SU further damages Den

By Sean Crawford

I am dismayed to find the Students’ Union has advertised the Den using postcards at a Northmount 7-11 store. The last time they pulled such a bone-headed stunt was when they advertised for a series of all-ages shows one fateful summer. Their reasoning was to “serve students” but not directly: “serve” meant, “raising cash for.”

The patrons for that summer were teens of the grungy punkish sort: none knew the word “guest;” most were not destined for university; some were future dropouts. Some, in their rage against education, would vandalize the Black Lounge. By September the damage was so great that returning undergrads, the ones being “served” by the shows, were unable to reverse the entropy. Furniture that had been there since day one of Mac Hall soon had to be disposed of, with the place becoming known as the Black Lung. And to think that I once attended a Gauntlet wedding reception there!

Before raising cash from non-students, the SU should reflect on how artificial, how special, our campus is. Just walk down the halls: everyone has an above average I.Q., everyone has the impulse-control and discipline to pass their courses, and no one carries a knife “to protect themselves.”

And if tempers rose in the Den, no one would impulsively use said knife. In contrast, think of the Den patron of some years back who brought a pick axe handle and tried to brain someone. I can’t imagine him passing a course in philosophy or logic, eh?

Cash is nice but… before raising cash from non-students, let’s ask the question put by Martin Sheen’s character to the robber baron in the movie Wall Street: “how much is enough?”