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The Dartmouth
April 8, 2026
The Dartmouth
Opinion
Opinion

Selective Safety?

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To the Editor: As a parent of a college student at Brown, I was shocked to read the November 19 article about the selective requirement for wearing safety helmets while skiing at Dartmouth. It is outrageous that College spokesman Roland Adams claims that "safety was the major motivation for the rule." If that is indeed the case, why would the College require helmets exclusively for those students participating in skiing to fulfill a requirement?


Opinion

Get To Know the Details

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To the Editor: The description at the beginning of The Dartmouth's recent campus stereotype articles says that the articles profile "students who at first glance embody various Dartmouth stereotypes." The tone of this statement seems to suggest that the articles will tell us things about people that we never would have guessed.


Opinion

A Real American Hero

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All too often we forget the sacrifices that people make to ensure a brighter future for us. We lose touch with the most important issues of our lives while harping on the most trivial.


Opinion

It's All a Balancing Act

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To the Editor: I am sure many faculty appreciated Michael Belinsky's insightful and forceful editorial "Teaching, Research, or Both?" (The Dartmouth, November 18). He suggests that Dartmouth "must evolve to compete or else continue to face the negative effects of stagnation." The reasons that these changes do not occur is complex but three important ones are: (1) the administration fears it will lose its alumni support, (2) we do not have a Dean of Faculty who has the vision or strength to urge change (although we did with Bharucha and Gazzaniga who each lasted only a year), (3) many faculty who do not do their own professional (research in Belinsky's terms) are threatened by an influx of faculty who do so.


Opinion

A Draft? No Chance

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The other day, I received a blitz that listed detailed instructions about how to register as a conscientious objector -- a common way to avoid the selective service draft because of religious beliefs.


Opinion

Verbum Ultimum

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Recent allegations of hazing and sexual harassment involving Theta Delta Chi fraternity and Delta Delta Delta sorority have resurfaced tensions familiar to anyone acquainted with Dartmouth's Greek system.


Opinion

He Swept Her Off Her Feet

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To the Editor: I read The Dartmouth from time to time and was pleased to see your article about Joyce and Ken, the beloved janitors in Topliff/New Hamp ("Topliff love: Gone with the Windex?" November 16). I lived in Topliff from 1993-1994 and remember with great fondness all that Joyce did to make our dorm a great place to live.



Opinion

Depression, Dementia and Suicide

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To the Editor: The tragic story of the judge who committed suicide without seeking diagnosis and treatment for his condition merits our serious attention (The Dartmouth, "Judge writes suicide note in Rauner Library," November 16). Many older individuals suffer from clinical depression that is mistaken for dementia (commonly called "senility"). Depression is a very treatable condition. To our misfortune many patients and physicians mistake memory problems for permanent brain damage when, in fact, memory almost always improves when a depressed patient recovers from a bout of the serious blues.


Opinion

The Stigma of Mental Illness

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To the Editor: As a Dartmouth student with a mental illness, I can personally assure you that there is stigma surrounding mental illness on campus -- both from students and professors (The Dartmouth, "We wanted to create an event for reducing the stigma about mental health issues on campus," November 12). To deny that is to deny the daily struggles of all the students who silently fight with a mental illness while trying to maintain their studies and relationships.


Opinion

Society's Theater of Violence

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On Friday, Nov. 12, 2004, the jury in the Scott Peterson murder trial reached a verdict. After less than eight hours of deliberation, the jury found Scott Peterson guilty of murder in the first degree in the death of his wife, Laci Peterson, and murder in the second degree in the death of his unborn son, Conor.



Opinion

Think About the Facts

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To the Editor: During the presidential campaign, there were significant efforts to discredit the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth without addressing the facts themselves.


Opinion

The Real Moral Majority

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Amid a nation at war, rising healthcare costs and growing child poverty, the American electorate surprisingly cited "moral values" as the most important issue in choosing the president, trumping the economy, the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq.


Opinion

No Need for Rudeness

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To the Editor: Regarding Kelley Connolly's comments in Friday's edition of The Dartmouth ("We wanted to create an event for reducing the stigma about mental health issues on campus"): I am always amused by people who want to reduce the "stigma" of some other group, and who assert its existence in the process. Perhaps someone would like to address the "stigma" of Jews, or African Americans, or rape survivors at Dartmouth.


Opinion

Wake Up, Smell the Bias

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To the Editor: Jake Tapper's comments on the recent presidential campaigns were quite interesting ("Tapper '91 gives scoop on campaign reporting," The Dartmouth, November 15). However, he certainly demonstrated a surprising degree of naivete when he discussed the Swift Boat attacks on Massachusetts Sen.


Opinion

An Inappropriate Attack

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To the Editor: I was saddened to read Jon Appleton's Wednesday op-ed piece criticizing our new faculty dean, Carol Folt, in a largely ad hominem manner ("Dean of Faculty Gets an F," The Dartmouth, November 10). I supported Michael Gazzaniga's goals for improving quality at Dartmouth, and was also angered by his ouster.



Opinion

Drop the Losing Team

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Drop the Losing Team To the Editor: Perhaps the real mistake in the attempt to eliminate swimming was that the College picked the wrong sport. Football has become non-competitive.