Nearly every Thursday, more than 3,000 Dartmouth students receive over BlitzMail "The Weekend Update," a compilation of campus events planned for the following weekend. And every weekend, hundreds of undergrads consult Randall Poulin '97's Update and the subsequent "Mo' Update" to plan their weekend social activities, whether they include Greek parties, Hopkins Center shows, sports or other events.
In producing the Weekend Update, Poulin, also known as "Party Bob," provides the campus with a very useful and certainly appreciated service. However, lately the Update has ceased to be merely a benign and useful guide to campus life. It may be that Randall Poulin's Update has simply run its course.
First of all, Poulin has recently included at the end of the Update a series of jokes of a consistently sexual nature. These jokes have offended many members of our community, who in consulting the Update to plan their weekends were taken aback by Poulin's unfortunate attempt at humor.
Poulin and his supporters maintain that the jokes are not offensive and that his critics are oversensitive. Regardless, they argue, the service Poulin's update provides to the campus entitles him a certain degree of control over its contents. To suggest anything else, they claim, would be censorship.
The Weekend Update, however, goes beyond the issue of free speech. Although Party Bob provides the campus with a valuable service, he does so with the College's permission. No other individual has access to the massive blitz lists Poulin uses twice a week. No other individual has permission, tacit or otherwise, to address electronically such a large number of students simultaneously. Such an act would be considered an abuse of the system by anyone else and could result in a loss of BlitzMail privileges.
This exception to a College rule gives Poulin a powerful forum for expressing himself that no other member of this community has access to. He must never forget that this is a privilege, and not a right. Poulin has a voice that no other student has -- a voice that he has an obligation to use responsibly. In at least a few instances lately he has crossed a line and entered into the area of the objectively offensive.
Whether or not Party Bob's updates are offensive, many of them are just plain annoying. Poulin's informational monopoly this term and last have included, besides the now infamous jokes: personal diatribes criticizing Coed Fraternity Sorority Council policies, a running commentary concerning his own social plans, comments on the activities of the Programming Board, and endorsements for certain bands and parties.
The list of grievances continues. Several weekends have seen the "Weekend Update" and "Mo' Update" severely delayed or in the case of the latter, absent, leaving students uninformed and some parties unadvertised. He now refuses to advertise parties at Zeta Psi after being criticized over Blitz by a member of that house; I know students whose complaints about the Update have resulted in their removal from The List.
Also present in recent updates have been appallingly self-righteous justifications for all of the above. Poulin, as he has informed us, has the right to write whatever he wants. And when he fails to produce an Update when it is expected, well, he gets busy too.
Fair enough. Unfortunately, up until now, students who found Poulin offensive, unreliable or just plain irritating but wanted to be informed about campus social activities were essentially forced to rely on the Update, directly or indirectly. Although Hopkins center events, sports and weather are all advertised through the Daily Notice and other channels or available elsewhere on BlitzMail bulletins, there was no centralized way of discerning which houses were having what parties.
The good news is that Dartmouth students don't have to rely on Randall Poulin to find out about parties anymore. Last Tuesday at their weekly meeting the CFSC passed a resolution to post all registered parties on the already exiting CFSC bulletin on the BlitzMail system. This policy begins this week and will continue indefinitely.
What does this mean? First of all, the bulletin system is better as far as Kiewit is concerned, for bulletins put far less of a strain on the Dartmouth network than blind carbon copied monstrosities like the Weekend Update.
Students will also be informed about their upcoming social options much farther in advance and with a higher degree of reliability.
For Poulin, the new policy will surely be a huge weight off his shoulders and allow him to finish his senior spring without the burden of the Update -- unless, of course, he chooses to continue producing it for personal reasons. This is his choice.
However, Dartmouth students no longer have to rely on him. They can continue to endure his weekly commentary if they are so inclined. Or they can get all the information currently provided in the Update from various Blitz bulletins, without the baggage.
Weekends are a Dartmouth tradition worth maintaining. The Weekend Update, however, is not. So I propose that we collectively dethrone King Randall and relieve him a burden he has shouldered -- and a voice that he has abused -- for far too long. Monitor the CFSC bulletin, and allow yourself the feeling of satisfaction that will accompany those seven words: "Party Bob, take me off this list." It's about time.
