To the Editor:
I am appreciative of James Lederer's attempt to further the discussion of the social life initiative (The Supercluster of the Future? The Dartmouth 9/28/99). However his Op-Ed piece would have been greatly improved if his critique of the East Wheelock cluster had any basis in fact.
East Wheelock has been trying to shed the label of "Supercluster" from the beginning of its existence. Yes, we do have advantages that other clusters do not have, including a larger budget, but we have always stressed that virtually all of our programming is open to the entire campus community. Many non-East Wheelock residents have taken advantage of that over the past three years. We have not been, nor do we intend to be, exclusive. We regularly assist a wide variety of individuals and groups in the use of Brace Commons, which we recognize as a resource for the community.
James Lederer has never been an East Wheelock resident and so his comments about life in the cluster are somewhat suspect. The results of an outside evaluation of student reaction to East Wheelock indicates high levels of satisfaction, a result that would be difficult to achieve if Mr. Lederer's highly selective and subjective observations were accurate. To claim that East Wheelock students "never leave" is nonsense. Many, if not most, East Wheelock students are active in an extensive range of campus groups, sports and community service. Our "misguided experiment" continues to involve students in opportunities to learn outside of the classroom, to decide on social programming and to have opportunities to meet faculty on an informal basis. All of these opportunities enhance community life, not just the life of East Wheelock, and we look forward to a day when we might be recognized not as "the Supercluster" but as simply the cluster of the future.
