Alternative Papers

Many students subscribe to TheDartmouth, guaranteeing themselves mail five times a week, but once a term they all receive another publication, Open Forum, a feminist paper, and twice a term they are given copies of Black Praxis, a paper that addresses issues affecting the black community. Both papers try to fill a gap for minority groups on campus.

On the surface, both Black Praxis and Open Forum resemble The Dartmouth they are printed on the same press and generally run eight pages. Banner headlines distinguish the alternative papers, however, and although their inside pages contain the usual editorials, features, news, letters, poetry, and graphics, there are no advertisements. Funded by the Committee on Student Organizations, Black Praxis is sponsored by the Afro-American Society, while Open Forum, also funded by COSO, is a venture of the Dartmouth Women's Alliance.

The names reflect editorial goals. Praxis, a Latin term, means reflection upon the world in order to change it a merging of thought and action. Marcia McNair 'BO, in her second year as editor, talked about the changing direction of the paper, which she said has become less news-oriented than it once was. Recent issues have focused on general themes Africa, student unrest, black history, and black women. McNair depends on black students for articles, believing that if they write for publication at all, "their first responsibility is to the Praxis." She said the paper is sent to minority students at other campuses and is distributed at Dartmouth in an attempt to serve the black community and raise white awareness of minority concerns. She also said that the paper's editorial policy remains independent of the society.

Open Forum, according to Mary Klages '80, a staff member, is just what it claims to be "an open forum for the discussion of events of importance to the entire college community, with a focus on women." Operating as a collective, its organization embodies values of the feminist movement, she said. There are no editors, and no one is in a position of control. Klages, who has worked on the paper for the past four years, praised the structure, and added that she had been "alienated by the hierarchy of The D Like Praxis, Open Forum aims to be more than a newspaper. "Anyone, male or female, who wants to say something can," Klages explained. "What gets expressed is the opinion of anyone who sits down and writes it."

Both McNair and Klages claim that TheDartmouth neglects coverage of minority issues and events. "They do not even know what's going here, and they haven't made an effort to find out," McNair argued. The excuse, she» said, has been that black writers don't volunteer to work for The D. Klages, who was a Dartmouth reporter her first year here, claimed that the paper "shows a bias, which it refuses to acknowledge, in what it chooses to cover." And in addition to biased coverage, she said, some women have found articles and cartoons in the student paper offensive, a criticism forcibly argued in Open Forum's fall issue.

Open Forum goes to all students on campus and is "designed to make people think," Klages said. It frequently ends up in the trash, however, and many students complain about its "negative tone," "bitterness," and "lack of constructive comments." A recent Dartmouth editorial questioned the wisdom in funding it.

There seems to be a gap between the feminists' intent and many students' perception of their efforts. "I'd like to think of the paper as a concrete way of saying we care about how women and men interact and study together on this campus," Klages noted, pointing out that it represents a whole range of opinions, reflecting the range of feminist attitudes here. A variety of women's groups is asked to contribute, and only the main editorial is approved by the sponsoring Dartmouth Women's Alliance. "I think Open Forum will always have to reflect the changing character of the DWA," she added, "and the changing character of the Dartmouth community."

Henry Eberhardt 61 (third from left) was named executive director of the AlumniFund in November him are the five Sectors in the Fund lineage dating to1946. Clifford Jordan 45, Charles Breed '51, Josiah Stevenson '57, Nichol Sandoe Jr. 45, and George Colton '35. In their time the Fund raised $63 million.