Week in Review

Wednesday, January 21, 1998

Too Fat for Faruk

The Alexandria, Egypt appeals court has recently rejected a woman's alimony suit, agreeing with her ex-husband's contention that she had put on so much weight over the years that his extramarital affair was justified. Her request for $9,400 was unwarranted, the court ruled, because she 'stopped looking after herself,' thereby 'forcing him into the arms of his secretary.'

Boxers or Briefs 101

Stanford University has granted Tabitha Soren a one-year journalism fellowship in order for the MTV News hostess to study 'transitions in storytelling.' Ms. Soren's previous research concerned 'Green Day and Sugar Ray: The Power Chord in Modern America.'

No Peace Corps for Me

The annual nationwide survey of freshmen compiled by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA has just been released and has found that students are increasingly more interested in money as a life pursuit.

Almost three quarters of respondents to the poll deemed being 'very well off financially' a vital goal while only 41 percent considered developing 'a meaningful philosophy of life' to be essential. Thirty years ago the numbers were reversed. Only 40.8 percent of freshmen in 1968 picked being well to do as crucial, while 82.5 percent selected the philosophy option.

The academics who conducted the survey took the data to be an indication that students today are less idealistic and more consumer-oriented than their predecessors of the 1960s.

With Panglossian aplomb, Lee Bollinger, President of the University of Michigan, disagreed with that interpretation. 'I have come to the conclusion,' the former Dartmouth provost told The New York Times, 'that this is a quieter and softer generation of students, but one no less dedicated toward their education and public affairs.'

A Woman's Place: Behind Bars?

Katheryn Russell, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Maryland, delivered a lecture at the College on Monday, January 12 on 'A Woman's Place: Gender and Incarceration.' While women still comprise only six to eight percent of the total prison population, Professor Russell feels that females still deserve attention because the recent increase in criminal activity for women is comparable to the increase in crime among men. That such increases would not significantly alter the ratio of men to women in prison was apparently not considered. Russell also regurgitated the oft-repeated claim that the penalties for possession of crack, a drug favored by blacks, are disproportionately severe compared to the punishments meted out for powder cocaine, more favored by whites. Therefore, she alleges, the system must be racist.

Professor Russell has just released her new book, the comprehensively titled 'The Color of Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment, and other Macroaggressions.'

Walker, Texas Ranger

A new survey on TV violence released last Tuesday reports a significant decrease in the amount of violence in network prime time for the 1996-1997 season. Conducted by the Center for Communication Policy at UCLA and commissioned by CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox, the survey found only two objectionable series as compared to last year's five.

The lone exception to the downward trend in violence, the survey noted, were so-called 'reality specials' such as 'When Animals Attack' and 'World's Scariest Police Shoot-outs.' In response to the criticism of the genre, Fox has canceled production on one of its 'shockumentaries,' the controversial 'World's Scariest Shootouts II: Fantasies of Dartmouth Safety and Security.'

A Man Stricken

A strange new disorder affecting some weightlifters and fitness fanatics was identified last week by American scientists. Sufferers of the disease are extremely well-muscled yet continue to have a poor body image and view themselves as weak and puny. They often compulsively weigh themselves and only wear loose clothing to hide their 'shameful' physiques. The researchers suspect, as its symptoms are almost exactly the opposite of anorexia, that it may be related in some way to the eating disorder.

For Dean of First-Year Students Peter Goldsmith, the new disorder hit close to home. 'No matter how much I could put up I always felt like a little weasel,' he sobbed. 'Maybe now I can get some help.'

West Coast Represents

A new course has been introduced at the University of Wyoming this spring semester devoted to the study of deceased gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur. Entitled 'Tupac Shakur: A life,' the new course will, according to the UW student newspaper, both 'cover Shakur's life, films, music, and poetry' as well as 'look into serious and controversial issues.' Last term, the University of California at Berkeley also offered a class, 'The Poetry and History of Tupac Shakur,' on the slain rapper.

Professor Kitty Kelley?

Berlin's Free University is now holding a lecture series on 'Myth and Politics: Diana—from the Princess of Wales to the Queen of Hearts' that is intended to explore the outpouring of emotion over the death of the Princess. Assorted social scientists have been asked to speak on such topics as 'Love, Publicity, and a State Funeral,' 'Feelings as a Resource for Political Rule,' and 'The Cult of Mary and the Adoration of Lady Di.' Not to be outdone, Dartmouth has instituted two new courses for the upcoming spring term on two national icons who have been tragically killed in recent weeks. 'Sonny Bono: the Cher Years' and 'Michael Kennedy: the Cultural Hermeneutics of Bedding the Baby-sitter' will both be offered in the Sociology Department and will carry credit for the major.

Oh! Team-Taught!

In recent years, Dartmouth has offered a series of 'College Courses,' or 'CoCo's,' which were billed as an interdisciplinary academic menagerie. The latest Dartmouth course catalog details the focus of CoCo 3:

'Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Studies, 98F: 2A. This course introduces students to an emergent discipline that encompasses research and creative work in a variety of fields, from literature to medical science, of interest to students of all sexual orientations. The contemporary debates about homosexuality in western culture and the struggles of gays and lesbians to achieve recognition and rights emerge, in part, from the late nineteenth century's consecution of a homosexual identity, the 'pervert' or 'invert,' in a host of medical, legal, and sociological discourses. This course will provide an introduction to the modern construction of homosexuality and the concomitant participation in and resistance of gay men and lesbians to that construction. It will also chart the formation of gay communities in the United States and the creation of a positive political identity on the part of gay men and lesbians through political activism and artistic achievement. The course will also examine the impact of the AIDS crisis on gay and lesbian communities and identities and the way it has led to new self-definitions and new forms of political activism. The course will be team-taught and interdisciplinary.'

Clueless?

A recent e-mail message from Prof. Brenda Silver to her CoCo 4 class read, 'There are now two lesbian romances and four african-american romances on reserve in Sanborn House Library; the reserve books are kept by the desk. I have put them on 24-hour reserve, but if more people want them, we'll have to share. I'm hoping to have a gay romance or two by Monday or Tuesday. We will be putting 'Clueless' on reserve at OIS; more on that later.'

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