Letters to the Editor

Inadequate Security at Halloween

Unpleasant experience at Twilight Zone party

Students who planned on dancing last Friday night instead ended up moshing their way through an unruly crowd before ever making it to a dance floor.

The Halloween dance is historically one of the most widely attended campus events. In fact, planners anticipated such large crowds that multiple emails were sent, reminding students to arrive early. This was unnecessary, since the entire College Center had been rented out, providing for more than twice the attendance as last year. Still, such reminders might not have caused such a problem if organizers had believed that students would actually respond to them and subsequently planned accordingly.

This was not the case. Instead, hundreds and hundreds of students arrived outside the College Center between 10 and 11 p.m. While crowds are normally self-regulated at campus events, since many students chose to arrive later in the evening, the crowd outside the “Twilight Zone” was anything but regular.

There is no way that Security can claim that they did an adequate job preparing for this event. There were no barricades set up to ensure that students formed an orderly line (although one might assume that college students would be capable of this). There was not even one guard patrolling the crowd for a substantial period of time. With absolutely no sense of order and no information about what was going on inside, the massive crowd inevitably became disorderly. Eventually a few guards made their way outside, but there was still only one officer preventing the swelling crowd from busting into the front-most lobby of Main Building. This area was so small and crowded that, had the crowd pushed past the single officer, many people could have been severely injured.

Upon exiting the crowd, I noticed multiple guards blocking entrances near the Career Development Office and the Retreat. When I informed one of them that I thought a serious problem was developing outside, I was told that “things were improving.” In the end, Security was simply more concerned with preventing people from sneaking into the event without paying then they were with protecting students and maintaining order.

Security’s attempt to organize after the crowd had already developed is just another example of how Vassar often tries to alleviate symptoms, rather than the root of the problems. In the future, event planners and Security need to work together to anticipate problems that might arise and to accommodate for them before they occur. Otherwise, we might be faced with some of the serious injuries that were luckily avoided this time.
—Andrea McDonnell ’05

Protest shows poor sportsmanship

Funeral March for Democracy designed to inflame

Around campus and through the e-mail system several unhappy voters have advertised a “Funeral for Democracy” as a method to exorcise post-election demons. The march verges on absurdity. American “Democracy” worked perfectly in this election. The division of the electoral votes will accurately reflect the popular vote. These theatrical protests inhibit the debate of issues and alienate independents. I suppose some voters will feel better after a public pout and that serves as reason enough for them. For the rest of us, substance is a little more important than style.

Judy Jarvis wrote an excellent editorial “Vassar Bubble an inaccurate term” theorizing that the “Vassar Bubble” is a misnomer, but I believe the term applies well to this protest. Quite simply, more people in this country want George Bush to lead them. The margin is small, but it is significant—and it is a fact. Perhaps Vassar’s predominantly Democratic population lost touch with this; perhaps that is the reason for their surprise. Coming from northwest Ohio—which is less of a statistical outlier—I was not as surprised. Senator John Kerry’s platform and character failed to attract enough voters and has been failing all summer. Activists on this campus and elsewhere worked hard and long for this election, but Middle America wasn’t convinced. A funeral march for the Democratic Party might be appropriate, if they fail to find a more appealing candidate within the next four years.

Flashy protests and funeral processions certainly attract attention, but do little to change people’s minds or to further debates on issues beyond the appropriateness of such protests. There are more relevant issues—such as the inadequacy of the Electoral College—to protest than the legitimate defeat of a candidate for President. If the agenda includes more specific items than “the Democrats lost and we’re upset,” I apologize, but the advertisements don’t even hint at specific goals. This protest appears designed to inflame. To quote the ad, “it will be theatrical.” It will likely be little else.

Additionally, the methods used to advertise the march offend me. The official Class e-mail lists should not be used for political agendas. Does Vassar College approve and advocate this protest? While Vassar is a private institution, advertising an inflammatory partisan protest seems a distortion of the class rosters’ intended purpose.

In 2000, the Supreme Court and the State of Florida hijacked the people’s right to choose their leader. That was the perfect time to hold funeral services for democracy. Now? Not even close. A “Funeral for Democracy” insults the majority of Americans and insults their opinion of the candidates. I am sorry for the pain that this election has caused, but this protest is just poor sportsmanship.
—Allison DeMars ’07