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The Dartmouth
June 27, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
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News

Chaboyer study: dark energy drives universe

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Just when it looked like cosmologists had a firm grasp on the fundamental laws of the universe, it turns out that they know far less about its workings than previously thought. Confirming earlier findings that the universe has the ability to expand indefinitely, Physics and Astronomy Professor Brian Chaboyer recently found that the universe is composed of a mysterious form of negative pressure energy -- dubbed "dark energy" -- that scientists have never been able to directly observe. Because dark energy is too dificult to view in a laboratory, scientists can only infer its presence based on how it has influenced the expansion of the universe. Chaboyer and his collaborator Lawrence Krauss, a physics and astronomy professor at Case Western Reserve University, published their findings in the Jan.


News

Swimmers react with joy and tears

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In the aftermath of the yesterday's announcement that Dartmouth swimming and diving will remain a varsity sport for the next 10 years, both students and administrators seem to be relieved that the episode has come to a mutually satisfying close. Alumni, students and administrators praised each other for the manner in which all sides carried themselves during the search for an alternative to trimming the swimming and diving programs from the College's diminishing budget. At first, the men's and women's swimming and diving teams were caught off guard when Athletic Director Josie Harper and Dean of the College James Larimore boarded their team bus to personally break the news to them just before they were to leave campus for a meet. "I think we were all kind of in shock," Alexis Ettinger '05 said.


News

Panhell, IFC kick off winter rush

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Get out your nice clothes and etiquette guides, sophomores -- formal rush for both sororities and fraternities is upon you. The sorority rush process starts tonight with the first of four rounds of events designed to encourage interaction between sisters and rushees.


News

N.H. law doubles fine for fake ID possession

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Alcohol was on the minds of both College administrators and New Hampshire legislators last year, as both the College and the state released significant revisions to their current alcohol regulations to start the new year. Beginning Jan.


News

UFC allocates stud. activities funds

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After delaying its decision because of Fall term's swimming and diving team cuts, the Undergraduate Finance Committee recently announced how student activities money will be allocated this year to various student-run organizations. The Programming Board received $363,000, the Committee on Student Organizations $205,000, the Student Assembly $60,000, the four class councils $25,000, the Office of Student Life $24,000, the Collis Governing Board $24,000 and the Greek Leadership Council $19,000. Although the distributions reflect no great change from last year, the UFC -- which was set to release its decision the day the swim cuts were announced -- delayed releasing news of the allocations for fear that the team's supporters would accuse the committee of funding organizations like the Programming Board at the expense of the swim team. In fact, money under the UFC's discretion comes from a separate student activities fee -- currently $257 -- that students incur on each term's bill.


News

Unusual courses mark Winter term offerings

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This winter, Dartmouth is being transformed into a novelist's paradise, with such unorthodox subjects as crime-solvers, virgins and illegal drugs integrated into several classes' curricula. Four courses offered exclusively during Winter term are particularly noteworthy. "Sleuths and Clues," this term's "Introduction to French Literature" section (French 10), has been an exceptionally popular offering.




News

Restaurant allegedly host to skimming

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Hanover Police and the Federal Secret Service are investigating nearly 50 cases of illegal credit card skimming that officials say took place at Panda House Chinese Restaurant during November. "Skimming" is an increasingly widespread practice in which a barcode scanning device is used to copy credit card information that that can be downloaded onto a computer and ultimately used to make counterfeit cards. So far, over 45 Panda House customers have reported credit card fraud to the Hanover Police.


News

SA hopeful over fate of teams

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The Dartmouth swim team may get a second chance, according to Student Assembly leaders, who are hopeful of a positive administrative reaction to Assembly plans to prevent the elimination of the swimming and diving teams.


News

College offers new credit card program

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Many Dartmouth students and alumni may begin carrying a different sort of green card in the very near future. With last month's launch of its affinity credit card program, the College has become one of a growing number of schools offering their own brand of plastic payment. The cards, which feature a photo of Dartmouth Hall in the winter, are available as both Visa and Mastercard, Alumni Leadership Coordinator Lynne Gaudet said. Though targeted specifically at undergraduates, graduate students and alumni, the card is available to anyone in the Dartmouth community.


News

'The Blend' mixes up winter DDS options

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The new smoothie bar in Thayer Dining Hall officially opened for the Winter term yesterday and is slowly attracting the attention of thirsty students on campus. The Blend is now fully staffed, equipped and ready for complete service after various setbacks that delayed its intended opening in Fall term. The Thayer Dining Hall lobby was busy as usual during the lunch hour, but no line formed at the Blend's order counter. A few students who ordered smoothies for the first time expressed a generally positive response to the opening of the Blend, and also praised the quality of their product. Felicia Plunkett '05 liked the convenience of having another smoothie bar on campus, commenting that Collis Caf "isn't always open." Plunkett had ordered a Berry Fix, and said that it tasted "really good", but still expressed preference for smoothies from Collis, where she could select the ingredients to fit her personal taste. "I'm sad that you can't put together your own combinations," Plunkett said in regard to the Blend's fixed menus. Lindsey Wolf '03, who had ordered a Strawberry Creamsicle, stated her preference for her new smoothie over the ones that she had ordered at Collis.



News

Swim team, SA carry on fight

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Three weeks away from campus has not slowed the momentum of the student movement to save Dartmouth's swimming and diving teams from their proposed elimination. In December, the swim team created a "Support Dartmouth Aquatics" web site, which advertises its "Dartmouth Invitational Fund Raising Meet" where swimming supporters can "choose a lane" and "dive into the pool" by making monetary donations to the team. Visitors to the website can also support the team through non-financial channels.


News

Snowfall delays Occom opening

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Despite this winter's particularly bold beginning, students will have to wait a bit longer for skating at Occum Pond -- since snow acts as an insulating layer atop ice, the plethora of snow to hit Hanover thus far has actually hindered the thickening of the ice. The pond, which is used as an outdoor skating rink by Dartmouth students and Hanover locals alike, remains covered in feet of snow, below which exist only two to three inches of ice. "To be safe we're going to need to see at least six inches of good, even, black pond ice before we can let people on it," Grounds Supervisor Bob Thebodo said.


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Tighter airport security fails to slow student travel

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While the snowstorms and slick roads have more then done their part to hinder students returning to campus for Winter term, the newly increased security measures at airports across the country seem to have proven little more than a minor inconvenience for most. Beginning Jan.



News

As Dartmouth Book cuts back, students flood Wheelock

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Students crowded Wheelock Books this weekend as the Dartmouth Bookstore scaled back the number of books it carried and announced it would end Dartmouth textbook sales next term instead of in the summer as it had previously planned. The Dartmouth Bookstore has already decreased the number of books it carried significantly in anticipation of dropping Dartmouth textbooks from its shelves, leading many students to go to Wheelock Books, sometimes for the first time, to find the missing texts. The atmosphere was social in Wheelock Books as students took advantage of the lines to chat with friends back from winter break or a term off. As lines lengthened at the store Sunday afternoon -- the longest will probably come on the first day of classes today, according to one employee -- students had different reactions to the switch from having two major Hanover area bookstores to one and a half. They also carried a set of loyalties to one bookstore or the other that ranged in intensity from vehement to indifferent. Cindy Torres '04 always went to Dartmouth Bookstore for her textbooks because of their shorter lines and larger spaces. She was disappointed by its decision to stop supplying Dartmouth textbooks (the store blamed Dartmouth's decision to allow professors not to release lists of required textbooks to all interested parties.) "It's really small and it's so cramped and it's always crowded," Torres said of Wheelock Books.


News

Williams '03 takes Rhodes

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Heidi Williams '03, a native of Williston, N.D., was one of 32 students chosen as 2003 American Rhodes scholars. Following graduation, Williams plans to spend three years at Oxford University, where she will obtain her master's degree.


News

Budget woes mark turbulent Fall term

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College-wide budget cuts cast a long shadow over Dartmouth last term, with administrative decisions to eliminate the swimming and diving teams, downscale libraries, reduce course offerings and lay off employees provoking notable backlash from faculty and students. Fall term was also marked by an unusual amount of political activism, including demonstrations against war in Iraq and an energetic Get Out the Vote campaign conducted by the College Democrats. Although College President James Wright had announced significant budget cuts -- necessitated by losses in the College endowment -- in August, the campus did not feel the concrete effects of the downscaling until mid-October, when recently-hired Librarian of the College Richard Lucier announced plans for cutting $1 million from the library budget. Lucier's plans to integrate Sherman Art Library into the newly-renovated Baker-Berry complex, turn Sanborn Library into a reading room and cut student work hours prompted an outpouring of protest from faculty, staff and students.