Kate Knight '01 has one problem with the College: "There is so much to do here that I can't do -- it's frustrating!"
But time constraints have not stopped her from trying to do it all, though. Knight lists among her activities involvement in the Dartmouth Outing Club Environmental Studies Division, the Rockefeller Center's Public Issues Forum, the Leadership Discovery Program, the ultimate frisbee team and the World Percussion Ensemble during Fall and Winter terms.
She is also working on an Ethics in Education project with Student Assembly President Frode Eilertsen '99 to incorporate ethics into the curriculum at the College.
Students involved in the project are working with the College's Ethics Institute and are talking with professors to set up a seminar on ethics in the classroom, Knight said. Faculty members will be able to voice their concerns and offer suggestions and methods for discussing ethics as they relate to different academic subjects.
Knight said the College should help teach responsibility and encourage students to "take a closer look at our actions." As part of the project to incorporate ethics into the curriculum, she said she would like to see "applied ethics" in various departments, with classes such as "Ethics in Economics" or "Ethics in Science."
Knight said that while the College gives its students education on "how to do things," it should also teach students to ask themselves questions like "should we, or why should we do things."
Assistant to the Director of the Ethics Institute Barbara Hillinger has worked with the students on this project and describes Knight as "very gung-ho."
Hillinger said the driving force behind the project "really came from [Knight] and the other students." Knight is currently compiling a list of the College's faculty to invite to the proposed seminar and will make the initial contacts with professors, Hillinger said.
Knight's other passion is the outdoors. Knight said she makes time for "hiking, camping, snow-shoeing, snowboarding -- everything outside basically," and said she is looking forward to "hitting the rope swing again" this spring. She said she can most often be found "running around somewhere" this term as she trains for the Boston Marathon.
Knight said one of her best experiences at the College so far was also outdoors, jumping into the river with a group of friends at the Ledyard Canoe Club in December.
"The water was about 30 degrees and it was snowing," Knight said. "I was with a whole bunch of kids who were really psyched and moderately eccentric."
"It was a good experience because it showed that Dartmouth isn't just tooling and working in public service stuff. We're here in this gorgeous place, and it's nice to take advantage of it, " Knight said.
Knight admitted she sometimes has trouble fitting all her activities into her schedule. "I didn't sleep much last term," she said, laughing. She was quick to add, however, that her work on activities such as the ethics project is worth all the time it takes.
"If it means structuring life into 15 minute blocks, that's what it takes," Knight said.
A fellow student from her hometown outside of Seattle, Nicholas Dankers '01, described Knight as "the best of friends" and "full of life."
Dankers said she is "very active," but added that this description "can't fully capture her energy level."
Dankers said he did not become good friends with Knight until just before they came to the College, and said they both became interested in the Ethics in Education project through discussions with each other about their education classes. Dankers said he has also worked with Knight in the Environmental Studies Division and on the Organic Farm over spring break.
"She's very caring, concerned and very aware," Dankers said. "She's not willing to accept the status quo."
Knight is no less ambitious when it comes to her coursework. She said she is trying to construct a major in urban and regional design, including the geography, sociology and environmental studies departments. Problems of population growth and the need for effective planning in her hometown area outside Seattle encouraged her to construct her major, Knight said.
Knight said she is no more active than other students on campus, especially when compared to her friends. "The people I know are all planning a trip somewhere, trying to get research money, or going to clinics elsewhere," Knight said.
Although she is "impressed" by student activity on campus, Knight said the students here could be more socially active and less closed off from the outside world. "It's dangerously easy to think there are no social problems because you are isolated from what's going on, from what you need to do as a human being about AIDS, poverty and the environment," she said.
