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(04/04/16 10:01pm)
“The Insane Campaign of John Kasich” — the title of a National Review article — indicates the exasperation of the usually moderate, well-reasoned conservative magazine. The article excellently summarizes the current mindset of many anti-Trump conservatives: Ted Cruz is the Republican Party’s only chance of beating Donald Trump, while John Kasich’s campaign is merely serving to better Trump’s chances. Most moderate conservatives are worried about Trump not just because of his abhorrent and largely incoherent political stances but also because of the damage his inevitable loss in the general election would do to the Republican Party. Trump’s policies, masquerading under the guise of conservatism, combined with the already fractured state of the GOP mean that a landslide loss to Hillary Clinton could send the Republican Party into disarray, causing immense and lasting damage to the party. In their desperation to avoid this political disaster, conservatives believe that they must turn to Cruz and that Kasich is running a selfish campaign. This, however, is the wrong strategy, grossly misjudging not only Kasich’s chances but also the damage a Cruz loss could cause.
(03/06/16 11:45pm)
U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings are constantly critiqued, decried and loudly dismissed. But in the hearts of prospective students and college officials, they hold a secret power. They held a power over me during my own college search not long ago and play a role in my younger sister’s, which is just beginning. With no familial or athletic connection to any one particular university and parents who simply attended local colleges, our search had to start somewhere. To even admit the credence, I, as a junior and senior in high school, gave to the rankings feels wrong. The myriad of college rankings reflect, perhaps poorly, the state of higher education. But what I find most interesting is the dichotomy between universities and liberal arts colleges. It’s a dichotomy that Dartmouth doesn’t fit into. Yet, this division dictates a list that — despite universal criticism — holds incredible sway over prospective students’ decisions.
(02/21/16 11:45pm)
I recently ate dinner with an ’84. During out dinner, he hearkened back to older, less regulated times. One comment stuck out in our conversation. Back then, he told me, dorms had their own identities. There was no freshman housing, and people rarely moved around. Intramural sports had a Greek league and a dorm league whose champions played each other. Dorms had the power and funding from the College to host their own parties. Freshmen knew the sophomores, juniors and seniors in their dorms and dorms existed alongside a vibrant Greek scene. In many ways, it was exactly what the new house system intends to create.
(01/25/16 12:12am)
Winter is the season of doing nothing. Squirrels, hedgehogs, bears and even a kind of lemur recognize this and go into long periods of hibernation. In his article “In Case of Blizzard, Do Nothing,” David Dudley writes, “A snowstorm rewards indolence and punishes the go-getters, which is only one of the many reasons it’s the best natural disaster there is.” Winter term can feel like a 10-week blizzard, but with an intense lineup of classes and extracurriculars to accompany it. And, due to some great evolutionary tragedy, we do not hibernate. In fact, despite the pitfalls of the season, Dartmouth students seem to believe they can beat nature. I, too, thought I could outlast the season. It was a terrible idea.
(01/11/16 12:00am)
This break I had the distinct pleasure of considering the various ways I could become legally incapacitated. As part of granting my parents power of attorney, I was forced to consider several grave scenarios. My reasons for doing so were fairly simple — not only do my parents have my best interests at heart, but they’re also uniquely well-suited for the task, as both both of them are doctors.
(11/08/15 11:30pm)
There are certain things you should not do alone. You do not ride a tandem bike alone. You cannot operate a swan boat by yourself. You do not, for example, have a wedding by yourself. But then the list quickly runs out. There are plenty of things we don’t do alone, often for no good reason. When was the last time you saw a movie by yourself? Most people are perfectly happy watching re-watching “Love Actually” (2003) alone in their rooms, but few would dare go out to see a movie without friends. So you end up missing out on what would otherwise be a really enjoyable experience because God forbid people in public see you alone. The self-imposed stigma of being alone is absurd.
(10/25/15 11:30pm)
It is fantastic that people are trying to eat better, but the clean-eating movement needs a cleanse. An otherwise well-meaning trend has become a source of misinformation and fear-mongering.
(10/11/15 10:18pm)
On Oct. 7, collegiate Greek life once again found itself in the center of national scrutiny and outrage with allegations of hazing and potential sexual misconduct. Earlier this month, a video surfaced online, which shows a crowd of cheering students surrounding a mattress upon which a boxer-clad male student is performing oral sex on a woman. At times, he seems to struggle to get up, but he is pinned by the woman’s arms and legs. A crowd of similarly shirtless students sit in the foreground — cheering the appalling spectacle. Soon after, Indiana University suspended Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and the national chapter revoked the campus organization’s charter.The details around the video are murky — whether either person consented or whether the woman was a hired stripper remain unclear. Sadly, uncertainty provides a potential escape for those wishing to mentally distance themselves from the video’s content. I saw the video as many others likely did — huddled around a smartphone screen. I initially thought I had just watched an assault, yet others raised their eyebrows at my reaction. Maybe it is because the victim was a male or because cheering brothers surrounded him. These factors do not align with the common narrative of sexual assault, and some qualify this with statements of doubt — “He probably agreed to this,” or “You can’t be forced to do that.” It is possible that the skeptics are right. The facts are unclear, and jumping to conclusions without more information would be inaccurate and irresponsible.The immediate assumption that the video fails to reveal some exonerating truths is equally — if not more — dangerous. As comfortable as assuming the best possible scenario may be, it encourages inaction and stagnates productive conversation. It is a form of confirmation bias. We latch onto the facts — or lack thereof — that allow us to make comfortable conclusions. No one likes to think that Greek life, the same system that permeates our campus, can allow for this. Yet, asking critical questions is the only line of thinking that leads to progress. Sometimes, to deny is to be delusional.We must reject the mental acrobatics we perform to avoid the grave reality of events like those seen in the video. We need to ensure our focus does not waver from the problems at hand. In the weeks after incidents such as this, there often come a slew of articles criticizing or defending the entire Greek system as a whole. The latter strain to point out that the majority of fraternities and sororities are positive, charitable and responsible communities. While true, reiterating this exhausting point is useless. When a rusting bridge breaks, the solution is to repair that bridge and others like it. There is no point in passionately arguing that most bridges are safe. Doing so distracts from the most urgent issues, which in the case of Greek life, is the safety of members and non-members alike.There will always be a period of fact-checking and re-assessment following these scandals. It has already come to light that the initial accusations of hazing may not be true, as the man involved was already an initiated member — regardless, his membership status does not address the potential recorded sexual assault. In the same way that the tragic untruths of a poorly-vetted Rolling Stone article do not change the realities of rape on campuses, any false alarm do not change the realities of Greek life. They did not change the racist chants of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at the University of Oklahoma. They did not change the fate of Baruch College freshman Chun Deng, whose potential Psi Delta Psi brothers tackled him to the ground and tried to cover up the incident before taking Deng to the hospital for the brain injury that ultimately killed him.Our initial reactions to videos like the one at Indiana University have a powerful impact. In the cloud of half-truths and uncertainty that accompany every breaking story, we must be willing to come to uncomfortable conclusions. We must recognize that the revulsion we feel is a mark of the responsibility of every college student to change our campuses for the better. We cannot delude ourselves into complacency. Those in power, such as college administrators and law enforcement officers, will investigate and ultimately take action. Yet it is the student perception of these events — whether they are skeptical, disgusted or apathetic — that tell us far more about how far campus culture has come and how far we still have to go.
(09/27/15 10:30pm)
Being an outsider has come into vogue. Donald Trump — praise be His Hairness — is largely in contention for the 2016 Republican presidential primary because he is an outsider who does not play by the rules. Hillary Clinton’s massive pre-election-cycle support has been checked by her image as a political insider and the baggage that such a label implies. In American culture, it appears we have come to value an outside opinion — and with good reason. Outsiders are seemingly free from systemic bias and can instead offer a fair, objective evaluation of an organization. If nothing else, they can provide a new point of view, not steeped in tradition or how things have always been done. This is the great — if only — advantage of being a ’19. We have an outside perspective. I may have called the Choates “Ko-ates,” and I may carry my room key on a lanyard, but I also come from outside of the Dartmouth bubble.