I know our generation is constantly accused of being money-obsessed, overly ambitious and uninterested in fair play and hard work. One expects such behavior in the business world, law school, med school and even academia; it’s when the all-American games of the quad, the co-rec field and other venues used in Hinman Hysteria are adulterated by these unsportsmanlike feelings that there should be cause for concern. Winning, no matter how unscrupulously, is gracefully beating the hell out of losing.
Clearly, a sense of honor has long since faded out of the typical suburban values, but if our steroid-bashing culture is trying to teach us anything, isn’t it that sports are sacred? Actually, it’s not the sketchy methods of winning that are surprising; it’s only natural to want to win. The Hysteria Committee’s decision to allow such behavior to continue is the disturbing part.
Last year, around the same time, Roosevelt Hall became champion of the five buildings in Hinman, after taking an iniquitous head start by fronting all the money for T-shirts (the first Hysteria challenge is to sell them all). Other buildings added to the total weight of their canned food drives by giving heavy but impractical (and unasked for) items, such as rice and water. Unfair, yes, and unpunished. In fact, the team that peacefully protested this behavior with carefully chosen lyrics during the song competition may have gotten the most heat at the time.
You may be wondering why you should care about the goings-on in a little community you probably don’t even live in, and I don’t deny that Hysteria is a pretty minor point in the grand scheme of college. But that’s exactly why we should worry. If we can’t even muster up the energy for fair play in such a inconsequential context, the chance of moral strength appearing when one makes a decision that could actually hurt people is even less.
The behavior of both the participants and the council created to govern them basically proves what the old-timers have been saying for ages: Our generation lacks strong ethical codes. They began to diminish with our parents, which is why we haven’t learned them at home, and school makes a half-assed effort if I ever saw one. Why are business majors the only ones who take an ethics class? Being coerced into writing an essay outlining a personal moral code could do people a world of good.
Some may see the people who need the playing field leveled as whiny brats, while the so-called cheaters are really just creative thinkers. To some extent, this may be true. But when your own ambitious tactics shortchange someone else, that’s when a careful reconsideration of values should occur. If you can’t be trusted to reevaluate, that’s where an outside source should be able to step in. I think in particular of the Hysteria Committee, who have already allowed Roosevelt to get away with some shady new moves this year. It seems a shame to promote an event so focused on community spirit and identity without a solid set of values to support it.