THE WILDER SIDE OF PARTYDOM

Hairy chests sporting lacy bras, throats ringed with studded collars and bodies thinly veiled in body paint abounded for the night, Harvard had a wild party scene.

Hundreds of students strained into Adams House for its second annual Halloween masquerade grade last October and say its proof that Harvard knows how to party.

"We didn't have any drinks, not even water," says Adams House Committee Chair Daniel C. DiCiccio '93. "But hundreds of people came and had a great time."

DiCiccio says Adams, Eliot and Dunster, which sponsored the party, spared no expense or time on the costume party renting even a fog machine to create a club atmosphere.

He attributed the party's success to its campus wide appeal.

"Many of the people acting strangely or dressed in outrageous costumes don't actually live in Adams Houses.

But the masquerade to be the exception rather than the rule when it comes to party traditions at Harvard.

Apart from the occasional Undergraduate Council sponsored event or final club bash, much of Harvard's traditional party scene seems to be relegated to smoky moms in packed bars or listless gatherings around a keg of beer, DiCiccio says.

"This kind of party is care," says DiCiccio. "Most students are too stressed out with classes and exams. They don't want to spend the time or energy to plan big parties."

'Most students don't want to spend the time or energy to plan big parties.'

Daniel C. DiCiccio '93

Night of Decadence

Clearly, campus-wide blow-out parties are not Harvard's area of expertise.

"Most parties on campus aren't very creative," says DiCiccio. "They just buy a keg, and no one comes."

But that's not the case at many other schools.

For instance, "Night of Decadence" is easily the best-known party night of the year at Rice University in Houston, One of the residential college at the university hosts the annual NOD, as it's affectionate.

And true to its name, NOD never fails to deliver a good share of genital imagery and alcohol, according to Adam J. Thornton, a junior at Rice.

"It's the Weiss College Fest of lewe and lischilous behavior, says Thornton. So much some says, that it was "rated one of the ten best college parties in Play boy magazine in 1982."

The "Garden of Delight," this year's theme featured one man wearing a three-and-a half foot phallus with a green "electron" glowing on the end and a woman wearing an ID taped to each breast.

Past themes, Thornton says, have included "Seues is Loose: the Cat in the Hat/ Would you, Could you with a goat," "Dante's Inferno," "Co-eds in chains" and "The Trojan War."

Party-goers at Bard College in Annandale-on-Husdon, N.Y., say Halloween is a good time for a first-year "orientation."

"Almost all of the first-years trip [try LSD]," says Nathan A. Fackler, a former Bard student, of their annual party.

Party Rules

No matter how wild campus wide parties at other schools may get, Harvard students know too well the constraints on hosts here.

DiCiccio says the masquciade was dry because of the council's strict alcohol policy. It does not allow subsidized events to advertise alcohol in other houses.

Still, the council has been increasingly successful in supporting campus wide parties, says Council Chair Malcolm A. Heinicke '93.

Heinicke says the council's policy on parties has changed significantly in recent years. It now supports two different types of gatherings that are geared to attract the most students possible.

The council hosts large events like the annual casino night and hires both comedians and bands to play in Memorial Hall, Heinicke says.

"These events are open to everyone on campus who pays the entrance fee and are intended to bring all different types of students together," says Heinicke. "We are going to go with what works, take the proven winners from last year and expand on them."

In addition to hosting these functions, the council now subsidizes house events too, offering to match triple the amount of money raised by the house.

"This money mostly went to winter formals," says Heinicke. "This way the houses can have formals and parties which we know are fun but which they can't afford on their own."

Heinicke says this policy, which made possible the Adams House masquerade, will fund the first year formal later this spring.

Spring Flings

For some, however, formals can get tiresome. As a result, final club theme bashes are well attended, members say.

And some of the clubs throw their biggest parties of the year before spring finals.

The Fly Club's annual "Garden Party," for instance is an opportunity for students to embrace the warmer weather.

"It's our welcoming spring party," says club president Scott B. Logan '94, "with music and dancing, and maybe people playing croquet, out on the lawn." The club also sponsors a Spring Fling for all students.

Such outdoor parties are also harbingers of spring at other colleges.

At Brown University, students in Providence, RI. dedicate the days before exams to Spring Weekend.

"It's a weekend of concerts and mid-night movies on the main green to help everyone relax before exams," says Uyen K. Le, a Brown junior.

Similarly, Eva J. Molnar, a University of Pennsylvania student, says their Spring Fling is a time to forget all worries.

"It's three day festival before exams when lots of bands come and play in the quad and everyone forgets about exams," says Uyen K. Le, a Brown junior.

Reed College students in Portland, Oregon traditionally prefer to celebrate the beginning of spring reading period with "Renn Fayre."

"It's a softball tournament, beer flowing everywhere, nude waterslides, and the Iliad toss-everyone taking Freshman English goes to the top of their dorm and throws out their copy of the Iliad," says Andrew M. West, a Reed College sophomore.

And it seems such nude revelry is fast becoming a tradition at many schools across the country. The Nude Olympics at Princeton is one such event.

"After the first snowfall of the year, a group of sophomores in Holder Court-yard get naked and play in the snow, wearing shoes, bats, and gloves," says Lawton W. Bloom, a senior at Princeton.

"There's usually someone with a torch. Not that many people participate, but there are always a lot of spectators," he says.

Still, some party traditions seem better left untouched.

"On the 13th of each month, eight to 120 people take off all their clothes, lather up with shaving cream, and run around campus leaving their imprints on people's dorm room doors," Thornton says.

"Then we all go to the grad student bar," he says "They have a policy of free beer for anyone who comes in naked."