Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism.
The Dartmouth
July 25, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
News
News

Chelsea waits in eye of the storm

|

Chelsea, Vt. -- With the release of arrest warrants for the stabbing deaths of Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop last February, Kip Battey, like this sleepy rural town where he lives, was thrust into a brutal and unexpected spotlight. Overnight, the 18-year-old high school junior found himself faced with the vexing predicament of how and if to respond to the constant stream of media inquiries about his close friends and murder suspects, Robert Tulloch and James "Jimmy" Parker. His solution -- to answer reporters' questions about Tulloch, 18, and Parker, 17 -- catapulted him into the role of unofficial spokesperson for Chelsea's student population.


News

Wire causes fire in Baker Reserves

|

An electrical fire which began at 2:50 p.m. Wednesday afternoon kept the Baker Library Reserves out of commission for the evening. No one was injured, and no damage was done to the acclaimed Orozco murals, which had been covered in protective plastic at the time.


News

'03s seek to save Tubestock

|

Since its inception in 1987, Tubestock has only been an unofficial Dartmouth event, sponsored by Chi Heorot fraternity alum Rick "Boomer" Akerboom '80, but plans are now underway for Tubestock to receive College recognition. The change comes about after 13 years because Akerboom decided to discontinue his support for the event this year.


News

Club faces intolerance charge

|

The Summer Christian Fellowship faces a College investigation after group leaders decided to deny a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- adherents of which are commonly referred to as Mormons -- a leadership role in the organization. While a series of miscommunications appears to have been a major factor leading to the conflict between member of the Mormon Church Meredith Brooks '03 and the SCF, the group's decision that the theology of Brooks' church disqualified her from helping to run the organization has led to some allegations of intolerance. "I went away from [my meeting with SCF leader Alex Jordan '03] knowing that I wouldn't really be accepted as a Christian member of that organization," Brooks said. SCF leaders said they were unaware of the problems Brooks had with the group's structure prior to receiving a copy of an email Brooks wrote saying she felt SCF actions indicated a belief on the organization's part that being a Mormon meant she was not a Christian. "I have no doubt in the wide world that I am indeed a Christian.


News

SEAD program kicks off

|

Late Sunday afternoon, 20 new faces -- newly arrived from Enfield, N.H. and South Boston -- filled the Collis porch, nibbling watermelon and enjoying the evening breeze.



News

GLC to propose scheduled checks

|

Greek leaders said yesterday they expect administrators to accept a Greek Leaders Council proposal to be submitted this week requesting that the recently mandated Safety and Security walk-throughs occur only twice a week and on a scheduled basis within a six-hour time window. Members of coed, fraternity, sorority houses and undergraduate societies were also informed yesterday that the resumption of walk-throughs, currently scheduled for next Tuesday, will be delayed until a plan for their implementation is complete. After meeting with Assistant Deans of Residential Life Cassie Barnhardt and Deb Carney yesterday, Interfraternity Council President Duncan McLean '03 told The Dartmouth that he would be "surprised" if the Office of Residential Life fails to approve the new proposal. According to both McLean and Sigma Phi Epsilon summer President Patrick Granfield '03, Greek leaders are now hopeful that the dialogue between the GLC and ORL concerning the College's new policy allowing unannounced security checks of all Coed Fraternity Sorority and undergraduate society houses has presented a compromise agreeable to both parties. "The consensus among Greek leaders is that this is the compromise we've been working for," McLean said. "This seems to be the win-win situation both parties were looking for," Granfield noted. The new proposal marks only a slight change from the GLC's second proposal, submitted earlier this week, which requested that walkthroughs occur only once a week and on a scheduled basis. However, it represents a significant departure from their first proposal, which suggested that houses themselves take on responsibility for safety measures, in theory eliminating the need for Safety and Securitys walk-throughs. Whether or not Greek houses will still carry out extra safety training measures will now probably be left up to individual houses, McLean said. Although most Greek leaders, according to McLean, are content with the proposed compromise, there is "not 100 percent resounding compliance on it," and there remains "still some lingering anger about how it [the new policy] was dropped on us." "There are a few house presidents who think it is a bit more than they're willing to sign on to," and some plan to meet with their membership before signing the proposal, McLean explained. Furthermore, whatever compromise policy is reached over the summer, the policy issue will still be revisited in the fall, when ORL may attempt to re-institute random, unannounced walk-throughs at that time. In addition, the GLC's latest proposal still will not tackle the second part of ORL's new policy -- the restriction on outdoor alcohol consumption -- although McLean said the GLC hopes to draw up a separate proposal on this issue within the next two weeks. "[Prohibition of outdoor alcohol consumption] is a difficult battle to fight," but the GLC does intend to fight it, McLean added. Neither Carney nor Barnhardt returned calls seeking comment yesterday.


News

Online glitches delay medical school apps.

|

Applicants to medical schools across the country this year have had one more source of stress during an already stressful time -- problems with the introduction of Internet-based applications, which have stubbornly resisted designers' attempts at fixes, have delayed the normally rigid process by a month. Both of Dartmouth's pre-medical advisers called the ongoing problems with the new online application designed by the American Medical College Application System (AMCAS) "a nightmare" for everyone involved. "It hasn't gone smoothly since really the introduction back in March," Nathan Smith Pre-Medical Society adviser and medicine Professor Lee Witters said.


News

GLC suggests weekly monitoring

|

In a continuing dialogue between the Greek Leaders Council and the Office of Residential Life concerning the new College policy allowing unannounced security checks of all coed, fraternity, sorority houses and undergraduate societies, the GLC plans to propose today that Safety and Security "walk-throughs" are scheduled and occur only once a week. Greek leaders hope that their proposal will build on previous proposals and talks with administrators and lead to the forging of a compromise agreeable to all parties. According to Panhellenic Council President Allison Sydlaske, since ORL announced the new policy unexpectedly at the beginning of the summer, members of the GLC have been encouraged by administrators to voice their opinions, and such encouragement and conversations take shape in the proposal. Without asking for a total reprieve of the new policy, the GLC's most recent proposal asks to "formulate a system of scheduled walk throughs," according to Patrick Granfield '03, summer president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. This is the second proposal the GLC has presented to ORL.


News

S&S checks routine for some

While many residents of Greek houses are contesting the new policy allowing Safety and Security officers to conduct unannounced checks of all undergraduate housing, students in a similar living environment -- affinity houses -- already face regular walk-throughs by College officials. According to many affinity house residents, such security checks are carried out in a friendly, low-key manner, that does not interfere with students' privacy.




News

Patient Bill Tanks

|

Last week's passage of the Senate's version of The Patient's Bill of Rights -- a resolution long-debated in both houses -- was hailed as a victory for the Democrats.


News

Speech questions meaning of July 4th

|

The day before nation-wide Independence Day celebrations, people from the Dartmouth community converged at the Rockefeller Center to discuss "Does July 4th have the same meaning for everyone?" In a community dialogue lead by Jennifer M.


News

70 sophomores skip their Summer term

|

Even though Sophomore Summer is heralded as one of the best times to be at the College, some sophomores choose not to spend their summer at Dartmouth taking classes as the traditional D-plan prescribes. This year, 70 members of the Class of 2003 are not on campus, but 970 are, according to the Class of 2003 Dean Teoby Gomez.



News

U. of A. sees Greek controversy

|

As the intense battle over the Greek system continues at Dartmouth, similar controversies are appearing at universities across the nation. Journalist Eric Hoover investigated discriminatory traditions in the fraternity and sorority systems at both Dartmouth and the University of Alabama in a June edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, and he said he identified some parallel patterns. Just as Dartmouth's Coed Fraternity Sorority system drew national attention for Zeta Psi fraternity's publication of "sex papers" last Spring term, the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa has been thrust into the limelight for its own Greek-related controversies. Following in a long history of discrimination, the Alabama Greek system has been witness to yet another chapter in the struggle over racism inside fraternity and sorority houses. According to The Chronicle, Melody Twilley, a black student at Alabama, hoped to become the first African-American member of an historically all-white sorority.


News

Geography major experiences life as global nomad

|

Alexios Monopolis '03 has backpacked in almost 30 countries, dog sledded on an island near the top of the world, kayaked in the Arctic Ocean, journeyed with a camel caravan of Berber nomads in North Africa, and -- during a quieter moment -- slept in the Sahara Desert sand watching the stars above. Monopolis, who is president of the Dartmouth Outing Club, has a way of talking in which his words come out in a steady stream, ricocheting off one another, creating new interlocking paths at every moment.


News

Newly-created GLC contests S&S policy

|

In the shadow of a newly-defunct Coed Fraternity Sorority Council, and in the midst of building a brand new Greek Leaders Council, summer Greek presidents are uniting to take a stand against the Office of Residential Life's new house monitoring policy. Although the GLC constitution has yet to be finalized, the freshly-elected GLC leadership has already begun to give a unified voice to the Greek response to the controversial new ORL policy mandating unannounced safety checks of Coed Fraternity Sorority houses by college personnel. "The GLC is an ad hoc committee to deal specifically with these [new ORL] proposals," President of the Interfraternity Council Duncan McLean '03 explained.


News

Court reverses Microsoft ruling

|

In a decision sharply criticizing the federal district court judge -- a Dartmouth graduate -- who presided over the landmark Microsoft Corporation antitrust case, an appeals court on Thursday overturned a decision breaking up the company for anticompetitive business practices. The appeals court focused on what it said were "deliberate, repeated, egregious and flagrant" violations by Federal District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson '58 of rules prohibiting public comment by judges on pending cases. Citing interviews Jackson had with numerous media organizations as well as a speech he gave at Dartmouth, the appeals court employed unusually scathing language in finding that Jackson's out-of-court statements criticizing Microsoft's evidence, practices and witnesses "destroyed the appearance of impartiality." Jackson's failure to hold a hearing to gather evidence regarding several factual disputes between the parties during the remedy phase of the trial was also given as a reason for the remand. The antitrust case which was brought against Microsoft three years ago by the Department of Justice and a number of states will now be sent back to district court for further action, although the appeals court has mandated that a new judge oversees future hearings. However, because the appeals court found no evidence for actual bias on Jackson's part, it chose to affirm his decision that Microsoft had exercised monopoly power in the personal computer software market in general, although not specifically in the area of Internet browsers, with its tying of Internet Explorer into the Windows operating system. Jackson could not be reached for comment by press time. Both United States Attorney General John Ashcroft and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates welcomed the decision as a victory during press conferences on Thursday. Both Ashcroft and Gates also said they would need more time to review the complex decision before determining what the next step would be. "I am pleased that the court unanimously found that Microsoft engaged in unlawful conduct ... This is a significant victory," Ashcroft said in a statement on Thursday. "While largely pleased with the dismissal of breakup and narrowing of the case, Microsoft is disappointed with some of the findings in the area of monopoly maintenance.