Better

This week's 'Why Harvard Is' could easily have been an enumeration of the reasons why Harvard is superior to Yale.

But US News and World Report does a fine job of compiling those statistics on an annual basis, and there's really no need to duplicate their research.

Besides, Harvard students spend too much time on this overplayed rivalry as it is. Frankly, being better than Yale isn't much of an accomplishment. If Harvard were better than a weekend on the beach in St. Tropez, for example, that would be something to put in the viewbook.

Suggestions on what person, place or institution might serve as a worthy opponent for fair Harvard range from the sublime to the weird. One junior offered that Harvard might aspire to be more like the Shriners. (Yes, those are the men who ride little orange cars in parades.)

"Do you know how much money they have?" he asked. "I think they're the largest endowed organization in the country. I think we're second to them."

On the political front, David L. Hanselman '94-'95 offered the Republican party after some consideration.

"Maybe we should be better than the Democratic party. Actually, we already are better than the Democratic party," said Hanselman, a Republican. "Harvard should be better than the Republican party, because they have a consistent and enlightened ideology which all students should have the benefit of aspiring to."

Whatever.

Another student suggested Harvard's library system could be the focus of improvement.

"We should be better than the Library of Congress; they have more books. Of course, they have two of everything."

Students agreed that in general Yale posed an insufficient challenge to the nation's premier institution of higher learning.

"Yale sucks," Hanselman said. "Yale sucks, and the Democratic party sucks worse."

Whatever.

Hitesh M. Hathi, a resident tutor in Cabot House, noted that Harvard has ideological rivalries as well.

"We should be better than the religious right," he said. "They're this great well-organized national group with tons of money, just like us. And they've already picked us as the place to hate."

In any case, Harvard students shouldn't feel complacent just because we've got New Haven licked. We've got the rest of the Ivy League to conquer, not to mention the rest of the world. We need to expand our minds, broaden our horizons, think in new ways just like the Core taught us.

The vaunted Game is so petty in the grand scheme of things that it's barely worthy of our notice. With a little effort, we can indeed make Harvard better than anyone, at anything.

Except maybe football.