Wednesday, October 2, 1996
Volume 17, Issue 1

The Ideal Student: Are You It?

A few years ago President Freedman gave a speech that outlined his version of the ideal Dartmouth student. In his well-known 'Creative Loner' address, Freedman indirectly criticized what he sees as an overly-social and homogeneous campus. He explained that his ideal Dartmouth student would be completely immersed in his studies, with little time for anything else.

Dartmouth's Great Courses

"Editor's Note: Dartmouth's system of distributive and major requirements can be cumbersome. We are left with a few empty slots, though, open to our discretion. Here is the time to take those courses that no educated person should graduate without. Below is a list of some of Dartmouth's finest liberal arts courses, none of which have prerequisites."

The Beautiful ... Dartmouth's Best Professors

Rassias is perhaps Dartmouth's most famous professor. His innovative theories on the teaching of foreign languages led to Dartmouth's LSA programs, drill sessions, and language lab. His teaching style verges on the outrageous. In class, he dresses up as Montesquieu, throws raw meat around, breaks eggs on students' heads, and rips his shirt off — all in the line of teaching.

.... And the Damned: Dartmouth's Worst Professors

Professor Silver is a prominent subscriber to the growing trend in English literature, feminist criticism. This 'new scholarship' essentially believes that anything longer than it is round must be a phallus. If you enjoy listening to the classics of Western Culture being destroyed by feminist deconstruction, then you will love to listen to her lectures.

The Roots of Football

It also pains me when world-class universities like Stanford and Rockne's Notre Dame buy semi-pro teams with football scholarships. At Dartmouth the football players were like other students, weren't paid, showed up in my classes, and did their work. I would hate to teach at one of the big football factories.

Olympic Gold

I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Like most other Atlantans, I couldn't wait for the 1996 Olympic games to roll into town. Freshman year was great and all, but frankly I couldn't wait to return back home. This was the biggest event to happen to Atlanta since General Sherman's soldiers burnt the city 132 years ago.

Indians Prove Top-Ranked Status

The Indians got the 1996 football season off on the right track Saturday, beating the University of Pennsylvania, 24-22, for the first time since 1992. The highly touted game lived up to its billing, as the Indians — preseason picks to win the Ivy League championship — proved their #1 status and knocked off the Quakers.

Letters to the Editor

While I question some of your remarks about heroin (as I'll explain in a moment), yours was perhaps the best review I've yet read of Trainspotting [TDR 8/21/96]. Every such review naturally enough includes some general comments about heroin, and you do a good job of authenticating your own by recalling your friend. Still, every account of a heroin user who hit the skids raises a couple of questions that I think warrant our consideration.