To the Editor:
There seems to be a great deal of confusion and disagreement about the role of SAGE (Sexual Awareness through Greek Education) and the goals of the coed Greek kickball tournament the organization is sponsoring this Saturday. I would like to clear up that confusion by addressing some of the issues which have recently been brought to my attention.
First of all, as anyone who has seen our posters or talked with their SAGE reps would know, we are not offering a gift certificate to Stinson's for the kickball prize. We decided the day after we were interviewed [The Dartmouth, "SAGE Focuses on Gender Interaction," July 21, 1997] that in fact we felt that the prize would coincide more with SAGE's goals if we were to encourage the houses to spend the $200 (which cannot be spent on alcohol) to promote an alternative social scene. On Saturday we will be having a kickball tournament with free Ramunto's pizza and a DJ. This, along with the $200 cash prize, was chosen as a way to encourage participation. The event itself very closely encompasses SAGE's goals as it encourages healthy gender relations. SAGE feels that sober, coed team interaction will be a great way to start these new gender relations as it differs from the all too common drunken, loud scene where healthful interaction tends to be very limited.
This summer, SAGE's main goal has been to encourage an alternative to the common party scene. We have encouraged all of the Greek houses, through meetings with social chairs and house presidents, to have parties held out of the basement, in a more low key, sophisticated social setting. I feel SAGE has been quite successful in this respect as there have been more cocktail, upstairs and outdoor parties.
When Greg Neichin stated that SAGE felt two kegs of good beer were better than five of "Beast," he was trying to promote this alternative party scene, reasoning that people drink higher quality drinks more slowly. We, as an organization, are not against the consumption of alcohol. It is a fact that drinking does occur at Dartmouth and will continue. SAGE is just trying to change the social acceptance levels of excessive drinking as well as the current situations where healthy coed interaction is virtually impossible. Instead, SAGE seeks to promote a scene where people can sit down, talk to and actually hear each other.
SAGE has also been working with the New Member Education Committee and Gabrielle Lucke to plan the gender relations portion of the education program for new members of the Greek system this fall. Finally, we are working to develop a training program for SAGE representatives to continue this forward momentum into the coming year.
