University of Rhode Island - Renaissance / Grist Yearbook (Kingston, RI)

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THE CLUBHOUSE What can be said about the Memorial Union? Some students spend all of their waking hours in it. Most students do a walk-thru every day. No student, in four years, can avoid entering the huge chalet-like edifice which serves as a club-house, meeting room, bar, and cafeteria to URI’s 10,000 plus-undergraduates. Here in Kingston, we may not possess “those hallowed halls” the typical alumnus is supposed to remember. Our Union does boast very long bank lines (INBANK, for you), very crowded happy hours (Fridays, the Pub), overpriced books, (every day the bookstore “serving all your campus needs”), and that classic statement— a barbershop, the last vestige of a 1960’s Memorial Union which saw crew- cuts turn into Beatle-bangs turn into the unkempt look. So let the Ivy League have its ivy to remember. We plebeians have our Memorial Union and for most of us, a good time was had within its confines. s taken was re- in a subtle mid-summer move in 1976, even God was t out of the Union. The chaplains’ office complex was re- modeled to suit the new Office of Student Life, the latest generation of the “old Dean of Students office. With the chaplains tucked away in Taft Hall, the new Stu- dent Life Office was poised for student input. And what better place for student input than the clubhouse, the Union? The Director of Student Life, A. Robert Rainville is a URI alumnus and former director of the Union. He is one of the most competent administrators on campus and is known to students as Bob.” He is firm, tough, straightforward and concerned. Rainville is an advisor and friend to student senator, commuter, and administrator alike. If there’s anything to like about the Union, chances are it has the Rainville touch. “Confine” may be the wrong word. If our forbears could return they’d envy us for the vast amount of space we possess. Even though the Ram’s Den seems to be bursting at the seams with commuters on a given weekday, can you believe that in the old days the Union occupied a Quon- set hut? In 1954 the “old part” of the present structure was built and was dedicated to those students and faculty members who died in WW II and the Korean Campaign. (Gee, wasn’t that a war?) In 1965, the Swiss Chalet part of the Union was built, add- ing a new lounge, bookstore, information desk, party room, ballroom, room, and the Ram’s Den, vaulted ceiling and all. It was truly impressive. Now, unfortunately, the sturdy building is showing signs of wear, tear and age. The 1954 part is dark and carries the faint odor of mildew. “Modernistic” paintings adorn the browsing room, as do fiftyish sofas and light-fixtures. Strolling through the old Union is like going back in time. The TV room is similarly “old” and one expects IKE to emerge on the screen. But not for long. A facelift is due. And the class of 1977 will just have to remember the way it was. . . With the 60’s, came a new union. New rooms, fresh paint, expansion. The byword of the 70’s is revamp. A new pub, a re-done America’s Cuproom. Even the mudslide out front is due for a landscaping. The bookstore ' s back wall is moving back a few feet. But there are aspects of the Union which remain to be reconciled. On any morning, the student entering the build- ing sees Miller or Budweiser bottles perched on window sills. Broken glass is strewn about, witness to the alcohol problem on campus. The huge expanses of glass bounding the Ram’s Den have been smashed time and again. The globe street lights have exploded and stand dark and shattered like broken lollipops. Should the Union be an outlet for beer and wine? Should the Pub and the Cuproom push alcohol? A study of the campus for a typical Thursday night, printed in the Cigar, showed a line of vandalism moving down the hill from the Union, hitting the dorms and then trickling off. The answer is not an easy one. Students and administrators are wres- tling for the solution. What ever it is, the Union will reflect the consensus of the students. It always has. The weekend. The suitcase. The commuter. The buslines convene in front of Rameses the Ram.” The school is seemingly tipped on its side and the students roll out. The Union regains a semblance of order and cohesion. The sound of a janitor waxing the floor is quite audible. Without the onrush of harried students the PA system can even be heard. Voices echo. Memories echo too . . . —Paul Senzer a 8