Fliering on Bruin Walk is folly

One good thing about the rain? It lets you get to class harassment-free.

I’m referring to, of course, the practice of fliering.

“Pre-med? Pre-law? CALPIRG? UniCamp? ISU? ASU? ACA?” they chime in a torrent of labels as they thrust a flier into your hands.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of this unofficial tradition.

Each day, students at UCLA must brave Bruin Walk by either reluctantly accepting or blatantly avoiding the fliers given out by student organizations.

This tradition is so notorious that there’s even a YouTube video titled “Avoid Flyering on Bruin Walk,” and many students I’ve met avoid Bruin Walk altogether so they can have a stress-free walk to class.

No one likes dealing with these pseudo-solicitors when they’re trying to focus on their forthcoming class. Given that so many students go out of their way to avoid Bruin Walk, fliering has become one of the most inefficient and wasteful practices UCLA students engage in.

Some student groups try to combat the inefficiency of the system by doling out brochures in unconventional methods. Bruin Woods, featured in Monday’s News article, is one organization that uses “enthusiastic demeanor and the aid of a large informational poster board and music to entice students” to take their fliers.

According to the manager of the group, alumnus Dylan Matteson, Bruin Woods received between 50 to 100 more applications than last year, and he attributes the increase at least partly to their unique way of fliering.

But consider how much more effective a student group could be if it posted events and information online, say, at MyUCLA, the portal students use frequently to access their class Web sites as well as to find out about events on campus. The Web site receives 40,000 hits a day and has a handy area on the home page just for groups who are looking to spread the word about their programs. Groups could even use MyUCLA to post links to their own Web sites.

The problem with trying to flier creatively (commendable as the effort may be) is that the deed is so villainized that it’s hard to take anyone with a brochure seriously. No matter how noble your cause or clever your pitch, if you start following me on Bruin Walk, I’ll probably take whatever you have so you’ll leave me alone, not because I’m impressed.

I know fliering is no easy task: I had to flier (ironically) for this very newspaper not too long ago, and being on your feet for hours getting dirty looks isn’t exactly fun. Most people ignored me (even though I reminded them that this is the best college newspaper in the country) or took a flier only because I was also giving them a copy of the Daily Bruin. Why do student groups insist on subjecting themselves to this kind of drudgery?

There’s even a less acknowledged dark side to the practice of fliering ““ the ordeal is fairly biased. I have observed that many ethnic and even pre-professional student groups tend to give out fliers to those they think belong in the club and ignore those who they think do not.

Naturally, the student groups I was most interested in didn’t give me any fliers. Student organizations should be about fostering diversity and interest from the outside, not about encouraging inside cliques. “Selective fliering,” as I like to call it, unfortunately does exactly this. Besides, it’s counterproductive for groups to limit their potential membership.

The most obvious downside to fliering (and maybe the most compelling reason for putting an end to it) is that it’s wasteful and dirtying in the extreme. Who knows how many hundreds of pounds of paper go straight into the trash for the sake of this silly tradition?

Fliers often end up immediately on the ground and clogging trash cans rather than going into (less conveniently placed) recycling bins. And of course, it’s campus custodians who are left to clean up the mess.

Because this is all happening on university grounds, the administration should consider banning or at least limiting the amount of paper that groups can give out on Bruin Walk. Currently, there are no such policies.

Luckily, student groups have other options. Like MyUCLA, the Enormous Activities Fair at the beginning of the year is a much better way for groups to garner new recruits. It’s timely (before classes start) and optional (no one’s begging you to take anything).

Fairs like this should be more frequent and perhaps smaller. Not all clubs can make it to the Enormous Activities Fair, and the vast number of clubs (about 300) can be daunting for students. Still, it is far superior to fliering.

Sandwich boards on campus are much friendlier than fliers as well, both socially and environmentally. I don’t have to mutter incoherently at a sign, and they don’t leave their droppings all over campus. There’s definitely room for creativity with these signs (some are far more noticeable than others), and these boards can have contact information written on them for students’ convenience.

Imagine a Bruin Walk where you don’t have to swerve left and right to dodge fliers, a Bruin Walk flanked by peaceful members of student groups at their tables, a Bruin Walk where you don’t have to have fake conversations on the phone.

Student groups, face it: You don’t need to resort to fliering to accrue members. Students are not going to suddenly develop an interest in X society just because you’re parading glossy brochures. There’s no need for you to hopelessly compete among one another for our attention when we clearly don’t want to give it to you.

To help student groups realize the error of their ways, I’d like to suggest that students do something a bit radical: Boycott fliers. After all, if no one takes them, this custom will be long gone before we know it.

Think fliering isn’t all that fly? E-mail Nijhawan at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].