Once again senior cocktails has come under fire. However, this time, the enormous ‘coat riot’ which erupted early Friday morning at
Harbor Park, has more to do with the restaurant’s lack of preparation than the uncontrolable tempers of the senior class. 

While rioting, yelling and coat-tossing are not characteristics Wesleyan generally advertises in its student body, but Harbor Park could
have done a much better job of handling the situation. To begin with, they were grossly understaffed. Although the numbers at this
cocktail exceeded what was anticipated, the fact that the restaurant neglected to have anyone manning the coat room for a party of 700
proved more than an oversight. The commotion only increased because the staff’s method of controling the masses involved more rote
force than actual explanation. Many students said they resisted going outside without their coats because they assumed the doors would
be locked behind them.

At the same time, however, the senior class needs to recognize its own responsibilty in the situation. While cocktails are traditionally for
seniors, all students must participate in them. Not only does the Student Body Tax support their continuance, but their current success
determines what kind of future they have. For this reason, the senior class needs to take it upon themselves to ensure that proper
safe-guards, including more effective bouncers, and, of course, the lamentably omitted coat-room attendant, are in place so that cocktails
doesn’t dissolve before the other classes even experience it.