By THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
Dartmouth's trial in organizational democracy is no longer in its best interest. But let us be clear, and don't let anyone fool you; the College's current structure of governance isn't really a democracy. Democracy is government by the governed. In the case of Dartmouth, the students and faculty are the governed, but the alumni are not. The so-called government for those constituencies is the Board of Trustees and, no matter how the Board is composed, the governance of Dartmouth relies on the construction of a Board that acts in the best interest of the College's students and teachers. So, when the Board convenes Friday, it should attempt to construct a Board with that goal — and only that goal — in mind.
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By The Summer Editorial Board
The U.S. News & World Report issued the 2008 edition of its illustrious "America's Best Colleges" list Friday and Dartmouth dropped out of the top ten -- from a three-way tie for ninth to eleventh, behind the two with whom it had shared ninth. Dartmouth amounted a score of 89 out of 100 in the U.S. News algorithm, one point away from its former position. Hopefully no one will attempt to interpret this fall from the hallowed top ten as demonstrative of a real drop-off at the College.
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By Bill Hutchinson, Guest columnist and president of the Association of Alumni
What is important for readers to take away from The Dartmouth's recent article on the actions of the Dartmouth Association of Alumni executive committee ("AOA exec. comm. fights over interests," Aug. 7) is that the committee and alumni in general are not united in frustration with the College. As anyone who has paid attention to recent controversies will tell you, the Association is not a unified group. But what is currently most troubling is that the Association's executive committee has experienced a major internal split and is unable to move forward in a consensus fashion that reflects the breadth of alumni opinion. Worse still is that since the May 2007 election, the nature of the relationship between the executive committee and the College has changed from one of historic cooperation to one of antagonism and confrontation. Yet, it is only seven alumni -- the committee members that voted to mail the "survey" of opinion on College governance to the alumni -- that is charting this course for the Association, and it is that small group that is rapidly moving the organization toward total independence from the College, regardless of the desires of the alumni body as a whole. This is a dramatic shift in dynamic and needs to be better understood.
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By Dylan Kane
To the Editor:
I am glad to see that Zak Moore has not lost his knack for composing articles ("Defying the Nalgene," Aug. 17) without concern for evidence or sound arguments. According to the Pacific Institute, the production of bottled water annually requires 17 million barrels of oil (not including transportation) and generates 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide. But, hey, who is the Pacific Institute to say that? A respected research institution that has conducted numerous scientific and investigative studies? And you're going to believe it over a sophomore at Dartmouth College who observes that water doesn't cost very much and therefore concludes that "waste and transportation are not big problems"?
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