Raffles, Penny Wars, and Pies

Fundraising is a huge thing for clubs and organizations on campus. Everyday you walk by Glar, there’s always at least one group fundraising for this cause or that. This week, both groups I am a member of had fundraisers going on. Gamma Sig did a Penny Wars and pitted the classes against each other to raise money for one of our National Service Partners, Alex’s Lemonade Stand. I had the privilege of sitting at the table harassing people to put silver coins in the Senior’s bucket. The competition got very heated and the Freshman ended up winning. The snuck past everyone else, which just isn’t fair. We plan to combine the money we made there with the money we will make from the lemonade stand at Service Day this coming weekend and give one big donation to the organization.

Vagina Monologues also had a fundraiser going in front of Glar to raise money for the actual cost of our show in February. We had a few raffle baskets and gift cards donated by places, people and companies all over town that we raffled off all week. Also at the table we had a race going between Dr. Casey and a few other higher-up on campus. People were to donate spare change to the person they wanted to see get pied in the face. Dr. Casey, Dean Gerl, Dean Towle, Michael Robbins and Christine Workman all got very into the competition between each other. All together the fundraiser made over $200! Dr. Casey alone raised over $90. Yes, he was the one to get pied in the face. Because of Hurricane Sandy, we had to push back the actual pieing till the week after next to accommodate Dr. Casey’s schedule, but it will all be worth it.

I love participating in fundraisers on campus. As organization leaders, we all understand how difficult it is to get people to care about causes or to shell out some money to support the causes. Since we’re such a small school, it’s even harder because most of us are involved with multiple organizations and we are all still college kids on a college budget. So instead of giving up we find creative and fun ways to raise money. I mean, what other college president would allow the students to pie him in the face for charity? I love the opportunities these organizations give us. It helps us feel like we are doing our part to make this world a better place.

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Debaters

Wednesday night was the second presidential debate. Fortunately for people looking to make a decision, both candidates made great points and solid cases. Unfortunately, that performance also invited both parties to insult the other. McDaniel is no different: all over campus, students are talking about who “won” the debate.

 In truth, nobody “wins” a debate.  Or at least, no candidate wins a debate. Both candidates say what they say, prove points and make arguments, and try to convince you who to vote for. The real winner in any debate is a member of the audience who is able to understand what the candidates are saying, and how each candidate’s policies would affect them.

    At first, the arguments around campus annoyed me: friends were arguing with friends, dorm rooms were split, and every class seemed ready to turn into a skirmish. But as I thought about, I realized how lucky we are to go to a school where people actually have diverse opinions on politics. My high school was fairly one dimensional – I grew up in one of the most liberal towns in Massachusetts – and McDaniel is a refreshing change. Although arguments can be annoying, 100% agreement is even worse.

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