Protest intensifies against swimming cuts
WEB UPDATE 12/7: Team members question College's rejection of offers to endow team
WEB UPDATE 12/7: Team members question College's rejection of offers to endow team
Despite a significant change in leadership that ousted many of its old guard and replaced them with a young and relatively inexperienced cadre of executives, Student Assembly has been characterized thus far by a strong commitment not only to continuing many of last year's programs but negotiating between students, administrators and faculty. The Assembly expressed this goal from the outset, when Administration/Faculty Committee Chair Andy Edwards '04 pledged constant contact with administrators and faculty rather than merely going to them when something went wrong. Yet several former Assembly members worried that this year's leadership -- which is mostly composed of sophomores and others with little prior Assembly leadership experience -- would not have the necessary clout needed to work effectively with administrators. While the final outcome of programs currently underway remains to be seen, the Assembly's work this term suggests that its will to negotiate is strong -- even in a time when major decisions about the future state of the College can seem to be handed down from above. After determining that students overwhelmingly support improvements to dormitory lounges, the Student Life Committee persuaded the Office of Residential Life to match the Assembly's $10,000 contribution to a dorm improvement fund, silencing critics who said that a pro-Greek Assembly administration would insist on prioritizing improvements to Greek houses. The Assembly has not shied away from expressing student dissatisfaction with the recently installed door-locking system.
The Dartmouth Bookstore announced it may stop selling textbooks entirely by Summer term due to the College's decision to continue allowing departments to decide when to give book lists to bookstores, as well as a declining textbook business. Bookstore Manager Dave Cioffi sent letters Monday to students who are store members announcing that in the winter, the bookstore will greatly decrease the number of textbooks it carries for each course, by 40 to 60 percent. By the end of Spring term or the beginning of Summer term, the bookstore will stop ordering books for Dartmouth classes entirely, Cioffi said. The Dartmouth Bookstore has traditionally had a close relationship with the College and has been selling textbooks since its founding in 1872. Wheelock Books Manager Whit Spaulding '89 said in an email that he is "capable of meeting the needs of the entire campus if it were necessary." Cioffi cited a number of factors for the decision, among them low profit margins, a recent proliferation of alternate textbook sources, an increase in transportation costs, the size of the space needed to sell textbooks and a high rate of books that are never bought by the end of a term and need to be returned. The factor that appeared to annoy Cioffi most, however, was Dartmouth's decision to continue to allow departments and faculty to decide whether to release the lists of course books.
Nearly 150 students gathered outside Parkhurst Hall at noon yesterday to protest Monday's announcement that the College plans to cut the men's and women's varsity swimming and diving programs in March 2003. Both Dean of the College James Larimore and Athletic Director Joann Harper listened to student concerns while stressing the necessity and finality of the decision. Their emphasis that the subject was closed has left some community members looking toward the future of swimming and diving at Dartmouth. Some have raised the possibility of funding the teams through alumni donations. "If there's anything that Dartmouth alumni have proven, it's that they're generous with their wallets," former swim team member Chris Whalen '97 said in an interview. Whalen said that he was frustrated that the administration did not seek out alumni donations before deciding to discontinue the team, and that, if asked, he would "absolutely" contribute to the cause. Richard Petty '97, another former team member, said that team loyalty inspired by swim coach Jim Wilson would provide added incentive for giving. Harper, however, did not see the option as viable in the long term.
A study co-authored by Dartmouth economics Professor Patricia Anderson found that the more hours a child's mother works outside the home, the more likely it is that the child will become overweight. Working with Kristin Butcher of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and economics Professor Phillip Levine of Wellesley College, Anderson's study -- entitled "Maternal Employment and Overweight Children"-- discovered that a mother's time constraint increases the probability of her children becoming overweight. Levine said that maternal employment is only "one factor in the increase of childhood overweight" and "does not explain most of the trend" in overweight children. Their research found that increasing levels of maternal employment between 1975 and 1999 can explain 6 to 11 percent of the growth in childhood overweight. Levine explained that their research was motivated by recent media attention alluding to a link between working mothers and overweight children. From 1975 to 1999, the average hours worked by mothers increased by 7.5 hours per week while levels of overweight among children ages six and older rose from roughly 5 percent to over 13 percent.
The holiday season is drawing near, and one student group is taking advantage of the holiday spirit to share its culture with people of other ethnic and religious backgrounds. An upcoming celebration of Kwanzaa organized by the Afro-American Society will include student performances, a discussion and dinner.
Throughout their history, the Baker bells have been subject to constant technological innovation
The Lebanon School Board has agreed to consider amending their professional agreement with teachers to include health care coverage for partners in same-sex civil unions, just as the College has since 1997 and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center plans to do in 2003. The board voted Nov.
Fall-term Montgomery Fellow Judy Baca may return to Dartmouth as early as next spring to begin work on a mural in the new Berry Library that would incorporate input from students and faculty. According to College Librarian Richard Lucier, no formal agreements or proposals have been formed, but initial discussions of the project started after faculty expressed an interest.
Despite perceptions that the Greek system lacks diversity, a study conducted by the Office of Residential Life shows that the coed, fraternity and sorority system is nearly as racially diverse as the Dartmouth community. Minority students make up 29 percent of the class of 2003 and 20 percent of the class of 2002, according to 1999 figures.
Hundreds of chanting students protested the elimination of Dartmouth's swimming and diving teams at the houses of Dean of the College James Larimore and College President James Wright late last night.
Tara Kyle '04, from Juneau, Alaska, will be the next president of The Dartmouth, succeeding current president John Teti '03, current editors announced at The Dartmouth's annual changeover ceremony Friday evening at Casque and Gauntlet senior society. The 2004 directorate, led by the 20-year-old Kyle, will assume full control of The Dartmouth's news and business operations at the beginning of Winter term. As president of The Dartmouth and chairman of its Board of Proprietors, Kyle will manage the approximately 100-person staff and the $350,000 annual budget of The Dartmouth, Inc., the student-run business that owns The Dartmouth and The Dartmouth Online. Kyle, who is currently in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the religion department's Foreign Study Program, called newspaper work "a challenging, wonderful and occasionally heartbreaking service." She referred to The Dartmouth staff as "some of the most talented, dedicated and caring students at Dartmouth." Teti, visibly moved during his farewell speech, said afterward that he was proud of The Dartmouth staff's service to the Dartmouth community. Teti also expressed his confidence that the 2004 directorate will provide strong leadership, adding that Kyle "knows the paper backward and forward, and I know that she's going to do an excellent job." Among the other announcements made at the Changeover ceremony, Charles Gardner '04 will succeed Ithan Peltan '03 as The Dartmouth's executive editor and vice chairman of the Board of Proprietors.
Countless suitors have tried and failed to fill the void left after recording industry lawsuits killed popular file-sharing program Napster, but a new entry on the Dartmouth campus may be the best substitute yet. Billed by some as "Napster 2," a program called Direct Connect is facilitating a boom in peer-to-peer file sharing on campus. Direct Connect is a file-sharing program that operates very similarly to Napster.
Stricter Immigration and Naturalization Services regulations enacted in the wake of Sept. 11 may have made U.S.
After facing elimination twice in the past decade as a result of negative internal reviews, the education department now appears to be in the midst of significant change -- the oldest minor will be cut, and a new minor is in the works. At the end of last year, the department announced that the Education Studies minor, one of two minors it offers, will be unavailable after the conclusion of Spring term in 2003.
Dartmouth students like their sleep, but that's only one consideration departments make when they schedule their classes for the coming term. "In my world, it's called 'bunching,'" College Registrar Polly Griffin said.
Every college student encounters "gut" classes -- easy classes taken to fulfill distribution requirements, or to get a good grade with minimal work. Although these gut classes might at first seem to contradict the high standards of Dartmouth, they have a special place in the hearts of students. When asking students to name gut classes, any number of rhyming nicknames surface. "I've heard of some easy classes " 'rocks for jocks,' 'quakes for flakes,' and 'clapping for credit,'" said Gabby Sapia '03, referring to Earth Sciences 2, Earth Sciences 5 and Music 10, respectively, just some of the gut courses mentioned by students. While these courses might garner a reputation for being easy, students enrolled in these courses do not always agree that they deserve to be guts.
Despite the downturn in the national economy, Dartmouth alumni continue to show their loyalty with their wallets.
After kicking off its annual fundraising campaign earlier this fall, the Upper Valley United Way is looking to the Dartmouth community to raise 20 percent of its expected contributions. The Dartmouth campaign aims to raise $232,650 by the end of the drive on Feb.
Although Dick's House offers all enrolled Dartmouth students testing for sexually-transmitted diseases and HIV, many who have requested to be tested this year allege that administrators at the health-care facility have encouraged them not to undergo some tests. Several students, who wished to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, told The Dartmouth that when they asked to be tested, the staff at Dick's House tried to talk them out of it.