E H T March 30, 2016
SQUAWK
The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University | Volume XCV | Est. 1929 | www.hawkhillnews.com
The benign boredom of MRT Exploring the studious culture of Manayunk’s Mad River JIMMY WYATT ’17 Special to The Hawk
It’s 11:15 p.m. on a Thursday night. The streets of Manayunk are essentially barren, without a person in sight. The entrance to Mad River is abnormally quiet, the bouncer standing idly, waiting for bar-goers to arrive. The manager mimics a carnival barker, trying to coax those passing by to come in. The floors of Mad River have never seen less action—specifically, the dancefloor. “Mad River Thursdays,” as the regular customers have successfully dubbed them, do not involve an actual “river” at all. Rather, it is a traditional bar, with standard flashing lights, blaring music, and an open dancefloor, ideal for an exciting night out with your friends. Drink specials line the back wall. Many windows, covered with blinds along the building’s stone façade, face the rest of Manayunk, refusing bystanders a glimpse inside. Unbeknownst to the outside world, however, many MRT regulars want nothing to do with the partying lifestyle that should exist inside these four walls. Their world is elsewhere—quiet, relaxed, and concerned about their grades at the nearby Saint Joseph’s University. This is the major dilemma of the modern college bar: drawing the line between academic pursuits and a common space for social life. Evidence of the bar being used as a study space can be found on the left—behind notebooks in the ceiling of bathrooms and the numerous Jansport backpacks left on Mad River’s ground floor. While some students do, in fact, utilize the bar for its standard and expected use (getting hammered), more often than not, the bar is a general meeting point for students who are trying to do some last minute studying the night before a test. “I need to study while I socialize,” said Anna Johns, ’18, a member of the nerd community. “If I’m only here to socialize, without a textbook in my hand, I’ll go crazy. And obviously, the dancefloor is the best place to study at Mad River, so I sit there.” The seating at the bar has the traditional components one would expect—newly
installed desks, study cubbies, and complimentary pencil cases on the Mad River dancefloor. George Schall, the manager of Mad River, has a hard time comprehending that a bar in this party town has become a hub for extra studying. “When the dancefloor opened so long ago, it was party after party,” Jackow said. “The dancefloor became the hub of just that—dancing. What was once an old, traditional bar transformed into a modern bar, where the patrons could easily bust a move.” Schall’s office is hidden down the hallway from the dancefloor, and he is well aware of the new behavior that is starting to take place out there. “I have a love/hate relationship with the dancefloor,” Schall said. “On one hand, I’m thrilled that people come in at all, whether it’s to drink or study. But on the other, this is still a bar, and the amount of studying that goes on here completely contradicts the idea of a bar at all.” A multitude of different people can be seen on the dancefloor on any given day; however, on MRT, the group that dominates the space has specific characteristics that separate them from the rest of the typical patrons. The typical bar-goer who hangs out at “The Riv” at 11 p.m. on a Thursday night can be categorized as one of the following: nerd, tutor (a student who helps other students do better in school), Book Worm (a student who lives in the library, does math for fun, and memorizes dictionaries), and The Dweeb (a young man who is the friend of the Book Worm, lacks the iconic dorky features, but still participates in the math and memorizing). These are the categories in which the bar-goers refer to themselves or each other. In fact, the iPhone group message of the Book Worms is called “BWWRTWOD” for “Book Worms Will Run The World One Day.” Book Worms are characteristically “buried neck deep in a good book,” an
attribute that has hardly dominated any group of people since the ’70s when the term became popularized. What attracts these students to the dancefloor has nothing to do with drinking, partying, or blowing off steam after a long week. Coming to The Riv is a “pleaseleave-me-alone” event, which is why when a poor group of Manayunk locals mistakenly took the nerds’ study cubby on the dancefloor, everyone turned and stared. The glares from across the room made locals squirm with discomfort, as did the barely audible, “Should we ask them to move?” whisper from one of the Book Worms. To everyone’s surprise, the locals remained at their post, holding their heads high, all while shaking their bodies to the bassline in the background. “There’s a reason why everyone in here knows each other,” said Michael Hooper, ’17, a member of the nerd community. “For example, my friends do homework here, and their friends do, too, who are also my friends, so it’s my group. Who just so happen to be friends with everyone else, as well.” On this particular day, most of the buzz on the dancefloor is about a business policy class, the capstone course for some St. Joe’s seniors. Some can’t contain their excitement as they count the seconds until their next group meeting. The major of choice, marketing, has become the standard major for most St. Joe’s business students, as well as the College of Arts and Sciences students who want to add a killer minor. If these students aren’t studying out on the dancefloor at MRT, they’re doing some last minute cramming on the old side of the library. “You know what I think we should do?” “Ugh, I’m trying to do some shots. What?” “Ok, well, you know, like, how last Thursday, we had pulled that all-nighter in Mad River prepping for our presentation the next day?”
“Like, I think we should start doing that more often, like, take turns at each other’s favorite bars, ’cause, like, none of us really live near the library.” “But I live close to campus!” “Yeah, but, like, in the winter we’re gonna Uber anyway.” “Ugh, yeah, I had so much fun on Thursday. I learned so much about marketing strategies.” “Oh, my god, same. It was awesome.” Some of the Book Worms can’t wait until the weekend to begin studying, as shown by two men who emerge from the bathroom cleaning their pocket protectors. Schall often toys with the idea of policing this area, perhaps by making managerial rounds more frequent or posting more “Turn Up, Please” signs along the walls. But the dilemma that he faces is whether or not dancefloor needs admonishing at all, or if it should be preserved as the study room that it is. “The dancefloor provides a level of comfort for the less serious partiers,” Schall said. “I don’t think stripping this area of its qualities is the best idea. We have no complaints from partiers, but where does that leave me and the bartenders?” The concept of MRT is an infamous secret that all St. Joe’s students are made well aware of as they eavesdrop on any given conversation on a Thursday night. The kids who hang out seem to be a part of some underground society, bound by small degrees of biology tutoring and dictionary memorizing. Thursday night comes to a close, and the MRT kids exit the bar to return home and get a good night’s sleep in order to be properly rested for class the next day. Their tables, vacant and littered with index cards and pencil shavings, will remain empty until the next Mad River Thursday rolls around. Like a dark house with a single light kept on, the Mad River dancefloor will patiently wait for the studying to continue.
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