If you're Squeamish... don't prod the beach rubble

For all you classically inclined motherfuckers, the title of this post is indeed a poem by Sappho. She is such a fucking talent! I really am baffled by her command of words and her emotional insight especially when considering gender roles in ancient Greece. I really really love my Women in Antiquity class! it's Fabulous. 

Ok, let's get going. I am soooo thrilled and excited to announce that my revenue from Blogthropology is so close to $100 that I can feel my wallet swelling in anticipation. Keep up the good work faithful readers! 

Now, Let's talk about recent history. It seems I'm going to have to start blogging more than I expected. It's kind of nice that life is so busy and rife with blog fodder, but considering most of my fodder comes from things that upset me it's not all roses. Oh, well. Nothing like a little adversity to get your blood flowing. 

One of my recent adventures in my ongoing struggle against "the man" involves the unprofessional, and shortsighted manner that Rich Horowitz, the Associate Director of Residential Life, dealt with assigning rooms for the 09-10 academic year. Basically, he gave away desirable rooms to individuals who complained after not getting suites in the fair and random suit application process. Instead of being placed back into the Room Draw pool with everyone else, these individuals were accommodated with no legitimate reason to support the accommodation. You can read all about it here in a fabulous article written for the Misc. by my super cool and totally awesome friend, Madeline Zappala. 

Honestly, I don't begrudge these individuals their victory. They showed some gumption and were astonishingly rewarded for attempting to circumvent the procedures that exist to make the room selection process fair. I know that kind of comes off as bitter but it really isn't. These people happen to be my friends and I'm happy for them that they found favorable rooming for next year. I take issue with the administrative powers that didn't see fault in assigning rooms on a whim. When trying to discern the logic behind Horowitz's actions he informed me and my friends that we should have thought to ask for the room we wanted. We were supposed to assume that The fair process of a room draw lottery didn't actually have to apply to anyone so long as they assumed that they could ask for whichever room they desired. The catch being, they must ask at least one month before Draw numbers are released. I equate this to strolling into a museum and asking if you can have one of the paintings just cuz it's pretty and you want it. 

Of course, Rich Horowitz made sure to assure us that we had done nothing wrong. No Shit! Duh! How could we do anything wrong by accepting the rules that govern a fair and inclusive process? Essentially, this coward tried to hide behind every lie or bloated statement he could imagine. He went so far as to say that bureaucracy did not behoove the room draw system. I couldn't agree more. Instead of draw numbers we should have cage fights or a gladiator tournament to determine who gets first pick. Or maybe Squatters rights should apply, or something of that nature. 

Luckily, I was able to secure a relatively desirable room for myself for next year, and  the ordeal has been concluded. This, however, does not make everything O.K. Just because things happened to work out for me, does not mean that Rich Horowitz acting outside of decency and fairness should be excusable. Even though there was absolutely no chance of me personally drawing any of the rooms that he gave away, that does not mean that the individuals given those rooms would have drawn into them either. I'm sure there is a group of juniors out there who didn't get a suite but would have loved to have lived together who did not think to seek special permission outside of the existing, and fair process that could have drawn into that room. Also, a snobby part of me feels like I shouldn't have to deal with that sort of bullshit considering how much I pay to go to this school. Being placed in a lottery system is absolutely the best way to determine housing. However Horowitz made a mockery of fairness when he circumvented and by extension essentially destroyed the lottery is meant to represent. 

Ok, so things are over and done with, but that doesn't stop one more childish act from slipping through the class. Today I received a survey in my e-mail that was so clearly derived from Madeline's article that I couldn't help but find humor in the situation. There's no fault in the idea of a survey, or the idea of latching onto a students complaint and attempting to make changes based upon it, but there was something both in the survey's wording and in it's nature that felt off. Lately, a good friend has emphasized that if something feels wrong, it probably is wrong, and I am taking that advice to heart in this instance. I feel like the goal of this survey is to get results that favor his position so that our complaints become null and void. Maybe I'm being cynical, but I think the hope is that the results of this survey can be used to say "Ha! I told you so!".  I just hope that enough people understand, are aware of, and care about, the injustice that, no matter how small, destroys any notion of fairness in housing so that this survey can be used to incriminate rather than defend Horowitz and his actions. 

The survey also shows a lack of understanding. It asks if there is a need for a separate application process for triples. That is not the action that is called for or desired. All that needs to be done is for the triples to be placed into the pool of rooms which students draw into. That's it. Nothing fancy, just something simple and effective. 

And Simple and Effective is all that room draw need be if it is allowed to function as a fair and random entity. Having a shitty draw number is not the problem. Someone has to be number 799. It's the fact that 799 waits patiently and accepts the burden of the last draw while others are stealthily ushered into posh accommodations that really makes me angry.