To the Editor:
I could not agree more with the spirit of the letter of Joe Asch '79 (The Dartmouth, September 27) on continuity of living arrangements at Dartmouth. As co-chair of the Committee on the Student Life Initiative, I can attest to the accuracy of his comments on the importance of continuity. We regarded the current lack of continuity as the biggest obstacle to allowing a viable social system at Dartmouth outside the CFS system.
Asch is also accurate in identifying the biggest obstacle to achieving continuity as the presence in the mix of the River and the Choates. The easy reaction to this obstacle is to throw up our hands and give up (until the day when we all get our wish and nuke these mistakes of the '60s). However, especially with the introduction of the new Tuck Mall and McLaughlin clusters, we have an opportunity to create at least a semblance of continuity: group the River and the Choates with Tuck Mall and McLaughlin, respectively and give freshmen in the undesirable dorms priority to move up to the attractive new dorms. While they are freshmen, also include them in social events run by the new dorms with their enhanced social spaces to begin to build their sense of belonging. (You might have to include the Gold Coast along with Tuck Mall grouping to make the numbers work better).
The construction of the Tuck Mall and McLaughlin clusters will be a welcome and long overdue enhancement of campus life. The degree of enhancement can be maximized by utilizing these new assets intelligently to deliver the most important ingredient still lacking in Dartmouth's housing system: continuity.
