DoubleStar

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(Redirected from Doublestar)

DoubleStar is the other tri-co science fiction/fantasy club, allegedly SWIL's counterpart at Bryn Mawr and Haverford. It gets its name from the fact that it represents two colleges, although the Haverford representation is generally quite small, and most events happen at Bryn Mawr. This fact has led to some jokes about renaming the club "Singlestar"; Haverford is now largely represented in SWIL-like gatherings by the Haverford Gaming Club, an organization with a somewhat different focus.

Since 1997, Doublestar has held weekly meetings. They are currently on Thursdays at 5:30 in the Erdman 3 Conference room in Erdman, one of the Bryn Mawr dorms/main dining halls ("Food, Friends, Fallout Shelter"). These meetings are much less formal than SWILmeetings, with people staying in the room to eat dinner before and after the meeting.

Like SWIL, Doublestar traditionally maintains a library, which was kept in a small room in Denbigh, and maintained by the Doublestar Librarian, also known as the Lady O' the Library, or Lady O. They used to hold weekly movie showings in their library. The weekly movies are voted on each week at meeting. Starting in 2005, Doublestar began showing weekly science fiction series episodes in their library as well. However, in summer 2006, Bryn Mawr converted Doublestar's library into housing, promising to integrate the books into one of the main libraries, possibly in a setup similar to Cordwainer's. So there are no more movie showings in the library, and there is currently no librarian.

Like SWIL and unlike Haverford's club, Doublestar is largely focused on its own "culture" and idiosyncratic events outside of its ostensible charter as a science-fiction/fantasy club. Unlike SWIL, Doublestar is somewhat smaller in scale, has less of an obvious Internet presence and mostly lacks SWIL's sprawling alumni network. Although there exists a separate Bryn Mawr anime club, depending on the membership, Doublestar often has a heavy focus on anime.

The Doublestar power structure involves a President, a Lackey (heir apparent and assistant to the president, appointed by the president), a Beth (unofficial lackey, a thankless position that's basically a formalized version of SWIL's volunteer whore), a Librarian, and a Webmistress. Good luck finding out who these are. Doublestar passes down positions each year instead of electing officers. This means that the fearless leader is generally a senior, and the lackey is a year below her and becomes the fearless leader next year. The position of Beth comes in and out on an as-needed basis; the Beth may or may not be in line for the presidency.

Frequent non-serious offers to Doublestar to host their mailing list on swil.org have proved fruitless, and their mailing list might still be just a long list in someone's address book. If you'd like to be involved in Doublestar events, contact a Mawrtyr and find out how to get on this list. Rumor has it it's turned into a formal mailing list, although it's primarily used only to announce meetings, movie showings, and the masquerade ball, when it happens.

Doublestar and SWIL have varyingly strong ties, partly based on the fact that many (usually male) SWILfolk are jealous of the more cult-like of Bryn Mawr's traditions, such as Lantern Night, Parade Night, and May Day. Doublestar and Bryn Mawr in general often serve as a source of "fresh blood" for SWIL's social gatherings; for instance, squires and monsters for the Pterodactyl Hunt are often recruited at Doublestar meeting, and Doublestar has been the source of some of the better scenarios and dates for the annual Screw formal.

Annual Doublestar events include a Masquerade Ball (originally around the end of the fall semester, in November/December, but occasionally around Halloween, because people forget that it's not a Halloween party), and a play at May Day. There is generally high participation in Bryn Mawr's biannual productions of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, as well.

The Three Salesmen of the Apocalypse started the tradition of semesterly DoubleSWIL gatherings, where Doublestar and SWIL co-ran pizza/gaming parties at one of the two campuses (turnout was higher when they were run at Bryn Mawr), although this has lapsed somewhat.