I am more than ready to leave behind the dark and misty mornings and crunch of feet on snow. If only Hanover would let me. As I made the trek Sunday from New York to Dartmouth, I realized that one thing I will not miss about this college is its snowy, slushy, icy, windy winters.
But spring is sure to arrive sometime soon, and I for one am looking forward to it. I can't wait to emerge from my lethargic winter body and bask in the sun. The worst is over. It only gets better from here.
With only two classes and 11 weeks to go until graduation, I hope to spend as much time as possible squeezing every last drop out of my "Dartmouth Experience." Without resorting to cliches about it never being the same again, I think it might behoove us all to remember that college is supposed to be fun, and that friendships are what make it so. We seniors have until June 12 to reconcile any personal differences with our peers; after that, it may be too late.
With this in mind, I have been thinking about the quality of discourse on this campus in general. It does not take a genius to recognize that Dartmouth tends to be a very polarized campus composed of many interest groups. You're in a house; you're not in a house. You're pro-Greek; you cry, "Frats rape!" You're in favor of ROTC; you're an advocate for homosexual rights.
No one wants to take away from the intellectual energy or moral fervor for which many of the various interest groups on campus provide a home. However, I agree with Aassia Haroon '96, who wrote in The Dartmouth last term that students here tend to do a lot of talking about one side of an issue or the other, but very little talking about a possible middle ground.
When we write research papers, we always try to find as many opinions about the issue as possible before we write a cogent analysis. At the risk of sounding naive, my hope for my senior spring is that we can all listen to each other for a change.
Inflammatory rhetoric and anonymous posters do nothing to foster intellectual debate at the College. Retreating to our separate corners and refusing to come out does little either. Let's get out there and meet each other, talk to each other, in person and in print, and say something substantial instead of shouting out a slogan and walking away.
President Bill Clinton is often criticized from both sides of the political spectrum for waffling on issues. While this may be frustrating to see in a political leader, I think it provides evidence that Clinton adheres to a higher order of thinking, one which refuses to take things at face value, make the speedy decision and give a simple yes or no answer. One thing I have noticed throughout my career at Dartmouth is the more classes I take and the more books I read, the less I seem to know. We owe it to each other and to Dartmouth not to take the easy way out.
I hope that this spring there will be some informed and rational debate about whatever campus or off-campus issues may crop up.
I'd like to leave Dartmouth remembering a campus of friendly peers, not bickering adversaries. It is possible to hold strong opinions on an issue without calling each other fascists, racists or the derogatory term of the moment. I hope it can happen here.
