, Alpha Delta Phi. With the wealth
of tradition AD has to offer its successors, we hope Howard
and other social houses will continue to involve all members
of the Bowdoin community in its upcoming events and continue
to encourage such creativity among its affiliates.
Reprinted
with permission.
