A Call to Arms
Last spring, I met a Dartmouth alumnus from the class of 1944 who told me a wonderful story. After many of the veterans, including himself, returned from the war to complete their education, the town of Hanover got the idea that since the students comprised a greater percentage of the town population than local residents, it was passing up a huge revenue source by not taxing them. While I'm unclear on the details of the law, the town apparently decided to impose a tax on the students. The students decided they might as well take an active role in the Hanover government, and soon they had rammed legislation through the town government which required that a four hundred-foot tower, one inch on a side and constructed of toothpicks, be erected on the Green at town expense. Needless to say, the town quickly repealed the offensive tax. The details of this tale are somewhat sketchy, and it may be a fabrication, but it demonstrates a willingness to fight the system in a creative and constructive manner.