We asked 53 students: "Would You Send Your Child to Dartmouth?"

SIXTY PERCENT OF the students we asked said they would encourage their children to attend the College. Twenty percent said personal experience and pessimism about Dartmouth's future would deter them from sending legacies. Another 20 percent disputed the idea of "sending" their children anywhere, saying only their kids can make that decision.

The high positive response is hardly surprising at a school that ranked first in a U.S. News & World Report survey on student satisfaction. But when students thought about the Dartmouth of the next generation, the replies were mixed. "I would like to send my children to Dartmouth if the status of women improves substantially," said Kathryn Calkins '92. "Nearly all social life on the campus is centered around male territory and male traditions, and men in coed graduating classes still sing 'Men of Dartmouth.'"

Jessica Cormier '94 said: "I'll send them here if they want to go to school here. Why? Because it's safe and challenging and friendly."

"Sure, why not?" added Chris Johnson '94. "Unless, of course, they're dumb."

Douglas R. Johnston '93 was less sanguine about Dartmouth's future. "If, by the time my children are ready for college, Dartmouth has become the second-rate research university it seems to be heading for, I think I would rather have them go somewhere else," he said, criticizing the school's construction plans.

On the other hand, Brandon L. Hudgeons '94 said: "My children will go to Dartmouth even if the administration burns it down for insurance and I have to teach classes myself."