Daily Debriefing
By Ann Baum, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Dartmouth anthropology professor Hoyt Alverson, in an open letter to the College’s Board of Trustees and the Dartmouth community on Monday, criticized the College’s recent decision to issue bonds in order to finance construction and build a reserve fund. In his letter — his third in recent months on budgetary concerns — Alverson questioned whether the bonds are the most cost-effective way to build financial security. Alverson said that he calculated the bonds will cost the College about $13 million each year for 30 years. He suggested that the College set aside “a modest amount regularly from endowment growth, over decades” to build a reserve fund, echoing the proposal he made in his April 9 letter. Under this plan, Alverson wrote, the College would receive interest while self-insuring against future risk.
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, a professional association for educators, has drawn criticism for its requirement that presenters at its annual meeting agree not to “insult the rightful dignity and social equity of any individual or group,” according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Robert Kreiser, associate secretary of the American Association of University Professors, called the requirement “unenforceable and nonacademic,” The Chronicle reported. Joan Friedenberg, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, encountered the requirement when she considered speaking at next year’s annual meeting, and now may end her membership with the association, according to The Chronicle.