Alternative social spaces often get a bad rap as poorly executed attempts by Student Assembly and Programming Board to offer students something -- anything -- other than fratting it up on any given Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday night. Great idea in theory, but somehow these efforts miss the mark.
If the consensus is that the recipe's off, then what's the solution?
First of all, I want to start by defining what it means for something to be an "alternative social space." In the most extensive use of the word, the term encompasses anything except for Greek houses, though even the categorization of the coeds is controversial, as they fall outside the single-sex-dominated stereotype.
Beyond being non-Greek, alternative social spaces also need to be somewhat open to campus, in the same way that Greek houses are. This disqualifies off-campus houses and spacious dorm rooms, though they no doubt have their place -- even if their use is primarily to encourage a more intimate type of socialization.
Definitions aside, I have to concede that I'm hardly an exemplary alternative-social-space user. Sophomore summer and senior year lent themselves to frequent use of a plethora of off-campus options, but beyond that, my evening repertoire is decidedly un-alternative. I ventured into a Fuel dance party during International Orientation back in 05F, but one experience was enough -- I've stayed away since then. That being said, I'm not oblivious to the need for alternative spaces. In fact, I dream of a night where I will arrive home and not have to scrub my feet before jumping into bed.
So, equipped with my limited knowledge of alternative social spaces, here's my take on the issue: more spaces in which to de-fratify is not the solution. The key is a more creative use of space. Re-opening Lone Pine would be the exception to this, as its tragic closure is a loss to board-game enthusiasts, music fans and DBA-challenged students everywhere -- particularly those who crave popcorn. Beyond lamenting the loss of the only on-campus venue where one could buy beer, I want to expand on this notion of "creativity."
Ideally, these spaces should appeal to both the frattiest and least Greek-inclined of students, and provide a venue that is actually an alternative to the standard Dartmouth scene -- not just a college-endorsed JV version of a frat scene with harder-to-access alcohol for the under-21 crowd.
After being so indoctrinated into the Dartmouth social scene, it's hard to imagine what such an alternative could possibly entail. No pong? How would we interact? I'm going to try to draw on my experiences in the "real world" to throw out a few possibilities of things we're genuinely missing at Dartmouth: A seedy club with strobe lights and too much hair gel. A really great dive bar/pub. Cosmic bowling. Karaoke bar. Somewhere really conducive to dancing a variety of dance styles, and not just making out on the main floor because it's a "dance party." A place to wear high heels and get dolled-up to emulate what those city-schoolers don whenever they go out.
Okay, so maybe all of those are terrible ideas. The point is that aside from cosmic bowling, none of these alternatives require particularly substantive amounts of infrastructure. They don't even need to cost a significant amount of money -- at least not in comparison to the cost of actually trying to construct new alternative social spaces. Parties in Thayer, Collis, Fuel, etc., just need to step it up. Party planners: take advantage of this "Survey Monkey" phenomenon and figure out what students actually want.
Furthermore, let's turn some other areas of our existing infrastructure into alternative social spaces. Collis porch, or the under-used area adjacent to the walkway to Moore can provide outdoor venues. Room-to-room tails between third floor Berry or second floor Collis Study rooms would be a big hit. This one might be a bit of a stretch, but the Safety and Security boat, or the strangely flat boats that seem to accompany the crew teams, can capitalize on this year's "I'm On A Boat," craze. The DOC House -- a favorite of Greek houses forced to host formals on campus or trying to avoid pricey bus fare -- is a perfect locale with area for food, dancing, a porch and lake to use to cool off.
The bottom line is, we've got some great facilities, and a whole lot of untapped alternatives to explore. The budget's hurting as is, so why not capitalize on what we do have and up the appeal of alternatives?
