True Confessions
"I pretend to be braver than I really am."
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"I pretend to be braver than I really am."
In one of the more poignant scenes in the hit "Knocked Up" (2007), Paul Rudd's character Pete, after having been caught ditching his wife to hang out with his male buddies, laments, "With work and you and the kids, sometimes I just need some time to myself." Choking back tears, his wife Debbie replies, "I want time for myself too. You're not the only one." Struggling with the distinct sense that his life has turned into one long cycle of monotony, Pete is having a mid-life existential crisis. But why can't Debbie have one, too?
It was while watching the sixth or seventh rendition of awkward suburban teens performing the Soulja Boy dance on CollegeHumor that I truly came to understand the meaning of the term "attention whore."
Last Thursday, Sylvia Spears, director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, gave a speech at the Pan Asian Council's community dinner. Among other things, she spoke about self-segregation and the importance of being allies when incidents of prejudice or discrimination arise on campus. According to data presented at the dinner, 70 percent of the Class of 2011 claimed to value "diversity" while 90 percent cited a desire to become more "cultured" as one of their collegiate goals.
Quick, what's the opposite of a "jock?" If you said "nerd" (like I did), you're probably not alone. Jocks versus nerds. Body versus mind. Hulking, football-jersey-wearing meatheads versus skinny, bespectacled computer geeks. The dichotomy between brains and brawn is one that has been reinforced and perpetuated by countless movie, television and pop culture references.
Guys wearing laminated placards are stealing bright red sirens, while fellows with bad haircuts are walking past mustachioed lunchbox wielders. Yes, it's that time again, folks. The signs and symbols of pledge term are all over campus, heralding the initiation of yet another class into the ranks of the Dartmouth Greek system. Recent articles published in these very pages reveal that the number of both male and female pledges this year has gone up. Without question, Dartmouth Greek life is stronger than ever. But what might explain the compelling force that drives new rushes to pledge each year? When asked, students often offer the same hackneyed responses we've all heard before: because all your friends did it, to increase your social capital, to meet new people, etc.
There's a scene in the movie "Mean Girls" in which newcomer Cady -- still completely ignorant of the customs and norms of her American public high school -- surveys the scene in the cafeteria with wonder during her lunch period. She notices that her fellow students are clustered together in distinct groups that, as her friend Janis describes, run the gamut of stereotypical high school cliques: from the "preps" and "J.V. jocks" to "desperate wannabes, burnouts, and sexually active band geeks." Obviously, the movie is a hyperbolic and exaggerated portrayal of social cliques -- funny precisely because its rendering of adolescent social interactions is so over the top. But amidst the laughs is a surprising grain of truth. The movie works partly because its caricature of high school sociology is an honest reflection of how young adults actually partition and subdivide their social world.
It is hard to avoid comparing private colleges and universities to well-oiled businesses. College Trustees govern as a board of directors would -- deciding on policy, appropriating funds, and growing the endowment. Schools across the nation have developed complicated marketing schemes to attract potential clien... uh, applicants. And many, if not most, pander to a ranking industry that claims to measure worth and places status on a pedestal. In an increasingly market-driven world, students, parents and administrators alike have bought into the idea that college is a business: We the students are the consumers and the product being sold to us is our education. Indeed, with ever-increasing tuition prices, it can seem like we are literally buying our college experience.
Harvard's decision to do away with its early admissions program has created a lot of hubbub about whether or not such policies are equitable. But all the commotion over the fact that wealthy students are accepted at a higher rate during the early round does not get to the heart of the question of whether early admission, particularly binding early decision, is fair. If all those wealthy students accepted early were geniuses, it would be hard to dispute the fact that they deserved an acceptance letter, regardless of their socioeconomic background. The process would only be unfair if lower standards were applied during the early round than in the regular round, thus making it inherently easier for an early applicant to obtain a letter of acceptance; all students would want to reap the benefits of this kind of policy, but low-income students would be denied access because of the financial commitment required. To get to the heart of the issue we must examine the reasons why early admissions exists and evaluate the standards applied to early applicants to really gauge whether this system should persist at Dartmouth.
Recent events on campus, including the rally to support immigrant rights, the uproar over a set of satirical, but racially insensitive posters and the election of Student Body President-Elect Tim Andreadis '07 on a platform that advocated greater inclusion of minorities, show that diversity and the place that minorities have on this campus are important issues that deserve continued discussion and visibility. In addition, since May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I personally thought that it was an appropriate time to reflect on some of the struggles we as students are still facing in regards to integration, self-segregation and the ongoing efforts to create a more inclusive, pluralistic Dartmouth. In the interest of conciseness, I have made the issue of race and racial diversity the main focus of this article. I feel this is apt because race is extremely visible and often lies at the heart of debates about Dartmouth's minority populations. However, my thoughts and words extend to all minority groups, not just those defined by their race or ethnicity.
Beginnings are the best: the beginning of spring, the beginning of a new term and, for many prospective members of the Class of 2010 nationwide, the beginning of college. In a matter of days, hundreds of prospective students will descend upon campus for Dartmouth's annual Dimensions weekend. For many, it will mark the beginning of their Dartmouth experience. Some of us current students will be happy with this influx of potential freshmen: hosting them, showing them around and trying to convince them that Dartmouth is the most awesome place in the world. And then there are those of us who will bemoan the fact that pre-frosh students will be invading our campus, eating at our tables and otherwise making their presence felt on our turf. But as I reflect on my own Dimensions weekend, I feel that prospies are objects not of scorn, but of envy. They possess something that many of us have lost with the passing seasons as one term has melded into the next: a sense of excitement, possibility and optimism that the sky's the limit and that anything can be achieved with a blank slate and a fresh start.
I've found over the years that the best movies are the ones that are effective at stirring the audience's emotions and inciting debate. Judging from the powerful and emotionally moving trailer, the controversial new movie "United 93" seems to fit the bill perfectly.
Occasionally missing class or falling asleep during lecture are minor infractions that all students have been guilty of at one point or another. Usually, it's not a big deal and such incidents are put out of mind without a second thought. But what about walking out during the middle of a lecture or harassing a professor with rude, incessant e-mails? Is that going too far?
Don't you hate it when you miss an episode of your favorite TV show? Any television fan will tell you that even a single missed episode can mean a week's worth of anxiety and frustration.
It is now a quarter to midnight. I'm sitting at my desk perusing sports statistics and munching on cookies. I have a pile of work due tomorrow, in front of me, that I have yet to start. As this horrifying realization starts to dawn on me, I find myself wondering, "Where did the hours go? How did I manage to be so utterly unproductive?" I have probably done anything and everything possible except start my work: web surfing, TV and even laundry. Many of you can probably relate; among college students, procrastination is not so much a problematic tendency as it is an epidemic. It steals precious hours away from our day and prevents us from being productive. But if procrastination is really such a drawback, why do we continue to do it?
Students often comment on how quickly our four years at Dartmouth go by -- how we must cherish our time here because it will be over before we know it. But what if you had an extra year to spend in college -- or eight?
This is hardly news, but in case anyone has somehow managed to miss the loud, distracting construction going on around campus, here's the skinny: in addition to a variety of classroom and administrative buildings, new residential spaces are being built: the McLaughlin Residential Cluster at North College and Maynard Streets, and the Tuck Mall Residence Halls on Tuck Mall. What is less obvious, but is gradually spreading, is the news of proposed plans to tear down Hinman Hall in the River cluster (to make way for a new business school facility) and to eventually tear down and replace the rest of the residential housing in the River. While the only building coming down for sure in the near future is Hinman (funding does not currently exist to replace French and McLane) the imminent destruction of one of the River dorms got me thinking about the role that all-freshman housing plays in the first-year experience.
Make sure your children come straight home to study after school. Forbid them to see their friends until the weekend. Only allow them fifteen minutes of phone use and an hour of television per week. Give them additional homework after they've finished with their schoolwork.
As an '09 who's only been at Dartmouth for a mere three and a half weeks, I'm definitely still in my "take one step forward and two steps back" phase. There's still so much to learn as I fumble and bumble my way around trying to get into the groove of things. Yet despite my best efforts, I have not shed the characteristics and mannerisms that so effectively indicate my '09 status. I'm still the kid who has trouble finding his classes in the morning; the kid who walks in late everyday to his 7:45 drill; I'm the kid who once forgot to pay for his food at Thayer and had to endure the admonishment of the cashier (not to mention the snickers of many an upperclassman); and, last but not least, I'm the kid who stumbles anxiously into the frats only to get absolutely demolished at pong by guys who are infinitely more woozy and intoxicated. And yet, despite all this, and despite the fact that I still bear the status of a faceless, anonymous 'shman who doesn't have a clue in the grand scheme of things here, there is one thing that I can say absolutely and unequivocally: this place is fantastic and I love it here. More than anything else, Dartmouth and the people who comprise it inspire me to be better, and I for one am very excited for the next four years.