AS SEEN ON: A promising start for ABC's sci-fi show "V"

Courtesy of examiner.com Over the past decade, science-fiction programming has declined rapidly in quality. Sure, there is an entire cable network dedicated to the genre (SyFy, formerly the Sci Fi Channel), but unless you feel like paying for cable programming, network TV has very little to offer. Recent science-fiction series on the networks have all been disappointments, and many have seen quick cancellation: Shows including ABC's "Invasion" (2005), CBS's "Threshold" (2005) and NBC's "Bionic Woman" (2007), for example, all come to mind. The few relative hits in the sci-fi genre, NBC's "Heroes" and "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," meanwhile, are pretty much circling the drain. When the track record is this poor, fans have a legitimate reason to be skeptical whenever the networks market a new project as the next sci-fi hit. Based on the pilot of ABC's much-anticipated action-drama "V," however, sci-fi fans may have reason to celebrate. "V" is already critically acclaimed, and appears to be a ratings hit: The series premiere, which aired last Tuesday at 8 p.m., garnered 13.9 million viewers, ranking first in its time slot and first for all new series premieres this season. A reimagining of a 1984 miniseries, "V," which recounts the story of technologically advanced aliens invading Earth, provides an imaginative spin on the cliche of the alien invasion. The series does recall some previous incarnations of this theme: The show's pilot features a scene eerily reminiscent of "Independence Day" (1996), in which the visiting mothership fleet appears in over 29 major cities around the globe.

Cancer center becomes patients' ‘second home'

Courtesy of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center Walking into the lobby of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, where patients awaiting treatment flip idly through current issues of "House and Garden" and "Conde Nast Traveler," seemingly ignoring the support group pamphlets that also litter the reception area tables, it might be easy to miss the signs of disease that are ubiquitous here. Each year, however, the center becomes a "second home" to the 31,000 patients who receive treatment, said Christine Gilbert, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last March. Norris Cotton, which first opened in 1972, is one of the United States' 40 comprehensive care centers, facilities designated and funded by the National Cancer Institute to engage in patient care, conduct clinical trials and participate in research projects specific to cancer. The center employs approximately 200 health care providers, who are all officially employed by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, according to Dartmouth Medical School professor Mark Israel, the center's director.

Coed sailing ranked No. 9 in NEISA

douglas gonzalez / The Dartmouth Staff As the season winds down for the Dartmouth sailing team, the sailors' have not.

Expert discusses defense strategy

Vernon works to realize platform

TILMAN DETTE / The Dartmouth Senior Staff Just three months into her first official term as Student Body President, Frances Vernon '10 has made progress toward checking off several of the major goals outlined in her campaign including large-scale changes to the Organization Adjudication Committee.

Film professor Ehrlich ends 18-year tenure at the College

ANDY MAI / The Dartmouth Staff Beloved animation professor David Ehrlich, an 18-year veteran of the film and media department, announced earlier this year that he plans to leave Dartmouth at the end of the Fall term in order to pursue a teaching opportunity at an art and design college on Gulangyu, a tropical island off the coast of South China. "I love Dartmouth and its students, and am ambivalent about leaving, but after 18 years, it's time to move on," Ehrlich said in an interview with The Dartmouth this week. Ehrlich is a world-renowned animator credited with making the first animal sculptural hologram, which he titled "Oedipus at Colomus," in 1978.