Eating club members' e-mail lists create online forums

What could be a better use of a Princeton student's time than reading the fleeting and sometimes unusual thoughts of one's fellow eating club members? For members of Tower Club and Quadrangle Club, nothing makes a better study break than poring over the sordid details of fellow members' lives.

The clubs used the University's email system to create Quad Chat and Tower Talk, electronic forums through which individuals can share their daily thoughts with fellow members.

When one Tower member suddenly decides midterm week is indeed a horrible time, he or she can share this thought with every other member of the club. Or when a Quad member has a great Saturday at the club, he can alert the rest of the membership by thanking all who made his night a success.

Kirk Hou '06, a newly initiated member of Quad, said he was initially frustrated with the daily deluge of emails — enough so that he took his name off the list. But he said he is starting to regret the decision.

"Right now, I want to get back on it," he said. "I feel like I'm missing out on a lot that goes on in Quad. It's all about fun."

Tower President Eric Czervionke '05 described Tower Talk as an email list for club-wide discussion. "It's a way for people to voice concern in a forum-type atmosphere."

Quad Chat was initially begun for the same purpose. However, according to Quad Vice-President Caitlin Martin '05, the forum has taken on a life of its own. People have begun using it to advertise campus events, send out funny links, recap a night's events, and even sound off on various political, campus and club issues.

But members say the most entertaining aspect of Quad Chat and Tower Talk are the messages sent out after party nights.

"Most bizarre messages are usually night-of-party emails that tend to go on for hours about every single thing that happened in the club — who was sketchy, who did what in Beirut, how late people were out, who the band hooked up with, and the drunken responses to those messages," Martin said in an email. "I can't say who sends them out, but it is definitely consistently the same group of people who is out at 5 a.m. most nights of the week."

Martin said she thinks Quad Chat improves the social atmosphere of the club by helping current members meet new sophomore members. One sophomore member, Matt Mims '06, remembered sending out a very controversial email. "I sent out an article about global warming and before long, people I didn't even know were responding to it. It caused quite a controversy."

Mims said he believes that while Quad Chat can bring people together, it also has the potential to divide. Generally, however, topics remain playful and entertaining.

Quad Chat and Tower Talk offer club members a bond of comaraderie, a release from studies and, as Martin said in an email, "a really great way to procrastinate during midterms period!"