Spot Poll

Following the unearthing of two time capsules from the rubble of the old Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, we asked undergraduates:

If the cornerstone for the new library were being laid today, what artifact should be included?

Responses covered quite a range. James Brennan '96 recommended "something from a Mac... a hard disk or a mouse." Freshman juan Cisneros's idea was a compact disk and player to remind us "how 'advanced' we once thought we were." Classmate Michelle Gregg would put in a book of postage stamps "because I have a feeling that they will become obsolete, what with metered mail, fax machines, and the Internet."

Kirby Cook '98 submitted this eclectic list: "A student ID card, a list of Hopkins Center movies, a Sports Weekly, a 'D', a Dartmouth Review, a Macintosh computer."

"For demographic reasons, to emphasize the role women play today [and] to emphasize ethnic diversity as well," Sara Burch '98 wants to include a big photo of the class of 1999. Abby Cohen '97 would agree. She emailed: "Include one of every poster hung on college-sponsored bulletin boards to show the diversity of Dartmouth students' interests and to reflect the issues which merit discussion at the College right now."

Should we be surprised that we received only a handful of responses suggesting artistic artifacts? One, from Emily Chen '97, suggests a painting by James McNeil Whisder, for a very specific reason: "Whisder was able to unify Impressionism with japonisme, a bringing together of.. .East and West. In today's diverse world.. .we must learn to understand and appreciate other cultures."

it's less clear why Michael Ferchak '99 wants us to include the Beastie Boys III Communication album, but he is sure "you just can't leave it out." Soon-to-bean-alumß.Jeffery Bell '96 came right to the point. "A copy of the Alumni Magazine," said Bell, "because it is an artifact."

Hmmm.

WILL TO EXCEL UPDATE GOAL: $500 MILLION CAMPAIGN ENDS OCTOBER 7, 1996 TIME LEFT AMOUNT TO RAISE: 8 30 MONTHS MILLION FIGURES CURRENT AS OF JANUARY 30, 1996