The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education awarded Dartmouth a "green light" rating for the College's policies about free speech. FIRE analyzed more than 330 schools to compile their report, "Spotlight on Speech Codes 2006," in which they concluded that more than 68 percent of schools had policies that "clearly and substantially restrict freedom of speech." Dartmouth was one of seven schools to receive the designation, meaning that FIRE "is unable to find a policy that seriously imperils speech," but not necessarily that the school actively supports free expression. After Zeta Psi was derecognized for their inter-fraternity newsletter in 2001, FIRE designated Dartmouth a "red light" school, meaning it "has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech." In 2005, however, FIRE reassessed Dartmouth's ranking.
The Pipas and Loomis families of Lebanon, N.H., have donated a total of 259 acres of land to the Nature Conservatory in a conservation easement agreement. Erhard Frost, a professional forester who has worked throughout the Upper Valley region, encouraged the families to protect their tracts of land from development because they were home to a "rich, mesic forest," a type of forest rare in New Hampshire. Rich, mesic forests have moderately moist soil enriched with traces of calcium and magnesium, which provides a good environment for unusual vegetation, like squirrel corn and maidenhair fern. Also, trees grow more easily in rich, mesic soil than in drier, less enriched soil that is more common throughout New Hampshire. About 24 acres of Loomis land and 18 acres of Pipas land will remain completely wild, which provides additional protection for the rare species living in the tracts.
Burglary was the most frequent crime committed at the Universities of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island from 2003 to 2005. UNH reported 62 on-campus burglaries in that time and UVM reported the most with 275. None of the schools had any murders during the period, although each listed some sexual offenses and acts of arson. The U.S. Department of Education requires that colleges and universities report all crimes committed on campus through the Cleary Act that requires schools to make public all crimes committed at their school.
