Although Winter Carnival has earned a wild reputation and was once described as "The Mardi Gras of the North" in a Feb. 1920 issue of National Geographic, the weekend has become relatively tame in recent years.
Over the past 10 years, The Dartmouth has primarily reported on "surprisingly quiet" weekends, some no more rowdy than an ordinary weekend.
Arrests ranged from single digits to no more than 20, and typically were the result of incidents involving alochol or students pulling fire alarms.
In 2011, Winter Carnival saw eight Good Samaritan calls and seven arrests. In 2010, nine Good Samaritan calls and six arrests were made.
"There is an expected increase in calls during Carnival festival weekends," College Health Services Director John Turco said. "There is definitely an increase in the use of Good Samaritan over the years, and that's a good sign, because it means that students are taking care of one another."
The higher number of admissions to Dick's House is an indication of a positive phenomenon, because it indicates that people are properly using the system, Turco said.
While some incidents are weather-related burns and broken noses from playing hockey on Occom Pond most stem from alcohol, according to Director of Safety and Security and College Proctor Harry Kinne.
"Every weekend we have minor medical emergencies that have nothing to do with alcohol, such as sports injuries, falling down on the ice or sledding on the golf course, because many Dartmouth students are involved in outdoor activities," he said.
Turco added that other incidents are the result of poor decisions made while intoxicated.
"We often find people in odd places," he said. "Unfortunately, if you're intoxicated, things happen like climbing up flagpoles."
Hanover police arrested Timothy Daleiden '97 after a Feb. 9, 1997 basketball game because he was "hanging from the basketball rim above the crowd," according to then-Hanover Police Sergeant Michael Evans.
"The situation is absurd," Daleiden said at the time. "That kind of thing goes on at every college campus where they have school spirit."
During the Winter Carnivals of the 1980s and 1990s, problems primarily arose from of the increased presence of "randoms" the term students used to classify visitors from other colleges and cities on campus for the weekend, according to old issues of The Dartmouth.
After two fights broke out at Theta Delta Chi fraternity and thieves stole an amplifier from the house during the 1990 Carnival weekend, then-Theta Delt president Ben Blackburn '91 said, "It's mostly randoms instigating these things."
Blackburn explained Theta Delt's policy for dealing with malicious "randoms."
"We just toss 'em," he said.
Brothers in Zeta Psi fraternity expelled a flasher from their Saturday night party that weekend, according to then-Zete president Rodger Cottrell '91.
1995 Carnival also saw reports of "lewd and lascivious behavior by a nonstudent," according to a 1995 issue of The Dartmouth.
In 1984, a "random" uninvited guest from Boston College threatened a brother with a knife during a party hosted by Psi Upsilon fraternity on the Friday night of Winter Carnival.
The brother, who wished to remain anonymous at the time, said that upon confronting the mysterious guest about a broken upstairs window, the "random" pulled out a knife and threatened to "slice up" the brother.
Broken windows and locks led the list of vandalized items over Carnival weekends in the 1980s due to a policy put forth by the Office of Residential Life requiring students to lock the doors to their rooms, then-College Proctor Robert McEwen said at the time.
"We're always relieved when the weekend is over," he said.
Another item that periodically graces the list of damages over Carnival weekend is the snow sculpture on the Green.
In 1994, someone painted "AIM" on the snow sculpture late Friday night or early Saturday morning, though it was unclear what the letters meant or what the purpose was. Four years later, the Carnival's dragon sculpture was decapitated on Saturday.
