Of the thirty-five students who began The Fifty, twenty-nine completed the hike from Robinson Hall to Moosilauke Lodge this weekend. Students hiked through the night, resting briefly at stations manned by approximately 45 volunteers. Organizer Scott Limbird '09 said that, overall, the event was very successful, thanks in large part to the warm, dry weather. The trail is 53.4 miles, more if hikers get lost, and usually takes between 23 and 28 hours to complete. However, a group of students who are also members of Dartmouth's Nordic Ski team ran the first 40 miles and finished the hike in just under 20 hours. Pavel Sotskov '09 said his experience was "incredible," because of both the enthusiasm of the support teams and the physical feat he and his team accomplished. Several students said that the early portions of the trip, including hiking through the night, were not as hard as they had anticipated, though the final 15 miles proved quite difficult. Most students who did not complete The Fifty were derailed by injury, and some students hallucinated because of their exhaustion. Sharon Dauson '09 counted herself lucky, saying she suffered only "painful chafing."
The Dartmouth Trauma Interventions Research Center was awarded $450,000 to implement a child-trauma training program. Previously, none of New Hampshire's 10 community health-treatment centers employed specially trained therapists. The grant comes from the Endowment for Health, the state's largest health foundation, and will allow each of the 10 centers to train up to seven therapists in "trauma-based behavioral therapy." The training will be conducted via teleconference so that therapists do not have to sacrifice time spent with patients. Child trauma therapy is a particularly difficult field; however, the behavioral therapy approach has proven effective in treating children and adolescents dealing with death and those who are victims of physical or sexual abuse. The therapy also helps to prevent future complications, such as drug and alcohol abuse.
Dartmouth's Theta Psi chapter of Alpha Xi Delta sorority won eight awards at its national convention in late June. Three of the awards were for academic excellence, including the Anna Grandin Baldwin Award for highest overall grade point average. Other awards related to recruitment and chapter management. The sorority also received an honorable mention for the Xi Achievement Award, which is based on accreditation points and status. Lauren DeNatale '09, the summer president of the sorority, and Jessica Lane '09 attended the conference in Indianapolis. DeNatale said the sorority was very proud of the recognition, and that it "just encourages our sisters to continue with all of their hard work."
