I wish that everything that happened in a term in Dartmouth couldn't be so tersely summed up in a nice 5,000 word ditty, like the one that appeared in yesterday's D. It seems with all of the opinions flying around, with all of the fury surrounding each issue, that the events of a term would amount to more than another article to file away in our archives, another something we can look back on and shake our heads at.
Our problem-solving skills, on a large scale, are kind of pathetic, considering the "type of institution" that we are supposed to be. We nicely conceal our problems with some cover-up, or a Band-Aid, rather than reach some kind of workable conclusion: that is the Dartmouth way. Each term, I am reminded of that by the way we handle the "big issues" that inevitably come up. Last term it was door locking and the incident at Psi Upsilon fraternity.
Safety seemed to be on people's minds, which is understandable. The door lock debate has apparently been going on for much longer than just a term, but last term seemed a perfect time to push even more forcefully for locked dorms. Of course, now we're all safe. Lock the door, and all the bad stuff stays out of our dorm rooms. Sure.
Wouldn't it be great if this campus encouraged its students to actually be safe people, rather than just imposing seemingly preventative safety policies? Everyone who wants to graduate has to pass a swim test -- why shouldn't we also have to be somewhat skilled in self-defense practices? I've run this idea by friends, usually in semi-jest, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. It could be one of our PE requirements.
It's easy to just lock the dorms and assume the problem is solved. I spend a lot of time whining that "nothing happens in Hanover," but obviously I'm wrong. And it's that attitude that will render any safety measures useless, until we try and change more than just a situation or a standard way of operating.
The Psi U incident is a tricky one, which is why I haven't written about it, and why I've tried hard to avoid talking about it with people. I don't feel like I know the whole story, really. I feel as if my opinion will change quite drastically as I speak to people who are invested differently in the situation. I also feel as if the lines have been drawn -- mostly by other people -- in a way that makes me wary of choosing a side. It seems to be boiled down to being for or against the Greeks. Either you are angered by the incident and are thus in favor of abolishing the Greek system, or you think the whole thing has been blown out of proportion and have no real problems with the Greek system. Where is the middle ground? Are we so narrow-minded that we can only see two perspectives on every issue? And are we so presumptuous as to think that the be-all and end all of every issue on this campus is whether or not the Greek system is a good or a bad thing?
If we are going to legitimately rethink our social system on the grounds that the current one might not provide us with the healthiest attitudes, then we have to also be willing to examine every aspect of life here that may present similar risks. Yelling nasty things at someone is appalling, no matter how you disguise it. Is the Greek system the root of this problem? Or is it the safety that people feel when they are in any kind of group? What about those people who yell "Safety School" to the opposing fans when our football team plays Lehigh or Holy Cross? It may seem completely unrelated, but it's in that same vein: that blanket of home-field advantage, that cocoon of being on your own turf that lulls you into thinking you are somehow superior. But of course, if we get rid of the Greek System, this campus will be the friendliest place around; never a nasty comment to be heard. Whatever.
There's a part of me that really doesn't care about any of these things " I'm out of this place in three months, so my personal stake in most of these problems is relatively small. And I realize how it is almost impossible to make the types of changes to which I have alluded. A column is great " I can say a whole lot without actually doing anything -- very proactive of me, huh? But there is another part of me that wants to see something resembling change before I leave, so that I am not afraid to tell people who ask me that yes, they absolutely have to go to Dartmouth College. Maybe we need to take a little time to think about what the problems are, before we start making changes that are merely scratching the surface. Why are we so afraid to think big?
