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The Dartmouth
August 13, 2026
The Dartmouth
News
News

Student Life task force making progress

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The Student Life task force met for the second time last Friday to discuss students' social options and hopes to present a draft report to Dean of the College Lee Pelton by the end of the term, Gabrielle Lucke, the College's Director of Health Resources and co-chair of the task force, said. Lucke said the task force, which was created earlier this term in a response to Pelton's call for an examination of Dartmouth social life, is presently in the planning stage. "We've had two meetings of the full task force so far this term, and we plan to meet every Friday at least until the end of the term," Lucke said. She said the group's first meeting was devoted to brainstorming about the important issues regarding social life at the College, and the second meeting involved analyzing data and devising strategies for collecting information. Lucke also said the task force has discussed a number of social life issues, including facilities, funding and social opportunities for students. Canavan said in an e-mail message that the group has been "brainstorming different issues and are in the early phases of collecting information.


News

England suits fancy of Dartmouth's 'most famous alumnus'

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LONDON -- When Paul Gambaccini '70 first came to England, he was already on a roll. Having just graduated from Dartmouth, he was already a regular contributor to Rolling Stone magazine, and he had been invited to come across the Atlantic for two years of study at Oxford University. Most 21-year-olds would be quite happy being in such a position, but Gambaccini, as it turns out, was just getting started. Now, some 26 years later, Gambaccini is still here -- and he has made a wildly successful career for himself as an author, radio and television broadcaster and music and arts critic. He is practically a household name in London, and some time ago the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine called Gambaccini "undoubtedly Dartmouth's most famous alumnus" -- not bad for a school that has produced its fair share of well-known politicians, lawyers and business executives. Despite the constant demands on his time by his many literary projects and appearances on radio and television, Gambaccini was still happy to set aside part of his day to reflect upon his success, his experiences in London and his time at Dartmouth. Two big breaks Gambaccini got his first big break when he was a senior at the College. As a regular disc-jockey on WDCR-AM radio, Gambaccini said he received a phone call early one morning, asking him to fill in as the host of the breakfast show, an offer he gladly accepted. Unable to fall back asleep, Gambaccini decided to write a review of a music single and send it in to Rolling Stone magazine, since he had always been telling himself he could write a better review than Ed Ward, the magazine's music critic. Gambaccini said "to his astonishment," he received a reply from Ed Ward himself, saying "anything that makes me laugh as much as your ... review has to go in.


News

Wright places College in higher ed. spectrum

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Dean of the Faculty James Wright delivered his annual address to the faculty of the arts and sciences yesterday afternoon, describing Dartmouth's place among institutions of American higher education and the benefits of the Will to Excel capital campaign. Wright said there is a spectrum of colleges and institutions in the country. They "range from small teaching colleges to large research universities," Wright said.



News

Sororities witness five-year low in fall pledge numbers

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In an era when interest in sororities is at a peak, the College's six Panhellenic sororities received their lowest number of Fall-term pledges in five years last month due to the ongoing problem of too few sororities for too many women and rushees' dissatisfaction with the rush system. While more women than ever dropped out of rush or chose not to accept bids and while a new sorority -- Delta Omega Pi -- looms on the horizon, Delta Gamma sorority remains relatively empty. Still women claim there are too few sororities for too many women. Bid acceptances down Of the 266 women who participated in rush this fall, only 176 actually ended up joining a sorority.



News

Clinton emerges as favorite in Dartmouth, Ivy League polls

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With election day approaching, many Dartmouth students are deliberating over candidates before they cast their ballots -- most have decided in favor of Clinton and many said education policy decided their vote, according to a recent poll conducted by The Dartmouth. According to the poll, 64 percent of Dartmouth students supported President Bill Clinton in the presidential election while 28 percent favored Senator Bob Dole and four percent were undecided.



News

Racism conference to bring together students, faculty

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Hundreds of students and faculty from 24 northeastern colleges and universities will converge at Dartmouth this weekend to discuss racism at a two-day conference. The annual conference, this year titled "The Challenges of Diversity: From Talkin' the Talk to Walkin' the Walk," is sponsored by the Society Organized Against Racism in New England Higher Education. The organization "was founded 15 years ago to help member institutions fight racism and to provide networks and other resources to do so," said Candace Crawford '98, co-chair of the Interracial Concerns Committee -- Dartmouth's SOAR chapter. Approximately 240 students and 60 administrators will participate in the conference, which starts at noon on Friday and will end on Saturday afternoon.



News

New curriculum is a 'work in progress'

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It will be two or three more years before the College can fully assess the new curriculum and in the meantime students and faculty are continuing to adjust to the College's new distributive requirements -- two years after their implementation. With 10 specific distributive requirements, the new curriculum, which began with the Class of 1998, asks students to take a broader range of classes than did the previous requirements. Evaluating the curriculum Dean of the Faculty James Wright said the new curriculum is still a work in progress. "It's still a little early to assess what changes need to be made," Wright said.


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Preferences for fraternities fluctuate from year to year

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While the number of men who rush fraternities each year remains about constant, the numbers at each individual house can fluctuate greatly from year to year. Houses compete against each other to gain large pledge classes, and those who do not fare well face problems filling their houses and with meeting financial burdens because there are so many fraternities to fill. Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders said the number of men who join fraternities each fall is somewhere just above 200, while individual pledge classes this year are as large as 31 at Alpha Delta and Chi Heorot fraternities, and as small as zero, as Gamma Delta Chi fraternity has no new member contracts on file with ORL. About 30 students joined the coed Greek houses -- Alpha Theta, Phi Tau and Tabard. Uneven numbers, financial burdens With about 200 men pledging each fall and only 15 houses, it is not possible for all houses to have large pledge classes.


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Panelists describe advent of coeducation

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Former and present administrators spoke about the College's decision to coeducate and the early years of coeducation during a panel discussion yesterday afternoon titled "Women and Men of Dartmouth: How and Why the College Went Coed." The panel, which is one of several events scheduled this term to mark the 25th anniversary of coeducation, included Nels Armstrong '71, the director of Alumni Relations; Marilyn Austin, a former vice-provost and associate dean of the College; Fred Berthold, professor of religion emeritus; Michael McGean '45, secretary of the College emeritus and Holly Sateia, dean of student life. The discussion was moderated by Director of the Women's Resource Center Giavanna Munafo. Campus atmosphere Armstrong, a student at the time the decision to coeducate was made, drew a picture of what campus life was like at that time the coeducation decision. Armstrong said the fact that the College was all-male played a small part in his decision to attend Dartmouth. Once he arrived in 1967, Armstrong said the single-sex campus had a profound effect on how he viewed social life. Armstrong said some students realized hurdles were going to be there for women, while others may not have. "Some of us had our own hurdles to go through," he said.


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Students must change residency to vote in NH

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Out-of-state students can register to vote in New Hampshire for the upcoming presidential elections but they will have to change their permanent residency. Manchester Deputy City Clerk Paul Bergeron said "campaigns out there saying you can vote and register at the polls aren't telling the whole ramifications." Bergeron said there was no way for students to register to vote in New Hampshire without changing their residence. "Once you have filed the [registration] card here, you've changed your residence," he said ."You can de-register but there are requirements.


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Michigan Regents to meet Tues.

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The Board of Regents of the University of Michigan may choose the its new President in less than a week. College Provost Lee Bollinger was named one of four finalists in the presidential search two weeks ago . The Regents met privately on Tuesday and decided to begin the final stage of deliberations next Tuesday. Michigan Law School Dean Jeffrey Lehman, who was the chairman of the presidential search advisory committee and who moderated the town meetings, said there is no way of knowing how long the deliberations will take. "The meetings could last a day or they could go on for weeks," Lehman said.


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Campus heads explore space and community

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About 20 students attended an informal panel discussion titled "Issues of Space on Campus" following the coeducation panel yesterday evening in the basement of Mid Fayerweather. Representatives from Amarna undergraduate society, Bones Gate fraternity, Milan, the Panhellenic Council, Phi Tau coed fraternity and the Student Assembly discussed issues of space on campus as well as issues concerning the Greek system and student voice on campus. Danielle Benware '97, an Amarna member, began the discussion by asking what issues concern students about space on campus. Panhell President Jess Russo '97 said, "The number of students hasn't increased, why does [space] seem to be such an issue now?" "There are a million different groups sprouting up all over the place" that are wanting space on campus, Russo said. She said La Alianza Latina and the College's new sorority are applying for space in addition to among other groups. Assembly Vice President of Student Life Meredith Epstein '97 said she thinks one important space issue on campus is that "a lot of social events happen at fraternities" where women might not feel comfortable. "Is there the right amount of social space where everyone can feel comfortable?" Epstein asked. Russo said the Women's Resource Center often shares its space with other groups. "It is good they share their space," Russo said.


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College decides to keep Ed. Dept.

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The beleaguered education department will remain a part of the College for at least three more years, as a result of the efforts of new Education Chair Andrew Garrod and Dean of the Social Sciences George Wolford.



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Feds expose national GRE cheating scandal

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Most students stare intently at their exam booklets when taking the Graduate Record Exam. But some students who took the test last month in Los Angeles were concentrating on something else -- their pencils. On Saturday, federal agents broke up a cheating ring in which students allegedly paid $6,000 each to have answers to the GRE and other tests coded onto their pencils. The scheme used time-zone differences to defeat the test. Prosecutors allege a team of experts took exams in New York using assumed names, then telephoned the answers to Los Angeles George Kobayshi, of Arcadia, Calif., was arrested Saturday on fraud charges for providing test-takers with answers to the GRE, the Graduate Management Admissions Test and the Test of English as a Foreign Language. To identify the test-takers involved in the scheme, ETS will review confiscated records from Kobayshi's American Test Center and will investigate the center's clients, Kevin Gonzales, spokesman for the Educational Testing Service, the Princeton, N.J.


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Gould takes time to chat and sign books

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Following his hour-and-a half-lecture, Harvard Zoology and Geology Professor Stephen J. Gould lounged in his chair and answered questions, told jokes and signed copies of his books. Several dozen students and members of the Upper Valley crowded around the podium last night at the end of the Class of 1930 Fellow's visit to meet the renowned scientist and science writer. Gould spent time fielding questions and talking privately with audience members while signing books with a jovial grin and avoiding the flash of a photographer's camera. "When I'm chatting with people I want to talk to them, not have a flashbulb going off in my face," Gould said. Gould answered questions ranging from his definition of evolutionary progress to the differences between species complexity and specialization. After the crowd of people dispersed, Gould spoke with The Dartmouth. He acknowledged that while the topics discussed last night -- human arrogance regarding evolution and species complexity -- are topics that should be of interest both the public and the scientific community, the theories are not well-known to the public. "It is not a radical theory among professionals ... although they may not take it as far as I do," Gould said.