To the Editor:
The attitude displayed by the self-important April 24 letter "The Wrong Focus" by Chris Moscato saddens me, as it is indicative of the attitude that alienates Dartmouth students from the community. As a new member of that community, I am at times ashamed to tell people that I am a Dartmouth graduate, especially in those instances where someone is complaining about the insolence and naivete of the Dartmouth students they must serve. And I know that they are also stereotyping, but you have shown all of us what that stereotype is based upon.
I'm sorry to strip away the illusions some seem to have of the community of which they are a part. I am referring to the growing Upper Valley community that actively supports the bubble that you live in.
While you have to walk a cold and inconvenient five minutes to get to Food Court, the people that serve you an amazing variety of food every day have to drive at least 15 miles in order to do so. I currently work for the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, and the women here processing the grants that actually pay for the education and research possibilities that all students enjoy have to drive 35 minutes each way in order to support you. I just asked them -- they'd rather live closer, but simply can't afford it. In order to own her home, the coach for the women's crew team (my former coach) is building in Orford and has to make a 5:45 a.m. practice, while her athletes simply walk down the hill. I'm lucky -- I share a 2-room apartment in Wilder (not two bedrooms, actually two rooms) and can take the bus to work every day. The College recently experienced a massive increase in employees, due to hospital renovations and general College expansion, but there was very little thought given to housing these people. Thus, the increase in student number is vastly outmatched by the growth in the employee sector, and the housing problem in the Upper Valley has reached crisis proportions. These are people with families, bills, future college payments. They deserve more respect than they were given in this letter. I'm very sorry to say, but even those people in Choates doubles are living the high life. In my mind, the student housing problem -- which I very recently encountered -- pales next to that of employee housing, and it is high time the students were aware of what is actually happening beyond the borders of the Green.
With regard to the inane statement "We pay for it, we want changes," I again hate to strip you of the illusion of your own importance. I get, and current students will soon be getting, more mail from the College than you can possibly imagine. In truth, alumni, foundations, the Endowment and other sources are what pay for your experience. Your tuition is only the icing on the cake.
The letter closes with a challenge to "find me one person on campus that would not back me." There are 38 people in the Human Resources Department alone. How many of them do you think live as close to their job as you do?
