It is easy to fall into the trap of treating sophomore summer -- a Dartmouth tradition since the mid-1970s -- as something of a less-than-equal cousin of the Fall, Winter and Spring sessions. In all honesty, who could blame you? The weather is beautiful, the campus is at its most stunning and there is a plethora of outdoor activities to take part in, from soccer to softball, the river to the ledges. For the members of Dartmouth's various Greek houses -- especially those who live therein -- the temptation to slough off work and rage seven nights a week is a powerful one indeed.
However, sophomore summer remains a "real" term despite our deepest desires to transform it into "Camp Dartmouth" in both name and practice. The papers and exams are still there and the grades most definitely count. This is a fact that cannot be denied, sidestepped or ignored no matter how much beer in which we attempt to drown it. This is the unfortunate truth of sophomore summer that we must all accept. For the most part, Dartmouth students acknowledge this situation and life goes on much as it would during any other term -- business as usual. At the back of our alcohol-fogged minds lies the nagging realization that, at the end of the day -- or pong game -- we probably all have work to do and assignments to complete and submit.
It follows therefore, that if sophomore summer is a full academic term -- with all the responsibilities of any other session -- we should be accorded the dining services of a full academic term. If I still have to turn in my papers on time, I should also be able to purchase a delicious Hop sandwich on Saturday mornings. It is simply unacceptable and, furthermore, disingenuous on the College's part to not extend to the student body the full dining resources of the Dartmouth Dining Services facilities while demanding that we perform academically at the same standard of the other terms. If we have the responsibility to study like any other term, we have the right to eat like any other term.
I am specifically calling attention to the limited service hours of Food Court and The Hop and the hiatus of Homeplate during the summer months. As any self-respecting Dartmouth student will attest, the Hop is absolutely essential to morning-after-rage consumption. There is no other hangover food on campus -- or for that matter, the world -- like a Billy Bob or Hop sandwich. My aching head and queasy stomach have already felt their absence on one weekend too many. This cannot go on.
There is a similar problem with Food Court's limited hours of operation. Closing at 10 p.m. on weeknights and 9 p.m. on weekends is simply unacceptable. Whether one needs additional fuel for an arduous night in the library, or a pick-me-up during a Friday night frat hopping odyssey, Food Court is an indispensable and irreplaceable resource to the student body as our central dining hall. Its premature shutdown every night of the week is an uncouth affront to the student body who must then turn to Lone Pine Tavern for its late-night dining needs.
The problem is, Lone Pine is designed as a quiet watering hole for modest snacking needs -- not a full-service dining hall -- and is simply ill-equipped to handle the crowds of hungry students who would otherwise flock to Food Court. A case in point: on a recent evening, a friend of mine waited nearly an hour for a hamburger at LPT through no fault at all of the Lone Pine staff.
It is bad enough that the College has sat idly by while Hanover crushed our beloved Tubestock celebration beneath the sole of its mighty boot -- this attempt to deprive us of our rights to equal dining treatment is like throwing salt in the proverbial wound. I don't think it is too much to demand that if we must study as hard as any other term, and party even harder, that we be fed just as well.
