La Voz

Issue date: 10/23/06 Section: Opinion

Monday, October 23, 2006


De Anza College doesn't have a community. De Anza's sporting events are little more than a collective of parents and friends of the players huddled in the stands.

There is no official cheerleading squad - only a club which anyone taking at least a one unit class can join. We don't have rallies, mixers or dances. Without clubs and on-campus organizations, the only way to meet people is to suck them into conversations outside of class.

In short, the campus definitely lacks a camaraderie which seems to be the incarnate unifier of school campuses. There are clubs, Club Day, a newspaper and a vast number of other student-run organizations on campus including the De Anza Student Body Senate. The problem isn't a lack of organizations or the ability to meet and interact with other students.

We have a student-run senate, a student-run newspaper and an the Inter-Club Council in charge of roughly sixty clubs. We also have a revamped sports program, complete with a 5-2 winning streak complements of the football team.

But the fan turnout for the games is dismal, the majority of the clubs are tiny, and the newspaper staff is only 20 to 30 students out of a population of approximately 25,000.

The heavily active students seem to be the only ones who try reach out to the De Anza community and partake in social events such as Club Day. The average student, though, either doesn't know or doesn't care enough to participate in these events.

Perhaps the reason for the disinterest is the small number of events hosted by the college, or maybe it's that no one hears about the events until the day before they happen (if that). Some people accidentally stumble across a band playing on the Patio Stage, and only then find out about the event, such as the Rock the Vote event De Anza hosted Wednesday.

The campus used to host "De Anza Day," a carnival complete with a Ferris wheel and other fun activities. Students should demand that the college bring it back.

San Jose City College has homecoming events to cheer on their football team, no matter what their season looks like. It's complete with a homecoming court, a tailgating party prior to the game, and a celebratory dance. It's only fair that our football team get the same treatment, especially with their winning season this year.

Whatever the problem is, the solution is simple enough. With demand comes the supply.

The power to start a homecoming celebration or other fun events lies in the hands of you and your peers. All it takes to get these events started - or least considered - would be a simple request to the Student Senate.

The senators represent the student body and give students what they ask for - or they at least try to. Ask for a homecoming! Ask for rallies and carnivals! Bring back De Anza Day!

If nothing else, give the senate something to do besides spending money creating a new logo for themselves.
It's up to you, the De Anza student body, to regroup the senate and ask that they make the changes necessary to bring about the sense of community De Anza very badly needs.

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