I believe that most of us at Dartmouth would like our institution to strive for the highest standards of ethics and ideals. Yet our administrative system sometimes artificially lengthens the time it takes for ethical dilemmas to be addressed.
In 1971, Native Americans at Dartmouth asked that all stereotypical expressions of the Indian symbol be eliminated from campus. The issue was given to the Indian Symbol Study Committee. Although the committee contributed to raising awareness of the issue, stereotypical expression of Native Americans was a major campus concern just last year. Part of the reason that the problem lasted for so long has to do with limited student access to information on administrative committee deadlines.
With committees only being responsible to the administration and themselves, there lacks serious incentive for committees to address problems in a timely manner if doing so is not an administrative priority. I believe many individuals who happen to become energized about an issue or a committee's lack of progress on an issue can be appeased with promises of a forthcoming solution. If the concerned parties are students, they soon graduate and new students on campus have very limited knowledge of earlier issues. Without publicized deadlines and time constraints, administrative committees can stall concerned students until they graduate.
Limited information on committee deadlines is also responsible for the ongoing temperature problem at Home Plate Grill. The thermometer against the wall behind the grill has often read over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Marty Emerson, a longtime employee of the Home Plate Grill, told me that talks with the administration about alleviating the heat in the area began over seven years ago. Unsurprisingly, the issue was assigned to a committee.
A few years ago, employees at the grill were given informational flyers on how to stay safe in overheated working conditions. The instructions were largely unpractical and did not address the fundamental issue of lowering the heat in the area. Emerson recounted to me that the problem has gotten worse over the years, particularly after the addition to the church to the south of Thayer was constructed and restricted air flow around the building. On May 9, 2007, Emerson recorded the temperature against the back wall of the grill as 120.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Grill employees have corroborated that the temperature by the back wall is perceptibly cooler than directly over the grill. I do not envy a workday in such conditions.
Emerson also told me of an idea for a practical and reasonably priced solution to the high temperatures. The idea is to do minimal ductwork to an already existing cold air flow in Home Plate. Then, some cold air could be redirected to the grill area where it could alleviate the heat. Given that the necessary renovations would cost less than $20,000, according to Emerson, I think the relevant committee should at least be able to give a timetable for heat no longer being an employee issue.
Viewing Dartmouth as a social model, I find it unacceptable that Dartmouth employees have been subjected to such intense working conditions for nearly a decade. I find it equally unacceptable that a big issue of last year -- stereotyping images on campus -- was actually a festering concern that had not been properly addressed for 36 years. If committee deadlines were publicized, students could better monitor progress on issues of interest. Campus then would better be able to apply bottom-to-top pressure to the administration on the issues we, as a newer generation, feel are critical and imperative. Publicizing committee timetables for plans of action and giving committees deadlines to come up with such public timetables could aid Dartmouth in efficiently addressing legitimate student and employee concerns as they are presented. At the very least, they should get a committee to look into it.
