Fewer vendors for Spring Fair 2002

After the University changed its open space protocols last year, large events like Spring Fair were forced onto Garland Field. Spring Fair 2002 will again be held on Garland Field but with a new layout and fewer vendors to adjust for spatial issues faced last year.

"Last year they tried to put all the booths of the quads on Garland field and it didn't work. There has been this huge transition between being on the quads and not being on the quads, but Spring Fair is still successful," Spring Fair 2002 co-Chair Yue-Yung Hu said.

Before last year, all the activities involved with Spring Fair were concentrated on the University's three quads. This changed after the launch of the University's Master Plan, a campus beautification and improvement program that most recently included the installation of new red brick walkways and a new irrigation system. Because of these additions, the quads can no longer support the type of large-scale activity brought by events such as Spring Fair and Commencement.

"It is a well-known fact that the University re-drew their use of open space protocols so the only place for large-scale events is Garland Field, so we were forced to oblige and use Garland Field," Spring Fair 2002 Executive co-Chair Joseph Hanauer said.

The move from the quads to the field for the first time last year caused minor cramping problems as the area tried to accommodate the same number of booths, vendors and activities onto a physically smaller space.

"As a vendor, there have always been so many vendors there, you can't feel anything but cramped," said Lis Baron, president of the Jewish Student Association (JSA), who helps run a Kosher food booth. "We all had nightmares about how it would be last year, but it wasn't really that bad."

Other student vendors feel that the move to Garland Field does cause a significant spatial problem.

"It seems a lot more confined," said Luu Pham, president of the Vietnamese Student Association, whose group also sells ethnic food every year. "It seems pushed into a corner when we do it on Garland Field."

To alleviate crowding at this year's Fair, there will be a roughly 50 percent decrease in food vendors - from 40 vendors to approximately 20.

"There will be the same number of arts & crafts booths and the same number of non-profit booths, but reduced food booths," Hu said.

While the quantity of food vendors is reduced from last year, the variety of available foods remains the same. Most of the eliminated food vendors were those selling a similar product as other vendors.

"We are getting a few less food vendors this year just because we had a lot of doubles last year. We don't want five chicken-on-a-stick vendors because none of them make any profit," Hanauer said. "We are trying to get one main food vendor of each food type. It makes everyone happy."

The fair's layout will be modified from last year's square blocks of vendors to straight aisles. Arts and crafts booths will be on Garland Field, surrounded by the non-profit booths, while the food vendors will be located on one side of the street that leads from Garland Field to Levering Hall.

"With the completion of Clark Hall [which was under construction during last year's Fair], we actually get more space than last year," Hanauer said. "We are also making a lot better use of the space we have been given. We learn from our mistakes."

Despite efforts to sustain the traditions of Spring Fair after the location change, some students feel that it cannot be as successful.

"I think the move really hurt Spring Fair a lot," junior Judy Wang said. "Garland is kind of on the outskirts of campus. I don't think it was a great move, but it wasn't their choice either."

"As just a Hopkins community member, I think it is a real shame," Baron said. "For the full week before Spring Fair in the Charles Village, Spring Fair was in the air. Now it's stuck on a corner of campus. There is not as much of a buzz in the air. I would wake up in the morning and I wouldn't be able to walk across the quad because there would be a Ferris Wheel in the way and I would hear it outside my door. It was very nice."

The 2002 Spring Fair co-Chairs hope that students will reform their opinions about the new Spring Fair location by continuing to improve the actual event through providing better concerts and activities.

"I think that it is going to take a lot of years on the new field to get over the memories of what Spring Fair used to be. It used to showcase the beauty of Hopkins, but I think we have enough space on Garland Field," Hanauer said. "The location changes things, but we have added some new things to balance it all out. The Roots show is a pretty good step for Hopkins entertainment. [Spring] Fair is going to be more spacious with a lot more things going on and it is going to be better for everyone.