Last Thursday's SCRAM Jam event offered students the unique chance to dance in an art museum. The once-annual event balances visual and musical art by hosting extended viewing hours for the museum while an open dance takes place in the Lee Gallery. A member on the Student Committee for the Rose Art Museum and an organizer of the event, Maarit Ostrow '11, says, "The idea behind it [SCRAM Jam] is to bring people into the museum who might not go otherwise and hopefully peak their interest to come back to see the art in a quieter setting and enjoy other events at the Rose." Hosted by the Fine Arts department and SCRAM, the dance allows students the opportunity to experience the Rose in a new and unique way.Although SCRAM has not been as active in the past 2 years, it was rejuvenated this year by Director of Academic Programming Dabney Hailey and some of the Fine Arts Undergraduate Departmental Representatives, particularly Rebeccah Ulm '11 and Emily Leifer '11. Ostrow describes the committee as "a mix of students who work at the Rose, Fine Arts UDRs and people who are generally interested in the Rose and ensuring that the museum is integrated into campus life." The committee is especially relevant today, at a time when Brandeis is still recovering from all the media and controversy surrounding the extensive priceless artwork in the Rose last year.

In fact, the safety of the artwork was one of the museum's biggest concerns in regards to the event, and a multitude of Rose staff and SCRAM members worked throughout the night to ensure that no one broke the rules near the art. The pool of water at the bottom level of the museum also posed a safety threat-to students, that is-and at least one student was observed being told to move away from the water when he was lying down on the floor nearby for fear he would fall in. Select pieces of art were removed from the Rose for the event, and the Foster Gallery, which contains the "Regarding Painting" exhibit, was closed.

The upper and lower floors were open for viewing, although most of the action took place inside the Lee Gallery, a large room downstairs, off to the side, in which no art is hanging. However, black and white visual clips were projected on the back wall, and colorful lights like that of the Mandel Center for the Humanities were bouncing across the ceiling, giving the party an artsy feel.

According to Brandeis' website, 600 students attended SCRAM Jam in fall 2008. Although the attendance list this year was not quite as long, the group organizing the event ran out of free tickets to distribute the day before the event. Many people came and left throughout the night, making for an awkward, too-few-people-at-the-party feeling for the first half hour or so until the party started heating up and attendees gathered in the Lee Gallery, where the music was being played.

There was an interesting mix of grinding and more conservative dancing taking place, as students again expressed doubt as to the formality (or informality) of the event. The music was well selected and mostly comprised of hip hop and R&B-typical "dance music." Although some songs did not seem danceable, the majority were fast and upbeat and got everyone moving.

One complaint students had was that no food was served and that the drinks (Sprite and water for those under 21, who were not allowed in during cocktail hour) ran out pretty quickly. The drinks were also not allowed to leave the Gallery room in order to protect the artwork. Instead, students had to feast on the art. Although this makes sense at a museum, some students were disappointed at the formal atmosphere since they came for a party and ended up with a dose of intellectualism-whether they wanted it or not. All in all, the event was a good initiative on the part of both the Fine Arts department and SCRAM to increase student involvement in the Rose. More SCRAM events are being planned this year, and if they are as fun as this was, then they will certainly be worth attending.