The Undergraduate Chair

It is the intent and purpose of The Undergraduate Chair to acquaint alumni with thoughts and concerns of present students at Dartmouth. Thus, with an eye and ear to making campus discussion more comprehensible, an interpretation of undergraduate vernacular at Dartmouth is herewith presented.

Central to one's understanding of the terminology is "basic" which is often confused with a computer language by the same name. In fact, President Kemeny's brainchild is not an acronym at all but was titled after the adjective, basic, which students apply to all entities of the College. That is, your basic dart-coll experience begins when you enter as a basic freshman weenie. All else follows from there. Dart-coll weenie?

Yes, although "Dartmouth College" may sound lyrical to the ear and sentimental to the heart, it is nonetheless quite a mouthful and has thus been streamlined. A weenie is a person who books (self-, explanatory) and books and books and books, usually at the '02 Room located in the Libes. A creeping weenie is a weenie who books on weekends or other uncalledfor times and who claims he/she will receive a 'Mine or a 'Plu but does in fact Ace every single course, gut or not.

According to the dart-coll grading system, an ace is best, B is fine, a 'Plu (C+) is next, then a 'Mine (C—), and then a D. Below that comes "Flagrant Neglect" which is known as "flagging a course," similar in grammar and usage to flagging a car—both the student and motorist are usually in trouble.

"On Academic Pro" does not mean a subsidized weenie, rather a student who has collected one too many flags and is on academic probation.

A gut is a course which requires little work so one can Punt and Rage all term and still receive an A. Introductory courses are usually the best candidates for guts; such as Stars I (Astronomy), Rocks I (Geology), God I (Religion), etc.

Punting and Raging lead the discussion to extracurricular activities; the former being a general procrastination over academic assignments, the latter a calculated debauchery as only dart-coll students know how. This often entails brew at the Hou' with the Bro' or a chip-keg in the dorm with friends. In either case, the frat or dormitory is then "on tap," not to be mistaken with "under the tap" which is where one places one's mug (either glass or flesh) not to be mistaken with "over the tap" which is where one slumps after a good rage.

At this point the student is quaffed or 'faced so he/she collapses with an S.E.G. stuck on his/her face. S.E.G. means S--- Eating Grin which is also the derivation of s - - - faced. (Has Dartmouth indeed changed so much with the new relevance?) However, if the student is truly "Hard-core," then the student will continue consuming brew until he/she "boots" (a common locution for expurgating the upper alimentary canal).

Another common means of punting is to leave campus or roadtrip (noun or verb) to another campus, usually a women's college prior to the full realization of coeducation. A roadtrip always ends in one of three resolutions: (1) the roadtripper is "shutout" and does not meet a person of the opposite sex; (2) the roadtripper meets unfortunate circumstances and becomes "roadmeat" returning to Hanover to convalesce in Dick's House with injured skiers; (3) the roadtripper "scores" which means, quite innocently, to meet a compatible person of the opposite sex.

In this last case, the student enters Fat City which is to say he/she is "golden" which means, very plainly, the world looks rosy.

Outside of these student affairs, the College operates through the cooperative efforts of B&G Men, the employees of the Buildings and Grounds Department; Green Coats, the student managers of the Dartmouth Dining Association, who coincidentally wear Green Coats; Blue Ladies, ladies dressed in blue who serve Mystery Meat at Thayer Dining Hall; and inevitably the Campus Po' who guard the College under the Proctor's careful direction.

This modest description has doubtless overlooked much pertinent nomenclature of the Dartmouth Community, as well as ancient and obvious terms like The D, The Row, The Hop. New words enter the vocabulary each year, soon to be replaced by other conventions, just as a new class of freshpersons arrives each fall. Some terms retain old meanings while earning new ones.

"To jock" remains, as always, to participate in athletic activity. But this is not to be confused with Math-jock, Physicsjock, or French-jock which signify a person with expertise in a specific area, such as you, dear reader, who are now a dartcoll jock.

Won Chung '73 (left) with his winningCarnival poster showing the Jabberwockencountered by Alice in Through theLooking Glass." With him is George D.Ritcheske '73, chairman of Carnival.