To the Editor:
I would like to see Dartmouth broadly recognized as the best college in America, but if we are ever to reach that goal, we need to think clearly about what we are and want to be.
One area that calls for attention if Dartmouth were to be serious about climbing to the academic pinnacle is indicated by our lofty rank as a party school. In "College ranks 9th for six years running," Ms. Aranovich, bless her heart, boasts that "we have high-caliber, hard-working kids" (Aug. 23). I would agree with the first characterization but strongly question the second. Dartmouth, like most of our colleges and universities, trains its "kids" very well in how to game the system, it evidently has neglected to pose intellectual challenges that are more appealing than the seductions of, say, beer pong.
