VOL. CLXXIII NO. 5
PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 37 LOW 28
FRIDAY, JANUARY 08, 2016
Lack of snow in Hanover slows down business
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Faculty letter supports student demands
By PauloMI RAO The Dartmouth Staff
SPORTS
DARTMOUTH RELAYS START THIS WEEKEND PAGE 8
OPINION
VERBUM: REWORKING RUSH PAGE 4
MIRROR
TTLG: THE EIGHT-YEAR DEGREE PAGE M6
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With temperatures reaching 69 degrees on Christmas Eve, the town of Hanover experienced a record-breaking warm December and holiday season. The unusually high temperatures — an effect of El Niño, where warm bands of ocean air hovered over the Upper Valley — caused local ski resorts to stay closed and the Connecticut River to remain unfrozen into January. The Dartmouth Skiway, home to the College’s varsity Nordic and Alpine ski teams, will remain closed until Jan. 9. The lack of snow and colder temperatures necessary for snowmaking were absent throughout December. Skiway manager Doug Holler said that the annual physical education ski instructors’ clinic was shifted to Ragged Mountain Resort in Danbury because none of the trails were open. “North country really depends on the tourism with the cold and snow,” Holler said. “This year, income for cold retailers and ski operators across the area will be hard.” This time last year, he added, snow had heavily covered Hanover and most ski resorts in the area were open. “As a ski place, we always hope for the best, but it’s going to be a very tough year for people who depend on the cold or snow,” Holler said. While the warm temperatures may be worrisome for businesses, Peter Kulbacki, Hanover’s director of public works, welcomed the belated arrival of winter. “The warm temperatures are helping out our winter SEE SNOW PAGE 3
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At the end of the fall term, prompted by the negative media attention received by the Black Lives Matter protest in Baker Berry Library, a group of Dartmouth faculty released a petition supporting student activism on campus. The petition calls on the College to follow other Ivy League institutions that have already made financial
commitments towards recruiting faculty and students of color. As of press time, the letter had been signed by 155 members of the College’s faculty and staff. A r t h i s t o r y p ro f e s s o r Mary Coffey, who helped draft the letter, said that the faculty group thought it was important to make a statement before a negative cycle started again at the beginning of the winter term. “We felt that it was urgent
that we draft something and circulate it for signatures before everyone dispersed because we felt at the end of the term there was a lot of negative publicity that was coming to the college as a consequence of some of the hyperbolic, exaggerated and sometimes fallacious claims that were being made about the Black Lives Matter solidarity protest and the attacks SEE LETTER PAGE 5
Josh Cetron ’16 named First-Year Trips director
DARTBEAT
WINTERIM WEEK BY WEEK
ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Students supporting the Black Lives Matter movment march through Baker Berry Library.
Josh Cetron ’16 and Anna Gabianelli ’16 will serve as the new director and assistant director for the 2016 Dartmouth Outing Club First Year Trips. Currently they are still working through the applications for the other directorate positions. While last year’s directorate emphasized community service, sustainability and
a diversified body of Trip leaders and Croo members, Cetron said that many of the changes the two hope to make will only come through after the full directorate is complete. “We definitely have our hopes and goals and ideals for trips this year, but we want that to be a consensus process that really is driven by the community and the directorate as a whole to come up with concrete changes and new ideas.”
Cetron said. The Trips directorate consists of approximately 20 students, including Cetron and Gabianelli. Typically the directors are chosen at the end of the fall by a search committee under the Dartmouth Outing Club and the Outdoor Programs Office. In the winter, the new director and assistant director choose the rest of the staff, which then creates the application for Trip leaders and Croo members, Cetron
said. At the end of winter, those applications are sent out to campus and are due shortly after spring break. In 2013, 284 Trip leaders 54 Croo members were selected from 707 and 249 applicants, respectively. In 2014, 282 Trip leaders and 64 Croos were chosen from pools of 618 and 200 applicants. In 2015, the number of applicants saw a slight decrease — 575 people applied to be Trip leaders while 154 applied
for Croo. Last year’s directorate emphasized outreach to recruit a diverse group of Trip leaders, hosting a number of information sessions for those potentially interested in volunteering for the program. Cetron emphasized that the selection process for Trip leaders will also attempt to eliminate biases. Applications are read blind by the members of the directorate. SEE TRIPS PAGE 2