With the D.O.C.

AFTER many years, the Dartmouth Winter Carnival has finally become an all-College weekend in practice as well as in theory. By this I mean that the entire College is involved, instead of a few separate, independent organizations such as the Outing Club and the DCAC. And since the new setup involves marked changes in the Outing Club's part in Winter Carnival, many alumni will doubtless be interested in hearing about it.

Winter Carnival has become more than just another College weekend. During the years since its inception it has grown into an institution, a tradition known far beyond the environs of Hanover. But as Carnival grew bigger and bigger each year, more problems arose, problems which were increasingly difficult to handle within the limited framework of the Outing Club. Along with this, an undermining apathy was developing among the students, manifesting itself particularly in an almost complete disappearance of student labor from such last-minute projects as the center-of-campus statue and the Outdoor Evening set. Too few people were doing too much, while all the others enjoyed the weekend without contributing to it. It was decided that this state of affairs was at least partially due to the fact that the DOC, as would be the case with any independent campus organization, lacked the ability to draw full student participation, whereas an all-Col-lege effort might solve the problem.

And so a change has been made. Last spring President Dickey, realizing the necessity of a change, asked the Secretary of the College to call a meeting of the people then concerned with the operation of Carnival. The overall situation was discussed, and all agreed upon the need of distributing the total burden more equitably. An executive sub-committee was formed to make recommendations for the 1957 Carnival.

This committee, with Secretary of the College Sidney C. Hayward as chairman, was composed of John Rand '38, executive director of the DOC; Assistant to the President Thomas E. O'Connell '50; Associate Dean Arthur Kiendl '44, and Assistant to the Dean David Edson '52. It met during the summer months and came up with a new organizational plan for carrying out the activities of Carnival.

To put the new plan into motion, President Dickey called a meeting of Palaeopitus and Outing Club representatives. After the plan was discussed, the President gave the responsibility for Winter Carnival to Palaeopitus, with the request that it reorganize and sponsor the weekend.

What has changed? What is so different? To begin with, the heads of six committees were chosen from among the various organizations and the student body at large; these constitute the Winter Carnival Board. The committees are as follows: Outing Club, Special Events, Feeding and Traffic, Fraternity Activities, Dormitory Activities, and Public Relations. All these are coordinated by a president, chosen by Palaeopitus. Each committee has an advisory office; the Secretary's Office, for instance, is headquarters for the public relations committee, as is the Dean's Office for fraternity activities.

But there is more to it than just organization. The main point is that the whole College is brought officially into the picture. The Outing Club and the other groups have their separate responsibilities, and these are coordinated by the Carnival president. Scheduling, traffic problems, eating problems, and publicity snags will be solved before they become serious.

So far, the new system seems headed for success. Everyone benefits by the mutual cooperation and the common knowledge of Carnival functions which the new Board is able to provide. Until this time, the only organized group that knew a great deal about Winter Carnival was the Outing Club. With representation on the Winter Carnival Board, the DOC Carnival Division is giving its full support to the new plan and is contributing the knowledge gained through decades of directing Winter Carnival as a completely DOC function. We are confident that our efforts, combined with those of such organizations as Palaeopitus and the Sophomore Orientation Committee, will inspire the cooperation of all Dartmouth undergraduates in making Winter Carnival truly an all-Col-lege tradition.

Carnival Chairman, DOC