Aside from Pachanga, Brandeis needs more "moderated madness"
by Ethan Mermelstein
Columnists | 3/24/09
Posted online at 12:42 AM EST on 3/24/09
OK, fine. I'll admit it.
I am a recent victim of Asher Roth's higher education-inspired ballad "I Love College." Yes, Roth's rhyming skills are irresistible (it's a rare treat to hear "taped it" rhymed with "naked," "life" with "Miller Lite," "wasted" with "wasted") but the greatest reason I -- and a sizable portion of the college-aged demographic -- are fascinated with this fratboy sonnet is it so accurately depicts the epicurean party scene found on many of America's college campuses. With the exception of a small handful of events such as Pachanga, Brandeis' campus is often absent of the type of carefree indulgence about which Roth raps. While the scenes described in this anthem and depicted in its music video are of borderline-dangerous overconsumption, I believe that the student body, as well as the school's public image, could greatly benefit from finding a middle path between its current party-limited state of affairs and the "I Love College" music video.
The merits of moderate, mindless indulgence seem to be too often overlooked at Brandeis. If you consider the habits of our preindustrial past, it is clear that evolution did not intend for us to reach a point when we are seated and studying for most of our waking hours. Going into a dark, hot, sweaty room like Levin Ballroom the night of Pachanga, the room filled with hordes of scantily clad young people whose inhibitions are at comparably low levels, may be a modern means to safely respond to our more primitive urges. Ritual music and dance is almost ubiquitous in African tribes that have had minimal interaction with modern technologies. Perhaps the dance floor is the most organic place to find solace after a hard week's work.
Now, it is no secret that Brandeis University isn't a school whose reputation is founded upon the Animal House-esque parties that the "I Love College" music video depicts. I actually was somewhat surprised to find that College Prowler's Web site gave our school a generous B+ in its "nightlife" section. But one has to read further to find that they took our proximity to Boston into account for the rating. Brandeis students' latent desire for mindless fun, however, can be seen through the grade-A partying that takes place at the International Club's biannual dance, Pachanga. There was an enormous amount of hype leading up to the evening-the 850 tickets offered at presale were sold out within two days. Interestingly, because Pachanga is one of the school's best-attended events of the year, it seemed that a significant portion of students there tried to pack in all of the fun they hadn't been having on other weekends into this one night. According to Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps Director of Operations Daniel Litwok '10, there were five BEMCo calls at Pachanga, four of which were alcohol-related. This number doesn't take into account the long line outside of the women's restrooms as stalls were occupied by lightweight girls fervently praying to porcelain gods. Perhaps if those students had more opportunities to get excited about similarly well-attended craziness, they would have done a better job of pacing themselves.
I am a recent victim of Asher Roth's higher education-inspired ballad "I Love College." Yes, Roth's rhyming skills are irresistible (it's a rare treat to hear "taped it" rhymed with "naked," "life" with "Miller Lite," "wasted" with "wasted") but the greatest reason I -- and a sizable portion of the college-aged demographic -- are fascinated with this fratboy sonnet is it so accurately depicts the epicurean party scene found on many of America's college campuses. With the exception of a small handful of events such as Pachanga, Brandeis' campus is often absent of the type of carefree indulgence about which Roth raps. While the scenes described in this anthem and depicted in its music video are of borderline-dangerous overconsumption, I believe that the student body, as well as the school's public image, could greatly benefit from finding a middle path between its current party-limited state of affairs and the "I Love College" music video.
The merits of moderate, mindless indulgence seem to be too often overlooked at Brandeis. If you consider the habits of our preindustrial past, it is clear that evolution did not intend for us to reach a point when we are seated and studying for most of our waking hours. Going into a dark, hot, sweaty room like Levin Ballroom the night of Pachanga, the room filled with hordes of scantily clad young people whose inhibitions are at comparably low levels, may be a modern means to safely respond to our more primitive urges. Ritual music and dance is almost ubiquitous in African tribes that have had minimal interaction with modern technologies. Perhaps the dance floor is the most organic place to find solace after a hard week's work.
Now, it is no secret that Brandeis University isn't a school whose reputation is founded upon the Animal House-esque parties that the "I Love College" music video depicts. I actually was somewhat surprised to find that College Prowler's Web site gave our school a generous B+ in its "nightlife" section. But one has to read further to find that they took our proximity to Boston into account for the rating. Brandeis students' latent desire for mindless fun, however, can be seen through the grade-A partying that takes place at the International Club's biannual dance, Pachanga. There was an enormous amount of hype leading up to the evening-the 850 tickets offered at presale were sold out within two days. Interestingly, because Pachanga is one of the school's best-attended events of the year, it seemed that a significant portion of students there tried to pack in all of the fun they hadn't been having on other weekends into this one night. According to Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps Director of Operations Daniel Litwok '10, there were five BEMCo calls at Pachanga, four of which were alcohol-related. This number doesn't take into account the long line outside of the women's restrooms as stalls were occupied by lightweight girls fervently praying to porcelain gods. Perhaps if those students had more opportunities to get excited about similarly well-attended craziness, they would have done a better job of pacing themselves.
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