By The Editors

Yesterday’s Student Appreciation day was a huge success in terms of turnout. Thanks to the efforts of the office of Student Activities and several other campus groups, nearly 2,000 students participated in the day’s activities.

However, there were a number of unfortunate coincidnces that thoroughly marred the event.

The music was, for the most part, enjoyable, and was even able to inspire numerous groups of students at various arbitrary locations to begin dancing. The DJ’s mix was one of recent popular hip hop and R&B hits. The songs were, of course, usually uncensored, because we at the University are all big boys and girls and and can handle any degree of naughty vernacular with maturity and poise.

At about 12:30 p.m., for whatever reason, roughly five classes of students who couldn’t have been more than 8 years old just happened to walk through the lawn in front of the Adams Playhouse during the celebration. This would have been less akward if there were a mild Alicia Keys song playing, or even the radio version of Ludacris’s “Number One Spot.” Unfortunately, the DJ opted, instead, to play the complete version of “Nasty Boy” by Notorious B.I.G.

As a result, many of the children will, no doubt, have some interesting conversations with their parents when they get home. Oh well. Don’t come to the University if you don’t want to get an education.

But the other problem was much worse and much more preventable. The Student Appreciation Day barbecue just happened to be scheduled for the exact same day and time as a solemn reading of the names of the victims of the Holocuast not more than 50 feet away.

It is difficult enough for University students to summon up the appropriate level of reverence to internalize such an event without forcing it to compete with “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent, free hot dogs and dippin’ dots. The reading had been advertised on posters in the Student Center for the past week. Did it not occur to anyone that these events should be separated? An event’s position on the schedule has a significant effect on the turnout for and value gained from an event. The University must avoid such blunders in the future.

The editorial reflects the opinion of no less than 60 percent of the Editorial Board.