Week in Review

Monday, November 12, 2001

Campus Assaults

The Department of Safety and Security received a call on November 10 at 2:45 A.M. from a male student in the Lodge, who reported that a female undergraduate was followed into the building and forced onto a hallway floor. The caller removed the attacker from the woman and forced him out the door before calling the Hanover Police Department and Safety and Security. The assailant was described as '5'10 to 6-feet tall, slender build, clean-shaven, African-American male, 19 to 20 years old, wearing a gray jacket.'

Later that morning, at 4:12 A.M., another assault report was filed with the Hanover Police through a 911 call. An assailant, fitting the description of the man in the first incident but wearing a knit cap, reportedly tackled a woman to the ground near Streeter Hall. The woman screamed, and the man released her. Safety and Security, and the Hanover and Lebanon Police then searched the area.

A November 12 e-mail from Dean James Larimore mentions a third incident on the early morning of the 10th, in which a third woman was followed to Morton Hall by a man of the same description. 'In this case,' wrote Larimore, 'no physical contact was made.'

It is unclear whether the assailant is a student, or whether the incidents were attempted rapes, says Jeff DeWitt from the Office of Residential Life.
Anyone with information can contact the Hanover Police at 603-643-2222.

Good as Gold

After his first season back with the Houston Astros, following two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Brad Ausmus '91 won a 2001 Rawlings Gold Glove award for the best defensive performance at his position in the National League. The catcher, nicknamed 'The Messiah' by his pitching teammates, helped the staff lower its ERA from 5.42 in 2000 to 4.37. Ausmus started 120 games behind the plate, throwing out nearly 48% of attempted base-stealers. Major league managers and coaches voted for award recipients. The backstop relies on his defensive game to make up for weak offensive numbers. In 2001, Ausmus hit just .232, with 5 home runs and 34 RBIs.

Exploring the Campus

A gray tabby cat is touring the campus. Jazz was spotted late Saturday night outside Mid-Fayerweather. Jazz's meowing roused residents.

Residents first assumed that Jazz was lost and braved the frigid temperatures outdoors to investigate. Upon locating Jazz, residents were surprised at the message his collar bore. The collar informed the curious that the cat's name was Jazz and that he was not lost, but was 'exploring the campus.' The collar also stated that Jazz knew his way home.

Jazz proved very friendly and was receptive to all those who approached him. The Week in Review wishes Jazz the best and hopes his visit to campus is pleasant and educational.

Wartime Scapegoats

On November 1, in Collis Commonground, Assistant History Professor Vernon Takeshita gave a lecture entitled, 'Looking at Images of Scapegoating During Times of War.' Takeshita teaches courses in Asian-American history and specializes in urban race relations during the segregation era.

The lecture was well attended with about half of the room's forty seats filled; whether the free lunch mentioned in the many pamphlets advertising the event had something to do with that was not apparent.

Takeshita's impetus in giving the lecture was his 'concern over the tremendous amount of pressure on Dartmouth students since the events of September 11 and the remarkable number of act of violence against Muslim and Arab-Americans.' He felt that it might help to learn about the history of these types of tensions in the U.S.—specifically, the plight of French-Americans during the French Revolution, the German-Americans during World War I, and the Japanese-Americans during World War II.

In explaining how the loyalty of German-Americans was questioned during World War I, he showed an American propaganda cartoon depicting two scenes—one where a German man is running away from a building that he has apparently sabotaged with explosives, caption reading, 'We would have less of this,' the other with German men being lined up in front of a firing squad, caption reading, 'If we had more of this.'

Propaganda cartoons were also used against the Japanese during World War II, often portraying them as monkeys 'largely to dehumanize them.' Americans were led to believe that there was an 'unexplainable, dark force driving these people to inexplicable acts,' and that it was thus reasonable and even necessary to deal with them using concentration camps.

Anthrax Warnings?

On November 1, Dartmouth Safety & Security received a number of 'suspicious letters', according to S&S's incident log. S&S first received word of a letter at 10:17 a.m. S&S filed more suspicious letter reports at 12:59 p.m., 1:04 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. S&S did not specify whether each report dealt with a different letter or the same one. Also, at 1:16 p.m., an administrator reported 'suspicious activity.' It is not known if the activity and letters are related.

Diversity?

On Monday, November 12, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sponsored 'Footsteps in Diversity,' a talk led by Ozzie Harris, Director of the Office of Institutional Diversity, Jennai Williams '03, and Holly Sateia, who replaced Dean Larimore. Larimore, Dean of the College, had been scheduled to participate but was unable to attend.

The event began with an overview of the Student Life Initiative by Ozzie Harris
and a discussion of how it relates to diversity at Dartmouth. He said that there had been great difficulty reaching a consensus on the meaning of diversity. Into that pit leapt the Committee on the World Cultures Initiative, which had been created to address diversity at Dartmouth.

Committee member Jennai Williams said that the committee had 'looked at different structures at Dartmouth and studied how they promoted diversity.' Both Williams and Harris wanted diversity to be as integral to on-campus life as Blitzmail. 'We should embrace diversity the way we embraced the computer,' said Harris.

When asked what diversity actually means in practice, though, the committee members present said that they still don't have a firm definition. Harris did remark that 'if you can imagine [diversity], you're not thinking deep enough.'
One portion of the event addressed how the 70% of students who are indifferent to diversity might be made interested. One student said that the education 20 course had 'opened her eyes' to issues of diversity. An African-American student at the talk complained that he was sick of having to teach people what is acceptable to say in situations involving diversity. He dislikes that the 'burden is on the educator,' him. 'I don't have time for it.' Williams said that she wanted Dartmouth's administration to take responsibility for ensuring this sort of diversity on campus .

The final topic which was discussed was how diversity could be integrated into the curriculum. One idea proposed was to bribe professors for bringing diversity into their courses. One student singled out the economics department because economics professors' in-class examples are always written with 'the majority' in mind. Also, she added, the department's professors talk about welfare too much.
Williams, however, disliked arguing over specifics, believing that professors ought to be given leeway with how they bring diversity to their fields. Instead of detailed mandates, professors might be simply threatened. 'You figure out how to do it,' she proposed saying to a professor, 'but if you don't...,' and her voice trailed off ominously.

'Sure, Come On In'

The new Greek Leaders Council (GLC) released its first major decision recently, deciding to discontinue the rule that banned first-term freshmen from entering registered Greek parties with alcohol. The Student Assembly passed a resolution last year pressuring the now-defunct CFSC to remove the ban. The Student Assembly cited that the idea behind the ban—to encourage students to seek other social options— was not working because 'these other social options are lacking and often unsatisfactory.' The Student Assembly resolution also noted that freshman repeatedly broke into houses through windows and fire-escapes, which obviously shows the intense desire by freshman to interact socially within the Greek system. The resolution also noted that the ban was often enforced selectively, with females and athletes getting special treatment.

Screw Up

This year's freshman 'Screw Your Roommate' dance proved successful even after encountering the ire of the campus' politically correct. The event, begun by the '04 Class Council and repeated this year, consisted of roommates setting each other up with dates, desirable or not, to attend a dance put on by the Council. The trouble began when Dining Services decided only several days before the event that its name was inappropriate and that advertisements in the dining hall would have to be torn down, although no objection was raised the prior year. A message from Dean Roland Davis to the '05 Class Officers clarified the College's position:

Hey guys,

I've received word from various offices around campus that the posters you have displayed to advertise the upcoming 'Screw Your Roommate Dance' are objectionable to some. While the College would never look to censor the activities of a student organization (unless of course they were blatantly in violation of College policy) it does have to act in the best interest of ALL members of this community. So with this in mind, I would like to request that you remove all advertising for the dance that says, 'Screw Your Roommate.' I would suggest that you find a simple way of changing your advertising so that no one would find objection to it. This does not have to detract from the theme of the dance in any way. But it would go along way towards building the level of respect that people in the community have for the Class of '05, in that you are sensitive to community issues. If you have any question about this matter, please feel free to blitz, call or come by.

One '05 student leader suggested that the Council should have called it, instead, the 'F-ck Your Roommate' dance, in case anyone missed the double entendre.

Field Hockey Wins ECAC Title

The women's field hockey team captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference title on November 11, with a 2—1 victory over Drexel. Dartmouth was the top seed in the tournament, advancing to the championship by defeating Providence on the day before.

Drexel scored its first and only goal of the game within the first five minutes. The Indians evened the score when Abigail Clark '02 netted a shot that bounced off a Drexel player and into the goal at 12:47. Dartmouth scored the winning goal late in the second half when Lauren Welsh '03 beat the Drexel goalie in a one-on-one with 5:34 to go in the game.

With the ECAC victory, the Indians finished their season 15-4.

Condoms 'Rock!'

The '04 Class Council has been grilled for its apparent insensitivity, as evidenced by the following excerpts from the their minutes.

'Dean Thum wasn't too enthusiastic about our idea of selling condoms as 'tricks' in our trick-or-treat fundraiser, but we went forward with the plan because we know they rock! On a related topic, Pete thought it insensitive to give candy as treats in case of the recipient of the treat was diabetic but it didn't take much convincing to get him to change his mind.'

In an update, the Class Council noted that it was recently forbidden to sell any more condoms.

'So looks like Dean Thum doesn't really like much of what we do...
Rule 1: no more condoms anymore but consolation prize: we do get a dessert/pie get-together at her house for class council.

Rule 2: shotglasses are a no, no ('but what if we actually put vitamins IN the shotglasses...then, they'd really be 'vitamin cups,' says Claire.....we're working on it =)).

Rule 3: 'Rob the Cradle' Dance too might be on the list....we'll see...'

Cross-Country

The Dartmouth Men's Cross Country team turned in an excellent performance at the NCAA Regionals, held November 11, at Franklin Park in Boston. The team finished second in the region, behind the Friars of Providence.

Tom McArdle, the Indian's strongest runner, finished the 10K course in third place with a time of 29:50. Senior Captain Jason Taylor and Sophomores Jarrod Shoemaker and Mark Nichol each finished strong in the top 30.

The second place finish guarantees the Indians one of the two automatic spots in the region for NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, which will be held on November 19, at Furman University in Furman, S.C. The team finished 25th at the last year's championship meet, which was held at Iowa State. However, this year's team is stronger and looks to improve upon last year's results.

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