It is a fact that college students like pizza. This I say with complete and utter confidence. College students like pizza similar to the way rabbits like cabbage: Sure, sometimes there is a strange one who will pass over the treat, but the other rabbits will just stare at the non-partaker for a little while before going back to happily munching on Old Man Johnson's prized front-yard crop.
I was fully aware of the preferred college cuisine when I walked into Gordon Commons the other day, headphones pumping some of my favorite tunes into my ears, to withdraw some funds from the ATM. It was at that point that a gentleman sitting at a table near the ATM roused me from my musical oblivion. \Hey!"" he called. ""Do you like pizza?""
I, being a college student, replied that I did.
The gentleman then told me his true agenda: To get me to attend the kickoff meeting of the club for which he was recruiting, Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow.
I was caught somewhat off guard. I was expecting a pizza promotion, not promotion of a club by means of pizza.
I asked the recruiter how he knew I did not like CFACT better than pizza. The fact that I had only a very vague knowledge of what the organization actually did was not important. Clubs on campus should recruit based on ideology, not edible incentives.
If a student at UW-Madison went to club kickoff meetings only to get as much pizza as possible, he or she could open an all-you-can-eat buffet and still have leftovers. There are many clubs and organizations on this campus with very interesting platforms. Yet students are often left to choose based on who offers the best munchies.
Several organizations on campus offer free things rather than a statement of goals as the incentive to check them out. Students should get involved in campus organizations, but they should do so based on their interests rather than on who will fill them up right at kickoff meetings.
I do not mean to single out CFACT. They just happen to be the organization whose representative offered me pizza. They actually have the very intriguing goal of finding market-based solutions to energy problems. So, for the trouble I have given them, I will plug them now: Their kickoff meeting is this Thursday. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in CFACT-or on the prowl for a free meal-check ""Today in the Union"" for details and consider attending.
