OK, Obies, it's that time of year again. Time to get out your whips and chains, remove your clothes, streak through North Quad, chalk up a storm, walk on egg shells and just generally go nuts. Yep, you've guessed it, it's All Roads time again, and this year, we've got `em for a whole week.
Are students trying to "shock the prospie" in order to prove to themselves how alternative and radical they are? Or is this some form of passive aggression directed at the administration, a chance to go, "ha, you made me eat in Stevenson even though I live off-campus, now I'm going to get even by scaring away the prospies." Or could it just be that All Roads happens to fall during the first week of spring, a period generally dedicated to zaniness and raging hormones?
One could say that throwing the fetish party, hempfest, male exotica and Pride Week during All Roads is good for the prospies. After all, if a prospective can make it through this weekend, she'll breeze through anything she might encounter in the next four years here.
Or does the craziness of All Roads set people up for a major disappointment once they actually enroll here? Could the general sense of ennui and apathy found here be a result of dashed expectations? If students come here expecting bondage and campus-wide smoke-ups, one can see how they would be disappointed by the daily grind of A-level.
Rather than cut back on the craziness though, maybe we should take this as a wake-up call. Why can't every week be like All-Roads? Why should we wait for the prospies in order to throw a good party? If you were really radical, or really serious in foiling the administration, you'd go to class in your leather and whips, eat lunch naked in Wilder Bowl. There are so many possibilities, we know you're creative, now prove it. Dare ya.
Copyright © 1996, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 124, Number 21; April 19, 1996
Contact Review webmaster with suggestions or comments at ocreview@www.oberlin.edu.
Contact Review editorial staff at oreview@oberlin.edu.