Different at Dartmouth

Anew survey of college freshmen by the American Council on Education and U.C.L.A. reveals a growing disinterest in the political and civil scene. Students reported decade lows in "keeping up with political affairs," "striving to improve the environment," and "helping to promote racial understanding."

Dartmouth's dean of first-year students Peter Goldsmith says that Dartmouth students differ from the national average. "Dartmouth's engagement is at a level more like similar institutions and even compared with similar institutions, the engagement of Dartmouth students in the class of 2001 is consistently higher," says Goldsmith.

On the importance of keeping up with politics, Dartmouth students rated twice the national average of 26 percent. Members of Dartmouth's class of 2001 were around 20 percent more likely to have participated in community service activities than their nationwide counterparts (73.1 percent), and did so at a rate higher than that of the class of 2000.

Goldsmith believes the Survey offers a snapshot of the student body at the moment of matriculation, which can later provide a baseline for comparison to students' views as they leave the College. However, the dean believes that the attitudes of students on the issues of the day tend to change as the general population's does slowly. "I wouldn't put a great deal of stock in what appear to be national trends and student attitudes," Goldsmith says, "though it is mildly interesting to consider how the national average fluxes from year to year."