Opinions Return of the DSU Pub Night not Worth the Wait Brady Ehler, OP Opinions Editor Gite: ‘round children and I'll tell you a tale. Long, long ago, before the DSU auditing scandal, there used to be legendary pubnights at the college. They were held in the Students Union Building once a month and they were a wonderful, jolly time. Those early pubnights brought out the student body in force. They were a great way to meet other students at the college and be wined and dined for cheap. Yes, in the past, on the last Thursday of the month, any old student could just walk into the SUB, and buy a couple drink tickets for a couple dollars each, and enjoy the benefits of free pizza and snacks. The music was generally pretty good, too; sometimes bands were brought in, sometimes DJs, sometimes both. But even if there were just DJs, they were really good. DJ Major Josh, for example, was a common fixture. He infused us with the groove with cutting edge house, jungle and breakbeats, and there were always tons of people groovin’ on the dancefloor. Even those of us who are groove-challenged could at least appreciate the music. There was also a great representation of different people from all ethnic groups of the college—and sure not everyone there was from the college— but most of them were. Also, there were always plenty of ladies. All in all, it was it was a great time, and a good way to meet other Douglas College students. I was always a big fan of these pubnights, and was quite distraught when they were discontinued, due to the scandal, so imagine my excitement, when I was enlightened to their return on February 22™. In all truth, I wasn’t actually aware of the return of the DSU pub night until the night of. I was on my way out of the building, when I was stopped by a friend of mine, who was on his way to the pubnight. Thus began two hours of solemn headshaking. First thing, we were patted down at the door and had our bags examined. I am not used to this and it is generally not a good start to what I consider a fun evening. But this was only the tip of the iceberg. Upon arriving at the doors to the Student’s Lounge, was asked if I had a ticket. I did not, and thus was forced to buy one for $5. Let me stop 8 ee here and say; what a load of fucking crap. I’ve said it before and I’Il say it again: Where are my Student’s Union fees going? I would expect to play cover at club, or a bar, but certainly not at a college pub night. This is BS to whoever came up with idea: what gives? These things shouldn’t be organized for a profit; they should be put together as part of your service to the student body, so earn your paycheck, jerk. From there it just got worse. First off, the DJ was terrible; he played nothing but pop-radio hits. At any point in the evening, someone could have plugged a radio tuned to The Beat into the PA, and with the exception of the commercials, no one would have noticed. Secondly, the staff was stoic and unaccommodating. I asked if I could stash my bag behind the bar. The answer was no. I asked the girls running the ticket-table, and they said that I could, but they would not be responsible for what happened to it. Asked them if they could just make sure no one climb over the table and take off with my bag. They said that I might as well just leave it anywhere else in the SUB. Thirdly, I didn’t feel like the turn out was representative of the student population. Why do I say this? 90% of the people there were Indian or Pakistani. Seriously, it felt more like a private party for DSU board members than a pub night. Also, it was a sausage fest. I could go on...and I will. The pizza was not good and not free. There were no free snacks, we could not play pool, because someone was worried about the cues being used as weapons. There were also big angry-looking bouncers walking around and people starting fights. All in all it felt like more like I was in a bar in Surrey rather than at a Douglas college pubnight. I ended up going after just a couple beers, sadly disappointed, and wholly unsatisfied. I used to love the pub nights at Douglas, and I had hoped that in my last semester here, I could have re- lived the experience. Unfortunately, the Douglas College pubnights have lost the spirit which had once made them great. HUA a WATERFRONT LOUNGE 250 Columbia St. 604.517.2966 w ww.brooklyn.ca THURSDAY