Dartlog: 12/01/2002 - 12/08/2002

The Dartmouth Review

Saturday, December 07, 2002

I don't get it

The Dartmouth is reporting that the College has recently turned downed earmarked alumni donations for the swim team. One of these was around 1.5 million dollars. The article also claims that other earmarked donations, such as those for Sherman Art Library, have been turned down because they were not "capital campaign priorities."

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Alston B. Ramsay at 10:01 PM (0 comments)

Shop for your school and country

If you're in Hanover, stop by the Gap and the pool in Berry.

There are "Save the Rainforest" protesters outside of the Gap, one of whom is no more than 7 years old. Motivated me to head in and pick up a shirt for my sister.

Dartmouth swimming apparel (including nifty caps, sweatshirts, and T-shirts) for sale by the track in Berry Fitness Center. Also made some purchases there.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 3:20 PM (0 comments)

Jewish Studies ads

Underenrolled departments often advertize their course offerings in The D. No news there. But in the latest issue of the Free Press, Jewish Studies runs two ads--one for a lecture, another for a course. While we generally snub "Studies" departments, it's kind of strange that these ads run in a paper that shows such cowardice in terms of standing up for Israel.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 1:39 AM (0 comments)

Friday, December 06, 2002

The class with class

"Global Civility" etiquette class at Ohio State

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 10:55 PM (0 comments)

Rubbers Revoked

Courtesy of Kristin's brother, a 2L at NYU Law:

From: "Ernesto Ferran- MD- Executive Director of University Health Services"

Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 3:19 PM
Subject: CONDOM RECALL: LIFESTYLES ASSORTED COLORS AND FLAVORS

> To: The NYU Student Community
>
> From: Ernesto Ferran, M.D., Executive Director of University Health
Services
>
> Date: December 6, 2002
>
> Re: CONDOM RECALL: LIFESTYLES ASSORTED COLORS AND FLAVORS
>
> Please be advised that Ansell Healthcare Incorporated, a manufacturer of
latex condoms, is initiating a voluntary recall of LIFESTYLES ASSORTED
COLORS AND FLAVORS condoms.
>
> These condoms are being recalled because information recently available
indicates that some of these condoms do not meet airburst test standards.
Therefore, there is a concern about the possibility of breakage in the use
of these condoms.
>
> The condoms that are being recalled are those with expiration date
November 2002 through June 2006.
>
> If you are in possession of these condoms, which were distributed through
the Center for Health Promotion at the NYU Health Center, please do not use
them.
>
> All other condoms that have been distributed through the Center for Health
Promotion at the New York University Heath Center are completely safe and
effective and are FDA approved for use.
>
> If you experience condom breakage, you have the option of using Emergency
Contraception (ECP) to prevent pregnancy. ECP, which is available in the
NYU Health Center at both Urgent Care Services and Women's Health Services,
is best used within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, but can be
effective up to 120 hours after unprotected intercourse. For those NYU
students who have the NYU Student Health Insurance Plan, ECP is a covered
expense. It is also available to all other NYU students for a $55 fee.
>
> If you have any further questions or concerns, you may contact the Center
for Health Promotion at 212-443-1234, or visit the New York University
Health Center website at www.nyu.edu/nyuhc.
>
> The New York University Health Center is located at 726 Broadway (at
Waverly Place) on the 3rd and 4th floors.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 5:48 PM (0 comments)

Canadians Don't Know Squat

Free speech is making a tentative comeback at Quebec's Concordia University. Concordia, you may remember, banned all events -- including public speeches, debates, rallies and exhibits -- addressing the Middle East, after pro-Palestinian students rioted at a speech by Benjamin Netanyahu. A week ago, with the moratorium freshly lifted, Hillel students came out to protest the Canadian government's discriminatory attitude towards Israel. Let's see what happens next.

Here's Concordia's speech code.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Emmett at 3:44 PM (0 comments)

Swim Team in the Times

"Online Bid Is Made, Briefly, to Save Dartmouth's Swim Team":

"We simply don't operate that way," said the college's dean, James Larimore. "We've made a painful decision to cut the swim team, and our priorities and program decisions are set by the college, not by the interests of outside parties. This may be a little like someone trying to sell the Brooklyn Bridge. I don't know that anyone would think it's a legitimate item."

It is some consolation that they aren't any better at dealing with the national press than the local press.

Also: Seattle Times, Boston Globe, Bloomberg, Columbia Daily Spectator, Washington Post (headline: "Swimsuit Calndar? Why not Buy a Whole Team?"), Daily Pennsylvanian, Yale Daily News, Daily Princetonian...(find more yourself with our Newswire)

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 2:45 AM (0 comments)

Re: Sorority Life at Princeton

I am dumber for having read that.

Talc - are you sure that was Princeton University and not Princeton Community College or Princeton Tech or Cornell or something?

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 2:15 AM (0 comments)

Thursday, December 05, 2002

PS

The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Men is currently ranked #4,599 by Amazon. That's only 1465 behind Al Gore's newest pablum, The Spirit of Family.

I'll say nothing further.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Emmett at 10:22 PM (0 comments)

Re: Customers also shopped for...

Not just that, Talcott... apparently, they also recommended The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Men, by one Bill Brent. Though given that three people recommended this and that Robertson's book is ranked #1,025,786 , I smell a prank.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Emmett at 10:16 PM (0 comments)

Customers also shopped for...

Pat Robertson's latest book and clean underwear, inextricably linked

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 6:47 PM (0 comments)

Fighting the good fight at Cornell

Released to: Ithaca Journal, Cornell Daily Sun, Ithaca Times, The Dartmouth Review
Contact: mtg23@cornell.edu, 607-277-0993

Cornell Freedom Project Speaks Out Against Student Assembly Liaison Seats; Formal Complaints Filed

Matt Gewolb, Executive Director, speaking on behalf of The Cornell Freedom Project (CFP), issued a strong statement condemning the Student assembly for their illiberal, undemocratic and discriminatory liaison seats this evening [December 5, 2002] at the Student Assembly's final meeting of the semester. The oral statement is transcribed below. The issue is expected to come up for a vote early next semester. The CFP made a formal discrimination claim to the office of Workplace Diversity and Equity early last month only to be told the issue was outside of their jurisdiction. The organization will be filing formal complaints with several University departments over the next few days in an effort to force the Student Assembly to publicly address the issue of fairness and equality in that body.

The Cornell Freedom Project (CFP) is dedicated to securing the rights of free speech, due process and equality for all persons at Cornell University.It boasts a large student membership and enjoys support from scholars and public intellectuals nationwide. It is located online at www.hunterrawlings.com. Hunter Rawlings is the President of Cornell University.
-----

Special minority seats on the Cornell University Student Assembly create an
unnecessary instance of double representation in this supposedly democratic
body. These seats are products of arbitrary designations and suffer from a
lack of definition. Deliberately constructed to advance a so-called
�progressive� agenda, this system of representation creates artificial group
identities and group agendas and poses a dangerous threat to individuality.

The Student Assembly, according to its official governing procedures, is
made up of a total of eleven designated undergraduates from the seven
colleges. In addition to these eleven, the Student Assembly also consists of
a variable number of undesignated seats. These include four at-large
representatives, two Minority liaisons, one International liaison and one
Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning liaison. The charter also calls
for new Student elections in the fall to bring the number of elected
representatives to twenty-three.

This system of representation is highly problematic and undemocratic.
Whereas the entire student body elects Minority, International and LGBTQ
liaisons, these elected officials are charged with representing the
interests of particular campus enclaves.

The practice of giving some students a more-than-equal say in student
affairs (for example, by virtue of this system a student from one of the
three �special groups� in The College of Arts & Sciences is entitled to
double representation; one vote from the duly elected Arts & Sciences
representative and one from their particular liaison) creates a terribly
unjust situation for those individuals who do not happen to fall under one
of the various minority banners. There is no rational justification for such
a blatant disregard of the One Man or Woman--One Vote principle. By allowing
certain �minority� groups special treatment, the Student Assembly has
created an unequal system of representation that is utterly incompatible
with the most fundamental tenets of representative democracy.

And just what is a minority, anyway? It stands to reason that this
impossibly broad definition would cover just about every Cornellian with the
exception of white Protestants. The term �Questioning� presents the same
problem�namely, the lack of a decent definition. In fact, to demonstrate
just how ridiculous these liaison positions really are, it is useful to
consider that the number of individuals legitimately falling under the
definition of minority is actually greater than the number of students who
make up the so-called majority. Take the Cornell Admissions Office
statistics for the class of 2005. With 54% of the class identifying
themselves as Caucasians, White people are only a mere 4 percentage points
away from becoming a minority. Of this same class, only 49% are female,
clearly making women minorities. Further, 30% of this class reported that
they are African-American, Native American, Hispanic or Asian American.
Combined with the 49% of the class who are females, this makes Caucasian
males the only real minority group left on campus. The minority majority
does not need special representation.

By seeking to pigeon-hole groups and further segregate the Cornell campus,
the so-called liberals have succeeded in creating a climate in which an
individual is no longer acknowledged as such, but rather is lumped together
as part of a group with easily identifiable needs and wants. To assume that
all identifiable groups have the same interests as far as University
policies are concerned is terribly na�ve.

The problem of double representation on the Student Assembly must be ended.
It is an undemocratic practice that violates the One Man /Woman--One Vote
principle and presupposes the interests of International, Minority and LGBTQ
students at Cornell. It is time for the administration and the student body
to acknowledge this unjust and undemocratic practice. The Student Assembly
must adopt a resolution abolishing the four liaison seats and designating
them as at-large seats.

This body [The Student Assembly] has a responsibility to fairly represent
the interests of the student body. It has failed. I urge you to vote to
eliminate discrimination from student government.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 6:41 PM (0 comments)

Sorority Life at Princeton

This was a letter the Rush Chair of Pi Phi sent to her sisters at the Princeton chapter....

Hi Pi Phi,

This is SUPER important information regarding our fabulous Pi Phi's and
the bid night which is TOMMOROW that you should all be getting so
excited for! We need to look the best we have ever, ever looked
tommorow night. Please bear with me and read this through.

Envision this: You are Tom Cruise's date to the premier of Minority
Report. What do you look like? You look fucking HOT!!! Perfect hair,
impeccable make-up, celebrity-esque, elegant.

We have one more night of rush, this is the final push and our time to
really shine! We have done a great job showing how laid-back, cool and
sporty we are, now let's wow these guys with our classiness, elegence
and style.

The basic outfit: NICE black pants or black skirt + Martini glass tank

1) Hair This means Blowdryed, Clean, Sexy. You judge how your hair
looks best, if you like it down, wear it down. If you like it half up,do
it. If it looks best curly, go for it. You could also do a low bun
with a fresh flower in it.

This does NOT mean: hair in a loose bun with danglies, hair in
greasy ponytail (like me today for example), or coming straight
from the gym.

2) Make-Up
Take a little bit of extra time and get glammed. Not vegas-y but
elegant and beautiful. It should be clear that you have make-up on
but in a good way. We are all good at this we just need to make the
effort!

3) Shoes
This is the time for your favorite pair of fabulous, high stilletto type
heels that you cherish. The look we are going for is SEXY
CHIC.

4) Jewelry
Use your best judgement here. Make it classy and stylish, make it
whimsical, make it appropriate to what you look good in while staying
within the parameters of the theme. Gold hoops, chandelier earrings, or
even diamond studs if that is more your style. If your ears arent
pierced pile on some bangles. Look like you are going out in
NYC!!!

Thank you so much for reading this through. These details may sound
stupid but they do MATTER and we want to get these girls!

if you are bored and need inspriration go to www.hbo.com....

Go Pi Phi!

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 6:33 PM (0 comments)

An Email Exchange

Dean Larimore, in a form response to an impassioned email, has ignored my question.

> Dear Emmett,
>
> Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts regarding
> the recent elimination of the swimming and diving teams. It was
> a difficult decision and one that we hoped would not be
> necessary. Director of Athletics Josie Harper did examine a
> range of alternatives, including another round of
> across-the-board budget reductions that would have affected the
> competitive ability and overall experience of all teams, before
> reaching the decision to eliminate the swimming and diving
> program.
>
> Students gain much from their experiences outside of the
> classroom and I very deeply regret that it has become necessary
> to reduce the number of varsity sports offered at Dartmouth. We
> will continue to be one of just eleven Division I schools in the
> nation to offer more than 30 varsity programs (the average number
> of sports offered by Division I schools is 19). However, I
> realize that this does not diminish the range of emotions that I
> am sure you and others are experiencing as a result of the
> elimination of our swimming and diving program.
>
> I hope that you will continue to offer support to the
> student-athletes, coaches, parents, and alumni who are struggling
> with this difficult news. The College has extended its support
> to the swimming and diving coaches and team members, and Athletic
> Director Josie Harper has indicated willingness to help establish
> swimming and diving as a club sport if students are interested in
> that option.
>
> Thank you again for writing,
>
> Jim Larimore

Extended your support? You cut the rug out from under them! You've done nothing but harm to them!

And you flat-out ignore what I said in my email. WHY was it necessary? WHY does it come before all that gobbledegook that the College seems intent on forcefeeding its students?

I never expected to get a response, but I would have been less upset than I am now if you had simply ignored my email. This response -- or non-response -- has infuriated me. You don't address a single criticism I raise. Instead, you blithely send me a form letter.

Below is a post, made by Alexander Wilson '01, on www.dartlog.net yesterday:

"...I fear you guys are not focusing on the important issue about the College budget. Empirically, there is no reason to cut any program, PC or not, useful or not. Whatever the exact size of the endowment, it is more than it was in 1999, and at least several multiples of what it was in 1990. Tuition has increased above the rate of inflation, while labor costs have not kept pace as far as I know. Certainly the past year has witnessed no increases in labor costs, fixed operating expenses, or similar expenditure problems. And the College admits to no major decrease in alumni giving. So the College has a far larger endowment, and at worst the same annual revenue to expenditure ratio that it had in 1990, yet is cutting programs. In other words, it is willing to sacrifice those programs, academic, athletic, or otherwise, to maintain the endowment.

"The question you should be asking isn't what programs could be cut more painlessly, but why any programs should be cut at all."

How about a thoughtful (and, dare I ask, honest) answer to this question, not to mention my own?

...but I won't hold my breath.

Emmett

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Emmett at 4:51 PM (0 comments)

Re: The Big Picture

Stan Horowitz responds to Mr. Wilson:

Alexander Wilson has it right. It is not at all obvious why Dartmouth needs to cut anything.

My hypothesis is that there are some things (maybe having to do with the research university in all but name) that have received increased funding. It was expected that normal operations could be maintained in other areas because of the increase in money available from the endowment. This turned out to be false. In order to keep the high priority items going at the desired level in the face of market losses and low interest rates something had to go.

I agree with Messrs. Wilson and Horowitz but suspect that much of the bloat from the late Nineties that the College now refuses to cut comes from social and diversity-enhancing programs, which seem to be staff-heavy, littered with expensive consultants, and sometimes involve the College eating the costs of building construction and facilities renovation (i.e., when donors can't be found; ever wonder why "Poison Ivy" or whatever they're calling it this year isn't, e.g., "The Chet Johnson Diversity in Nightlife Project"?). I just can't think of a commensurate rise in graduate-level activities over the same time-frame. If anyone has any facts to the contrary, please post 'em.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 3:54 PM (0 comments)

First Time for Everything Department

Wilson has a point. Why are we cutting programs? Brilliant deduction, Alex. Hear hear.

Alas, I can't go up to campus this weekend. I'm taking the LSAT on Saturday and promptly hanging myself thereafter. However, I wholeheartedly endorse Alex's candidacy. He's just the sort of Mencken-like fellow we need on the Alumni Association -- a cure for their cossetting ways. What's more, he performs the singular feat of being both cynical and sincere at the same time. That deserves rewarding.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Emmett at 1:05 AM (0 comments)

Wednesday, December 04, 2002

Last Thing, I Promise
Review Alumni of the last few years in particular, you should come up this weekend. I'm bringing Clark and Vagianos with me, it'll be a mini-reunion. I see Murphy's, complaints about how no one rages anymore, wonkery about the 1st Amendment on campus. Menashi, Grossman, Emmett?? All the young uns will be in the library studying for exams, so you won't even have to feel old.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Alexander at 11:41 PM (0 comments)

"The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"

Fitzgerald's best short story is available in its entirety online.

Get it and save it now before someone thinks about the status of its copyright...

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 11:36 PM (0 comments)

On a Related Note
The annual meeting of the Dartmouth Alumni Association is this Saturday, December 9, at 12 noon in Alumni Hall. The agenda is here. It will be preceded, at 11am by a special session to consider the report of the Joint Committee on Alumni Governance and Trustee Nominations. Over the next year, as the recommendations of the Committee are considered and possibly adopted, the alumni as a whole may lose a great deal of their ability to influence exactly the types of broad questions we are now dealing with. I recommend that everyone who can possibly make it attend this meeting, mainly for the reasons I talked about a ways back, here and here. Full Disclosure: I am a candidate for Secretary/Treasurer of the Association as part of the Dartmouth Alumni for Open Governance slate. If people who simply don't care about these issues but like me personally want to show up and vote for myself and my colleagues, I certainly won't judge you harshly.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Alexander at 11:35 PM (0 comments)

The Big Picture
Why is a huge endowment more important than programs and facilities that have been in place for 50-100 years? That is the real question, and I think you Reviewers should dedicate a significant amount of print and effort to finding out. Have the Trustees and/or the administration bought entirely into the notion that the prestige generated by an endowment is more important than what it actually provides on campus? Trustees of other colleges with whom I've had this conversation suggest that evaluation wouldn't be uncommon or entirely irrational. Are they, as Grossman suggests, planning massive new PC programming?

My guess is that with alumni contributions to a major capital campaign no longer as assured as in the past, the College wants the endowment to be sufficient to make up the difference when (or if, for the less cynical) it moves forward with a massive North Campus expansion to make Wright's famous "research university in all but name" less boast and more reality. If that guess or anything like it is true, it means this question may have tremendous significance for the future of the College. So my suggestion (and request since I have no way of doing it myself) is that the Review focus on this issue. Its the most important one the Review has covered in many, many years.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Alexander at 11:17 PM (0 comments)

Missing the Point
With the exception of the Stan Horowitz/Andrew Grossman posting tandem, I fear you guys are not focusing on the important issue about the College budget. Empirically, there is no reason to cut any program, PC or not, useful or not. Whatever the exact size of the endowment, it is more than it was in 1999, and at least several multiples of what it was in 1990. Tuition has increased above the rate of inflation, while labor costs have not kept pace as far as I know. Certainly the past year has witnessed no increases in labor costs, fixed operating expenses, or similar expenditure problems. And the College admits to no major decrease in alumni giving. So the College has a far larger endowment, and at worst the same annual revenue to expenditure ratio that it had in 1990, yet is cutting programs. In other words, it is willing to sacrifice those programs, academic, athletic, or otherwise, to maintain the endowment.

The question you should be asking isn't what programs could be cut more painlessly, but why any programs should be cut at all.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Alexander at 11:08 PM (0 comments)

Swim team on MeFi...

...here.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 8:59 PM (0 comments)

CONTEST

Get your entries in by Sunday (email them here). Dave Marmaros '01 send these in:

-Fire the dean of Plurality, hire a dean of Dichotomy. (not much money would be saved this way, but at least the office would be correctly named)

- Football Team vs. Fencing Team, winner keeps funds.

- Sell tickets for above. I for one would go watch.

- Contract out to EBAs to run DDS. They know how to manage a food business profitably. [editor's note: is EBA's profitable? Above the table, that is...?]

- Stop putting up those silly ropes on the side of every road. Do they actually stop anyone from walking on the grass?

- Replace Dick's house with a drug dispensing machine. As was proven in an earlier Review article [editor: see here, especially if you're a freshman], it's functionally equivalent.

Contest details are at the top of the page. Send 'em in.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 7:51 PM (0 comments)

Defunding The Princeton Tory

"I am apparently an enemy of free speech. If The Tory is receiving University monies, the University has every right to pull funding from a magazine publishing opinions it does not endorse," says Princeton student Arthur Dudney in this letter to the editor in the Princetonian.

Mr. Dudney: "apparently"???

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 6:13 PM (0 comments)

Re: Here's a Thought

Stan Horowitz replies to Mr. Begley:

Reducing the number of accepted students is a really silly idea. Keep your eye on the ball. Financial aid is just money the College is giving to itself.

Put, I hope, more clearly, there are large fixed costs involved in running Dartmouth. As long as the additional students pay more than the marginal costs associated with them the school is ahead of the game. I bet that the marginal cost is markedly less than $12,000.

I'm not sure what the marginal costs are, but remember that there are opportunity costs associated with the sunk costs of maintaining Dartmouth, paying faculty, etc. To get at those, though, need-blind admissions would have to go out the window, which really isn't an attractive option.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 5:15 PM (0 comments)

Local coverage

Today's Valley News also has an article on the swim team issue. Highlights include this quote by Jimmy L.

The decision stands. What we have been talking about is what to do now with what we know about the impact on our students.

So that's what all those discussions have been about.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by JR at 4:29 PM (0 comments)

Here's a Thought

Why not reduce the number of accepted students?

According to the Admissions Department website, we aim for an incoming class of 1,070. 40% of the class is on financial aid with an average aid package of "nearly two-thirds" of the total cost of $36,000. If we reduce the incoming class by 50 students (2%), then 20 of those fifty students will be receiving, on average, $24,000 each. This totals $480,000 in savings. Keep in mind that this would in no way affect Dartmouth's need-blind admissions policy, since we're simply relying on the law of averages in deciding which students wouldn't be accepted.

The savings would actually be MUCH greater than that because tuition is subsidized by the endowment (that was the original idea for this post, but I couldn't find the percentages for that, so I can't provide the dollar figures). This plan has the added benefit of eliminating (or at least reducing) the need for the Tree Houses.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Rollo at 2:32 PM (0 comments)

"Dartmouth students press college to keep swim teams afloat"

In the Boston Globe

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 11:27 AM (0 comments)

More on Britain

They really don't understand free speech across the pond. Here they are outlawing a commercial that poked fun of George W. Bush. The advertisers would need to get permission from Bush to run the commercial, officials said.

What morons.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Emmett at 11:08 AM (0 comments)

Motivated and organized

The "Support Dartmouth Aquatics" Web site

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 12:47 AM (0 comments)

Be on the lookout

A piece on this matter will be in the Boston Globe today (12/4).

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 12:23 AM (0 comments)

I don't know why

...but this blitz just left me speechless.

________________________________________

If you enjoyed A Thanksgiving Taco....

This Wednesday in Brace Commons

Thursday Night Salsa Presents:

A TACO BEFORE FINALS

Featuring:

Free Homemade Tacos! 7:45pm
"Salsa" The Movie, an 80's classic! 8:00pm (In McCulloch if no TV set up in Brace)

AND
AS ALWAYS

THURSDAY NIGHT SALSA
burning down the house with FUEL, 9pm-1am
Beginner classes at 9pm
Last chance to dance this term!

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 12:14 AM (0 comments)

Tuesday, December 03, 2002

Affirmative action in education on the docket

The Supreme Court agrees to hear two cases concerning racial preferences at public universities and may decide whether such admissions policies violate the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 11:25 PM (0 comments)

What they really want at Berkeley's Boalt Hall

The dean of Berkeley's law school resigned in disgrace last week, amidst accusations of sexual misconduct. His accusor's lawyer had this to say, according to the Herald Tribune:

[Lawyer Laura] Stevens said Berkeley is obligated to "train and educate the whole community about this social phenomenon of sexual abuse and heighten people's interest in the subject in a positive way to prevent it, to create an environment that is likely to prevent it and likely to aid a victim in a positive way if it still does occur. That has not happened and that's what we want to have happen."

Blogger Erin O'Connor also points to a SF Chronicle piece on the potential plaintiff's goals.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 10:49 PM (0 comments)

RE: UGA salaries

My only problem with cutting UGA salaries is that they are comparatively low to other schools. In the same way some of the cuts are embarrassing, it's embarrassing that schools like Cornell and Vassar provide RAs with full room and board in addition to a stipend.

Meanwhile, I was a proud (?) overpaid UGA for two terms last year. But I was shafted--I had a roommate and one of the smallest doubles on campus...in one of the Tree Houses.

Btw, UGAs who return for a new year of work get a $1100/term. Also, the personal programming budget is not fixed at $100; on my staff in the River cluster you could pretty much get the money you requested.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 9:13 PM (0 comments)

Double Standard

Obviously there are countless non-essential programs that should be cut. Doing so will not, however, free monies then to be applied to programs fundamental to education. Much of the problem is rooted in the highly-restricted fashion the college has been soliciting donations. If my memory serves me correctly, something like 70-80% of the endowment monies are restricted-use, as are the incomes from such donations; as such, cutting the programs they support would have no effect on the general situation other than ridding us of lesser absurdities. Bizarrely, the college generally honors the intent of living donors, while it apparently harbors no reservations over misappropriating funds left by dead donors.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Byron at 8:54 PM (0 comments)

Contest

How about cutting some of the UGA salaries? For three terms a year, the College employs 150 UGAs at $1000 per term, plus about $100 for personal programming. Then there are about 10 UGAs in the summer making $500. That's about $500000 a year, plus or minus a few thousand, depending on the exact amount they receive for their personal programming. Add to this at least 7 full-time community directors, plus the cluster programming budgets. For example, the "Rock the River" party (I may be slightly off on the name) cost at least $10000. This, or course, does not include the cost of training UGAs, and I may have omitted some grad student positions.

Obviously there are tons of students who would be more than willing to be UGAs for much less. Many would do it just for the room. And let's be honest, how much work do UGAs really do? Emmett?

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Alston B. Ramsay at 5:56 PM (0 comments)

Ask Milton Friedman...and a contest

Stan Horowitz writes in about the College's recent budget pruning:

Here are the facts about the Dartmouth budget crisis as I understand them:

- On June 30, 1999 the endowment was worth $1.7 billion.
- On June 30, 2001 it was worth $2.4 billion.
- Assuming a 5% loss over the next year (which I think the administration has cited), it was $2.3 billion on June 30, 2002.

- So, between 1999 and 2002 the endowment grew by 34%. Over the same period the higher education cost index grew by about 15%. Let�s be clear about this. In 2002 there is markedly more money available than there was in 1999.

- In 1999 nobody was talking about closing libraries or eliminating sports teams.

Great point. It's strange that no one yet has brought up the concept of income smoothing. Does the College expect decreases in the endowment to continue over the next several years or is it gearing up for some new wantonly-PC spending during the next economic expansion? Assuming neither (a shaky assumption, I'll grant), the time is ripe for the College to dip into its endowment to cover essential expenditures that might otherwise be at risk. Of course, there are plenty of nonessential items the absence of which might ease the budget's shortfall and leave the endowment fully intact.

Either policy -- spending down a bit of the endowment or cutting nonessential spending -- would be far superior to closing libraries. Both should be given far more consideration than they've gotten so far. So, in that vein:

Do you have an idea for a budget item that Dartmouth might cut. Email it to us at Dartlog (click here), and we'll publish the most pragmatic or entertaining (or both) entries and reward the author of the best with fine, high-quality Dartmouth Indian merchandise or a subscription or something.

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Posted by Andrew Grossman at 4:47 PM (0 comments)

Reuters = Retarded

Here's a National Review Online piece about Reuters, which -- aside from refusing to call terrorists "terrorists" -- now describes Mass-Murderer and Arch-Nemesis Osama bin Laden as a "dissident." What's next? Hitler as a "malcontent"? Stalin as a "statesman"?

Wait, scratch that last one...

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Posted by Emmett at 3:50 PM (0 comments)

Louisiana Dogfight

A dead heat, just as predicted.

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Posted by Emmett at 2:08 PM (0 comments)

Rowdy Penners

Those boors don't know how to treat guests.

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Posted by Emmett at 1:31 PM (0 comments)

Buy the swim team

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Posted by alex at 12:04 AM (0 comments)

Monday, December 02, 2002

Beer pong "boring for blacks"?

Student Christopher Rubinate sends in this excerpt from the Nov. 26 Daily Dartmouth:

Director of the Center for Women and Gender Giovanna Munafro cited differences in culture as a factor contributing to this perception [that Greek houses are not diverse].

Some students of color may find it very difficult to present themselves to people who on the surface seem very different, Munafo said, suggesting that the social values and practices in many Greek houses -- including heavy drinking -- are not part of the "life experience" of many minority students.

Karim Marshall '03, president of the historically black Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, agreed, saying that "pong is boring" for many blacks, and that the idea of drinking in order to get really drunk "is foreign to me."

Mr. Marshall, apparently, has never been forced to attend a College-sponsored diversity seminar.

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Posted by Andrew Grossman at 10:25 PM (0 comments)

Dartmouth's callous librarians

Any of you who wandered past the Hood today probably noticed the black shroud over the sculpture usually lurking in the courtyard. Apparently it was covered in observance of "A Day without Art," part of AIDS Day rites. Despicably, the same treatment was not extended to the new sculptures in the library. I can only lament the callous insensitivity Berry librarians have shown in not observing the opportunity to hide those hideosities. If anyone has any spare sheets..

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Posted by Byron at 9:40 PM (0 comments)

Idiot Watch

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Posted by Emmett at 5:02 PM (0 comments)

Ah-Hah!

Here's a link to the Weekly Standard article on Dartmouth from last week. It comes courtesy of Alex Wilson's own Manhattan Institute.

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as good as mine.

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Posted by Emmett at 11:50 AM (0 comments)

Mon id�e fixe

Here is what S & S posted on the shooting:

11/07/02
9:41 a.m.
Weapon Offense:
The Department of Safety and Security received a report that a bullet hole had been found in a window in room 205 11 Rope Ferry Road. Safety and Security and the Hanover Police are investigating the case.

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Posted by JR at 11:30 AM (0 comments)

Interesting

In today's NY Times, "Supreme Court Takes Case on Race and School Admissions." Here is the address, although I have no idea how to make it a link: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Affirmative-Action.html

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Posted by Alison at 10:49 AM (0 comments)