Rethinking student unity
Benjamin Schack
junior
In his April 16 letter, Nathaniel Hannan uses what he calls "mathematics" to prove that the majority of students actually support the proposed alcohol and SYR changes. Using some common sense and some more mathematics, it becomes obvious that Mr. Hannan's logic is poor, and his conclusion incorrect.
Let's think about who the changes will actually affect. If a policy will have no material effect on a person's life, he or she will have little reason to sign a petition rejecting it. Seniors, who may care about the future of Notre Dame, will not be materially affected by the changes. Nor will students who currently live off-campus. Some of our student body has already voiced its disappointment and anger by deciding to move off-campus. Essentially, I'm proposing that the only people who will be affected by the changes are non-seniors who live on campus. People who plan to move off-campus also won't be affected, and therefore have little incentive to sign the petition. However, I'll include them in my analysis to counterbalance seniors and off-campus students who did sign it.
In the hall profiles published online by the Office of Residence Life and Housing, we see that total dorm capacity is 6,233. Because of uncommonly high freshman enrollment this year, we know the dorms are full or very nearly so. Of those 6,233 students, the same office statistics show that about 866 of those students are seniors. This leaves 5,367 non-seniors who currently live in dorms. So, some quick division shows us that the 4,063 students who signed the petition constitute more than 75 percent of the affected student body. This, Mr. Hannan, is an overwhelming and non-silent majority.
It would seem clear that student government does indeed represent a majority of the student body on these issues. "Notre Dame administration, take note."
Benjamin Schack
junior
Keenan Hall
April 16, 2002
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, April 17, 2002
