COLUMN: "Partying for a Cause"

From Bruce Forman's "Shaking The Tree," Spring '92. It is far too easy to slip into a preprofessional rut at Penn. Many have encountered this pitfall, becoming blinded by reams of resumes and law school applications, never fully regaining their sight and awareness of the community surrounding them. This is not hard to understand, as we all have our own individual goals to attend to and nurture. These usually reach beyond the boundaries of Penn's campus to Wall Street or the plush green of a graduate school in a warmer climate. It is too bad. Locked within the Penn student body, there is such grand potential to effect change -- both within our University and outside of it. Rallying the student body around issues and illuminating a path for participation has been a failure of many student organizations. Only a handful of students, imbued with the spirit of activism and a vision for grand events, have recognized this potential -- and few leaders on this campus have had the talent to electrify the masses and tap into the reservoir of power that students possess. I want to highlight a few of these leaders. They are role models for all of us. Last year, Neil Schur, Tom Reynolds, Robert Inerfeld and David Rubin organized Stand Up Against Homelessness, an event co-sponsored with Comic Relief, which raised over $17,000 for Philadelphia Health Care for the Homeless. A thoroughly professional event, four comics performed to the delight of hundreds in Irvine Auditorium. Not only did the event succeed in raising money and entertaining students, it also heightened awareness for the problem of homelessness. Jason Adler, one of the organizers for this year, explained this weekend that "it is a chance for us 'event organizers' to raise both awareness and funds for the homeless. At the same time, the students can go out, be entertained and make a contribution to a problem which they are confronted with every day." What's impressive is that this event was totally run by students and patronized by students. It demonstrates the tremendous resources students have at their disposal, and the benefits students can reap when those resources are organized and directed. Jason added, "It was a proud moment for all the organizers to look out across the audience at Irvine and see all the students there supporting our cause." He hopes for an even better turn out on April 23 for the second annual Stand Up Against Homelessness. Kirsten Bartok and Jonathan Rodbell hope to have the same success organizing the First Annual Penn Against Cancer Benefit Ball. They too are interested in utilizing the resources of Penn's student body, bringing students together to party and to raise money for charity. "I know Penn students spend a lot of money on entertainment and going out. I wanted to find a way to redirect this towards a good cause," Kirsten said. "It's a great opportunity to go out with my friends and put some of that money towards fun and a charity that means a lot to me." Seeing how many campus organizations have semi-formals and dances around this time of the year, Kirsten feels that her event also fills an important niche in the social scene at Penn. It will take place on February 27, downtown at Liberty Place. With an open bar all evening and musical entertainment, it provides an irresistible opportunity for Penn to go out, get drunk, dance and contribute to a worthy cause. All proceeds will go the American Cancer Society. It's rare that a formal social function is open to the entire student body. Unfortunately, these social opportunities at Penn are all too infrequent. Why don't we seize this opportunity, display our philanthropic side and party together? This campus needs more events that bring students from all corners of our far flung campus together, to interact and have fun. One Spring Fling a year is certainly not enough. Perhaps Jason and Kirsten, among others, have finally discovered a way to coalesce the student body socially and fill a gaping hole in our social life at Penn. And it benefits the community to boot. · Bruce Forman is a junior Finance major from East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Shaking the Tree appears alternate Mondays.