LETTERS

House Arrest

In the spirit of delaying rash to the spring term of the sophomore year, here are some additional areas of concern which may benefit from trustee and administration police action:

1. Football games. Every year they draw large, enthusiastic crowds while other sports such as field hockey attract relatively few spectators. If freshmen were denied admission to football games, attendance at other sporting events would increase, and the problem of "rushing" the stands would be eliminated.

2. Rock and roll music. If freshmen were prohibited from listening to this they could develop an appreciation for more sophisticated musical forms. Also, the noise level in dormitories would decrease significantly, thus creating an environment more conductive to studying and intellectual reflection.

3. Dating. The ratio of males to females is about 60/40. There simply aren't enough women to go around. Why not require freshmen to explore alternative lifestyles such as celibacy?

4. Red meat. Enforcement of a vegetarian diet during the freshman and sophomore years would create a healthier student body.

Seattle, Washington

Harvardizing Dartmouth

The September issue had a theme that went something like this: "Everyone is sad to see the changes that are destroying the spirit of our school, but these changes are necessary if we are going to be like Harvard."

Surely the administration must appreciate what the alumni and even I, merely a former tuition-payer, know: that Dartmouth is special, unique. The test is not what percentage of high school students given the choice would pick Dartmouth over Harvard. The test is what percentage of graduates, if they had to do it over again, would pick a different school. I know a lot of graduates of both excellent schools and my guess is that Dartmouth would win that one.

Rochester, New York

Dartmouth's ranking among "national universities" is powerful evidence of our College's excellence, especially considering the limited emphasis on graduate programs and pure research. Our reputation is based on our commitment to undergraduate teaching. While I am proud of the quality of our graduate programs and absolutely support the principle of research's critical role in making a good teacher better, if one must become a full-blown university to achieve greater fame, I opt for obscure excellence.

Ridgewood, New Jersey

As the administration works to forcibly manipulate Dartmouth's soul by altering admissions policies (and devastating the fraternity system), perhaps it should pause to reflect. Is name recognition Dartmouth's goal? Who wants Dartmouth to be Harvard? Doesn't Dartmouth produce enough great leaders, scientists and writers?

Into whose mold are we, the Dartmouth family, trying to fit Dartmouth's soul?

Silver Spring, Maryland

Does Dartmouth really need and want to have a "world reputation and the best attributes of a major university," as suggested by Editor Jay Heinrichs? Or is it sufficient that Dartmouth continue to be a relatively small college where academic excellence, school spirit, good friends, and quality of college life are the ingredients of the Dartmouth experience?

The College should not act more like a university, stressing research and increasing the number of graduate degrees, as suggested by Trustee Michael Heyman. The primary purposes of Dartmouth College are not to raise funds, build new buildings, expand, and grow. Rather, its purpose is excellence in teaching and learning in a beautiful and peaceful environment. It should remain a high-quality teaching college with limited research and limited graduate courses.

The "debate about Dartmouth's soul" should be joined by all loyal and concerned alumni.

Atlanta, Georgia

Bleeding Vermonters

Anent the "Taxes" segment of September's story, "How to Come Back": With a $50,000 income a couple would pay $12,686 federal and state taxes in Vermont and $10,133 in New Hampshire. At $75,000 the difference is $4,322. Assuming a $250,000 home appraised for full value in Vermont and somewhat less in New Hampshire, there is probably nothing to gain between the two in that category. The same is likely true with automobiles. The difference, in toto, is not insignificant.

Vermont is moving rapidly toward more centralization, more complex (and larger) bureaucracies, and replication of all the costly governmental ills the flatlanders are fleeing. I am concerned that growth of government and its concomitant rapid growth in taxes, plus a redistribution ethos, will make living in Vermont too costly for all but the very affluent or the very modest.

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Review Disclaimer

Many alumni have apparently been misled by a mailing by the Dartmouth Review on October 1. Let me be unequivocally clear: I do not support the Review.

As chairman of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees, I consider all comments and concerns about the College to be important, especially those that are intended to be truly constructive and share our concern for the best interests of Dartmouth.

But, you might resent as deeply as I do what I suspect was a deliberate effort to mislead Dartmouth alumni, by creating the false impression that I support the Review or its fund-raising efforts.

Dartmouth College respects and upholds the rights of all in the community to voice differing views. I fervently hope the entire Dartmouth community will agree that the voices and expressions of difference in the future will be designed to promote a better College, not aim to tear it apart. In so doing, we will honor the Dartmouth spirit and tradition we all hold dear.

Chairman, Board of Trustees

Excluding Minorities

What does it mean when the Hopkins Institute advocates evaluating candidates on merits alone? The argument sounds great on the face of it, but its effect would be to exclude people of color and to perpetuate a system of privilege. Minority applicants would be denied admission, not because they are less capable of getting 700's on the SATs, but because they have not generally had the same kind of support for achieving in the area of learning.

Some alumni want to bring back the days when we could exclude minorities and not have to worry about being branded racists. Systematic exclusion is still racist; only the tactics and the rationalizations have changed.

Haydenville, Massachusetts

Save the Plan!

I do not view the Dartmouth Plan as the barrier to intellectual growth seen by its detractors who were quoted in the September issue. The Plan makes possible Dartmouth's outstanding foreign study opportunities, such as the program in tropical biology.

Participation in this program enabled me, and numerous othe students who have gone on to receive graduate degrees in biology, to experience the exuberance of life in the tropical rainforests, savannahs, and coral reefs. More than this, it gave us the chance to meet world-renowned ecologists and evolutionary biologists and to observe their field research firsthand, experiences that strongly influenced my own career choices. I can't imagine how a lengthened semester in Hanover could have provided me with any greater benefit.

Lake Placid, Florida

Back Off

I wish that the Hopkins Institute people would get off of President Freedman's back.

Beachwood, Ohio

Crisp Look

The Magazine seems much improved over years gone by. It's crisp and current. Congratulations.

New York City

Can the philosophy behind delayed rush be applied to rock and roll?