Hundreds volunteer at local Special Olympics

Aditi Kirtikar / The Dartmouth Staff Nearly 100 athletes and over 300 volunteers congregated at the Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme on Saturday for the 10th annual Special Olympics Upper Valley Regional Winter Games, at which athletes from New Hampshire and Vermont competed in over 20 different snowshoeing, snowboarding and alpine and Nordic skiing events. Olympic gold medal skier Hannah Kearney '15 welcomed the athletes and encouraged them to try their best. "Competition is great because it pushes you beyond what you thought your limits were," she said. "Greatness isn't about winning or losing," Gendo Allyn Field, founder of The Upper Valley Zen Center, said in his introductory speech at the opening ceremony. To initiate the Games, Jennifer Mayfield of the Upper Valley Hawks, a team that has competed in the Special Olympics for 15 years, lit the Olympic flame and her teammate Michael Stoodley led the athletes in the athlete oath "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." The Dartmouth Aires also led the crowd in the national anthem. Julie Tantillo, an alpine skier and Upper Valley Hawks member, had a minor fall during one of her races but recovered immediately.

Admissions officers receive 23,052 apps.

Rebecca Xu / The Dartmouth Although some institutions, including Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, have reported a decrease in applications for the Class of 2016, Dartmouth admissions officers estimate a 3 to 3.5 percent increase this year, with a record 23,052 applications processed for early and regular decision applicants combined, according to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskaris. The College intends to accept roughly 2,100 students approximately 9 percent of applicants making this "the most selective year we've had in terms of the admissions process," Laskaris said. The applicant pool has grown by approximately 25 percent in the past two years, according to Laskaris. The College has already offered admission to 465 students in the early decision process.

Slam poet stresses power of words

Town, College tackle winter weather

Hanover shops close amid economic woes

MEGHAN COONEY / The Dartmouth Staff Only the latest casualty in a string of recent business closures in Hanover, Hanover Outdoors will be shutting down in the near future, according to owner Tom Ciardelli.

Brison discusses free speech limits

HUNTER VAN ADELSBERG / The Dartmouth Staff Americans often think of free speech as the most important right granted in the Constitution, but it is no more fundamental than any other right, and, thus Americans do not appropriately address the consequences of hate speech, philosophy professor Susan Brison said in a lecture at the Haldeman Center on Tuesday. "Free speech is not a special right," Brison said.

Students participate in resume drop

Dani Wang / The Dartmouth Staff Last week, a record-high 625 students participated in winter resume drop, submitting their resumes to Career Services in hopes of being selected for one of 103 entry-level jobs and internships available through the recruiting website DartBoard, according to acting co-director of Career Services Monica Wilson, who manages the recruiting program. The number of students who applied is about the same as last year's 615 winter applicants, according to Wilson.