Sorry Competitions

Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing --Vince Lombardi

HARVARD STUDENTS are a bit above this, although you might not always think so. Student organizations hold "comps" (or "punches") to weed out the unqualified. Students compete against each other for fellowships, grants, grades. A few students rip pages out of important reference books, or highlight them in black magic marker.

It is a mistake to think that Harvard students are merely competitive creatures. Some volunteer for Phillips Brooks House, others are peer counselors, still others work on CityStep. Almost everyone has, at one time or another worked cooperatively on a problem set, a paper proposal, an oral presentation.

Ecolympics and the Football to Fenway contests are good case studies for examining this phenomenon.

CASE ONE: Ecolympics.

According to a recent report by the Office of Physical Operations, the University saved $450,000 last year in heating costs. The report attributed most of the reduction to the efforts of the Phillips Brooks House Environmental Action Committee (EAC), according to Samuel A. Newell '92.

EAC sponsored the Ecolympics, a contest that rewarded the houses and Yard dorms that reduced their energy consumption by a certain percentage each month with Ben and Jerry's ice cream parties.

Most months, just about every house got these ice cream parties. Few houses were denied the treat. Energy was saved, ice cream was enjoyed, and all was good.

This winter, free ice cream will be much harder to come by. Brett R. Huff '93, Ecolympics director, says that only the top three houses each month will get B&J bashes.

"We are trying to make it more of a competition this year," Huff says.

Of course, Ecolympics wasn't very competitive last year. Almost everyone got ice cream. But that's one reason why the contest worked as well as it did.

Frequent ice cream bashes raised student awareness of the problem by reminding them that they should conserve energy. Posting charts in dining halls and publishing results in The Crimson also spread the gospel, but did not attract nearly the interest of Rain Forest Crunch and Cherry Garcia ice cream.

Ice cream was a key to Ecolympic's success--not as an end, but as a means. The EAC would be wise to leave the Rain Forest Crunch alone if it wants to keep people interested.

CASE TWO: From Football to Fenway.

The Athletic Department is holding a contest which rewards the house or Yard dorms that have the greatest percentage of residents attending football games with free tickets to the Red Sox home opener.

The Athletic Department desperately wants to boost the number of Harvard students at home football games--a worthy goal. But pitting the houses against each other will probably not have much of an impact on attendance at the games.

Students go to sporting events because they want to see their friends play, because they want to see other schools lose, because they want to watch Harvard win, and because they want to support Harvard.

Students already flock to the mainstream sports that have successful programs at Harvard. Just ask anyone who has waited in line at 8 a.m. in the middle of winter for hockey tickets.

Instead of appealing to these loyalties, the Athletic. Department has chosen to focus its energies on stirring up competition between the houses. The few fans moved by the appeal to intra-Harvard competition are not the kind of people who will keep attending when the team is losing and the weather is cold.

And besides, everyone knows that the Football to Fenway competition is a farce. When a friend of mine went to the game, he was asked what house he lived in.

"Quincy," he said.

"Did I hear you say Cabot? Great!" the checker responded.

In sum, the contest provides little incentive for otherwise apathetic students to hike across the river. For those of us who aren't big sports fans, the prize of athletic tickets is not particularly appealing.

ECOLYMPICS was successful last year for reasons that had nothing to do with competitiveness, and Football to Fenway naively assumes that students who didn't go to football games in the past will be suddenly swayed by the competitive appeal of house loyalty.

There is already enough competition at Harvard. We don't need any more.

If the logic of these new contests spreads, there's no telling what awaits us. Soon we may find ourselves killing each other to win the Most Relaxed Student award, or holding betting pools for intramural games.