Over a week after a Smith Hall resident discovered a swastika sketched on her door's message board, investigators have uncovered no new leads in the case.
"It's still an open file with us," Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone said.
The message board in question was not confiscated by police as evidence because, according to Giaccone, "The officer felt it was not necessary."
If a suspect is eventually arrested, a likely charge would be criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor which carries a fine of up to $2000.
In the 1999 incident in which Peter Cataldo wrote "Kill Kosher Kikes" and other anti-Semitic message on a fellow student's marker board, the underlying charge investigators considered was a criminal threat.
The charge Cataldo could have faced carries the same penalty as criminal mischief. The difference between the crimes, Giaconne said, lies only in the elements of the violation.
Formal charges were never filed in the Cataldo case, after Dartmouth dealt with the matter internally.
The Safety and Security officer in charge of the investigation of the swastika incident could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Dartmouth's Student Assembly searched for an active response during a "Diversity Discussion" at last night's meeting.
Most notably, the Assembly considered the creation of a new office -- a vice president of diversity affairs.
Among the other ideas discussed were a program akin to "Older and Wiser" which would match students from differing cultural backgrounds and presenting an event aimed at freshmen during orientation week or first year family weekend.
During the meeting, Sean Oh '04 passed around a "Pledge Against Hate," which he noted was designed to "attack the underlying sentiment" that causes such incidents. He urged students in attendance to circulate the pledge among their friends.
