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(09/22/06 9:00am)
Despite all the attention given to the vote on the proposed Alumni Association constitution in the pages of this newspaper, very little of the discussion has been overly student-generated. Still, we recognize that the constitution, which aims to consolidate two pre-existing alumni groups, redefine committee structure, create a new leadership arc and rework the trustee nomination process, is a document which promises deeply to impact Dartmouth's present and foreseeable future.
(05/26/06 9:00am)
This past week saw the announcement of a number of changes of importance to students. The final revisions to the Dartmouth Dining Services proposals, including the raising of the Topside limit to $200, were unveiled, as was the Student Assembly budget of Student Body President-elect Tim Andreadis. These two events provide both a positive indication of the power of student agitation as well as the pitfalls of unreachable goals.
(05/12/06 9:00am)
This past week saw the annual ritual of room draw, and with it, the varying reactions of joy, indifference and frustration as students received their housing assignments for next fall. Nearly twice as many rising seniors went to room draw as expected and the guarantees of housing to all sophomores quickly became unrealistic without a waitlist. On one end, the popularity of the new residence halls should be commended -- high numbers of students interested in on-campus living is essential to creating a stronger community. However, the Office of Residential Life must make a solid effort next year to ensure that room draw proceeds more smoothly. Although the hiccup in room draw was caused by an unexpected demand for Dartmouth housing, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman told The Dartmouth he had been nervous for a couple weeks before room draw due to a high number of rental vacancies in town, which should have led to more advanced planning. While ORL should be applauded for finally removing residences such as the "treehouses," it should have conducted far better research as to how many people would want to live on campus. Fortunately, it is likely that, as in the past, those students on a wait-list will have housing by the time Fall term begins.
(05/05/06 9:00am)
As Dartmouth is the proverbial Animal House, comparisons between it and the fictional Faber College are often used in discussions of the College. However, must students would be hard pressed to draw a comparison between departing Dean of the College James Larimore and his cinematic counterpart Dean Wormer. Throughout his tenure at Dartmouth, Larimore has had a reputation as a man of honor and integrity who is personable and approachable by all members of the Dartmouth community. Larimore was hired during a period when relations between the administration and the rest of the Dartmouth community were tense. Throughout his seven years, he has served as a true liaison between the different groups that make up the College. At a time when there are continued calls for greater transparency at Dartmouth, his departure is a real loss, both to the student body and the College as a whole.
(04/28/06 9:00am)
The selection of the senior class marshals this past week raised a number of eyebrows across campus. It is not inconceivable that some of the chosen eight might emerge from the ranks of Senior Executive Committee, the group that votes upon the marshals. But it is disconcerting when a majority of selected seniors -- five of eight -- also serve on the deliberating body. Though this statistic is the same as last year, history cannot excuse a broken selection process. The role of the class marshals is to unite the Class of 2006 behind them as they move toward graduation. They serve as the literal and symbolic leaders during the graduation ceremony. The debate surrounding their selection does much to undermine this role. It focuses the attention on the process of choosing class marshals, not the marshals themselves and their role.
(04/25/06 9:00am)
Year after year, enthusiastic and determined students pledge to bring "real results" to Dartmouth as the president of the Student Assembly. Whether the candidate is an insider running on the basis of experience or a student who promises to reform drastically the Assembly as an "outsider," the story has been the same. In past years, hotly contested elections have raised the rhetorical heat and have led to great expectations of sweeping and overdue change. Sadly, Dartmouth students find themselves still waiting for results after the lackluster presidencies of Julia Hildreth '05 and Noah Riner '06. The Dartmouth Editorial Board recognizes and applauds the hard work of Student Assembly members in bringing some successful programs such as the Campus Readership Program and additional BlitzMail terminals. Yet the past presidents who promised to make Assembly more relevant and more effective had the opposite effect: Assembly is widely viewed as a self-serving, insular, inefficient and irrelevant organization.
(04/21/06 9:00am)
Accountability in a university setting has myriad different applications -- the accountability of students for their actions, the accountability of students to their community and the accountability of an administration for and to its undergraduates. Dartmouth students find themselves held accountable by the College for a number of actions that do not initially seem to fall under the administration's purview and chafe against a number of these restrictions. Furthermore, it often seems as if the administration itself has no similar accountability, or at least no mechanism for enforcing it. The creation of a task force to monitor the Committee on Standards is a step toward creating more trust between students and a judicial system that often seems puzzling and arbitrary. At the same time, students have to accept that being at Dartmouth is a privilege, not a right, and must behave accordingly.
(04/14/06 9:00am)
One of the major criticisms of Dartmouth is its apparent preference for following trends than starting them. With the University of Pennsylvania's announcement this past week -- joining Harvard, Yale and Stanford as peer institutions which have recently increased financial aid to low-income families -- that it will waive tuition, room and board for students with a combined family income of less than $50,000 per year, Dartmouth has missed out on yet another opportunity to set an example for its peer institutions. The College should seriously consider adopting a similar if not more ambitious policy to encourage greater economic diversity in an arena already dominated by privileged elites.
(04/07/06 9:00am)
The issue of sexual assault and abuse is one of the most highly-publicized and controversial issues on college campuses. The underreporting and high occurrence of incidents, combined with the associated stigmas and the unclear definitions of what exactly constitutes assault or abuse makes the issue sensitive yet very important to maintaining a healthy and safe campus environment. A focus on sexual abuse shows us that Dartmouth is no exception to this problem; we have had our fair share of abuse scandals, both substantiated and based on rumors, and statistics suggest that there is still a problem. Sexual Abuse Awareness Week has done much to re-emphasize the importance of the issue on this campus. However, especially in light of the Duke story, attention must be paid to the problem of sexual assault not only during the designated week but throughout the year.
(03/31/06 10:00am)
The twenty-first century is increasingly one of transparency and access to information. Thanks to technological and cultural developments, secrecy is becoming a thing of the past. On the Dartmouth campus, however, this trend is not in evidence. While College President James Wright must be commended for his strong commitment to free speech on campus, such a commitment must extend to policy as well as to academics. The College's handling of diversity chief Ozzie Harris's resignation this past month is just one in a series of incidents in which Parkhurst has acted under a veil of secrecy. The disconnect between Harris' statements to The Dartmouth and the official press release shows the administration in a negative light, and does little to increase student trust of the College's higher-ups.
(03/28/06 10:00am)
The death of College President Emeritus James O. Freedman one week ago was a significant loss for both the Dartmouth community and the greater public. During his 11 years at Dartmouth, from 1987-1998, Freedman oversaw a number of successful initiatives as well as many controversies. He was passionate about creating a campus with a stronger intellectual culture -- both in reality and in its image. And while these policies often brought him into conflict with different campus groups, his overall vision for Dartmouth as a place for people of all interests and passions, from creative loners to social beings, is one that colored his entire tenure and remains strong.
(03/08/06 11:00am)
With the recent announcement of yet another tuition hike, we deem it only appropriate to question where, and to whom, our current funds are being directed. Are they all being used properly? Are new programs succeeding? Are our resources performing to their potential?
(03/03/06 11:00am)
Tubestock. The mention of the word inspires memories of floating on the Connecticut River with 1,000 of your closest friends on a warm summer Saturday. It also, for many, raises a potentially humorous question: How could this event be allowed?
(02/24/06 11:00am)
The recent resignation of Harvard President Lawrence Summers forces us here at Dartmouth to stop and reflect on our institution, our administration and ourselves. While we realize that Summers was far from perfect, we do believe the vision that guided his tenure -- a frustration with the complacent and static nature surrounding his institution and the strength of character to act on this dissatisfaction -- was a valid one.
(02/17/06 11:00am)
Dartmouth is an institution which prides itself, in part, on an ability to produce students who are fair-minded, well-informed and supportive of democratic ideals. These are qualities that are cultivated here in a variety of forms throughout the entire liberal arts curriculum. They are also qualities Dartmouth hopes to instill deeply enough in its students to make them last a lifetime.
(02/03/06 11:00am)
On Tuesday, the Interfraternity Council voted not to grant a potential new fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, the status of a recognized organization. While our article Wednesday ("IFC votes down Jewish Fraternity," Jan. 30) detailed their reasons -- primarily that over one fourth of the council felt there was no need for expansion of the fraternity system -- we are left wondering: Should the College have given this decision to the IFC in the first place?
(01/27/06 11:00am)
Though Dartmouth College claims not to take college rankings seriously, it was hard not to notice when the Princeton Review left Dartmouth off its list of the Top 25 Most Connected Campuses. While this may have come as a shock to both students and administrators accustomed to hearing Dartmouth's technological capabilities lauded by respected institutions such as The New York Times, the surprise subsides when the evaluation criteria are analyzed in greater detail.
(01/20/06 11:00am)
Dartmouth's commitment to diversity is beyond question. This past week alone witnessed many positive events: the Alumni Council recognized the Latino Alumni Group, Dr. Rev. James Forbes delivered a spirited lecture on the scope of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream and the College celebrated King's memory and legacy extensively. Despite all this, a complex but important question still lingers: how well does Dartmouth realize its noble vision of integrated multiculturalism beyond the pages of its glossy brochures and well-advertised lectures?
(01/06/06 11:00am)
While we enthusiastically applaud Dartmouth for its need-blind admissions policy, we wonder whether it is being exercised to its fullest possible extent.
(11/18/05 11:00am)
Dartmouth students are known for their "work hard, play hard" mentality and their dominant competitive streak. Nowhere is this more prominent than in the subculture that has sprung up around our favorite weekend -- and weeknight -- activity, pong. The infamous game, during which two sets of partners use ping pong paddles without handles to try and "hit" and "sink" all their opponents' cups, is a very Dartmouth invention. Unlike its more primitive cousin, Beirut, it combines skill, speed and saves with a ready-made social scene. However, despite the positive aspects of pong -- its ties to Dartmouth tradition, the opportunities for social mixing, the slight athletic payoff, its negative qualities can be overwhelming when looked at from a distance. While binge drinking and drinking games are not endemic to Dartmouth, the emphasis we place on an activity that in a single game can put its players in danger of passing the binge drinking mark is troubling.