Note: The Online Gargoyle encourages readers to submit comments and opinions. Feel free to use the comment box found at the end of each of our articles, or submit a letter to the OG editors by using this contact form. After Lor Sligar wrote her recent column about grinding at Uni dances, senior Carl Pearson responded with some thoughts of his own about the subject. In case you missed them, we are republishing Carl's comments (with permission) as the first letter to the editors of 2008-09.

Dear Editors,

Now, I'm not a regular at the dances, as some of you may have noticed, but it strikes me as a little odd that the adults charged with watching over us for the duration of the dance are concerned (or told to be concerned) with what seems like harmless fun. I've always been of the opinion that people should basically be allowed to do what they want as long as they're not hurting anyone else, and unless Lor is leaving something out, this grinding strikes me as fairly benign.

Now, I don't want to be unfair to the administration in my ignorance, and I am willing to admit that my ignorance stems from not having pursued an explanation for this limitation by the administration, but grinding is probably one of those things that people are too quick to restrict. Is it really worth sending people around to check personal space? I mean, personal space is a pretty personal issue, and I don't think anyone needs to be told what to allow in their own personal space. If they feel comfortable grinding, what business of anyone else's is it to tell them not to?

I would definitely be surprised to find out that the trouble is that people feel uncomfortable with grinding going on around them. I might be going out on a limb here, but Uni seems to have a pretty liberal atmosphere. Perhaps it's the parents? If so, I respectfully implore them to take a step back and trust their kids to handle themselves for three hours. Supposedly, one can't get into Uni without a modicum of maturity. If it's an issue of PDA or somesuch, my understanding of the argument against PDA is that it's detrimental to an educational atmosphere. I have been to no dances, but it doesn't sound like much education is intended.

All in all, the general feeling I think the students have about the administration in this case is that it's being a little too controlling. I'd love to see the administration redirect some of their overzealous observation of dances towards keeping all of my classes from assigning homework that is due on the same day (if they are already doing that, frankly, it's not working). That keeps me from being in the situation where I have to pick a teacher to go to and ask them to ease up a little so that I can get everyone else's work done. This has already happened to me once, and I've been in school now for six days, I think. Something like that. Anyway, I don't think I want to repeat that particular experience every week, and I got the impression the teacher wasn't too pleased either.

Several of my friends are in the same situation. If teachers' homework assignments were observed with the same scrutiny that is seemingly directed at students during dances, my life would probably be a bit less stressful and therefore potentially more open to education. I know that, being adults, teachers probably don't like to be told how to act by other adults, so I hope it's just an empathic oversight (and not a mindset) when adults leap at a chance to call teenagers out on stuff. That's just how it seems to me, and I think I speak for all of us when I say there is not one among us who appreciates it. Constructive criticism is great, keep it coming. Things like "no grinding" leave us confused and slightly resentful.

In any case, I eagerly await any explanation for this grinding restriction. It doesn't affect me personally, but I'm quite curious.

Carl Pearson
Class of 2009

Postscript: I would direct everyone who is interested to read the Gargoyle article by this name: "Special report: Grinding down on student dances." I just noticed it this morning and have not had a chance to read it myself, but I suspect similar issues are raised.