VOL. CLXXII NO. 1
MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2016
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Tate Ramsden ’17 remembered for compassion
CLOUDY HIGH 21 LOW 0
SPORTS
WOMENS BASKETBALL RECAP SW 2
HOCKEY WINS IN LEDYARD CLASSIC SW 3
OPINION
OPINION ASKS: VOTING IN NH PRIMARY PAGE 4
ARTS
FILM REVIEW: THE FORCE AWAKENS PAGE 7
PREVIEW: A LOOK AHEAD AT THE HOP PAGE 8
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2016 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
COURTESY OF REILLY JOHNSON
Tate Ramsden ’17 with Reilly Johnson ’16, who he had been dating for a year.
B y Katie RAFTER The Dartmouth Staff
Tate Ramsden ’17 always showed up to the pool with a smile on his face, Doug Wharam recalls. His former coach at the Nashville Aquatic Center, Wharam described Ramsden as an amazing and versatile athlete
whose kindness and compassion was always present. Ramsden passed away on Dec. 27 in Sarasota, Fl. while swimming on vacation with his family. He was 21. The Associated Press reported that he may have been attempting to swim four laps across a pool without coming up for air. He
was pronounced dead after lifeguards and emergency medical personnel were unable to revive him. An autopsy is pending to determine the cause of death, the AP reported. A dedicated swimmer and talented student who swam for the College’s varsity team, friends and family also recalled
Sigma Delt to start “shake-out” this term
B y The Dartmouth
Senior Staff
Sigma Delta sorority will begin a “shake-out” process to recruit potential new members for the winter term and beyond. The sorority will no longer participate in formal recruitment, according to a Monday morning email announcement by the Pan-Hellenic Council stated. PNMs will be allowed to both participate in formal recruitment and shake-out at Sigma Delt and Episilon
Kappa Theta sorority, which moved exclusively to shakeouts in the fall of 2014. Sigma Delt will extend between 10 and 20 bids to women through the process this term. Bids can be accepted or declined by PNMs until 10 p.m. on preference night, Jan. 19, at which point they must drop out of formal recruitment if they wish to accept a Sigma Delt bid. Sigma Delt will hold their shake-out process in coordination with Theta’s schedule. The statement released by Sigma Delt highlighted
four key points in their rationale for switching to a shake-out process. These included criticisms of Panhell’s current recruitment process including alleged lack of agency for PNMs, bias against “shy and introverted personalities” and bias towards PNMs who already know affiliated women. Sigma Delt believes that the shake-out process better aligns with its values as a local sorority, according to the statement. This is a developing story — it will be updated as more information is reported.
his authentic kindness and compassion. “Tate had a way of connecting with people to ensure that their day was just a little bit better,” Wharam said. “I heard stories from our younger athletes this week about Tate that I never knew - that he stayed late to make sure a parent showed up or struck up a conversation with a new athlete on the deck or in the weight room who looked like they needed a friendly face.” Jenn Verser, Ramsden’s former Dartmouth swimming and diving coach, said that she knew Ramsden was special when she met him during his first visit to the College, and that she knew immediately he was an athlete that she wanted to coach. “His concern for others above himself was constantly apparent and was one of the many attributes that made Tate an amazing influence and teammate,” Verser said. Dartmouth head coach of swimming Jim Wilson said Ramsden, who swam butterfly, the individual medley and some freestyle for the College, was a dedicated member of the team, as well as a talented and promis-
ing student. Wilson recalled how Ramsden flew from Puerto Rico during the team’s training trip in December for an interview with Morgan Stanley. “He was always willing to help anyone on the team, and always prepared with a good sense of humor,” Wilson said. Ramsden started swimming when he was one year old, following in the footsteps of his two older siblings, one of whom, Ashley, swam for Columbia University. “He grew up around the pool,” his mother Amy Ramsden said. Ramsden was recruited to Dartmouth for swimming and his mother said he was drawn to the College because of how friendly the people were when he visited. She recalled how proud he was when he scored points for Dartmouth at the Ivy League meet last year. Timo Vaimann ’17, a member of the swim team, said the juniors on the team felt like a family away from home and Ramsden was a big part of that family. SEE RAMSDEN PAGE 3
Administrators find MDF a success
B y EMILIA BALDWIN The Dartmouth Staff
This article is a part of our new culminating beat experience initiative, in which our beat reporters write longer-term investigative articles within their areas of expertise. The author is our Moving Dartmouth Forward beat reporter. Administrators involved with the development of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” policy initiative said at the end of the fall term that they feel satisfied with the progress of the plan so far. Provost Carolyn Dever said that she is proud to have taken
part in the initiative, which was announced last January by College President Phil Hanlon . She said that she feels the College has so far successfully achieved the goals of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” policy initiative. She noted that she has observed the beginnings of a campus transformation since the announcement. “The bigger vision for the transformation of this campus is to ensure the wellness and safety of our student body,” Dever said. Senior associate dean of student affairs Liz Agosto echoed Dever, noting that she believes the College has been quite effective in the early SEE MDF PAGE 2