Daily Debriefing
By Drew Joseph
Published on Thursday, October 11, 2007
The New York City Police Department is investigating a hate crime at Columbia University Teachers College after a lynching noose was found hanging on the office door of a black professor, Madonna Constantine. The New York Times reported that police are unsure as to whether the noose was left by another professor or an angry student. Columbia students have responded to the crime with walkouts and protests. Both Teachers College President Susan Furhman and Columbia President Lee Bollinger have released statements denouncing the act as one that negatively affects everyone. Constantine, who has written several books on racial interactions, is a psychology and education professor.
ABCnews.com ran an article Tuesday regarding the vari-ous groups for and against lowering the national drinking age. The article followed up on a question asked at the Democratic presidential debate held at Dartmouth last month regarding changing the legal drinking age to 18 years old. In the onsite Dartmouth audience, the question was met with applause. In the article, former Middlebury President John McCardell advocated for alcohol education leading to 18 year olds being given an alcohol license, similar to a drivers license. Organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the American Medical Association joined with a group called Support 21 on Tuesday to promote sustaining the legal drinking age. Although federal law does not establish a drinking age, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 allowed the federal government to withhold highway funding from states that did not endorse the national drinking age of 21.
Dartmouth's Office of Public Affairs hosted an Information Security Summit at Alumni Hall to discuss cyber security on Tuesday. The event featured speakers ranging from Cornell University administrators to lawyers and a professional from Goldman Sachs. Speeches and discussions included how to keep Dartmouth's network safe while still being an open campus. Another topic covered was how educators should prepare students entering the professional world for data security.