The Week in Review

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Lolies ‘09 Killed in
Motorcycle Crash

Ben Lolies ‘09 lost his life in a motorcycle accident that occurred on the afternoon of October 25 near his home in Georgia. In addition to studying genetics at the College, Lolies was on the swim team as well as on the staff of this newspaper. The Dartmouth Review extends its deepest condolences to the Lolies family.

Spencer Defeats
‘Islamo-Fascism’

Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, recently spoke at Dartmouth as the culmination of David Horowitz’s nation-wide “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.” Approximately 60 students and members of the Upper Valley community attended the event. Economics professor Meir Kohn introduced the event, noting, “I seem to be the designated introducer of politically-incorrect speakers. I only wish I had more opportunities.”
Spencer spent a good portion of his address simply defending terminology. He then moved on to the historical context of jihad and its varying interpretations. According to Spencer the most traditional interpretation of jihad was that of a spiritual struggle. In recent years modern jihadists have argued that that particular interpretation was based on a “weak hadith” or a story of what Mohammed was to have said at some point.
As with all of these occasions, the entertainment started with the question-and-answer period of the program. Unfortunately, with a shortage of antagonistic students in the audience, there was only one barbed question—concerning America’s past support of the Taliban. Many of the other questions were of the fawning sort, i.e. “I’m a big fan of your site...”, etc. There was one moment of inadvertent hilarity as a student (judging by his accent a foreign exchange student) asked in all seriousness, “What kind of acting against it do you mean? Do you mean, like, spending special units to kill people over there [Europe]?”

Administrator Descends to Undergraduate Level

Courtesy of the Police Blotter
November 3, 1:34 a.m.,
Crosby Street
Hanover Police were called in to assist Safety and Security personnel after a man and a woman were observed helping a clearly intoxicated friend walk down Crosby Street, near Dartmouth’s heating plant. Upon arrival, officers found that all three were older than 21, but did not feel comfortable leaving one of the individuals, a 25-year-old woman and a Dartmouth administrator, in the custody of the other two. The woman, who blew a BAC of 0.24, was taken to Grafton County Jail and placed into protective custody.

Fire Touched By
At Least Two

H-Po made eleven arrests during Friday night’s Homecoming bonfire activities, with nine of them charges against alcohol possession by consumption. Three of those nine charges were against inebriated Dartmouth graduates and alumni. Another one was against a current student who fell down intoxicated near the Green during the freshman sweep. All four were immediately turned over to the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. The other two arrests were made during the actual bonfire, when two ‘11s attempted to touch the fire after breaking through the security precariously lined around the perimeter of the bonfire. One of those ‘11s knocked one of the guards to the ground in an attempt to avoid capture, and the other one was tackled as he was trying to escape. One S&S officer and one H-Po officer were injured during the event, and both of the ‘11s were taken into police custody, fingerprinted, and given $500 fines for disorderly conduct. Several others touched the fire without detection.

That Explains Those
Fabulous Robes

J. K. Rowling, author of the astoundingly popular Harry Potter series, revealed that her character wizard-headmaster Albus Dumbledore, was gay during a Q&A session at Carnegie Hall on Friday, October 24th. Many were surprised, as Rowling had decided not to include any pertinent details relating to this in her novels Not everyone was surprised by the announcement however, as Women and Gender studies professor Michael Bronski publicly declared his suspicions that Dumbledore might be gay at a Harry Potter conference at the University of Westminster last summer. But this misses the point. In absurdly revealing that a main character was gay without putting it in her book, Rowling has created a whole new genre, for example: Did you know that Osric in Hamlet was gay? Nestor in the Iliad? Satan in Milton? Captain Ahab? Mr. Darcy? Sorry, girls.

Funding Committees
Meld to Form
Super-Committee

Following last year’s recommendation from a Student Assembly task force, the Undergraduate Finance Committee has announced the creation of a new committee to provide funding for large events that cost over $5,000. The six co-sponsoring committees, Class Councils, Collis Governing Board, the Council on Student Organizations, Greek Leadership Council, Programming Board and Student Assembly will no longer be able to sponsor or co-sponsor events costing more than $5,000; instead, campus organizations must now make requests directly to the Special Programs and Events Committee. As an added benefit to the effort towards streamlining, the new committee is made up of members of each of the old committees. This decision was apparently informed by the notion that the best way to reduce bureaucracy was to shuffle it around.

Daft Moose Mascot Wins Hearts and Minds

The Dartmoose has made another appearance. He graciously accepted a request to be the guest judge of East Wheelock’s Halloween costume party. The ungulate was guided into the party by SA dunderhead and moose-pusher extraordinaire Nathan Bruschi ‘10, as well as his protégé in moose madness Derek Summerville ‘11. Navigating the threshold to the room proved challenging for the “mascot” as his antlers got entangled in the faux cobwebs. Unfortunately, the moose was able to fight his way through and deliver his judgement: Jesus, Grunge Girl, and Lifeguard Girl prevailed. It appears the moose’s strategy to win the hearts and minds of Dartmouth students revolves around pandering to as many disparate sects as possible.

Endowment Targeted

In an effort to increase financial aid awarded to students, a recent proposal by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, would require all American universities with endowments in excess of $500 million to spend at least 5% of their endowments each year. Dartmouth, whose endowment is valued upwards of $3.8 billion, plans to combat the proposal by its membership in organizations that advocate self-regulated spending. Executive Vice President of College Finance and Administration Adam Keller criticized Grassley’s plan, pointing out that a majority of Dartmouth’s endowment is comprised of private gifts earmarked for specific College programs. These gifts cannot be spent on financial aid; mandatory increased spending would unnecessarily burden other portions of the endowment, thus adversely affecting the fund’s overall performance. Keller instead advised self-regulation of university spending, claiming that universities are “pretty responsible” about doing so.
“Pretty responsible” seems a far cry from the American public’s sentiment regarding university spending. In a September 30 New York Times article, Columbia professor Andrew Delbanco noted steadily increasing similarities between institutions of higher education and corporations. While thirty universities, Dartmouth included, are currently campaigning to raise at least one billion dollars within two to three years, indebted students are wondering why such generous donations seemingly fail to impact rising tuition bills. Sen. Grassley’s proposal attempts to reserve at least some of these funds for students’ benefit. Students must look beyond Grassley’s plan for financial relief, however; if enacted, the plan would be ultimately disadvantageous to universities and students alike. According to Keller, the proposal ignores the financial complexities involved in managing endowments. For instance, most large donations to the endowment of universities and colleges are earmarked by the donor for a special purpose. This oversight would translate into losses that would eventually be imposed upon students.
The average grant per student for the Class of 2010 last year was nearly triple that of the average private school student—does Dartmouth need Grassley’s drastic reform? Although suspicions of greed on the universities’ part shall continue to accumulate, self-regulation of endowment spending still seems the most feasible option.

Gu Gone, Provost and
Professor Reminisce

Baker Library is finally, happily bald again. After many months of having to navigate through a minefield of hair, bookish Dartmouth students can finally visit the stacks without fear of becoming entangled in mass of grim and questionably obtained human hair. Not everyone, however, is sorry to see the exhibit go. Provost of the College Berry Scherr was saddened, to say the least, by the intolerance displayed by the Dartmouth community: “I continue to believe that the Dartmouth community can embrace art at the Hood Museum as well as in unexpected places on campus, be it in Baker Library, in front of McNutt, or near Sherman House. While I certainly don’t expect everyone to like every piece, I do have confidence that the discourse around art will be informed and respectful.” In addition, art history professor Mary Coffey was dismayed at the students’ inability to ‘get it,’ informing us of the golden rule of public art: “Controversy is always the sign of good public art.” If that is the case, you are holding the gold standard for public art at Dartmouth in your hands.

Princeton Alumni Ask for Their Money Back

Neil H. Schuster, a New Jersey Superior Court judge, has recently made seven decisions relating to a major court case that concerns Princeton University and the Robertson family, major donors to the university. The rulings clarify the exact manner in which the case will be tried, and are an important step in the odyssey of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
The Robertson family provided a $35 million gift to Princeton in 1961 for the establishment of a public policy school to train future leaders of government. Over time this gift has grown to well over $200 million and has been administered since its incorporation by the Robertson Foundation, a board made up of seven trustees, four of which are chosen by the university. At issue here is that the Woodrow Wilson School has done a much better job of producing investment bankers and corporate lawyers than it has at producing low-paid government workers—far from the noble intention of the original donors. The family has asked that the $200 million grant be returned, since Princeton has failed to meet their obligations and spent part of the funds for programs unrelated to the Robertson Foundation, as well as $300-$400 million in damages.
Both sides declared victory after Judge Schuster made his decisions, and will continue with the case as it moves forward into its major stages. So far over $20 million has been spent on legal fees for this trial, showing how very high the stakes are for all involved.

iDartmouth

Steve Jobs continues his campaign to conquer our minds with a program called iTunes U. With it, students can download their lectures and allow scholars to access previously-recorded lectures on video.
A movement is underway at Dartmouth to invest in the Apple program. Nearly thirty colleges and universities, including MIT, Vanderbilt, and UC Berkeley, already allow students to listen to lectures at their own pace or catch up on a missed class through this method. The program’s downside is the cost involved in taping, editing, and uploading the lectures. Some professors claim that Blackboard is easier to use and makes iTunes U unnecessary, but iTunes has an added bonus; not only would recordings be available for students, but the general public would have free access to Dartmouth professors’ knowledge as well.
Undoubtedly podcasted lectures have their advantages: they help the hard of hearing and augment the net level of student relaxation. The real question, however, is whether internet availability will discourage class attendance. It’s hardly a question, and it raises the bigger one of why, other than to hang out, we congregate for four years on a campus at all.

Nation’s Brightest See High-Stakes Game Cut Short

Hey, kid. C’mere. Is ordinary life at one of the world’s most prestigious schools too boring for your geeky little mind? Well, have I got the pastime for you. In late October, the Ivy Council-sponsored “GoCrossCampus” debuted to students at the eight Ivy League schools. An online computer game (or ‘online sport,’ as its creators would like it termed) open to Ivy League students, GoCrossCampus pits groups of individuals against each other in a battle for territories carved out of a simulated map of New England. The game is played in a fashion similar to the board game Risk, with each player controlling ten “armies” and allotting them with a group of his or her choosing. Additionally, the creators of GoCrossCampus have included a real-time chat feature to allow different student groups to communicate and strategize in demented internet slang. The game is played based on turns, with each turn lasting twenty-four hours in which players can reallocate their armies in different territories. Over 8,000 participants eventually elected to play, though problems with the web site on which it was played forced the game to be put on indefinite hold November 2nd. This will undoubtedly prevent the game from ending in early December as intended, whereupon the school that had conquered the entirety of the map would “win.” This plus the iTunes scheme make The Week in Review expect a grim day when higher education resembles Neuromancer more than Brideshead Revisited.

The Week in Review

Article Tools

Related Articles