Friday, October 26, 2012

The Dartmouth: Students attempt to create a more positive Homecoming

Shared from The Dartmouth:
Several student groups are spearheading new initiatives to cultivate a more positive bonfire experience for freshmen in response to increased discussions of hazing on campus. Some have argued that running around the bonfire, students "yelling touch the fire'" and similar incidents could be considered acts of hazing under the College's new hazing policies, according to Green Key Society President Andres Ramirez 14.

The Green Key Society's bonfire committee is leading a number of new projects aimed at replacing negative traditions with more positive ones, Ramirez said. The society is generally involved with traditional campus events such as Commencement and Winter Carnival, he said. Its bonfire committee, led by co-chairs Jose Rodarte-Canales '16 and Amanda Winch '16, has been organizing the group's Homecoming plans.

"There was a big push in our bonfire council meetings to reinforce the idea that it's not something people would be nervous about," Winch said. "It's all about doing as much or as little as you want and participating in the tradition as much as you can."

This year, the College encouraged the bonfire committee to make running around the bonfire optional to ensure that no students feel they are being hazed, Rodarte-Canales said.

"This year we are telling the students that you can run, but you can also not run," he said. "We don't want the non-runners to be ostracized."

In a campus-wide email, Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson said on Thursday that members of the Class of 2016 should make their own choices over Homecoming weekend and not feel obligated to participate in the bonfire or the freshman sweep.

An exit tunnel will also be put in place this year to ensure that freshmen do not feel trapped in the circle designated for running, according to Rodarte-Canales.

Other initiatives include a positive poster-making session at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, a group of upperclassmen that will cheer on freshmen as they run laps and food and water stations, Ramirez said.

"We've expanded the amount of food that will be provided," Ramirez said. "There's going to be donuts and cider at Collis from 8 to 11 p.m. to distract the students that usually participate in the negative side of the bonfire."

Although students have not been punished in the past for shouting negative comments, such behavior should be avoided because it encourages students to try to touch the fire, an activity which can result in arrests or injuries, Ramirez said. Students who arrive obviously intoxicated at the bonfire also risk being turned away, he said.

"It's weird coming in from Trips and everyone expecting you to be the best class ever [and] everyone singing to you," said Ramirez. "Then during Homecoming, it's a complete turnaround. We want to maintain that positive momentum from Trips to Homecoming to the rest of the year."

Enforcement mechanisms are still being developed, and specific rules may not be decided until Homecoming weekend, Ramirez said.

"If we do hear negative responses, we are just gonna be like, Yo, be more positive,'" Ramirez said.

The Green Key Society also wants to involve other organizations, including Class Councils and Greek organizations, in its push for a more positive bonfire experience, according to Ramirez. On Tuesday, Ramirez sent emails to the heads of the Council on Student Organizations and to every Greek letter society detailing the purpose and endeavors of the Green Key Society's initiatives, with the hope that on Friday other students will join in its positive poster-making session, he said.

"I think that the main thing these organizations can do is participate in the Dartmouth Night parade," Ramirez said.

The parade through downtown Hanover is an annual tradition, and Ramirez said that the Green Key Society hopes more students will participate this year. The Green Key Society sent emails to Dartmouth student organizations with details about the parade, encouraging students to join and become positive leaders on campus.

The Class Councils and Student Assembly also emailed campus Tuesday night to outline the potential dangers of the bonfire, specifically citing an incident at Texas A&M University where students died during a bonfire.

"We're trying to split up the different things we're talking about so it's not one really long email," Ramirez said. "We're just trying to divide and conquer."

Outside of campus organizations' efforts, individual students are also aiming to make the bonfire more positive. Karolina Krelinova '14 said that she and some friends are hoping to support the '16s with signs, boomboxes and positive cheers.

"The whole thing was started in the Fall of 2010 by the action of people like Farzeen Mahmud '12 and Callista Womick '13," Krelinova said. "They didn't like the atmosphere around Homecoming and decided to make things better, and I believe that their efforts these past two years have actually made a lot of students change sides from hazers to supporters."

Krelinova's group will meet in the basement of Robinson Hall on Friday afternoon to make posters and may organize more activities depending on turnout, Krelinova said.

Not all freshmen are worried about the negative taunting associated with past bonfires, according to Tori Nevel '16.

"Overall, everyone seems excited and most people gave me a blank stare when I asked them about hazing," Nevel said. "Hazing doesn't seem to be a huge issue for freshmen I know."

Saturday, October 13, 2012

DOSC bios are up!

Here's mine, shared from the DOSC blog:

CALLISTA “CALLY!” WOMICK {CHOATES}

Major: Studio Art
Hometown: Ramseur, NC
Internship/Research Experience: Diversity Peer Program (DPP) Intern with the Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL); Communications Design Intern with Global Grassroots in Lyme, NH; Intern at Trees NC in Asheboro, NC; Independent Research Project regarding Anonymity and Community, ongoing.
Extra-Curricular Involvement: DPP; Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) First-Year Trips (Trip Leader Trainer, 2012; Trip Leader, 2010 and 2011); Council on Student Organizations (COSO); Phi Tau Coeducational Fraternity (Vice President, 2010-11); Great Issues Scholars (Mentor, 2010-11; Participant, 2009-10); Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) Instructor; Tucker Foundation Alternative Spring Break (ASB) to Immokalee, FL; The Dartmouth Ears; and lots of jobs.
Post-graduation Plans: My foremost interests include sustainability, community, education, privacy, and art. After Dartmouth I intend to settle among people who will support these interests, or at least not deliberately thwart them; to raise goats and/or children; and to fix humankind. Or die trying.

Friday, October 5, 2012

The Dartmouth: Registrar pursues online projects

Shared from The Dartmouth:
The newest initiative will be an online major declaration system available on BannerStudent to members of the Class of 2015 beginning Winter term, according to McAdams, who served as the project's leader. The system will replace the previous process of having to file three paper cards in order to declare or change a major, with one card each for the department, the Registrar and the student.

"It's good to have anything that's easier, that you can do with a laptop you already have, instead of walking to three different offices," Callista Womick '13 said. "Environmentally speaking, that's a pretty huge impact."

Despite the elimination of paper forms, students will still need to meet with a major advisor and obtain approval for any changes to a major. However, students will not need to meet with an advisor to obtain a signature on paper, a change which may reduce personal interaction, according to Womick.

"I think if this leads down the path of adding and dropping courses late in the term online, that would be bad," she said. "I think it's important to do some things in person."

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Dartmouth: 2012 First-Year DOC Trips emphasize a ‘sustainable welcome' to '16s

Shared from The Dartmouth:
Approximately 85 percent of incoming freshmen embarked on excursions into the wilderness as part of this year's Dartmouth Outing Club First-Year Trips, according to Assistant Trips Director Farzeen Mahmud '12. The tradition, begun in 1935, incorporated a new focus on a "sustainable welcome" this year and faced a number of changes due to the adoption of a new term calendar.

This year's Trips directorate stressed their goal of a welcome to Dartmouth that is sustainable for the community as well as a concern for the environment, according to trip leader trainer Callista Womick '13.

However, changes to the academic term calendar, voted on earlier this year by the Dartmouth faculty, resulted in overlap between the start of First-Year Trips and the end of Summer term. The first members of the Class of 2016 arrived for their trips on Aug. 22, the last day of Summer term classes, and some Trips sections took place during the final exam period.

Students in residence for the Summer term were able to participate as Croo members during the exam period or as trip leaders following their exams, according to Mahmud. The schedule conflicts proved especially challenging for Croo members attempting to balance studying with their Croo duties, she said.

"[In-residence sophomores] on Croo do a couple activities a day and then go back to studying for finals, and that's something that I hope future years of Trips changes," Mahmud said. "It's really stressful and very contradictory for a welcoming party to be exhausted."

Mahmud said the Trips directorate aimed to help each member of the Class of 2016 to "build the home at Dartmouth they want one capable of lasting."

Whereas previous years have emphasized high energy and enthusiasm, the "sustainable welcome theory" encourages Trips participants to act naturally and genuinely in an attempt to foster long-lasting friendships, she said.

"Ultimately, there was disappointment after Trips because they did not reflect people's natural ways of interacting," Womick said. "We are trying to address the concern that Trips is a false portrayal of Dartmouth."

Amanda Toporek '16, who participated in a Strenuous Hiking trip, said the energy and dedication of trip leaders and Croo members succeeded in making her feel comfortable and welcomed.

"Overall, Trips made me feel at home," Toporek said. "Knowing that all of those upperclassmen were working incredibly hard to make me feel welcome at Dartmouth was pretty special."

Environmental sustainability remains an important part of the Trips program, and the DOC emphasized "leave no trace" practices for all departing trips. This year, each trip was supplied with a compost bag. In addition, barbeques are designed to be almost zero-waste, and nearly all food taken on individual Trips and served at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge is grown locally, according to Womick.

While reducing waste required trip members to prepare simpler food, leaders and participants were rewarded with a more elaborate meal upon arrival at the Lodge.

"Our [cooking] fuel only lasted through 1.5 meals, so we did a lot of snacking on Newman O's," Brad Plunkett '16, who participated in a biking trip to Franconia Ridge, said. "My favorite food was at the Lodge, even though some of it managed to get splattered onto my face by members of the Lodj Croo."

The planning process for Trips begins nine months prior to the first trip's departure, at the beginning of Winter term, and is managed by a Trips directorate that consists of the director, assistant director, three trip leader trainers, Croo chiefs, an outreach coordinator and a sustainability coordinator, according to Trips Director Emily Mason-Osann '11 Th '12.

Upperclassmen apply for positions as trip leaders and Croo members during Spring term. This year, 286 of 630 students applying for leader positions were selected, and 59 of 150 students applying as Croo members were selected, Mason-Osann said.

Applications and training session for Trips 2012 featured a special focus on genuine interactions and community dynamics and included a new community-building workshop, according to Womick.

Trip leader trainers also guided leaders and Croo members through mandatory training sessions in risk assessment and wilderness skills, with all of the trip leaders converging on Gilman Island prior to their departures. Ryan Lisann '15, who led a cabin camping trip, said the workshops offered on the island provided the perspective necessary to ensure a good experience.

"Spending the night at Gilman Island put everyone in the right mindset before returning to campus to get their trippees," Lisann said. "We had a bunch of workshops conveying the importance of a trip leader as an ongoing resource for their trippees well past trips themselves. I felt they were extremely informative, and I received a lot of insight into what is expected from a leader from both the trip leader trainers and other leaders in the section."

Trips 2012 featured 10 sections with 32 distinct trips, whose titles were changed this year to reflect not only the trips' activities but also their destinations, according to Womick.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

PE F12!

PE registration for fall term is open from now until September 25. It takes a little digging to find the course listings (for some reason, as of posting, the PE page only goes through 12X), so here they are. PE course elections are done via Banner, under the Course Election and Registration link.

Important updates for this year:
  • Class fees will no longer be pro-rated for attendance. That is, you'll pay a flat fee whether you attend all the classes or not. 
  • The PE term has been lengthened to 12 weeks to reflect the new fall schedule. Course fees are slightly higher now because of this. 
  • Spouse/partner/family member discounts have been discontinued.  

Important non-updates for this year:

Tuesday evening Ballroom and Swing, anyone?

Friday, August 17, 2012

Seniors fall back on social security

More than 46 percent of Dartmouth students graduate with less than $10,000 in their bank accounts, according to a study by economics professor Steven Venti, Harvard Kennedy School of Government political economy professor David Wise and Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor James Poterba. The study, published in February and highlighted this month by The Washington Post, found that students rely heavily on post-grad program stipends after graduation.

The findings address one of the biggest concerns facing American college students: how much money they need to save before graduating. The exact dollar amount needed to graduate comfortably is highly debated, and many worry that the current generation of near-graduates has not saved enough money, Venti said.

“Rather than looking at people on the cusp of graduation and asking, ‘Are they prepared?’ we look at people a year or two after college and ask, ‘Were they prepared?’” Venti said.

The research suggests that most graduates were not adequately prepared for graduation, he said.
With such limited financial assets after undergrad, the graduates often turn to government programs such as Teach for America.

“What is novel about this paper, with echo boomers reaching graduation, is that there is much question about how much these individuals are relying on social safety nets rather than investing in their own assets,” Porteba said.

These benefits, combined with some graduate or doctoral program stipends, provide less than $20,000 to 87 percent of recent-graduate households with less than $10,000 in financial assets, according to Venti.

The study also suggests a link between low financial assets and disproportionately poor health. When those with poor health and meager bank accounts are confronted with unexpected expenses, they might not be able to pay their bills, according to Venti.

“With few assets, these graduates are unable to withstand financial shocks such as medical, home care and child rearing expenses not covered by their insurance plans or employer benefits, or other health-related expenses such as remodeling a home to accommodate a disability,” he said.

Even expenses such as travel or entertainment are difficult for such graduates to afford, according to Venti.
The findings indicate that a reduction in benefits would directly lead to reduced financial security for many young households, The Post reported.

“With health costs continuing to climb, these findings suggest that any cuts in post-grad benefits will have a substantial impact on the well-being of the young,” Venti said.

The researchers said that policies should encourage low and middle-income college students to prepare more robustly for graduation.

The paper used data from the Health and Graduation Study, a longitudinal study sponsored by the National Institute for Higher Education. The study surveyed people under the age of 18 starting in 2005 and followed up every year until 2011, Venti said. The information about assets was used from the latest surveys before the graduation of each participant.

The three professors have collaborated previously and have jointly published 30 papers over more than 20 years, according to Venti. Their research is funded by the National Institute for Higher Education and the American Study Group on Generation Y.

“This study is an example of how economics is becoming more collaborative and interdisciplinary through joint research with experts from other academic areas,” Porteba said.

     

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Financing Study Abroad

I cannot tell you how life-changingly awesome my term abroad was because, well, I never took one.

Dartmouth has world-class foreign study options, and they do an excellent job of promoting them. I applied for the Spanish FSP my freshman year. I considered applying to the Arabic FSP, too, but by then (sophomore year) I knew enough about Dartmouth's financial aid to know better.

See, financial aid will only cover foreign study expenses up to what a normal term on campus would cost. And they do not cover airfare. For a self-financing student like me, the prospect of covering round-trip international airfare was plenty prohibitive.

There are, however, alternative funding options available (of which I am now, but was not, aware). I'll post any I find here:





Who: Students who have obtained a Bachelor's degree by the beginning of the program, have two years of formal Arabic study, and are at the intermediate level of proficiency in Arabic.

What: Offered by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, The Qatar Scholarship Program offers dedicated Arabic language students from the United States the opportunity to master their skills in an intensive Arabic language program at Qatar University (QU) in Doha for an entire academic year (September to June). 

How much:The scholarship includes tuition, room and board in university dorms, round-trip airfare, local transportation, and books.


Who: U.S. citizen undergraduates in good academic standing who are receiving a Federal Pell Grant or provide proof that they will be receiving a Pell Grant at the time of application or during the term of their study abroad and who are applying to or have been accepted into a study abroad program eligible for credit by the student's accredited institution of higher education in the U.S and who are studying abroad for at least four weeks in one country other than Cuba and any countries currently on the U.S. State Department's Travel Warning List (programs going to more than one country are eligible if the student will be studying in one country for at least four consecutive weeks).

What: The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program aims to broaden the student population that studies abroad by supporting undergraduates who might otherwise not participate due to financial constraints. The program strongly encourages students to choose non-traditional study abroad destinations, especially those outside of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand .

How much: up to $5,000

Thursday, August 2, 2012

SEO TempJobs

The number of current undergrads who remember the old BlitzMail system is dwindling and with us go the memories of blitzbombsa, bulletins, and days when organizational all-campusingb didn't require gaudy HTML.

But, at least for those of us who miss the bulletins- and those who could sometimes use a little extra cash, and perhaps also for those who just don't get enough blitzes in a day- all is not lost!

SEO TempJobs still exists!

Yes! Yes! YES IT DOES!

What's all the hype, you ask? Well: TempJobs is where Upper Valley residents post about jobs they need done, preferably by students. They can range from lawn work to computing help. I've seen posts from elderly folks who want someone to read to them and from parents who want their 6-month-olds to learn Mandarin. I once moved a couple sofas up three flights of stairs for $30. There tend to be a lot of babysitting gigs. Every now and then someone wants grocery shopping done. You get the idea.

To get in the know, just sign up for the TempJobs listserv, here: http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=SEO-TEMPJOBS&A=1

Jobs tend to be on a first-comec basis, though, so responding quickly is key.

- - -

Blitzbombing was the exploitation of a vulnerability in the old BlitzMail system that allowed a sender to flood the inbox of an unwitting victim with dozens of copies of a single blitz in one fell swoop. Perpetrators/pranksters did so by addressing the 'To:' field to their victim, then 'Cc:'-ing or 'Bcc:'-ing the same recipient 10, 20, or up to 200 times. 200 messages delivered in a single click. For added bang, a bomber might send multiple such messages. Unfortunately, the 'Conversation' functionality of the new Microsoft system (and most other modern systems) renders this trick obsolete.
b or, sending a blitz to all of campus; generally only used to reference the current undergraduate population
c and qualified

Friday, June 15, 2012

Trees NC: I'm official!

Here's my introduction at Trees NC, where I'm interning this summer:
I am happy to announce that I will be joining the Trees NC team this summer as a seasonal intern. In addition to contributing to web updates and our Facebook page ("Like" us!), I will also be part of our summer collaboration with the Central Boys and Girls Club- more about that later- and many other seedling projects.

I am from Ramseur, NC and a rising senior at Dartmouth College. My major is in Studio Art with emphasis placed on interactive and community-based work. Since 2010 I have worked with Dartmouth's Office of Pluralism and Leadership to bring members of our community together for shared exploration of ourselves, our society, and what we can do to make both better. I hope to use these experiences to nourish Trees NC and our tree-loving communities and look forward to working- or at least sharing- with you over the months to come.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Dartmouth: Kantaria, Danford win Student Assembly elections

Shared from The Dartmouth:
After a close and highly contested election, Suril Kantaria '13 and Julia Danford '13 were elected the new Student Assembly president and vice president, respectively. A total of 2,239 people voted in this year's Assembly election, a 574-vote increase from last year's election, according to Election Planning and Advisory Committee chair Richard Stephenson '12.

Kantaria received 716 votes, defeating Erin Klein '13 with 705 votes, J.T. Tanenbaum '13 with 701 votes, Rachel Wang '13 with 335 votes and Max Hunter '13 with 281 votes. Danford received 774 votes, defeating Sahil Joshi '13 with 759 votes, Callista Womick '13 with 389 votes and Troy Dildine '13 with 368 votes.

Kantaria said he is excited about the victory and is eager to begin his role as president of the Assembly.

"I am thrilled to hear that Julia and I won, and I am really excited to begin implementing our platform on reform," he said.

Kantaria and Danford ran together on an official ticket in the election, though students voted for presidential and vice-presidential candidates individually.

Danford said she was "humbled" by a victory against so many qualified candidates.

"It really was an honor to be in such a close race with so many very accomplished and worthy running mates," she said.

Kantaria and Danford said they plan to begin implementing changes to the Assembly as soon as possible.

"Julia and I really want to jump right into some of our promises and platforms and work closely with both [current Student Body President Max Yoeli '12 and current Student Body Vice President Amrita Sankar '12] to ensure a seamless transition," Kantaria said.

Kantaria is not sure of the "details" about when the transfer of power will occur but plans to discuss the "best way to have an effective transition" with Yoeli and Sankar soon, he said.

"We want to change the structure of [the Assembly] and create liaisons from different groups on campus so we actually have a functioning [Assembly] with a revitalized membership," he said.

In addition to reaching out to campus leaders and bringing them into the Assembly, Danford and Kantaria plan to bring back the Assembly's Course Guide and begin working on a freshman mentorship program, that will aim to "ease the transition" to Dartmouth by pairing them with an upperclassman with similar interests, Danford said.

"The goal of that program is really to have freshmen paired up with a peer, an upperclassman peer, who would ideally be able to help them and guide them through their first year and beyond," she said.

The marked increase in voter turnout in this year's election is likely the result of the larger number of candidates and "active participants" in almost all of the races, Stephenson said.

"I think all the races were very competitive," he said.

Because more people ran in the election, it "hit a more diverse pool" of people on campus, encouraging many to vote, Stephenson said.

Although this year's election included more candidates and inspired more students to vote, it was less controversial than last year's Assembly elections.

"This year was more docile but more contested," EPAC advisor Eric Ramsey said.

Stephenson said that the close results of this year's election are not unusual. Because the approval voting system allows voters to vote for multiple candidates, people are not "forced to choose" between their friends, and candidates can glean votes from the same constituency, he said.

Student body presidential candidate Tanenbaum said that Kantaria deserved his victory and commended all of the candidates on their work throughout the campaigning process.

"It's obvious that all the candidates ran a very solid campaign," he said. "I think Suril worked very hard, and he deserves every success that he has achieved."

Klein said she hopes Kantaria and Danford will consider the comments made by all the candidates at the four debates held during the week of campaigning.

"I think we've seen a lot of passion over the past week, and I hope that it doesn't go to waste," she said.

Wang also said she hopes the positive ideas brought out during the campaigning process will be enacted.

"I personally felt very inspired while running, and I hope we can accomplish some of what we've said during the past week," she said.

Vice-presidential candidate Joshi said that all of the candidates expressed similar visions of improving the College during the campaigning process and should continue to work to bring their visions to fruition.

"We're all on the same team in terms of all wanting to improve Dartmouth," he said. "I'm just hoping that that kind of mentality continues, that we all work toward that whether or not we have a position."

Dildine said that "whoever is elected is elected for a reason," noting that he will continue to be actively involved in the Assembly over the coming year. Womick also said she will continue to work on addressing "the problems that I want to tackle during my last year here."

"I will still be doing all the things that I promised I would do during my campaigning, and I hope that Suril and Julia can honestly say the same," she said.

Georgia Travers '13 was elected 2013 Class Council president and Ben Newton '13 was elected 2013 Class Council vice president in the elections. Chisom Obi-Okoye '14 and Gina Greenwalt '14 will serve as 2014 Class Council president and vice president, respectively, and Emmanuel Kim '15 and Justin Sha '15 will serve as 2015 Class Council president and vice president, respectively.

Yoeli declined to comment on the results of the election. Hunter could not be reached by press time.

The election was held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Dada poetry from the Admissions Office

In a message sent to the entire student body by the Admissions Office today at 2:48pm, some intern decided to take advantage of his or her clerical privileges to promote the following Dada poem:

ℼ佄呃偙⁅呈䱍倠䉕䥌⁃ⴢ⼯㍗⽃䐯䑔䠠䵔⁌⸴‰牔湡楳楴湯污⼯久㸢਍䠼䵔㹌䠼䅅㹄吼呉䕌㰾启呉䕌ാ㰊䕍䅔栠瑴⵰煥極㵶潃瑮湥⵴祔数挠湯整瑮∽整瑸栯浴㭬挠 慨獲瑥甽楮潣敤㸢਍䴼呅⁁潣瑮湥㵴䴢䡓䵔⁌⸶〰㘮〰⸰㜱〱∹渠浡㵥䕇䕎䅒佔㹒⼼䕈䑁ാ㰊佂奄ാ㰊㹐渦獢㭰⼼㹐⼼佂奄㰾䠯䵔㹌਍

Which, in (Google) translation, reads:

π Han uh Di was Sui Bo Yu Mei Shi Tang sewage long roar Kure Kai Kure Ren JueHuan very the entire Li the Address Litu Fushunaotang Zhengbinyouyu scratch generous won Wen the the Quan the mulberry Min using Wen Minli the Tu ⁌ ⸶ DrainageThe the gushing accounted Zheng suddenly vortex Xiao Zheng suddenly

Brilliant.

Someone else came along at around 4pm to try to clear away the situation, writing "**We apologize for the previous email if you received a blank or unreadable message.  We had a power outage during the sending.**" and appending a more business-as-usual correspondence. I prefer my hypothesis, however, and salute the (possibly fictional) intern responsible. Just because you no longer have a job with Admissions doesn't mean that you're unemployable. I hear that Dartmouth is on the lookout for its next Robert Frost.

Friday, April 13, 2012

The Dartmouth: SA Candidates talk Greek issues

(Even though they didn't report on any of my thoughtful remarks) shared from The Dartmouth:
Student Assembly presidential and vice-presidential candidates participated in the third of four scheduled debates at Sigma Delta sorority on Thursday night, discussing the aspects of the Greek system that they think make it essential to campus life as well as ways they would seek to improve it in the future.

Most of the debate's questions were directed to presidential candidates Max Hunter '13, Suril Kantaria '13, Erin Klein '13, J.T. Tanenbaum '13 and Rachel Wang '13, though vice-presidential candidates Julia Danford '13, Troy Dildine '13, Sahil Joshi '13, James Lee '13 and Callista Womick '13 also took part.

Shortly after the debate concluded, Lee announced his decision to withdraw from the race.

"Having reflected and talked to various people and friends, I've started to see what I want my senior year to look like," Lee said. "I no longer feel that the vice president position is in my best interest."

Thursday's debate was hosted by the Greek Leadership Council. The debate moderators, former Panhellenic Council president Ellie Sandmeyer '12 and Greek Leadership Council moderator Duncan Hall '13, asked the candidates about the role of Greek life on campus and their ideas to address the problems of exclusion, binge drinking, sexual assault and violence associated with the Greek system.

Greek organization presidents asked the candidates questions in person or submitted their questions to the moderators before the event, and there was a brief opportunity for the audience to ask questions at the end of the debate. By the debate's 6 p.m. start time, the audience filled the first floor seating of Sigma Delt, and latecomers were forced to stand in the back or crowd the entryway.

All five of the presidential candidates are affiliated with a fraternity or sorority, while three of the five vice-presidential candidates identified themselves as affiliated.

The presidential candidates agreed that Greek organizations provide a social space for affiliated and unaffiliated students to enjoy and create strong bonds between members. While they said that the fundamental system is not flawed, candidates argued that there needs to be an emphasis on increasing accountability, transparency and respect among those who choose to participate in Greek life.

"We need to ensure that we're staying true to the values of community," Klein said. "We should award houses for having the highest [grade point averages] and philanthropy hours."

Presidential candidates were careful to note the Assembly's limited jurisdiction in dealing with the problems in the Greek system and instead emphasized the need for house leadership to take on these tasks.

Hunter, Kantaria and Wang advocated for more sorority houses on campus to make the Greek system less male-dominated. Klein disagreed, arguing that the solution to the problems created by gender-specific spaces would not be solved by creating more of these spaces. Tanenbaum focused on the need to increase ongoing education within the houses about these issues, a focus that other candidates then jumped to affirm as well.

Hunter emphasized the problems posed by national sororities, which do not allow open parties for the whole community to attend.

"We need to get rid of the ridiculous ban on local sororities and support more physical plants for new houses," he said.

Wang argued for more non-Greek spaces such as the one currently being designed in the basement of the Class of 1953 Commons and discouraged her fellow candidates from labeling these spaces "alternative."

Hunter, however, argued that Wang's plan would probably not work because these spaces will not attract students under the legal drinking age.

When the presidential candidates were asked about what aspect of the Greek system they would change, the candidates generally agreed that Greek houses should increase their mechanisms for internal accountability. The candidates noted, however, that administrative positions are already in place for Greek system oversight.

"It's not the role for [the Assembly] to govern the Greek system," Tanenbaum said. "We need to get the GLC, [Inter-Fraternity Council] and Panhell more involved in individual houses through using outreach to work with Greek students and emphasizing education programs."

Kantaria stressed similar points and said that Greek houses should focus on developing their own standards for acceptable behavior by establishing a code of conduct within their house.

Klein was alone in suggesting that the Assembly play a part in applying social pressure to Greek organizations that have a record of breaking College policy instead of relying on existing Greek policies and general College administrators.

Klein's suggestion was met with rebuttals from Hunter and Tanenbaum.

The candidates agreed that the Assembly could play a greater role in advertising the variety of Greek organizations on campus, citing the limited information that freshmen received about houses that were not seen as being "mainstream."

Kantaria took this point further by emphasizing his plan to have liaisons from various Greek organizations attend Assembly meetings a suggestion that other candidates compared to a similar, failed plan by former Assembly President Eric Tanner '11.

Instead of establishing liaison positions, Tanenbaum discussed the need to increase communication and dialogue among Greek organization leaders.

"We need to come together to talk about issues we all face," Tanenbaum said. "I've talked to a lot of people in leadership positions, and they say that they don't feel like they know anyone else running groups across campus."

Candidates were asked how they would react if they found a letter describing plans for future hazing by a student group on campus. Wang, Kantaria and Klein said that they would quickly take action to contact the relevant group's leader to follow up on the situation.

Hunter and Tanenbaum said they would be careful to try to understand the context of the situation before acting.

"On paper, hazing looks very black and white," Hunter said. "But hazing is not a catch-all. It's not about wearing funny clothes."

Tanenbaum said that any member of the College community, not just the Assembly president, should be impelled to act in such a situation.

Upon resigning, Lee said that the other candidates all "bring their own capabilities to the table." Although he has not decided to endorse a candidate, Lee said that experience on the Assembly will be especially important to a successful presidency.

"The candidates need to critically examine the proposals that they have made to see if they are feasible within [the Assembly] and can be met in their three terms," Lee said. "Given the general lack of [Assembly] experience, it's even more important that a presidential candidate have experience because its likely he is going to need to train his VP."

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Dartmouth: Assembly hosts first of debates

Shared from The Dartmouth:

Photo by Nathan Yeo | Callista Womick 5th from Right
Student Assembly presidential and vice-presidential candidates participated in the first of four scheduled debates on Tuesday, focusing their discussion on the Assembly's inefficiencies and their plans to address them.

Presidential candidates Max Hunter '13, Suril Kantaria '13, Erin Klein '13, J.T. Tanenbaum '13 and Rachel Wang '13 and vice-presidential candidates Julia Danford '13, Troy Dildine '13, Sahil Joshi '13, James Lee '13 and Callista Womick '13 attended the debate.

Elise Smith '13, who did not attend the debate, said she has withdrawn from the presidential race. She said she rescinded her candidacy after determining that the Assembly is not the best "outlet" for her to effect change on campus.

Smith said she "deeply cares" about the Dartmouth community and plans to continue to address issues that affect the student body. She has not endorsed another candidate at this time.

The debate began with short introductions by the candidates, who described their activities on campus. During the question-and-answer portion of the debate, each presidential and vice-presidential candidate was given 35 seconds to answer questions posed by either audience members or the moderators, Ben Ludlow '12 and Rohail Premjee '14. Candidates also had the option of providing 15-second rebuttals.

The presidential candidates all said the role of president has not been effectively used to represent the entire student body and suggested a number of ways to rectify this problem.

Klein said she hopes to hold "leadership summits" that bring together community leaders from across campus to form "community standards" and recommendations for the administration, while Hunter said that student satisfaction should be "paramount" to administrative decision-making.

"We need to continue saying we are not satisfied until the administration listens," Hunter said.

Wang said that the Assembly must increase transparency in order to bring "information back to the students." The Assembly should hold office hours and update its website more frequently, she said.

Tanenbaum said he plans to reach out to campus groups and use the Assembly as a forum to advocate for their needs. The current practice of asking representatives to attend Assembly meetings has not worked in the past, he said.

"We need to say, We're going to send representatives to you,'" he said.

Kantaria disagreed with Tanenbaum's proposal and said that the small size of the Assembly would place an undue burden on its members if they were required to attend campus group meetings.

A campus-wide survey to gather student opinions on changes made to the dining plan was the Assembly's greatest accomplishment this year, according to Hunter, Wang and Kantaria, though Hunter said the Assembly could have more thoroughly addressed the results and pressured the administration to enact real change.

The Assembly should seek to improve its advocacy in order to "actually get change to happen," Wang said.

Klein said the Assembly's greatest strength is its potential to be used as a mechanism for support and advocacy, a potential that it is not currently utilizing effectively.

Tanenbaum said the Assembly's greatest achievement has been its increased effort to collaborate with the administration. Hunter, however, argued that the administration had not effectively responded to student feedback.

In response, Klein said that "it's easy to keep blaming our administration" for the problems the student body is facing, but many student issues, such as sexual assault and hazing, must be tackled by students.

Wang also said that "a lot of the responsibility is on us," noting that the student body must also be held accountable for campus issues.

Whereas the president focuses his or her attention outward, the vice president is most responsible for the internal organization of the Assembly, vice-presidential candidates said.

The vice president should actively reach out to student groups "on their ground" to get them more involved in the Assembly, Womick said.

"We don't really have an active [Assembly]," she said. "People don't really take it seriously. They don't go to it."

Lee said that the key role of the vice president is to "look internally" at the organization of the Assembly to consider where change is necessary. Lee's experience as a member of the Assembly since his freshman year places him in the best position to "effectualize that promise," he said.

Danford emphasized the importance of membership both obtaining and retaining members in the Assembly. The vice president should be "friendly and outgoing" in order to make people comfortable, she said.

Dildine agreed that the vice president needs to establish a community within the Assembly to ensure that the environment is "fun and safe." The vice president should also play a role in ensuring that there are voting representatives from each campus organization present at meetings, he said.

Joshi said he agreed with the other candidates' sentiment that the Assembly has been ineffective thus far. Many Assembly committees are unnecessary because similar, more effective organizations already exist, he said.

"There's a lot of redundancy in what [the Assembly] does and what a lot of campus organizations do," he said.

Presidential and vice-presidential candidates also said that the Assembly has not been using its budget effectively.

The organization spends money on "silly, frivolous things" like excessive food at poorly attended meetings, and it still maintains a $40,000 budget surplus, Klein said.

Wang, who said her work on the Council on Student Organizations has made her "passionate" about the budget, said the Assembly should spend money on areas of campus that currently lack funding.

Following the debate, all five presidential candidates said they were satisfied but noted the difficulty of the time constraints posed by the large number of candidates.

"I think that with so many candidates, it's difficult for everyone to have a significant amount of time to address the questions," Kantaria said. "It was often difficult to express all my thoughts."

Hannah Decker '13, who attended the debate to support Kantaria and Danford and out of "general interest" in the other candidates, said she was happy to see so many candidates attend the debate, even if the number is "a little unwieldy."

"I actually think it's really powerful," she said. "It's inspiring that so many students want to take a leadership role."

She said the debate's focus on the "dysfunctional" nature of the Assembly, rather than on the candidates and concrete issues, was disappointing.

Patrick Campbell '15, an active member of the Assembly, said he would have preferred to hear more "specific" ideas instead of the broad goals outlined by the candidates, though the nature of the candidates' statements was influenced by the time restrictions.

The debate, sponsored by the Assembly and the Elections Planning and Advisory Committee, was held in Paganucci Lounge in the Class of 1953 Commons on Tuesday afternoon. The Afro-American Society and Inter-Community Council will host a diversity-focused debate tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Cutter-Shabazz Hall. A third debate will be held on Thursday night, and The Dartmouth will host a debate on Friday. Voting will take place on Monday, April 16 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Dartmouth: Assembly candidates prepare to campaign

Shared from The Dartmouth:
In addition to the previously announced candidates, Callista Womick '13 is running for the vice-presidential position. Womick, a studio art major from North Carolina, said she hopes to make the Assembly more effective at bringing campus together to "discuss issues that are important to our community."

If elected, Womick said she will reach out to student groups across campus by attending meetings herself, and she said she hopes to create a fund for "social events" that bring these groups together.

Womick has no formal experience with the Assembly, but she has worked as a student coordinator of the Diversity Peer Program through the Office of Pluralism and Leadership.
They neglected to mention me in the initial candidate article, so I got a mention all to myself. Cool?

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Something We Can Do Better

At the very least there's something we can do better because when I walk across campus they avert their eyes and check nonexistent text messages and become very interested in distant scenery and even when I catch them looking and catch them not looking away and catch them with a smile they don't smile back, not usually anyway, and I know that it's because they're here because I don't do that at home at home at home I would stop to speak with a stranger for five minutes about the weather and our families and whatever is important to us in the moment and sure it's just a different kind of superficiality but at least it's a warm, human superficiality that nods to the fact that there are two people existing with worries and loves and hungers and they're going to see each other for this moment even if they never see each other again and you can make your comments about racism and homophobia and ignorance, I won't refute them, but when I brought my girlfriend to my grandparent's weekly family dinner they hugged her and said they hoped to see her again and they meant it, and even though they didn't know that underneath the tablecloth I stroked her nervous hand and used my fingertips to kiss away the knowledge that if I kissed her with my lips they would turn stormy and talk about God or, worse, change the subject entirely because did you hear that the Cox boy graduated from law school and, bless his heart, is now playing social with Wes Kivett who we all know has been heavy on the bottle for years but at least he's at church every Sunday morning and was at the Kiwanis pancake supper but they were kind to her because that's how they were raised and that's how I was raised and as long as we don't talk about unpleasant things we can pretend that they don't exist but here they know that the unpleasant things exist, they know and they see them everywhere like a house isn't just a house, it's where one or two or dozens of our sisters were raped and President Kim playing baseball on the Green isn't just President Kim playing baseball on the Green, it's a photo shoot cover-up to make the front page instead of the dozens of students decrying an unfair meal plan and that's just the way things are, the way things are, we don't like it but who are we to say otherwise will it be linked to our name and if it's linked to our name will it hurt our chances of getting a bid, a vote, a job will it keep us from being successful will we ever be successful because six digits isn't good enough if you can get seven so you better stick to that diet keep your hair clean not laugh too loudly join the right house know the right people work hard play hard and be happy about it because if you're not happy with this then there's something wrong with you, this is it this is privilege there are millions of people who would kill to have your looks, your skin, your mind, your education, your status, your life so if it doesn't make you happy you're an ungrateful fuck you're everything that's wrong with this place you should man up shut up and just get out of the way and THAT'S NOT RIGHT that's not how it works that's not how people are made we're all different and unique and beautiful so if you have a passion for consultingfinance, fine, do it if it makes you happy rush if it makes you happy hookup black out and graduate if it makes you happy, but if it doesn't then don't stand for it you can do better you deserve better you deserve happiness, yes you do, you don't have to prove anything or repay anyone you can just grow a beard be a teacher drop out get married kiss boys eat lasagna cut your hair wear tennis shoes study Greek say "no" say a prayer quit your thesis quit your job join the army write poetry wear makeup transfer and go to bed at 10pm every night if it makes you happy, but you can't go on doing those things that you 'should' 'ought' 'must' because when you pass me on the sidewalk you look away because you don't want me to see who you are or what you could be you want to be seen on your own determined terms but me passing you on the sidewalk isn't in the script so you look away and it isn't fine but I'm going to smile anyway because I'm a person and you're a person and for that moment we're together it's intimate, your castaway glance tells me more than you would in twosome solitude and I want to tell you back that it's not right for you to feel that way, that it's ok to hurt and be unsure and look at me, that you're so goddamn beautiful that there is another way that it isn't as hard as you think to smile back. But I understand because I stopped smiling when I came here and I averted my eyes and checked nonexistent text messages and became very interested in distant scenery and when I caught them looking I was terrified I'd quicken my pace I'd stumble and sometimes smile back but always too late for them to see it because everything moves so fast here that it's easy to miss a smile, a moment, a month and it's easy to not learn a thing in 10 weeks to not see a friend for 10 months to be too ground down and worn out to raise a whisper when shady politics play out across the front page to be broken by the load of unanswered questions and unquestioned answers and at the end of the day say "Fuck it I'm going out" because it's better to pretend not to be unhappy among strangers it's easier it's the scene and you'll probably lament the dominance of the Greek system at some point but not now and not loudly because at the end of the day it's easier to play pong than politics and if anyone thinks that the only thing keeping the system standing are it's richpowerful alumni with their fingers in everything and money where it counts then anyone hasn't witnessed the joke that is GLOS defending the upstanding principles of brotherhood and sisterhood when Giaconne comes knocking because another underage swimming recruit was sent to DHMC with alcohol poisoning and yes, I'm in a house, and yes, I love it, but if I thought the system were the cause of the problem rather than an amalgamation of its symptoms then I would tear my house down brick by brick and see all the others down, too, but the houses aren't to blame, I guess, any more than you or I because they're just the manifestations of their constituent parts and I used to not smile just like you and it felt low and dirty and ugly and sometimes my hands would sweat in my pockets because I knew they knew I wasn't looking at them and I knew it made them feel just as it made me feel when they didn't look at me and I didn't want them to feel that way I wanted to tell them that they were the most inspiring intelligent passionate people I've ever known, that they were beautiful and whole and graceful even in their gracelessness but they looked away so I learned to look away because we're all pretty socially awkward here and we all want so desperately to fit in that we'll ignore one another to do it and we do and I did but I don't anymore because it felt wrong and cruel and cold and that's not the way that I was raised and sure it's a different kind of superficiality but at least it's warm, human superficiality that nods to us in the moment, existing with worries and loves and hungers and at the very least there's something we can do better: we can smile.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

I'm Back

After nearly a year without posts and longer than that without quality posts, I've decided to return to this project for my remaining year at Dartmouth. I can't promise that everything I have to say will be complimentary, but I can promise that it will be candid. Soon.

Monday, March 12, 2012

tiltfactor: Networking and Art (with more questions than answers) by Callista Womick

Repost from tiltfactor:
“Losing my anonymity in this world I think is something that I find terrifying.” Alex O’Laughlin
For many of us this, this statement rings true. The public life is brutal, demanding, and demeaning. To be a public figure is to be subject to public scrutiny in every word and deed. To lose a part of oneself to others. To be, as Sarah Chalke described it, a little less human. Perhaps this is why, more and more, people are swarming upon opportunities to test out the experience without truly sacrificing a part of themselves. That is, they are taking on pseudo-anonymous identities through networked gaming, online forums, and their corollaries. 
As console game usage declines, multiple reports have marked increase in the prevalence of online gaming--sometimes as high as 25% from year to year. The market implications of this trend are already clear--companies are shifting their focus from in-home gaming experiences to networked gaming experiences. Popular examples, in no rank order, include games designed for XBox 360 Live, Facebook, and the iPhone. Ranging from traditional first-person shooter games to more innovative cooperative experiences, like Zynga’s Farmville, these games are redefining the way that people think about entertainment. 
But what does this mean for art? Can these “games” also be considered works of art? An argument could be made for their performance-based nature, but intent is unclear. After all, the experience is user-defined, with the only limitations being those of a game’s functionality. In what category do filmed recordings of these interactive experiences fall? It is not uncommon for users of the online game World of Warcraft to record raids- missions carried out by organized bands of users- and post them to the Internet. At what point do these cease to become mere recordings of history and works of creativity? At the moment they are uploaded for viewing? When a soundtrack is added? Never? 
Is the art world comfortable accepting such a number of anonymous Internet producers? Do such persons consider themselves artists at all? Thinking back to the ruminations of O’Laughlin and Chalke, is there perhaps more personal sacrifice involved in the production of traditional media art? The answers to these questions are, for now and perhaps always, completely subject. Time will tell how art critics answer them.

Sources

Friday, February 3, 2012

tiltfactor: I brought the war, by Callista Womick

Repost from tiltfactor:
The following is a response, or perhaps companion, piece to Olia Lialina’s My Boyfriend Came Back from the War


I didn’t go- none of us did.
They thought we went, but we didn’t
Here. 
We were here.
They didn’t think so, so they screamed at us
and shot at us
and wanted us to die.
“Maluus zebr” they said about
each of us in turn. 
But here it is, I still have it. 
And this- see the dust
still caked into the fibers?
I shouldn’t have it, they have rules about trophies,
but this is from when we were bombed
out of bed-
well, I wasn’t in bed. 
I couldn’t sleep, so I was bare and wet
in the cement shower house.
I knew I was going to die.
I sobbed under one of those
crummy metal sinks, waiting for the walls to cave in
on me or a mortar to drop into
my lap or my crazy heart to just explode. 
But they didn’t and it didn’t and it didn’t,
but maybe I still did. Die. I feel dead.
I’m not a man anymore. 
Please don’t look like that.
I don’t mind.
I’m good at what I do.
I’m a killing machine.
I’m a god. 
This is what they make of us, and they’re damn good at it.
I was in basic with this
scrawny, nerdy wimp from
Minnesota.
Ethan. Ethan Brown.
Most boring-ass name ever.
He’s a sniper now.
He could hit you right between the eyes-
equal distance from each-
from 2000 meters.
You wouldn’t hear a thing,
and then you’d be dead.
How about that scrawny nerd from Minnesota? 
Babe, don’t cry. 
Yes, I like your dress.
But you know I like green on you
so much better. 
White, hell, I don’t know how tokeep anything white. 
I would touch you,
but you look so beautiful.
My hands are dirty.
Yes, they are. Look at them.
LOOK AT THEM. 
I’m not shouting.
Ok, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.
The dress is beautiful. 
Then why are you crying? 
…HIM?! 
THEY KNEW?! 
You didn’t write.
I wrote to you
No. 
No. 
No. 
…I remember.
I’m not sure than I can, either.
Not since. 
Please don’t ask
me now.
I’m so tired. 
Who knew that the dead slept?
I always imagined we would torment
the world of the living after nightfall.
Who knew that it was the other way around? 
I’m tired.
I’m so tired.
Here, hold me.
Visit the Last Real Net Art Museum for more works inspired by My Boyfriend Came Back from the War.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

tiltfactor: SOPA, PIPA, and New Media Art by Callista Womick

Repost from tiltfactor:
Most users of the Internet by now know about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), or House Bill 32611, and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP Act or just PIPA), or Senate Bill 9682--after all, when English-language Wikipedia blacks out people are going to notice. Joining Wikipedia in the act of protest were such sites as Reddit, Google, Mincraft, and many others. At this point it would be quite a feat for any wired member of the English-speaking world not to know that, for once, the Internet community at large has rallied around a cause. 
Opponents of SOPA and its Senate sister, PIPA, fear that such legislation would greatly inhibit the free flow of knowledge. Said Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, “SOPA and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world.” The bills claim to provide protection for the public from online piracy, copyright infringement, and even counterfeit drugs. When cast in that light the bills seem reasonable, even friendly, but the rub comes in bounding them: if the American government can order Google to disable hyperlinks to pages which contain copyright infringement or other exploitative material, can it also order the same for Websites simply suspected of such? Could Sites containing hate speech be cut out? What about dissident domains? 
In a world ever-more dependent on the free-flow of information for work, play, revolution, and everything in between it is a frightening thought that all it might take to wipe a Site--or an entire genre of content--from the Internet is the opinion of a someone able to convince the Attorney General to push the paperwork required to force all legitimate service providers to cease providing their services. For new media artists and the public that loves their work this is a particularly frightening prospect. 
The nature of the medium lends itself to sampling pre-existing works, and artists do so unabashedly--often without thought for copyright law. A 2001 example of how such appropriation can be received (for better and worse) lays with Dino Ignacio, a then-high-school-student who used Photoshop to create a photomontage of found images of Bert (from the globally syndicated Sesame Street) and Osama Bin Ladin. He posted this work on his homepage, a Bangladesh publisher picked up the image in a web crawl for images to use on anti-American shirts and posters, protestors in the Middle East snapped them up, and CNN filmed them in action. When representatives of the Children’s Television Workshop (responsible for Sesame Street) saw the footage they vowed to take legal action against… someone. 
The Ignacio affair ended with the student taking his Website down of his own volition, given increased and unwanted global public scrutiny, but what of such artists whose work intentionally crosses the lines of what some may consider infallible copyright law? What would it mean for the government to forcibly remove an artist’s work from public view? In the interest of freedom and speech--both which, to date, are the laws of the Internet lands--it would mean something very, very bad.
Bert Is Evil (with Osama Bin Ladin)

1 Bill Summary & Status, 112th Congress (2011-2012), H. R. 3261. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.3261:
2 Text of S 968: Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s112-968&version=rs&nid=t0%3Ars%3A265
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, p. 1-2. Henry Jenkins. http://tinyurl.com/convergence-culture-henry-jenk