Opinion

Hardly Chump Change

By Eben P. Darling | January 12, 2005

To the Editor: To say that "the [charitable] effort presented by TDX really misses the point on several levels" and that his letter "is not meant to criticize the persons at TDX in any way," as Scott Gridley did in his January 11 letter to the editor ("Giving All We Can,") is preposterous. While Mr. Gridley states that the $1200 raised by the house's event is indeed a "respectable sum" and that the "party represent[ed] a good opportunity to ask large numbers of persons to donate to [tsunami aid] effort[s]," he scolds students for not giving more to the relief efforts themselves. Gridley ignores the fact that many Dartmouth students are not "financially privileged" (in 2001-02, nearly 40% of Dartmouth students received some kind of student loan) and he assumes that the alcohol and refreshment tab for the event dwarfed the sum collected in donations. As someone who used to procure party supplies for Senior 'Tails at 11 West Wheelock, I can inform Mr. Gridley that the amounts spent on Beast, Keystones, Popov Vodka, Five O'Clock Gin and red Kool Aid powder were, in all likelihood, dwarfed by the donations given that night.