Fifteen Minutes: Writers Block Advo Parties

Exclusive Advocate parties, or "weird Advo love" as the Lampoon lovingly refers to them, may now be the only way for non-snobs to boogie in their building. With slick wood floors and a perfect bar set-up, the Advocate house was once a prime venue for other groups to rent. Last fall however, Advocate Publisher John M. DeStefano '01 sent an ominous message to Pfoho Open, the campus repository of usually useless information, stating that the Advocate was no longer available for future fêtes. Inquiries into the Advocate's policy change led to conflicting tales concerning its party potential. V. Yioula Sigounas '00, outgoing Advocate publicity manager, claimed that an infamous shindig held by the ever-racous Crimson Key led to the change in policy. The crimson-clad boozers rented out the building and proceeded to wreck the floor, much to the dismay of the Advocate aesthetes. During extensive renovations a few weeks ago, the floor was completely redone while the entire building was vacated. "It was a really big deal and we don't want to do it again any time soon," Sigounas grumbled.

Contrary to what his Advocate compatriots stated, outgoing President Saadi Soudavar '00 denied the rental changes and maintained that the Advocate will consider applications to rent their house on 21 South St., with the caveat that applications can be--and often are--turned down. "We reject applications for a variety of reasons which range from the fact that we are using the building that day, we don't need the money at the time, or we don't feel the party's (and by party I mean a person or group participating in an action or affair) intended event is appropriate for The Advocate House," Soudavar wrote in an explanation of their policy.

But what really burned Soudavar, even more than the Advocate's "occasional cigarette tasting nights," was the use of the words "party room" to describe the chamber in which the Advocate throws "parties." "After all we don't refer publicly to [The Crimson's] 'Sanctum' as the Incest Room," he shot back cryptically in an e-mail message. He continued his defense with, "The Harvard Advocate is not 'shutting down the party room' because we do not have a 'party room.' We have a Reading Room, a Business Office, a Bathroom, a Design room, a Sanctum, and a Kitchen area but we do not have a 'party room.' In a way you're right though the Advocate is like one big 'party room.' I like the idea that everything we do at The Advocate is a 'party' whether it is discussing literature, selling ads, designing our magazine, chatting by the fire, washing dishes and scrubbing the floors, or looking at art." The compers eagerly wait a resolution, but for the moment, the Advocate continues to bewilder.

--S.E. Silver