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Berry Library meeting draws 150 professors

By Jake Elberg | November 13, 1997

Professors criticized the administration for ignoring the opinion of the Design Review Committee at a crowded meeting yesterday in which architects defended the plans for the proposed $50 million Berry Library. More than 150 people attended the presentation by College Provost James Wright and three architects involved with the design of the building, but the debate did not begin until after the presentation was finished.

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Activist Harry Wu speaks on China

By Andrew Allport | November 13, 1997

Speaking to a packed audience in 105 Dartmouth last night, Chinese-American human rights activist Harry Wu attacked the Communist regime of China for imprisoning and executing dissidents. Wu, who spent 19 years in China's labor camp system, said he was one of over 500,000 citizens the Chinese government tried to systematically eradicate from their society.

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Glee Club to sing at tree ceremony

By Jay Krehbiel | November 13, 1997

The Glee Club voted unanimously to sing Christmas carols at the tree lighting ceremony later this term, a change from last year when the Glee Club did not sing the carols due to their Christian content. This year the group will sing both secular and non-secular songs, including Silent Night, Come All Ye Faithful, Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, director and Music Professor Louis Burkot said. "It is very good music that we sing very well," he said. It also is likely the College will continue to pay for a Christmas tree and the lighting ceremonies in the middle of the Green, if the administration follows the recommendation of the Committee on the Christmas Tree, members of the committee said yesterday. The committee's recommendations will be turned over to the Office of Public Programs, the Tucker Foundation and the President's Office for an ultimate decision on the matter. After a great deal of controversy last year over the nature of the tree and the lighting ceremony, the committee concluded that the tree should be called a "Christmas" tree, rather than a "Holiday" tree.

News

Petition demands Berry Changes

By Jake Elberg | November 12, 1997

Joy Kenseth, the art history professor leading the movement to have the current plans for Berry Library modified, formally initiated a faculty petition yesterday, asking the College's Board of Trustees to halt action towards the construction of the library, which is currently scheduled to begin this spring. Kenseth, along with other members of the Art History Department, sent an electronic-mail message to all academic departments asking professors to sign a petition -- which asks that the exterior design of the building be more closely considered before construction begins. The exact language of the petition reads, "We the undersigned request the Board of Trustees to delay actions on the present plans for the Berry Library/Academic Center, especially its exterior design.

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Coeducation did not come overnight

By Maura Henninger | November 12, 1997

One day in 1971, a group of female exchange students forcibly "coeducated" the sauna in the "for males only" part of the gymnasium to protest the College's lack of facilities for women. Almost instantly, the women had won over some male converts to the cause of coeducation, as the men in the adjacent showers joined them -- either out of sympathy with their cause or so they could sit around with women wearing towels in a steam bath. When the director of the athletic department asked the group to leave, they refused.

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Coffin preaches love

By Katherin Weston | November 12, 1997

Peace and civil rights activist William Sloane Coffin, this term's Montgomery Fellow, stressed the importance of love and compassion not just in people's personal lives, but also in service to the community at large in a speech last night in 105 Dartmouth Hall. Coffin's address, titled "The Politics of Compassion," was delivered to a capacity crowd, with audience members crowding in the aisles and sitting on the floor long before the speech was scheduled to begin.

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Senior fellows pursue interests with independent study

By Kathrin Weston | November 10, 1997

While many seniors are laying the groundwork this term for their senior theses, a select few Dartmouth students are engaged in a more ambitious form of research: the senior fellowship. In choosing to become senior fellows, five students -- Brian Cina '98, Martin Kessler '98, Elena Reilly '97, Aaron Russo '98 and Onche Ugbabe '98 -- have committed themselves to going beyond the bounds of normal coursework to explore a given area of interest within their majors. Once they have met their distributive requirements, Senior Fellows are free to spend three full terms on their project, for which they receive credit equivalent to three courses. Candidates for the program, who apply for the fellowship during their junior year, must present a solid proposal of "intellectual value" -- a tight functional plan for their independent research projects, said Assistant Dean of the Faculty Sandy Gregg. In addition, those awarded fellowships usually have unique talents and interests as well as a burning passion for their project, she said -- and this year's group is no different. The working titles include "Representing Environments with Sound: Connections between Urban Dance Culture and Tribal Dance Ritual;" "Justice for the Poor Revisited: The Legal Aid Society of New York City and the Civil Legal Services Movement, 1960-1995;" "Venus and Adonis: a Masque for the Entertainment of the King;" "Agricultural Transformations within the Maya Communities of Western Guatemala" and "A Study in Musical Fusion." Senior Fellows are ultimately selected by the President of the College on the recommendation of the Faculty Committee on Senior Fellowships -- which is composed of the Dean of the College and two professors from each of the arts and sciences divisions. At the end of the fall term, the advisers and the Committee will evaluate and honestly appraise the students' progress.

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King calls for school choice as '90s civil rights

By Michelle Comeau | November 10, 1997

Dr. Alveda Celeste King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed a group of 25 students last night in 105 Dartmouth Hall, delivering a speech in which she advocated school choice as the "civil right of the '90s." The 30-minute speech outlined King's concerns about the way our culture is moving.

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Kenseth to petition for Berry construction halt

By Jake Elberg | November 10, 1997

Art History Professor Joy Kenseth, who is leading the movement to have the current plans for Berry Library modified, said she will initiate a petition today to halt action towards the construction of the library until the design can be discussed further. Kenseth -- a member of the executive committee of the friends of Dartmouth Library -- said the petition will ask "that no further action be taken on the library until we can properly assess the impact this exterior design will have on campus as a whole and possible concrete solutions that could minimize what are now seen as troublesome aspects of the building." She said she will start the petition today by sending a BlitzMail message to the entire faculty. Dissension has arisen recently regarding architect Robert Venturi's proposed design for the 125,000-square-foot Berry addition to the Baker Library, with many faculty members saying the plan is not consistent with the character of the campus. In the meantime, Kenseth -- in what she called a setback for both her and the members of the Design Review Committee who oppose the current Berry plans -- was told Friday by College Provost James Wright she will be granted a meeting with just one of the members of the College's Board of Trustees later this week. Kenseth had been hoping to address the entire Board in an attempt to convince them to modify the Berry plans. The Trustees meet in Hanover this weekend, and Wright said the Board's weekend agenda has been set for several weeks -- and that the library is "not a part of any Board action at this time." He said he never suggested to Kenseth that she would be given a forum with the full Board of Trustees. College Trustee Kate Stith-Cabranes -- the chair of the Trustee Committee on Educational Affairs and Facilities -- will meet with Kenseth later this week, and Wright said he encouraged Stith-Cabranes to invite other members of the Board to the meeting.

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