Dartmouth vs. Columbia
To the Editor:
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To the Editor:
Recently, the Student Assembly called a meeting to discuss the possible expansion of Kresge, in light of the administration's recent shelving of plans to build a new gym to replace the almost 100-year-old Alumni Gym. Sarah Berger called for the student body to "demonstrate the need for a new fitness center," and noted the small budget -- approximately $5,000 a year -- allocated to Kresge.
Every fall, all the upperclassmen on campus are amazed at the boisterous energy of the incoming freshmen. From the sudden rush of enthusiasm at student organization meetings to the ballooning lines at the Food Court grill, it's like Dartmouth has just had an infectious injection of raw energy -- people wanting to do something, experience new things and settle into college life all at once. It makes me ashamed at times of my settled routine; it wants to make me try new things, welcome different perspectives on pertinent issues and talk to a whole lot of different people -- and forget their names barely two minutes after.
I'll state this for the record: I hate walking all
Recently, the College decided that a system needs to be put in place in which students will be charged for public printing. This is a big step forward, and here I wish to share some of my thoughts on this issue.
So, he didn't make it after all. Michael Jordan failed to qualify for the NBA playoffs in what is (supposedly, at least) his last season as a basketball player. There was no fairytale ending, no last hurrah for the man that had managed to produce constantly physical wizardry throughout his career.
The plan called for a quick offensive, followed by an equally rapid capitulation. Overwhelming force and firepower would engender a quick endgame. With the action out of the way, the warriors would go home victorious. At least, that was what we all expected -- the question of failure never really entered anybody's minds. The issue was always whether or not to go to war, and the ability to successfully meet military goals was never called into doubt. However, this rosy picture has been shattered by developments on the ground.
Here's an exercise in imagination. Picture this as an Alternative Spring Break: sunny Jacksonville, located just south of the Georgia-Florida border. Unadulterated fun, clubbing every night, waking up for a late lunch and an even later dinner, with a half-hearted attempt at actual community service.
Make no mistake about it, the costs of war in Iraq will be huge. Iraqi armed forces are better prepared this time around -- in the Gulf War their Soviet-era tanks stood no chance against the technological superiority of the American M1A2 Abraham Tank. In 1991, dug-in Iraqi tanks watched as their rounds bounced harmlessly off the armor of the Abraham tanks. The technical sophistication of the Abraham's weapons system ensured a high kill rate; the flanking maneuvers carried out by General Fred Frank were immensely successful, allowing for an extremely swift advance into Iraqi territory.
Last Friday, I was walking back from the Dartmouth bookstore at two in the afternoon when I ran into a "mini-demonstration" of protesters. They numbered about ten or so and were bundled up in winter coats holding signs that proclaimed loudly, "Iraqis are not terrorists," making the same points as the "Why War" campaign on campus.
Admittedly, for a sizable portion of upperclassmen, the consensus is that winter is the ideal term to scratch an "L," "T" or "O" into one's D-plan. For starters, it's cold, and the sun has a tendency to increasingly go AWOL. The grass on the Green is replaced by ever-accumulating tons of snow, and when one has to layer and de-layer repeatedly it certainly puts things in greater perspective. The hot clam chowder in Food Court seems to run out at an exponential rate when compared to other terms. And, if you're from the tropics (like me, a proud resident of Singapore, located one degree above the equator) there are just some days when you want to curl up and "put an end to it all," as a close friend of mine likes to say.
Gosh, it's been cold outside lately, hasn't it? On the positive side, it gets me geared up just thinking about spring. And just so you know, '06s, the snow usually stays on the ground until May. On any given chilly night, I wonder how many souls in Hanover are, like me, already thinking about spring break.
It's the second week of school already, and the memories of the refreshing break have already faded into the distance. It's back to the routine of life at Dartmouth and in Hanover: the trudging in the snow, the ringing of the Baker tower bells, the ritualistic layering before venturing outside and the plethora of afternoons spent outdoors in the snow and of nights languishing indoors. There are, of course, classes to attend, friends to meet, experiences to share and DDS food to be had.
Frankly speaking, I have never been so bitterly disappointed at this college.
Home is where the heart is, or so the old adage goes.
The synonyms for inertia are numerous in the dictionary -- inertness, indisposition to motion, exertion, or action, want of energy and sluggishness. In common parlance, we often find it manifested in Isaac Newton's fundamental laws that govern physical motion on earth. Transcending this, however, is the concept of inertia in our lives -- and this crucial facet of life often remains unexamined.
That's how my first year was -- like a typical fall day. Foggy and overcast in the morning, the day would transform into a beauty, with individual rays of sunlight permeating the watery pallor hanging over the Green.
Downtown Hanover, as most of us would agree, provides everything that a college student could ever need. When I first strolled down Main Street, I was almost overwhelmed by the variety of shops there. In fact, I didn't dare venture past the Dartmouth Co-op. Main Street, to me, seemed to continue on forever. And after almost half a year of exploring it (though I have not experienced all that is there), I have come to the conclusion that the only thing that prevents Main Street from achieving a hallowed status akin to that of the Downtown Crossing in Boston is its dearth of authentic Chinese food.
We have to get out of here, we can't just be walking around by ourselves. I don't want to meet just about everybody's parents on campus."
Let me start out by stating for the record that the idea of limiting the majors of international students is simply absurd. It is an irrational response to the threat of terrorism. Additionally, it is extremely unwieldy and has wide-ranging ramifications that come with permanent, damaging consequences. I must confess that I was initially tempted to lash out against the notion that international students should be denied the right to pursue certain majors. (I am, after all, an international student myself.) However, a rational examination of the issue will suffice; the facts, indeed, speak for themselves.