LETTER TO THE EDITOR: 'Naked dance' needs corrections at the door
Letters to the Editor | 10/17/06
Posted online at 11:35 PM EST on 10/16/06
To the Editor:
Call me a na've first-year, but when did the administration get the right to dictate our social lives ("'Less You Wear' dance too much to bear for admin," Oct. 10 issue)? Simply because people entered an event drunk and behaved poorly should not be grounds for a cancellation of future events of that nature.
While I agree that alcohol and the conduct of individuals at the dance were not acceptable, Liquid Latex did provide an increased police presence maintaining vigilance over the event. Unfortunately, coverage extended everywhere except where it was most needed: at the door. If people had been given a field sobriety test at the door, many of the issues-specifically that intoxicated individuals entered the dance-would have been averted. And as for the claim that "alcohol bottles littered the floor when lights came up," how could students have gotten alcohol inside, especially given the lack of places to hide it.
Though I entered the dance of sound mind (and fully clothed), I know that others entered who were clearly intoxicated. Had some effort been made to turn people away at the door, I believe that many of the individuals who required hospitalization would not have succumbed to the combination of alcohol and heat.
One point where I agree with the comments made by administrators is in regard to the nature of the dance: the lighting and style. Holding such an event in the dark seems to draw the focus away from lack of clothing, and more towards intimate, perhaps unwanted, encounters. Walls were placed needlessly close, creating an atmosphere of sweaty, near-naked bodies pressed against each other.
On the topic of funding, the administration's decree that no money went to charity should neither justify nor require the administration to take action. Rather, the only consequence of such should be the prospect of future funding for the event.
Though I agree that the culture of pregaming needs to end, simply cancelling social events is not the way to go about it. One could argue that individuals might pregame before a group study session; would the administration then cancel all group study sessions to "send a message to students?" Simply cancelling popular events is not the way to go about sending this message to students, providing education and enforcing consequences may be required if events like those on Sept. 30 continue.
I came to Brandeis hoping to escape from similar sweeping decrees-my high school required students to take a bus to prom because a previous class had gotten drunk on a school trip-yet in just my first semester here, I bear witness to more actions designed to cure the symptoms, not the disease.
-Sam Jacobson '10
Call me a na've first-year, but when did the administration get the right to dictate our social lives ("'Less You Wear' dance too much to bear for admin," Oct. 10 issue)? Simply because people entered an event drunk and behaved poorly should not be grounds for a cancellation of future events of that nature.
While I agree that alcohol and the conduct of individuals at the dance were not acceptable, Liquid Latex did provide an increased police presence maintaining vigilance over the event. Unfortunately, coverage extended everywhere except where it was most needed: at the door. If people had been given a field sobriety test at the door, many of the issues-specifically that intoxicated individuals entered the dance-would have been averted. And as for the claim that "alcohol bottles littered the floor when lights came up," how could students have gotten alcohol inside, especially given the lack of places to hide it.
Though I entered the dance of sound mind (and fully clothed), I know that others entered who were clearly intoxicated. Had some effort been made to turn people away at the door, I believe that many of the individuals who required hospitalization would not have succumbed to the combination of alcohol and heat.
One point where I agree with the comments made by administrators is in regard to the nature of the dance: the lighting and style. Holding such an event in the dark seems to draw the focus away from lack of clothing, and more towards intimate, perhaps unwanted, encounters. Walls were placed needlessly close, creating an atmosphere of sweaty, near-naked bodies pressed against each other.
On the topic of funding, the administration's decree that no money went to charity should neither justify nor require the administration to take action. Rather, the only consequence of such should be the prospect of future funding for the event.
Though I agree that the culture of pregaming needs to end, simply cancelling social events is not the way to go about it. One could argue that individuals might pregame before a group study session; would the administration then cancel all group study sessions to "send a message to students?" Simply cancelling popular events is not the way to go about sending this message to students, providing education and enforcing consequences may be required if events like those on Sept. 30 continue.
I came to Brandeis hoping to escape from similar sweeping decrees-my high school required students to take a bus to prom because a previous class had gotten drunk on a school trip-yet in just my first semester here, I bear witness to more actions designed to cure the symptoms, not the disease.
-Sam Jacobson '10
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kyle
posted 11/13/06 @ 3:26 AM EST
Great Comment:
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