How to Insult Alums' Intelligence, Dartmouth Undying Style

We had this forwarded to us yesterday. It saved me the trouble of reading the Sunday funnies because I didn't even have to find a newspaper. Apparently, John Replogle '88 would be a better fit for the Board of Trustees because his opponent, Joseph Asch '79--gasp!--writes occasional articles for us (cue a lightning strike and the ominous music).

I get that it's a campaign, but it's like Dartmouth Undying isn't even putting any effort into this. If the best they can come up with is that Asch has written the occasional article for our fine publication--I'm not sure of the exact number as our archives are glitchy at best, but a search revealed five contributions. I find it humorous that the mailing never mentions the number of times Asch has written for the D. In fact, a quick search of their website indicates that his writing's appeared there twenty-five times, a record that contrasts quite nicely with Replogle's current total of zero.

They also charge that Joe is a "longtime critic of the College." Well, yeah, how dare he criticize such things as course over-subscription, unsustainable spending practices, an oft derided alcohol policy or the housing lottery system? The only thing that Mr. Replogle appears to have criticized is Joe's criticism. Way to go out on a limb there, sir.

Not only that, the mailing seeks to paint Joe Asch as someone who is unreasonably critical of President Jim Yong Kim. Was he critical of JYK at first? Yes, he was, mainly because he was worried that business would carry on as usual. Over the past few months, however, it appears that President Kim has managed to win him over. Joe said in one of his Dartblog posts that their positions on the personnel cuts are "identical." On top of that, he states on the front page of his website, joefordartmouth.com:

After a wide-ranging, two-hour discussion with President Kim this past December, I decided to run as a Petition Trustee candidate because I want to support his vision.

What an obstructionist that Joe is, eh? Imagine him supporting the President! A critic such as he could never do such a thing.

On top of that, he operates a health club in Lebanon, NH. No, really, look at their last criticism of Joe Asch. Apparently, being local's a bad thing. Who knew? They also managed to completely overlook Mr. Asch's other professional accomplishments such as founding a medical products company in England in 1987 that sells products he designs in over 30 countries. The Undying slate would have you believe all he does is run the River Valley Club.

Moving on, their statements about the Association of Alumni Executive Committee petition candidates, the Dartmouth United slate, are flat out wrong. In the mailing, they say that the United slate will, "seek to revive the twice-failed lawsuit against the College." This is misleading for a number of reasons

1. The current AoA Executive Committee got the previous AoA lawsuit dismissed with prejudice, meaning that no future AoA Executive Committee can bring suit on the same grounds. It would be impossible for them to revive it if they're elected, even if they wanted to.
2. I interviewed a number of the petition slate candidates. All of them said that they intend to work with the Board of Trustees (including President Kim, who they're excited about) on restoring parity. No lawsuits are in the cards.

To sum up, dear reader, Dartmouth Undying, the current Association of Alumni Executive Committee, thinks you're too stupid to get informed about their opponents and are counting on any negative connotations you might have with our publication to influence your decision. Just remember that when voting begins on March 10.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Ha. Ha. Ha. I'm so glad we can represent our College like the mature adults we all are.

We Still Make More Than You

Yahoo! hotjobs has a delightful little article today, informing the world of our College's greatness, especially when it comes to monetary compensation a decade down the road. We beat out Harvard (3rd), Princeton (6th), Yale (9th) and Penn (10th).

And that's why I chose Dartmouth.

The Best Jeopardy Answer Ever

Kim's Letter on Budget

President Kim just sent this out to the campus:

Dear Members of the Dartmouth College Community,

Over the past four months we have been engaged in an intensive effort to address the College's pressing financial challenges. This effort has involved hundreds of people across the Dartmouth community, and I would like to thank everyone who participated for their energy, creativity, and commitment to the College.

This weekend, I presented to the Board of Trustees a proposal, based on this work, to ensure that the College remains on solid financial footing for the years ahead. I am writing to let you know where we stand after this weekend's Board meeting.

Endowments for Dartmouth and other schools have declined as a result of the global economic downturn. The investment return on our endowment fell 19.6 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, and as a result our projected revenues are down sharply. Although our budget is balanced this year, we anticipate a budget gap reaching $100 million by fiscal 2012. The scale of this challenge requires us to act boldly, and with urgency, to ensure that our budget is in balance for the next two years. The sooner we act, the sooner we can return to focusing all of our attention on advancing our mission.

As we do so, our decisions will be guided by our vision for Dartmouth: to build on its unique approach to educating leaders who will shape the future. Our budget plan is strategic and invests in our academic priorities and commitment to attracting and retaining world-class faculty and staff. It also leverages close collaboration between our undergraduate and our graduate and professional programs. Our goal is not just to achieve cost savings, but to build an administrative culture of continuous improvement and provide support for our academic mission more efficiently.

Despite the challenges we face, we are committed to maintaining our need-blind admissions policy. We are guided as well by the principle of treating the entire community with fairness and compassion. Through thoughtful and strategic actions, we identified ways to achieve approximately 95 percent of our savings before making layoffs. We have been able to keep layoffs to 38 non-teaching positions, with a comparable number expected in April.

* Budget Actions *

Work on the budget will continue through April, but the savings and revenue targets we have developed for fiscal 2011 and 2012 fall into the following categories:

Administrative reorganization and restructuring: $ 25 million
Benefits and compensation: $ 13
Professional schools: $ 14
Program reductions: $ 14
Financial aid: $ 5
Other savings and revenues: $ 29
Total: $100 million

* Administrative Reorganization and Restructuring*

We have launched over two dozen cross-institutional projects to produce a more effective Administration at the College, initiating best practices in facilities management, construction, procurement, information technology, research administration and finance. We are rethinking how student services are organized to improve the student experience and will be sharing more details in the coming weeks. We also are taking additional steps to create a more efficient and greener Dartmouth by enhancing waste management and recycling programs, improving energy efficiency and adjusting maintenance service levels. Additional recommendations for restructuring are under development.

* Benefits and Compensation *

In keeping with our core mission, we are committed to maintaining a high level of competitiveness in recruiting and retaining top faculty and staff.

We believe we can remain competitive while adjusting our benefits, which are more generous than those offered by many of our peers. The Council on Benefits is looking at a number of different ways to achieve our budget-reduction goal. Further details on benefits and compensation plans will be announced in April.

Separately, I have joined Carol Folt, Acting Provost and Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, and Steven Kadish, Senior Vice President, in donating 10 percent of our salaries to be split between the Dartmouth College Fund and a hardship fund. The hardship fund will assist those with financial difficulties not met through our other programs such as layoff packages or our staff loan program.

* Undergraduate Tuition and Financial Aid *

The Board has approved an increase in undergraduate tuition, room and board, and mandatory fees of 4.6 percent, to $52,275. This is the smallest increase in the past five years and will be partially offset by a 10 percent increase to the financial aid budget, as we are very mindful that the economic downturn has imposed a challenge on most families as well as on the College. (Tuition alone is up 4 percent, to $39,978; the new mandatory fee for health services is $75 per term, with financial aid for the health fee available as needed.)

We have reaffirmed our commitment to enable the most talented students to attend Dartmouth through need-blind admissions and have continued to steadily increase the number of scholarship recipients in the incoming classes, which has risen from 39.5 percent in the Class of 2004 to over 52 percent in the Class of 2013.

We will continue to provide free tuition and no loan expectations for students with family incomes of $75,000 a year or less. For financial-aid recipients from families with incomes above $75,000, we will be re-instituting a loan requirement of approximately $2,500-$5,500 a year beginning with the Class of 2015, whose members will enter in fall 2011. This is necessary in the context of our efforts to address the budget gap while minimizing layoffs. Current students on financial aid and applicants to the Class of 2014 will not be affected by the change in the no-loan policy.

* Workforce *

We have taken a number of measures to avoid layoffs, including offering voluntary retirement, reducing hours, eliminating unfilled positions and freezing salaries. To date, more than 105 non-teaching employees have accepted the College's retirement incentive, and we have reduced unfilled positions by 43. These actions come on top of 158 positions that were eliminated last year.

While these steps and the other actions noted in this letter have made a significant impact, they unfortunately did not fully eliminate the need for layoffs. We have had to make 38 layoffs now, and expect a comparable number in April. Approximately 60 percent of these layoffs involve professional and managerial employees. We are deeply grateful for the work of these employees, and for the contributions they have made to Dartmouth College.

Combined, these layoffs will represent approximately 2 percent of our non-teaching workforce of 3,400. The layoffs are at all levels and include union and non-union jobs. Another 33 non-teaching employees will be asked to work reduced hours as a result of operational changes.

We have developed an enhanced layoff package for those who will receive notifications beginning on Tuesday. This package includes four weeks of working notice, a lump-sum payment equivalent to between four and 52 weeks of pay, depending on length of service, as well as a health-care subsidy. These individuals will maintain internal status when applying for jobs that become available. (For more information about the package, go to http://www.dartmouth.edu/~hrs/empsupport/)

* Other Revenues *

We have plans in place for a variety of efforts to increase our revenues. For example, among other measures, we are raising our goals for gifts through the Dartmouth College Fund (DCF), which helps to support annual operating expenses. In fiscal 2009, donors to the DCF provided $38 million towards Dartmouth's operating expenses. We also plan to raise revenue through the sale of property that is not core to the College's mission or strategic plan.

We are also pleased that we are meeting our goals for research funding through existing programs as well as The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program. We are continuing to see increases in federal research grants that put us approximately 45 percent ahead of where we were last year at this time.

* Longer-Term Planning *

We expect the intensive phase of our budget-reduction process to be completed by the end of April, at which point we will focus more on implementation. We will continue to take measured, thoughtful steps to ensure that the College remains financially sound. I am particularly appreciative of the enormous support we've received from alumni, parents and friends in the recent completion of the $1.3 billion Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience; we will continue to rely on their support in the years to come as we seek to rebuild our endowment and continue to invest in Dartmouth's future.

In April, we will be launching a Strategic Planning Process, with a high level of faculty, staff and student participation across the institution, to ensure that Dartmouth is well positioned to maintain its unique standing at the forefront of higher education and ensure its students have the capacity to tackle the most difficult challenges of our time.

By managing our resources wisely, and working collaboratively, I am confident that our students will continue to have an extraordinary experience -- and that we can also re-imagine Dartmouth College for a new generation, so that our graduates can have an even more powerful impact in the world.

In my seven months here, I have been inspired every day by the character and spirit of the Dartmouth community, which will continue to flourish now and for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Jim Yong Kim
President
Dartmouth College

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I will after class.

More Young Cons, Coming at You

The Young Cons released a new video last night. Ever want to hear the wise words of Reagan laid down to a beat? Your wish has now been granted. Enjoy.

Kick Asch!

Joseph Asch '79, everyone's favorite blogger and critic of the administration for the last few years, is running for a position on the Board of Trustees. With the recent dismissal of the lawsuit against the College, it'll be interesting to see how Joe handles his campaign.

Alumni Suit Dismissed

Well, this is unfortunate.

Today: Protest the College Like It's the 60's

Two Blitzes have ended up in inboxes across campus in the last 24 hours. One is from College Democrats, the other from Mystik M. Miller. The only difference between the two is the URL at the bottom of the latter's blitz.

DARTMOUTH
COMMUNITY



PLEASE JOIN
YOUR FELLOW FACULTY, STUDETS AND STAFF
ON
FRIDAY JANUARY 15,
@
11:30am TO 1:00pm

IN FRONT OF THE HOP
LET'S TELL THE COLLEGE
LAYOFFS AND CUTS HURT THE DARTMOUTH EXPERIENCE!

AND OUR FAMLIES!!!!



http://www.vnews.com/01142010/6318388.htm

We eagerly await the sequel in the wake of the success of this one: protesting tuition hikes.

A little later, President Kim will be giving the second forum on Dartmouth' s finances:

To the Dartmouth community -

Please join me for a second forum on Dartmouth's finances this afternoon from 12:30-2 p.m. in Alumni Hall. The forum is part of the ongoing effort to share information and get community feedback on the Strategic Budget Reduction and Investment (SBRI) effort.

The Q&A panel will include Senior Vice President Steve Kadish, Acting Provost and Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt, and Acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears.

Other senior officers of the College will also be on hand for questions.

Please plan to arrive by 12:15 to ensure seating; overflow seating will be available in Collis Common Ground, and the forum can be also seen on the Dartmouth website, at http://budget.dartmouth.edu and on DarTV.

Over/under on how many signs will make an appearance in the audience?

Former Editor-in-Chief, et al Not Willing To Go Away Quietly

If you read the D this morning, you no doubt know that there's a petition circulating to get a slate of petition candidates on the Association of Alumni executive committee ballot. Of particular note for at the Review was the inclusion of Emily-Esfahani Smith '09, our former Editor-in-Chief, as candidate for secretary-treasurer.

This fact was buried at the end of the article, after a few paragraphs about how the lawsuit against the College--which held that the 2007 vote, which enlarged the Board's size by a third and made all new seats College appointed, violated an 1891 agreement that half the seats would be alumni-elected--lost them the election (which is, of course, speculation from John Daukas Jr. ’84; it couldn't be the huge effort behinds such things as Dartmouth Undying). A few paragraphs later it even singled out Mr. Noah Riner '06 and reminded readers of his 2005 Convocation speech. The subtext would seem to be, "look out! The conservative Christians are coming to control the College!"

UPDATE: 1/12/2010

It appears that the petition collected enough signatures. Here's hoping their campaigns are victorious as well.

Geithner, Corrupt? Ya Don't Say...

At the tail end of last year, Judicial Watch released its list of the top ten most corrupt officials in Washington. Now, the Review always cheers for Dartmouth and we enjoy watching our school and alumni place well, but this is one situation we would've been happier sitting out. Judicial Watch named Tim "TurboxTax" Geithner '83, the fourth most corrupt.

Cherry-Picking Exposed

Two recent Dartblog posts examine data from the American Federation of Teachers on the growth in the College's staff. The numbers show a shocking increase in non-faculty employees. This might be surprising for those who remember President Kim's budget presentation, which concluded (on page 26 of the transcript) that there has not been runaway growth.

The resolution of this paradox comes from the fact that Kim compared the years 2002 and 2010, whereas the AFT data covers all odd years from 1997 to 2007. The AFT data shows most of the staff increase occurring between 1997 and 2003; the rise between 2001 and 2003 may have taken place primarily in the first half of that interval. So staff does appear not to have increased too much since 2002.

This raises the question of whether it is coincidental that Kim's data, from which he concluded that there has not been an "out-of-proportion explosion" in staff, begins right after the end of the out-of-proportion explosion. In the presentation, Kim said that "We're trying to look back before 2002 to see what happened before." However, it is hard to believe that that information was not readily available. For one thing, the AFT puts it on the internet. For another, Dartmouth presumably keeps its own records of its payroll. Kim might have meant that the administration was still looking into why the pre-2002 staff increases occurred. This would not be an excuse for concealing the increases. If he knew that the staff grew before 2002 but suspected that there might have been a good reason, he should have said so.

President Kim seems, in general, to believe in honesty and transparency. This makes it all the more disturbing that his presentation contained data that was, in all probability, chosen with intent to mislead.

Final Fall Issue

The final issue of the fall is here, in pdf form. Our archives are also back up.

Curb Your Enthusiasm, Pt. 2

In an unrelated note, B@B is apparently down. Why?

recently, our community has been under attack by a very small group of people. these people troll the site with the purpose of killing the community with slanderous and racist comments.
i do not condone hate speech or racist comments and i will not allow boredat to exist if:
1. it does not accurately represent the general opinion of its community.
2. it does not have the ability to self-moderate.

Uh, wasn't that more or less all that was on there?

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Well, this just landed in in-boxes across campus. You might want to tone it down next time you attend a squash match.

To the Dartmouth Community:


As you may know, The Valley News reported Saturday on the inappropriate behavior of Dartmouth students attending a men's and women's squash match against Harvard last Wednesday.

We are very disappointed that any of our students would engage in behavior that is out of line with the values of this community. While we encourage students to vigorously support our athletes, we expect them to do so in a way that reflects our pride in those teams, not disrespect for others. The Office of the Dean of the College and the Athletics Department are still gathering information about what happened at this match at Dartmouth.

A number of our students have already apologized to the Dartmouth community and others, including our men's soccer team, which today issued a written apology to the Dartmouth community and took full responsibility for actions by some members of their team. We support the soccer team's newly-announced initiative to encourage Dartmouth athletes and fans to discuss how to create a more respectful atmosphere at our events.

We will be personally contacting a Harvard player and his parents who were particular targets of inappropriate statements by Dartmouth students, as well as Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust, to convey our concern and to offer apologies on behalf of our community.

Jim Yong Kim
President, Dartmouth College

Sylvia Spears
Acting Dean of the College

Bob Ceplikas '78
Acting Athletics Director

The story in question is this one. Apparently some boys from the soccer team and AD appeared at the recent squash match against Harvard to support our team and create an intimidating atmosphere (good). They did this by being as loud (great!) and lewd (not so good) as possible, including yelling such family friendly phrases as the following:

Words such as “dick,” “fag” and “----sucker” were repeatedly shouted at the visitors Wednesday, many times with “f------” added as an adjective. Harvard's female players eventually sought the protection of an assistant coach after they said they were called “whores” and “sluts” while they cheered on their male peers. While playing his match, Franklin Cohen was told he had small genitals and asked if he liked bagels, a phrase his mother viewed as a reference to the family's Jewish surname.

Nice one, guys. Bryan Giudicelli, an '11 soccer player, also followed up by calling a Crimson team member who was score-keeping,

...a “coward” and a “despicable human being”.

Well, at the very least, I suppose we can trash talk at both ends of the spectrum. I eagerly await the day we refer to a Harvard player as, "a downright daft dosser," or perhaps, "a plebeian, twonking prat." The possibilities are endless with our near-limitless vocabulary.

No Comment

Occasionally, I pull up YouTube and simply type "Dartmouth" into the search box, then sort by newest uploads. This is what I found this time.

Welcome to Dartlog

While our primary website, dartreview.com is under construction please enjoy our blog with pdfs of the latest issues and news from across campus.

Website Update

We are still sorting through our website mess, and, in the meantime, we've redirected dartreview.com to this blog. Until the website is up and running again, I will be posting pdfs of our latest issues under the Nota Bene section on the right hand side of this page. Additionally, our store is still up and functioning and can be found here.

Welcome to Dartlog!

Dartreview.com is currently under construction.

To donate or subscribe, please e-mail tdrprez@gmail.com

Visit our store to purchase t-shirts and other clothing.
To purchase Indian canes, Indian bow ties, or Indian ties email tdrprez@gmail.com or call the Dartmouth Review offices.

Please continue to check here for .pdf files of the latest issues and Dartmouth related news.

Issues to be Posted under Nota Bene

The website issue continues to plague us; in the meantime we have redirected dartreview.com to this blog. I'm also going to continue posting pdfs of the recent issues on this blog. They will be collected under the Nota Bene section on the right hand side of our blog. We are looking to fix this problem as quickly as possible. Thanks again for your patience.

Quick News Hit

• Professor Blanchflower lambastes the "recovery" our economy is experiencing.
• President Kim laments the loss of the humanities in Korean Universities.
• Over at Dartblog, Joe Asch '79 has a bit of budget analysis spelled out in layman's terms; it also seems that the aforementioned Professor Blanchflower is no fan of former President Wright's spending.
• Our congratulations to the Ivy League champion rugby team on remaining undefeated by destroying Boston College and advancing to the Northeast Semi-Finals. Wah-Hoo-Wah!

President Kim on Finances

This Blitz landed in my inbox tonight:

Dear Members of the Community,

The Board of Trustees just finished meeting to discuss strategic priorities, the scope of the financial challenges the College faces and our approach for investing in Dartmouth's future. I wanted to provide you with an update on these issues and the principles that will guide us as we move forward.

Dartmouth is a world-class institution with an unparalleled educational formula. During my four months at the College, I have heard many wonderful ideas from you on how we can enrich the Dartmouth experience even further. As we head toward Dartmouth's 250th Anniversary in 2019, we must continue to be bold and ambitious in our vision for the College.

At the same time, we face an immediate and pressing financial challenge. Like other institutions, we are not immune from the impact of the severe and prolonged economic downturn. For the fiscal year that ended in June 2009, the College had an operating budget deficit of $34 million caused primarily by financial losses on investments. Financial projections show that this annual budget gap could widen to more than $50 million in fiscal 2011 and by an additional $50 million in fiscal 2012 as growth of expenses continues to outpace revenues.

To achieve our current and future aspirations, and maintain our commitment to excellence, we need to take immediate action to address this structural deficit. The sooner and more effectively we act, the sooner we will be back on a sound footing and in a position to invest strategically in Dartmouth's future.

During the past five years, spending and investment decisions helped the College achieve critical priorities: enhancing financial aid to attract the best students; hiring more faculty in key areas; and starting construction on critical new facilities. The change in the worldwide economic outlook, however, has led us to alter our assumptions. We can no longer sustain our current level of endowment spending.

The Trustees have asked us to plan on an endowment distribution rate that is more sustainable in the current environment and closer to the College's historic rate of 5 to 5.5 percent, down from 6.3 percent in fiscal 2009. The lower endowment distribution rate will take effect in fiscal 2011.

To close the budget gap, we must look to reduce our expenses thoughtfully and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our administrative operations. I regret that this process will unavoidably result in a smaller workforce at Dartmouth. We will pursue every possible alternative and treat any affected employees with respect and dignity.

Our goal will be not just to cut costs, but to improve the way we operate the College in pursuit of its mission. We will protect the "Dartmouth Experience" and make necessary investments to continue to enhance it, and we will preserve the College's commitment to leadership in higher education.

We must continue to offer superb teaching and scholarship by world-class faculty, while achieving leadership positions in new and emerging fields that make the most of Dartmouth's unique strengths. We will also aim to increase philanthropic giving and strategically pursue initiatives that provide new sources of revenue.

While we look to reduce expenditures, the Board has also asked that we work on plans for new strategic investments that will ensure Dartmouth continues to advance its mission and maintains an educational experience that is the best in the world.

We are going to approach this process with a five-year time horizon, and we will be submitting a detailed fiscal 2011 budget plan as well as a five-year investment plan to the Trustees, in stages, for approval next spring.

I have asked Carol Folt and Steven Kadish to partner with me in leading the budget process. Carol, Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, is also acting Provost. Steve is Senior Vice President and Strategic Advisor. The Committee on Priorities of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, the institution-wide Budget Steering Committee, and the Student Budget Advisory Committee, will be fully engaged in the process as well.

Throughout the process, we will seek input from across the College community, and we will be meeting with and reviewing all departments and divisions. Regular updates will also be posted to Dartmouth's budget website, at http://budget.dartmouth.edu/, where we invite you to submit questions and suggestions.

This undertaking will not be easy. It will involve difficult choices. I am confident that together we can overcome the financial challenges we face. With a sense of common purpose, guided by passion and practicality, I know that we will make the right decisions not only to sustain but to advance Dartmouth and its enduring mission.

Sincerely,
Jim Yong Kim
President
Dartmouth College

Please visit the Dartmouth News website to view the press release on the Board's November meeting: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2009/11/07.html

It's a bit disappointing that he refers to Dartmouth, over the past five years, "hiring more faculty in key areas." Last I checked, we still have no Shakespeare Chair. Still, he also writes that fixing finances, "will unavoidably result in a smaller workforce at Dartmouth." Hopefully, President Kim will be fully prepared to make some tough choices and implement them. He's dealt with World Health Organization levels of bureaucracy; one would think that Parkhurst, while no cakewalk, should be easier to work through.

Indian Football Notches Second Victory!

Wah-Hoo-Wah! In two overtimes, the final is:

Dartmouth 20
Cornell 17

The box score can be found here.

Next up: Brown.

Friday News Roundup

See it here before you read it in the D.

• Holly Benson '93 has jumped into the race for Florida Attorney General by entering the GOP primary.
• More amusingly, Dartmouth placed nineteenth in the Trojan(R) Sexual Health Report Card, a large leap from last year's position at #68. This has left Princeton bemoaning their continuing delince at slot #61 and the immature with a smile on their face when the University of South Carolina came in first. No, I am not going to make the easy joke there. The rankings are apparently based on availability of contraception and information disseminated to the students, not on the actual state of students' health.
  

Because Being a Petition Candidate Wasn't Hard Enough Already

Well, here we go again. This is from today's D:

The Dartmouth Association of Alumni executive committee voted to shorten the campaigning period for Board of Trustees and Association elections on Wednesday, moving forward with the recommendations of an Association committee tasked with exploring election reform. Although the committee was originally formed to pursue campaign finance reform, it found that such reform is politically untenable at this time.

Absolutely amazing. If "campaign finance reform" (read: keeping petition candidates from being able to spend sufficient amounts of money to get their name out there to get elected) was too hot to touch, I'm still not sure why shortening the campaign period by a full third is a good idea.

Association President John Mathias ’69, a member of the election reform study committee, said in an interview with The Dartmouth. “The reduction to four weeks was welcomed.”

Well yes, welcomed by you and those who would rather pesky petition candidates stay out of your way so you can Harvardize this institution.

Thankfully, the article has some balance. Frank Gado '58 responded:

Frank Gado ’58, a former member of the Association executive committee who supported the organization’s 2007 lawsuit against the College, said that shortening the campaign period will negatively affect petition candidates.

“The group within the alumni that is seeking to challenge the establishment needs to get its message out,” Gado said. “How can it get its message out [in four weeks]?”

Don't worry about that, Mr. Gado. Candidates will be given more room to write personal statements, up from the current limit of 250! That's really a good trade off there. The AoA has kneecapped future petition candidates and given them a Band-Aid in the form of a few more lines in a Word file.

What's the logic behind all of this? Well, as David Spalding '76 put it:

“Yes, we believe that with a shorter election period and with the College providing more space for people to express their views, there will be less of a need for money in the elections,” Spalding said.

It also makes it that much more difficult for petition candidates--who run entirely on their own dime, by the way, without the College's inherent advantages such as mailing lists--to get their message out. Combine this with "campaign finance reform" that will inevitably recommend putting a ceiling on the amount of money candidates can spend and we're looking at completely disenfranchised alumni.

Are you ready for the kicker? Get this:

The fourth guiding principle from the report, which stated that “petition candidates should never be disadvantaged by any restrictive election guidelines or rules promulgated by the [Association executive committee],” was changed to say that “no candidate should be ever be disadvantaged” by election guidelines, Mathias said.

The other guiding principles — that alumni should be given sufficient information about all candidates, that candidates should be allowed to share their opinions “without editorial review” and that elections should not be affected by the amount of money spent candidates — were accepted without change by the committee.

Yet, this is exactly what has just been done. Don't be surprised if that last "guiding principle" is the next one to be implemented in the interest "fairness" or some such nonsense.

Fall Issues Now Online

As you have surely noticed, The Dartmouth Review's website has been down for quite some time. Originally, we had hoped to fix the problem quickly and post back issues online; however, we have come to realize that the problem requires more than a quick fix. Since this is the case, I'm going to post the fall issues we've published up until now as pdfs. Rest assured that we are working to fix the problem with the website as quickly as is possible. Thank you for your patience.

• Freshman Issue
• AMP Issue
• Homecoming Issue
  

Feel free to comment below.

Worst Class Ever

It is now official.

In a buck of tradition, no students touched the Homecoming bonfire on Friday or rushed the field at Saturday’s football game.

The D's article includes plenty of speculation about the reason for the failure of this old tradition.

Some things certainly did not change, however: four out of ten Good Sam calls resulted in arrests. Four more dangerous criminals off the streets, I suppose.

Indian Victory!

Wah-Hoo-Wah! Final is:

Indians 28
Lions 6

Keep in mind, this is the same Columbia squad that smacked Princeton around in New Jersey to the tune of 38-0 (and we play Princeton here in Hanover this year). The box score can be found here. Congratulations to the squad on a fine victory. Next up: Harvard.

Apologies

The previous post's comments section is not working. Please use this post if you'd like to comment on it.

Protesters "Storm" Parkhurst

Remember that interview where President Kim stated that he wanted students to "symbolically storm Parkhurst"? No? Well, it actually happened today.

Well, storm may be too strong a term. There was no property damage done and everyone was more or less civil. There were only two tie-dye shirts and one of them turned out to be a Ben and Jerry's t-shirt. Anyways, after receiving the Blitz in the previous post, I caught a lucky break when my midterm finished at 3:20. I was able to run back to my dorm and grab my camera and Dictaphone. I proceeded to swing back by Parkhurst and managed to catch the protesters as they were organizing. I counted twenty-six of them initially and the number varied throughout the protest, dropping towards the end.

I learned the event wasn't widely publicized. It had been organized by Tim Bolger '10. As was made clear in my previous post, the point was to deliver a letter to President Kim, which one of the members of the protest was kind enough to Blitz to me and can be read in its entirety here. A quote or two to give you an idea of its content:

In the spirit of the students that took over Parkhurst in protest of the Vietnam War and built slums on the Green to protest apartheid, we accept your challenge to take on the world's problems as our own with the belief that as committed and passionate individuals we can promote positive and lasting change. Climate change is an issue of great urgency for which Dartmouth students are ready and willing to address, but we need your support. We envision a Sustainable Dartmouth as a place that produces no net greenhouse gas emissions, uses renewable sources of energy, models a cradle-to-cradle system for waste management, and promotes sustainable behaviors among its students, staff, and faculty. A Sustainable Dartmouth is integral to the mission and future of the College as a place to practice creative and experiential leadership that may be adapted to the world beyond.

And their demands--well, demands is definitely the wrong term to use. The way it's worded, it's almost more like it's a series of suggestions.

• Make the necessary investment that will hedge against the risk of high future energy costs, double our energy efficiency efforts, and replace our dependence on No. 6 oil with renewables.
• Appoint an Energy Research and Advisory Committee to help develop conservation and efficiency policies, raise the funds necessary for a transition to renewable energy sources, and build partnerships with the town, state, businesses, and other colleges and universities.
• Make sustainability efforts a core part of Dartmouth's next capital campaign.
• Provide more staff support for implementing these policies and programs through the Sustainability Office.

There is a true opportunity for leadership in addressing climate change and making sustainability an institutional priority at Dartmouth. We hope that you accept this challenge in partnership with students and that together we can create a more sustainable campus, community, and world.

When the clock struck 3:50 (apparently an allusion to this), somebody let loose a cry of "Leeroooy, Jenkiiins!" (yes, seriously) and we all walked up the steps and into Parkhurst.

Unfortunately for the intrepid protesters, President Kim was in a meeting and it was unknown when it would finish, most likely around five-thirty. The group elected to stick around and wait rather than just leave the letter for him. The secretary went to inform President Kim of the crowd outside his door and the sit-in commenced. One fellow remarked aloud that he felt like he should've shaved because he was going to be meeting the President.

I asked another protester, the same one who was kind enough to Blitz me the letter, why they were protesting. He told me it was about the administration's inaction on climate change. When I pointed out that we'd had several buildings built to be environmentally friendly, he said we could be doing, "so much more with our resources."


While we were waiting, people spread out into the hallway and settled into the chairs--and the floor--in the reception area. I glanced at the posters downstairs which I had briefly noted as we walked in. They were posters for the Dartmouth Sustainability Initiative, which can also be seen in Baker-Berry library. It struck me as a little odd that they were there to protest when the administration cared enough to put their posters behind glass in Parkhurst (Marissa Knodel '09, one of the protesters, is featured on the leftmost poster).













A ways into the sit-in, a slightly befuddled Senior VP Kadish met with the protesters and tried to talk them out of it. The group held firm and the aforementioned Marissa Knodel '09 informed Kadish that she had been in the office several times trying to schedule a meeting and had been told the earliest she could meet with President Kim would be the winter term. Kadish retreated a bit, telling the students that he really did, "appreciate what [they're] doing," because he, "stood right where [the protesters] are standing." He suggested the two groups huddle and work out a deal. It was no good; Bolger's group held their ground.





Somebody brought in Ben and Jerry's ice cream to fortify them while they waited. I considered running and grabbing something from FoCo when somebody whistled. Kim had emerged from his meeting. It was showtime.



I apologize for the somewhat lousy quality of the videos. My camera isn't the best and people weren't speaking particularly loudly. The group scheduled a meeting with President Kim for tomorrow morning at 8:00. I headed back to my dorm, only to encounter this lady on the corner of Wheelock and Main, which is a favorite for folks who want to protest something.

To be clear, the lady has nothing to do with the protest at Parkhurst, I just found her day-glo sign, which is nearly as big as she is, to be humorous.

Sustainability LEEDs to Inevitable, Pt. 2

Just had this forwarded to me. I've redacted the names for their privacy.

From: [REDACTED]
Date: 2009/10/22
Subject: Sit-in at presidents office
To: [REDACTED]


Hey [REDACTED],

So, something really cool is going down today to protest Dartmouth's
inaction on climate/sustainability issues.

We will be sitting-in at the President's office and giving him a document
outlining our concerns.

We'll meet in front of Parkhurst at 3:40 TODAY.

Please invite your friends or teams or whatever. We should represent all
groups on campus and we should make that place overflow!

3:40, Parkhurst. You'll be at robo anyways, so misewell stop by!

[redacted]


Below is whole list of 350 (Climate awareness events)...

TODAY (Thursday), 3:40pm in front of Parkhurst
Talk with President Kim. We will give President Kim the attached letter,
which will be signed by the chairs of numerous environmental organizations
on campus.

TONIGHT (Thursday), 6:00 - 8:00pm, International Climate Awareness Event
Free food! (GUSANOS!)
Live music! (Cfunk lite + DMC's co-chair, Billy Corbett. Also featuring
members of Clusterfunk including DMC's very own Marc Shapiro and Tim Bolger)
Keynote speakers!
Free raffle for prizes like Ipod shuffles!

Saturday, 3:20pm- ~5pm, International Climate Action Day, 350
1) Capture the flag/CO2 game (BLITZ MATT DAHLHAUSEN FOR MORE INFO),
2) 350 demonstration/photo (BLITZ TIM BOLGER FOR MORE INFO),
3) table and provide information/graphics about Dartmouths energy
consumption
and carbon footprint. (PEOPLE FROM ENVS80 AND OTHERS, BLITZ TIM BOLGER IF
YOU
CAN HELP OUT/NEED TO BUY MATERIALS.)

I'm a little surprised at their concern about Dartmouth's "inaction" on climate issues. I mean, we slipped from an A- to a B+ in the green report card, but I'd hardly call that inaction. The McLaughlin and McClane-Fahey clusters received gold LEED ratings. Kemeny and the Haldeman Center garnered silver ratings and even the Floren varsity house was built to LEED specifications (it received a silver ranking as well). Even if they haven't worked out as well as people had hoped, that's still quite a bit of money spent over five buildings. Short of letting our powers combine, I'm not sure what more they want the College to do.

Sustainability LEEDs to Inevitable

Well, the results are in. Dartmouth dropped a grade from an A- to a B+in the fourth annual Green Report Card from the Sustainable Endowments Institute. It appears we lost ground in three categories: Endowment Transparency, Investment Priorities and most amusingly, Green Buildings. Our gains in the Administration and Climate Change categories couldn't offset the loss.

This leaves us fifth in the Ivy League in sustainability behind Brown, Harvard, Penn and Yale, and ahead of Cornell, Columbia and Princeton.

To aid the College in its quest to regain its former grade, I hereby pledge to take shorter showers in the dark.

Sun God Now Available on YouTube

Yes, really.

In case you haven't been around campus lately (or are subscribed to the D and keep wondering who the guy is who appears in "The Still North" every so often), the so-called "Sun God" is Jonathan Recor MALS '10. If you've missed his antics, you can now find nineteen videos of them under his account. For example:



Why is he dancing around campus at all times of the night with a lightsaber? Well, as he puts it on his video descriptions:

Mission: These impromptu performances are intended for people who recognize that life isn't as serious as we sometimes make it out to be. As such, our mission as a collective student body is to have fun and let loose the emotional energies and stresses of our lives to form a meaningful and creative performance that builds from the foundation of our humanity.

There's also a much more detailed explanation on his Facebook group. To each his own, I suppose.

The Patriarchy Precipitated the Market Crash

Before you ask, no, I don't know why I'm receiving Blitzes from WiL.

This week in Women in Leadership...

"Title IX CEOs"

Would the financial meltdown have been as severe had women held the top leadership spots on Wall Street?
Does participation in intercollegiate athletics provide valuable preparation for competition in the boardroom?

Here's a great article:
http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2009/03/title-ix-ceos.html

Wednesday night, 6-7pm. Morrison Commons in Rocky

Free Ramuntos

Apparently the Y chromosome may lead to financial crises. Here are some fun quotes from the article linked to in the Blitz:

Second, and again generalizing somewhat, women are more collaborative and less competitive in business than men; they'd be less likely, for example, to push an untested and poorly understood financial instrument so as to be seen as a Master of the Universe, or gobble up another company just so their merged entity would be bigger than the company of someone they wanted to best.

The power of Greyskull not only transforms Cringer into Battle Cat, it grants sub-prime mortgages as well. Don't worry, though, the government will have fixed all this machismo investing through Title IX legislation.

Might it be that 10 or 15 years from now, when Title IX will have spawned a whole generation of women with experience in intercollegiate athletics, we'll see women behaving as competitively in the boardroom as they did on the soccer field, softball diamond or basketball court?

So the problem was that men were too aggressive and the question posed is whether women, because of their moderating tendencies, would have mitigated the financial crash if they'd been in top leadership positions. How do they get to those top leadership positions so they can exercise their tendencies? By becoming more aggressive thanks to sports. Did I miss something here? The amusing part is that the article was written by Paul R. Portney, who is, according to the article, "Dean of the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, where he also holds the Halle Chair in Leadership."

Dean Folt to Become Acting Provost Folt

Personnel in Parkhurst are being shifted around like chess pieces, it seems.

October 14, 2009


Dear Members of the Dartmouth Community,

I am delighted to announce that Dean Carol Folt will serve as Acting Provost (effective October 26) as we search for a permanent Provost. Carol also will continue as Dean of Faculty. We are very fortunate to have someone of her academic and administrative caliber who is willing to take on this additional responsibility at this critical time for Dartmouth.

The Dartmouth Professor of Biological Sciences, Carol is an internationally-recognized environmental scientist, an award winning teacher, and an astute administrator. Known for her work on metal toxicity, she is the Associate Director of Dartmouth's interdisciplinary Superfund Basic Research Program, which has received over $40 million in federal research awards. Carol has served as one of Dartmouth's senior academic leaders since 2001, first as Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Dean of Faculty(2001-2004), then as Dean of Faculty since 2004.

Provost Barry Scherr, who is stepping down after eight years as Provost, will continue working closely with Carol through the transition, and overseeing our reaccreditation self-study through December.

With her deep understanding of our mission, and her experience across academic, administrative, and financial affairs, Carol has been a key advisor since my arrival in Hanover. Going forward, her guidance will be valuable as we work together as a community to address financial challenges and discuss our future. Dean Folt has played a critical role in overseeing the strategic growth of the Arts & Sciences faculty, and in launching creative cross cutting programs and institutes, including the Neukom Institute for Computational Science, the Institute of Writing and Rhetoric, as well as new programs in digital humanities, sustainability science, and professional ethics. She developed numerous partnerships with the graduate and professional schools, such as with the Amos Tuck School of Business to teach classes in business for undergraduates, with the Dartmouth Medical School to enhance graduate student recruitment and training, and with the Provost's Office to enhance K-12 experiential science education programs in the Upper Valley.

I want to thank Carol for her willingness to take on this additional responsibility and look forward to her leadership and guidance over the coming months.

Sincerely,

Jim Yong Kim
President
Dartmouth College

This is unfortunate, especially President Kim's note about her, "administrative caliber." Do keep in mind that while serving as Dean of the Faculty, Carol Folt let our philosophy department become a shell of its former self (for example, we're losing Prof. Sinnott-Armstrong to Duke in the coming spring). Let's hope that soon to be Acting Provost Folt will be better at her new job.

With how long Provost Scherr remained in his position after President Kim reappointed him, one wonders how Dean Folt will hold onto her new post.

Pres. Kim Hits the Ground Running

It appears President Kim knows how to get a jump on things. This was sent out to the campus today:

October 9, 2009

Dear Members of the Dartmouth Community,

As we settle into the new academic year, I want to express appreciation for the warm welcome you have extended to my family and to me. With the celebration of Convocation and Inauguration on September 22, many of us had the chance to reaffirm our commitment to each other as members of the Dartmouth community, and to the pursuit of excellence in education.

In less challenging economic times, you might expect that my first letter to you as president would focus largely on our aspirations for the coming year. But these are not normal times. I am writing today to update you on Dartmouth's financial picture, and the difficult work we face in continuing to bring the College's finances into balance.

The global economic crisis has created significant challenges for every institution of higher learning, but Dartmouth remains committed to providing the finest education in the world. Our priorities are clear: to enable the best students to attend Dartmouth, regardless of their financial means; to continue to attract superb faculty who are both great scholars and great teachers; and to build on our reputation as an exceptional place that offers a personalized educational experience for leaders who will shape the future.

Generous friends, parents, and alumni have once again enabled Dartmouth to act according to its priorities. The level of giving held up extraordinarily well over the past year, despite the recession. However, unprecedented volatility in global financial markets caused substantial losses in virtually every part of our endowment in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.

Here is an overview of key financial metrics for fiscal year 2009:

Endowment Losses

* Dartmouth's endowment fell 23 percent to $2.8 billion (a decline of 19.6 percent due to investment performance, with the balance as a result of spending from the endowment, somewhat offset by new gifts to the endowment).
* This loss of $835 million equates to approximately a $50 million reduction in annual operating revenue available to the College.
* Long-term endowment performance, however, has been excellent. Dartmouth achieved an 8 percent annual return over the past decade, when the performance of the broader stock market was flat, placing it in the top 5 percent of all endowments and foundations.

Endowment Spending

* Dartmouth increased its rate of endowment spending several years ago to support key initiatives including enhanced financial aid, additions to the faculty, and critical facilities projects.
* Endowment spending of $227 million represented 32 percent of Dartmouth's revenue last year (total revenue of $701 million) and, after tuition, was the largest source of revenue for the institution.
* We are making conservative projections about future endowment performance. Given these projections and the decline in the value of our endowment, contributions to Dartmouth's budget from the endowment will be flat or will decline over the next several years relative to fiscal year 2009 -- further reducing revenue to fund operations.

Prospects for Recovery in the Endowment

* While the stock market has recovered somewhat in recent months, college and university endowments, because of their asset allocations, generally have not rebounded as quickly. Dartmouth's endowment, with only 26 percent of assets invested in public equities, is no exception.
* We do not expect our endowment to return to its fiscal year 2008 level of $3.66 billion for quite some time.

Fundraising Progress and Goals

* The Dartmouth College Fund raised $38.1 million in fiscal year 2009, down from the record $42.2 million raised in the previous year. Alumni participation remained high at 46 percent, off just one percentage point. The Fund provides unrestricted dollars which directly support financial aid, faculty and academic programs, athletics, the arts, and service opportunities for students around the world.
* Volunteers are hard at work to meet our $40 million goal for the fiscal 2010 Dartmouth College Fund.
* The Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience is now raising the final $60 million necessary to meet its $1.3 billion goal, which we anticipate achieving by December 31. These gifts are generally restricted to specific priorities, and are not available to fund general operating expenses.

Efforts announced last February to cut the operating budget have affected all parts of the institution. These efforts have included reducing the work force and holding compensation flat for most employees. These were not easy actions for the campus community. While these actions produced meaningful savings and helped address the immediate shortfall in the budget, they are not enough to cover the gap we face.

No single path will be sufficient to address these serious financial challenges. We will proceed on three fronts:

* First, we will reduce expenses. This must be done thoughtfully. We will work collaboratively and creatively to arrive at innovative solutions. We will be called upon to make some difficult choices.
* Second, we will aim to increase philanthropic giving to Dartmouth, in part by continuing to demonstrate to donors that we are using our resources efficiently and effectively.
* Third, we will pursue new initiatives that build upon the strengths of Dartmouth and produce revenue while addressing the evolving needs and potential of our students and of society.

As we address these challenges, we will seek campus input widely, through meetings and forums, and will continue to communicate with you in the weeks and months ahead. Meetings are already underway with the Arts & Sciences' faculty Committee on Priorities and with the institution-wide Budget Committee.

In my Inaugural address, I spoke of pursuing our most cherished goals not only with passion, but also with a tough-minded practicality that will allow us to deliver on those goals. I am confident that we will overcome these financial challenges and realize our aspirations, and that the character of this community will not just sustain this institution, but enable Dartmouth to continue to thrive.

Sincerely,

Jim Yong Kim
President
Dartmouth College

Several things of note: it's good that he acknowledged that there would be, "some difficult choices" to be made. Hopefully this means that Kim isn't afraid to fight through bureaucratic red tape in order to alleviate the budget shortfall through, say, downsizing a department or cutting a sacred cow office or two (like OPAL, the office that, in the words of former Dean Tom Crady, doesn't need to, "justify its existence," because everyone just loves it). He directed the U.N.'s World Health Organization, so Parkhurst shouldn't pose as much of a problem.

Nick Lowery '78 to be Inducted to Chiefs HoF

One of Dartmouth's most overlooked alumni, former Patriots, Chiefs and Jets kicker--and preliminary Football Hall of Fame nominee--Nick Lowery '78, will be inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame. Lowery was a two time All-Ivy selection for the Indians during his time at Dartmouth and went on to become the most accurate kicker in NFL history (or so his website claims) and receive the Dartmouth College Presidential Medal for Outstanding Leadership and Achievement.

Maybe it's a good omen; we play Yale tomorrow and a little karma might help.

You'll probably be reading about this in the D tomorrow in the space where an advertisement could have been placed. Seems like someone isn't happy with good old Joe Asch '79. This seems to continue the trend of Ivy papers making weird decisions with the advertisements they choose to run.

Zantop Murders Revisited

The Boston Globe's website has an interesting little Q&A in its MetroDesk section with the authors of Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders, about the psychology of James Parker and Robert Tulloch, the murderers of Half and Susanne Zantop, two Dartmouth professors. Some parallels are drawn to the recent murders in Mont Vernon, N.H. this past weekend.

Provost Scherr to Return to the Classroom

This message from President Kim landed in Blitz inboxes across the campuses today. Reshuffling is the name of the game as of late, it seems.

Dear Members of the Dartmouth Community,

I'm writing to let you know that Provost Barry P. Scherr has decided to return to academic work at Dartmouth after eight years in his current role. I intend to appoint an Acting Provost very shortly, and will then initiate an expedited search for a permanent successor.

I am pleased to also report that Barry has agreed to continue to lead Dartmouth's reaccreditation process through the end of this calendar year, for the remainder of his time as Provost and then as Provost Emeritus. He will work closely with his interim successor and me to ensure a smooth transition as we drive forward the budgetary and strategic initiatives that are so critical to the advancement of Dartmouth's academic mission and student experience. Once this transition process is complete, Barry will take a long-delayed sabbatical to complete several scholarly projects.

While I had previously asked Barry to stay on to help with the presidential transition, and he had generously agreed, we both feel that we've made rapid progress over the last few months and with the new academic year well under way, now is an opportune time for Barry to follow his heart and return to academic life. I am especially grateful for the support and guidance he provided to me from the very day I joined the Dartmouth community in March and certainly understand his desire to focus more fully on his academic interests in the years ahead.

Barry has served the College with great distinction for 35 years, and we appreciate the many contributions he has made to all facets of Dartmouth life. As Associate Dean for the Humanities, he played a major role in establishing the Leslie Center for the Humanities, and as Provost he helped to create the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL). Barry has had a special interest in Dartmouth's international profile and has worked closely with the Dickey Center on several projects. A strong supporter of the arts at Dartmouth, he has encouraged innovative programming at both the Hood Museum and the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts. He was instrumental in enabling the Library to acquire several major archives, including those of Pilobolus, of Professor Errol Hill, and of Budd Schulberg. Barry put in place the office of Vice Provost for Research, which has come to offer greater oversight and support for the critical research that takes place here in Hanover. I know that Barry takes special pride in the strong leadership that he has managed to attract to the areas that report directly to the Provost and that are vital to the academic and intellectual vigor of the institution.

Barry also has had a distinguished career as a scholar and teacher since joining the Dartmouth faculty in 1974. He is the Mandel Family Professor of Russian and has chaired both the Department of Russian and the Program in Linguistics and Cognitive Science. He also helped found the Program in Jewish Studies. His teaching interests have included 19th and 20th century Russian literature, comparative literature and film. He has authored or edited some 12 books and has published more than 70 scholarly articles, along with several dozen contributions to reference works. His research over the years has ranged widely over Russian poetry, 20th-century Russian prose, and Russian film, with some of his more recent writings focused on issues of translating poetry between English and Russian.

I feel fortunate to have had the chance to work closely with Barry since the announcement of my presidency. I have come to value and admire the immense intelligence and dedication Barry brings to all that he does. He reflects the finest traditions of Dartmouth. Please join me in thanking Barry for his steady hand and tremendous service in leading Dartmouth College to where we are today.

Sincerely,

Jim Yong Kim
President, Dartmouth College

Interesting. As Joe Asch '79 pointed out over on Dartblog, it'll be interesting to see if Sylvia Spears' position as Tom Crady's replacement will last a similar length of time.