Sunday, June 8, 2003

It's Open Season on the Review!

The Nation thinks The Dartmouth Review is irrelevant, and it cites our "reduced" impact on campus affairs and attitudes. And, hoping to see this prophecy realized more quickly, many Dartmouth students have jumped on the Nation's bandwagon, issuing their own predictions and pieties. So, have cracks begun to form in our foundation? Are many students and liberal journalists, after a few years of radio silence, once again praying for our fall?

Concealing the Budget: Oops, Forgot to Carry the One

"The college would have to pay back funds inappropriately allocated to the operating budget from the endowment because of an inappropriate algorithm." This statement by the administration remains just as ambiguous now as it was then.What follows is a brief portrait of a faculty kept in the dark, a student body at the whim of a red pen, and an administration altogether lacking in accountability.

Preparing the Fall: Dartmouth's Library Crisis

The flagging morale is difficult to describe, but the overwhelming sense of loss and tension is palpable. Many are heartbroken by recent changes and shifts, but most divisive is the randomness with which jobs have been terminated and rearranged, often without reason.

Sanborn Values

In closing Sanborn Library, the College would violate the terms and intent of the very document that called this library into existence. The Last Will and Testament of Edwin W. Sanborn, Class of 1878, provided not only for the erection of Sanborn House and Library, but also allocated considerable monies for the initial furnishings and subsequent upkeep of the building.

Welcome Back: Phi Delt on the Row

The iron hammer of Parkhurst is slowly being lifted off the great white house on Webster Avenue. Many felt it would never happen, but it is official—the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity is back from the brink of extinction.

Shackling the Greek System (Again)

There was a strong student and faculty reaction against the story, and amid accusations of sensationalism and irresponsible journalism, Assistant Dean of Residential Life Cassie Barnhardt emailed CFSC presidents to inform them that the Review was, indeed, incorrect with regards to the Alcohol Policy. Despite the hoopla, a revised Alcohol Policy quietly took effect on January 5, 2003, and represented a significant first step towards the goals the Review originally outlined.

Greek Diversity Training Wheels

It was 7:55 AM on a Saturday morning.Not only was I actually awake, but I would have to stay awake for the next ten consecutive hours in the interest of "Seeking Alliances through Leadership And Diversity," or SALAD. April 5 is now another day that will live in infamy for many members of the Dartmouth Greek community, for it was then that fifty of us, representing every fraternity, sorority, and co-ed house were required to attend the dreadedleadership and diversity program.

Rewarding Mediocrity: H. Carl McCall '58

In light of the many negative assessments of McCall's performance by political analysts, the positive feeling among liberals is mystifying. By presenting the award to McCall on the grounds that Eggleton provided, the Rockefeller Center continues to indulge the myth that the central importance of the campaign is merely that it took place.

Dennis Kucinich: The Radical Left's Messenger

Whether addressing the war in Iraq, health care, or his vision for America, every question from the audience evoked a similarly vague platitude worthy more of a moral philosopher than a politician. Discussing his opposition to Operation Enduring Freedom, Kucinich invoked Shelley's Prometheus Unbound as a model of "defying power which seems omnipotent." A longtime defender of creating a cabinet-level "Department of Peace," Kucinich thrives on embracing the pragmatically absurd.

Howard Dean for President? God Help Us All

Like many other self-proclaimed visionaries, Dean targets his message toward youth. Though his audience at the College was evenly split between older members of the Upper Valley and students, his stump speech targeted "people your age"—the students.

John Kerry: Typical Massachusetts Liberal

On January 10, Sen. John Kerry visited Dartmouth's Rockefeller Center on the campaign trail for the 2004 Democratic Presidential nomination. The Massachusetts Democrat appeared very comfortable talking about the environment and civil rights to a fawning liberal audience.

The Times' Sara Rimer: Then and Now

The article reads like a diversity pep talk—no surprise there—but the most disturbing aspect of the article is not in the text, but in the by-line. The author of the article is Sara Rimer, no stranger to diversity or Dartmouth. Rimer has reported on Dartmouth news for a number of years, and with each report she produces a pro-diversity, pro-administration editorial in the guise of news. And Rimer is no stranger to the Review—she hates us.

Dartmouth Indians: The New Tradition

So what is this fight for? For one thing, it is for the right to express pride in ways other than those prescribed by the pissed-off, humorless few. It is the few, I believe, who have shamed everybody else into feeling indignant where no insult exists. They have poisoned the well—making Dartmouth a place where people are quicker to feel suspicion and outrage than to stop and think: is this really a big deal? Are these people really wearing these shirts or carrying these canes to express their dislike of Native Americans? Ladies and gentlemen, were that position anything but ludicrous, we would have made President Wright our mascot years ago.

Put Yo' Foot in Yo' Mouth

Jennai structured the discussion around two themes. The first was the idea of "ownership." Who is "allowed" to use racially charged language or humor without actually being "racist"? The other theme was how to respond, both on individual and organizational levels, if you or someone you know has been offended or done something ignorant. "This is about what you do afterwards," explained Jennai, "what you do if you've sent out that ridiculous blitz or you've forgotten your black friend's name."

Letters to the Editor

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