I was very disappointed when I learned that the School of Hospitality Administration’s “Aluminum Cook” event, scheduled for April 4, had been canceled. I was even more upset to find out that the reason it was cancelled was because only three individual colleges had sent participants to compete in the event. How is it possible to expect students to attend university events when their colleges don’t support the events in the first place?
For those of you who don’t know, “Aluminum Cook” was based on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef” show and would have featured contestants from each school competing against each other to see who could cook the best meal using only a microfridge. SHA’s event could have been the start of one of those much talked about and greatly sought after “Boston University traditions,” but before those traditions can be built, they must first be supported.
For a school as small as SHA to attempt such a large event is both commendable and encouraging. It shows that there really is interest in planning events that will bring the BU community together and that organizations will take risks to make that happen.
However, when an event of this magnitude fails, it could discourage smaller organizations from ever attempting such a feat again. Too much time, money, energy and creativity is put into planning these events that it is a crime for our community not to support them.
I am sure that if the College of Communication’s “COM Prom” or the School of Management’s “Casino Night” had to be canceled because they lacked support from other colleges, those constituencies would be devastated. As members of the BU community, both students and their respective colleges, it is our responsibility to learn from this incident and really make an effort to support the events planned by active organizations.
Finally, I sincerely hope that SHA will try to put this situation behind them and plan the “Aluminum Cook” for the fall semester; everyone I spoke to thought the event would have been a blast.
Jason Marcus COM ’07
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