To the Editor:
Although unaffiliated, I'd like to take issue with Josh Green's comments at the recent meeting with student representatives of the trustee committee: "no matter how few or many houses stay on campus, 'pong in the basements' is going to be the most popular social option" (The Dartmouth, 10/13/99). This statement is clearly yet another example of using emotion and poor reasoning to advocate the elimination of the Greek system.
Let's do the math: there are about 20 basements around campus eligible for 'pong.' Assuming one can cram two tables into a basement, and that there are four people playing at a table, and that every basement and pong table is chock full at a given moment, that means that there are 160 people, or five percent of students, able to play pong at one time. Does that really represent the most popular social option? No, but saying so sure does sound good. If the Programming Board or other organizations can't plan an event that involves more than five percent of the campus, then the problem clearly does not lie with the Greek system. There are CLASSES that are bigger than 160 people!
Baseless rhetoric like that above contributes little to a constructive debate. The clear fact of the matter is that the Greek system needs some big changes. Many physical plants are filthy, and the college's laissez-faire attitude towards drinking and drunkenness has led to an increase in the visibility of those activities both on and off campus. The Greek system provides innumerable emotional and social benefits to both its members and the rest of our community, including visitors and alumni. Its impact on the social, residential, and alcohol-oriented life of the college should certainly be tempered in a constructive manner through the provision of competitive non-Greek options. But the Greek system's elimination, if it occurs, should be the result of evolution, and not decree by the vocal minority. Such a decree would be unfair, unjust, unwarranted, and a horrible example for those of us preparing to apply our Dartmouth lessons to the "real world."
