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The Dartmouth
November 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
32 Robinson
The Setonian
Opinion

Too little, too late

By 32 Robinson | August 17, 1994

The College should never have let the housing situation get to the point where it has to bribe students to change their Dartmouth Plans less than one month before the start of Fall term. The Enrollment Committee, on which many of the high-level College administrators sit, held a meeting last week after finding out that the College would not be able to house more than 150 students who had chosen to be on-campus for the Fall term. The committee came up with a number of stop-gap solutions.

The Setonian
Opinion

Support free speech

By 32 Robinson | August 1, 1994

Because Dartmouth is an educational institution , it should not limit free speech on its computer network. But the College did just that when it suspended an employee's computer network access after he made anti-Semetic comments on the InterNet &emdash; a computer bulletin board where millions of users all over the world can browse various topics. Ludwig Plutonium, a dishwasher at the Hanover Inn, wrote a message on an InterNet group referring to The New York Times as "The Jew York Times" and recieved a 30-day suspesion of his Dartmouth computer account for his transgression. Because Plutonium's message was posted on InterNet &emdash; a public system where users choose to read messages &emdash; and not addressed to a specific person, Plutonium violated no one's rights by making his comments. While Plutonium's comments were offensive and should not have been made, InterNet readers were not forced to read them. His message, however, did not justify the College's suspension of Plutonium's account.

The Setonian
Opinion

Follow in the footsteps

By 32 Robinson | July 12, 1994

With his arrival in Hanover, Provost Lee Bollinger has the opportunity to direct the evolution of the College in a number of important areas. Bollinger, as he continues the College's work to increase the beneficial interaction between the graduate schools and the undergraduates, should do so with the goal of enhancing Dartmouth's liberal arts education. Although many students come to Dartmouth because of the readily available opportunities to interact with professors -- an aspect of the College that should not be undervalued -- the College's undergraduate experience should not be compromised by faculty research. Bollinger should also continue the efforts of his predecessors and peers to foster intellectualism that have come in part from College President James Freedman's desire to explore the "life of the mind" and from Dean of the Faculty James Wright's push for a new curriculum. During the past eight years, members of the administration have worked individually and in unison to promote intellectualism on campus and Bollinger should join them. But intellectual growth is not limited to the classroom. The College is in need of a new dormitory so that everyone who wants to benefit from the camaraderie residence halls can provide is able to do so. This fall, 3,904 students will be in residence and the College faces the possibility of more than 150 students being denied housing. Bollinger, who is the chief financial officer at the College, should consider the housing needs of a residential college when determining the College's financial priorities. If the College starts budgeting money now, a new residence hall could be built in the near future, saving the College from the complaints of students with no beds. Plans for further development should also include more student space. Student organizations that need space currently can not get it.

The Setonian
Opinion

Solve housing crunch

By 32 Robinson | July 8, 1994

The College must stop ignoring the annual fall housing crunch and do something to alleviate it instead of telling students that it "will do what it can" to help them find off-campus living arrangements. There were 423 students on the Office of Resdidential Life's Fall-term housing waitlist at the beginning of the summer and 278 were still on it this past Wednesday. Housing Assignments Administrator Lynn Rosenblum said she expects only about 100 spots to open up between now and the beginning of fall, leaving almost 180 students to forage for off-campus housing. And this is not an isolated incident.

The Setonian
Opinion

Fit to speak?

By 32 Robinson | August 20, 1993

The College is making a mistake by allowing retired English Professor Jeffrey Hart to give a speech entitled "How to get a Decent College Education, Even Today" to the Class of 1997 during Freshman Week. Last spring, Hart embarrassed the College by openly flouting Dartmouth's academic honor principle when he acknowledged cheating in his English 68 course and refused to do anything about it. While Hart's 30 years teaching experience qualifies him to discuss a liberal arts education in a general sense, his disregard for the honor code is inconsistent with Dartmouth's educational policies. The honor code is a pillar which upholds the basic educational mission of the College.

The Setonian
Opinion

Safety precautions pay off

By 32 Robinson | August 13, 1993

Surrounded by tree-lined mountains and a calm river, Hanover's rural, collegiate atmosphere provokes a very natural feeling of security deep inside all of us.

The Setonian
Opinion

Sexism still on campus

By 32 Robinson | August 6, 1993

After years of insisting that women not be called "girls," that female students be included in the alma mater and that every student aim to be a pillar of political correctness, it is baffling that most people on campus continue to use the word "freshman" day after day. Just looking at the word "freshman" makes its origins clear; it refers to men who are the "freshest" addition to an institution.

The Setonian
Opinion

Where has the time gone?

By 32 Robinson | July 30, 1993

Is a series of columns representing the opinions of the Summer Editorial Staff. The columns do not necessarily represent the official views of The Dartmouth. When she first walked across the Green two years ago, the campus had a very different look to it.

The Setonian
Opinion

ROTC must go

By 32 Robinson | July 23, 1993

32 Robinson is a series of columns representing the opinions of the summer editorial staff. The columns do not necessarily represent the official views of The Dartmouth. The College's Board of Trustees vowed to discontinue the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at the College if the ban on homosexuals in the military is not lifted by April of 1994, because of the program's discriminatory nature, which defies Dartmouth's principle of equal opportunity. If the Trustees wish to uphold the College's principle of equal opportunity to the fullest extent of its meaning, the Board must follow through with its promise to sever ties with ROTC. The revised plan proposed by the Clinton administration Monday, which would allow homosexuals in the military but require them to keep their sexual orientation and practices private, does not go far enough to acquit the military of its discriminatory policy and allow the ROTC program to continue on campus. The College's principle of equal opportunity states that "Dartmouth does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or status as a disabled or Vietnam-era veteran in its programs, organizations, and conditions for employment and admission." Any program that treats a certain group of people differently based on their sexual preferences is discriminatory.

The Setonian
Opinion

Benefits for Gay and Straight

By 32 Robinson | July 9, 1993

32 Robinson is a series of columns representing the opinions of the summer editorial staff. The columns do not necessarily represent the official views of The Dartmouth. The administration is currently considering a plan to extend health benefits to the homosexual partners of College employees, treating one employee's same-sex domestic partner as another employee's legally married spouse.

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