The Dartmouth Observer |
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Commentary on politics, history, culture, and literature by two Dartmouth graduates
WHO WE ARE Chien Wen Kung graduated from Dartmouth College in 2004 and majored in History and English. He is currently a civil servant in Singapore. Someday, he hopes to pursue a PhD in History. John Stevenson graduated from Dartmouth College in 2005 with a BA in Government and War and Peace Studies. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He hopes to pursue a career in teaching and research. BLOGS/WEBSITES WE READ The American Scene Armavirumque Arts & Letters Daily Agenda Gap Stephen Bainbridge Jack Balkin Becker and Posner Belgravia Dispatch Belmont Club Black Prof Brown Daily Squeal Stuart Buck Cliopatria The Corner Crescat Sententia Crooked Timber Demosthenes Daniel Drezner Dartlog Free Dartmouth Galley Slaves Victor Davis Hanson Hit and Run Instapundit James Joyner Mickey Kaus Martin Kramer The Little Green Blog Left2Right Lenin's Tomb Joe Malchow Josh Marshall Erin O'Connor OxBlog Pejman Yousefzadeh Bradford Plumer Political Theory Daily Info Virginia Postrel Andrew Samwick Right Reason Andrew Seal Roger L. Simon Andrew Sullivan Supreme Court Blog Tapped Tech Central Station Michael Totten UChicago Law Faculty Blog The Valve Vodkapundit Volokh Conspiracy Washington Monthly Winds of Change Matthew Yglesias ARCHIVES BOOKS WE'RE READING CW's Books John's Books STUFF Site Feed |
Monday, June 27, 2005
Me, rapacious by nature? Chris Bateman of the Little Green Blog has a (provocatively-titled) piece on blogs in the Free Press's Commencement issue. While rather unkind to Joe Malchow, he does compliment this blog for having "provided thoughtful center-right commentary for years now." Thanks for that, Chris -- although I'm not sure that I "revel in colonizing" and consider myself "rapacious by nature"! (I can't speak for John here. He has mentioned wanting to be President, after all. Do a DND search for him to see what I mean.) The blog was also a quite different (and more rumbustious) place in its earlier years, when others of a more liberal stripe blogged more frequently, and when I perhaps held certain opinions rather more strongly than I do now. Dartobserver might change even further in the future once John returns from his lengthy hiatus and starts graduate school at Chicago. Well, that was nice I was back at Dartmouth for Commencement and had an excellent time catching up with friends and professors. And my, was the weather freaky. The first day I got in, it rained like I'd never seen it rain before in all my years in Hanover. Then it got quite hot, as if I'd never left Singapore. And finally, just before I left, the temperature suddenly plunged from 90 to 50, rendering my sandals rather ineffectual against the surprise cold. Still, a great trip: there's nothing quite like returning to your alma mater for the first time after graduating. Wednesday, June 08, 2005
The Review's Western Culture Survey The Review surveyed 242 Dartmouth students and found them to be "generally unfamiliar with Western culture," or so says Nat at Dartlog. At Armavirumque, Stefan reveals a few of the funnier answers to the survey questions. Meanwhile, a loony right-winger by the name of Thomas Brewton has decided, based on the survey, that "Dartmouth apparently is failing to impart an understanding of the culture and tradition that constitute our unwritten constitution." This same person believes that "socialism was unconstitutionally established as the official national religion of the United States in 1933" and that our understanding of Western culture since 1960 has been 'nailed tightly shut...by the forces of the liberal-socialist jihad." Of course! Just a few thoughts:
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Diversity's Rhetoric Don Herzog of Left2Right has a smart and sane critique of the University of Oregon's new and absurd Five Year Diversity Plan. Like its more famous predecessor, Oregon's plan sets itself some pretty "lofty" goals. The university will Require that all requests for new tenure-track searches include an explanation of how the new hire furthers the unit's long-term hiring plan (and therefore meets some aspect of the University’s affirmative action, equity or diversity goals). If a unit believes that a particular hire, by its nature, cannot address these priorities, it needs to provide a rationale for such a claim.Not only that, but tenure and pay are to be based in part on "demonstrable commitment to cultural competency." What? Can someone please explain how one measures "demonstrable commitment"? What is "cultural competency"? |