The Undergraduate Chair

ONE day early in the spring term I went as usual to the snack bar in the Hopkins Center for my breakfast. Lying on one of the round yellow tables was a dittoed sheet entitled NEWSLETTER which advised in capital letters at the top of the page, "PLEASE KEEP THIS AND READ IT —THEN GIVE IT TO A FRIEND." The newsletter then explained itself:

This is the first issue of what will hopefully be a regular edition of a clearing house for ideas of interest to the people of the Upper Valley. The purpose of this venture is threefold:

(1) To keep the Upper Valley community informed as to actions that are planned, actions that are happening, and actions that need to happen.

(1) To provide a means whereby ANYONE with ANY IDEA for a rally, a meeting, a protest or any other type of action that is even vaguely radical (i.e. concerning the war, racism, women's lib, ecology, etc.) can have his idea publicized and ask for support or suggestions....

(3) To put people in touch with each other who are being "screwed by the system" (e.g. ROTC, CCSC, Deans, Housing, Town Police, etc.) for the purpose of united action.

We feel that the above are communication needs which are not being met by the "fastest growing corporation at Dartmouth" (WDCR), "the oldest college newspaper in America," or any of the other newspapers in the Upper Valley.

The Newsletter went on to list various events of interest to its potential readers. The letter, of course, is right in asserting that neither WDCR nor The Dartmouth meets the kind of communication needs which its authors are describing. Those needs are the needs of a proportionately small group of people. While these needs are not totally ignored by those in Robinson Hall, they do not assume the urgency in the minds of the Directors of WDCR and The Dartmouth that they do in the minds of a significant group of students at Dartmouth who, in the cliches of the times, could very roughly be described as "radical," or "alienated," or on the "left."

For those who are repelled by the evident paranoia of the letter it is well to remember that for the people for whom the letter was intended the views expressed - as well as the accompanying paranoia - are very real; just as real as some people's fear of these same people. It should also be noted that while the letter will be ignored by the large majority of students at Dartmouth, many of those same students sympathize with one or another of the views represented in the letter, although they do not show their feelings overtly. Finally, it must be recognized that a large number of students here have little sympathy with the views in the letter.

Towards the end of the letter appeared this paragraph:

DO YOU KNOW (or think you know) WHO THE CAMPUS NARCS ARE? We think their names should be made public since there are so many people who would like to thank them for their good work.

Drugs have become at Dartmouth, as they have in virtually every college and university in the country, a permanent aspect of the institution. In the spring of 1968 Dartmouth published a "Policy Statement on Drug Use." The statement reviewed the legal aspects of drug use and went on to describe the "in house" policy of the College.

In view of the extra-legal issues which concern the College, hearsay information will be the basis of certain kinds of action. First, although the Dean of the College will treat reports as confidential, he will relay to the student involved the nature of the report, along with a warning of the potential risks involved. Second, when information about the same student comes repeatedly and from several sources, and if after discussing the matter with the student there is, in the Dean's judgment, a compelling reason to suspect that the student is involved in one or more instances of drug abuse, the Dean will confront the student with the nature and extent of the information and offer the following alternative; either the student may resign from the College, or the Dean will be required to transmit the information to an appropriate law enforcement agency with the understanding that the College will cooperate fully with an investigation. If he elects to resign, the reasons for his resignation will remain confidential. If he elects not to resign and the information is transmitted to an agency, he may continue on the College roster, and his future status at the College will be determined by the outcome of any investigation, hearing, or trial in the manner previously described. Under this option the College will be obliged to inform the parents or legal guardian about the events which have led to the student's predicament.

Clearly this policy is no longer workable. First, it potentially places the Dean in the role of helping to prosecute his own students. Second, it virtually forces the resignation of a student on hearsay evidence. Even if a student were not guilty he might resign to avoid the embarrassment of an investigation. Third, the College ultimately must come to terms with an ongoing use of drugs on the campus. Finally, the policy described above erects a wall of paranoia between the students and the Dean's office. Those who use drugs (used loosely here as anything from marijuana to heroin) live in perpetual fear of being caught and convicted or thrown out of school. The paranoia associated with the present drug policy effectively cuts off meaningful communication between the Dean's office and perhaps as much as 20% of the student body. This is not only unhealthy for the students but for the institution itself.

The present drug policy has been under considerable discussion within the administration. In the context of that discussion a set of views has been presented which places the use of drugs at Dartmouth in a much more realistic perspective. That view goes something like this.

• It is impossible and unworkable for the College administration to act only in the role of a policeman to its students. The present policy has had no effect on reducing drug use and yet it has severely strained the relationship between the administration and many students. In place of the present policy, the College should make it clear that the use of drugs at Dartmouth will be met with Medical advice and counseling rather than the repressive tactics of discipline. At the present time students can get help anonymously at Dick's House. The relationship between doctor and patient is a privileged one and it is a violation of medical ethics for a doctor to reveal to anyone, including the Dean's office as well as local, state and federal agents, information which has been given to him in confidence. However, the problems associated with drug use often require more than medical assistance. Many students need patient and sympathetic counseling and often that counseling can best be offered by a Dean who, knowing more about the student than just his medical history, can offer advice in a broader context. The present drug policy requiring the Deans to issue warnings and threaten drug-users makes anonymous, sympathetic and effective counseling impossible.

• The Deans should be in a position to recommend medical help to students who need it, to offer comfort to those who are scared, and even to spend hours in a student's room helping him come down from a bad high if that becomes necessary. Drug use will never be curtailed by harsh discipline because in many cases the paranoia created by the fear of discipline contributes to the very tension which encourages drug use. For the many students who use marijuana and lead a normal existence, fear of being caught does not drive them to use more drugs but it does, as was pointed out, alienate them from the authorities with the power to punish.

• College policy with respect to the "pushing" or sale of drugs should be an entirely separate matter, according to the view being presented within the administration. The College cannot afford to actively police drug sellers, but when overwhelming evidence that a student is conducting a drug business is broughtto college officials there is no choice but to act quickly and severely, even to the extent of immediate separation from the College.

The view which has been presented in administration discussions and which I have attempted to present here deals with drug use in a much more humane and probably more effective fashion than the existing policy. It at least makes possible a greater sense of trust within the College community, and it regards drug use not as a legal problem but as a medical and personal problem as it properly should be. One would hope that as the discussions of a revised drug policy proceed within the administration, it is this view which will ultimately prevail.

WITH the opening of the spring term several broad changes at Dartmouth seem to be fairly sure bets. In his monthly press conference President Kemeny implied it was "no longer whether but how" Dartmouth would go coeducational. The Trustees Study Committee on Coeducation is in the process of making a survey of student, faculty and alumni opinion on the issue. Some form of community government will be developed in the next year probably in conjunction with the reorganization of the four faculties into one faculty.

The Dartmouth Outing Club is in the process of a reorganization originally prompted by former President Dickey. Under the new plan, Jim Schwedland, education officer of the DOC, is leaving and the Outing Club is looking for another man to fill a newly designed position on its professional staff. In the time he has been here Schwedland has contributed in a very unique way to those in the Outing Club and to those who may have happened to pass through his domain in the basement of Robinson Hall. When his departure was announced, a letter to TheDartmouth made special note of his contribution. "Schwedland is one of those rare individuals who can and is willing to teach on a personal level, unseen and unthanked, but obtaining his rewards from the knowledge that those he has helped are better men and that they, if no one else, do appreciate this."

The Cutter-North experiment has run its course and Cutter Hall next year will become the Afro-American Center with offices for the Black Studies program. A proposed "residential college" in the Choate Road dormitories also is in the works for next fall. Originally proposed to combine Foley House with the four Choate Road dorms and an independent eating facility, the "college" will be started on a more limited basis due largely to a lack of funds. Special programs including speakers, seminars, concerts, colloquia, art exhibits, and experimental theater are being planned for the residential college which includes Cohen Hall, the dorm housing Dartmouth's 75 women exchange students. Obviously designed with the residential colleges at Harvard and Yale in mind, the Choate experiment seems to some to be a halfway attempt doomed to failure because of a lack of money and because of the atrocious physical plant on Choate Road. If it is successful the Choate experiment will succeed because of enormous effort on the part of the students.

A memo sent from the President's office on April 7 proposed to all faculty members an experiment for direct discussions between faculty and students. Mr. Kemeny proposed that one class in each course be devoted to a discussion of the relationship between faculty and students both inside and outside the classroom. He asked that the results of the discussions be sent to his office where they could be summarized and then circulated throughout the College. President Kemeny acknowledged that the effort was an experiment. "Frankly ... I don't know how well it will work," he stated in his memo. Neither does anybody else, but it is worth a try.

On April 15, income tax day, the campus witnessed an anti-war protest and denunciation of military spending. Placardsquoting Thoreau were prominent, music instructor Don Cherry (l) led a program of peace music, and a guerilla theater production (r) in the center of campus portrayed the life of a young man shipped home as one of the war dead.

On April 15, income tax day, the campus witnessed an anti-war protest and denunciation of military spending. Placardsquoting Thoreau were prominent, music instructor Don Cherry (l) led a program of peace music, and a guerilla theater production (r) in the center of campus portrayed the life of a young man shipped home as one of the war dead.