I See, a (Non-Sanctioned) Full Moon a’Risin’...

As the clock-tower struck midnight, in the face of the great Swine Flu specter and flanked by the entire upper echelon of the VPSA staff (including our dear friend Nanci Howe), roughly 400 Stanford students gathered to “celebrate” one of Stanford’s oddest traditions, Full Moon on the Quad.

Canceled nearly two weeks by VPSA, citing its potential health risks, FMOTQ nonetheless emerged tonight in a slightly smaller, and only moderately more awkward form than in years past.  A spate of emails circulated amongst chat lists in the late hours of Sunday night, imploring students that:

Come epidemic pig flu or budget cuts, we cannot allow the splendor of Stanford to become rattled, nor can we allow the class of 2013 to be stripped of this vital tradition.

Gone were the dozens of SUPD officers, the subpar music groups, and the copious amounts of Sober Monitors.  In its stead were four security guards, a beautifully unobstructed Quad, and a crowd of students more sober and more clothed than of FMOTQ’s past.  And yet you still had a nice share of creepy grads, student government folks, drunk SAE’s, and confused freshmen.  Good to see some things never change.

A few entertaining points from the evening:

**1) The event still happened, regardless of what VPSA and Vaden proclaimed: **For all the alleged saber rattling coming from the University about sealing off the Quad, Boardman and Co. weren’t backed by dozens of armed troopers ensuring that

**2) This cheaper, low key version is the way to save/improve Full Moon: **Frankly, with a modicum of more planning, this should be the new model for a more financially sustainable FMOTQ.   Cut the live music, ELS, and the damn sober monitors.  Have the ASSU pitch for a few security guards.  Let the Co-ops provide the boom boxes (and the nudity). While this won’t fly with the school’s “Risk Management” philosophy, a simpler and stripped down Full Moon is just what this campus needs.

Who knows? Perhaps pig flu was the best thing ever to happen to FMOTQ?