Reconsidering our eating options

This time last year, I wrote a critique of Princeton's bicker system. In my column, I argued that bicker undermines the inherent diversity of our student body and manifests a social environment that is both elitist and close-minded ("Bicker keeps us from accessing Princeton's diverse student body", Feb. 3, 2004).

Though I still stand strongly behind that argument, I have come to realize the futility of criticizing bicker. Why would clubs sacrifice the popularity that comes with bicker in order to make Princeton a friendlier and more open social environment? It was naïve of me to think that bicker clubs would consider campus diversity one of their priorities.

Today, many sophomores will tell you that the problem is not so much bicker, but rather the lack of eating options available besides the clubs. The truth is, there are no real upperclass dining options other than the 'Street.' PUDS becomes much less palatable after sophomore year. Frist food is better but subsisting on a regular diet of burgers is hardly healthy. Eating in town is an option only if you have a wallet large enough to sustain a life in affluent suburbia. And cooking everyday is typically impossible for an overbooked Princetonian.

The crux of the problem is that for upperclassmen, eating goes hand in hand with one's social life. As a result, students unwilling to partake regularly in Princeton's mainstream social offerings often find themselves without any real dining alternatives.

The University has tried to provide a range of social options by organizing dry events, but most of these have fared poorly thus far. The Alcohol Initiative remains very much a fringe movement, unable to regularly attract a large attendance. Similarly, the Prospect Initiative — an idea proposed by the Interclub Council in which one club each weekend will serve as a dry club — seems to have lost much of the momentum it first had last spring. What is truly needed is the establishment of a permanent space for dry-social events.

There has been a movement among several students to push for such a place. Last semester, Scott Shimp '06, David Schaengold'07 and Pei Chieng Soh '07, took this idea to the University's top administrators. With them were the signatures of over a hundred undergraduates who supported this cause and a detailed proposal describing the nature of a "Dry Eating Club". The proposal circulated among members of the administration and was discussed with members of the Canon graduate board, owners of the club with the greatest prospect for being dry. Unfortunately, the initiative ultimately failed because, according to the student organizers, the Canon graduate board refused to reopen the club and the University was unwilling to sway the board into doing so by committing the funds needed to renovate the defunct building back into an eating club.

The administration, to their credit, has recognized this problem and is addressing it through the four-year college system. In two years, Whitman, Mathey and Butler Colleges will allow upperclassmen the opportunity to stay affiliated with a residential college, which will include, among other benefits, a regular meal plan.

This is certainly a step in the right direction. However, the four-year college system is hardly the panacea for the problems of our social life. While it d oes allow upperclassman a regular dining option, it does not address the lack of diverse social offerings, particularly for those who do not want to drink.

What the administration underestimates is the extent to which a dry eating club would enrich Princeton's social life. Having a dry club would provide a significant portion of the student population with a comfortable and permanent social space. Instead of choosing among a set of nearly identical social experiences, having a dry eating club would allow upperclassman a real alternative to consider. This, unlike bicker, is something that the administration really can do something about. Kyle Meng is a civil and environmental engineering major from Chappaqua, N.Y. He can be reached at kmeng@princeton.edu.