To the Editor:
After living in urban Los Angeles, I thought I'd seen it all ... I first heard about this from one of my aunts, who reported she saw news of a murder at Dartmouth on national TV news. I was rather surprised to see the details on the D's website. I recall back in 1991 or thereabouts there was a double axe murder of some graduate students, and that was shocking enough, reported to be the first murder in Hanover in over 30 years. But at least in that case they had a suspect immediately.
One thing I would note is that many people are calling this a murder "at Dartmouth," and indeed it has an obvious impact on the extended Dartmouth family. However, it appears that if the incident occurred in the home of the professors, that it would in fact be a local or New Hampshire murder. To a TV watcher who is considering attending Dartmouth, this might affect their decision ... perhaps some clarity could be raised about student safety on campus vs. off campus.
On a slightly lighter, yet serious tone, what with OJ Simpson, double murderers being heroes (Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl victory) and ultra-violent movies dominating the film circuits, a reality event such as this makes one seriously consider how to prevent violent crime, locally and elsewhere, from ever occurring. Perhaps some studies could be undertaken on this subject, for the sake of ALL of our communities.
