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March 26, 2026
The Dartmouth
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99 years of Homecoming tradition: competition, fire and sabotage

By David Hemmer | October 14, 1994

Ninety-nine years ago College President William Jewett Tucker welcomed the Class of 1899 to the first Dartmouth Night, held in Dartmouth Hall. Those past 99 years were marked by fire and by fiery controversy, by endless speeches and heated protests. The first bonfire followed a baseball victory against Manchester in 1888 when students torched anything they could find in Hanover. The blaze wasn't received well by everyone, and an editorial in The Dartmouth proclaimed, "It disturbed the slumbers of a peaceful town, destroyed some property, made the boys feel that they were men, and in fact did no one any good." But the tradition continued. The first organized construction of the bonfire came in 1893, following a football victory over Amherst.

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'98s await Homecoming

By Allison Groff | October 14, 1994

For members of the Class of 1998, Homecoming is not just another social event, but a rite of passage - an initiation of sorts. Over the past month, the incoming class has acted as a cluster of individuals rather than an entity. Freshmen see Homecoming as the first opportunity they have to bond as a class. Julia Mueller '98 said she hopes to see the Class of '98 "become more of a class rather than a group of students." According to the "'Shmen Guide to 'Shmen," Homecoming is "the prime event of the fall" when "the entire town comes alive in support for the College." With all the hype it has received, Bobby Spillane '98 said he is "looking forward to seeing if the event can meet the expectations put forth by upperclassmen." Jo Weingarten '98 also said she is looking forward to this weekend. She said the event should be "the ultimate freshman experience,"one in which she cannot wait to witness and participate. Tanner Morris '98 emphasized school spirit rather than a particular freshman experience.

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Delta Gamma wins community service award

By Jacqueline Rose | October 14, 1994

The 15 Webster Avenue Award, a $2,000 grant given to the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority organization that submits a successful proposal for community service, will be presented to Delta Gamma sorority at a ceremony today held at Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority. "We're very honored we were selected, and we can't wait to start our work with Operation Insulation," said Corey Fleming '95, DG president The 15 Webster Avenue Fund is an endowment established by the alumni of Tau Epsilon Phi, Delta Psi Delta and the Harold Parmington Foundation, former residents of 15 Webster. The goal of the endowment is to support and encourage community service projects performed by Dartmouth's CFS organizations, according to a letter to presidents and program chairs of Greek houses from CFS President Chris Donley '95 and Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders late last month. This year five of the College's 27 Greek organizations submitted written proposals to the 15 Webster Avenue Project. Delta Delta Delta sorority,DG, Sigma Nu fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity amd Theta all submitted proposals, Donley said. "Philanthropy has always been a part of the CFS experience," Donley said. Operation Insulation (OI), a Tucker-affiliated group that works to insulate community homes against the harsh New Hampshire winters, was Delta Gamma's winning proposal. "Due to their limited manpower, OI cannot afford to insulate even close to the amount of homes that need it each year," said DG's proposal to the 15 Webster Avenue selection committee.

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Bonfire construction will continue until ceremony

By Tim Fitzgibbons | October 14, 1994

The building of the bonfire began early Thursday morning when Meadowbrook Lumber trucks began unloading 300 pieces of lumber onto the Green. By tonight, the freshmen will have completed a 41-foot tall structure made out of 61 tiers of wood, said Ken Jones, the assistant athletic director who is responsible for this year's construction of the bonfire. Until about five years ago, bonfire creators used railroad ties in the structure, but worries about the effects of burning the chemical preservatives used in the ties prompted them to switch to untreated landscaping ties, Jones said. Building took place from dawn to dusk on Thursday and will continue today until the bonfire is completed, said Alpha Kappa Alpha brother Chris Barnes '95, one of the two upperclass supervisors of the project. The upperclassmen will not be doing any of the labor on the bonfire.

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Hanover businesses prepare

By Keith Lavigne | October 14, 1994

With the arrival of Homecoming weekend, Hanover businesses are preparing for an influx of shoppers and diners. Clint Bean, of the Hanover Chamber of Commerce, said there are no accommodations available within a 30-40 mile radius.

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SA budgets its money

By Micheal Posey | October 13, 1994

Debate among Student Assembly members at their general meetings this term has brought under scrutiny the problem of how the Assembly allocates its approximately $39,000 budget. Tuesday night the Assembly allocated $3,000 to help fund campus publications and last week voted to put $5,000 toward the "Women, Leadership and Activism" symposium. So far the Assembly has either spent or earmarked about 75 percent of its budget, leaving a balance of approximately $9,500 for the rest of the fiscal year. The Assembly has already paid for the Course Guide and the Student Advantage Card and will spend money to publish its monthly newsletter and to help sponsor a meeting of the Ivy Council later this term at Dartmouth. But Assembly President Danielle Moore '95 says the amount left should be sufficient for the duration of the year. Assembly Treasurer Scott Rowekamp '97 agreed.

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Wood discusses the evolution of chivalry

By Suparna Dutta | October 13, 1994

History Professor Charles Wood discussed "Froissart's Chronicles: Memorial Field and the Concept of Chivalry" for the eighth annual Presidential Lecture Wednesday afternoon in Alumni Hall. The Presidential Lecture series was established by College President James Freedman when he became president eight years ago.

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Assembly releases course guide

By Heather Bell | October 13, 1994

Today students get their their first glimpse of the 1994 Course Guide, which the Student Assembly produced in an attempt to provide them with insight from their peers into courses offered throughout the academic year. But the guide, which describes 215 different courses, only includes 32 of the College's 37 academic departments and programs.

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New network obtains funding

By Maggie Fritz | October 12, 1994

The Steering Committee of the General Faculty yesterday approved a new graduate program related to health care, allocated funding to upgrade the College's computer network and reviewed reports from a variety of faculty committees. The announcements came as part of the Steering Committee's review of reports issued by four College councils. The Steering Committee approved a $2.85 million proposal by the Council on Computing to convert the College's LocalTalk network to Ethernet -- technology that will allow for faster and more direct communications between computers. "At its inception 10 years ago, the network was an innovative and state of the art collection of hardware and software ... but by today's standards, it is long overdue for replacement," the annual report from the Council on Computing stated. The estimated date of completion was not discussed but administrators told The Dartmouth during Summer term that the project would take two or three years to complete. The report states that during the year the Council on Computing discussed the state of computing at Dartmouth and the direction it should follow.

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Pledges told 'hazing is back'

By Breeanne Clowdus | October 12, 1994

"Hazing is very much alive and part of our Greek community today; it is back in a big way," said Gary Bonas, director of leadership and development at Villanova University and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity's national board of directors. Last night hundreds of new Greek house members gathered in Alumni Hall to hear a mandatory speech on hazing titled, "Broken Pledges," which Bonas made. "I think the issue is that we do stupid things.

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SA gives $3K to papers

By Maggie Fritz | October 12, 1994

The Student Assembly voted last night to establish a $3,000 fund to provide financial assistance to freely-distributed, College-recognized publications such as The Beacon, bug and Spare Rib. The Undergraduate Publications Fund will be administered by a panel of Assembly members and representatives from each College-recognized publication. Assembly Vice President Rukmini Sichitiu '95, who sponsored the motion, said publications need assistance to bridge the gap between advertising revenue, College support and publication costs. The Undergraduate Publications Fund is based on a belief that campus publications enhance the College's educational experience because they "foster an atmosphere of intellectual diversity and engender intellectual debate and discourse," the motion states. The fund will provide "dollar for dollar" matching funds of up to $300 per issue to cover up to one-half of an issue's production costs. The amount of an allocation is dependent upon the advertising revenue the publication collects and the number of times a publication is printed each term, among other considerations. "It is necessary to make sure intellectual discussion goes on not only inside the classroom but outside the classroom," Assembly member Brandon del Pozo '96 said. During discussion of the motion, a few Assembly members expressed concern that $3,000 was excessive relative to the Assembly's total budget. The motion passed 20 to three.

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Dyson: 'technology is a force for evil'

By Keith Lavigne | October 12, 1994

In a speech yesterday, Montgomery Fellow Freeman Dyson said society must be careful with its use of technology so as to prevent the disastrous consequences portrayed in science fiction novels. "Technology is a force for evil, as well as a force for good," Dyson said. His speech titled, "Looking Forward: Science and Science Fiction," Dyson discussed the history of science of the past 100 years and the relation between science and literature. He said novels written by authors such as H.G.

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Potter lectures on campaign funding

By Melanie Gustin | October 12, 1994

Federal Election Commission Chairman Trevor Potter discussed the history and future of regulations governing the financing of elections in a lecture last night in Rockefeller Center. Potter devoted most of his speech to chronicling the history of campaign expenditure regulations and then related it to current attempts to reform the system. "There has always been money in politics," he said.

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Science majors leap ahead

By David Hemmer | October 12, 1994

More Dartmouth juniors are majoring in laboratory sciences today then five and 10 years ago, while fewer are choosing to study mathematics and humanities like English and religion. Statistics for the Class of 1996 reveal a continuation of recent trends at Dartmouth and nationwide.

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Galford discusses coming out

By Maggie Fritz | October 12, 1994

Novelist Ellen Galford spoke yesterday afternoon about her experiences as a woman, a lesbian, a Jew and an American expatriate living in Scotland. The speech, which was attended by about one dozen women, celebrated National Coming Out Day. Galford described her feelings of isolation growing up in Newark, N.J. "I had always, always felt different," she said.

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N.S.F. awards Yin up to $500,000

By Ma. Katrina M. Dy | October 12, 1994

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Thayer School of Engineering Professor John Yin the distinguished Young Investigator Award in recognition of his scientific achievements. The Young Investigator Award guarantees Yin up to $100,000 per year for the next five years in research funding and is designed to foster interaction between academia and industry. While the bulk of Yin's award is composed of money from the N.S.F., it also includes potential grants from private industrial companies. The foundation, which awarded 150 U.S.

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