Week in Review

Wednesday, May 29, 2002

Princeton's Top Ten

Princeton's humor and campus life newspaper, the Nassau Weekly, recently published a story on the top ten most attractive women at Princeton, causing some controversy and a complaint from the campus women's organization. The Nassau also published this complaint.
Along with photos, the story includes Playboy-style interviews (sample question: 'What is the most romantic spot at Princeton?'). Best of all, many of the women have comical names like Vail Bloom and the Bond Movie-esque Coco Stiff.
Working Out

At the Student Assembly's meeting on May 21, the Committee on Student Life presented recommendations to improve students' access to athletic facilities. In summary, the report calls for the College to:

1. Increase the hours of Kresge Fitness Center and the gym facilities associated with it.
2. Open Tuck's new Whittemore gym to undergraduates.
3. Improve access to Kresge by the side doors situated nearby that are usually (and inexplicably) locked.
4. Reduce court and membership fees for student use of Dartmouth's Boss Tennis Center.

Despite a few choice lines of silliness (e.g., 'Tennis has historically been seen as a sport for the wealthy. By charging students for use of the courts, Dartmouth contributes to this stereotype.'), the Committee's recommendations are on the mark. Dartmouth's facilities are generally adequate for the use of non-varsity students, but the College manages them in such a way as to complicate that use. The athletic department seems to regard non-varsity use as a chore and promotes it reluctantly, if the money and resources put into it are any indication.

Efforts to improve student access to the Kresge Fitness Center are feasible and would certainly be cost effective considering the number of students served. The opening of Whittemore, however, is unlikely; Tuck students would surely protest, and no one could begrudge them that. If the College actually buys any of its Student Life Initiative rhetoric of three years ago (beyond bulldozing Webster Ave.), the decision to implement the Committee's proposals (excepting Whittemore) should be near automatic.
Hanover Ranks Number One College Town

Information company ePodunk last month released its rankings for the top college towns in America. Rankings were divided into four categories: Big Cities, Medium-size Cities, Small Cities, and Towns. Topping each category were Boston, Columbia, SC, Charlottesville, VA, and Hanover, respectively. Princeton, NJ was the runner-up to Hanover.
The rankings were based on fifteen variables: population changes, per-capita income, entertainment offerings, and restaurants, among them.
Students Grade Dartmouth Departments

In a move to further empower students, the Student Assembly released their 'letter grades' for academic departments on May 21. The SA report grades departments using three criteria: major-to-faculty ratio (20%), class size (30%), and a student survey (50%). The Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literature received the highest grade. The Biology department received the lowest grade.

The logic of the results seems quite flawed. By considering major-to-faculty ratio (the lowest ratios score the highest), the results penalize the most popular departments. The report admits this, but does nothing to rectify it. Just because the biology department, for instance, has a large number of majors does not mean it is inferior to less sizable and popular departments.

The weight on class size is also somewhat disturbing—again this benefits the smaller departments. An introductory Latin course may have, at most, twenty students while an intro biology course may have over 100 students. This does not mean that the biology course is worse than the Latin course, just that more students are interested in the material.

As for the student survey, it seems to amount to a mere popularity contest. Any student who is dissatisfied with his choice of major will undoubtedly give his department a poor rating. This again benefits the smaller departments. A student who majors in economics is far more likely to be disappointed with his major than a classics major. Students become economics majors so that they can graduate and become I-bankers for a Wall Street firm; classics majors (read Greek and Latin students) wish to read Plato in the original. Obviously, there will be a difference.

The central problem comes with the empirical method of analyzing departments Why give them letter grades? What does it mean when the AMELL department gets an 'A' and the Biology department gets a 'C?' Not much. A comparative study of all the departments at Dartmouth is useless and, moreover, meaningless.

The SA's Undergraduate Teaching Initiative prompted this study. Unfortunately, it is just a popularity contest and more feel-good politics for the undergrads. To the report's credit, however, the Biology department did launch its own analysis of the statistics, confirming the results.
Annual Meeting of the Faculty

On May, the Faculty of the Arts and Sciences voted by an overwhelming majority to revise the World Culture Requirement. Under the previous requirements, all Dartmouth students must take a course in each of three cultural categories: European, North American and Non-Western. The revised requirements entail combining the European and North American category into one all-encompassing category of Western Cultures. The Non-Western requirement is merely modified, now known as Non-Western Cultures. This despite a motion by Ifi Amadiume proposing that this category be called 'Counter-Western Culture.' The third revision was to add a requirement for a course in a new category, 'Culture and Identity.'

The Western Cultures requirement will focus on the Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman cultures and Europe. The Non-Western requirement will focus on non-Western cultures and cultures with a history of colonialism. Such a requirement is necessary because, according to the report adopted by the faculty, 'The world in which Dartmouth graduates will function demands an understanding of its non-Western majority.' The Culture and Identity requirement will focus on how cultures shape identities. The schedule for implementing these new requirements has not yet been determined, but should be in place for the Class of 2008.

One professor questioned whether there were courses which fulfilled the new category. A Women's Studies professor immediately listed several potential courses. However, it is the job of the individual professor to decide in which category his course will fit. The guidelines are intentionally vague in order to facilitate this.

Several professors were adamant in their opposition to the modified categories. One called them 'too politicized and too retrograde.' Bruce Nelson criticized the proposal as arbitrarily categorizing all culture into two categories.

Other highlights of this meeting included Jamshed Bharucha's first and last Annual Report. He listed several accomplishments, including a mentoring program for minority faculty, the hiring of four grant specialists to coach professors with the daunting task of applying for research grants. He also announced the creation of a research center for Native American Studies.

The gathered faculty also heard from Dean of Admissions, Karl Furstenberg. He reported on his perennial success in gathering the strongest class in Dartmouth's history. He noted the class' 'very high' yield rate of 53% and the percentage of incoming minority students. He also defended Dartmouth's early decision policy, citing its low rate of 35% compared with Harvard's 60% rate.
Colorado Feminists Target Wal-Mart

A group University of Colorado students have launched a campaign at a company they say has a 'right-wing conservative agenda.' The Boulder chapter of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League has launched an anti-Wal-Mart campaign because the retailer does not sell emergency contraceptives at its pharmacies.

Emergency contraceptives were approved by the FDA in 1998 and include drugs like Preven. Emergency contraceptives do not terminate a pregnancy, but can prevent a pregnancy if taken within seventy-two hours of intercourse.

Member of NARAL are gathering signatures from students protesting the policy. 'We've collected 205 in all,' said the vice-president of the campus NARAL. 'The people who signed have agreed to boycott Wal-Mart for as long as they refuse to carry [emergency contraceptives].' Organizers will send Wal-Mart a letter, which describes the policy as 'anti-woman,' along with the signatures.

While NARAL and other national feminist organizations claim that Wal-Mart's policy is agenda driven, Wal-Mart official say the policy is not political. According to a Wal-Mart spokesman, the low demand for Preven is the reason for the policy. Wal-Mart pharmacists are instructed to aid customers seeking Preven at other pharmacies.

There is no Wal-Mart in Boulder, although the plans for a Boulder store are in development.
What's in your greenhouse?

A seventeen year-old Bunker Hill, Illinois high school student faces drug charges after using Bunker Hill High School's greenhouse to grow marijuana. The student planted between fifty and sixty marijuana plants in the greenhouse. A tip from another student's parent informed police of the illegal behavior.

Bunker Hill Police Chief Jesse Cunningham believes the student planted the marijuana as a prank and does not expect the youth to serve time in jail. 'I think the kid just wanted to see if the teacher was smart enough to catch him,' Cunningham said.
Georgia Politicos Smell a Rat

A Georgia Republican has come under fire for a recent campaign video. Former state legislator Sonny Perdue, now campaigning for Georgia governor, targets current governor Roy Barnes, a Democrat, in the ten minute film. The video depicts Barnes as a giant rat named King Roy, which terrorizes downtown Atlanta and scales the state Capitol Dome before dying.

Perdue's GOP colleagues have criticized Perdue for the video and have come to the defense of Barnes. 'It was tasteless, and it gives us all a bad name,' said Linda Schrenko, who is challenging Perdue in the Republican primary. 'Regardless of whether you agree with the man or not, there should be some respect for the office.'

Barnes said the he was 'sad and disappointed' and promised not to engage in personal attacks.

The video has garnered the attention of the national media outlets like CNN and Fox News. His campaign's website, from which the video can be downloaded, has seen its traffics jump from a few hundred hits daily to nearly 100,000 daily.

Not all Republicans, however, dislike the video. 'That rat could show up on everything in Georgia if that rat becomes popular,' said U.S. Representative Charlie Norwood, a Perdue supporter. 'I like that rat.'
TDM Incentive

In early June, when sign-up materials for on-campus parking are distributed, all full time faculty and first-shift non-faculty employees who registered for on-campus parking as of April, 1 2002, will be given the opportunity to take part in a newly established Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Parking Decal Buyout Program. This two year initiative will pay employees $180 per year—if they live within three-quarters-of-a-mile of the Green—or $360 per year—if they live beyond the three-quarters-of-a-mile limit—to find ways to commute to and from campus by means other than driving in a single-occupant vehicle.

While its apparent aims are to reduce congestion in the Hanover streets and parking lots, the College's future construction plans may be the underlying force behind the establishment of this new initiative. Reed Bergwall, Director of Facilities Planning, said, 'As Dartmouth seeks to find space to meet its facilities needs, many of the available sites to build on are occupied by parking lots. As these sites are dedicated for facility expansion, it becomes necessary to push some of the parking that was formally located in the core areas of campus out to the fringes...providing nearby parking [for employees] comes at a premium as a tradeoff for other uses for that ground.'

The program is a way to 'encourage current faculty and staff to try alternate ways to commute to work,' said Bill Barr, Director of Fiscal and Auxiliary Services at Facilities Operations and Management. Carpool and ridesharing programs, in addition to the Advance Transit Ride Free bus program currently provide commuters with alternatives, but, as Barr notes, 'an improved public transit system with satellite park-and-ride lots is seen as a major element to the success of the TDM program.'

Those who enroll in the program will be given three monthly four-day pass cards for use when a car is needed on campus and will receive the buyout payment in their paycheck as taxable income.
For employees who live outside the three-quarter-mile limit, however, the feasibility of this program may hinge on the ability of local and regional planning groups to extend commuting bus services. Certainly, the rural setting here in the Upper Valley will make this no easy task.
Bad Idea

Two men from Iowa are suing a local radio station for reneging on a promise of $150,000 in exchange for permanently tattooing the station's logo on their forehead. 93.5 KORB has not paid the $30,000 a year for five years to each of the men, Richard Goddard Jr. and David Winkleman.

The two are suing Cumulus Broadcasting, the parent company of 93.5 KORB, and disc jockey Ben Stone, also known as Benjamin Stromberg.

'Stromberg made the false promise as a practical joke, so that persons who responded to the announcement with the intention of receiving tattoos could be publicly scorned and ridiculed for their greed and lack of common good sense,' the lawsuit states.

On November 29, 2000 Stromberg offered backstage passes and concert tickets to anyone who put a temporary 93 Rock tattoo on their forehead, documents state. He also offered $30,000 a year for five years to anyone who got a permanent tattoo of the logo on his forehead.

Upon hearing the offer, Winkleman called Goddard, and they confirmed the offer by phone with radio station, the lawsuit states. They met with officials at the radio station before proceeding to the Scorpion's Den tattoo parlor. After the station took photos of the men's foreheads and put them on their website, they refused to pay the money as promised. Winkleman was fired from his job, and both he and Goddard were unable to get a job. They are suing for breach of contract, fraud, and negligence.

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