Ed Board enjoys homecoming. Even if the team loses, the SMUcommunity is drawn together by the concert, the parade and otherhomecoming events.

However, attendance shouldn’t be mandatory. Organizationsshouldn’t have to be bribed with spirit points in order topersuade members to attend homecoming.

The spirit point guideline packet says, “You areencouraged to participate in as many events as possible andmaintain the highest percentage of this participation within yourorganization.”

Mustang pride is something one either has all the time or not atall. Just because one organization has 90 percent of its members ateach homecoming event doesn’t necessarily mean it is the mostspirited. Just the most driven to get something.

However, the only award that the organizations receive is… recognition at the homecoming football game.

So organizations put forth all this effort to accumulate spiritpoints and yet receive nothing tangible for their efforts.

If the school insists on continuing the spirit points idea, theyshould at least give organizations something for their efforts.

Another problem Ed Board finds with homecoming this year is thetheme, “Destination Dallas.” Ed Board’s not sureif the bodies who decided this theme realize it or not, but guesswhat? We’re already in Dallas. It’s a given thathomecoming will be at SMU which is in Dallas. So why just state theobvious?

Sure, homecoming draws visitors in from other cities and states,but the creativity in this theme is seriously lacking. Comparedwith the themes from the previous three years, “Oh, thePlaces We’ll Go” (2001), “All-American SMU”(2002) and last year’s theme, “Let the Good TimesRoll,” this year’s theme is as dry as … well,let’s just say it needs some KY-Jelly.

The theme allows for no creative tie-ins of value. For anexample of this lack of creativity, look no further than the hugesparkly stoplight hanging in the Hughes-Trigg Commons. Simply put,it serves no purpose.

Even the organizations’ posters in Hughes-Trigg haveproblems focusing on the theme. Posters range from “BlingBling … It’s a Pony Thing” to “Follow theYellow Brick Road.” Ed Board is not sure what either of thesehave to do with Dallas.

In the future, Ed Board suggests that the think tanks behind thethemes strive for creativity and originality that makes SMU’shomecoming unique and different. As it stands, Ed Board believesit’s possible that the majority of our high school’shomecoming themes put SMU’s to shame.