By Ian Browning
The Krentzman Quad was lit up last night with 900 glowing jack o’lanterns – not just for their eery luminescence, but to enlighten students to injustices in the world.
The pumpkins were carved ase part of “A Fall Fair: Carving Social Change” held yesterday by Generation Y, a student group focused on social change. They hoped by mixing their message with fun activities they would be able to raise awareness to students and to motivate them to get involved.
“New England’s fall fairs are well known,” said Alex Alvanos, president of Social Change Through Peace Games, a student group included in Generation Y. “So we decided to do one and integrate social change topics.”
Generation Y is a collective of 20 smaller student organizations, frequently chapters of national organizations, many of which were present yesterday. The groups range from Engineers Without Borders, a group that travels to Honduras and develops projects to distribute clean drinking water to villages, to Students for Choice, a group that campaigns for reproductive rights and comprehensive sex education.
The fair consisted of free pumpkin carving, free food, music and a haunted house. Carving pumpkins attracted the most students, drawing people in before they left campus for the night.
Rachel Berube, a freshman business major, attended “because it was early in the night and I didn’t have plans. And we wanted to carve pumpkins.”
The lobby of Ell Hall was filled with tables from the different groups that handed out candy, enticing people to get involved. There was also a “haunted house” which showcased some of the real life horrors the groups are trying to address.
The facts featured a wide scope of issues: 1.5 million rapes take place each year in South Africa; the United States is responsible for 25 percent of the world’s carbon emissions; and 60 percent of Boston public school students said they feel unsafe at school.
At the fair, members from the new Campus Center for Violence Against Women attempted to raise awareness about their cause and tried to get more men involved. One scary fact shared was that 20 to 25 percent of women will be raped during their college years, and only five percent of rapes on campus are reported.
The Husky Energy Action Team, a campus group that deals with environmental issues, used the opportunity to raise awareness by playing a video that showed polar ice caps melting at a rampant rate, which began in 2003.
NUSTAND, a student group dedicated to ending genocide in Darfur, shared that the genocide has so far killed 600,000 and displaced 2.5 million people.
Chelsea Stine and John Furtney, both sophomores, went to carve pumpkins and decided to go through the haunted house. Both said they felt the facts they learned in the house were truly scary.
“Obviously there’s a lot of change that needs to be done.” Stine said.
“That’s a lot of food we waste,” Furtney added. “It’s ridiculous.”
In addition to the fall fair, Generation Y has also organized the Class Competition for a Cause, a fund raising drive that pitted the five classes at Northeastern against each other. Students are asked to donate toys, used cell phones, food, clothing, books and other items for local charities until Nov. 19.
