Scholars will study in Germany
Seniors Russell Martin and Marion Shonn will be heading to Germany after graduation on Fulbright scholarships to do research in engineering and biology, respectively. Martin, an engineering major from Birmingham, Ala.
Seniors Russell Martin and Marion Shonn will be heading to Germany after graduation on Fulbright scholarships to do research in engineering and biology, respectively. Martin, an engineering major from Birmingham, Ala.
Cincinnati, OH -- The Class of 1944 returned to Hanover this weekend for its "Commencement That Never Was." Back in June of 1944 there was no Commencement at Dartmouth. And for good reason. Most of the intended honorees were not there.They were in Normandy, Saipan, Italy or Burma; on the high seas, in the wild blue yonder or and in fox holes far, far away from Hanover. The class had been together for less than 16 months when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, shortly after which the class was completely broken up because so many members went off to serve in World War II. But this weekend, as they celebrate their 50th class reunion and lead the Class of 1994 in its Commencement procession, surviving members of the Class of 1944 will hold their own Commencement. During a class banquet on Saturday, Richard Morse '44 who gave the valedictory address at the 1946 Dartmouth Commencement, reviewed his remarks in light of events since. Then, at the conclusion of the evening, Leonard Rieser -- a member of the Class of 1944 and provost of the College from 1967-82 -- donned his academic robes and presented to outgoing Class President William Hale a certificate signed by Dartmouth President James Freedman.
Friends and family of Daniel Boyer '94 took time to remember him this week. Boyer, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on October 26, 1993, was awarded a posthumous degree.
I won't bore you with the details of personal memories or specific experiences. Life is too short to rewind and playback all those past memories.
After more than eight hours of meetings, the Student Assembly's nominations committee remains unable to agree whether it will grant membership to Grace Chionuma' 96, who was appointed summer Assembly president two days ago. Chionum, appointed by President-elect Danielle Moore '95 and Vice President-elect Rukmini Sichitiu '95, must be a member of the Assembly to become its summer leader. The nominations committee, which approves Assembly membership and is chaired by Sichitiu, narrowed a field of nine applicants for the position of at-large member to two, one being Chionuma. The vacancy was created when Sichitiu was elected both vice president and at-large member of next year's Assembly. Sichitiu said the nominations committee decided not to release the name of the second candidate. There are four voting members on the committee: Brooke Brightly '95, Meredith Epstein '97, Nina Nho '97 and Sichitiu.
The 15 additional students who have enrolled in the Class of 1998 since the May 1 response deadline increased the percentage of minorities but did not affect the class's gender ratio. Next year's freshman class will include 48.4 percent women, the highest ever in Dartmouth history. The class will consist of 24.3 percent minority students, which represents nearly a 1 percent increase since the Admissions Office's reply deadline.
Christina Dowding '94 recently received a $5,000 fellowship awarded by the Thayer School of Engineering to encourage women to pursue engineering careers by helping to fund their graduate education. Dowding plans to work with several other students this summer to design a bridge leading to Stoddard Cabin on Dartmouth's 27,000-acre Second College Grant.
Columbia School of Journalism Professor Helen Benedict said in a speech last night that covering rape crimes is an essential duty of the press. Benedict delivered a speech titled "Virgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes" to more than 50 people in Carpenter Hall.
After five years of planning and waiting, the first gay and lesbian studies course will be offered Winter term 1996. The course, titled "Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Studies," will introduce students to the contemporary debates and historical conceptions about homosexuality in western culture and the struggles of gay and lesbians to achieve recognition and rights. The course will also examine the formation of gay and lesbian communities as well as the impact of the AIDS crisis on gay and lesbian political activism. "The course will have both an overarching historical structure as well as a humanities effort to document homosexuality and its evolution through film, literature and religion," Religion Professor Susan Ackerman said.
Welfare expert and author Charles Murray warned about how widespread illegitimacy has led to an emerging white underclass which will have dire social implications. Murray, who is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, spoke to about 50 people in 105 Dartmouth Hall last night in a speech postponed from Winter Term. Citing statistics from 1991, Murray said 22 percent of all white births are out of wedlock.
After five years counselling sexual assault victims and educating the College community about sexual assault, Heather Earle will leave Dartmouth to pursue her doctorate in counselling psychology at the University of Wisconsin. "They've been great years.
A program last night titled "Representing Ourselves: An Open Discussion of Gender, Race, and Self-Definition" gave Dartmouth students the chance to openly discuss gender and racial related issues in an interactive and comfortable setting. The program was moderated by Colleen Jones, a professor at Suffolk University, and John Norman, an education professor at Middlebury College in Vermont.
The first issues of two new campus publications are expected to appear before the end of this term. The Forum, a non-ideological publication open to contributions from all students and a women's literary magazine, which has yet to be named, were created to fill a gap in the area of student publications, according to their founders. "We saw there was a niche that wasn't being filled," John Honovich '97, co-founder of The Forum, said.
Student Assembly President-elect Danielle Moore '95 and Vice President-elect Rukmini Sichitui '95 last night appointed Grace Chionuma '96 as president and Jesse Russell '96 as vice president of the summer Assembly. But Chionuma's appointment is contigent upon her acceptance by the nominations committee as a general member of the Assembly.
Efy Ben Matityahu, the academic affairs coordinator in the Israeli Consulate in New York, visited Dartmouth yesterday as part of the celebration of Israeli Independence Day. "I feel that today we have a new reality in the Middle East," Matityahu said. At a Hillel-sponsored dinner in the Lone Pine Tavern last night, Matityahu spoke about the latest developments in the Middle East, capping off a day spent discussing Israeli politics and culture with faculty and students. Referring to the recent agreement in which Israel agreed to relinquish control over the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians, Matityahu said the greatest challenge in the future is to assure that the 17,000 Israelis who have lost their lives since Israel became a state in 1948 did not die in vain. In an interview after his address to students, Matityahu elaborated on his thoughts about the peace process in the Middle East. "The Israeli public is very supportive of the notion of peace but they still have anxiety over how the Palestinian side is going to live up to the commitments of the agreements," Matityahu said. "It's been a long ride, but a promising one," he said.
Several members of the 1995 Class Council say they are upset that Class President Tim Rodenberger is encouraging the council to spend "inappropriate" amounts of money this term, such as having a $200 council dinner last Friday at upscale Simon Pearce restaurant in Quechee, Vt. The council has spent about $4,000 this term, according to Rodenberger, leaving the Council with about $3,000 in its account. Rodenberger lost a re-election bid to current vice president Alyse Kornfeld '95 in the spring. A source close to the council said during the campaign Rodenberger approached Kornfeld and warned her that if she won, the council would try to squander all of its remaining funds by the end of the term in an effort to hurt Kornfeld's council. Even though all class expenditures are voted on by the entire council, the source said Rodenberger has encouraged, and at times, led the effort to recklessly spend money. Another source close to the council said since Rodenberger lost his re-election bid, the council has been "much more inclined to be generous" with funds. Rodenberger said he thinks it is "absurd" to blame him for the council's spending. "Someone has forgotten that I can't act in any unitary way -- I don't have any authoritarian power," he said.
Music Professor Robert Walser is having a prolific Spring term, winning three fellowships with a total worth of more than $50,000 and an award for an article he wrote on popular American music. Walser, who specializes in popular music, was recently given $30,000 from the National Endowment for Humanities, $20,000 from the American Council of Learned Societies and $4,400 from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation. The NEH and ACLS fellowships are two of the three most prestigious awards offered for work in the humanities, said Christian Wolff, chair of the music department.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton released a report on the Undergraduate Judicial Review Committee's final recommendations Monday, which called for only minor adjustments to the College's disciplinary system. The report issued eight Dartmouth Community Standards of Conduct to replace the current Code of Conduct's 33 regulations, which is published in the Student Handbook. The report also included recommendations on how to make clear various aspects of the College's judicial system, including a simplification of the language used in the Committee on Standards' hearings. In a three-page introduction to the report, Pelton pointed out the importance of the new Standards of Conduct. "These Standards articulate the College's expectation that students are required to conduct themselves in a manner which is consistent with the institutional community's pursuit of its educational objectives," he wrote. The eight Standards are broader in scope than the Code of Conduct.
English Professor William Cook gave his first commencement speech Saturday to a graduating class of 579 students at Rivier College in Nashua, N.H., where he received an honorary degree. Cook, a Doctor of Humane Letters recipient, was selected as the commencement speaker because "he has made expanding contributions in English education and for promoting awareness of multicultural studies and for his achievements in the performing arts," Rivier English Professor Paul Lizotte said when he nominated Cook, according to Lori Ruediger, who works in Rivier's public relations office. Cook's honorary degree citation described his life's work as "testimony to literature's profound power, not as a simple mirror to reflect a single image, but as a kaleidoscope whose countless shards refract a dazzling, complex stained-glass window of human experience." The citation also said "in literature, William Cook not only finds the stuff of which dreams are made, but the stuff of which life is made." It described Cook's diverse teaching career, which has spanned all levels of education, and the diversity of his writing, which includes many published works, scholarly reviews and his edited works. The Trustee's Committee said Cook is the person who best represents the goals of Rivier College, Ruediger said.
"Ethnic labels are here to stay," Susan Oboler, Professor of American Civilization and Latino Studies at Brown University, said last night in a speech to about 40 students and professors. "We are here to look at how those labels were shaped, when they were shaped and who shaped them," she continued. Oboler's talk, titled "The Politics of Ethnic Labeling," was part of the continuing series Voices of Diversity.