I was more than a little saddened when reading Kaitlin Pike’s story on Associated Students Finance Board and its decision to reduce Fight Night’s funds by only $299 (“Finance Board Reduces Fight Night Funding,” Daily Nexus, April 5). My issue is not with the PIKE fraternity itself, or with the men and women who participate in Fight Night. On the contrary, I have much respect and admiration for any girl so scantily dressed who can hold a sign above her head while simultaneously dancing and maintaining some sense of rhythm – in fact, if I looked like some of these girls, I too would wear those outfits – to class, the supermarket and elsewhere. As for the boys of the fraternity, I salute their dedication to charity.

My problem really isn’t with Fight Night itself, but rather the Finance Board’s decision to so heavily fund a program that is clearly not a positive representation of UCSB or its students. As the article states, of the $6,217.30 allocated to the different groups requesting money, $1,001 was given to PIKE. That means that, of the 14 groups that received funds at Monday’s meeting, PIKE received approximately 16 percent. The Indian Undergraduate Student Association “received $700 for its culture show, Visions of India.” I will readily admit that “Visions of India” sounds less appealing than Fight Night, since the culture show lacks shirtless men punching each other and thin girls slapping the asses of even thinner girls, but is that the basis of funding?

Appeal?

Because if massive appeal is our main concern here, as On-Campus Rep Justin Pabian states in the article, why not go all out? I propose UCSB’s 2005 Clothing-Optional Foam Party, where, with the assistance of A.S. Finance Board, all UCSB students will be invited to an evening of fun and foam. The evening can culminate with a wet T-shirt contest, an implant scar contest and then a penis length/width contest – so the boys don’t feel left out of the charitable debauchery, as they are in Fight Night, which is so obviously discriminatory toward boys whose goods are not as prominently displayed as their female counterparts’. At $8 a ticket, the proceeds can benefit any charity the students feel deserves the vast sums of money that will be made. Location and time of the 2005 Clothing-Optional Foam Party: TBA.

I’ve been to Fight Night twice, and both times I almost enjoyed myself. Although I will not be going this year, I have no complaints about PIKE, the people involved in the event or the people who attend the event. My concern is why our school – so concerned with its reputation that it has joined the local police in making sure we can’t drink beer until we’re 21, have a party past 12 or enjoy Halloween – allows Finance Board to give so much of its allowance to Fight Night, while organizations with less titillating events, though far more culturally and socially relevant, get less money than they clearly deserve.

Maral Vahdani is a senior English major and black studies minor.