Popcorn and Politics < Pizza and Politics

This post was removed from the front page because it was based on inaccurate information. In fact, according to Jeff Solnet '12, who coordinates the Pizza and Politics program, the events have not been downgraded as this blog post stated. Popcorn and Politics had just been offered as an additional event.

It began with a simple goal: bringing together undergraduates and political paragons using a promised pizza dinner as irresistible bait. The dream begun, nearly two decades ago, was called “Pizza and Politics.” Drawing in past speakers like investment whiz Warren Beatty and award-winning producer Frederick Zollo, it was at one time a weekly-pegged program of the Institute of Politics.

But now, as the University’s financial belt ever-so-evidently tightens, it seems political enthusiasts may have reason to further tighten their belts as well: “Politics and Pizza” has been downgraded, at least temporarily, to “Popcorn and Politics,” according to students at the IOP.

That’s right. As a cost saving measure, the IOP will cut back on incentivizing student participation with ooey-gooey cheesy goodness. Instead, you’ll be left uncomfortably picking kernels out of your back molars or discreetly whispering to your neighbor “Am I clean?” while curling back your upper lip.

More on the IOP's culinary cutback, after the jump.

If all of this seems a little ridiculous to you, you’re not the only one. FlyBy has it from one IOP organizer that for her event earlier this semester, she was forced to run from the IOP to the Women’s Center and back to the IOP, scrambling betwixt various committees, to secure some scrappy slices.

Colleen Berryessa, a sophomore in Currier House and a participant in several IOP programs, told FlyBy of the change, “I really enjoyed the Pizza and Politics events, but now the smell of burnt popcorn constantly reminds me that it is gone.”

—Photo courtesy callme_crochet/Flickr