Wesleyan Argus -- Foursquare

Foursquare: the real victim By Brian Jordan

Since the week of May 11th, 2003, chalking has been banned at Wesleyan University. This ban was the result of a contentious battle, fought on the pavement by a group of students looking suspiciously like a Crayola street marketing team. The dispute with the administration was so epic, it was covered by the New York Times. But this fight was just a big cloudy smokescreen hiding the reality; the slow death of an American institution. Won't somebody think of the foursquare? Sure, the complain-o-crats over at the New York Times say the sidewalk chalking had gotten to the point where "obscenity was rampant and unpopular professors were disparaged by name." But just because a professor is named Dr. John Is-An-Asshole doesn't mean the act of writing it down should be punishable. Wesleyan is off the mark here. The real issue can be found wedged between "foursome" and "fourstar" in the dictionary. QED. Let me lay it down for you a little slower. In order for one to play the popular recess game four-square, you need a court and a ball. The ball can be found at the local, if depressing, Toys 'R' Us, or from Freeman when the ball-checkout booth people aren't looking. The lines of the court, however, like the houses of California's Yokut tribe, must be made from whatever materials happen to be around. Hmm... What can one use to make lines on pavement... Tape? Technically littering. Clothing? Streaking is frowned upon. Pressure-sensitive electronics to determine whether the ball bounced on or off the line? Already been done at Wimbledon. Candy? You already ate it, and that would be a waste of licorice anyway. There's only one option left... you know what it is... And it's banned. Keep Wesleyan Weird? As if. We have bigger problems: Keep Foursquare Alive. Jordan is a member of the class of 2010 and self-proclaimed Foursquare Czar. The Wesleyan Argus