Although the majority of students think the steering committee recommendations aimed at the Greek system and the alcohol policy are too rigid, the student body is split on the residential life proposals, according to a poll conducted by The Dartmouth last week.
Out of 4,091 students polled, The Dartmouth received 1,454 responses, which is a 35.5 percent rate of return. Eighty-six percent of the students who received the poll were on campus.
Only 18.5 percent of the students responded that they felt the recommendations would improve Dartmouth social and residential environment. Fifty-five percent of students stated the report recommendations would not have a positive influence, while nearly 26 percent said they were uncertain what effect the recommendations would have.
The most powerful opposition to the report came in the spectrum of the Greek System, which falls into line with student reactions to the Initiative since last February.
Seventy-six percent of the students who responded to The Dartmouth's poll said they thought the recommendations proposed for the Greek system were too strong.
The most notable of these proposals recommended that only seniors and four junior officers should live in Greek houses, living in Greek houses during the summer should be forbidden and renovating basements should be mandatory.
Similarly, 78.2 percent of students who responded said they thought the proposed alcohol regulations were too strict.
The alcohol recommendations that broke from current standards were the ones that suggested that kegs should be outlawed on campus, only College-trained bartenders should be able to serve at parties and there should be a stricter registration processes for student gatherings involving alcohol.
The opposition to the recommendations that addressed alcohol was high across the board, but it was more prominent among the younger students on campus.
While 71.6 percent of seniors said they thought the regulations were too strict, 82.1 percent of freshmen opposed the recommendations.
Students were more split on the residential life recommendations -- which made up a larger portion of the steering committee's report than the proposals aimed at the Greek system.
The report lays out a residential system based around clusters. It recommends that students maintain associations with one particular cluster throughout their four years at the College. These clusters would have more common social and studying space than existing clusters.
Thirty-two percent of the students who responded supported the residential cluster system, while 40.9 percent said it was a bad idea. However, a large portion -- 27 percent -- responded that they had not yet decided what they though was the best idea.
The freshman housing proposal, which suggested experimental freshman-only housing in the River Cluster and the Choates, also split students more evenly than the Greek system recommendations.
Thirty percent said they were in favor of the freshman-only housing and 55.1 percent said they were opposed to it -- 14.7 percent said they were not sure.
The responses to this question varied across the classes. Almost 65 percent of respondents from the Class of 2001 said they opposed freshman housing while only 50.7 percent of the Class of 2003 opposed it.
For many students who talked to The Dartmouth last night, the response to the issue of freshman housing depended on their personal first-year experience.
According to Amanda Trause '00, who lived in the Choates her freshman year, the idea of first-year housing is a good one.
She said the freshmen who lived on her mostly-freshman hall were the bulk of her support system during her first year at the College.
Dennis Recca '02, who lived in Hitchcock his freshman year, agrees that first-year housing would benefit students.
"It will provide an environment where freshmen can have a lot of opportunities outside the Greek system," he said.
He said he would have rather lived in an all freshman cluster for his first year at the College.
However, Peter Osendorp '03, who lives in the East Wheelock Cluster this year, said he thinks freshman-only housing is a bad plan.
"If you're housed with a bunch of scared freshmen who are still finding their ways and trying to impress each other, that could lead you to miss out on some of what the College has to offer," he said.
He said he has enjoyed meeting the upperclassmen on his hall and asking them questions periodically throughout the year, although he acknowledged that his friends who live in the Choates and the River are happy in their predominantly freshman clusters because they have made a lot of friends.
Osendorp said the residential cluster system appeals to him even though he doesn't love the idea of all freshman housing. He said he thinks having more dining options and added social space within clusters would help students.
However, he added that he does not think the "strict phasing-out of the Greek system" will lead to an improved social atmosphere on campus. He said for that to happen, the College needs to make some viable alternatives modeled after Lone Pine Tavern and The Big Green Bean, as well as large auditoriums and party facilities.
According to Ron June '02, a new member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity, some of the proposals that deal with the Greek system are good ideas, but others do not make much sense. Most students who talked to The Dartmouth last night fell into the same sphere as June -- agreeing that certain aspects of the proposals were on target, while others were misguided.
"Well, I think that part of brotherhood is living together," June said. He also noted that renovating basements would not, in his opinion, lead to a better social scene at the College.
However, he said he thinks the idea of hired bartenders, which is proposed in the steering committee report is a good plan.
"Frankly, I see that as a more efficient way to dispense alcohol," he said.
However, one female member of the Class of 2001, said she worried that the recommendations aimed at the Greek system were trying to eliminate it completely without proposing replacements.
She said it did not seem fair to force the Greek houses to make major renovations to their physical plants without helping them out significantly with the financial costs of such renovations.
"If the changes that are going to happen are just going to take away the fraternities and sororities, I don't think that would be good," she said. "I think that they shouldn't be taken away because they do fill a social need on campus."
She said she had hoped that the steering committee's report would be more comprehensive in proposing alternative programs and activities that could make alternatives to or eventually replace the existing system.
A female freshman said she thought the report did not propose enough viable alternatives to the Greek system.
"The problem with the Greek system is that there isn't enough to do," she said. "The reason that there's so much alcohol abuse is because the Greek system is where students feel they can socialize. There wouldn't be as much abuse if there were other options."
She said she had hoped for more proposals steering towards the creation of social alternatives.
On the whole, students who talked to The Dartmouth agreed with this freshman, admitting that a change in the campus attitude towards alcohol was necessary.
The majority of students said they thought there should be alternatives to the Greek-based social scene.
"Alcohol is a big problem on this campus from my point of view" Recca said. "Any attempt to curtail that problem will be beneficial to the campus as a whole."
A few students said they worried, however, that restricting alcohol too much would force its use underground, which could eventually backfire on the College.
"I think that [the recommendations] could definitely push people to do things more secretively, which could be a problem," one freshman student said.
However, she said the proposals were on the right track.
Andrew Wilkins '03 said he thought the proposals seemed too bent on restricting the role of the Greek system, without recommending alternative social options.
"I thought some of the ideas were pretty good, but in a lot of cases, I thought the changes would not help, but were just meant to hurt the frats," Wilkins said. "It seems that they're trying to impose regulations that will choke them to death."
Despite this seemingly pro-Greek sentiment, Wilkins went on to say, "You can only hang out in a frat basement for so long before it starts to get old. I'm not against the CFS system, but I think it's pathetic that it's the only social option here on campus."
He said he would suggest more late-night social options like pool and ping pong.
