Kirkland resident Diego Prats ’04, who created a website devoted to debunking Mather accusations of Kirkland aggression, said that Mather was out of line.
“You know how you can think that you’re really funny, so you go up to a hot chick and tell a joke and she’s not into you at all? You realize, ‘I’m not funny at all. I’m a big dork.’ [Mather] is like the dork, and we’re like the hot chick. That’s the level we want to bring it to,” Prats said. “In the end, there is no Mather-Kirkland war. It’s just five jackasses from Mather with a lot of free time and no girlfriends.”
Kirkland HoCo Parliamentarian Arie J. Hasit ’05, maintaining that Mather hung the dead fish, said that the violation of animal rights in this latest incident was inappropriate.
“If Mather wants to start treating this as a joke and not harming animals, then maybe we can talk,” he said.
Incoming Cabot HoCo Co-Chairs Adriana Dolgetta ’05 and Bridget E. B. Deacon ’05 said that Cabot formed its own Department of War and chose to become allies with Mather in response to what they called the “fish fiasco.”
“The fish are the Cabot House symbol, so when we found out about Kirkland’s actions, we were forced to take the entire fiasco as an obvious affront to our House and all that it stands for,” they wrote in an e-mail.
An e-mail sent last Tuesday to the Kirkland-Open e-mail list signed by an unidentified student who claimed to be the Cabot House Secretary of War defended the decision for Cabot to enter the war.
“As the agents of light in this world of darkness, we cannot stand for this slight against the epicenter of progressive thought and action, the Quadrangle, without due course,” the e-mail read.
The authenticity of the e-mail was confirmed by Dolgetta and Deacon.
Mather Minister of Propaganda Zachary A. Corker ’04 also submitted to The Crimson a copy of a letter signed by three Cabot students claiming to be members of the club International Nature and Conservancy for Really Endangered Animals that Are Seemingly Expendable (INCREASE).
Both Mather and Cabot Departments of War said that the INCREASE report justified blaming Kirkland for the dead fish, although the report itself stated that INCREASE only existed “for over 40 minutes” before issuing the report.
While Mather, Kirkland and Cabot House play the blame game over responsibility for the dead fish, Adams House—whose stolen gong supposedly led to the start of the inter-House war—just wants their dining hall treasure returned.
“I was hoping that whoever took it took [the gong] in fun—as opposed to outright stealing it—and that we could have something fun like a series of skirmishes to get it back,” Adams Co-Master Sean Palfrey said. “But I haven’t heard a thing about the gong, and that makes me lose my sense of humor. I spent half a year looking for the gong before I bought it.”
Incoming Adams HoCo Co-Chair Joshua A. Barro ’05 previously told The Crimson he believed that Mather stole the gong.
But Corker insisted Adams residents should be thankful that Mather is fighting a war on what he said is their behalf.
“We realize that this slander came from a few misguided individuals, and that most residents of Adams recognize the greatness of our actions,” Corker said.
—Staff writer Alan J. Tabak can be reached at tabak@fas.harvard.edu.