Super Dartmouth

The College Town

2008-02-07T18:41:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow's New York Times travel section profiles Hanover and the wonders (and popularity) of its small town environment.

Wright is Retiring

2008-02-04T12:32:00.000-05:00

In a blitz this morning from Ed Haldeman, chair of the Board of Trustees, James Wright announced he was stepping down as president in June 2009:

February 4, 2008

Dear Friends,

I am writing to let you know that I have informed the Board of Trustees of my intention
to step down as President of Dartmouth in June of 2009, following commencement and
reunions. By that time, I will have been at Dartmouth for 40 years as both a faculty
member and administrator - having served as Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences, as
Provost, and, since 1998, as the 16th President of the College. It has been an extraordinary
experience that I shall always cherish, and a true privilege about which I feel a profound
sense of humility.

At this moment, I am filled with rich memories - memories jarred by the quick passage
of time and marked by the good fortune I feel. They are memories of the students in my
history classes with whom I have learned, the faculty colleagues who bring to this
College a remarkable commitment to teaching and research, the dedicated staff and
administrators who daily contribute to the strength of Dartmouth, alumni and alumnae
whose loyalty and support of our College are legendary, and this current generation of
students who daily energize me - and Dartmouth - anew. I am continually inspired by
memories of Presidents Dickey, Kemeny, McLaughlin, and Freedman. And, I am grateful
to the Trustees with whom I have served; they are remarkably generous and selfless
contributors to the work of the College.

But between now and June of 2009, I do not intend to dwell on memory - as enjoyable as
that is. There is still much to do. Over the next months I will work to achieve the goals of
the "Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience"; advance our pending capital projects;
grow our faculty and support their priorities; implement our Sophomore Summer
initiative; help Dean of the College Tom Crady and our students address the need for new
social spaces; help recruit the Classes of 2012 and 2013 - and position Dartmouth to
continue enrolling and educating the most talented students in higher education. Finally,
Susan and I hope always to maximize our time with current students, sharing in their
aspirations, being inspired by their accomplishments, and cheering their artistic and
athletic endeavors.

By June 2009, I believe we will have made substantial progress on many of the strategic
priorities I think most important for Dartmouth. And, as much as I enjoy serving
Dartmouth in my current role, I believe that every institution can benefit from periodic
new leadership and fresh ideas. I am announcing my decision now in order to provide the
Board with ample time to organize and pursue a search for my successor. I will not be
part of the search process but I stand ready to do whatever the Board requests to assist
with recruiting Dartmouth's 17th President.

Beyond June 2009, I plan to spend much of my time continuing my work supporting
wounded veterans and encouraging returning servicemen and women, to whom I feel a
great sense of gratitude, to pursue higher education. I intend to reacquaint myself with the
study of history, and will take some time organizing my papers and archives as well as
pursuing some writing projects. Susan and I will also take the time to catch our breath,
enjoy some travel, and spend more than fleeting moments with our seven grandchildren.

For now, Susan is in the midst of an exciting schedule of visitors invited by the
Montgomery Endowment, which she directs, and is completing thirty years of service to
Dartmouth working with students and encouraging their dreams.

Of course during this time and forever more, Susan and I will do whatever we can to
advance the work of this College on the Hill. That is a story that has no end and a
commitment that has neither conditions nor boundaries.

Thanks to so many of you for your personal friendship, energy and encouragement. Over
the next 16 months and for the lifetime that will follow, Susan and I look forward to
continuing to work with you and expressing our appreciation for all that you do.

Sincerely,

James Wright

*************************************************************************************************************

February 4, 2008

Dear Members of the Dartmouth Community,

Jim Wright has informed the Board of Trustees of his intention to step down as
Dartmouth's President in June 2009. For Jim, this will mark a total of 11 years as
President and 40 years at the College, which also included distinguished service as a
Professor of History, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Provost.

Throughout that time, Jim has been a tireless advocate for Dartmouth. Jim's passion and
vision have helped Dartmouth build on its rich and unique heritage to remain the pre-
eminent undergraduate liberal arts college in the country, while becoming an even more
vibrant and diverse community of learning and scholarship.

Jim's leadership has strengthened Dartmouth in many ways. He spearheaded efforts to
enhance the student and academic experience - strengthening interdisciplinary studies,
expanding off-campus programs, keeping Dartmouth at the forefront of using technology
in the classroom and expanding both undergraduate and professional school faculty. His
commitment to undergraduate education helped significantly lower the student-faculty
ratio and raise student satisfaction to an all-time high.

During Jim's tenure, Dartmouth attracted a record number of applicants. The class of 2011 is
one of the most talented and diverse in Dartmouth history. Jim also made it a personal
priority to ensure that Dartmouth could attract superb students without regard for their
financial means by more than doubling the amount of money we spend on undergraduate
financial aid.

As anyone walking around campus can attest, Jim also presided over a dramatic
revitalization of our facilities. More than a billion dollars will have been invested in new
and renovated buildings during his presidency. This has included nine new dormitories as
well as spectacular new academic centers, social spaces, and sports facilities.
Finally, Jim has worked tirelessly to ensure that Dartmouth has a strong financial
foundation on which to continue pursuing its mission. Jim and Susan's constant travels for
Dartmouth have helped the College to double both our annual fundraising and the
College's endowment, which now stands at $3.75 billion. The progress in this area was
highlighted by two recent milestones: December proved to be the best month of
fundraising in Dartmouth's long history, and in January, the College announced that we
had raised more than $1 billion toward the $1.3 billion goal of the "Campaign for the
Dartmouth Experience."

It won't surprise anyone who knows Jim that he still has much he intends to accomplish at
Dartmouth. His ambitious goals for the remainder of his presidency include the successful
completion of the capital campaign, further expansion in the size and quality of the faculty,
breaking ground on the new dining hall to replace Thayer, the Class of 1953 Commons at
the McLaughlin Cluster, the Visual Arts Center, and the Class of 1978 Life Sciences
Center, and a variety of initiatives to continue enhancing the student and academic
experience.

Finding the best possible person to build on Jim's legacy at Dartmouth will obviously be a
top priority for the Board in the coming year, and we will discuss the search process at our
next meeting in March. I will provide you with more information on the search process
following the board meeting, but I can assure you that hearing the views of faculty, staff,
students, and alumni will be a critically important part of the search process.

Both Jim and Susan - who herself has served Dartmouth for nearly thirty years, including
in her current role as the Director of the Montgomery Endowment - have enriched
Dartmouth and generations of students in countless ways big and small. On behalf of the
Board and the entire Dartmouth community, I want to extend my thanks and appreciation
to Jim and Susan for all they have done and continue to do for Dartmouth and its students.
Jim's tenure is not over - and his legacy has not been written - but both are as strong and
vibrant as Dartmouth is today.

Sincerely,

Ed Haldeman '70

Financial Aid Changes

2008-01-22T16:39:00.000-05:00

Dartmouth announced changes today to its financial aid policies:

1. Free tuition for students who come from families with annual incomes below $75,000
2. Replacing loans with scholarships
3. Need-blind admissions for international students
4. Junior leave term with no earnings expectation

Beta & AZD

2008-01-14T19:54:00.000-05:00

So, Beta Theta Pi (or the now local version of it) is coming back to campus next fall and Alpha Xi Delta, which has been renting Beta's house for the last ten years, is now homeless.

I have no problem with the general notion of Beta's re-recognition, and certainly not with the desire of its alumni to see it return, but the college's handling of the situation has been terrible.

The administration's decision to reinstate Beta violates two major policies of the college. First, there are clear rules for the recognition of Greek organizations:

The following recognition policies and process apply to all new or returning organizations…Returning organizations are those who 1) once existed at Dartmouth and closed for non-disciplinary reasons; or 2) once existed at Dartmouth but as the result of disciplinary action were closed for a period of time with the opportunity to return at a future date clearly articulated as part of the disciplinary action.

Second, the college does not allow new or returning Greek organizations to receive recognition without a national affiliation. After being de-recognized at Dartmouth, Beta national revoked the chapter's charter. Today, Beta national is dry and so if Dartmouth Beta wants to rejoin, presumably they would need to follow those rules. The college is allowing Beta to be re-recognized therefore in clear violation of its rules mandating that fraternities be nationally affiliated. The Dartmouth article had the following:

Sipple [co-chairman of the Beta Board of Trustees] said that while the alumni group’s ultimate goal is to rejoin with Beta national, they are prepared to work with future members to determine if affiliation with a different national organization would better suit the needs of the group. It is College policy to only allow the addition of national fraternities and sororities to campus.

Does anybody believe this? Clearly, Dartmouth's Beta chapter is not going to go dry. And if they affiliate with another national, what really would be the point of re-recognition? They won't be Beta anymore. I would bet anybody that in ten years time Beta remains unaffiliated.

But what is the real problem with the administration breaking their own rules? First, CFS policies represent a sort of unofficial contract between the college and Greek organizations. If a house breaks them, they face probation and de-recognition. It is therefore very hypocritical for Dean Redman to claim that there is no problem with the college's disregard for their policies.

Furthermore, two years ago, a group of women organized in the hopes of forming a seventh sorority, what today is now thriving as Alpha Phi. They petitioned the college to allow it to form temporarily as a local sorority, promising to affiliate with a national as soon as an acceptable national organization was found. The same administrators who waived the rules for Beta this week refused to do so for the women. And this came at a time when a seventh sorority was desperately needed. The college is willing to be flexible with its rules for its disgraced fraternity but not to do so for the group of women who were well-intentioned and addressing a greater campus need. The lack of consistency - and integrity - with these decisions is appalling.

We all know it's about the money of course. But shouldn't the college stand on principles?

Hart on Obama

2008-01-14T00:54:00.000-05:00

Longtime Dartmouth Review contributor and former college professor Jeffrey Hart wrote an op-ed in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the inspirational qualities of Barack Obama. Perhaps more than any article I have read before, Professor Hart captures exactly what it is that fueled Obama's sudden rise to the top of national politics. Predicting an Obama presidency, he is also unrestrained in his praise:

Barack Obama is inspirational but he also possesses good political judgment. This provides a factual basis for his inspirational call for hope.

For example, when he was in the Illinois legislature in the Fall of 2002 when President Bush was trying to sell the war in Iraq, Mr. Obama reasoned as follows:

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, of undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East and encourage the worst, rather than the best, impulses in the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaida. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars...

William F. Buckley Jr. many years ago defined conservatism as "the politics of reality." With his realism about Iraq, Mr. Obama to that extent qualifies as a conservative.

Thanks to Dartlog.

No Decision Yet

2008-01-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

The Dartmouth has a "web update" article up about today's hearing regarding the Association of Alumni's lawsuit. The Grafton County Superior Court judge decided to take the case under advisement and says he will issue a ruling soon.

Student Check-In

2008-01-10T08:46:00.000-05:00

Dartmouth has a bizarre "check-in" system for students. Basically, at the beginning of each term, students need to go to "Bannerstudent," a centralized website for information like course schedules and the like, and officially register that they are here for the term. But for the check-in, there are two deadlines. In this term for example, the actual deadline for checking in is January 15, but if you don't do it before January 9, students are fined $50.

What's really annoying, however, is that the Upperclass Deans only send out an email reminding students about checking in after the deadline. Couldn't they send out the email before students get fined $50? Of course not, that wouldn't be beneficial for the college fine money-making operation. Each term, the college must surely be making tens of thousands of dollars off of this, clearly exploiting students in the process. There is absolutely no reasonable explanation for why students should be fined in this case. And it's reflective of a much larger problem. The college uses fines far too frequently. For example, last winter (during all the ice and snow, and salt) I was almost fined for leaving my shoes by the door of my dorm room - and they weren't even in front of the door, they were underneath a closet-like area for jackets. The same extends to parking fines. While the typical fine in the town of Hanover is $20, fines on Dartmouth property are typically $50 or $100, and Safety & Security tickets student cars aggressively.

Dartmouth's Handling of Drug Infractions

2008-01-09T19:12:00.001-05:00

Following up his articles about Dartmouth's alcohol policy, Joseph Asch '78 wrote an opinion article about Dartmouth's policy regarding drugs. According to Asch, whenever Safety & Security find drugs, even in the smallest quantities, they alert the Hanover Police about it, who then have the ability to use a search warrant to discover the name of the student who possessed them. This differs from Dartmouth's policy during the Freedman administration which was to only notify the police if the quantity of drugs was large enough that drug trafficking was suspected. Asch concludes:

What could the Wright administration possibly be thinking?

Education should be the College’s goal, not delivering students to the local police and cutting off their financial aid. Can’t the administration find its way to an understanding that certain controlled substances in small quantities constitute a victimless offense by Dartmouth undergraduates? Couldn’t Safety and Security simply oblige students to destroy offending contraband and confiscate any drug paraphernalia that officers might find in the course of their rounds?

Of course I am not advocating that students descend into the hell of reefer madness. But why does the Wright administration come down so hard on students for an activity that is benevolently accepted at every other school in the Ivy League?

Dartmouth presents itself as acting in loco parentis. Well, we should ask just what kind of parents report their own children for a marijuana cigarette butt and a couple of pipes? And what kind of college administration, as its first reflex, turns its students over to the police and jeopardizes their present and future education?

I agree with Asch. Dartmouth has Standards of Conduct and a Committee on Standards to adjudicate offenses. Relying solely on internal measures should be appropriate in cases which involve minor quantities of drugs, just as Dartmouth does not call in the Hanover Police to arrest students every time Safety & Security come across a student who has been drinking. Whenever possible, Dartmouth should strive to have its students not be arrested.

Obama at Dartmouth

2008-01-08T12:06:00.000-05:00

Some photos from this morning's Obama rally in Alumni Gym...

The gym was packed, the crowd enthusiastic, and Obama endlessly charismatic. The doors for the event were slated to open at 7:45 am, not the best time for students for sure, but the line to get in was stretching around the tennis courts by 7:25. I got to stand on the bleachers along the side of the gym, holding up and waving signs as part of profile-view backdrop for Obama. Michelle Obama introduced her husband; she is a notably excellent speaker. As Senator Obama entered the gym, he shook hands with a bunch of people. As he approached the audience barrier, a pacifier from a little kid flew in the air and landed out his feet. Nonplussed, he picked it up and handed it back to the kid's mother. Obama's speech was passionate and persuasive, and well delivered. Towards the end of his address, a student in the crowd fainted, which brought the event to a standstill for quite some time until a stretcher was brought in to remove the student. Within seconds of her fainting, before any of the paramedics or police or secret service arrived on the scene, Obama passed his bottle of water to the students around her. He calmed down the crowd and then stood silently and attentively until the student was taken out. He then resumed his remarks and slowly rebuilt the audience's enthusiasm.

The Day Before the Primary

2008-01-07T14:11:00.000-05:00

Right now, Dartmouth is abuzz about tomorrow's New Hampshire primary. Candidates are making last minute visits to Dartmouth. Obama is coming to Alumni Gym at 7:45 am, Bill Clinton will be at the Hop at 4:45 pm tonight, McCain was at the Hop today at noon, and Richardson was at Hanover High School on Sunday. Larry David is even stopping by my dorm tonight in support of Barack Obama.

Campaigns are doing all they can to get out the vote. A little while ago while I was sleeping, Obama volunteers, trailed by a BBC radio crew, came to my dorm suite and tried to get my roommate to vote for Obama. My room is like a little microcosm of political debate. I'm voting for Obama, while my other roommates are voting for Richardson, Clinton, Huckabee, with a fifth roommate still deciding between Clinton and Obama. The Huckabee supporter and I start talking about politics and the possible outcomes for the primaries until we suddenly realize that we disagree about every single possible issue. Despite the straw poll of my room, I think that the campus is overwhelming for Obama. Given that Dartmouth students make up about half the population of Hanover, it will be interesting to see how the town votes.

I decided to support Obama from his initial candidacy exploration. It's not that I do not like Hillary Clinton - she is my senator and I think she does an excellent job - but as the pundits have been suggesting, I was struck by the message of change that he brought. Like it or not, Clinton would represent a continuation of her husband's presidency. Obama, on the other hand, would represent a new era of the Democratic Party. His ability to inspire makes him the next Kennedy of this election, not unlike Bill Clinton back in 1992.

Essential Reading

2008-01-04T18:10:00.000-05:00

Here are some interesting reports from Student Assembly and other student groups from the past several years:

Committee on Standards Student Task Force, October 2006
Student Governance Review Task Force, May 2007
Club Sports at Dartmouth, Spring 2006
Minority Professor Recruitment and Retention, Winter 2007
Student Budget Advisory Committee Quarterly Report, Winter 2006

And some older reports:
The Soul of Dartmouth: the Academic Direction of Dartmouth College, 2000-2001
Student and Faculty Relations, 2000-2001
The State of Student Involvement, 2000-2001
Undergraduate Teaching Initiative, 2001-2002

Zywicki on the Student Life Initiative

2008-01-03T00:08:00.000-05:00

I was doing some background research on the history of the Student Life Initiative, looking through the Dartmouth Review's archives (since last spring, The Dartmouth's archives are unfortunately gone), when I came across an old quote from future trustee Todd Zywicki in a January 2000 article about the administration's approach to social life:

Some are alarmed at the broad mandate for control of students' lives that an enforced Principle of Community would give the College. One example of an infraction that the new judicial system would punish, the report says, is last year's 'ghetto party,' a fraternity party that had a theme some students found offensive. The scope of the new 'unified College-wide judiciary system,' then, would include supervision of expressive conduct, including speech. The Principle of Community also seems to apply to casual interpersonal relations and political beliefs, especially beliefs about the educational value of 'diversity' and affirmative action.

'This is brainwashing, pure and simple,' says Todd Zywicki '88, Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason University. 'They want to ensure that students think in the way they desire. This report is an astounding social engineering document and its aim is the re-education of students once they get to Dartmouth. The College doesn't like that it doesn't know what goes on behind the closed doors of a fraternity. They want pervasive supervision of students.'
The dismantling of fraternities and sororities at Dartmouth would mean the end of student-controlled social spaces and the regulation of student social lives by the Dartmouth administration. In this way, campus critics argue, the Social Life Initiative represents the infantilization of students at Dartmouth...
'Greek organizations are Burke's 'little platoons' that link atomized students to the history and legacy of Dartmouth, and act as the mediating institutions that Tocqueville talked about,' says Zywicki. 'Fraternities provide a comfort zone for students to consider and debate uncleansed ideas. That's why Dartmouth wants them broken into atomized pieces, the better to remold them into the new Dartmouth mindset.'

I also found this section of the article really interesting:

Whatever the particular merits of the Greek system, Dartmouth's move to tightly regulate the social lives of students on and off-campus signals the adoption of the in loco parentis role that universities abandoned in the 1960s and 70s in response to student protests. 'Students don't rebel against adult guidance in the way they did 30 years ago,' President Wright told The New York Times last March. Wright's Dartmouth is leading universities in returning to the pre-1960s mission of defining students values—in his case, 'based on Dartmouth's Principle of Community and on adherence to norms of civil behavior.'

It's clearly a break from the past. 'I graduated from college in 1968 and the whole point of going to college then was to get institutions and parents out of my life,' Harry Lewis, Dean of Harvard College, said in the same March 3 Times article. 'I worry about the narrowing impact that such a well-supervised college experience might offer... There is something troubling about students working so hard to fulfill the dreams of others. It makes it harder for them to discover something of their own, get excited and pursue it.'

Zywicki's concerns about the judicial enforcement of the Principle of Community, which did not end up happening, are right on the money. The Principle are incredibly subjective:

The life and work of a Dartmouth student should be based on integrity, responsibility and consideration. In all activities each student is expected to be sensitive to and respectful of the rights and interests of others and to be personally honest. He or she should be appreciative of the diversity of the community as providing an opportunity for learning and moral growth.

The SLI report actually suggested hauling organizations in front of the what became the Organizational Adjudication Committee for failing to provide "moral growth" and for not being "sensitive" and "respectful". Trying to enforce these wishy-washy moral standards would have been a parallel to the House Un-American Activities Committees. Although Dartmouth has stated that the Principle of Community are not judicially enforceable, during the Zeta Psi fiasco this apparently took place anyway, according to a 2001 TDR article:

Dean Redman argued to me, in person, that he was able to punish Psi Upsilon for violating the Principle of Community. Yes, that selfsame Principle of Community that the Student Handbook notes 'in itself is not adjudicable'. The vehicle for this was a requirement of the Minimum Standards that says fraternities and sororities are obliged to incorporate the spirit of the Principle of Community into their charters. Thus, Dean Redman claimed the ability to punish them for violating the spirit Principle of Community. In essence, he is punishing them on the basis of a speech code that applies to 40% of the College's undergraduate population, but not to the other 60%. If these students were not Greeks, their speech would not be punishable (ignoring, for the moment, Redman's asinine views on harassment).

Although the Minimum Standards of that era are gone, the current 89-page CFS handbook does state that Greek organizations must, as a requirement for recognition, "ensure that its conduct, purpose, and activities are consistent with the mission of Dartmouth College and the Dartmouth College Principle of Community," which does seem to contradict the statement that the Principle are not adjudicable.

The entire concept of the Principle of Community is very questionable. Without a doubt, the presence of any racism, sexism, or homophobia at Dartmouth is a serious problem. But these problems cannot be solved by a three sentence edict from the Board of Trustees. Unlike its peers - the Standards of Conduct, the Academic Honor Principle, and the statement on Freedom of Expression and Dissent - the Principle are overwhelmingly vague, leaving it a danger to Greek organizations when its adherence becomes a condition for recognition. Around Dartmouth, it gets placed on the walls of offices and reception rooms. It becomes the justification for every social life recommendation, every decision, every program. It represents the epitome of 21st century quasi-corporate politically-correct head-in-the-sand thinking - the belief that mission statements and the like actually matter, and that decisions should be based around them. Any belief that the Principle of Community have made Dartmouth a more inclusive place is absurd. Dartmouth has become more inclusive because the world is becoming more inclusive and because students are actively seeking to make Dartmouth more inclusive. Certainly, administrators have been making a difference in improving diversity (the fine folks of the Student Life Department, for example), but the belief that Dartmouth can be socially re-engineered from up high with disregard for the things that students care about (i.e. the Greek system) is flat-out misguided. Dartmouth's improved inclusiveness has not occurred because the trustees published a statement twenty-eight years ago or because they aimed a wrecking ball at the Greek system nine years ago.

Anti-Giuliani Event at Dartmouth

2008-01-01T17:56:00.000-05:00

The New Yorker's scathing profile of Rudy Giuliani in its January 7 issue contains an interesting reference to anti-Giuliani event at Dartmouth, which I hadn't previously heard about:

Around the time that Giuliani travelled to New Hampshire to make his case to the Letizios and their neighbors, members of the 9/11 Firefighters and Families travelled to New Hampshire to try to undermine it. The group, which consists of relatives of some of the people who died in the World Trade Center attack, rented a basement room at Dartmouth College, and sent out invitations to the local press. A half dozen reporters showed up, along with some firefighters from nearby companies and a few curious members of the Dartmouth staff. The first person to speak was Sally Regenhard, who carried a photograph of her son, Christian, a probationary firefighter who had been on the job for just six months at the time of the disaster.
“He was a person who loved life,” Regenhard said, her voice breaking. “He loved his country. On 9/11, his dreams, and our dreams for him, ended. After 9/11, we started to find out about why my son and other firefighters met a brutal and needless death. We started to find out about things like the radios and the lack of unified command structure. We were shocked. We were heartbroken. But we were very determined that our children, our loved ones, had to have a legacy. And that had to be a legacy of truth.
“Our group does not endorse any political candidate,” she went on. “Our group represents registered Conservatives, Republicans, Democrats, Liberals, and Right to Life Party members. We’re here because we need to point out the mistakes that occurred in New York City on 9/11, because we want people to know the truth about Rudy Giuliani running for President on a false hero issue.”

Also, the New Yorker's excellent (and frightening) Giuliani quiz.

Samwick Discusses Financial Aid

2007-12-30T15:01:00.000-05:00

Professor Andrew Samwick, the director of the Rockefeller Center, has an interesting discussion about the potential effects of Harvard's financial aid changes on his Vox Baby blog.

"A New Paradigm"

2007-12-28T22:54:00.000-05:00

In an article in tomorrow's New York Times about the ramifications of Harvard's decision to expand its financial aid for middle class students, New York State Senator Kenneth LaValle says that, "They [Harvard] created a new paradigm. People will pay attention to it."

LaValle is right. Harvard's move should, and already has, changed the conversation about financial aid at Dartmouth. As the article discusses, many colleges are concerned that Harvard's decision will force them, because of limited resources, to focus on middle class students at the expense of lower income students. After all, most colleges have far smaller endowments than Harvard does. Dartmouth's endowment per student is 42% as large as Harvard's, certainly a limitation on the flexibility and potential growth of our financial aid offerings.

But the real question at hand is our priorities. Compared with the construction of new buildings and increases in administration and faculty size, how much emphasis is Dartmouth placing on prioritizing financial aid? A key word that gets used around Parkhurst is "competitiveness" - that when considering financial decisions, the ultimate goal should be maintaining and improving our standing relative to our peers. It seems to me that this has been the impetus for the construction of the new dorms and academic buildings. And they are nice - I live in one of them. But if we don't keep Dartmouth affordable, none of that is going to matter. If prospective students simply cannot afford to attend, or if they have a better offer from one of our peers, the nicest buildings aren't going to get them to attend. I certainly think that financial aid is definitely a top priority for the college - we are definitely in a small group when it comes to our need-blind admission policy - but I wonder if it is as much of a priority as it can be, as it should be. Financial aid shouldn't be the top priority only because it is the right thing to do, or because it is what students, families, and alumni want, it is also where the battle for "competitiveness" has gone.

Mental Health at Cornell

2007-12-28T16:12:00.000-05:00

Today's Wall Street Journal has a front page article about Cornell's efforts to improve the way they handle mental health problems among their students. Timothy Marchell, Cornell's associate director of health services and director of mental-health initiatives, has been looking for innovative approaches, such as enlisting dorm custodians to report warning signs, having no-appointment consulting hours by therapists, and putting together an "alert team" of administrators, counselors, and police that meets weekly to discuss students' problems. In doing so, Cornell has been moving into territory that many other colleges avoid for privacy concerns. For example, Cornell has been informing parents about concerns, utilizing a financial dependency exemption to student-privacy laws.

While I think that Cornell may be overstepping student privacy in an undesirable manner, I think that the article does a great job of raising the importance of mental health on college campuses - something that is certainly an issue here at Dartmouth. There has been a lot of concern among students recently about the availability of mental health counseling and resources. From what I hear, students are often given appointments weeks away, when they need assistance sooner. In the Student Assembly, last year's Student Life committee set improving mental health services as their top priority, and despite devoting considerable time and energy, made little progress. This year's Assembly has been continuing that work behind the scenes.

Wikipedia Celebrates Dartmouth

2007-12-13T01:17:00.001-05:00

The anniversary of Dartmouth's founding is being featured today on the front page of Wikipedia as part of their "On This Day..." section. Thanks to Kevin for the tip.

Cue the Imperial March

2007-12-11T23:28:00.000-05:00

In the new issue of The Dartmouth Review, Jeffrey Hart discusses the entanglements between Freedman and the Review. I wasn't around, I don't know what really happened, so I can't judge. But it seems to me that any Dartmouth president who covets the Harvard job must be doing something wrong.

Zywicki Responds

2007-12-07T17:27:00.000-05:00

Joe Malchow at Dartlog received a statement from Todd Zywicki regarding his controversial speech at the Pope Center for High Education. It's an interesting read.

The Bigger Picture

2007-11-28T02:37:00.000-05:00

As a follow-up to my comments in the previous post, I would like to share some thoughts about the broader perspective regarding the petition trustees...

1. I believe that the presence of the petition trustees is ultimately beneficial to Dartmouth. I like Dartmouth's administration and I think they do a very good job. I've worked with some of the top administrators and they always seem on top of their game and the sort of people we want leading Dartmouth. But even the best administrators need good oversight, because people are human and they make decisions that are not always the best. And the stakes here are very high - one of the most prestigious academic institutions. I don't have great confidence in the oversight capabilities of the Board of Trustees because I believe they are overly willing to follow the administration's lead. By comparison, the election of the petition trustees put increased pressure on the administration, and their presence on the Board has led and will continue to lead to increased oversight. I think this is a good thing and will benefit Dartmouth in the long run.

2. The petition trustees should be given free rein to do their jobs as they see fit. They are a minority on the Board and always will be. They are not really a threat and shouldn't be treated like one. There should be less concern about what they may say and more interest in the issues they raise. Controversy is artificial, and debating loyalty and responsibility to the Board is ultimately a distraction. Constantly putting the petition trustees on the defensive is unwise. When people feel threatened, they act more aggressively and they act in unpredictable ways. From one trustee controversy to the next, Dartmouth has been under a state of emergency. We need to get back to normalcy. It is in everybody's interest to reduce the level of conflict. An outsider at the "Ask the Trustees Anything" forum two weeks ago would have found it difficult to distinguish the petition from the non-petition trustees. Everyone was very collegial and they revealed broader agreement than one might gather from newspaper headlines. That's exactly what we need moving forward, and I think that will comes from an environment where the petition trustees are treated as accepted members of the Board.

3. Zywicki's comments were undeniably blunt, but were fundamentally aggressive articulations of his well-known beliefs. He shouldn't have said it. But there is no need to go nuts over it. Everybody knew that Zywicki thought Freedman was a bad president; whether he called Freedman a "truly evil man" or a "bad leader" or a "mediocre president" is besides the point. It's all the same really. When we create an environment where trustees need to be hesitant about expressing their opinions, we reduce accountability and transparency. As elected leaders running on an opposition platform, it is absurd to expect the petition trustees to remain silent about the issues they care about. As a student, I want, and furthermore I expect, trustees to be open about the issues and concerns facing Dartmouth. When problems are shoved behind closed doors, things rarely turn out well - we end up with Enrons. Finally, concerns about PR problems are overstated. Only a few years away from the college tour circuit, I strongly doubt that any prospective student was turned off by the trustee struggle. That's simply not what students care about when picking a college. Secondly, I doubt the petition trustees have caused Dartmouth giving to decrease. If anything the increased attention should be good for alumni giving.

Loyalty to Whom?

2007-11-26T12:37:00.000-05:00

A big controversy swirling around Dartmouth are Todd Zywicki's comments to the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy about Dartmouth, its trustees, and its administration. Perhaps the most infamous moment of the speech comes when Zywicki attacks academic administration: "What I think you have to understand is, those who control the University today, they don't believe in God and they don't believe in country. University is their cathedrals."

In today's The Dartmouth, along with a news story describing the controversy, Bill Montgomery '52 contributes an opinion article criticizing Zywicki's remarks. Montgomery focused on Zywicki's attack on former Dartmouth president James Freedman, who Zywicki called a "truly evil man." While I emphatically disagree with Zywicki's statements, I also take issue with Montgomery's notion that Zywicki violated his responsibilities as a trustee.

After considering the limits of free speech and Zywicki's responsibility to the Dartmouth board, Montgomery concludes that Zywicki violated his responsibilities as a trustee:

However, and this is the most serious part, when he became a member of the Dartmouth board, Zywicki accepted the obligation to follow board guidelines for conduct as clearly spelled out in the Statement on Governance and Trustee Responsibilities... [It] is very clear that Trustee Zywicki, by speaking in a derogatory manner with specific examples, is in violation of his Dartmouth trustee responsibility and the board must hold him accountable or abandon their mission statement. At a very minimum, he owes an apology to the Freedman family and the Dartmouth community, or he should resign his position as a trustee. This is not about free speech; this is about responsible behavior.

How could Zywicki have agreed to the Statement on Governance and Trustee Responsibilities upon his election, when it was only adopted last June, clearly as an ex post facto attempt to silence the petition trustees? The Statement itself was introduced with Orwellian tones as it lay out its goal to "strengthen Board members' performance as stewards of the College."

But more importantly, Montgomery insinuates that by criticizing Freedman, Zywicki somehow violated his obligation as a trustee. Montgomery suggests that speaking ill of Freedman is, by extension, speaking ill of Dartmouth. This is an absurd notion. First, it suggests that Dartmouth is no more than its leaders, a traitorous notion by my standards. Second, Montgomery seems to think this idea should apply to past presidents. Obviously, this makes absolutely no sense. Would a trustee be violating their duty by criticizing Daniel Dana, Asa Smith, or Nathan Lord? Montgomery says that the issue at stake is "responsible behavior," that Zywicki shouldn't criticize Freedman because, well, it isn't nice. But if Zywicki genuinely believes that Freedman was a "truly evil man" - a view, I'm sure, not uncommon among some alumni - doesn't he have a right to express that view, given Freedman's lasting influence on the college's direction?

Ultimately, Montgomery seems to confuse a loyalty to Dartmouth with a loyalty to James Wright or James Freedman. They are not the same and everyone knows the difference. Taking a personal example, last year I was on the Student Assembly executive board, serving under Tim Andreadis, who was student body president. At the end of fall term, Tim had a dispute with another board member, which ended with the other board member being placed on probation with the college. As a result, I stepped down from my position and wrote a resignation letter criticizing Tim. So, since Tim was student body president, was I somehow being traitorous to the student body by criticizing him. Of course not. I was merely doing what I thought was right; what I thought was in the best interest of Dartmouth students.

The same goes for Zywicki. When Zywicki criticizes James Wright, he is not criticizing Dartmouth. He is merely doing what he thinks is in the best interest of the college. Although I disagree with him, alumni elected him because they wanted an independent voice and that is exactly what he should be allowed to share. That's how democracy works.

Remembrance at Dartmouth

2007-11-18T14:37:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday, Justin Zalkin '07, a friend of mine, wrote an article remembering Ben Lolies '09, who died in a motorcycle crash while on medical leave. Justin was Ben's trip leader and in his opening sentence he sums up a wider frustration among students at the way undergraduate deaths are commemorated: "It seems to have passed nearly unnoticed around Hanover that several weeks ago Ben Lolies ‘09 died in a motorcycle accident." Over the past several months, three Dartmouth students have died, and particularly for the last two - because the first was a case that elicited national attention - the lack of any formal way to remember them has been notable. I'm not exactly sure what would be ideal, perhaps a plaque with the names of students who have died over the years while studying at Dartmouth, and I'm not sure whether it should fall to the administration to organize it, but I've heard a lot of students express their feelings that something more should be done to remember those who died, and I agree.

Tuition Keeps Growing

2007-11-14T18:26:00.000-05:00

Steven Pearlstein, a Washington Post business columnist, has some interesting observations about the rising cost of college tuition, which is outpacing inflation.

Student Q&A with Trustees

2007-11-08T09:41:00.000-05:00

This is happening tomorrow, which should be pretty interesting...

************************************************************

"ASK THE TRUSTEES ANYTHING"

FILENE AUDITORIUM in MOORE, 4:30 FRIDAY

with FREE RAMUNTO'S

For the first time ever, all Dartmouth students can pose questions directly
to members of the Board of Trustees.
Meet Jim Wright's bosses. Only students and trustees - face to face.

Questions will not be screened - no topic is off limits.

All trustees have been invited. At least two have confirmed attendance.

Possible questions include:
"What's the deal with the lawsuit?"
"Is Dartmouth in good financial shape?"
"What's going on with COS reform?"
"What do the Trustees think of the Greek system?"
"How should free speech be addressed at Dartmouth?"
and anything else you want to know....

Sponsored by: Inter-Fraternity Council, Panhellenic Council,
Inter-Community Council, College Democrats,
College Republicans, Phi Tau, Tri-Kap, Chi Gam,
and AGORA.

************************************************************

Blackboard Privacy in the D

2007-11-08T09:35:00.000-05:00

The Dartmouth published an article about Blackboard privacy in today's paper. Despite getting some facts wrong - I'm the Assembly's vice president of Academic Affairs, not the Student Affairs Committee, and we're definitely not forming another committee just to talk about this - the good news is that it seems like the computing administrators agree that some warning should be given.

Free Food, Everywhere

2007-11-06T13:12:00.000-05:00

Nina Bergmar '11 wrote an interesting opinion article in The Dartmouth today about the proliferation of free food at Dartmouth, which I actually think is a bit of a problem. Coming from an underfunded public school, I was absolutely shocked by the number of organizations that offer free food at their events or meetings, something that never would have happened at my high school. So what's the problem? Well, getting people to come because of food undermines the meaning of real commitment, as well as creating the gastronomical equivalent of a "race to the bottom". Many organizations feel it's necessary to provide free food in order to compete with other groups.

Stewart vs. Matthews

2007-11-04T15:29:00.000-05:00

I have always been struck by the interviewing dominance of Jon Stewart, but rarely have I seen it more evident than on this Daily Show interview with Chris Matthews, MSNBC's Hardball's host. Stewart completely destroys Matthews, calling his new advice book "a recipe for sadness," making him look like a television novice rather than the longtime anchor he is. Stewart is also famous for his legendary critique of CNN's Crossfire, which was so scathingly on target that it apparently played a major role in the show getting canceled. In both interviews Stewart ultimately has the same message, that the United States has become overly politicized and that this is unnecessarily promoted by the media.

Financial Aid and International Students

2007-11-02T14:42:00.001-04:00

The Dartmouth has an interesting article today the college (along with nine other schools) adopting a new method of accessing financial aid needs for international students. It turns out that the new method ultimately reduces the overall amount of financial aid given. The article also brings up the important issue of extending need-blind admission to international students. Although Dartmouth needs the demonstrated need of any admitted students, for foreign students they still take financial need into account when making admission students. This clear goes against part of Dartmouth's mission statement, which says "Dartmouth recruits and admits outstanding students from all backgrounds, regardless of their financial means." The administration is working towards making this a reality, however I heard that the money simply doesn't exist for it now.

Blackboard & Dartmouth's Privacy Policy

2007-10-29T15:44:00.000-04:00

In regards to the concerns about professors tracking student usage that I discussed in the previous post, I think that the Blackboard tracking feature might violate Dartmouth's computing privacy policy.

The policy states that users have "reasonable expectations of privacy in their use of information resources" and that "the provider of any program or service that gathers information about those who use it must either install a privacy warning or request Computing Services to place the program or service on the list of exempted programs." Blackboard certainly does gather information about student usage, and although Blackboard is mentioned in the list of exempted programs, the exemption only covers simulating Dartmouth ID numbers for testing purposes. On the Blackboard website, there is absolutely no warning about this feature (or a privacy policy of any other sort), and the only way to find out about its existence (as a student) is to dig down deep into its help features for faculty and course administrators.

Student Privacy in the Digital Age

2007-10-29T02:50:00.000-04:00

I learned something tonight that truly horrified me. Nearly every course at Dartmouth uses Blackboard, an online software service that lets professors post materials and give online exams for their courses, along with an array of other features. Well, it turns out that professors can track student usage - when each individual students logs in or out of the course website, and when they looked at specific course readings. I'm sure that almost every Dartmouth student has no idea that this features exists. There is no privacy warning on the Blackboard website and no professor I have had has ever mentioned it. For student usage to be tracked without warning is a major invasion of privacy. In comparison to all the hubbub about the Patriot Act, this is a million times worse on a personal level for students at Dartmouth. Students should be free to read or not to read course materials without being spied upon. It might not seem that bad, but consider the equivalent in a non-digital era - surveillance cameras in Baker-Berry library or in study lounges. The importance of online privacy is paramount in this panopticonic age, and allowing professors to track student reading habits without their knowledge is certainly a serious violation.

The Absent Student Voice

2007-10-21T14:55:00.000-04:00

Brian McMillan '08 wrote an interesting article in The Dartmouth last Friday, representing the views of Palaeopitus. McMillan is concerned about the lack of student voice in the debate over trustee governance and he urges students to get involved. Dan Belkin brought up the same issues in an op-ed several weeks ago, where he said students were disenfranchised and their opinions ignored. But I think the real issue is that students don't seem to care, which is unfortunate but makes a lot of sense. Because our time here is limited to four years, students are naturally going to be focused on short term issues, things that will affect them during their time at Dartmouth. The effects of the trustee governance struggle are unlikely to affect students in the immediate future, which creates an disincentive to care. So while the trustee changes are undoubtedly important, to the average Dartmouth student Da$h in vending machines is probably more important.

The Review Reveals Alcohol Documents

2007-10-15T16:08:00.000-04:00

In their latest issue, which arrived outside my door a few minutes ago, The Dartmouth Review shares leaked administration documents about alcohol at Dartmouth. The most interesting item was a Powerpoint presentation on Pong. The presentation consisted of 65 slides (17 of which are reproduced in the print edition) which gave such insightful statistics as the number of students who prefer Tree (30.7%) and the typical length of 5 games of pong (3 hours and 45 minutes). It also includes quotes such as "Most Dartmouth students despise Beirut as a derivative form of the game". It must have been a tedious presentation, with one slide studying the correlation between "Pong Excellence and Winning".

The other set of documents is an in depth look at alcohol statistics, comparing Dartmouth to other colleges, and looking at Dartmouth over time. The takeaway is that Dartmouth students get arrested far more often than students at other schools. For example, in 2003, 106 Dartmouth students got arrested for alcohol violations. By comparison, there were no arrests whatsoever at Yale, Harvard, and Brown. Princeton had 39 arrests, but only one happened on university property, while 53 Dartmouth students got arrested on-campus that year. Penn had 4 arrests and Cornell had 16, not even coming close to Dartmouth. Comparing Dartmouth to a peer group of liberal arts colleges, none came within 25% of Dartmouth arrest total.

If these statistics are accurate, then it would clearly suggest that the Hanover Police is arresting students with a vigor that none of their peers do.

Wright at the General Faculty

2007-10-09T01:01:00.001-04:00

The Dartmouth has an article today about President Wright's address yesterday at the general faculty meeting. The article focused largely on Wright's suggestion that the college experiment with sophomore summer to utilize the unique opportunity to focus learning towards one class of students at the midpoint of their time at Dartmouth. Here's how The Dartmouth described the suggested changes:

Wright suggested four changes that he said would increase depth and breadth of study: scheduling classes in intensive blocks of three weeks rather than nine or 10, making courses worth three credits rather than one, having professional school professors teach some undergraduate classes and better integrating the Hopkins Center, Tucker Foundation and other campus centers in thematic learning programs.

I just finished sophomore summer, and thought I had a good time, what really struck me was how similar it was to a typical term. There's so much hype about it, but at the end of the day, it's just normal classes. President Wright's suggestion that the college think outside the box with the summer makes a lot of sense.

I'm particularly excited about the professional school suggestion, and I heard from a friend in attendance that Wright mentioned integrating Tuck courses or professors in particularly. I have long believed that it's a real shame that the college does not offer undergraduates anyway to take advantage of Tuck, except for the summer Bridge program which is open to non-Dartmouth undergrads. Ideally, I see Tuck professors teaching two or three introductory level business courses for undergraduates. While I am a strong supporter of a liberal arts education, the criticism about it is that it fails to provide undergrads with direct real world skills. Allowing undergraduates to take several business courses would strengthen their educations without undermining the overall liberal arts emphasis. Furthermore, it would probably make Dartmouth undergrads more attractive to the corporate world by allowing them to gain Tuck experience. After all, it's often said that Penn only does so well in the U.S. News rankings because of the aftereffects of Wharton. While I don't advocate a Tuck undergraduate program, why not share some of the benefits of a great business school?

Update: Here's a link to President Wright's speech

NYT Debate Analyzer

2007-10-07T15:31:00.001-04:00

On their website, The New York Times has a cool interactive feature from last month's Democratic debate at Dartmouth. It lets you search through the debate for specific topics and words, and lets you track responses by candidate.

Wright's Op-Ed in the Globe

2007-10-06T22:10:00.000-04:00

James Wright, the president of the college, wrote an op-ed in today's Boston Globe about veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the way they are being treated when they return home. President Wright feels that soldiers are less visible than they were in previous conflicts:

I fear, in the midst of the debate over troop levels, exit strategies, and assessment of the war's progress, we have lost sight of the men and women who are fighting this war. To be sure, there is deference to them, but too often they are seen as abstractions, as numbers and not individuals, as heroes or helpless pawns. Those who gave their lives are remembered for but a moment, except in their hometowns. Those who have been seriously injured seldom even have the moment.

President Wright then calls for "a new GI Bill" to significantly enhance education and rehabilitation programs.

I completely agree with the president. Compared with the Vietnam War, and certainly wars of previous generations, this war has had zero impact on college campuses. Around Dartmouth, you would never know that we had troops fighting overseas. For the Ivy League twenty-year-old, this has been a completely anonymous war, and the same is certainly true for the average New Yorker. In the past, war affected a much wider range of people, which served as a deterrent against going to war. People were afraid of the draft, people had to converse, people were afraid of relatives and friends dying. But nothing about my life has changed because of Iraq or Afghanistan. Similarly, I had been disheartened by the lack of anger about the war at Dartmouth. College students drove the consciousness of the nation during Vietnam, but have been largely silent during the Iraq war, which is similarly unjust and misguided.

The answer, of course, is a draft. I certainly do not want a draft, because I do not want to be forced to go to war, but I think without question that a draft is necessary during a time of war. It is only fair that the costs of war should be shared by everyone. The concept of a "volunteer army" is a misnomer. Many of the soldiers fighting today joined the reserves during peace time because they figured they would never see a full-scale war again. Many others only signed up because they had no better options. Imagine if the army was truly volunteer, if anybody could drop out any time if they wanted to. Only that would be a true volunteer army. The absence of a draft has made war politically less costly, and that is a horrible thing. The result, as Wright described, is that this war feels distant and abstract.

Alumni Association's Motion

2007-10-05T20:27:00.000-04:00

Here's a pdf copy of the motion filed by the Association of Alumni.

Power's Out

2007-10-05T13:11:00.001-04:00

The power is suddenly out throughout campus. No storm in sight. Thank god for laptop batteries. Since I've been at Dartmouth, it's happened only once or twice before, but normally it occurred after lightening and the like. These things don't happen in New York.

Super Long Letter from Alumni Assoc.

2007-10-04T22:01:00.000-04:00

The Association of Alumni sent a very long letter to Dartmouth students tonight via blitz:

Dear Dartmouth Students,

We are the executives of the Dartmouth Association of Alumni who are seeking to prevent the Trustees from implementing their highly controversial reorganization of the governance of the College. We owe you an explanation, as we recognize how this affects you today and in the future. At the moment, you are the most important people at Dartmouth. In four years, all of you will be alumni and there will be 4,000 new undergraduates. Our goal in all of this is to protect the core of the Dartmouth experience -- and even the '11s already know exactly what we mean by this -- from administrative overreach and from co-optation by a small (but, we readily admit, very wealthy) group of alumni.

A brief bit of background. Dartmouth's Board of Trustees hires, fires, evaluates, and sets the salary of the president. Of course, they don't decide, for example, which courses are offered in a given term -- faculty decides that -- but they are charged with overseeing the entire College and setting its strategic direction. Their decisions determine what Dartmouth will become. For over a century, half of the Board has been elected by former students of Dartmouth. The moment one's class graduated, one earned the right to vote.

Over the last four years, a remarkable series of events happened at Dartmouth. T.J Rodgers '70, the self-made CEO of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, ran for a Trusteeship and won. Why was that remarkable? Because Dr. Rodgers did not have the administration's sanction. He used a petition process long embedded, and usual ignored, in the election rules. Dr. Rodgers's campaign explained all the good that ha been done at the College -- and all the hard work still required. By contrast his opponents did not offer substantive opinions. Dr. Rodgers won an astounding victory.

The next year, two seats were open. Two more petition candidates -- law professor Todd Zywicki '88 and author Peter Robinson '79 -- ran and won. They focused on issues of free speech (Dartmouth still had a red-light speech code at the time, limiting freedom of speech), and support of athletics (ask senior friends about the attempted cutting of the swim team). Again, these petition candidates won.

As a matter of course, each of these three petition candidates found themselves becoming even better informed in the details of the College and sobered by what they learned. Their concerns have centered on ensuring absolutely the best student experience, by eliminating bureaucracy, increasing the numbers of the full-time faculty available to students, and making sure that traditional out-of-class experiences are not diminished. This made those in power uncomfortable. Instead of addressing these issues head on, the administration became defensive, as you can now see on the infamous Ask.Dartmouth.Edu website. There was, and remains today, a sense that dissent is disloyal. You can still hear some people claim that talking about where Dartmouth needs to improve is akin to harming Dartmouth!

Needless to say, this sort of argumentation -- which echoes what we've heard in Washington over the past few years -- failed to convince many people. The year after Messrs. Robinson and Zywicki were elected, a brand new alumni governance constitution was proposed. Under the guise of changes to the structure of alumni organizations, a few people who feared having more petition trustees tried to change the rules to make it much more difficult for future petition candidates to be elected. The College spent a lot of money attempting to get the document ratified -- even hiring a public relations firm -- and some wealthy alumni hired a pollster to do telephone push polling. But it failed. It needed 67% approval to pass, and it only got 49%.

The next year -- and now we are talking about last Spring -- another petition candidate ran for a Trusteeship under the traditional rules.He is Stephen Smith '88, a legal scholar. (You can still see his website here: http://www.stephensmithtrustee.com/page/1/) He won by a clear majority took his seat as the only African-American man on Dartmouth's Board. His campaign centered on bureaucratic bloat at our College. He noted that the number of assistant deans and vice presidents had ballooned in recent years, that Dartmouth was spending a smaller and smaller fraction of its massive resources on the actual classroom experience. Clearly, Mr. Smith said, there was an entrenched bureaucracy problem. A separate College-commissioned report by the McKinsey consulting firm said the same thing.

Probably you have already noticed this in dealing with the registrar, ORL, the parking people, and a Safety & Security force that is now bigger than the Hanover police department itself. But whether you have noticed it or not, the bottom line is that a fat administration means a lean faculty. Talk candidly with your professors -- particularly those in the government and economics departments -- and they will tell you that Dartmouth just plain needs more profs.

Mr. Smith's victory -- and we apologize for the long blitz; it is almost over -- was the last straw. Asked by The D to comment on his win, then-chairman Bill Neukom '64 said: "We have a new Trustee." His unwillingness to say any more, or anything positive, was just as strong a condemnation of Mr. Smith as if he had said something negative. And implicitly this was also a slap in the face to the Dartmouth community which elected him.

Quickly after Stephen Smith took his seat, the Board announced that it would conduct a "study" to see whether it should reorganize itself. Not surprisingly, the Board decided that indeed it should reorganize itself. This was after hearing from thousands of current and former Dartmouth students -- young, old, men, women, liberal, conservative -- who told the Trustees that they shouldn't try to change the rules for elections just because they aren't winning them.

But, in the midst of this serious debate about the direction of our College, the Board did indeed change the rules -- shutting down the debate in violation of all the academic principles Dartmouth holds dear.

Acting on the advice of its Governance Committee, the Board doubled the size of the unelected part of the Board and kept the duly elected half at the same size. Further the Board delivered a dictum that effective immediately the College will take over the Trustee election process. In effect, the College is now in the hands of a powerful few, and more divorced from the desires of the community than ever.

This is just a short synopsis of what has been a years-long saga at our small, well-loved College. It is the story of tens of thousands of voices coming together yearly to ask for innovation, evolution, and improvement; it is the story of personal politics getting in the way of progress. More than anything, though, it is the story of Dartmouth struggling to keep its special place in academia. You came to Dartmouth, not Williams. And you came to Dartmouth, not Harvard. Some are not so sure Dartmouth should stay Dartmouth. And some are eager to use Harvard's mediocrities as excuses for their own.

In the end, that is what this present squabble is all about. The Association of Alumni, the official organization whose members are all 68,000 living graduates, is not meddling in how to run Dartmouth; instead we are asking for help (an injunction) to prevent the Board from making these harmful and regressive changes.

So that you know exactly what the Association of Alumni is asking of our legal system, here we quote from the official request for a judicial opinion:

"The Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College respectfully prays for:

(a) a declaration of the Association's right to choose one-half of Dartmouth's non-ex officio trustees through the Association's chosen selection process;
(b) an injunction (i) barring the College from adding charter trustees to its board, unless it seats an equal number of alumni trustees chosen by the Association, and (ii) requiring the College to continue seating alumni trustees chosen by the Association;
(c) an order that the College specifically perform its contractual obligations and promises by seating equal numbers of charter and alumni trustees chosen by the Association; and
(d) such other and further relief as the Court deems just."

Please ask yourself if these requests seem reasonable. You will be a Dartmouth student for a very short while, and then a graduate for a lifetime. The Association response, a last resort done with considerable reluctance and deliberation, is intended to secure for you, and for all alumni, the right to participate in defining what you collectively think is best for our beloved Dartmouth.

Please do not hesitate to email us if you have any questions at all.

Well, that's probably the longest email or blitz I've ever received. Obviously, they've seem to forgotten that people tend to stop reading blitzes that are longer than two paragraphs.

The Association of Alumni did a good job of presenting their case. They were smart to emphasize the trade off between administration size and the number of professors. Most students have faced problems with class size or getting into classes, and I think that many students are perplexed about the administration's size. I'm not sure, however, that the average Dartmouth students really cares that much. I don't think students in general are paying that much attention to the alumni hubbub. It's not that students doubt the importance of the debate, it's just that there is a very high cost of becoming informed. For example, I'm not sure that I fully understood every angle of the proposed alumni constitution debate, because it was just so complex (I wasn't blogging back then). Students also have a very different perspective than alumni. Because they are here at Dartmouth now, students are focused on the short-term rather than the long-term. From a long-term perspective, the governance debate is extremely important to Dartmouth, but the chances of it directly effecting students within their time as undergrads is relatively low. For students, issues such as DDS changes might matter more to them, even if they would seem banal to alumni.

Letter from President Wright

2007-10-03T10:06:00.000-04:00

James Wright sent out a letter via blitz to the Dartmouth community this morning regarding the Association of Alumni's decision to take legal action:

You may have read in the The Dartmouth this morning that the Executive Committee of the Association of Alumni, by a divided vote, decided last night to have the Association file a lawsuit against the College concerning the governance changes adopted by the Board of Trustees earlier this month and to seek an injunction to prevent the Board from filling any of the new charter trustee seats authorized by the Board.

I am deeply disappointed that some members of the Association Executive Committee have decided to take this action, which can only harm the College. Although the Association's formal legal complaint has not yet been served on the College, the College has been advised by its attorneys that the Board has full authority to enlarge the Board as it did and make the other governance changes that it authorized, and that there is no merit to the legal claims asserted by the Executive Committee members who voted to bring the suit. The College is well-prepared to respond to this legal action.

Ed Haldeman, Chair of the Board, has asked me to share the following statement with all members of the College community:

"While I respect the many different views held by Dartmouth's alumni on governance issues, I think it's regrettable that a small group of individuals would cause the Alumni Association to file a lawsuit against the College, particularly when there is no legal basis for the suit. It's certainly not in the best interest of the College or its students for Dartmouth to be tied up with costly and counterproductive litigation. I would hope instead that thoughtful alumni and friends of Dartmouth would come together in support of our common goal of continuing to build on Dartmouth's world-class academic programs."

While the action by some members of the Executive Committee to sue the College is ill-advised, I hope that it will not prove a distraction to the good work of the faculty, students, and staff. Dartmouth is in great shape and we need to continue to focus on continuing to provide the best experience possible for our students.

I agree with President Wright that the lawsuit is ill-advised. Obviously I am not a lawyer, but it is difficult to see what legal grounds the Association could successful sue on. I doubt that a court would see the 1891 agreement as contractual, to the extent that it calls for a divided board beyond the original 5 alumni trustees.

Professor Kohn Speaks Out Against Board Changes

2007-10-03T03:06:00.000-04:00

Meir Kohn, a professor of economics at the college, wrote an editorial in today's The Dartmouth, criticizing the changes the Board of Trustees made to their composition. Kohn, who is both loved and feared for his notoriously hard but rewarding Econ 26 classes, frames governance as the ability to prevent the powerful from excess:

All large organizations — business corporations and government agencies as well as nonprofits like Dartmouth — are run by managers or administrators. Human nature being what it is, these managers or administrators tend to use the power delegated to them for their own advantage. Instead of simply performing the functions with which they are charged, they divert their efforts and the organization’s resources to furthering their own interests. This is not because they are bad people; it is because they are perfectly normal people and so have difficulty resisting temptation. The problem of governance is the problem of limiting such undesirable behavior.

Kohn hones in on the underlying question: what's the point of a Board of Trustees if it is artificially engineered to be docile? What's the purpose of oversight if it's designed to acquiesce? I'm not saying Wright is wrong, or that I agree with the petition candidates (on most points, I don't), but there are larger issues at stake, for the future. How well insulated should Dartmouth's administration be? Shouldn't an alumni feedback mechanism be protected when the future is unknown, when nobody can predict what issues will be at stake twenty, fifty, and one hundred years down the road? Well, I'm going to sleep on that one, but at least it's good to see a professor demonstrate a little academic freedom.

Stumbling in Public

2007-10-03T02:01:00.000-04:00

I made the front cover photo of The Dartmouth today... in a moose costume. The good news is that the moose looks great, the bad news is that for the inexperienced mascot (me) getting up and down those Haldeman classroom stairs took quite an effort. The moose mascot is brand new and made its debut during freshmen orientation. As a point of clarification, Student Assembly, of which I'm an officer, does not want Dartmouth to be "the Moose." Instead, we want to remain the "Big Green" while using the moose as a mascot. It's just like North Carolina - they are the "Tar Heels" but they use a ram as their mascot. Also, like every Dartmouth student I know, I love Keggy and he's definitely here to stay. Instead, the moose is meant to serve as a much more politically correct sidekick. Because Keggy is, well, a keg, his potential to represent Dartmouth officially is non-existent. The Moose has the potential of being a visual symbol that can fill an absence created by the end of the Indian mascot. After all, what exactly is "Big Green" supposed to look like?

The article also discusses Student Assembly's proposed new constitution. Perhaps the most significant change is the proposed increase of presidential and executive discretionary spending limits from $300 and $500, respectively, to $500 and $1000. The money can also be used for programming purposes under the new constitution while previously it was only allowed for "administrative expenditures." Normally, a project gets funded by passing legislation in SA's General Assembly, which contains all Assembly members.

So why is this increase important? To some, it might seem like an unwarranted power-grab. But it is definitely necessary. Getting legislation passed is extremely time consuming and often takes 3 or 4 weeks. In a 10 week term, that's a long time. It slows down the ability of the Assembly to get projects done, particularly if many things are going on at once. For example, I'm the chair of the Academic Affairs committee, along with Corey Chu '08, and we currently have 27 projects in the works. If we needed to pass legislation for even half of them, our efficacy would be slashed. Typically, there's only enough time to debate two pieces of legislation per General Assembly. That leaves 18 open slots per term (given that we won't meet during finals), which means that each of SA's four committees will only have four or five opportunities to propose legislation each term. But that assumes that our need for passing legislation is evenly divided throughout the term, which is never the case. So basically, everything gets bogged down in an endless back flow of legislation.

Students want their leaders to get things done, not to endlessly debate small amounts of money in public. Student Assembly has an annual budget of $70,000, so $500 or $1000 is not a very significant amount, given that the General Assembly meets only about 25 times each year. Empowering the Assembly's executive board to make these allocations would ensure that we can move quickly and efficiently on small projects, and spend the needed time in General Assembly to discuss legislation that is important, not secondary not-controversial programs. I just want to get my projects done. Let me do my job.

The Next Round

2007-10-03T01:59:00.000-04:00

According to The Dartmouth, the Association of Alumni is planning to file a lawsuit that would stop the Board of Trustees to fill the eight new seats on the board.

NYT Talks with Professor Farid

2007-10-02T17:28:00.000-04:00

The New York Times published an interview today with Hany Farid, Dartmouth's excellent Computer Science professor. I took Computer Science 4, Concepts in Computing (a basic course for non-majors), this past summer, and it was one of the best classes that I've had at Dartmouth. The SA Course Guide confirms his popularity - he's one of the highest ranked professors. But his research is also incredibly fascinating, and the two days of class he spent talking about his own work were among the best. This isn't Professor Farid's first mention in The Times. His work with photographic forgery was listed as one of the Times Magazine's ideas of the year in 2004. For all the students out there, definitely take a class with him.

Merkel Leaves the College

2007-09-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

Jim Merkel, the somewhat controversial head of sustainability, left the college in early August, The Dartmouth reports, complaining that he did not have time to pick raspberries and that he didn't need a job. The Review celebrates.

College Issue of NYT Mag

2007-09-28T10:26:00.000-04:00

This weekend's edition of The New York Times Magazine, one of my favorite publications, is "The College Issue." Check it out.

What Were the Odds?

2007-09-27T18:28:00.000-04:00

Dave Glovsky '08 wrote a very interesting opinion article about the availability of debate tickets to students in today's The Dartmouth. The tickets were allocated via a lottery, but like Dave, I know almost nobody who won tickets despite widespread participation. As the cameras span along the audience last night, you could see almost no students except College Dems leaders and Travis Green, the student body president, who were of course specially invited. So where did all the tickets go? How many tickets went to local residents, Dartmouth staff, and faculty, and how much tuition do they pay?

The Debates

2007-09-27T01:27:00.000-04:00

I didn't get tickets for the debate itself, so I went to the watch party in Leede Arena. Afterwards, all the candidates except Hillary Clinton and John Edwards came to Leede to talk to us. Obama made the crowd go insane. I have a lot to say about the debates, but I'm tired and I have a 10a tomorrow, so I'll write more tomorrow.

We Have Work to Do, You and I

2007-09-25T14:30:00.000-04:00

Convocation took place at 11:00 this morning. Compared to the previous two convocations, each of the respective speeches (student body president, guest speaker, and President Wright) was the best yet.

Travis Green, Dartmouth's new but already outstanding student body president, led the way with a speech that struck a very different tone than that of Noah Riner '06 and Tim Andreadis '07. The previous speeches were both prescriptive. Noah spoke about the need for character among Dartmouth students (infamously arguing for the importance of Jesus) and Tim discussed the need for action and awareness about sexual assault. Both speeches left a bitter taste in the minds of many. I remember listening to Noah's speech as a freshman and witnessing the sense of shock, both personal and all around the audience, as Noah said this line:

He gave His life for our sin so that we wouldn't have to bear the penalty of the law; so we could see love. The problem is me; the solution is God's love: Jesus on the cross, for us.

Tim's speech, on the other hand, wasn't offense or controversial in content at all, but seemed starkly out of place for convocation. Convocation is about the renewal of the academic year and the welcome of the new class, but Tim simply listed a series of statistics.

Travis, instead, gave a call-to-arms for freshmen to challenge their assumptions about themselves and to change and mold Dartmouth into the place they want it to be:

Class of 2011, it might not seem like it, but today, each of you has the same opportunity, along with a few advantages. Unlike those novices, you have a lot of people here to help. You also have two hundred forty attempts’ worth of experience to draw from. Unlike those white, male, preaching New Englanders and their founding Native American counterparts, you have potential friends from all walks of life, from all ranges of experience, and from all over the world.

Here, you’re freed from your past. Your roots are gone. You can choose which to grasp back on to, and what new ones to lay down. You don’t have to conform to what you were in high school. Jocks, nerds, goths, those segregations can disappear. You can make new friends, find new interests, reveal inner passions. Be who you want to be, while you make this College what you want it to be...

As [your Dartmouth spirit] grows, you will begin to answer questions integral to Dartmouth’s soul: Should there be a typical “Dartmouth man” and “Dartmouth woman”? Why do we have the cluster system? Does cutting-edge research enhance liberal arts teaching? Should Dartmouth value the Greek system? Does diversity matter to us? Is the D-Plan effective? Do athletics enhance the Dartmouth experience? What defines this Dartmouth? What defines your Dartmouth?

It was a very solid address and was warmly received. Rather than telling students what they should think or how they should act, he encouraged them to find the answers for questions about Dartmouth through personal exploration.

Bruce Duthu '80, a Vermont Law professor, a visiting professor at Dartmouth, and a former administrator of the college, spoke about the importance of humility and its connection to a liberal arts education. Though it sounds like a strange topic, it was a really great speech.

James Wright spoke eloquently about the role of affirmation action at Dartmouth. He began by discussing Dartmouth's historical commitment to diversity. The president then said that he agreed with the principle of race neutrality - that is, ideally people should not be considered or judged for better or worse on account of their race or heritage - but that Dartmouth and other colleges do not exist in a vacuum. Instead, affirmative action must exist to counteract fundamental differences in opportunity.

Wright then spoke about Robert Putnum's concept of social capital and its relation to diverse communities. He discussed a study which found that diverse communities actually have less social capital than homogeneous communities. But Wright refuted the study on the basis that a diverse communities is absolutely essential for the intellectual exploration that Dartmouth seeks to provide:

So, it is essential that we ask ourselves on this September morning whether all of this-the legal, constitutional, political, and cultural challenges of our time; the pessimism suggested by the Putnam research-whether all of this means that Dartmouth should back away from its historic principles and assumptions?

Having raised the question, I shall take the opportunity to provide an answer: No, to me it surely does not. This College's legacy and responsibility are richer than the cycles of politics. Our commitment to the nature of this learning community is older than the formation of this Republic.

The fundamental principle underlying this College and the liberal arts in general is to examine assumptions, to respond to new ideas, not stubbornly to hold to what we once thought to be true. The Putnam research makes more, rather than less, urgent our historic purpose. The appropriate response to these new findings cannot be to strive for homogeneous communities, which may, in the short term, have more social capital, but will surely not, in the long term, provide the intellectual excitement, the general stimulation, and the preparation for a lifetime of learning that Dartmouth seeks-as it has always sought to engender.

Wright ended his address with his usual closing phrase:

As has been my yearly custom, I would close this ceremony by reminding you, and myself, that now we turn enthusiastically to our task. We have work to do, you and I - and it is time to begin! Welcome to Dartmouth.

New York Times Gets Fooled

2007-09-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

This is old news, but I just saw the correction now (though I saw it in the original article):

An article last Saturday about Dartmouth College's governance structure incorrectly described a Web site congratulating Todd J. Zywicki, a trustee, for meeting with members of the Phrygians, a secret society, and discussing possible actions against the college administration. It was a hoax site, not an official Phrygian site. Mr. Zywicki says he met several times with the Phrygians, but did not discuss actions against the administration.

I can't believe that the Times a) fell for it, b) didn't check to make sure it was legit. What sort of secret society would not only have a website but put a photo of their members on it? I've heard that this is the work of the Jacko, but I don't think its been confirmed.

Gearing Up for the Debates

2007-09-24T11:26:00.000-04:00

Dartmouth is getting ready for its Democratic presidential debate, which will take place from 9-11 pm on Wednesday, and will be broadcast on MSNBC. Until the "candidate forums," which have been frequent in this election season, this is one of only six debates officially sponsored by the Democratic Party. Students (as well as faculty, staff, and local residents) were eligible to win tickets via a lottery. Apparently, there was an overwhelming response, and I've barely know anyone who has won tickets. To deal with the overflow, there is a watch party taking place in Leede Arean. In order to prepare for the debates, Dartmouth has formed an army of student volunteers - approximately 200 students.

A new friend for the Etats-Unis

2007-09-23T20:17:00.000-04:00

When I first read about Nicolas Sarkozy, several years ago, I was interested. He struck me as an innovator and an ascendant leader. But as the French presidential election approached last April, I became extremely disillusioned. I saw him a right-wing demagogue, a radical and more dangerous version of Rudy Giuliani. I was also working in a legislative office with two Columbia grad students from France who thought that Sarkozy's election was apocalyptic.

But in the past few months, I have really been shocked and stunned by Sarkozy's performance - pleasantly surprised. Rather than being Mussolini incarnate, he's been the cool new kid on the block, the next Tony Blair.

Sarkozy has radically changed Franco-American relations overnight. France has suddenly changed from being one of our biggest critics to being one of our closest allies, particularly on the highly difficult subject of Iran. Surely some fellow liberals would accuse Sarkozy of being fundamentally pro-Bush rather than pro-American. But Sarkozy's overtures have gone far beyond Bush. Rather, he believes in America, the way immigrants often do, the way we are taught to in elementary school. And that is a radical change. I have no doubt that Chirac thought America sucked. Although I disagree with Bush's foreign policy goals (read: Iraq), the United States will always be more effective with the support of our allies. If the French government being pro-American means that they are simultaneously pro-Bush, well, I could care less.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Sarkozy spoke vividly about what he sees as the shared common values between the United States and France:

You know from the way we celebrate the [Normandy] landings that the French people are with the Americans, and the American flag is popular in France. I have said, moreover, that relations between France and the United States go well beyond the personality of Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Bush. There are people who will come after me, and who will come after Mr. Bush. And I see myself in the historic tradition of [French military leaders during the U.S. Revolution] [the count of] Rochambeau and [the Marquis of] Lafayette. At the time, there were 20 million Frenchmen and four million Americans. And it was the genius of Louis XVI to understand that this young, American democracy had to be helped. France was there. With Lafayette and Rochambeau. Rochambeau refused to receive the sword from the British — he gave it to [George] Washington in a magnificent gesture. Lafayette is a great figure in French history because he was the godfather of relations between the United States and France. We have never been at war. We have always helped each other. We have always helped each other. I don’t see why we should see ourselves as enemy nations. It makes no sense.

So maybe the problems we’ve had stem from the fact that we are both countries which believe — and not all countries believe this — that our values are universal. For my part, I think that the French and the United States are much more alike than they think. Much more. It is rare to find countries in the world that think their ideas are universal. The Germans don’t, nor do the Spanish and the Italians. Nor do the Chinese. They think themselves to be universal for themselves, I mean within their empire. In the United States and France, we think our ideas are destined to illuminate the world. And perhaps that is the source of the competition between us. It’s perhaps the fact that we are alike.

Sarkozy frames himself as a pragmatist and he has acted as such as president. He appointed Bernard Kouchner, long time Socialist politician and founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, as foreign minister, a very bold and surprising move. He also nominated Dominique Strauss-Kahn, runner up in the Socialist Party presidential primaries, as head of the International Monetary Fund. Sarkozy wasn't forced to appoint Socialists because of some power arrangement deal or the like. He apparently did it because he felt they were most qualified, something that is truly remarkable.

Although I don't know much about France's domestic situation, he seems to be doing good work. Though my natural inclination is to support the labor or socialist candidate in foreign elections, France is so far to the left of the United States in terms of socialization. Does their economy work? Doubtful. So what Sarkozy wants to do domestically is extremely sensible.

In the end, Sarkozy is fundamentally a Clintonite or a Blairite, a believer that he can dramaticly rewrite France's political environment. What I truly admired about Bill Clinton, Gordon Brown, and Tony Blair (in the early days) was their ability to free people from their assumptions about government and politics. It is this quality that I also see in Barack Obama and Mike Bloomberg. They all bring a revolutionary spirit. I'm from New York City, and I have been constantly impressed by the Bloomberg administration. Even when Bloomberg makes mistakes, he shows a verve that Giuliani only had for locking up homeless people. He has completely changed the way New Yorkers think about the potential for city governance.

And so that is what I see in Nicolas Sarkozy, a man set out to change France and the world. Once again, I might have misread this complex character, but I certainly hope not. As he said in the above quote, Sarkozy believes that our countries' ideas are "destined to illuminate the world." That is a powerful thought.

McLaughlin Suites

2007-09-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

I just moved in my new room in Thomas, which is one of the new dorms in the McLaughlin Cluster. It's a suite, one of the best rooms on campus. Although I'm a junior, I got "pulled in" by a rising senior who had, I think, the 13th best number in the housing lottery. We have 5 single bedrooms, a pretty large common area with space for 2 sofas and a couple chairs (including a nice bean bag chair that came with the room) and one and a half bathrooms. The individual rooms actually aren't huge (100 sq. ft.) but they're nothing to complain about.

I lived in the Senior Apartments last year (don't ask how I get so lucky) which was actually a bit bigger and had a kitchen. But the Thomas suite is a million times nicer, because it's brand new and lacks the horrid sixties-era feel that plagues the Senior Apartments. They did a really nice job in terms of design and decor (except for the bedrooms, which are shaped awkwardly for the bed and desk).

The rest of the building is amazing. Thomas is connected directly to Goldstein and Byrne II, and it's basically one big building. There's an elevator, a giant common space (Occum Commons) with a baby grand piano, and other little things that make it really nice. And they finally learned from the East Wheelock Cluster that putting the bathroom sinks in the hallways was a bad idea (if you haven't seen it, it's quite a sight). I lived in one of the super-tiny L-shaped doubles in Wheeler during my freshman year, where there was a basically no room to walk once you put all the furniture in, so I guess I feel unrepentant about my current luck.

Crady in the Times

2007-09-20T11:32:00.000-04:00

Tom Crady, the incoming Dean of the College, was quoted in The New York Times today in an article about parents redoing their children's rooms once they leave for college:

But Tom Crady, vice president for student services at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, is sympathetic about the anxieties of homesick freshmen, particularly those who "come home Thanksgiving and realize their room is gone." Parents, he said, "should probably include their son or daughter in a decision like that."

Tuck Retakes #1 Spot in the Wall Street Journal Rankings

2007-09-17T12:21:00.001-04:00

The Wall Street Journal today published its annual ranking of business schools, with Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business ranked number 1. Last year, Tuck came in second to Michigan, which fell to the seventh spot in the new rankings. The Journal had this to say about Tuck:

Tuck received its highest ratings this year for its "well-rounded" students, their personal integrity, interpersonal and communications skills, and teamwork abilities.

The rankings are based on a survey of MBA recruiters. In order, the rest of the top ten were Berkeley, Columbia, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, UNC-Chapel Hill, Michigan, Yale, Chicago, and Virginia.

Association of Alumni Statememt

2007-09-10T16:12:00.001-04:00

The leaders of the Association of Alumni posted a statement on their blog opposing the changes to trustee composition.

Coverage in the Times

2007-09-09T21:34:00.000-04:00

In tomorrow's The New York Times, there will be an article about the changes in the composition of the Board of Trustees.

The Die is Cast

2007-09-08T20:14:00.000-04:00

The Board of Trustees voted tonight to increase the number of trustees from 18 to 26, with all eight of the additional seats being charter trustees - selected by the board. Here is a link to the report.

Several minutes ago, a letter from Ed Haldeman was sent out over blitz to (presumably) everybody at Dartmouth:

A LETTER FROM ED HALDEMAN, CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, TO THE DARTMOUTH COMMUNITY

Dear Members of the Dartmouth Community,

Earlier today, the Dartmouth Board of Trustees took several steps to strengthen the College's governance. Given the intense debate about this issue in recent months, I wanted to write to you as soon as possible to tell you what we've done and why.

Let me start by saying Dartmouth has never been stronger than it is today. It's one of the most selective institutions in the country. Our commitment to teaching has never been stronger and student satisfaction is at record highs. The student-to-faculty ratio now stands at 8:1. We have expanded the faculty by 15 percent since 2000 and maintained competitive faculty compensation, reflecting the College's sharp focus on its academic programs. Once current building plans are completed, we will have invested $1.1 billion in new and renovated state-of-the-art facilities since 1998.

Like its peers, however, the College confronts new challenges. We are facing increasing competition for the finest students and the best faculty as well as for the financial resources needed to support the College. And, we operate in an increasingly complex and highly regulated environment. Having the strongest possible governance is a critical factor to ensuring Dartmouth's continued success in the years ahead.

The changes we are making preserve alumni democracy at Dartmouth by keeping eight alumni-nominated trustees. They expand the Board with eight additional charter trustees, adding alumni to meet the needs of the College. And, they address the destructive politicization of trustee campaigns that have hurt Dartmouth. These changes represent a balancing of competing interests. They are true to Dartmouth's founding principles. And, they will ensure that, moving forward, the College has a strong, effective, and independent governing body.

Over the past three months, the Board's Governance Committee conducted a thorough review of this issue. We carefully considered input from many alumni, current and former trustees, faculty, parents, students, and other members of the Dartmouth community. We consulted with experts in college and non-profit governance and carefully evaluated practices among 30 leading colleges and universities. And, we developed a report to the full Board, which I encourage you to read for yourself at www.dartmouth.edu/governancereport.

After reviewing the Governance Committee's recommendations - and after much thought and deliberation - the Board of Trustees concluded that Dartmouth should strengthen its governance by taking steps to:

* Expand the Board by Adding More Alumni to Better Meet the Needs of the College: We are expanding the Board from 18 to 26 to ensure it has the broad range of backgrounds, skills, expertise, and fundraising capabilities needed to steward an institution of Dartmouth's scope and complexity. Dartmouth has been at a competitive disadvantage to its peers, with one of the smallest Boards of any comparable institution. We have had 18 members on our Board, versus an average of 42 trustees at peer schools and an average of 34 at other liberal arts colleges. We also are giving the Board more flexibility to select trustees who offer the specific talents and experiences that the College needs, which elections don't ensure. We will accomplish both of these goals by adding eight new charter trustee seats to the Board.

* Preserve Alumni Democracy by Retaining Alumni Trustee Elections: We are maintaining alumni trustee elections at their current level and preserving the ability of alumni to petition onto the ballot. Dartmouth currently has the highest proportion of alumni-nominated trustees of any peer institution and is one of the few schools that allows alumni to petition directly onto the ballot. The Board believes that this gives Dartmouth's alumni an important direct voice in our governance and fosters greater alumni involvement in the College. Dartmouth will continue to have one of the most democratic trustee election processes of any college in the country.

* Simplify the Alumni Nomination Process: Dartmouth's trustee elections have become increasingly politicized, costly, and divisive. It's not the results of these elections that are the problem, but the process itself. So we are charging the Alumni Council and the Association of Alumni to develop and implement a process for selecting alumni trustee nominees that preserves elections, maintains petition access to the ballot, and adopts a one-vote, majority-rule election process.

* Improve Direct Board Engagement with Alumni and Other Stakeholders: A larger group of trustees representing even more diverse backgrounds will help us enhance Board engagement with key areas of the College including academic affairs, student life, and alumni relations. We are therefore creating new Board committees focused on each of these three critical areas. This will facilitate greater interaction and communication with individuals in each of these three areas.

While we will continue to have eight trustees nominated directly by alumni, a significant number of seats on the Board, I know some will ask why we didn't simply expand the Board through an equal number of charter and alumni trustee seats. Given the divisiveness of recent elections we did not believe that having more elections would be good for Dartmouth. We also believe that the Board needs more trustees selected for the specific talents and experiences they can offer the College - which elections can't guarantee. We will still have more alumni-nominated trustees than most other schools and the opportunity for regular contested elections. But we think this is the best balancing of Dartmouth's interests.

I know there are strongly held views on all sides of this issue. And I respect that many of those views are driven above all by a desire to do what is best for Dartmouth and its students. But some of the recent rhetoric in this debate has become so harsh and divisive it is now doing harm to Dartmouth. I want to urge everyone who cares about Dartmouth to debate this issue in a reasonable and respectful way. As President Wright has said, there is far more that unites us - as friends, faculty, students, and loyal alumni of the College on the Hill - than divides us. Above all, we have a shared love of and dedication to Dartmouth.

One thing that has made Dartmouth an enduring and successful institution is that its history has always been one of adapting to meet new challenges and needs, while still preserving what is unique and special about Dartmouth. That is why a board originally composed of twelve New England men, half of them members of the clergy, today consists of eighteen men and women from many parts of the country and walks of life. That is why Trustees who once served for life now serve four-year terms. And, that is why elections once open only to "graduates... of at least five years standing" are now open to all alumni.

In these and many other respects, Dartmouth's Board has made fundamental changes to its governance structure and procedures throughout the College's history. The changes we're making today are no different. They are driven by what is best for Dartmouth and its students, and what is necessary to ensure the College continues to meet the new challenges it faces in the 21st century.

I love Dartmouth. I honestly believe there is nowhere else in the world quite like this great College. We need to protect Dartmouth and ensure it continues to prosper for future generations of students. I, and the entire Board, are intensely focused on helping Dartmouth to continue building its world-class academic program. That is what drives us forward. And, I look forward to continuing to work with all of you - alumni, faculty, students and parents - to build on Dartmouth's unique and pre-eminent place in American higher education.

Sincerely,

Ed Haldeman
Chair, Dartmouth College Board of Trustees

The Dartmouth has also put an article about it up on their website. Yesterday, The Dartmouth's board wrote an editorial supporting changes to the Board of Trustees' structure.

This morning, The New York Times published an article about the governance review on the front page of its National Report section.

The Wall Street Journal Chimes In, Talks with Rodgers

2007-09-01T19:54:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal published two articles about the Board of Trustees' governance review today, an editorial in support of the 1891 agreement and a profile of trustee T.J. Rodgers by Joseph Rago '05.

Rago's interview with Rodgers is a quite illuminating glimpse into the trustee's mind. Rago describes Rodgers as being ultimately independent-minded, not the conservative that he is often depicted to be. Rodgers recasts the trustee struggle away from the typical partisan model: "This is not a conservative-liberal conflict. This is a libertarian-totalitarian conflict." Rodgers reflects on accusations that the current process is divisive: "If 'divisive' means there are issues and we debate the issues and move forward according to a consensus, then divisive equals democracy, and democracy is good. The alternative, which I fear is what the administration and [Board of Trustees Chairman] Ed Haldeman are after right now, is a politburo - one-party rule."

Rodgers gets to the heart of the debate. Divisiveness is often necessary in politics and governance, because debate and conflict is often necessary in the search for solutions and consensus. The Board of Trustees is not around to merely rubber-stamp the administration's goals and select a new president every decade. The Board should be actively thinking about the college - and making decisions, and the alumni should be thinking about the Board - and electing some of its members. Divisiveness is exactly what Tim Andreadis '07 was accused of when he was elected Student Body President last year. Although I have issues with his administration - I resigned from it - divisiveness was never the problem. Instead, he changed the way students think about Dartmouth, made them consider new issues, and we are ultimately for the better. And the same is true about the petition trustees. They have challenged the views of students, alumni, and administrators, pushing us to think harder about the issues at hand, and we are also better for it. This is what democracy is all about. So let the elections continue.

Trustees on Wikipedia

2007-08-31T02:04:00.000-04:00

An article on Dartmouth's Board of Trustees was featured tonight on the front page of Wikipedia under the "Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest articles" section. It was written primarily by Dylan Kane '09, and contains a well-footnoted history of the board, as well as a list of notable trustees.

Crady's Dissertation

2007-08-21T15:38:00.000-04:00

After learning that Thomas Crady, the incoming Dean of the College, had recently written his Ph.D. dissertation about the use of alcohol in fraternities, I was interested in obtaining a copy. I was somewhat pessimistic about the chances of getting a hold of it, but it was surprisingly easy. Crady received his Ph.D. from Iowa State University this year, and his dissertation is entitled Written and unwritten rules: the use of alcohol by fraternities: a study of one college.

When I first heard about the dissertation, I was afraid that it was going to be staunchly anti-Greek and would be indicator of the future tightening of Dartmouth's alcohol and Greek policies. As a member of a fraternity, I think that Dartmouth's policies towards alcohol use are far too restrictive, as they create a bureaucratic nightmare for sorority and fraternity leaders. After reading his study and recommendations, I was somewhat reassured. Crady takes a pragmatic view towards the subject, and is focused on alcohol abuse, not alcohol use:

My philosophy may be characterized in the following manner: I do not believe that colleges and universities should ban alcohol from their campuses, and alcohol education programming should focus on responsible drinking rather than abstinence.

The study mainly used focus groups and questionnaires to learn about alcohol use on campus and the connection to fraternities. Crady compared the views and responses of Greek and not-Greek students.

At the end of his dissertation, Crady has a list of recommendations for college administrators:

a. Develop and implement strategies to evaluate the student and Greek letter culture to better understand the dynamics between the two groups relative to the campus culture. Since evidence exists that Greek culture may supersede institutional culture, it is important to examine this phenomenon on a regular basis to ensure that independent students are not isolated on their campus.

b. Examine, monitor, and compare the use of alcohol and drugs by Greeks and independent students both on and off campus. Given the evidence that alcohol plays a significant role in Greek systems, campus administrators should have an ongoing mechanism to determine the level of alcohol used by all students on their campus.

c. Assist Greek Letter organizations in emphasizing the positive aspects of Greek life. Many Greek letter organizations are developing and implementing impressive social justice and/or community service programs. These should be highlighted and reinforced on campus. Standards should exist for Greek letter organizations outlining activities they are expected to offer to the campus.

d. Provide Greek letter organizations with the resources and tools to accomplish their goals both on and off campus. Greek letter organizations should be fully supported by campus officials to ensure that resources are available to assist these organizations.

e. Develop positive and constructive interpersonal relationships with the leaders of Greek letter organizations on campus. Campus administrators should establish positive working relationships with Greek leaders before problems occur.

f. If Greek letter organizations are affiliated with national organizations, develop clear communication lines with the national organizations. These national groups are often excellent resources for local chapters particularly in the areas of liability.

g. Examine the pledging process to ensure that it does not conflict with the academic performance of students engaged in the pledging process. Emphasis should be placed on academics and no activities should conflict with the academic mission of the institution.

h. Resist the temptation to view Greek letter organizations as negative elements of student life and the campus culture. Resolve problems that arise quickly and efficiently while maintaining positive interpersonal relationships with students in Greek letter organizations.

Dartmouth falls in U.S. News rankings

2007-08-16T17:40:00.000-04:00

Another story in a busy news day, IvyGate has published an embargoed press release from U.S. News & World Report about its 2008 university. The rankings, which were supposed to be released tomorrow, has Dartmouth falling from the 9th spot to the 11th. Last year, Dartmouth was in a tie with Chicago and Columbia, who remain in a tie for the 9th spot in the new rankings. Dartmouth is the only Ivy League school to fall in the rankings, with Penn moving up two positions to the 5th spot, and Brown moving up from 15 to 14, and the other universities remaining the same.

Comments on IvyGate have blamed the recent trustee election and the constitution debate for the fall in the rankings. I do not understand the details of how the ranking are determined, so I have no idea if it had any influence, but in a larger sense, I strongly disagree that the fight over trustees has hurt Dartmouth. Instead, questions about the direction of the school should demonstrate that it is a strong college. First, placing an institution under critical scrutiny ensures that decisions made are well thought through and that weaknesses are fully probed. Second, the fury of the debates demonstrates the passion that alumni have for the college. Historically, Dartmouth has been no stranger to controversy, but that has always strengthened the college - precisely why Boaz Allen Hamilton named us one of the most enduring institutions.

New Dean of the College

2007-08-16T17:15:00.000-04:00

According to a Dartmouth press release, Thomas Crady, the vice president of student services at Grinnell College, has been appointed as the new dean of the college, and will start the position in January. Crady was one of the candidates named in a leak to The Dartmouth in February.

Wow

2007-08-16T01:28:00.000-04:00

On the front page of The New York Times website, there was an ad tonight for SaveDartmouth.org :

I've never heard of the group or website until now, but it's paid for by "The Committee to Save Dartmouth" which it says it is led by Andres Morton Zimmerman. The site says that it "will be running soon in major national newspapers." The website, which of course opposes the review of trustee election procedures, urges alumni to contact the trustees through its website and provides an optional form letter, quoted below:

Dear Dartmouth Trustees:

I′m writing to encourage you to abandon any future plans that will dilute the voices of Dartmouth alumni.

For over 100 years, Dartmouth alumni and alumnae have enjoyed the assurance of direct input into the selection of one-half of the Trustees. This is part of what we expect as members of the Dartmouth family. We deserve nothing less.

As Trustees, you represent all of the Dartmouth family. You hold the legacy of Daniel Webster, Salmon Chase, Ernest Martin Hopkins, John Sloan Dickey, and John Kemeny in your hands. Please do not take this responsibility lightly.

Over sixty thousand of us are depending on you to “set a watch, lest the old traditions fail.”

SaveDartmouth's "Lone oPine" page also quotes P. Diddy ("Vote or Die!"), which I think is pretty hilarious. As one of their terms of conditions, they also make people promise not to "root for Harvard." In the midst of epic alumni struggle, episode III (since I've been here), it's good to see that at least somebody is approaching it with the proper sense of humor.

Update: I was a bit slow on the uptake, but I realize now (twenty minutes later) that "Mr. Andres Morton Zimmerman," the supposed leader of the movement, is not a real person, but rather the names of three dorms in the East Wheelock Cluster.

The Dartmouth has also published an article about the advertisements via its website, and reports that the estimated cost of the ad campaign will be $300,000.

American Council of Trustees & Alumni criticizes governance review

2007-08-15T21:28:00.000-04:00

Dartlog, the Dartmouth Review's blog, has a story about a very interesting letter from Anne D. Neal, the president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, criticizing the governance review process at Dartmouth. While Neal's opposition to the review process is not surprising, she unexpectedly focused on the role of the college president, which is believes constitutes a potential conflict of interest.

Student Leaders Meet Trustee

2007-08-07T23:04:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I attended the 2007 Dartmouth Advanced Leadership Summit at the Hanover Inn. It sounds prestigious, and I got a very nice invitation in my Hinman Box, but for the large part it ended up being quite bizarre. It turns out the entire event was about Dartmouth finances, as it was sponsored by the Dartmouth College Fund. There was absolutely no discussion about student leadership or anything along those lines - instead it ended up being a very PR-friendly presentation about the Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience. There was a cute little video where the Dartmouth high-rollers spoke in loving terms about why they decided to donate money for new dorms. Not that I don't appreciate their philanthropy - because I very much admire alumni giving - but I expected something with more substance, as did everybody else in the room, who frequently looked like they were going to die. About 40 students attended, and they seemed to represent a wide range of student leadership across campus.

The video was surrounded by presentations by Carolyn Pelzel, the VP of Development, Adam Keller, the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, and Brad Evans '64, a trustee. It was the latter's talk where things got interesting. Evans explained the role of the Board of Trustee and how they approached their positions. He described the trustees as the "proprietors" of the college, and said that their sole constituency was current and future students. As soon as there was a lull in his discussion, he was confronted with an aggressive set of questions from the student leaders in the audience. Most questions were focused on the interaction between the Board of Trustees and the student body. One student asked why there was not a young alum or student on the Board of Trustees, noting that many of our peer institutions have student or young alumni representation. Evans responded that a position on the Board of Trustees was too valuable from a financial standpoint to give to a student or a young alumnus/a - that spots on the Board should be reserved for alumni who can donate large amounts of money to the college. He also noted that one of the major problems of petition candidate success was that they took spots away from large donors.

Evans was also asked whether the Board of Trustees to interact with students when they meet on campus, and whether they solicit student opinion. Evans seemed to stumble with his answer, saying that the Board did reach out to students but that he wasn't sure how they did. The crowd did warm up when he mentioned going back to Phi Delt, his fraternity, with other trustees and buying them a keg. Overall, the general atmosphere of the students seemed to be skeptical of the trustees' ability to ascertain what was really going on at Dartmouth, from the student perspective. Another student asked Evans about whether the success of petition candidates have had a tangible effect on the Board. He discussed T.J. Rodgers '70 as an example, and attributed FIRE's upgrading of Dartmouth's free speech rating to Rodgers' passion for the issue and willingness to push James Wright to take stronger stances in support of free speech. When asked if the Board of Trustees concerned themselves with developing issues facing students at Dartmouth, Rodgers responded that the Board was not interested in micromanaging the college and that if they disappointed with what was going on, they would simply fire the president.

Overall, it was very interesting to see a very direct interaction between student leaders and a trustee. Throughout the question and answer session, Evans was constantly on the defensive and there seemed to be a poignant dissatisfaction with the trustees that cut across partisan ideology.

Edit: Joe Malchow at Dartblog also covered the event.

In Defense of Democracy

2007-07-30T23:54:00.000-04:00

For a while now, I've been ignoring the brewing controversy over the Board of Trustees' decision to review the trustee election process. Since 1891, the Board of Trustees has been split between trustees nominated by alumni, and trustees elected by the board ("charter trustees"). The review process is seeking to determine whether this balance should be continued. The board's Governance Committee has undertaken this review, seeking to determine "what is in the best interests of the college." My decision to ignore this issue so far comes from my unease. I'm a liberal guy, so I'm reluctant to take generally conservative stances when it comes to Dartmouth politics, but I find the maneuvering by the board to be worrisome. It seems clear that this is Alumni Constitution plan B - another way to stop the threat of conservative alumni. But in truth, the proposal to change the composition of the board is wholly undemocratic.

The governance committee noted that trustees elections were "increasingly contentious," but isn't that the point of democracy? Contentious elections bring increased scrutiny on trustee candidates and hold them accountable to the public. Consider the contrast with the so-called charter trustee elections: charter trustee are selected quietly by the board and remain largely anonymous. Nobody knows who they are, what they stand for, how they're going to lead Dartmouth. But I can tell you all about Stephen Smith, and that's good. By exploring issues and candidates with a critical eye, democratic trustee elections bring transparency.

The Board of Trustees is placing present concerns over long term pragmatism. Over time, Dartmouth's alumni will be increasingly liberal, and many of today's concerns will become irrelevant. The 1891 agreement to split the board between alumni-elected trustees and board-elected trustees ensures that the board ultimately follows the will of the alumni. Some would say that the views of the alumni don't really matter, but that certainly cannot be the case. Without alumni control, Dartmouth would be running in a vacuum of its own self-perpetuating leadership. It would be like a Supreme Court that could choose its own successors. Who knows what direction its would take over many generations. An even split of trustees creates a system where the board remains firmly grounded to alumni control, but also more stable through its ability to counterbalance alumni decisions through its own choices. Without a large number of alumni trustees, Dartmouth would be like a corporate board operating without shareholders. The 1891 agreement ensures that we are the shareholders.

Edit: Several comments have raised concerns about my use of the word "shareholder." Of course, I do not think that alumni literally own Dartmouth, but I think it is an apt metaphor given the current power of alumni to nominate half of the board. One comment suggested that "stakeholder" would be more appropriate, but of course alumni are stakeholders - this is their alma mater.

A Guide to Internship Survival

2007-07-23T02:05:00.000-04:00

In this great season of summer recruiting, it's very timely that the Dartmouth Independent would publish a guide to surviving (or not surviving) internships, written by Tatyana Liskovich '08. Helpful tips include "leave that sandwich in the trash, where it belongs.

Money Mag: Hanover 2nd Best Place to Live

2007-07-22T17:47:00.000-04:00

Each year, Money Magazine put together a list of the best places to live. This year, they put Hanover as the second best place to live. It describes Hanover as a combination of a pastoral setting with a cosmopolitan vibe. Median age? 22.

Smith: "Unprecedented Assault on our Alumni"

2007-07-17T09:25:00.000-04:00

Stephen Smith '88, recently elected trustee, wrote an opinion article today in The Dartmouth about the trustees plan to examine "governance," i.e. prevent people like Stephen Smith from winning elections. Smith attacks the administration for being a "spin machine" against him, and he alleges that it considerably outspent him during this election. Smith attacks attempts to change the system, saying that elections are ultimately divisive because "it is democracy, pure and simple."

Wayward Goes Mainstream

2007-07-12T13:49:00.000-04:00

Nathan Empsall '09, a fellow blogger who writes The Wayward Episcopalian, got quoted yesterday in Slate, writing about disgraced Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana). Congrats.

Police Blotter

2007-07-12T13:34:00.000-04:00

Ivy Gate, the blog that covers all the Ivy League gossip, did a big post about The Dartmouth's police blotter. As all Dartmouth students know, that's easily the best part of the D. As somebody who comes from Manhattan, the Hanover Police's conception of crime is hilarious. But it also highlights that the main focus of the Hanover Police is chasing after drunk Dartmouth students, which is a shame. Why doesn't the town cut back on the force, and let S&S handle underage drinking, without arresting everybody in the process?

In other Ivy Gate news, incoming Princeton freshman Antonio Villaraigosa Jr. wrote stupid things on a Facebook group wall. No big deal, except that he's the son of Los Angeles' mayor. It sucks to face so much scrutiny, but I guess that's life.

What was Stephen F. Mandel like at Dartmouth?

2007-07-11T21:04:00.000-04:00

At the bottom of this blog's sidebar, there's a visit counter from sitemeter.com. Occasionally, I look at the statistics it provides. One interesting piece of information is the referral website, i.e. the site that linked to Super Dartmouth. Today, one visitor got here by searching for "what was stephen f mandel like at dartmouth" on Google. Stephen Mandel '78 was recently elected to the Board of Trustees as a "charter" trustee. I don't know what Mandel was like, but clearly the searcher had unusual faith in Google being omniscient. I doubt the search results helped much.

Academic Honor and the Committee on Standards

2007-07-10T19:54:00.000-04:00

Last week, Christian Kiely '09 wrote an opinion article in The Dartmouth about his concern over how the Committee on Standards approaches Academic Honor cases compared to cases regarding an alleged standards violation (i.e. sexual assault, violence, and other crimes). Kiely feels that COS prosecutes "academic crimes" with a far greater drive than they do for feel crimes. Today, April Thompson, the director of the Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office, responded with an article of her own addressing Kiely's criticism. This is of particular interest to me as I am currently serving on COS. While I support the main recommendations of the Student Assembly's COS Task Force report, my experience on COS so far has been positive and it seems very well run.

Stam goes to Michigan

2007-07-10T19:44:00.000-04:00

Dartblog reported today that Professor Allan Stam of the Government Department is leaving Dartmouth for the University of Michigan. I took Gov 5 with Professor Stam last fall, and his class was excellent. He's a very offbeat guy and a truly great lecturer, and his departure is certainly a major loss for the department. Like Joe Malchow at Dartblog, I am also concerned about the ability of the Government Department to find a replacement of his caliber.

CNN.com Revamped

2007-07-05T15:59:00.000-04:00

CNN.com has a new layout, a sleeker design that's a pretty big departure from his old setup. I'm not an immediate fan, but it will probably grow on me.

Dartmouth in the Times

2007-07-05T13:59:00.001-04:00

Nothing big, but The New York Times name dropped Dartmouth in the lede of an article about an initiative for a new website to collect information about colleges. I guess the Times is trying to be cool or something.

Libby Goes Free

2007-07-02T20:28:00.000-04:00

Tonight, George W. Bush commuted the 30 month prison sentence of Scooter Libby, who was convicted of perjury in the CIA leak investigation. I'm not surprised, but I'm disappointed. This sets a very disturbing precedent for the Bush administration, which is the shadiest administration since the Nixon era. Certainly, Libby is not the first Bush official to break the law, and certainly he will not be the last sentenced to go to jail. By using the power of presidential clemency to forgive internal wrongdoing, President Bush is placing his administration above the law. At the same time, I think it's also clear that Libby was the fall guy for the administration. When it comes to the special prosecutor for the case, Patrick Fitzgerald, what's most special about him is that he's not much of a prosecutor.

The River

2007-06-30T12:10:00.001-04:00

This past week has been incredibly hot up at Dartmouth, much warmer than the weather I experienced in Israel the week before. During this term, I'm living down in the River cluster in the Hillel apartment, which is part of Maxwell. While the apartment is amazing, normally the location would be considered bad, since the River cluster is about as far from the Green as you can go on campus. But the great thing is that it's near the river, and in this hot weather it's been a real pleasure to jump in.

Food Report from Sophomore Summer

2007-06-25T15:49:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back at Dartmouth. Sophomore Summer has begun, and it's been a good term so far - great weather, laid-back atmosphere, all that stuff.

Since I'm a complainer by nature, though, I'll air some gripes about the food. There's not a lot of places to get it. Home Plate is closed, the Hop is gone during the weekends, and Collis pasta is a memory. I'm a fervent believer that Food Court only exists to make the other food places look better, except for the very rare good special, I'd rather not eat there. I realize that Dartmouth food tends to be great in comparison in other colleges, so I know I shouldn't be complaining, but I've gotten use to good food (a.k.a. meals at Home Plate). I'm not saying that they have much choice financially - I'm on the Student Budget Advisory Committee, so I've seen the DDS numbers - but that doesn't make better. I've gotten so desperate that I ordered EBA's by myself for the first time last night. Turns out it's only good under the influence of alcohol.

Bloomberg Leaves the GOP

2007-06-20T23:49:00.000-04:00

Michael Bloomberg left the Republican Party yesterday , ending 13 years of GOP control in New York City. I think that Bloomberg is an excellent mayor - I voted for him in the last election - and I'm very glad that he is registering as an independent. There's no question about it now, he's running for president. Check out his new website launched only a few weeks ago.

1-877-478-7778 - Forever imprinted on my mind

2007-06-09T15:24:00.000-04:00

I have just finished one of the most frustrating experiences of my entire life. Tomorrow morning, I am flying to Israel, and after spending two weeks non-stop on the phone talking to the national passport office and to Congressional offices, I finally got my passport about fifteen minutes ago.

It turns out I had the terrible misfortune of applying for a renewal in the midst of a passport crisis. Normally, processing is supposed to take 6 weeks. I applied over 12 weeks ago, and it was only by a lot of work and a lot of luck that I ended up getting it on time. During the past two weeks, I have called the passport center at least fifteen times - each time it has taken about an hour to get through to talk to somebody. For a long time, I thought I was the only one experiencing problems, but it gave me little comfort to wake up Thursday to a New York Times article about the crisis. The Bush administration put in place new regulations mandating passports for Americans returning from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean by air, but somehow didn't anticipate that there would be a major rush for passports. Well, it turns out that the number of applicants has doubled, which understandably has caused major problems.

Even when I got finally got through to the passport center, the people I spoke to had no clue what they were talking about. Everybody gave me a different story. On Monday, they told me my passport was being shipped out that night. Good luck with that. It finally shipped on Thursday afternoon, but they totally messed up the shipping. They told both me and a very helpful staff member from Rep. Hodes's office that they were shipping it overnight mail or "express mail." That was definitely necessary because the other option was "priority mail" which takes "2-3 days, or longer." Well, two days would be today, three days would be tomorrow, when I'm flying, too late. Of course, despite their assurances they messed up, and shipped it Priority Mail. Only by complete luck (and probably because I live in Manhattan) did I get it in time.

Okay, so I'm relieved that I finally have the passport, but completely pissed off that I had to spend twenty hours on the phone and ultimately only rely on luck to get my passport. I hate to do this, but I really think that George W. Bush is to blame for this. All these new passport restrictions were done in the name of fighting terrorism, but I don't see how it accomplishes anything. Right now, you need a birth certificate and a driver's license (or S.S. card) to get back into the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, and those other places. Those are the same documents you use to get a passport. It's the same thing. If they can reliable ascertain the authenticity of those documents (which they should be able to) then requiring a passport doesn't add security. And it won't fuck up my travel plans or completely ruin a week of my life, which it has, because rather than chilling this past week, I've been on the phone 24/7. If I were a conservative, I would probably turn this into some rant against "big government," but I believe in the ability of government to help people and improve lives. Instead, this is the outcome of a completely incompenent government. It is really inexpliciable that they would not inticipate the increased demand for passports. What were they thinking?

All right, so now that I have my passport, I'll be in Israel for the next ten days, so Super Dartmouth will be on vacation. As a sophomore, I'll be at Dartmouth for the summer, so this blog will be back in full effect around June 21. And for the first time, I'll be able to actually blog from Dartmouth.

New Chair of the Board of Trustees

2007-06-09T02:13:00.000-04:00

Ed Haldeman '70 was elected chair of the Board of Trustees, replacing William Heukom '64, who is retiring from the board. Haldeman is the CEO of Putnam Investments and has been on the Board since 2004. Stephen Mandel Jr. '78 was elected to fill Neukom's seat as a charter trustee, and Leon Black and Jose Fernandez were reelected to their seats.

The Dartmouth press release includes a letter from Haldeman to alumni.

Federal Court: Stop the Censorship

2007-06-04T23:21:00.000-04:00

Today, a federal appeals court in New York struck down FCC regulations that create penalities for airing "indecent" words over broadcast TV. The lawsuit was filed against the FCC by the four major broadcast networks - NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox. Under the Bush Administration, the FCC has been taking a much stronger approach towards punishing networks for language, particularly accidental and unplanned expletives. The court ruled that these blurted words were typically said out of momentary emotion, and were therefore not truly obscene, in context. The decision also cites the use of curse words by Bush and Cheney to illustrate that the Bush Administration's claim that words like "fuck" automatically carry a sexual connotation is ridiculous. I think that this court ruling is a great victory for free speech. While broadcast television should generally be appropriate, the Bush Administration has obviously overreached in punishing networks for uncontrollable moments of live TV. The Bush Administration's Orwellian behavior is the perfect example of why censorship should not be a government function.

Go See "Knocked Up"

2007-06-04T01:39:00.001-04:00

I saw "Knocked Up" today, the new film by Judd Apatow of "40 Year Old Virgin" fame. It was absolutely great, one of the best movies I've seen in a while. What's most striking is that it's your usual low-culture comedy, complete with a bunch of stoners, but done impeccably well. The critics also love it.

Stolen Comment

2007-06-03T23:07:00.000-04:00

Up on the Student Assemblog, there's a funny, over-the-top comment to an article about Jim Wright's work with wounded soldiers:

SLI! SLI! HE'S AN EMBARASSMENT TO THIS SCHOOL! I'LL NEVER BE PROUD! SLI! FUUUUUCK HIM!!!!

I don't agree personally, but I wonder to what extent the author reflects the general sentiment of alumni. Have people really gotten over the Student Life Initiative, or will it forever mark Wright's reign? As a student, it feels like a long time has passed since SLI (obviously I wasn't here). But in the lifetime an alumnus/a, it's a very short period of time.

DFP's "Senior Issue"

2007-06-02T15:40:00.000-04:00

The Dartmouth Free Press just published their "senior issue." It's a good read.

Here's a scorecard:

Connor Shepherd, "We'll Make It I Swear: Overcoming Tradition" - About the Greek system, drinking, tradition, career choices, and superficiality. Whatever. I'm not really sure what he's talking about, but I'll take his word for it. [5/10]

Yuki Kondo-Shah, "You Belong: Finding The Right People" - Interesting inside perspective to admissions with Dartmouth. I agree with Yuki's views when it comes to admission and affirmative action, and I found this insightful. [8/10]

Andrew Seal, "Common Expressions: Broadening The Discourse" - Self-expression, male dominance of campus dialogue, etc. I've read it before. But Seal's a big media guy - why no female contributors to the Little Green Blog? [3/10]

Meredith Wilson, "You Can Change The World" - Using the Iraqi Kids Project to demonstrate how to organize and get stuff done. Self call by the author. Not a bad guide. I'll give it a good score. [6.5/10]

Heather Strack, "Activism And The Greeks: They Go Together" - Being an activist and a Greek at the same time is "liberating and suffocating." I don't understand. My affiliation with my house has absolutely no influence on my political views. Why should it? There are both liberals and conservatives in my house, with various levels of devotion and extremeness. I don't want my frat to act as a political organization - that's not why I'm a brother. [3/10]

Michelle Davis, "Myth Of The Dartmouth Liberal: Looking Beneath The Rhetoric" - On the prevalence of fake liberals around campus. Includes a little test. I agree with Michelle that a lot of people claim falsely to be liberals. At the same time, any sort of label is oversimplified, and I think that there's a wide of range of liberals. FYI - I'm the real thing, I promise. [6/10]

Michael Amico, "On Wants And Wishes: An Agenda For The Self" - One of the gutsiest articles I've ever read. Shock-value off the charts. Props to Amico. [10/10]

Soralee Avyar, "Injustice For All: A United Way" - I generally agree. [5/10]

Vivian Chung, "Short Lessons I've Learned: Losing Yourself To Find Yourself" - Sort of like Mike Amico's article but boring by comparison. [4/10]

802?

2007-06-01T23:05:00.000-04:00

The New York Times has an article about a rap video from three Vermont teenagers. Okay, well it's sort of funny, but I always knew that Vermont was wack, I just didn't want to think about it.

NY Times Messes Up

2007-06-01T21:16:00.000-04:00

In the late afternoon, the New York Times posted an article on their website about a baseball team from a public middle school, I.S. 286, in New York City. The original version of the article discusses a game between I.S. 286 and Hunter College High School, where I went to school from 7th to 12th grade. Trymaine Lee, the author, describes Hunter as trash-talking I.S. 286, attacking them for having no uniforms. There was also an altercation started when a Hunter player said, "that’s why y’all mothers smoke crack." I was surprised. Hunter kids don't normally talk like that. We do have our ghetto side, of course, but we're also one of the best high schools in the country, public or private.

Well, it turns out the Times completely fucked up. When I went back to the article tonight, every mention of Hunter was changed to J.H.S. 104. I guess that explains it. That's too bad. It's not often that Hunter gets mentioned for its athletics or for its trash-talking skills.

Oppose the Boycott

2007-06-01T21:01:00.000-04:00

Today, Tanner Tananbaum '10 blitzed the campus about an open letter that will be sent to Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the British University and College Union, which represents British professors. The UCU recently voted to boycott Israeli academia. Students can show their opposition to the boycott by signing the letter via blitz or in Thayer or Novack.

As an Israeli-American, I find this boycott to be outrageous and completely unacceptable. Regardless of your views about the Middle East conflict, it is blatently wrong for British academic institutions to discreminate against Israeli professors and Israeli research. Please show your support by signing the letter!

Here is the letter:

June 1st, 2007

Sally Hunt
General Secretary
Association of University Teachers
Egmont House
25-31 Tavistock Place
London
WC1H 9UT

Dear Madam,

On May 30th, 2007, an organization that you represent, The British University and College Union (UCU), voted 158 to 99 to endorse a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

We, students at Dartmouth College, USA, recognize that this motion does not represent the sentiments of all members of the UCU. However, as a leader and spokesperson for the UCU, we feel that it is vital that you and your colleagues do all in your power to make sure this boycott does not come to fruition.

This boycott, if approved, would violate the sanctity of the educational process and create a precedent whereby any national organization, held captive by a vocal minority of its constituents, might enter the political fray and become a lightning rod for bias, bigotry and divisiveness. This is especially abhorrent when it involves academia, the one area of human endeavor, and until now human success, that is above the bickering and prejudice that has emplasticized so much of mankind today.

Do you really want the UCU to be remembered as an organization that led clear thinking people towards the abyss of conflict and conflagration? Are British educational leaders now going to punish and ostracize their compatriots in another country because they do not agree with the way that country is run?

To boycott Israeli academic institutions, to boycott the academic institutions of any country, will not benefit, change, move forward, or in any way alter the Middle East Peace Process. But your actions do have the potential to ostracize academics who live in a country that values individual expression and maintains the highest level of academic integrity and scholarship. Indeed, the schools of higher education in Israel, like those of Great Britain and The United States, have become a refuge for liberal thinkers and proponents of peaceful worldwide coexistence.

Academics and research, the two components at the receiving end of this boycott, are the core tenets of our liberal arts education here at Dartmouth. Dartmouth College and its liberal arts program rely on its internationally diverse student body and faculty to bring new ideas and solutions to the universal problems that are plaguing our planet.

We would be betraying the stated goals of this college, and all colleges and universities in the free world, if we did not register our protest at the ignoble proposal that the UCU has brought to the table. We are free men and women only as long as we allow others to be free. We can reach the highest plateaus of knowledge only as long as we allow the free flow of that knowledge. And we can bring forth new ideas and solutions to the problems of the world only as long as we do not automatically reject new ideas and solutions from others.

For all those reasons we at Dartmouth College request that you rescind your call for a boycott of Israeli institutions of higher learning at once:

A. Charles Tananbaum, Class of 2010, Alexander P. Lee, Class of 2010, Melisa Garber, Class of 2008, Nathaniel F. Obler, Class of 2010, Jay B. Markson, Class of 2010

Beyond the Bubble

2007-05-29T23:37:00.001-04:00

In today's The Dartmouth, Brian Chao '09 writes that James Wright's work with wounded soldiers makes him proud to be a Dartmouth student and that it's nice to be reminded that there are more important things than political bickering at Dartmouth. While I agree that President Wright is doing great things in his work down in Washington, I have some questions about Chao's next point - that President Wright has a duty as college president to contribute to the outside world.

Many universities choose leaders that are nationally recognizable figures. To give some examples from the Clinton Administration, Donna Shalala is the president of the University of Miami and Erskine Bowles runs the University of North Carolina. But we do things differently. James Freedman was the only Dartmouth president in the past century who was not a graduate or faculty member of the college. I believe strongly in internal promotion. Dan Nelson '75, for example, certainly deserves to be named permanent Dean of the College, and I think he would do a much better job than any of the random candidates Dartmouth has brought in. As a graduate and a longtime administrator, he understands Dartmouth like no newcomer possibly could, myself included. Dartmouth has quirks - we don't need somebody to fix them.

As much as the good press about Wright is valuable, the job of college president is to make Dartmouth the best college it can be. When that's the goal, everything else follows naturally. Nobody can name the president of Harvard but they know it's a great school. There's no need for James Wright to become a household name, but we need Dartmouth to be ubiquitous in the public consciousness. I think his work with the soldiers is absolutely great, but it's a nice extracurricular activity, not his job.

Fratless Fun?

2007-05-29T22:47:00.000-04:00

Slightly off the beaten path, this month's Dartmouth Independent has an excellent article by Michael Murov on the administration's views about social spaces at Dartmouth. Murov does a good job of explaining the philosophical intuition behind the Wright administration's approach to alternative social opportunities and their efforts to create new places to hang out and have fun. Insightful quotes from Martin Redman, the Dean of Residential Life, are featured throughout the article and really sheds light on what's going on inside Parkhurst. As always I'm surprised by Dean Redman's candor - he admits that Lone Pine is pointless and suggests that the college should pay for alcohol. Last year, I was at a public discussion where he said that he wanted to get rid of affinity housing. It's doubtful that he represents the united view of the administration, but his thoughts are very interesting. Apparently, when it comes to social life, the administration isn't as delusional and confused as I had thought.

Good Food, Wrong Town

2007-05-29T17:46:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, the Mirror had a "Graduate from DDS" listing of good food places around the Upper Valley. That's nice to know about, but like any decent city kid, I can't really drive, so that doesn't help much. Thanks for trying.

CNN: "Football-and-Fraternities Faction" Victorious

2007-05-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

CNN.com ran an article on on the recent trustee election as part of their "StudentNews" section. The article is a little over-the-top and makes Stephen Smith sound completely evil. Richard Routhier, the head of the nominating committee for the Alumni Council's trustee candidate said that Smith was not forthcoming about his conservative views, which strikes me as bullshit because it was pretty obvious that Smith was the conservative candidate. While Smith's non-Dartmouth political views might be important to some, it's not really germane in this election. It would be bizarre if one the trustee candidates started campaigning on their position on abortion or healthcare.

It also annoys me that they put all of this in the same sentence: "In the past decade, Dartmouth has cracked down on underage drinking, investigated racist and anti-Semitic incidents and put fraternities on a short leash, banning one for newsletters that detailed members' sexual exploits." Drinking and being in a fraternity shouldn't go in the same breath as a discussion about hate crimes and anti-Semitism. But I guess it's all the same to the ignorant outsider.

Facebook: Nachman is beyond liberal

2007-05-28T10:35:00.000-04:00

Facebook has just added a new applications feature, where outside developers can write little applications that users can put on their profiles. As with all new Facebook features, it's of dubious quality, at least for now. One of these new gadgets is a polticial "compass" from the Washington Post, which gauges and displays your political ideologue based on a ten-question survey. The survey is pretty basic, with questions about abortion, death penalty, taxes, and other typical liberal/conservative dividers. The answers are in the form of "disagree strongly," "disagree," etc.

According to the survey, my political views are to the left of the average liberal position. But the survey doesn't really measure how liberal or how conservative you are. Instead, it finds out if you are liberal and conservative, and to what degree your political views follow party line. For example, I agree with every typical Democratic or liberal position, but that doesn't make me far left. Instead, they should have included question about welfare, universal healthcare, and religion in public schools. That would have seperated the leaning ideologues from the hardcore believers.

Economic Diversity at Colleges

2007-05-27T16:42:00.000-04:00

In today's New York Times, there's an article about efforts by other colleges to address economic diversity. The article focuses on Abraham Jack, a junior at Amherst College, who comes from a low-income family in Miami.

Student Gov't Hazing

2007-05-27T10:50:00.000-04:00

This month's Dartmouth Review has an article on the history of Green Key, and notes that back in the day, members of the newly elected student government would run across the Green and be pelted by food and vegetables. We should absolutely bring that back.

Sexual Assault Training for Pledges

2007-05-25T09:06:00.000-04:00

Today, The Dartmouth reported that the IFC will require a mandatory two-hour sexual assault awareness and training session for fraternity pledges next fall. The program was created as a joint effort between the IFC, Sexual Assault Peer Advisors, Mentors Against Violence, and the Student Assembly. The sessions will be conducted in each fraternity, and will be tailored individually for each house based on imput from each house's leaders.

I think that this is good. I'm glad that it was not a mandate from the administration, but rather came from students and the IFC leadership. There were also rumors previously that pledges would be required to undergo full SAPA training, which I think would be excessive. As a recent pledge myself, I'm sure that there will be a lot of complaining about having to do this, but sexual assault is a really important problem at Dartmouth, and I think that the potential difference that this program can make is defintely worth those two hours.

Let Students Vote

2007-05-24T00:47:00.000-04:00

In today's The Dartmouth, Luis-Alejandro Dinnella-Borrego ‘07 calls on the Board of Trustees to expand voting priviledges to current students during trustee elections. I absolutely agree. Just like alumni, we have a vested interest in the outcome of trustee elections, only its impact on us is much more powerful and immediate. Allowing students to vote would probably have little effect on the final count, but would empower students to play a role in deciding the course of the college. As pre-adults, we were disenfrancised for so long - why must we be so again?

Jerusalem on Wikipedia

2007-05-23T19:33:00.000-04:00

"Jerusalem" is the featured article today on Wikipedia. It's interesting how an article on a controversial subject (Israel/Palestinian conflict, role as Israel's capital), can become so stable and well-written that it is featured as one of the best articles in Wikipedia.

Weiner mocks the "Republic Party"

2007-05-23T18:14:00.000-04:00

This is old, but it's the first time I've seen it.

Last February, Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-New York), the great up-and-coming legislator from Brooklyn and Queens, mocked the Republican habit of referring to the Democratic Party as the "Democrat Party" by repeatedly referring to the GOP as the "Republic Party" on the floor of Congress.

Rep. Weiner, who was once Jon Stewart's roommate, finished second in the 2005 NYC mayoral primary and is considered a frontrunner for mayor in 2009.