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College forms affinity housing committee

By Erin Loback | October 11, 1996

Dean of the College Lee Pelton has established an advisory committee on affinity housing and the committee will hold its first meeting later this term. Dean of the College Lee Pelton said the committee will be "composed of the faculty who are in those academic programs connected with the academic affinity houses." He said it is not a "committee that will issue a report or take action," but rather one that will meet only once or twice a term to discuss issues concerning affinity housing. One of the first issues Pelton said he would like the committee to discuss is whether the College should regularize the way affinity houses operate. He said all houses currently differ on many issues such as residence requirements. Some houses only allow students to reside in the house for a certain amount of time, Pelton said. "In some ways this makes a lot of sense to me," he said.

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Kessler condemns tobacco industry

By Jess Jacob | October 11, 1996

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler last night held Joe Camel up as an example when he condemned the tobacco industry for deliberately directing cigarette advertisements toward youth markets. In his speech, titled, "Tobacco Policy and Children," Kessler told a crowd that filled Cook Auditorium that an FDA investigation found tobacco industries appeal to young people by using cartoon characters and other images to promote their products. "Children are bombarded by whimsical images of Joe Camel," he said. Kessler said R.J.

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Climber follows his dream up the 'Tower'

By Jake Elberg | October 10, 1996

With breathtaking pictures on the screen behind him, world-renowned climber Todd Skinner spoke to more than 250 students at the Cook Auditorium last night. A dream he said began 10 years ago, led Skinner, along with three others, to climb the East Face of the Nameless Tower in the Himalayas.

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Freedman heads out on the highway

By Jess Jacob | October 10, 1996

College President James Freedman's traveling shoes may be wearing thin, but his off-campus itinerary remains long and diverse. From addressing the alumni club of Iowa to opening a business program in Hanoi, in addition to his work on campus, Freedman is on call for Dartmouth around the country and overseas. But Freedman remains dedicated to his office-related tasks while on the road.

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Students: Kemp impressive in debate

By David Kung | October 10, 1996

Students watching the vice-presidential debate last night were impressed by the performance of Republican candidate Jack Kemp but rated the debate as a draw overall. About 25 members of the Conservative Union at Dartmouth and Young Democrats gathered together in the Hyphen last night to watch Kemp and Democratic candidate Al Gore swap comments and rebuttals. An atmosphere of almost funereal silence was observed during the hour-and-a-half screening of the only vice-presidential debate. Young Democrats President Brian Reilly '99 said the debate was well presented but was a hopeless cause for the Republicans. Reilly said he "would bet money" on the Republicans losing in November. "I thought on Kemp's side it was very well packaged but mostly empty," Reilly said. Reilly said Gore seemed "a bit too stiff and choppy but had more substance." Reilly said both sides put themselves in a good position for running for president in the year 2000.

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Students ponder 'Foodhenge:' ancient mystery or modern marker?

By Jodi Priselac | October 10, 1996

Tour guides for the College will have a new stop on their itinerary this year, the four newly erected brick pillars standing in front of Thayer Dining Hall. A verifiable "Foodhenge," the new addition has crowds wondering. While several students commented on the practical uses of the pillars, such as bike supports and brick depositories, many explored their possible cosmic dimensions. "I say aliens put them there," Rolando Lopez '00 said. Vince Cannon '99 explained the pillars served as a "guide for space aliens into Full Fare, or whatever it is called now, where they can get all the chicken they can eat." Jason Gracilieri '99 said, "it is like one of those things in "Ghostbusters" for channelling ghost energy." Students pondered that perhaps the posts could mark an ancient landmark. "Maybe it's an ancient sacrifice spot where that new door to Robinson is the mouth of some strange pseudo-Mayan god and the pillars are braziers for burning incense," Noah Phillips '00 said. Alex Magleby '00 agreed with that assessment, adding "these are the foundations for a virgin sacrifice balcony." Randy Rutherford '99 explained, "if there were five of them, it would be for some satanic ritual." The placement of the pillars, forming a square outlined by a foot-wide brick inlay, did not go unnoticed by students. Doug White '97 explained, "there is the Bermuda Triangle ... and now we have the Dartmouth Square," he said. Many students saw the pillars as possible shrines to Dartmouth tradition. Freshman Curran Stockwell hypothesized, "I think they are for a really big pong table." The College is "going to mount sculptures of Jimmy O., Dean Pelton, and Mr. Wheelock on them," Spencer Jones '00 said. Larelin Cartaya '97 suggested the podiums could support a statue of the Cat in the Hat. One of the most common hypotheses behind the structures saw the square 'arena' as some sort of new athletic facility. Robert Rees '97 said the distance between the mystery objects "would be a perfect professional wrestling ring ... I can just see someone climbing up on there for a body slam." Bethany Crenshaw '99 envisions "a big boxball court, you know, you used to play that in elementary school." "At some point, they [the College] are going to get the Editor-in-Chief of the Dartmouth Review and James O.

News

Class councils set agendas

By Jake Elberg | October 10, 1996

After electing 38 members to its class council, the freshman class is looking forward to setting its agenda for the year, while upperclass councils already have a full schedule. Freshman Council Freshman class council officers will be elected next Wednesday, and "once the elections take place, the students will take charge of their own council and then it will begin to take on its own character," said Jessica Roberts '97, the First Year Office intern, who will supervise the class council's first meetings. The main activities for the council during Fall term will be organizing the bonfire and freshman sweep. "They need to make sure the bonfire lights, burns and they avoid disaster," Roberts said. As far as long-term goals, the council may look to the '99 council as a model, Roberts said. "They would like to distinguish themselves the way the '99 Council has through their amazing [attendance] numbers," she said. "It appears the [class council] may have a chance to accomplish that goal as more than 70 students attended the first meeting last Wednesday and they all seemed pretty excited about making their mark on Dartmouth," Roberts said. Casey Sixkiller '00, a new representative from North Massachusetts Hall, said his main goal for the council is to, "bring the class together and get to know who each other are." South Massachusetts Hall's new representative Rebecca Udler '00, said through the Council she hopes "to meet a lot of people and become active in the school." 1999 Class Council The 1999 Class Council has distinguished itself over the past year through both the activities it has planned and the sheer number of its members, Roberts said. While most councils have less than 10 members, the 1999 council has more than 50 members, sophomore Class President Rex Morey said. This year the council is planning a fall leadership conference at which at least 50 student leaders are expected to attend, Morey said. The conference, which will take place the last weekend October, at Pierce's Inn in Etna is "to teach the leadership of Dartmouth how to work together as well as teach them leadership skills," he said.

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Assembly resolves to halt truancy

By Erik Tanouye | October 9, 1996

The Student Assembly last night unanimously passed a resolution that amended its constitution to include a new attendance policy. The resolution allows members three absences before the Assembly takes action.

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College deans discuss student services

By Beth Duncan | October 9, 1996

After a three days of discussion about campus social issues like diversity, the Academic and Student Services Officers Network conference ended yesterday on an inclusive note. The College hosted this year's conference, which enabled representatives from some of the nation's top schools to share successes, failures and different approaches to solving problems that have arisen in their communities. Dean of the College Lee Pelton said, in an interview with The Dartmouth, he wanted to highlight the importance of moving away from the specialization of programs and groups within the college community as the focus of his keynote speech at the welcoming dinner on Sunday. "My worries are that our institutions are becoming too specialized," Pelton said. Pelton said he wants to see a movement toward programming that applies a broader notion of diversity -- "issues that are not simply related to curriculum" nor to extracurricular groups. John Pryor, Dartmouth's coordinator of evaluation and research and Dartmouth Medical School Research Professor, said Pelton's opening speech "set the tone for the rest of the conference". Pryor said, "People kept referring back to and building upon" the themes that Pelton addressed in his speech. The officers at the conference discussed "the issue of diversity and ways to grapple with it and define it," Pryor said. He said some discussions at the conference focused on Pelton's idea of creating programs that are more inclusive. Pryor said the College already has an example of such a program.

News

Koop criticizes doctors for being impersonal

By Sarah Gerry | October 9, 1996

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop decried the doctor-patient relationship in the age of managed care and called for a "revitalization of physician professionalism" in a speech yesterday afternoon. "The once proud and dramatic Hippocratic oath is being abandoned," Koop told approximately 40 students, faculty and guests in Brace Commons at the supercluster's first programming event. Koop expressed concern over the limited amount of time that patients are able to spend with physicians and the difficulty they may experience in choosing their physicians when confronted with health management organizations. Koop said, "Only one of 52 patients ever gets to tell his story to his physician," and called for physicians to listen better, talk slowly and to realize in many cases, "patients are simply not emotionally equipped to deal with what doctors have to say." Koop also said the intrusion of lawyers and business interests into doctor patient relationships and meetings is detrimental, explaining his visits with patients are "crowded with people I wouldn't want to have there, and I'm sure my patient wouldn't want to have either." But some patients prefer HMOs, Koop said.

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Will to Excel fundraising effort ends

By Erin Loback | October 8, 1996

The Will to Excel capital campaign ended last night having exceeded its goal by more than $30 million. The five-year campaign raised money to increase endowments for facilities and student and academic programs. The campaign hit its $500 million goal in June, according to Stan Colla, vice president of development and alumni relations. The original goal for the campaign, $425 million, was increased to $500 million in October, 1994. Director of Development Publications Jack DeGange said yesterday the final amount raised will not be released until Friday, once all contributions have been processed. He said more specific details about the campaign will not be available until next week. DeGange told The Dartmouth last month the goal had already been exceeded by six percent, with $530,033,275 raised to that point. Although the campaign officially ended yesterday at 5 p.m., Colla said he expected last-minute faxes from around the country last night pledging donations to the campaign. "People were working busily dealing with last-minute calls," Colla said.

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Over 100 students board bus to Manchester to hear Clinton speech

By Jacqueline Rose | October 8, 1996

Manchester -- Almost 200 Dartmouth students toting "Dartmouth loves Bill" and "Bill helped me pay for college" signs boarded buses and headed to Manchester yesterday afternoon to attend a campaign rally for President Bill Clinton. Standing beneath a huge wooden sign of a covered bridge and the words, "Building America's Bridge to the 21st Century," Clinton told the crowd education will be his top priority if re-elected. "We have got to unite in education and make American the education capital of the world," he said. After announcing his proposal for a tax credit of up to $10,000 a year to aid families in paying for the first two years of college, Clinton asked the audience of thousands, "Will you help me open the doors of college education to every person of college age in America?" Huge American flags and banners emblazoned with the now familiar democratic campaign theme, "Building the Bridge to the 21st Century," transformed the football stadium where the speech was given into a political arena. Even the stadium's athletic scoreboard was converted into a "debate scoreboard," which revealed that Clinton was leading "the other guy" zero to one after Sunday's debate. Clinton delivered the speech at a podium erected in the center of the field.

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Gay author speaks on success after College

By Lillie Ng | October 8, 1996

Keith Boykin '87 spoke last night about following his dreams to success in the keynote address to mark National Coming Out Week. Boykin, executive director of the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum, an educational advocacy organization based in Washington D.C.

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Economics eclipses govy as most popular major among '98s

By Carrie Dunsmore | October 7, 1996

At the end Spring term members of the Class of 1998 had to declare their majors, and the results of the most popular major contest are in. In the words of Teresa Rodimon, assistant to the Registrar, the current juniors have "bucked the trend." The most popular choices for the '98's are economics, government, and history -- in descending order. The most popular majors for the college as a whole are government, economics, and history, Rodimon said. The change in interest between government and economics is somewhat of a surprise, at least to the Registrar's office, she said. "Government has been number one forever," Rodimon said, stating that the department has been the most popular for at least the past five years. But she said differences in enrollment between the two departments have always been slight, and while the shift toward economics was interesting, she feels it not is indicative of any larger trend. "The social sciences always lead the way," Rodimon said, regardless of which department is currently most popular. Biology would be one of the most popular majors on campus if it were not for the fact that the four concentrations are counted separately in the registrar's records, Rodimon said. Dartmouth offers four types of biology majors: biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, genetics, cell, and developmental biology and environmental and evolutionary biology. Being number one Economics Department Chair Nancy Marion said she is more concerned with the effect the increased enrollment will have on the department, rather than being "number one." "This could just be a one year blip," she said, "Or it could be a trend towards more economics majors." The economics department plans to do a study on how to accommodate the increased number of students without affecting the quality of the department, she said. Government Department Chair Lynn Mather said large enrollments can be problematic for a department. Popular majors "create a difficulty" for students and professors, Mather said. Competition for enrolling in classes becomes fierce when more students are interested in the department, she said, which means some students are not able to take certain classes until their senior year. Mather said this situation causes severe scheduling headaches, and problems completing major requirements. History Department Chair Michael Ermath said "there is a constant battle between quantity and quality" as class size balloons in popular departments. The department is constantly being faced with the task of denying students entrance into popular courses, such as a diplomatic history course and a course on the Renaissance, in order to maintain quality in the classroom, he said. Quality and practicality Teaching quality and practicality are two reasons for the popularity of certain majors, according to students and faculty. Mather said "high quality teaching, and high quality courses" make government classes popular, but admits many people are drawn to them for reasons other than love of the subject matter. "It is perceived as the appropriate pre-law major," she said, "but this is not necessarily true." Mather said she feels students should choose departments based on their love of the subject matter, not pre-professional urges. Ermath said there is the viewpoint people choose history because it is "the course of least resistance", an idea which distresses him.

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