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The Dartmouth
July 3, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
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News

ORL to look at future of graduate students in residence halls

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The Office of Residential Life will review the Graduate Students-in-Residence program this spring. The program, which started as a two-year pilot in the fall of 1993, places graduate students in residential clusters. Alison Keefe, assistant dean of residential life, said ORL is conducting a review of the program and will decide this spring to either continue the program or to end it. Keefe said based on answers to questionnaires that ORL distributed to the graduate associates and undergraduates, the response to the program has been positive so far. "I feel that it's going great because we have received so much student input from surveys and evaluations which have strengthened the GA position," Keefe said. Edward Berger, dean of graduate studies, said, "Based on those involved it seems to be going just fine." The students involved "seem to be enjoying the experience and it is not detracting them from their studies," he said. Len Wisniewski, a graduate student in computer science who has been a graduate associate since the program's inception said he applied because he wanted to "get a new perspective on undergrads." Former president of Dartmouth's graduate student council, Wisn-iewski lives in the Wheeler-Richardson cluster.


News

Students complain about Shawmut's fees

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Many Shawmut Bank customers are moving their accounts to other local banks in response to Shawmut's $1.50 service charge for using automatic teller machines other than its own. Shawmut Hanover Branch Manager Lorna Watson said she could not determine how many clients Shawmut has lost. "We are so up to our ears with change, I couldn't give you an accurate assessment," Watson said. Shawmut began charging the $1.50 service charge for every ATM transaction made outside Shawmut ATM machines this past weekend. The New Dartmouth bank, which Shawmut purchased last year, did not charge customers to use their ATM card at other machines. New Dartmouth customers were formally notified and given informational packets regarding Shawmut's policies on Dec.


News

Students, professors rally in support of pro-choice

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More than 15 Dartmouth students and professors traveled to Concord over the weekend to act as a pro-choice contingent in the midst of a pro-life rally. "We weren't really sure what to expect," said Deb Baltzer '95, who heads Dartmouth's student pro-choice group.


News

SA responds to ORL plan

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The Student Assembly's executive committee passed a motion 9-1 yesterday calling for the administration to push back the deadline for counter-proposals to the Office of Residential Life's proposed Coed Fraternity Sorority housing policy. ORL's proposal demands that Greek houses and undergraduate societies fill their beds before members can get on-campus housing. The deadline for counter-proposals is currently set for Jan.


News

Registrar releases fall median grades

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Students can now find out the median grade and enrollment number for all classes at the end of each term by looking in the "Public" file server. According to the Registrar Office's report, only three classes had a median below "B-," while more than 20 courses had a median grade of "A." Half of the students in any given class are above the median grade, the other half below.



News

Council links College and 45,000 alumni

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For the more than 45,000 alumni around the world, the Alumni Council serves as a vital link to the administration and the College's Board of Trustees. For instance the Alumni Council is playing an important role in selecting a replacement for departing Trustee Ann Fritz Hackett '76. "The Alumni Council acts as the official liaison between the College and alumni," said Patricia Fisher-Harris, associate director of alumni relations. The Council meets twice a year, and its responsibilities include approving alumni projects, nominating alumni trustees and maintaining a working relationship with the Board of Trustees. It also serves as a sounding board, to get a feel for what alumni think about issues involving the College. Council President Joel Leavitt '50 said the Council's voice is very important, and he likened it to the input given by students, faculty and administrators. Former College President Ernest Martin Hopkins founded the Council to guide and direct Dartmouth Alumni Affairs in 1913.




News

Sizer says school reform a must

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For a man tackling such a monumental task as reforming American education, Dr. Theodore Sizer speaks with impressive calm. "It's not that I'm optimistic or pessimistic, it's just that I don't know any alternative but to try," Sizer said yesterday, leaning leisurely on a sofa at the Hanover Inn. Despite the difficulty in trying to salvage American schools, Sizer, dubbed the "godfather of educational reform" by The Boston Globe, said his job is getting progressively easier. "Now, finally, it's easier now than it was five years ago.


News

Panda cleans house

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Panda House restaurant now has a handle on its cockroach infestation, according to reports released yesterday by the restaurant and the state Board of Health. After four treatments by an exterminator and an educational program for workers, Panda's lawyer David Cole said Panda's cleanliness is now "superlative" compared to other restaurants. In a report given to The Dartmouth yesterday by Cole, Sanitarian Gary Quackenbush stated that Panda House was clean after a surprise visit on Dec.


News

College will fight gay ban in courts

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The College has refocused its efforts to change the military's ban on open homosexuality after conceding that the courts, not the government, are most likely to change the policy. In a recent letter to Peter Williams '76, a member of the Dartmouth Gay and Lesbian Association, Board of Trustees Chair John Rosenwald said the College will attempt to take an active role should any judicial challenge to the policy arise. "Although in April there seemed to be some prospect of pursuing a satisfactory resolution to this issue within the legislative process, it is certainly now clear that for the foreseeable future, an improvement in the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy can only be the result of judicial developments," Rosenwald wrote. Last April, the College's Board of Trustees voted to keep the Reserve Officer Training Corps on campus, but admitted the program discriminates against homosexuals and pledged to change the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. "Regrettably, changing the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy is not a short-term goal," he wrote. In his letter, Rosenwald also mentioned the College's plans to "provide the requisite advising and support that gay, lesbian and bisexual students need." "Whatever influence Dartmouth may or may not have in altering federal policy, it clearly has more control over the status of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals on campus," Rosenwald wrote. Members of the College's homosexual community said they were not surprised that the College has had little success at changing the policy. "The letter confirms what I already knew -- the movement is not going to happen at a national level anytime soon," said Religion Professor Susan Ackerman, co-Convenor of the Coalition of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns. "Clearly the wheels of government grind slowly and Dartmouth is going to have a minimal effect on that." Ackerman said Rosenwald's letter was heartening because she said it was the first time the Trustees had ever made a statement about the possibility of an adviser for gay and lesbian students. Co-Chair of the College's Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Organization, Earl Plante '94 said he will meet with Dean of the College Lee Pelton next Wednesday to discuss funding for the position. Plante added that he hopes interviews for the position will begin this spring, and the successful applicant will begin next fall. "At a minimum the College should be committing resources in support of gay and lesbian students as it is committing resources to ROTC," said John Crane, the Coalition's other co-convenor. Ackerman said that the College should place more emphasis on changing on-campus dynamics. "I thought [changing the policy] was unrealistic in April, I think it is unrealistic now," she said.



News

Speech classes canceled

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The College's Office of Speech will not offer classes this spring and summer while it continues to search for a replacement for Goodwin Berquist, the office's only professor. Berquist said the College expects to hire a visiting professor or senior lecturer by next fall for a two-year, nontenured position. Berquist, along with professor William Brown, taught all three of the office's courses last year.


News

Sizer challenges 'shopping mall school'

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Dr. Theodore Sizer, a prominent leader in American educational reform, spoke last night about the challenges of improving the American educational system. Sizer gave his speech, "School Reform: Just Talk or the Real Thing?" to a packed crowd of students, professors and community members in 105 Dartmouth Hall. Sizer, an education professor at Brown University, is director of the Coalition of Essential Schools, a group trying to change American schools by redesigning them according to principles Sizer developed. "These are extraordinary times in American education," Sizer said.



News

Robinson renovations slated

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The College is in the final stages of planning a multimillion dollar project to extensively renovate Robinson Hall, which is home to a number of student organizations. "If things go well, renovations start this summer and will take a year," said Jack Wilson, assistant director of facilities planning and architectural services. Wilson and George Hawthorne are the two College architects in charge of redesigning Robinson Hall. "The project looks likely, but there are still some funding issues that have to be resolved.


News

College station will stay

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Because of the high costs involved in moving the College's radio station's extensive equipment, the radio station will remain in its second-and-third floor offices while renovations on Robinson Hall displace other student organizations. "Originally we had hoped to move everyone out of the building.


News

With rise in test-takers, colleges look at AP policy

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As the number of students who take Advanced Placement exams increases, colleges and universities across the country are beginning to question the extent to which they reflect a student's knowledge in a particular subject. Educational Testing Services, the organization that administers APs and the Scholastic Achievement Test, cited a 10 percent increase in the number of students who took exams in the past year. ETS representative Thomas Ewing said the service is aware of and concerned about the reports that the AP tests are losing their value. "Sure, we're slightly concerned," Ewing said.


News

Assembly to hold rally in Webster

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The Student Assembly last night passed a "Student Space Rally" resolution and elected Jesse Russell '96 Assembly secretary. The resolution endorses the Assembly's plan for a student rally in Webster Hall on Jan.


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