While snow and ice slowed travel around Hanover this past winter, the weather did not slow down the rest of life on campus.
Theta Delta Chi fraternity and Delta Delta Delta sorority continued to deal with serious hazing allegations that originated in the fall.
Theta Delta Chi was placed on probation for 12 weeks, while Delta Delta Delta received a four week term. Criminal hazing charges against both organizations were dropped in early January.
Theta Delt's legal woes continued as the organization was hit with five felony counts of serving alcohol to minors stemming from a Wednesday night event in early January. The fines associated with the charges could add up to $500,000 dollars in total.
The Hanover Police did not spend all winter crashing fraternity parties, however. They also apprehended a serial BB-gun sniper. Two girls claimed to have been fired upon from the roof of Zeta Psi fraternity in less than a week in early February. The second call to Safety and Security complaining of Beebe shots fired at the passersby resulted in the eventual arrest of Michael Volodarsky '08. He was charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless conduct. Speaking to The Dartmouth shortly after the incident, Volodarsky expressed remorse. "I am sorry for the role that I played in the incident," he said. "It was not intentional."
In sports, the less-than-inspiring on the field performance of the football team in the fall led to the December firing of former head coach John Lyons, and to his replacement this winter with Buddy Teevens '79. Teevens hopes to foster a sense of belonging to the Dartmouth community among members of the football team as he returns the program to prominence.
Endowment and admissions numbers were released during the Winter term. The endowment grew a more-than-respectable 15 percent, while regular decision applications filled McNutt Hall, overcoming lackluster early decision numbers to push the number of total applications to a new all-time high of over 12,500.
With Spring term quickly approaching, some of the campus' biggest student groups are facing serious budget woes. While Student Assembly finds itself with little money left to spend, the Council on Student Organizations has gone through more than three quarters of its original budget in less than half of the year.
"We are in a typical situation where the money has run out before the end of the year, however this year it's just happened a little earlier than in the past," said non-voting COSO chair Eric Ramsey when asked this winter about the budget quandary.
The housing crunch provoked some campus outcry after housing numbers were distributed late this winter, but will likely create more controversy this spring when housing assignments are made and students are put on the waiting list for housing. Those considering a single tent on the Green might take comfort in the fact that survival of this winter's weather will make next fall look like the Bahamas.
