I hope Mr. Summers realizes this egregious error in the administration's judgment. Just about every other school in the United States has a cable TV dorm option. I'm not arguing for pay-per-view wrestling or the Playboy channel. I'm not even asking for HBO, Showtime, or any "deluxe" channel that allows cursing and nudity.
ESPN is fine. NESN would be nice, too. But if Summers drives a hard bargain, I guess that demand can be dropped on the cutting room floor and ESPN would suffice (though missing a Pedro game wrenches at my heart--he is, without a doubt, the most enjoyable pitcher to watch in the past 20 years).
In all honesty, it is very difficult to stay in touch with the full spectrum of professional sports without cable. Baseball, hockey, and college basketball air on ESPN. The NBA is on TNT. Tennis is broadcast on USA and HBO, and golf has The Golf Channel.
Harvard has a 20 billion dollar endowment. I'm not saying that students should sit-in for cable. I'm not saying we deserve cable more than University workers deserve $10.25 an hour. Nevertheless, Harvard has an obligation to its students. The College provides shelter and food to all. Everyone has access to a restroom, either public or private. Yet, cable is either limited or unavailable.
If Harvard thinks that using the bathroom is more important than watching the Yankees/Mariners game, it needs to have its collective head examined. We can hold it until the seventh inning stretch.
President Summers, if you installed cable in all dorm rooms at Harvard, your popularity would soar. Students' quality of life would improve. I learned in my Moral Reasoning class that philosopher Jeremy Bentham would credit installing cable with an increase in the total social utility of this university.
Of course, if I had cable, I wouldn't have gone to class and thus wouldn't have had to learn that useless fact. Damn you, Harvard. You've clogged my mind with meaningless intellectual knowledge rather than ridiculous sports trivia.
At least the Spurs-Lakers game is on now. I think.