Friday night rolls around again, like it does every seven days, and the collective mind of Dartmouth's student body makes a transition from study mode to unwind, relax and refresh.
On March 10 the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs completed their review of the Student Life Initiative's recommendations, publishing a report detailing the Committee's suggestions that includes support for the removal of taps from Greek houses. The CCAOD also parallels the rules and regulations from the steering committee report involving all parties being registered directly with Safety and Security, but the proposed date of removal of in-house tap systems by June 1, 2001 rather than the earlier deadline of September 2000. For it's greatest departure from the original Initiative report, the CCAOD report calls for the establishment of a professionally trained, College-certified, pool of servers to dispense alcohol at all registered events. Such servers would be accompanied by an "associated certified non-undergraduate" assigned the task of checking student ID's and distributing wrist bands to students of legal drinking age. The professional bar-tender pool has been employed successfully at Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania, CCAOD Chair Robert Binswanger said, but requires enormous effort on part of the sponsoring university. "If the College wants to affect change they'll need to go more than half-way on the bartenders," Binswanger said. This is especially true given the task of finding people to serve, committee member Teddy Rice '00 said.
Alcohol and drug committee nears completion of report response
This month saw the completion of the external review of the Education department, though no official report will be expected until the beginning of Spring term, Dean of the Faculty Ed Berger told The Dartmouth yesterday. Berger said the review committee -- which consists of five reviewers, including Dartmouth professors and outside education experts -- still has to write the report." Once written, the report will first be sent to the department itself so that they may review the contents. After that it will be discussed at a meeting with the College deans and President James Wright, Berger said. Education Department Chair Andrew Garrod declined to comment on what content may be included in the report, and said "the deans have asked me not to discuss anything, but my feeling is that it went well." In all likelihood, Berger said, the report will not be made public matter. "To my knowledge none of the [previous 39] external department reviews have been released publicly." This is due to the nature of the reports that tend mostly to recommend improvements within the departments that are of little concern to the general public.
A gathering of more than 50 people in Sanborn Library's Wren Room greeted the official announcement of Dartmouth's acceptance of $250,000 for the improvement of campus conditions for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students yesterday afternoon. The assets have been managed for the past 15 years under the off-campus Edward Carpenter Memorial Foundation after the College rejected three offers by the fund's benefactor, the late Dr. Ralph Elias '32, in the early 1980s. The previous donation attempts were declined because "the College, then still defining its policies on sexual minorities, felt unable to accept money so specifically designated," according to the event's program. The fund initially struggled to gain official acceptance by the College, due to the reigning attitudes of "homophobia and heterosexism" during those years, English professor and Carpenter Trustee Peter Saccio said. Turning the funds over to the College represents the latest milestone in an on-going fight to improve GLBT conditions at Dartmouth, Coordinator of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Advocacy and Programming, Pam Misener said. This latest step toward equality has been the culmination of an unprecedented decade of progress, and "echoes the development of society in general," Saccio said. College President James Wright, who was on hand to accept the donation, said, "Much really has happened this past decade." "But the process can never be complete, we're meeting the challenge to bring policy and practice closer together, but we still need to keep our aspirations ahead of reality," Wright said. Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Humanities Barry Scherr also attended the ceremony and spoke briefly to elaborate on how the money might be spent. Scherr said that half of the sum would be under his direction as dean and would be dedicated to Dartmouth's ideals of teaching.
The superstar of 'Titanic' and 'The Beach' still considers this Oscar-nominated role his finest achievement
In response to January's steering committee report, the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs has been reviewing the report's recommendations dealing with alcohol on campus. The CCAOD hopes to create a more cohesive policy on alcohol and other drugs that will incorporate some aspects of the steering committee's suggestions with the working pieces of the College's current policy. The steering committee report refers to this current policy as "complicated, poorly enforced by the College and widely ignored by the students." Acting Dean of the Tucker Foundation and CCAOD Chair Robert Binswanger does not disagree, saying, "the majority of the current CCAOD believe, with most other objective observers, that the full application and implementation [of the current alcohol policy] is uneven and confusing to students." In an effort to make the current alcohol policy more cohesive, the College reconstituted the CCAOD this fall, with a mind to reflect a broader cross section of campus interests, CCAOD vice-Chair Margaret Smith said. Binswanger said that almost half of the committee is made up of students, and the members vary from a fraternity president, an unaffiliated sophomore and College Proctor Robert McEwen. "This CCAOD is a diverse group that represents the various interests on campus," Smith said. The latest manifestation of the CCAOD has been focusing on education and prevention in working with a host of campus interests to "figure out how we can make this a better campus," Smith said. Amid the enormous complexity of the entire Social and Residential Life Initiative, Binswanger said the Committee has its hands full on those portions of the report dealing with alcohol and other drugs alone. Alcohol being one of the main concentrations of the steering committee's report, only adds to the complicated nature of the problem, said Binswanger. "It's not an issue of fraternities and sororities, state or federal law, or what size cups or how many games -- it's all of those things and more," he said. The CCAOD is now formulating a policy on alcohol and other drugs that will depend on responsibility on an individual level among the students, Binswanger said. This involves evaluating the steering committee's recommendations and deciding what parts to use in making a system that would be supported by the student body, said Binswanger. One recommendation of the steering committee report already under fire, is that which sets limits on what number of people would constitute a party and thus the point of differentiation between a registered and non-registered event, said Binswanger.
Man carrying rifle was allegedly outside Kiewit
The Education department will face a review by an external committee to determine its future relationship with the College that may suggest the removal of the department on Feb.
As applications for the Class of 2004 begin to filter into the admissions office, three members of the Class of 1999 -- in keeping with a long history of alumni serving as admissions officers -- will play a role in selecting Dartmouth's newest students. Out of the 13 alumni officers based in McNutt Hall, nine -- including new additions Stacey Morris '99, Landis Fryer '99 and Shauna Brown '99 -- are graduates of the College. According to the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg, the majority of admissions officers have always been Dartmouth graduates. In fact, four current officers began their careers as senior interviewers, a program Furstenberg established that enables Dartmouth seniors to interview and assess prospective students on campus. Though senior interviewers often have an edge in the application process to become an officer, it is not the only factor, Director of Admissions Maria Laskaris '84 said. When vacancies open up, the admissions office sends a notification to all graduating seniors. Fryer, who served as a senior interviewer last year, said he was excited when he received the notification. "I thought 'I know a lot about this, I could do a good job,'" he said. Laskaris also noted that precedence is not given to Dartmouth alumni in general. "In order for us to do a good job we need an admissions staff that represents a good deal of diversity," she said. However, most applications do come from Dartmouth alumni, Laskaris said.