the library                 in homage of the GREAT CHARLES CHEN                by Jason Coe
		I am trapped below the cement bonding of a humiliating darkness dampening the world above me. The library, period. A word connotative to the fullest. One of empty dark halls, desolate with knowledge, a quandary within itself. And yet I see it around me--redemption. Dedicated students abstaining from Saturday night excitement for the bonds of calculus and economics. But is this seemingly pure journey towards education really as sacrificial as it may seem? What's this I see around me! People chatting, discussion, enjoying? This is a libarary goddamit, and yet, it's true. The paradigmatic "mall" of the dedicated UC Berkeley student has become: the library. Only at UC berkeley is it "cool" to study, as I see social butterflies jump from table to table, making their daily ritualistic rounds. They all know eachother. They're all friends. They all meet "at the library", paradoxical as it may seem. As a typical Saturday evening's highlight has become cruising "mainstacks" instead of "mainstreet" for chicks. One would think that imposing concrete and stone would break any undergraduate, but the social elite have found their balance and their place at the university. As the terrifiying call of "higher learning" threatens the very existence of your social life, fear not! As long as their are twenty four hour study hours and the boba shop stays open, there will be undergraduate girls giggling over gossip and Gamma rays, and the boisterous boys checking them out while glancing up from bioethics. What are you doing this Saturday night? Well I'll see you at the library, everyone will be there.