Justin Marinelli
Staff Writer

As we pick up and recover from the effects of our good friend Sandy, we also find ourselves faced with the detritus from another disaster: all the hurricane parties we threw while the rain poured down. Let’s be honest, the second we found out that classes were canceled, we started partying. But these parties can’t satisfy us all the time.

Despite how we students sometimes act, we are multifaceted individuals with complex needs and desires that can’t be satisfied by non-stop parties. We might want committed romantic relationships, intellectual conversation or classical music, but we certainly don’t get any of those at registers, mixers and impromptu hurricane celebrations. What we get is a bunch of people crammed into a hot, sweaty basement, and we’re told that this is fun.

Why are we told this? Many theories abound. Here’s mine: Parties are great fun for a lot of people. Sure, they may not satiate all our needs, but they aren’t supposed to. There is no one single activity that can satisfy all your needs. Expecting parties to do so is ridiculous.

We party because it’s a nice release from classes, schoolwork and all the other things we do. That’s all that it’s meant to do. Partying is not the only way of going about getting this release, and its not the only one that students utilize. It’s just another option that can be partaken in if one wishes to relax after a long week.

Yes, we as a campus can party hard at times, but I like to think that we work hard enough to earn it. Between problem sets, papers, clubs, sports, community service and all the other things we do that stimulate and enrich us, satisfying certain needs for accomplishment and intellectual stimulation that we have, we manage to pack a lot of activity into our lives. If partying was the only thing we did, I would probably be writing a scathing article denouncing our lack of involvement. However, it’s not. It’s another piece of the puzzle, another thread in the mosaic that makes up the colorful image of a student at this University.

Some students like to party more than others and take more delight in such activities.  Good for them. Others, not so much. Good for them, as well. This just highlights the need to provide a diverse offering of social opportunities, and if people will participate in something, I see no reason why it shouldn’t happen.