Experts criticize policy on Cuba

JON ERDMAN / The Dartmouth Staff Half a century after the Cuban Revolution, the United States' embargo of the island and the Castro regime's restrictions on free speech continue to impede the country's economic and political development, according to a panel of experts who discussed post-revolutionary Cuba on Thursday in the Haldeman Center. "Freedom of expression as Americans know it does not really exist in Cuba," said Associated Press Havana bureau chief Anita Snow, who is also a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University. While Cubans complain about non-political issues, including food rations and inefficient public transportation, nobody protests the government openly, Snow said. "As a journalist working in Cuba, we have a lot of problems with officials who would not answer us," Snow said. Controversial news articles are immediately censored, Snow said, adding that an article that criticized the way the official Cuban press distributed news to the public "disappeared" an hour after it was published. Snow said she believes the advancement of technology on the island, including the increasing prevalence of cell phones with Internet access, will help Cubans break through barriers of expression. "I think Pandora's box is open, and there's no closing it now," Snow said.

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Courtesy of The Associated Press U.S.

Prof. credits govt. with improving gay rights

CURIE KIM Governmental change, rather than grassroots activism, was primarily responsible for the improvement of relations between police and gay and lesbian individuals in Chicago during the early 1970s, according to University of Illinois history and gender and women's studies professor John D'Emilio, who delivered the College's 10th annual Stonewall Lecture on Thursday. D'Emilio discussed his research on the gay rights movement in his address, "Queering the Past, or: Richard Nixon: Gay Liberationist?," held in Filene Auditorium. D'Emilio's research focuses on gay and lesbian communities in urban centers, including San Francisco, Harlem and Buffalo, N.Y., during the mid-20th century. "It was the worst time to be queer," D'Emilio said of the period.

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Accessibility is still a concern

Sarah Irving / The Dartmouth Staff Almost five months after the release of a student report arguing that the College's Accessibility Services Office fails to provide students with disabilities the accommodations they need, several students with physical disabilities, in interviews with The Dartmouth, said the College has made progress addressing their difficulties, while students with learning disabilities were critical of the quality of services they receive. Dean of Faculty Carol Folt, who now also serves as interim provost, and acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears sent a letter to faculty at the beginning of Fall term reminding professors that they must comply with authorized accommodations for students.

Scherr ends tenure as provost

Tilman Dette / The Dartmouth Senior Staff While "legacies don't come with provosts," according to unofficial College historian and history professor emeritus Jere Daniell '55, former Provost Barry Scherr's eight-year tenure, which ended on Monday, was marked by strong support for the arts and efforts to secure research funding for the College, according to administrators, faculty and students interviewed by The Dartmouth.