To the Editor:
I must say, shock only begins to describe how I felt today, when I walked down that ramp in the Hopkins Center and saw that the bust of Warner Bentley had been replaced with a Polaroid picture. As I read the article in The Dartmouth, and learned more about the matter, that shock grew, and developed into dismay, followed by anger. To top it all off, I discovered that rubbing a Polaroid certainly doesn't have the same appeal as rubbing Bentley's nose. It was a pretty rotten trip through the Hop.
In all honesty, I don't know much about the history of Mr. Bentley, or of his bust -- but I do know that I rubbed his nose faithfully, EVERY time I walked by. I'm not really superstitious, and I don't know if it brought me good luck -- then again, I haven't really had any overt bad luck at Dartmouth, so I guess it must have worked -- but it was a little tradition that had become a small, but significant part of my Dartmouth experience. One I would like to see returned.
So, to the perpetrator, I ask you: What on earth posessed you to assault this poor bust, that never did anything to hurt you? Why did you feel it necessary to rob a pool of students of a small part of our lives? Yeah, it was just a prank, and it's just a statue, but it still meant something. Just like all of those earrings and hats we hear about at the end of Weekend Update, that statue has strong sentimental value for me, and I hope for others on this campus.
To be honest, I don't think this letter is going to the right forum. I really can't see how a fellow student could do this. Or, perhaps, I just don't want to think that a Dartmouth student could do this; I'd much rather assume it was one of those proverbial "rotten Hanover kids" who don't give a damn one way or the other.Then again, does the culprit's identity really matter? What does matter is that we get Warner Bentley back in shape.
In the article of April 3, Director of the Hood Museum Timothy Rub said, "I don't know where the funds are going to come for [the restoration]." Well, I've got 5 bucks that I just would have spent on EBAs this weekend that I'm willing to put up, and I'm hoping that maybe some other students who share my feelings will do the same; if you are, let me know. Let's get Warner Bentley back where he belongs.
