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The Dartmouth
June 16, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
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Graduation rates fall across nation

By Will Meland | August 20, 2001

Reacting to news that national college graduation rates have plunged below 42 percent, College officials expressed confidence that Dartmouth is isolated from the forces -- notably the lack of money and student motivation reported in a national study -- that appear to be causing the nationwide decline. While he called the national statistic "frightening," Larry Litten, director of Dartmouth's Office of Institutional Research, said Dartmouth and similarly selective colleges are "holding strong" at 90-95 percent graduation rates after five years. In fact, although he said that graduation statistics on the national scale are very important, Litten said that raising Dartmouth's graduation statistics further "would not [necessarily] be a good sign," since a proportion of students may in fact benefit from leaving the College to pursue other options. The national survey, conducted by ACT (formerly the American College Testing Service), reported financial constraints as a key factor in leaving college before graduation.

News

College: Zete fails appeal

By Alice Gomstyn | August 20, 2001

In what was a final bid to extend its lifeline, Zeta Psi fraternity lost an appeal to overturn the College's permanent derecognition of the organization.

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White males dominate trades

By Rachel Osterman | August 20, 2001

She may not have intended it, but Claire Walton is on the front lines of efforts to diversify one of the most stubbornly white and male-dominated areas of the College. A recently hired locksmith, Walton is the only female employed in the skilled trades at Dartmouth.

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2 of 3 temp. housing sites win approval

By Tracy Landers | August 16, 2001

The Hanover Zoning Board voted yesterday to grant special exceptions for construction of temporary undergraduate dorms on two out of three sites proposed by Dartmouth College. The proposal for construction on the College Street site, location of the recently demolished Zeta Beta Chi sorority, did not receive the necessary unanimous vote from the three-person Zoning Board in order to be approved or disapproved. The sites on Tuck Mall and Maynard Street were approved with the stipulation by the Planning Board that they would be removed after three years.

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Stem cells are hot topic on Hill

By Jennifer Thomas | August 16, 2001

Bush's decision last Thursday to provide federal financial backing only to researchers working with existing stem cell lines provided at least one topic of heated debate on Capitol Hill this week. After announcing that federal grants would be available early next year for research on stem-cell colonies already derived from destroyed embryos, many research supporters and patients' advocacy groups felt that the President had taken too conservative a stance by stifling potential scientific discoveries. On the other side, social conservatives, many of whom see such research as equivalent to the taking of pre-natal human lives, saw the policy as too liberal. Either way, skeptics pointed out that the President's qualified support represented a shrewd -- albeit transparent -- political move that allowed him to straddle the fence between two dissenting Republican constituencies. Fence-sitting or not, Bush's future ability to work with the legislative branch could be partially decided in the next few months, as Republicans and Democrats alike seek to pick up seats during Congressional redistricting. "It's political hardball, state by state, and anything can happen," Representative Thomas M.

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'Shmen face higher risk for meningitis

By Jennifer Thomas | August 16, 2001

A study conducted by the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that bacterial meningitis -- which in the past few years has taken the lives of two members of the Dartmouth community -- is three times as prevalent among first-year college students than other undergraduates. Using data from all 50 states, including 231 college health centers, researchers found that of the 96 cases of meningococcal disease cited in the academic year ending in August of 1999, 30 were found in freshmen.

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DOC amends constitution

By Sabrina Peric | August 16, 2001

In an historic decision Monday night, the Dartmouth Outing Club voted unanimously to amend its constitution and change its mission statement for the first time since its founding in the early 1900s. The move comes in the hope to further "a diverse and inclusive membership, the educational objectives of Dartmouth College and its principal of community, by stimulating an appreciation of nature and environmental stewardship", according to the revised mission statement. Diversity and inclusion are the main new goals included in the DOC's constitution, the changes to which were approved yesterday by the College administration. The big push for the move came from current DOC president, Alex Monopolis '03, who said, "There are some things that the DOC doesn't do as well as it could or should do and there are some issues that the DOC has never deliberately focused on solving." Though Monopolis will only serve as DOC president until the end of term, he intends to write a letter to the Dartmouth community outlining the amendment to the DOC constitution and its purpose. "The Constitution was to initiate the process of making the DOC more inclusive and less elitist institutionally ... more of a community based club, rather than an undergraduate society," Monopolis said. Crucial to their identity as an organization, the DOC also included environmental stewardship in the mission statement in order to ensure that the DOC "remains an environmentally conscious organization -- one that uses nature for the physical, emotional and spiritual renewal, but which, at the same time, contributes to the preservation of the wilderness we revere and play in," Monopolis said. According to Pete Ostendorp '03, a member of the DOC directorate, the principle of stewardship means that "the DOC should not only take from the environment ... but should also strive to repay our wilderness for the enjoyment we have gleened." Monopolis hopes that these new principles will become "embedded into the DOC ethos." "The DOC is an amazing organization," Monopolis said.

News

Psychology department research spans disciplines

By Will Meland | August 16, 2001

Undergraduates, graduate students and faculty of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences report that their department is currently thriving on a large bounty of research dollars -- the most in its history and in an amount greater than any other Dartmouth academic department. While exact figures were unavailable from the Department yesterday, the main sources of this funding are reportedly U.S.

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Class of 2005 may face size challenges

By Jennifer Thomas | August 14, 2001

With 1146 members in the Class of 2005, this year's group of incoming freshmen will be Dartmouth's largest in history and may face some issues because of its size. Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg said he expects an attrition of an additional 15 to 20 students before Fall term registration.

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'76 discusses Dickey's impact

By Jeremy Skog | August 14, 2001

Carey Heckman '76 spoke to a group of 20 students last night on a subject that is usually quite unfamiliar to current Dartmouth students: the 25-year presidency of John Sloan Dickey '63. The discussion, held at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and titled "Perspective on Dartmouth Presidents over the Past 25 Years," was a thorough discussion of how Dickey, according to Heckman, made drastic changes to Dartmouth's operations. "For 25 years after his presidency [he was] overshadowing everybody," Heckman said. Dickey was "a very towering kind of person," he added, "very much a person of this area." Dickey, born in Pennsylvania, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Dartmouth before going to work in a Boston law firm for a year.

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Many N.H. towns protest taxes

By Carl Burnett | August 14, 2001

The New Hampshire seacoast is ground zero for a citizen-led revolt against a new statewide property-tax law. Twenty-seven "Coalition Communities," including Hanover, have joined together against what they say is an unfair taxation system.

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Door locks set for winter

By Devin Foxall | August 14, 2001

Installation of electronic locks on the doors of all residence hall s -- which Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman initially said he hoped would be completed by the beginning of Fall term -- will not be finished until at least the winter of 2002. Administrators announced plans in February to devise an exterior door locking system.

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Brits find yankee Dartmouth dandy

By Devin Foxall | August 10, 2001

One if by land, two if by sea, three if by university exchange programs. As part of an ongoing partnership with British universities, four Oxford University students and three students from the University of Edinburgh are studying at Dartmouth this Summer term. The heat, small town atmosphere, scholastic freedom and 21-year-old drinking age were all noted differences between college life in Hanover, USA and the cities of Britain. "The social life is completely different because not only do we have an 18 drinking age but we're in the center of the city, so our social stuff tends to revolve around going clubbing and going to bars," Victoria Markland, an exchange student from Oxford, said. "So it was pretty weird when we first got here because I kept wanting to go out all the time, and then I was like, 'there's no where to go but to frats to play pong,'" she said. Terence Holden, an exchange student from Edinburgh, has a similar view of Hanover social life.

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Congress gives College millions

By Alice Gomstyn | August 10, 2001

Tens of millions of dollars have flown from the coffers of Congress to the hands of Dartmouth researchers since last October, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. A study released by the publication last week reported that Congress awarded a staggering $1.668 billion in earmarks to American universities and colleges, including Dartmouth, during the 2001 fiscal year, which ends Sept.

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Lebanon blocks rugby clubhouse

By Jennifer Thomas | August 10, 2001

The Lebanon Zoning Board rejected a College request to build a rugby clubhouse at Sachem Field at Monday night's meeting, deciding that the proposed facility was not necessary to playing the sport. After 30 minutes of debate, the board voted 3-2 to deny the College's club rugby team the special exception it needed to build a one-story clubhouse off Route 10. According to Lebanon Coding Enforcement Director Carmela Hennessy, the board felt that the plan "went beyond the scope of the ordinance" already granted to the rugby team for the use of their outdoor facilities. The proposed clubhouse would have included a kitchen, a team meeting and dining area, lockers, bathrooms and equipment storage space.

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Bush limits fed. stem cell research

By Alice Gomstyn | August 10, 2001

After over a month of consultations with colleagues, experts and friends, President George W. Bush reached a decision regarding the federal financing of embryonic stem cell research: he supports it, but on his terms. The President appeared on national television last night to announce his decision to the American public.

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