The Undergraduate Chair
World Affairs Rate Third, Behind Eating Problem And Spring Weather, in Dartmouth Student Thought
IT is probably wrong to say that the international situation does not come in for its share of discussion at Dartmouth at the present time, yet at the risk of disillusioning the many who envision college students as a group of intellectuals who sit around philosophising on the present state of world affairs we are going to say bluntly that by far the two most important topics at Dartmouth today are "When, what, where, and how do we eat?" and "How long is the present warm weather going to last?"
Eating, it appears, is something about which you think hardly at all when you can easily do it, but when it requires a minimum of exertion you can easily beef loud and long. Within 24 hours after the great influx of returning veterans for the spring semester it became apparent that the procuring of nourishment was not to be done at the usual hours; 8 A.M., 12 noon, and 6 P.M. are no longer the hours at which it is best to sit and eat, for they have now turned into the hours of getting into line in order to eat. Immediately after the start of the war several of the eating places in town clpsed, along with the DDA's Colonial Room, Hovey Grill, and various other cafeterias maintained for the nourishment of hungry students. The end of hostilities has found the situation dormant; one downtown establishment has returned to business, sans Sunday service, and the College has opened a cafeteria, but the situation is far from remedied.
The help situation in Hanover appears to be as bad as elsewhere. It is not strange to see a complete turnover in waitresses take place every week, further complicating matters. The fact that the majority of men in college are veterans also hinders the situation. Before the war countless students sought employment in the restaurants, but now that the government is giving them 65 dollars a month under the G.I. Bill of Rights, they no longer have any need to work, and everyone waits.
At first, when the married veterans started telling of their meals laboriously prepared over hot plates and sterno stoves, the "lucky" bachelors laughed; now it is a treat to secure an invitation to a "feast" in one of the married men's dorms.
The other major topic of discussion around campus involves that annual hope of the students: "Will the warm weather last?" For the past week the warmth has resulted in an exodus out of town to the surrounding villages. With the first Sunday of the new semester producing summer weather, the Norwich bridge was lined with students, wives, and faculty working hard at doing nothing and watching the ice float by under the bridge. Over towards town the road was filled with students walking aimlessly along in search of free maple sugar.
The fact that the two topics presented above are comparatively trivial in nature does not mean that they are unimportant. By far the majority of the students in college now have recently returned from the armed forces, and it is no accident that eating and weather are the most important subjects on their minds. Walking around campus and talking to groups of students here and there, we have come to the conclusion that the average person is well aware that plenty needs to be done outside, and that externally and internally the nation needs a boost, but for a few weeks at least they are not going to consider these things 24 hours a day. We have read articles in many of the leading magazines which state that the veteran is interested only in topics of great importance, and can no longer tolerate the "child-like pastimes of pre-war days." We disagree with this statement. The average veteran at Dartmouth is more interested, first, in getting good marks, and second, in enjoying himself, than he is in bringing about any radical reforms, and we have yet to meet the student who can no longer enjoy college because he is a veteran
Dartmouth itself is getting more and more back into its pre-war condition. The biggest step back, at least the most evident, was the return of The Dartmouth to the campus. Three days before the first issue appeared the campus trees and buildings were plastered with signs reading "TheDartmouth needs you." Other posters tacked up in every dormitory proclaimed to those at large that, "for a mere twenty hours a day of hard work you can be assured of a position as heeler." The first issue was reminiscent of the old paper. Measuring six columns in width instead of the five the wartime Dartmouth Log used, it appears more like a regular newspaper. By far the greatest advantage to The Dartmouth are daily Associated Press releases. With the addition of the comic strip "Terry and the Pirates," as in the early 1940's, its success would be assured. At the present time The Dartmouth is published only three times a week, although by next fall it expects to get back to daily distribution. Starting out piously, with no axes to grind, and finding fault with no one, it has created no furore as yet. The first two issues in fact were editorially filled with pleas for support. Once its feet are firmly planted, however, the long-awaited blasting will probably start in again.
Among other publications, Jack-o-Lantern, and Dartmouth Out-o-Doors are expected to start up again this semester, undoubtedly bringing the hawkers back to work again. One of our first memories of college concerns the supersalesman who easily sold us a year's subscription to TheDartmouth, Jack-o, Pictorial, Out-o-Doors, one freshman hat, and the two radiators in the room, before we were even unpacked. The publications came in handy, and we made a profit on the radiators, selling them for twice as much the next year.
The start of the semester found the fraternities open and the old members hard at work scrubbing down the accumulated dirt of three years. Long before the opening date many of the houses had cleaning women and janitors working on the floors and walls of the rooms. It took more than their combined efforts in many cases and the work is still going on. Two houses were unable to open, thus reducing the number to two locals and eighteen nationals. The rushing period is to be three days long, the last weekend in March. The College has stated that it will allow room contracts to be broken after rushing in order to give each house ten men in residence. In many cases it is necessary to get ten men to live in the house in order to break even on finances. With only twelve men at most, and the average nearer five men to a house, the majority are hard put to keep going. For this reason rushing is doubly important this year. Not only are men needed to keep the continuity of membership unbroken, but the money that they will contribute is also urgently needed.
Fraternity pledging and rushing have always been a subject of considerable comment. It seems strange to spend three days telling a person how wonderful your house is, how overwhelmingly happy you will be if only he will condescend to honor you by his presence, how for three days you do everything under the sun for him, and then, suddenly, he's the lowest thing on earth, and the car has merely become the object of a daily waxing job—after he's finished everything else that needs to be done. It is easy to see that the pre-rushing period is going on at the present time. Fraternity pins are prominently displayed, people that never spoke before are going around banging freshmen on the back and giving out free cigarettes, and Tanzis is overwhelmed with orders for kegs. Next week we go into the post-rushing period, and it is possible to visualize the immediate change the weekend will bring.
The reopening of the fraternities has helped to alleviate one sore spot: the housing situation. The houses will provide rooms for at least 300 students, thus assuring that many veterans admission. At the present time the prefabricated houses and other units have not been completed and the married men's dorms have been increased by the addition of Lord Hall. This was a complete about-face for Lord, for last semester it was occupied by the Marines and now babies are heard at all hours giving vent to their feelings on collegiate life. Contrary to all the parental objections that we have heard of in times past, it appears that marriage and babies are more of a help in college than a hind- rance. The Dartmouth reported last week that the married students' scholastic average was far above the bachelors'. Whereas the College average is usually 2.4 the married students averaged 3.0 with a sprinkling of 4.0's for good measure.
A CONCENTRATION OF EDITORIAL POWER, present and past, took place at the reunion party stagedby The Dartmouth on March 16 to mark the revival of the college newspaper. Six editors-in-chief in thefront row are Jerry Tallmer '42, present editor; Junius Hoffman '44, Donald C. Bennink '15, Ernest M.Hopkins '01; Francis H. Horan '22, and John M. Clark '32. In the back row are Mel Wax '40, formersports editor; Alexander Fanelli '42, present managing editor; James L. Farley '42, former sports editor;Proctor H. Page Jr. '42, former sports editor; Richard E. Barkhorn '43, former technical editor; Donald M.Davidson '44, former managing editor; Richard N. Tarlow '44, former business manager; and Richard E.Glendinning Jr. '40, former editorial chairman.
