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Volume 28, Issue 11 January 23, 2009 The Hanover Review, Inc. P.O. Box 343 Hanover, NH 03755

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—Special Book Review Issue— —MLK Jr Day Absurdities— —Forever Poor: Wright’s Tenure— —The Second Great Depression— — and much more— Page  The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009 Alexie Keys Off MLK Day Celebrations By Charles S. Dameron resolution among family and intimates without including the be remembered as titans of our history for having finally powerful role of humor in resolving conflicts in our personal secured for a huge swath Americans the full rights that ac- What can a college campus expect from an MLK Day lives. As mentioned above, Alexie was beautifully elegant company the special title of citizen of the United States. keynote speaker? Should the audience expect to be enter- and honest in his recollection of his father’s ability to wash Not that MLK Day is just about them; after all, we are tained? Hopefully. Should they leave with a better under- away hurt with humor. still not at the mountaintop. It will always be possible for us standing of King’s message, and its continuing importance Despite this, the overall message came up desperately short to climb higher. And at the risk of seeming (gasp!) earnest today? Absolutely. King once said, “an individual has not because of its inherent limitedness. Alexie’s over-reliance or serious, our keynote speaker could have gotten around started living until he can rise above the narrow confines on his comedic talent, while it established a rapport with to surveying the mountainside, and taken note for us of of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of the audience, proved ultimately to be a handicap in a set- some of our less fortunate fellow human beings around the all humanity.” ting that demanded more gravitas than Alexie was willing world, and in our own country, who live lives so marred by to submit. injustice that the vast majority of us here at Dartmouth can et Alexie, for all his wit, was unable to deliver One might suspect that the bulk of the scarcely begin to imagine it. what one should expect from this type of speech: student audience, when asked to name some- Less than two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times published Y thing specific about Alexie’s talk, would recall his an editorial about the persistent presence of international a motivating, central narrative that reminds us again declaration of sexual interest in various guys and slavery in the United States. Today, remarkably, in the of why we honor Dr. King’s life every January. girls seated in the front rows of the auditorium, twenty-first century, the Department of Justice estimates rather than what he had to say more broadly that slave trafficking is still flourishing to the tune of 14,000 about gay marriage. A mind as deft as Sherman to 17,000 people per year, who are forcibly brought into this On January 19, the Native American fiction writer and Alexie’s is certainly capable of finding a less ham-fisted and country as participants in the sex trade or just as ordinary, comic Sherman Alexie delivered the keynote address for more tactful way of making his point. old-fashioned manual laborers. this year’s MLK Day celebration at Dartmouth in Spauld- And what points could have been made! It’s rather Consider Shyima Hall, who was shipped to the United ing auditorium. Alexie was funny, certainly. He kept up a remarkable that in this world full of injustice, the injustices States at age ten to serve in the employ of a wealthy family fantastic patter, paced the Spaulding auditorium stage, and Alexie chose to highlight were often the most trivial, on a living in Irvine, California. Little Shyima slept in the garage engaged the crowd as well as any stand-up comic. day when we commemorate a most monumental judicial and stayed home scrubbing floors when she should have His talk even ascended into poignancy when he re- triumph. Carrying “the burdens of my people,” he seemed been at school. counted his father’s joking last words. There was Worldwide, the State Department esti- much to admire in his able description of the mates that something on the order of 800,000 bizarre contradictions and complexities of life on people are trafficked as slaves between interna- the reservation; it’s not for nothing that he has got tional borders each year, and this says nothing a National Book Award under his belt. Yet Alexie, of those many more who are trafficked within for all his wit, was unable to deliver what one should national borders. expect from this type of speech: a motivating, central That’s just one example. There are also the narrative that reminds us again of why we honor campaigns of government-organized violence Dr. King’s life every January. against groups of people whose only crime is The theme of this year’s celebration is “Get- their religious or ethnic identity. ting to the Mountaintop: Working through Conflict Darfur’s just the most recent and well-known toward Resolution,” an admirable message, to be iteration of this habit. Then there is the sys- sure. Since Alexie’s address was billed as the key- tematic oppression of women all across the note event of this celebration, one might reasonably Middle East and the practice of female genital expect that his speech would hew to that theme, mutilation throughout most parts of Africa. with variations for his well-reputed comic relief. And of course, there are the campaigns of Preceding remarks from President Wright violence which lack the imprimatur of govern- and Anna Bofa set the stage nicely by referencing ment backing, but which are no less harmful to the impending inauguration of Barack Obama as their victims, the most recent and spectacular president, and discussing at length the long distance example of which were the coordinated attacks toward resolution that America has traveled since in Bombay. King’s death in 1968. Although both took careful And this is merely a quick review of the best- note of the discrimination and inequality that still publicized instances of man-made injustice. exist both here and abroad, they also gave the audi- So, after considering just a few of the ence a chance to exult in the profound symbolism alternatives, the audience might ask how of an MLK celebration held on the eve of the first Alexie’s talk fits into the context of an unjust black president’s inauguration. world. One would be challenged to identify a Alexie would have none of it. Instead, he raised the definite message from Alexie other than the topic of Obama’s inauguration by promptly making following: keep your sense of humor sharp, fun of those who, like Wright and Bofa, could not and life’s conflicts will be eased. stop paying tribute to America’s big moment. He For an audience like Dartmouth’s, it’s quoted himself, drawing attention to a recent com- pretty good advice on a personal level. And for ment that appeared in the New York Times. Ezell Blair, David Richmond, Joseph McNeil “He’s [Obama] still a politician and I’m still and Franklin McCain, the four black North an Indian...they all look like treaty makers to me.” Carolinian college students who started the He jokingly elaborated on this comment, but the sit-in movement just forty eight years ago at underlying message was nevertheless deadly serious. a lunch counter in Greensboro, no doubt a Racial progress? What’s that? Obama’s still a part good dose of humor helped to alleviate their of the Establishment. Only The Man’s skin color —Sherman Alexie laughs at his own jokes— societal predicament. But it is hardly sufficient has changed. advice for those who are interested in engaging These first barbs should have been a giveaway of the world and righting its wrongs. what was to come: what Alexie ended up delivering A distinctly and earnestly directed moral to be most agitated by the clueless sympathy of WASPy was a cynical and often narcissistic message, punctuated by message is needed, and on that count, Alexie simply was types who apologize for their ancestors’ wrongs, or by the attempts at larger meanings that fell flat. What did Alexie get not up to the job. Indian logos of various teams at all levels of sport. most worked up about during our soiree in Spaulding? When we consider the foci of The audience learned how much Alexie hates it when Alexie’s lecture against the backdrop strangers try to talk to him on airplanes. Or, while enjoying of the Reverend Martin Luther King lexie simply was not up to the job. There are not hors d’oeuvres at parties, Alexie prefers not to talk about Jr’s accomplishments and the civil many opportunities for the Dartmouth community his Spokane heritage. What the audience ended up getting, A rights movement generally, we might in other words, was a full dose of trivia about Alexie and to come together as it does on MLK Day to celebrate discover that Alexie is focused on his family, strung together by the thesis that humor has the phantoms. What is the justification the potential of goodness on this earth. Perhaps in future power to heal our conflicts. for replacing our commemoration of To be fair, anyone who has ever read the Onion (Post- years, Dartmouth can find a keynote speaker capable of those who stood at Selma, of those Election Day headline: Black Man Given Nation’s Worst meeting the magnitude of that unique moment. who braved the jail time and police Job) or watched The Colbert Report will understand that beatings and water cannons, of those satirists, deploying a sharp-edged talent for funniness, are courageous students (our own age at often able to more deeply penetrate the truth of the matter There are not many opportunities for the Dartmouth the time) who sat in at segregated lunch counters through- than eager and earnest commentators. community to come together as it does on MLK Day to out the South with tirades against silly party hostesses and Moreover, it would be impossible to talk about conflict celebrate the potential of goodness on this earth. Those airline passengers? opportunities, when they come, cannot afford trivial and The mere memory of the heroes of that era is usually Mr. Dameron is a sophomore at the College and self-directed tirades. Perhaps in future years, Dartmouth can enough to raise the neck-hairs of those who hear their stories contributor to The Dartmouth Review. find a keynote speaker capable of meeting the magnitude well told. These individuals (often anonymous) deserve to of that unique moment. n January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page  Editorial

Founders Let the Market Decide Greg Fossedal, Gordon Haff, Benjamin Hart, Keeney Jones The free market has been getting a lot of bad press ate students. Some of the classes taught are: Conservative “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win these days. However, as a publication that prides itself on Thought in America and Classical Liberalism. great triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than the slogan that any publicity is good publicity, it is only Aside from its many problems, an open curriculum to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy natural for us at The Review to appeal to the free market leaves the education that a student receives completely in much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray to solve the College’s economic woes. the hands of that student. Professor Tomasi’s program wins twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” Universities and colleges like our own are increasingly through “choice.” Since a Brown student chooses which —Theodore Roosevelt running on a business model. With endowments that range courses he takes, he is also deciding which courses the Emily Esfahani-Smith from Brown’s 2.8 billion dollars to Harvard’s 28.8 billion college will teach: successful, over-booked courses (such Editor-in-Chief dollars, the how and when of spending those bucks efficiently as Tomasi’s own Introduction to Political Thought) will Weston R. Sager is a matter of market principles. And efficiency is the name continue on, while less successful courses will be cut from of the game, especially these days—Dartmouth must cut the curriculum for a variety of pragmatic reasons. President budgetary expenses by 40 million dollars in the next two Short of a core curriculum, which is the standard of an Michael C. Russell, A.S. Erikson fiscal years. This is because its endowment dropped by 220 ideal, classical education, the next best option is an open Executive Editors million dollars as a result of the economic downturn. curriculum like Brown’s. There are two things Dartmouth William D. Aubin Given everything that has happened on Wall Street should do in this regard: first, Dartmouth should first adopt a Managing Editor and Motor City, the thought of fixing Dartmouth’s financial market based, open curriculum. Second, the College should woes by using free market principles may seem ludicrous, use enrollment statistics to dictate expenditures. This way, David W. Leimbach, Jared W. Zelski, but bear with me. Putting aside the issue that a distortion of the question of where to cut funds becomes almost moot: Christine S. Tian free market values—not the values themselves—is causing the market will give a natural answer. Successful courses what people are now calling the second Great Depression, and departments will thrive naturally; unsuccessful ones Senior Editors the College should appeal to the most simple and basic con- should wither away as funding for them reduces to a trickle, Mostafa A. Heddaya, Tyler Brace, cept of a market economy to guide it through its enormous or even dries up altogether. This is one way to streamline Katherine J. Murray budget cuts: supply and demand. To what ends? We’ll get the College’s expenses. Associate Editors there. As it is, Dartmouth’s dis- Nicholas P. Hawkins Cat D. Amble College leaders are fac- tributive requirements distort ing the question of where and the market picture by forcing Vice President Photography Editor how the financial cuts should By students to enroll in classes James T. Preston., Michael R. DiBenedetto be made. We know where that they would otherwise Sports Editors they won’t be made, thanks to Emily never enroll in. Dartmouth President Wright’s “Forever has seven distributive require- Nisanth A. Reddy, Michael J. Edgar New” report: the College won’t ments—among them are Art, Web Editors Esfahani- skimp on financial aid and Literature, International, Contributors academic expenses. He writes, Smith Social Analysis—and three Blair Bandeen, Kathleen Carmody, Michael R. DiBene- “The Board agrees that we World Culture requirements. detto, Peter Blair, Cathleen G. Kenary, Ryan Zehner, need to protect financial aid, The latter are, “Non Western,” Charlie Dameron, Brian C. Murphy, Fernando Rodriguez- our academic strengths—of which the core is the tenure- “Western,” and “Culture and Identity.” Villa, Lane Zimmerman, Ashley Roland, Erich Hartfelder, track faculty and our overall educational environment—and Many times, students will take “easy distributive classes” Brian Nachbar, Andrew Lohse, Michael Randall we need to do all we can to support Dartmouth’s employees. simply to get them out of the way. Those “joke classes,” like We will look to identify adjustments that are sustainable “Rocks for Jocks,” are of little educational value. Given that Mean-Spirited, Cruel and Ugly rather than temporary, and we anticipate making specific students are paying for their educations, those classes are Legal Counsel reductions that reflect our institutional priorities.” literally a waste of money. The Review Advisory Board Institutional priorities. As a liberal arts institution, Take the requirement for a “CI,” or “Culture and Martin Anderson, Patrick Buchanan, Theodore Cooper Dartmouth’s institutional priority is educating undergradu- Identity” class. A look through the course catalog suggests stein, Dinesh D’Souza, Robert Flanigan, John Fund, ates in the, well, liberal arts. Here are some attending factors: that most CI classes are have a distinctively PC element to William Grace, Gordon Haff, Jeffrey Hart, Laura prominent faculty, good courses, and plenty of opportunities them, with topics so obscure that most students only enroll in Ingraham, Mildred Fay Jefferson, William Lind, Steven for students to expand intellectually outside of the classroom these classes only to fulfill their distributive requirement. Menashi, James Panero, Hugo Restall, Roland Reyn- (this means foreign study, research grants, and the like). Caribbean Literature and Contemporary Playwrights of olds, William Rusher, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Sidney Zion Some departments on this campus are better at meeting Color are just two of the CI classes listed on the registrar’s Freshman girl emeritus these demands than others. website, but their themes are consistent with most of the Consider a quote from a former Dartmouth professor other CI classes. Each of these two classes has an enrollment The cover image is courtesy of the Dartmouth Library of English. In his article on Western Civilization (in our of eight students, though the cap is thirty students. This is a Book Review issue) Professor Michael Platt writes: “To pattern among CI classes. Looking at the registrar’s list, 95 Special Thanks to William F. Buckley, Jr. all visitors to Dartmouth, the green in the middle suggests percent of the CI classes do not meet their caps and many The Editors of The Dartmouth Review welcome cor- ‘Here is innocence, here is happiness, and here is peace,’ of them do not even meet the half-way point. One of the respondence from readers concerning any subject, but but the reality is the war of all departments against all oth- only CI classes that was over-enrolled (204 students with a prefer to publish letters that comment directly on ma- ers. Crossing the green one day, the head of Comparative cap of 200), interestingly, was Classical Mythology. Classical terial published previously in The Review. We reserve Literature jested to me: ‘I’ll meet you here and duel it out Mythology is also one of the only classes on the CI list that the right to edit all letters for clarity and length. for students.’” aspires to be educational rather than political. Submit letters by mail, fax at (603) 643-1470, or e-mail: Some departments consistently win that duel, while Dartmouth should abandon distributive requirements, [email protected] others consistently lose. The departments that consistently create a natural market for classes, and allocate expendi- The Dartmouth Review is produced bi-weekly by lose—those whose courses are under-enrolled, those whose tures accordingly. Though CI classes have low enrollment Dartmouth College undergraduates for Dartmouth faculty members are not inspiring, those that exist simply as numbers, they would be lower still without Dartmouth’s students and alumni. It is published by the Hanover vestiges of the 1970s academic revolution—should be cut in requirement. What does that say? That there is very little Review, Inc., a non-profit tax-deductible organization. their totality or drastically down-sized. The understandable demand for most CI-type classes and their respective depart- Please send all inquiries to: fear here is that departments of real value—think the small, ments—like African American Studies, Women and Genders The Dartmouth Review vibrant Philosophy Department, not the dull, flaccid Women Studies—should be receiving less money and possibly no and Gender’s Studies Department—might lose out. money. P.O. Box 343 But the evidence at a peer Ivy League institution sug- Adapting an open curriculum, though it is the opposite Hanover, N.H. 03755 gests otherwise. At Brown, the free market determines which of a core curriculum, will not diminish a student’s education courses and departments remain on the payroll and which in the liberal arts. As Professor Tomasi’s program shows, in Subscribe: $40 ones do not. There, the liberal arts courses are thriving. spite of an open curriculum, students are drawn to the liberal Brown’s Professor of Political Science, John Tomasi, is arts and liberal thought. Dartmouth’s primary priority is to The Dartmouth Review using a market-driven curriculum to his advantage. Brown cater to that fact. There is a demand for liberal learning, but P.O. Box 343 has an open curriculum, which means that students can supply is not there to meet the demand; rather, the supply Hanover, N.H. 03755 pick whatever courses they like, without the restrictions pool is distorted with CI-type classes that drain funds. This (603) 643-4370 of “distributive requirements,” which Dartmouth has, or a is not economically sustainable. “core curriculum,” which Columbia has. If President Wright is sincere and truly wants to re- Fax: (603) 643-1470 Professor Tomasi founded and is running the Political structure the College’s finances efficiently and sustainably, Theory Project. The Project is devoted to promoting courses he should look at market forces on campus and ask, when Contributions are tax-deductible. on Western Thought and American Civics. It runs like a looking at which courses and departments to cut, “is there center, much like the Rockefeller Center, and sponsors a market for this?” If the answer is no, then it should be www.dartreview.com lectures and seminar classes for undergraduate and gradu- lined out of the budget. n Page  The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009 The Week In Review her preemptive apology to the Dartmouth community about of Mr. Geithner’s obvious financial brilliance. Still, we need Students Speak, To Be Ig- the impending arrival of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux not be worried, for Obama has offered us these reassuring hockey team. Her remarks that the mascot would “under- words: “Look, is this an embarrassment for him? Yes. He nored by Administration standably offend and hurt people within our community,” said so himself.” Geithner has admitted his tax violations, received national attention, and were regarded by many and has been, according to Senator Charles Grassley, “very as either condescending and rude towards North Dakota, In tough economic times, Americans have historically sincere” in accounting for them. Obama’s nominee, in addi- needlessly inflammatory, or as a pointless distraction. The shown a remarkable ability to come together and agree upon tion to being financially gifted, is also very sincere. The only Review wishes Harper success in her future endeavors, and collective priorities prior to the requisite belt tightening; can question that remains, then, is this: why wasn’t Geithner hopes her chosen replacement focuses more on winning the Dartmouth College of the twenty first century do the appointed to a Cabinet position years ago? games than carrying water for the omnipresent grievance same? In the results of a Student Assembly survey released industry. on January 8, it appeared that such a consensus had been found, and the College might be able to trim the required Inefficient Government, forty million dollars. Unsurprisingly, students ranked Off Campus Programs, Choose Your Score! or What Else is New

Traditions (Homecoming, Winter Carnival, etc.), and There was a time when conscientious high school stu- Dartmouth Dining Services most important to their Col- Students are paying more for their college educations, dents worked their hardest to learn the material in their lege experience, and the Office of Pluralism and Leadership but get less and less for their money. The Delta Project on courses and prepare for the standardized tests without (OPAL), Center for Women and Gender, and the Native Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Account- paying any heed to gaming the system and learning the American Program least important. Equally unsurprising ability, a nonprofit research organization based in Wash- now commonplace “tricks of the trade.” For those readers has been the reaction to what should be a clear indicator ington, D.C., released these findings last week, based on a who would prefer an incoming class of freshman that was of which programs can be cut or trimmed with minimal study of public universities from 2002 to 2006. The study more talented in math and reading than in managing the impact: the Student Assembly recommended eliminating found that many state and community colleges are using byzantine bureaucracy of college applications, the College or restructuring OPAL, petitions were circulated, emotions increased tuition costs to offset decreases in state funds, and Board has announced discouraging news: the Score Choice were unleashed, and a sufficient fuss has been made by to pay for overhead, new buildings, and administration. The Program will allow students to hide unflattering scores from the bureaucrats in charge of OPAL to effectively tie Dean study also found that the schools with the fewest resources their official College Board transcript at no additional cost. Crady’s hands in the matter. attract the largest amount of poor students, amplifying the In an age when educational professionals are hyper-aware For all the talk that OPAL provides “invaluable services” comparative strain on those least able to pay for college. of self-esteem and fairness, it was determined that students to the Dartmouth campus, and is essential for a “vibrant We had expected such mismanagement from the greedy became nervous when they were faced with actual reper- community,” the Administration of the College finds itself at private sector, but administrative bloat and inattention to cussions from their performance on test day. In order to a crossroads that talking alone will not resolve. The economy the poor at the hands of the government? No! shield students from the results of their own actions, Score no longer allows for limitless spending on areas that have Choice was developed. less and less to do with the College’s mission, and devote The humor arises when the fine print is exposed: col- an inordinate amount of resources to a minority of students. Death by Book-Licking leges may request the additional scores whenever it suits Dean Crady must choose between the voices of the students their fancy, essentially rendering the whole choice null and and common sense on one side, and entrenched administra- As with everything the federal government does, the void. While Dartmouth has not yet announced whether it tion officials who believe that their prolonged sociological unintended consequences of the feel-good Consumer plans to take advantage of the loophole, it has the potential experiment upon the student body is more deserving than Product Safety Improvement Act may prove more delete- to both save parents in competitive Connecticut communi- the fundamentals of academic instruction. rious than the problem lawmakers rushed to remedy. In ties hundreds of dollars in test fees, and perhaps to spare an effort to seem tough on the soulless toy conglomerates many of us at the College from hearing about a freshman’s that had allowed toys with high lead counts to be imported Athletic Director to Retire perfect scores come next September. from China over the summer, Congress passed a law that demands such rigorous testing of all products children come On January 13, Dartmouth Athletic Director Josie into contact with, that public libraries may have to close their Harper announced that she will retire in late June. Appointed Geithner Evades Taxes doors to children if the law isn’t changed. Set to take effect in 2002 as Dartmouth’s seventh Director of Athletics and on February 10, the legislation requires all books, old and Ever mindful of the need to have capable people in Recreation, Harper has presided over a period of ambi- new, to be tested for lead, a practice that critics point out his Cabinet, President-elect Barack Obama has nominated tious facilities construction and upgrades. These include could cost between 300 dollars and 600 dollars per book, and Timothy Geithner ’83 for Treasury secretary. The fact that Burnham Soccer Field and Sports Pavilion, the Corey Ford would likely damage many of the books in the process. this nominee, who will, if confirmed, oversee the IRS, did Rugby Clubhouse, and the recently award winning Floren To ensure that this overreaching act had sufficient not pay over 34,000 dollars in taxes between 2001 and 2004 Varsity House. Concurrently, the teams that use these fa- bureaucratic bona fides, a commission has been established might bother some people. Mr. Obama, however, remains cilities have been experiencing seasons that are markedly to oversee its implementation. This provides a convenient undeterred, for Geithner’s delinquency, it appears, was not less successful results of Harper’s tenure. Recent success lobbying target for the American Libraries Association, intentional. He meant to pay all his taxes, but could not by Indian Rugby and Hockey cannot obscure the winless which wants exceptions for public and school libraries so quite figure out how to do so. It seems there is an unusual season for the football team, or the baseball and basketball that their doors may stay open for the sought-after under payroll system at the International Monetary Fund, where teams’ struggles. 12 demographic a while longer. One wonders how many Geithner worked during the period in question, and this More than lackluster to mediocre teams and expensive children were licking the ink in old library books in the first system deeply confused him. The tax code, it turns out, is new buildings, Harper’s legacy may be best remembered by place, but thank goodness we had a federal government that a very difficult to understand, even for someone possessed was willing to confront this silent killer. OurGreen Is Your Green

By William D. Aubin managing the privacy level of all these actions. Students end dates of seemingly important things like course selec- and groups will be able to allow either the whole campus, tion, NRO availability, P.E. selection and pretty much all The Dartmouth community is about to get a major students only, or just group members to view any of the other services are announced through different services if upgrade in the realm of Internet connectivity. OurGreen, information posted. After perusing the different organi- at all, and last minute reminders are virtually unheard of. a website designed by a group of College students, promises zations and selected a level of involvement, a student has OurGreen will prevent this vital information from getting an easy interface for student groups to build professional merely to glance through their personal profile to see an lost in the shuffle, and it will show up with just as much looking websites and for students to keep track of groups automatically updated calendar of all the events and groups prominence on students’ personal calendars as the current and events which are of interest to them. According to they have selected. swarm of PoliTALK announcements does on Blitz. Jason Laster ’11 and Michael Edgar ’10 (Edgar is also Web “Our biggest challenge isn’t attracting the all-campus The two main focuses of Laster, Edgar, and the rest of Editor for TDR), the website has enormous potential. events planned weeks in advance—it’s the parties that get the team are: 1. getting all college groups to use the service “One of the great things about the project is that it began blitzed out a day ahead of time,” Edgar said. “That’s why by Winter Carnival, and 2. expressing to the student body as Travis Green’s idea,” said Laster. “We’ve been working we’ve made it so it’s even easier to put something on Our- the many steps taken to ensure the security of data on the with student leaders and the administration each step of Green than it is to send a blitz.” Between events that are site. OurGreen uses Dartmouth Web Authentication, so the the way to make it tailored to the Dartmouth campus.” He announced ahead of time and forgotten, and those that are company has no access to students’ password information. estimated that 95 percent of College recognized groups formulated late on a Friday evening and either reach few The site is pursuing variety of hosting options, including don’t have a website, and of those that do have websites, people or come into unknown conflict with other events, working with the College to put OurGreen on its server. If many have not been updated in years. there is an acknowledged need for an element of central OurGreen chooses to work with the College, the site will On the site, students have the option of creating and organization. OurGreen allows even the laziest of Social be subject to the same rules and regulations that apply to joining groups, signing up for notifications from the groups Chairmen to get the word out quickly and clearly, which all College internet services. For the time being, however, they care about, selecting events they wish to attend, and in turn allows all Dartmouth students the luxury of having OurGreen is hosted privately. a complete, if piecemeal, calendar readily available. The potential exists to protect our inboxes from hun- Mr. Aubin is a sophomore at the College and Dartmouth’s official calendar is notoriously difficult dreds of unwanted mass Blitzes; that’s change even we at Managing Editor of The Dartmouth Review. to follow; relevant information concerning both start and TDR can believe in. n January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page E1

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Volume 28, Issue 11-A January 23, 2009 B o o k The Hanover Review, Inc. P.O. Box 343 Hanover, NH 03755 Review Edition!

The Dartmouth Review...

...of Books and Ideas Page E2 The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009 Rome and Jerusalem at Odds

By Aditya A. Sivaraman As it turns out, this is the most damning critique of the The events surrounding Vespasian and Jerusalem co- premise of a titanic historical/cultural struggle as imagined incided with another force within the Empire: the growth The destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman emperor by Goodman. Realistically, to what extent could Jerusalem and spread of Christianity. As a growing cult, the Christian Vespasian was a turning point in Jewish history. The abso- attempt to resist Roman hegemony? Very little at all, as it movement had already been striving to distinguish itself lute destruction of the both the city and the Temple began turned out. the long diaspora that would not end until the re-creation Further, the idea of a cultural of the Jewish state in 1948. Martin Goodman’s Rome and polarization is undercut by the real- Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations investigates ity of statehood in antiquity. Then the history of the relationship between the Roman empire much more so than now, the gap and the Jewish state and seeks to trace the roots of Western between the state and its subjects attitudes towards the Jewish people to the role played both was such that the only real actors culturally and politically by Jerusalem and its culture in the were leaders. Goodman himself ar- formulation of a Christian Roman empire. gues that the only leg the Jews had to stand on politically was by virtue of a series of leaders (such as Herod Book Review the Great and Agrippa I) and their Rome and Jerusalem relationship with Roman emperors. Agrippa particularly is not a very good representative of the Jews of Martin Goodman antiquity; in fact, his rise to power Knopf, 2007 is due more to his relationship to the Emperor than to any personal Goodman begins his investigation with the original cultural or religious qualifications, to introduction of Roman yoke to the Jewish state by Pompey. say the least. The autonomy of Judea The Roman policy of imperial integration allowed the Jews was maintained not because of the a measure of political autonomy as well as freedom to fol- clash between Rome and Jerusalem, low their own faith. Goodman argues that the juxtaposition but as a result of Jewish leaders who between the Roman and Jewish worldviews set the foun- acted pragmatically in face of the dation for the development and direction of both Judaism reality of Roman hegemony. and Christianity within the Roman Empire, and thus, the The history of Jews within the Western world. Roman Empire, both before and after To this extent, Goodman’s book delivers admirably. His the destruction of Jerusalem, is the account of the history of the political manifestation of the story of a defeated people. The true Jewish faith is comprehensive without being dull. Parallel clash of civilizations happened far to the story of the Jews, Goodman explains the relevant before the Romans arrived with the features of contemporary Roman society, with a particular defeat of Judea by the Babylonians. emphasis on the imperial court and the developing eco- The real contest, then, was cultural, nomic and geopolitical realities of managing a vast empire and in this respect Goodman’s analy- from the perspective of Rome. Finally, Goodman adds in sis is effective and persuasive. enough description of the geographic landscape of both He argues that the Roman elite, when confronted with Hellenic culture, were forced to concede the shortcomings of their own culture, and as a result adopted the ways of the Greeks. In this sense, as numerous scholars have from simply being labeled as a splinter sect of Judaism. In argued before, it seems that the true battle was not light of the growing anti-Jewish sentiment in the Empire, it between Rome and Jerusalem; rather, the battle was would have seemed pragmatic for early Christian leaders to between the Jewish and Hellenic worldviews. After distance themselves from their Jewish heritage, especially all, a comparison between Rome and Jerusalem is given that the spread of Christianity resulted in a rapidly like comparing apples to oranges, with Rome pos- expanding portion of the faith with no hereditary ties to sessing infinitely more imperial power and Jerusalem Judaism at all. The intersection of a young, growing faith being blessed with a culture far more sophisticated seeking acceptance within a state (and eventually becoming than any the Romans produced organically. the state’s primary religion) and a political climate in which Rome and Jerusalem truly shines in the analy- Jews had become politically and socially marginalized is sis on the events surrounding the destruction of both a cohesive and logical narrative that explains European Jerusalem and how they coincided with the rise anti-Semitism very well. of Christianity within the Roman Empire. Good- However, the very arguments that Goodman hinges man frames the historical context of the origins of on to make his broader claims about historical anti-Jewish European anti-Semitism by portraying a dynastic sentiment undercut his larger claims about a showdown Imperial court in which personalities mattered just between the West’s founding pillars. The historical events as much (and sometimes more) as realpolitik. as narrated by Goodman indicate that were it not for a It is in this context that the emperor Vespasian peculiar series of events the fate of Jews within the Roman —The Arch of Titus in Rome— saw his rise, the first Caesar without any significant Empire (and therefore Europe) may have been very dif- military credentials in need of securing his claim to ferent. There was not a great ideological showdown, nor a urban centers to help readers understand and appreciate the seat of Roman power. Mr. Goodman titanic battle of worldviews. the parallels between the two great cities. effectively argues that the timing of the One cannot help but feel, however, that some of Jewish revolt presented an easy opportunity he historical events as narrated by Goodman Goodman’s arguments exist coherently only insofar as they to secure his regime by crushing an uprising indicate that were it not for a peculiar series of are framed; that is to say, the author’s attempts at drawing and literally earning the new Emperor his T both parallels and distinctions between the Jewish and Ro- laurels. events the fate of Jews within the Roman Empire (and man worlds at ever important levels often seems forced. Students of statecraft in a dictatorship therefore Europe) may have been very different. There Imagining a titanic struggle between the secular, pagan will appreciate what followed. The destruc- was not a great ideological showdown, nor a titanic empire of Rome and the spiritual monotheist Jerusalem tion of Jerusalem was a lynchpin event in may be an interesting thought experiment, but readers are the political career of Vespasian. As such, battle of worldviews. often left with a bitter anachronistic aftertaste. the Jews could not be allowed to simply fall Outside of Mr. Goodman’s impressive knack for his- back in line under Roman authority and torical analysis, the facts remain unchanged: Jerusalem and return to their own devices, as was the modus operandi at The story of the fall of Jerusalem and the rise of anti- the Jewish state were dominated by a Roman empire that the time. Semitism has everything to do with those lowly matters of effectively ruled the world as a lone superpower. Jerusa- Instead, Vespasian’s effort to legitimize himself neces- politics, not philosophy. Goodman (perhaps unintentionally) lem’s power, by contrast, was nothing even comparable to sitated a campaign to portray the destruction of Jerusalem as showed that the dynamic between Rome and Jerusalem was Roman might. As King Agrippa II himself incredulously an intrinsic good, and thus, the Jewish people more or less one between a global superpower with no cultural base and asked his subjects, “will you, I say, defy the whole Roman as outcasts within the Empire. The story of an unpopular a militarily irrelevant state where man could meet God. The Empire?” regime creating enemies both within and without to manu- resulting history was not preordained or fated due to any facture consent is one that has been told and retold since fundamental clash. Rather, as often happens, it was simply Mr. Sivaraman is a junior at the College and a con- antiquity. the product of timing and circumstances. n tributor to The Dartmouth Review. January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page E3 Wood Comes Down Hard By A.S. Erickson resent the over-‘literary’ efforts of the stylist.” Wood calls Adam Kirsch, another excellent reviewer himself, of this the domain of aestheticism—the author is constantly the late New York Sun and now of The New Republic said The English critic James Wood has carved out a pe- getting in the way of his character. of Wood: “Most reviews simply present an opinion, and it’s culiar place in literary criticism. His essays (on this side of More contemporary writers, such as the recently de- easy to dismiss contrary opinions—everyone has the right the pond, first in The New Republic and now in The New ceased David Foster Wallace, have taken the little ambigui- to an opinion, after all. But Wood raises the discussion to Yorker) straddle the extremes that literary criticism was ties of earlier free indirect style and massively slowly separated into over the past century, on the one expanded them to exploit the inherent tension hand the academic articles and books replete with “the true in the opposite direction from the stylist. Wood ames Wood’s newest book doesn’t disappoint. He scholastic stink” in Joyce’s wonderful phrase, and alternately quotes from a Wallace story called “The Suf- Jbreaks down literary conventions with startling the short book reviews that appear with declining regular- fering Channel:” ease, allowing the reader to peek around inside and ity in our nation’s newspapers. The former are, in a certain sense, supremely uninterested in fiction, often reducing Atwater was one of three full time salary- to become better idea with their inner workings. One it to naïve nonsense; the latter are often little more than men tasked to the WITW feature, which can’t help but come away a better, closer reader. glorified blurbs, which shallowly trade on cliché and reveal received .75 editorial pages per week, and little other than the reviewer’s ineptitude. was the closest any of the BSG weeklies got to freakshow or tabloid, and was a bone of a higher level, which forces people to question and rethink Book Review contention at the very highest levels of Style. The staff their own understanding of literature.” size and large font specs meant that Skip Atwater was That higher level may fairly be described as the con- How Fiction works officially contracted for one 400 word piece every three cepts behind the words on the page. In the preface Wood weeks, except the juniormost of the WITW salarymen summarizes his project in this book: “I try to ask some of James Wood had been on half time ever since Eckleshafft-Böd had the essential questions about the art of fiction. Is realism Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008 forced Mrs. Anger to cut the editorial budget or every- real? How do we define a successful metaphor? What is a thing except celebrity news, so in reality it was more character? When do we recognize a brilliant use of detail in It goes without saying that there are exceptions within like three finished pieces every eight weeks. fiction? What is point of view, and how does it work? What both of these groups; but Wood has carved out a special is imaginative sympathy? Why does fiction move us?” This niche in between these two groups, a niche that one hopes Wallace’s narrator relates the events as the journalist Atwater last question is tied intimately with Wood’s concern with others will fall into over time. His long essays attend upon himself would, or at least as those in Atwater’s community reality in fiction. style and theme as well as the book’s place in what other would. The paragraph from Wallace is a perfect example Wood has long been a defender of ‘the real’ in fiction. writers call the Great Conversation—that curious highway of anti-aestheticism, i.e. where the character utterly domi- The introduction to his first book,The Broken Estate, began between the present and past. nates the story. with the following paragraph: Wood’s newest book of criticism is entitled How Fiction Works. The wonderfully ambiguous The real is the atlas of fiction, over which all title pithily summarizes the book’s project: only novelists thirst. The real is contour, aspiration, by examining the mechanical and engineering tyrant. The novel covers reality, runs away with feats of fiction can we come to understand how it, and, as travelers yearn to escape, runs from it, it is that fiction clicks with us, the reader. It’s too. It is impossible to discuss the power of the purpose is in many ways similar to E.M. Forster’s novel without discussing the reality that fiction Aspects of the Novel, that source which unleashed so powerfully discloses, which is why realism, in ‘round’ and ‘flat’ characters upon generations of one form or another and often under different adolescent English students. Wood, of course, names, has been the novel’s insistent preoccupa- tackles character as well as a host of other com- tion from the beginning of the form. mon literary devices. Wood begins How Fiction Works with an Wood has made a career out of defending realism extended discussion of point of view. In par- in fiction from its critics, both philosophical and ticular, he focuses on a particular method of temperamental. This is a concern in How Fic- the omniscient third person narrator known as tion Works too. He draws a distinction between free indirect style. This section of the book is the realism of great writer’s and what he calls one of its great discussions. Using examples of “commercial realism,” the kind of genre writing his own and those from writers like Flaubert, abused in much modern fiction. Adams, and Joyce, Wood explores how free Wood has his share of detractors, as any indirect style exploits the ever-present tension critic must. He is commonly tweaked for, what between narrator and character. his opponents call, his conservative aesthetic As an example of free indirect style, Wood tastes. But the kind of fiction his opponents introduces the sentence “Ted watched the critique is a bit of a straw man, it is commercial orchestra through stupid tears.” In this case realism. Wood, his critics say, allows for a very the omniscient narrator is not simply using constricted view of reality: a view that takes standard reported thought; the addition of the many contemporary novelists to task for their word stupid is the clue that he has gotten inside resistance to emotional engagement. Ted’s head. Ted is thinking, according to Wood, It is true that Wood takes a dim view of something like “Stupid to be crying at this silly what he called in his second book “hysterical piece by Brahms.” The narrator has reported realism,” as practiced by writers like Thomas both Ted’s action (his watching the orchestra) Pynchon, whose “massive turbines of . . . inces- and his thought without having to clumsily re- sant story-making produce so much noise that sort to directly reporting his thoughts: As Ted no one can be heard. The Nazi Captain Blicero watched the orchestra through tears, he thought in Gravity’s Rainbow, or the ruthless financier it was stupid of himself to be crying at this piece Scarsdale Vibe in Against the Day, are not truly of music. frightening figures, because they are not true Free indirect style, properly executed, figures.” Hardly the stuff blurbs are made of. effortlessly drops the narrator into the unreli- Wood’s detractors object to the normative claims able characters head for a few words before he expresses, i.e. that certain characters are not lifting him back to the plateau of omniscience. true or that a certain author fails to inhabit his Yet there is an inherent tension in this balanc- character. ing act: “Can we reconcile the author’s perceptions and As simple as Wood makes free indirect style sound, it Yet, for all of this, he leaves it no secret that he thinks language with the character’s perception and language?” is surprisingly difficult to pull off convincingly. The ledge postmodern questions (like addressing the fictionality of between the anti-aesthete and the stylist is a narrow one. characters) can be asked more effectively, as in the work Authors often overwrite their characters, of Jose Saramago. A writer like Saramago is more success- ood is decidedly a fanatic at the altar of fiction. giving them thoughts or speeches they ful where others fail: “we feel a strange tenderness” for his could never possibly think or say, or they character because we are “aware of something that he does He does not hesitate to admit this. W completely surrender the story itself to the not know, that he is not real.” character. Don’t let Cynthia Ozick’s inane praise on the back If the author swerves too far in one direction, consistently Throughout How Fiction Works Wood’s discussion of cover dissuade (“It is not enough to have one Wood. What over-writing his own characters, the reader encounters the various literary techniques, like free indirect style, is always is needed is a thicket—a forest—of Woods.”), James Wood’s “cold breath of an alienation over the text, and begin[s] to accompanied by choice passages from excellent writers. newest book doesn’t disappoint. He breaks down literary He is decidedly a fanatic at the altar of fiction; he does not conventions with startling ease, allowing the reader to peek hesitate to unblushingly exclaim “What a piece of writing around inside and to become better idea with their inner Mr. Erickson is a junior at the College and an Execu- that is!” before he proceeds to break down and explicate workings. One can’t help but come away a better, closer tive Editor of The Dartmouth Review. what it is exactly in the passage that moves the reader. reader. n Page E4 The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009 Summertime in Siberia

By William D. Aubin Ronald Reagan in 1984: their children have no idea what turies old people, got caught up in the promise of Marxism was at stake during the Cold War, what it meant to live in as a teenager, and rediscovered his faith and commitment The Soul and Barbed Wire is billed as “the first and an age of fallout drills and bomb shelters, or why it was so to freedom in the bitter enslavement of a labor camp. He only book to offer both a detailed biography and a compre- important that the United States prevail rather than strike helped his people by forming an occasionally uneasy alli- hensive appraisal of the literary achievement of Aleksandr up an uneasy balance with a power that violated natural ance with secular, Enlightenment-inspired thinkers to rid Solzhenitsyn.” Its publication is timely, coming during both law and human rights on a daily basis. The public school the year in which its subject passed away and an age that system makes little room for this kind of instruction, has been in danger of forgetting the importance of his life preferring curricula filled with the poetry of South he volume contains none of Solzhenitsyn’s and oeuvre. American ‘freedom fighters’ and screenings of The Tactual work, and so is useful as an introduc- Motorcycle Diaries, the story of communist guerrilla Ernesto “Che” Guevara told in flattering, romantic tion to his world, by way of a biography that does Book Review light. a good job of immersing the reader into the The other result of the concerted effort to mitigate pains and joys Solzhenitsyn and his countrymen tHE soul and barbed wire our victory against totalitarianism is one that Edward Ericson and Alexis Klimoff are eager to point out in endured for nearly a century, in preparation for Edward E. Ericson, Jr. & Alexis Klimoff The Soul and Barbed Wire: the very real threat that the reading of Gulag Archipelago or The Red ISI, 2008 the genius of Aleksander Solshenitsyn will be lost Wheel, his famous long works, or One Day in forever. The Nobel Prize winner became an inter- national symbol of opposition to the Soviet Union’s the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the short story that The works of Solzhenitsyn fell from the foreground brutal policies after his stories, poems, novels, and first one him fame and KGB scrutiny. in the literary world just as the Cold War struggle against histories were published in the 60s and 70s, exposing totalitarianism was relegated to dusty memory in the realms the cruelty of Stalin’s gulags (with Khrushchev’s bless- of political thought and academia. Ours is a culture that is ing) first and then moving into what Ericson and Klimoff his homeland of this universal destroyer of human rights. content to write off the death of the Soviet experiment as call “open defiance,” delivering an inescapable argument for The editors do another great service by compiling happenstance or the result of a few bad men squandering the end of communism, based on the tradition of a strong sources and criticism directly addressing Solzhenitsyn’s a noble ideal (ideas that are still found in both high school Russian identity and Christian faith. He drew upon his own political philosophy, in an effort to make the man useful on and college classrooms, should any eager student have the experiences as the son of disenfranchised landowners, a different levels to different readers. The collection of essays desire to seek them out). prisoner in a labor camp, and a lifelong victim of official on his individual works is useful when determining an order Soviet harassment. in which to read the stories (I’ve been persuaded to start n late 2007, when the book went to press, Russia The volume contains none of Solzhenit- where most of the world did, with Ivan Denisovich) or to syn’s actual work, and so is useful as an intro- amplify an individual reading with the collected wisdom of Ihad not invaded Georgia, and the biographers duction to his world, by way of a biography that international scholars. believed that Solzhenitsyn’s final wishes were being does a good job of immersing the reader into the The editors point out that Solzhenitsyn deserves to heeded by President Putin: a strong Russia without pains and joys Solzhenitsyn and his countrymen endure, because his writing is true literature; his characters endured for nearly a century, in preparation for are real, his stories can find a place even in a distant future dictatorship or empire thriving through introspec- the reading of Gulag Archipelago or The Red that may have the great fortune to have no other memory tion. May the readers of the world have the good Wheel, his famous long works, or One Day in of the gulags. Their prognostication and interpretation of contemporary Russia are a bit problematic, however. fortune to rediscover the literature of a genius, and the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the short story that first won him fame and KGB scrutiny. In late 2007, when the book went to press, Russia had the diplomats to unearth the meaning of the life of A reader learns that it was not historical not invaded Georgia, and the biographers believed that a departed hero—before history repeats. accident that this man became the voice of his Solzhenitsyn’s final wishes were being heeded by President people; it took a work of true literary greatness Putin: a strong Russia without dictatorship or empire thriving to break the silence in his country and expose through introspection. May the readers of the world have Russia’s prison system to the outside world. We the good fortune to rediscover the literature of a genius, One result has been obvious and no doubt causes some learn that Solzhenitsyn’s life mirrors that of his beloved and the diplomats to unearth the meaning of the life of a amount of consternation to the fifty four million who elected country; he was born with the Christian tradition of a cen- departed hero—before history repeats. n Science Fiction for the Family Man By William D. Aubin and based on consultations with real soldiers from the Iraq itself, skewers a thinly disguised United Nations as impotent, and frequently casts the most brilliant characters as both For the countless fans of Orson Scott Card who have war. religious and patriotic. been stuck in the Battle School universe since Ender’s Game This book, like the rest of the Ender series, deserves Several of the books show a detailed story of conversion was originally published in 1984, the new year brings an early recognition beyond that usually afforded science fiction to the Christian faith, and a man who can finally come to blessing: Ender in Exile has finally arrived, tying up loose ends novels. It is popular fiction, certainly, and will never be peace with the imbalances of life by recognizing the need for from both the original series and the companion Shadow classified as literature or taught in any school. But Card sacrificial love. The visions are not the impossible utopia of a novels. It is just as difficult to put down as the original novel, has accomplished something that is equally important, and its characters are exactly as you remember them from producing writing that is enjoyable to whichever book had been your last. read but gives an audience plenty of his book, like the rest of the Ender series, deserves worthwhile things to ponder. recognition beyond that usually afforded science fic- In the series, a young boy named T Ender is recruited by a future inter- tion novels. It is popular fiction, certainly, and will certainly Book Review national government to be the military never be classified as literature or taught in any school. But Ender in Exile genius capable of protecting the hu- Card has accomplished something that is equally impor- man race from destruction by hostile aliens. tant, producing writing that is enjoyable to read but gives Orson Scott Card From this simple concept springs an audience plenty of worthwhile things to ponder. Tom Doherty Associates, 2008 forth a careful treatment of a myriad of topics: religion, military statecraft, politics and demagoguery, sacrifice, This latest book deals with the years immediately fol- world without money, class, and prolonged human conflict; responsibility; the more one reads, the more an ostensible lowing the title character’s wartime triumph, and is a timely instead, Card recognizes that our failings make us human, children’s story becomes a meditation on humanity itself, and that it will never be the proper role of government to and not a sappy one either. dictate human passions. It is a future in which citizens take A reader does not come away feeling everal of the books show a detailed story of con- responsibility for themselves, and Utopia is defined not as as if clichés have been co-opted to sell a the absence of bad but the existence of the freedom neces- Sversion to the Christian faith, and a man who can modern day Buck Rogers, but rather gets sary for true goodness. finally come to peace with the imbalances of life by the sense that the child-like framework of These are books for young people without relying on giant monsters and spaceships is a jump- generation gap tropes; these are books for bright, optimistic recognizing the need for sacrificial love. ing off point for a greater purpose. In this, readers that don’t resort to disparaging the foundations of Card achieves something akin to Arthur C. society. This is science fiction written by a family man, and Clarke’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey; I cannot recommend the whole series strongly enough. If look at a soldier irrevocably changed by the realities of battle. what begins as science fiction turns out to be the cover for His struggle between guilt and responsibility is enlightening, you’re caught up so far, Ender in Exile is a worthy successor much deeper musings. to the work of the past quarter century; if not, please track What is so attractive about the way Card manages this Mr. Aubin is a sophomore at the College and down Ender’s Game for yourself or a family member. It’s is his willingness to buck political correctness. He seriously Managing Editor of The Dartmouth Review. not often that an easy read leaves one better for it. n calls into question the validity of democracy as an end in January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page E5 Cribs: The Gulag Edition By John N. Alekna While this comprehensiveness must be admired, yang.” Kang was imprisoned at the tender age of nine and may on some level represent the monolithic scale of because of a “crime” committed not by him, or even his When Arthur London was pulled screaming from his Communist atrocities, the tales of imprisonment can be at parents. His grandfather, an ethnic Korean living in Japan, car in the middle of a Prague street it was broad daylight. times repetitive. For this reason, one must treat From the had emigrated back to his homeland because of his strong That year, 1951, he had been the Czech undersecretary of Gulag to the Killing Fields as the anthology it is and read foreign affairs for less than two years. But Party credentials selections. This should pose no problem for the unguided yatso credits his survival to his religion, could not save him. London was taken, blindfolded, to the reader, however. Nearly every entry is profoundly revealing Greminding himself for those thirty- infamous Ruzyn prison on the outskirts of the city, near and beautifully written, a testament to the wide reading and the airport. There he was tortured, over and over again, superb taste of the editor. two years that “physical restraints [are] until he confessed to collaboration with the enemy. He had Among the accounts of Soviet repression, one story only the outward sign of imprisonment; I never confessed before, not to the Vichy counter-insurgency jumps out. “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by still [have] the power to give my thoughts troops, nor to the Gestapo at Mauthausen concentration Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is famous for both its depiction of camp. The Nazis, he wrote, were “child’s play” compared interminable drudgery of gulag life and its literary quality. free rein”. to the Communists. This seminal work was the first realistic account of the inhuman prison system published in the Soviet Union. communist sympathies. This was rewarded with persecu- Solzhenitsyn followed it with his internationally renowned tion. His ties with the outside world, however meager, were Book Review Gulag Archipelago in 1973. It was “Ivan Denisovich,” intolerable. Kang’s entire family was shipped to what can however, that the Nobel Prize committee cited when they only be described as a concentration camp. Rations were named him Nobel Laureate for literature. The work remains below sustenance level. From the Gulag to the Killing a must-read for anyone interested in the Communist system. Catching rats for food was not only tolerated but admired Fields: Personal Accounts of Hollander abridges the novel-length piece to an easy ten by those without the skill. One man prepared a winter’s sup- Political Violence and Repression pages without losing much of the original’s power. Indeed, ply of salted rat flesh. Though located close to the Russian the abridgement only whets the reader’s appetite for more border, none of the prisoners’ quarters had any heating. in Communist states of this revolutionary author. During winter when nearly the entire camp population The Chinese narratives are remarkable for the ubiquity suffered from frostbite, many resorted to ripping rags off Edited by: Paul Hollander of thought reform through “group struggle.” In these sessions, corpses to wear themselves. The prisoners were regularly ISI Books, 2007 people gathered in order to confess their counter-revolu- treated to the public executions of “traitors”—mostly failed tionary sins and to accuse others of the same. If one failed escapees. Indeed, while London’s “child’s play” metaphor isn’t to condemn themselves thoroughly enough, or if the group The indignation felt while reading this story turns to intended to diminish in any way the horror of Nazi atroci- leader seized on an accusation, the transgressor was subject utter horror when one realizes that the concentration camp ties, on a purely mathematical level it may be appropriate. to intense verbal and physical abuse from his comrades. described in “Aquariums of Pyongyang” is still fully func- Whereas the Holocaust claimed 10 million lives over the Showing leniency while beating or berating a comrade was tional. Yodok reeducation camp, where Kang was imprisoned course of roughly five years, Communist states caused the a sign of counter-revolutionary sympathies. People were from 1977 to 1987, still holds approximately 45,000 prison- deaths of over 100 million during the course of decades. And made to turn on co-workers, friends, and family. ers, two-thirds of whom are held for life. The remainder are yet the “Western awareness of repression in Communist In the memoir “Born Red,” Gao Yuan recounts de- held in the “revolutionizing zone.” These consist mainly of states remains very limited,” especially when compared to nouncing his own professor, who he admits “always spoke the relatives and acquaintances of the lifetime prisoners. the Holocaust. In the introduction to his anthology From to me in a kind and gentle way” for the simple reason that Kang was one of these. In the late 1990s the more lenient the Gulag to the Killing Fields, Paul Hollander attempts to he “had grown weary of her lectures about being red.” “revolutionizing” section, by one estimate, killed off 20 explain why. Anecdotes such as this exist in every one of the Chinese percent of inmates every year. And this is only one of many One explanation he puts forth is “cultural remoteness” accounts and, admittedly, it is easy to see why the practice camps maintained by the Democratic People’s Republic of of most of the societies where these atrocities occurred; became so widespread. The Party didn’t need to solely Korea. events occurring in the rice paddies of China or Cambodia rely on torture and signed confessions to root out political From the Gulag to the Killing Fields stands as an are simply not as relatable to a Western audience as atrocities enemies; the psychology of fear, panic and paranoia could indictment of authoritarian Communist states and their closer to home in Europe. Second, the methods of execution make the populace do it for them. employed by the Nazis and Communists differed. While the The stories of Chinese oppression are also distinctive Nazis used advanced technology to facilitate mass slaughter, for the length of time served by most of the chroniclers. The Communists generally preferred to let people go the old texts give the stories of men who were sentenced to hard fashioned way, through overwork or starvation. Additionally, labor and held for nineteen, twenty-six, and even thirty-two the Communists did not try to eliminate a particular race. years. This astonishingly long length of time was served These distinctions are important psychologically for many by a Tibetan monk, Palden Gyatso. He was arrested at his people, Hollander writes. monastery by the Chinese military police, who had heard The most unjustifiable cause for this apathy toward Com- rumors he participated in spontaneous anti-Communist munist atrocities, however, was the “public questioning” of protests in Lhasa. the “defectors’ and refugees’ accounts of Soviet repression The authorities “wrenched [his] arms from their sock- and the camp system” by Western Communist sympathiz- ets” and beat him until “[he] could no longer hear anything ers. Hollander cites as examples Noam Chomsky, who in beyond [his] own screaming and the thuds of the guards’ the 1970s “scornfully dismissed” accounts of the Khmer fists landing on [his] body”. After two years unsuccessfully Rouge’s killing fields, and Jean-Paul Sartre who spoke in trying to extract confessions, the Party sentenced Gyatso to support of Stalin and the Soviet Union. a seven year prison term. That was in 1959. The monk was Indeed, “to condemn the Soviet Union too thoroughly not released until 1992. Gyatso credits his survival to his would be to condemn a part of what the Western left once religion, reminding himself for those thirty-two years that held so dear.” Consequently, these and many other intel- “physical restraints [are] only the outward sign of impris- lectuals’ reputations did not suffer damage for their defense onment; I still [have] the power to give my thoughts free of Communism. If they had supported the Nazis before the rein.” Holocaust, Hollander asks, who they have emerged similarly This meditation by Gyatso exemplifies the lesson, unscathed? Doubtful. demonstrated on some level in all the accounts of this crimes. Perhaps even more importantly, however, it is a anthology, that the ultimate human liberty—freedom of stark indictment of those who would minimize the horrors he lesson: Communist states can never conscience—can never be eliminated, no matter the length Communist states committed by passively accepting (or even Tbe trusted with the welfare of its people. or severity of punishment. admiring) these regimes. There were once Americans who The warning: no authoritarian state should Indeed, authoritarian communist states have been thought that Communist regimes acted benignly, if firmly, repressing political dissidents for lifetimes now, much on behalf of their people. ever be trusted with the same today. longer than any fascist state ever lasted. In fact, dissent Finally, Hollander’s book has finally removed any re- and rebellion persist so long and so strongly that most of maining vestige of credibility from their position. The apolo- Hollander, a professor at University of Massachusetts the Communist states described in From the Gulag to the gists’ willful ignorance prolonged the suffering of untold Amherst, uses the rest of From the Gulag to the Killing Killing Fields have either collapsed or substantially curtailed millions. The men and women who endured cold Siberian Fields to remedy the woeful lack of first-person narratives their political repression. gulags, genocidal Ethiopian red guards, and Cambodian describing Communist repression. It is a weighty tome Today, China tolerates public protest to a certain ex- killing fields did not suffer for any greater good. They died stretching over 750 pages, containing forty-five accounts of tent, though it still imprisons political activists from time to because a tyrannical ideology denied them their most basic imprisonment, torture, and persecution. It is nothing if not time. (Recent reports of trouble-makers being committed to freedoms—life and liberty. And while today many of these comprehensive. The collection, organized by country, begins mental hospitals and drugged are particularly disturbing.) regimes no longer exist, some of them, as Kang Chol-Hwan’s with the Soviet Union and journeys through an additional But by far the worse offender today in terms of depravity story shows, are still committing unspeakable atrocities. fifteen Communist authoritarian states. Though the greatest is North Korea, a nation Hollander describes as “the only They must be spoken out against. space is devoted to the former USSR and Eastern Europe, remaining truly totalitarian state in the world.” In the end, these forty-five accounts of repression, im- smaller, more obscure countries like Albania, Cambodia, Remarkably, a country that has operated dozens of prisonment and torture leave us with a lesson and a warning. Nicaragua and Ethiopia are given no short shrift. gulags for a period of near six decades now has produced The lesson: Communist states can never be trusted with the only one English language account of its egregious prison welfare of its people. The warning: no authoritarian state Mr. Alekna is a junior at the College and a contributor system—Kang Chol-Hwan’s unique “Aquariums of Pyong- to The Dartmouth Review. should ever be trusted with the same today. n Page E6 The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009 Two Roads Ever Diverge in the Wood: By Dr. Michael Platt enrich his Greek classes. I could tell he was concerned about something, and Such a program as ours offered what college curricula since it is proper for a junior teacher, even with some Near the beginning of my time at Dartmouth, in the once provided, a coherent, sequenced order of study, but experience, to defer to, even hope to learn from, a senior English Department from 1969-75, I proposed the compre- it provided more than a core or a distributive requirement, teacher, I volunteered, “I would be very happy if you would hensive Liberal Arts Program described. My companions for it was communal. Living together and eating together, look over how I marked and commented on my students’ in this endeavor were Dain Trafton, since a translator of our students would have had more than housing and food to work.” Gesturing that aside, he said “It is not so good if a Tasso and Chairman of English at Rockford College, and discuss, and if the program had endured, alumni and alumnae major gets less than a B.” I suppose he understood himself to Carnes Lord, since a member of President Reagan’s National from different decades would share their studies, and been be supporting the Department in the silent but unrelenting Security Council, the translator of Aristotle’s Politics, and able to converse with current students about studies. Faculty, effort to win and to retain numbers of students. Since I was now professor at the Naval War College. Dain and I had too, would have enjoyed the enlarged conversation. “That’s had good courses in the old General Education program not my field” they often say, feel understood at Harvard; I had visited St. John’s (Annapolis); and Cary only by fellow specialists, and sometimes only eeting together weekly to read Xenophon had had the intense experience of the old Directed Studies once a year at the national meeting, but most Program at Yale. Meeting together weekly to read Xeno- and pleased with our first teaching duties, the faculty when they were young chose a life with M phon and pleased with our first teaching duties, we thought teaching because they thought their teachers other professors and I thought nothing could be bet- nothing could be better for our students than to read some had good conversations together. Great books ter for our students than to read some great books great books together. require such conversations, and whatever is Although a number of senior faculty, including Ted great elevates as well as broadens those who together. Chick in German, said they would like to teach in the pro- look up to it. Crossing the Dartmouth green posed program, and others supported it, although it met with one summer, Lionel Trilling said to me, “All not about to be unjust and dishonest, I can well understand some favorable public discussion, and although President that I am to this day comes from the chance to teach in such Kemeny assigned us money to teach a pilot course from the why he did not want me to teach with him again. Once on a a program.” foggy day, as I reached the top of Moosilauke, suddenly from program, nevertheless, a two course, two teacher pilot of Some of the opposition was based on scholarly probity. the program was rejected by the Committee on Instruction, the other side he emerged, blinked at me, and sighed “The Thus, the Committee on Instruction claimed there was no happiest time of my life was when I was on this mountain.” which brought all progress to a halt, and warned younger one at Dartmouth competent to teach such a program, teachers away. In The Hollow Men, Charles Sykes regards As he disappeared into the fog, I wondered if he mourned and in a public meeting, one professor asserted none of us the loss of more than his youth. that rejection as Kemeny and Dartmouth’s last chance. The three had a right to teach most of the authors, since we had opposition was various. That there were private motives as well as depart- doctorates in only one field. In reply, I asked him would he mental interests at work in the opposition to our Liberal Any such list as we proposed provokes calls for the agree that our list included the master spirits of humanity. inclusion of other authors. Academics who not concerned Arts Proposal is suggested by the letter printed nearby in He agreed. I asked if it was true that many of the later au- which the Chairman of English, Henry Terrie, reminds Bill that the vast majority of students graduating have not stud- thors grew great by studying some earlier one. He said they ied Shakespeare or Plato, have not taken calculus, have not Scott, an opponent of our proposal, of “stubbornness” in had. And then I asked whether any of them had doctorates? proposing such a curriculum. Yet Terrie had actually come learned a foreign language, and cannot write a thoughtful Forgetting that Heidegger did and that Goethe had a higher letter about an important experience in their lives, suddenly up to me at the end of the public meeting on our proposal degree, he said none did. So I asked him “Then what gave and complimented me on my gentleness. Still, maybe any become concerned that their favorites, Halifax or Marvel, any of these great souls the right to learn from the others?” Vauvenargues or Simone Weil, Hölderlin or Keller, Münter proposal from an instructor might count as “stubbornness” He was silent, but not, I think, persuaded. or worse. or Morley, Fibonacci or Leuveenhook, do not appear on a Some supporters were not either. Word reached us proposed list. The six years or so in which young teachers prepare for that one muttered “What is this wisdom shit?” As Socrates and await a tenure decision are trying. One of my teachers suggests, although oligarchs tend to be “con- o all visitors to Dartmouth, the green in the middle at Yale, Al Kernan, once said, “During that time you put servative,” they also tend to neglect education. your friendships on ice, and after the waiting is over, you Tsuggests “Here is innocence, here is happiness, They hold that the “old is the good,” but may find they aren’t there.” At Dartmouth I observed young col- and here is peace,” but the reality is the war of all de- think the old is privilege and wainscoting. (I leagues spending hours in the coffee room, some of them hope Sanborn always has tea.) They may praise partments against all others. Crossing the green one imitating the peculiar laugh of a senior faculty member; so learning, but they truly love their horses, or sincere was their flattery, they may not have known it. Yet day, the head of Comparative Literature jested to me: dogs, shot guns or cars. One once stopped dur- one young colleague as he was placing a publication on the “I’ll meet you here and duel it out for students.” ing his lecture to ask students: does anybody vanity table, suddenly blurted out, “I know what I’m writ- know who the Norse god of thunder is? A ing is not much good, but I’m doing it so I can do better hand at the back shot up, “Thor, sir.” And the later.” teacher shot back, “Now that’s an educated There was usually some sense in their suggestions. We Few things in life are irreversible, but if Faust had man,” for he had not noticed that it was the student’s only should rejoice that there are more than a hundred great enlisted the Devil to further his academic career, he would appearance in class that winter, which he had spent read- souls, and be glad that there are a thousand good ones as be saying things like that young teacher, and for most young ing Thor comic books. The two most famous conservative well. One can only add: “Not all good things can be done teachers, six years pledged to Mephisto are quite enough to lecturers on campus lifted not a finger in support of our at once, there is later life after college, and an enhanced fix the character and degrade the intellect so that you will program. Junior and Senior life would follow our program.” merit the tenure conferred on you by those who said the To all visitors to Dartmouth, the green in the middle Once such a program is in place such critics are brought same sort of things to themselves when they were young. suggests “Here is innocence, here is happiness, and here around not by the inclusion of favorite authors, but by the Although Maynard Mack at Yale always said “Dartmouth is peace,” but the reality is the war of all departments pleasure of having in their classes students who have already is a graveyard for good young teachers,” I don’t think it against all others. Crossing the green one day, the head of read great works. The Greek professor who objected that no was much different from most places. I once asked Lionel Comparative Literature jested to me: “I’ll meet you here one could possibly study Plato without Greek, would soon Trilling about the setting of his story, “Of This Place, Of and duel it out for students.” That this joke was serious, I find that students from such a program not only swell but That Time,” and he said, “Oh it could be here.” And those learned one winter when I taught in a good Bible course colleges were better than colleges today. (not as Literature but for Literature Students, thank God) It is to the credit of Dartmouth then that in public the Dr. Platt is professor emeritus of English at the with the senior professor who had pioneered it; after I had opposers of our liberal arts proposal spoke in the name of College and a friend of the Republic. graded my students’ hour exams but not yet returned them, knowledge, of language skill, and of disciplinary integrity, all he invited me to lunch and asked about the results. good things, however secondary. I suspect that today such Who Writes TDR? January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page E7 The Necessity of a Liberal Arts Curriculum opposers would speak differently. At many colleges, the College, by Prof. Hilail Gildin, with National Endowment nity,” allowed something in addition. It meant students from dearest wish of the faculty is that the students adopt their for the Humanities support; since it was just when City a Freshman Seminar could continue our studies together. opinions and their feelings, their discontent, their indigna- College was altering itself through open admissions, many When you do that, you don’t start from scratch. tion, and their self-love. Naturally those who want their aspiring students around the city found what they wanted Classes with such fine, alert, and ardent students are one students to think they are great resent genuine greatness in this program, which exists to this day. of the three things most instrumental to the life of the mind, anywhere near, in their classroom, in their course, in a cur- Graduates of Dartmouth since 1970 may judge whether friends and solitude being the others. I recall with happiness riculum, or a colleague. However much such resentment was their education would have been enhanced by studying the our many times together, our studies, our meals in Thayer, at work against our proposal, it was never voiced in public, authors on our list. Present day students may wonder. our extra classes, our extra-curricular reading group Friday and looking at the departmental curricula of that time, you The question of how much a student today at Dartmouth nights, and also our parties. It was at Dartmouth that I found would have to say that what the faculty deemed the best could put together on his own will be addressed. My sense time spent with students is almost always better than with was pretty much what was taught, which in English meant is that it would be hard, but in any case, it would not be so colleagues. Exceptions during my time at Dartmouth were, Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, etc. shared an inquiry as we proposed. Students, however, should in addition to my companions Dain and Cary: Ed Yonan And it is to be remembered that our proposal had sup- never underrate how much a group of friends, studying in Religion, George Young in Russian, Joe Galloway, who porters, including the secretary who provided me with a copy the same things, and also reading together things outside held the permanently junior and permanently impermanent of Terrie’s letter. Indeed, all around American Academe any course can make up for a curriculum. The best course position in Continental Philosophy, and Roger Masters, ever in the late sixties, despite the national and campus tumult, in the Yale Graduate School I went to was the four year, ready for good conversation. there were similar proposals made and adopted, for example every Saturday night, reading group—reading and Ringnes Another exception among senior faculty, a very good Joseph Tussman’s at Berkeley and John Senior’s at Kansas. beer—that I and my fellow students enjoyed, led by Mike teacher of Shakespeare, Robert G. Hunter, left at the end Has any such program been initiated anywhere in American Holquist and with our “village Hegelian” Jeff Barnouw. of my first year; before he did, he gave me some advice: Academe in recent times? (If so, please write me.) Old ones The significant additions I would now make to our list “There are two ways to succeed here. Either you go to the are more Aquinas, some Rembrandt, a sec- coffee room or you publish.” I asked, “You did not mention tion on America, the founders and Lincoln, teaching” and he replied, “I did not mention teaching.” hen I, together with my friends, proposed this and some Mozart. Although I urge students Well, I had been to the coffee room; my interviews WLiberal Arts curriculum, I was filled with the to read the works of the East that make a there led me to expect more good conversations about happiness of teaching, of having found in the classroom similar claim to greatness, I do not recom- literature and teaching; upon arriving what I found there mend them to begin with. The motive is was talk of investments and taxes; in so far as teaching was a wonderful place to learn too likely to be a shallow dislike of one’s discussed, it was complaints about students; no one ever own. I would not expect much good from spoke of a happy discovery in class, or even of the pleasure a young Japanese student who, declaring of reading. So I taught, and, as it happened, I did publish, have been maintained, for example at Columbia, at Yale, at an ardent desire to study the great Western books, turned one book and six articles, and, as it happened to me, I did St. John’s, at Deep Springs, and at the University of Dallas, out never to have memorized poems from the Manyoshu, leave, finding my way to a place that had such a curriculum but it is only new institutions, such as Thomas Aquinas and read the Tale of Genji, or taken in the quenching teaching as we had proposed, but for all students, and a graduate George Wythe College that have newly founded the like. of the Buddha. And nobody who shouts, “The great must school to match, whose Literature Program I led. Where reform of existing institutions is unlikely, hope must go” can study anything. Study the great works of the West So although it often seems we must choose between turn to new ones. To start, the friendship of five or so fellow and you will come to see that they are both the ground of good and gain, it sometimes happens that when we choose teachers is the one thing necessary. the mores, practices, and institutions around you, and their the good, we also gain. In the tragedies we proposed to read For the student in an old institution, the question is: best criticism. in our program, human beings pay the full price and then how much of such greatness can I get here, by selecting Socrates, the originator of philosophy, and Christ, some, and for their virtues as much as their flaws, and yet in courses and teachers carefully, and, I would add, by shar- the teacher of Christianity, are somehow the founders of the comedies they often receive no punishment commen- ing as many courses with friends. Does the atmosphere at Western Civilization and at the same time such great crit- surate to their vices, and are even rewarded despite them. Dartmouth today support such studies and such friendships? ics of it that if they reappeared one would be hemlocked Both seem unjust and yet, grosso modo, are they not just? I am unable to say. and the other crucified. The study of them and their many For a just judge might well be both hard to satisfy and yet In the summer of 1988 I returned to Dartmouth, this students offers the liberation of understanding, and may easy to please. time to teach in Government. Although some of the students lead to higher duties than you dreamed of. When I, together with my friends, proposed this Liberal were as good as the old days (one, Lindsay Holt, later won Although proposing this Liberal Arts Program was my Arts curriculum, I was filled with the happiness of teaching, an National Endowment for the Humanities summer grant political unmaking at Dartmouth, it was my intellectual of having found in the classroom a wonderful place to learn, to study Tocqueville with me and I conducted a Nietzsche making, thenceforth and forever. And it should be noted and because I met with such good students, I was sanguine tutorial by Fedex for three students the following term), that despite the reneging on my promotion and subsequent about human nature, unobservant of it in the faculty, and still most students that summer were not very willing to lying, Dartmouth gave me a six year horizon, first talk together. Although few things can equal the power of to attend wholly to teaching and then in the later Plato’s Republic to provoke thoughtful conversation, these years to writing as well. lthough proposing this Liberal Arts Program students would not risk it. That they were intelligent and Young teachers today, stubborn or unstub- was my political unmaking at Dartmouth, it was did have opinions was easy to detect from their journals and A born, are not so well treated. My readiness for papers, but they did not want to speak about them in class the happiness of teaching and the proposal of my intellectual making, thenceforth and forever. to each other. They did not think the convictions by which our Liberal Arts Program was, however, pre- they lived and measured things, often quite confidently, pared by a rare and blessed experience, which judging from their indignations, were rationally discussible no institution can supply, yet no institution prevent. complacent about the support such institutions as Dartmouth or even grounded in reason. Only at the end of graduate school did I meet a man did give to teaching and learning. I suspect that for them man is not the rational animal, equal in heart and in mind to the authors I was beginning The discoveries about these things that I have mentioned the animal that knows and shares its knowing, and that tries to read, especially Nietzsche. Meeting him turned all one’s were sometimes more than disappointing, and they were to order its political life accordingly, but the political animal, weak suspicions, which one had allowed others to make injurious, but they were most powerfully and beneficially that is, the value projecting animal, the imposer, the willer. one feel guilty for, into one, single, firm, whole conviction. illuminated by the authors in our program, who are not as Carried through, this conviction would make the greatest Teaching with that conviction made a classroom a place to sanguine as I was about how much human beings can learn, man the creator of values and the greatest political man the learn in, one of the best. even about themselves. “Where men can do evil, they mostly willer of willers. Thus, skepticism that is dogmatic, instead In the Freshmen Seminars at Dartmouth, no one minded will” said Madison and constructed a good institution to of checking, may augment tyranny. Knowledge becomes if you read great books not in “your field”; the reason why restrict the evil and promote the good. power and power pleasure. the best writing addressed to students was not in the Course Among the things that recommend the books we listed, Meanwhile, the pleasure of such knowing as gives no Catalogue but in the Freshman Seminar booklet was because great and deep as are the differences among the authors, power vanishes and the happy pursuit of it has no home in the teacher was trying to get the best crew, the most gifted are their combination of sobriety and ardor. the soul. The aversion of these students to discussion suggests and the most desirous, for the intellectual voyage he was Without the one, life would not be worth living, and some such basis and, since they were not freshmen, it might planning, none but true Argonauts. even with the other, it is sometimes very hard. I think even come from some change at Dartmouth since I enjoyed so In those Freshman Seminars, I began anew my educa- more than I did then that such a program would be as good many good classes there. Though rejected at Dartmouth, a tion. And the pilot course President Kemeny provided for for students at Dartmouth now, as it was when we proposed version of our Liberal Arts Program was instituted at Queens (enduring thanks to him), entitled “The Origins of Moder- it long ago. n Wah-Hoo-Wah! Selling Canes since 1899 Buy in Bulk for Commencement and Save! Online: www.dartreview.com/store/ E-mail: [email protected] Page E8 The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009 Hygiene, Workers-of-the-World-Style

By Katherine J. Murray safety manual, although it is peppered with things to keep regulate the heat and help to burn up the fuel, and the in mind if you ever do, in fact, inhale too much ammonia wastes of the body as the ashes and clinkers which must be Meeting a Dartmouth student who has not worried or naphtha vapors. raked out and not allowed to clog the furnace.” (!) about finding a job upon graduating from college is nearly Dr. Tolman manages to mold even the most banal subject matter into a charming miniature life lesson. Some of Book Review the lessons are obsolete, of course, but advice on how to cope with unpleasant Hygiene for the Worker coworkers and how to deal with bore- dom on the job is nearly as applicable Dr. William H. Tolman now as ever—although today’s work- Davies Press, 2008 induced ennui is mitigated by the fact that we live in the age of computerized impossible. Some students put off the question, choosing Solitaire and Freecell. to instead pick up a Master’s or J.D. before facing the job Pampered college students may market, but many soon-to-be Dartmouth graduates shall sneer at yesteryear’s dirty factory saunter toward the workforce armed with only a fabled Ivy drudges, but a read of Hygiene makes League degree and so-called “confidence,” that mélange of quite clear the ancestors knew a few things about hard work and drive that ygiene for the Worker’s preface notes have hence been forgotten. The next that “to equip the worker to care for time you or I complains about our sa- H distic professors assigning twenty-page himself under actual working conditions papers, which we can write in the com- as they exist to-day and to add to his hap- fort of a vast heated library, suckling at the teat of Wikipedia, and all the while piness and efficiency are the two purposes listening to the newest Death Cab for of this book.” Cutie album, we should perhaps put down our ubiquitous Novack bagels arrogance and a blissful unawareness of what awaits. (the enduring favorite of the Baker- The latter group may find an unexpected gem or two of Berry-bound student), shut off iTunes, sound advice in Hygiene for the Worker, a 1912 work by Dr. and recall the grit our forefathers nearly William H. Tolman, aided by his colleague, Mrs. Adelaide a century ago brought to the job. Wood Guthrie. The editor’s preface explains that Dr. Tolman While a phrase here or there may is (or was, one assumes) “an expert of international repu- strike a modern reader as a trifle pomp- tation in industrial hygiene” and head of the now-defunct ous, the book’s overall style is never- American Museum of Safety. As I continue with this book theless quaint enough to be endearing review, I shall try to clear up a few questions. at times, and at others hysterically First, why hygiene? (“I’m not going to work in a fac- funny. The old-fashioned illustrations tory!”) And second, why now? also add to the character of the work, including a diagram of lead objects which young workers should —Minimizing the devastating effects of drug abuse— avoid handling; articles containing arsenic; and Not a particularly modern analogy, but as good as mustached men at work at grinding wheels. any, and more delightful than most. Tolman goes on to cau- Tolman’s book is very much a product of the tion against consumption of all but the most trace amounts era in which he operated: the age of T.R. of alcohol and tobacco, which are two staples of basement and the most corpulent Taft, an age of heavy sub-culture. Furthermore, not splurging on carbohydrates patriotism and trust busting, during which or other junk food (hello, EBA’s) and showering regularly the common man could take pride in his remain as important today as they were then, even if large home, job, and possessions. Hygiene’s sage portions of the Dartmouth campus choose to overlook these advice and life lessons are to such an era basic habits. what the brief moral appendices attached Hygiene for the Worker is nearly impossible to find in to G.I. Joe episodes were to children of libraries today, but it is available for free online at Google Reagan-era America. Children only a few Books. It is a surprisingly lively read, at times uproarious, years older than I received “Kids, don’t walk and the illustrations simply must be seen to be believed; on thin ice during winter; if your friend however, these aspects do not constitute the work’s complete falls in the lake, get a long stick for him to value. grab on to,” in vividly animated form. “If carbolic acid has been swallowed,” Dr. ot only Hygiene’s subject matter, but Tolman similarly advises, “wash out the also its writing style and illustrations patient’s mouth with alcohol and give him N whisky to drink.” Not bad. solidify the reader’s grasp of the very zeitgeist Hygiene’s chapters cover every as- of blue-collar Progressive America. For this, pect of becoming an efficient member of the American blue-collar workforce. it contains considerable historical value. Each chapter also includes a numbered list of dogmatic axioms, headed by an imperiously capitalized “REMEMBER”, Not only Hygiene’s subject matter, but also its writ- seemingly to help the material stick in the ing style and illustrations solidify the reader’s grasp of the malleable mind of the adolescent soon-to- very zeitgeist of blue-collar Progressive America. For this, be worker. The book begins with how to it contains considerable historical value. The reader can ace an interview with a potential employer: practically hear the gears grinding, smell the ammonia bottom line, one must have first made a fumes, and see Dr. Tolman’s audience—the bright-eyed, habit of being well-groomed and in good idealistic young lad or maiden—toiling in the dust toward physical and mental shape. Joe the the vaunted American Dream, and all the while narrated —Picking your nose can be good for your hygiene— Dartmouth student often forgets this by a grandfatherly, albeit somewhat fussy, old “expert.” simple advice, coming to class (if he (Spoiler alert: Tolman really hates the “insanity” of Fourth makes it all) a bit late, a bit bleary-eyed, Hygiene for the Worker’s preface notes that “to equip of July fireworks.) and carrying with him the leftover fetor of a dank fraternity the worker to care for himself under actual working condi- The next time you find yourself holed up in the stacks, basement. Against Dr. Tolman’s solicitous advice, Joe does tions as they exist to-day and to add to his happiness and playing Solitaire and instant messaging instead of studying, not eat breakfast. It is perfectly in keeping with the spirit of efficiency are the two purposes of this book.”Hygiene is no I strongly recommend skimming Hygiene for the Worker. Hygiene for the Worker that Tolman compares the body to mere “always sterilize hands after handling such-and-such” It is a breath of fresh air (or perhaps slightly sulfurous air) a steam engine, “which needs good fuel and plenty of it in from a different time, and you will certainly get a glimpse order to get up a good head of steam… we may look upon Ms. Murray is a freshman emeritus at the College and of an America that has almost entirely disappeared from the air that is breathed into the body as the drafts which an Associate Editor of The Dartmouth Review. living memory. n January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page E9 Bork Speaks Truth to Power

By Brian C. Nachbar rather than a democracy. If the justices choose to interpret have predatory effects. He also advises against a statute the text according to an evolving standard—judging the proposed in 1978 which would have allowed antitrust ac- In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Robert evolution themselves—they are similarly unrestrained. tion against any company with monopoly power, even if it Bork to the United States Supreme Court. Bork, at the The Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of “liberty,” for had done nothing wrong to acquire the market share which time a former Solicitor General and law professor and a example, could be construed to preclude any law whatsoever. gave it that power. sitting circuit judge, had more than enough experience and Interpretation according to original meaning is therefore Though most of the essays in this section argue for a qualifications to merit the position. necessary for democracy. Such an approach means that the reduction of antitrust action, there is also a series of articles However, the Democrat-majority Senate objected to Court cannot strike down even the most reprehensible law his political and judicial beliefs. After a heated nationwide if it does not contradict the Constitution. ne recurring theme, particularly in debate, complete with televised attack ads, Bork’s confir- Bork accepts this consequence, admitting that he “would more recent articles, is the culture mation was rejected. “Bork” entered political jargon as a be appalled by many statutes that [he is] compelled to think O verb meaning “to seek to obstruct a political appointment would be constitutional if enacted.” Many legal scholars, war. Bork perceives and decries a growth or selection.” The publication of A Time to Speak, a collec- Bork explains, feel they cannot allow such laws no matter of the ideas of radical egalitarianism and tion of Bork’s writings in various media, provides a chance what. to reevaluate the philosophy the Senate rejected and to These scholars openly recommend that judges overrule radical individualism. remember the man who held it for more than the actions the majority based on their own moral judgment, without of his political foes. reference to the Constitution. Bork’s objection to this view in which Bork supports the antitrust suit against Microsoft. is that if the legislature has passed a law, it has made its own He reasons that Microsoft’s practice of refusing to deal with Book Review moral judgment, which the Court seeks to reverse. Any computer manufacturers who dealt with their rivals was an believer in democracy must prefer the moral judgment of exclusionary exertion of market power with no potential to A Time to Speak the representatives of the majority over that of an unelected increase efficiency and was therefore harmful to consumers. body designed to be insulated from public opinion. Bork effectively develops all of his antitrust positions with Robert H. Bork The writings on constitutional law theory are the most very convincing results. However, as his views have largely ISI Books, 2008 important in the collection. The question of how Supreme been accepted, this section is not very relevant to current Court justices should rule remains an ongoing topic of de- policy debates, and is primarily of academic and historical The first part of the collection focuses on Bork’s theory bate. Bork’s arguments on this issue are well-reasoned and interest. of constitutional interpretation: that judges must decide persuasive. This is true of his attacks on the liberal activism The remainder of the book wanders among various is- cases based on the text of the Constitution as it would of the Court in recent times, but also of his refutations of sues. Among other positions, Bork argues that there can be probably have been interpreted at the time of its adoption. advocates of conservative judicial activism. In one published no international law governing the use of military force, as Such interpretation is necessary, Bork argues, to solve the exchange, Bork rejects a thesis advanced by conservative any law which dictatorships would agree to could not morally “Madisonian dilemma”—the problem of allowing majority scholars (at a time when it seemed possible) that courts distinguish between democracy and dictatorship; opposes rule while guaranteeing certain minority rights. For instance, should appeal to “natural law” in reaching decisions. In the institution of the independent counsel for high-level if a majority votes to inflict cruel and unusual punishment another, he rebuts an argument that the Fifth and Four- executive prosecutions on various grounds, including that it on a minority, it is desirable that the majority’s will should teenth Amendments’ protection of life should be extended gives the prosecutors large incentives to prosecute regardless be thwarted. Neither the majority nor the minority can be to unborn babies, noting that this was simply not the original of the facts; and laments the rise of anti-tobacco legislation, meaning of the text. noting that many Americans simply like to smoke. These essays show that Bork’s Notably absent is any commentary on Bork’s experience theory of original meaning is not as a Supreme Court nominee; evidently, he would consider just a way to attack Roe v. Wade, as it bad form to complain about his treatment. One recurring its opponents seem to suspect, but theme, particularly in more recent articles, is the culture rather a sincerely held, consistently war. Bork perceives and decries a growth of the ideas of applied principle. For this reason, radical egalitarianism and radical individualism. The former they are the most valuable part of is the belief in equal results rather than equal opportunity; A Time to Speak. the latter is the belief that individuals have no obligations Bork also provides several ex- to society. Radical egalitarianism, Bork argues, leads to an amples of how he would, and in a inefficient economy and decreased freedom, while radical few cases did, apply his method of individualism leads to a breakdown of traditional values. interpretation. In one article, he dis- These miscellaneous essays vary in quality, but none is misses the idea that the Constitution as thoroughly reasoned as Bork’s positions on constitutional contains any rights to welfare. In an law and antitrust. In particular, his culture war articles often opinion he issued as a circuit judge, seem to assume that the reader will find the evils of radi- he rules that neither the Constitu- cal individualism self-evident. The very trends that Bork tion nor previous Supreme Court describes show that many perceive the opposite. That the rulings prevented the military from miscellaneous articles are not as well argued as the legal discharging homosexuals. In the articles is understandable, given that law is Bork’s life’s transcript of an oral argument he work. Still, it makes these articles the least valuable in the made as solicitor general, he defends collection, though still worthwhile. the death penalty from allegations of being unconstitutionally cruel is positions all have plausible support and unusual punishment, noting in the text and history of the Constitu- that the Constitution acknowledges H the existence of capital punish- tion. Moreover, if, as Bork contends, judicial ment. activism has tended to favor liberal causes, it His positions all have plausible is inevitable that judicial restraint will lead to support in the text and history of the Constitution. Moreover, if as relatively conservative rulings. Bork contends, judicial activism has tended to favor liberal causes, Overall, A Time to Speak is a decent read, despite its it is inevitable that judicial restraint generic title. Bork’s style throughout is straightforward, will lead to relatively conservative generally with few flourishes. The format of a collection rulings. Thus, while it is possible that of writings does have its drawbacks. Some articles repeat Bork’s political beliefs significantly arguments made in others, and the various documents do bias his interpretations, there is not not always work towards a thesis as coherently as the chap- sufficient evidence to conclude that ters of a book might. However, the format does provide an they do. effective cross-section of Bork’s career. The second section deals with The mixture of types of documents also has advantages; antitrust law, establishing and apply- the inclusion of a few written opinions from Bork’s time trusted to determine the limits of the majority’s power. ing the now-mainstream idea that this branch of law should on the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court shows the real-life The Constitution, interpreted by the Supreme Court, can be interpreted to protect consumers. At the time many of application of the principles articulated in the articles. The define such boundaries. However, if the Court is guided by its the articles were written, businesses could be penalized for content is the real draw. On constitutional law, Bork makes a members’ own moral convictions rather than the text of the any action that hurt competitors, even if it did so solely by highly effective argument against the status quo on an issue Constitution, it can override the majority on any issue. If nine increasing efficiency. Antitrust thus protected inefficient which remains pivotal in politics. On antitrust, he forcefully unelected men have such power, the nation is an oligarchy producers, to the detriment of consumers. refutes some principles of the past and shows why the mod- On this ground, Bork defends practices such as vertical ern policy is what it is. On other issues, he presents several Mr. Nachbar is a freshman at the College and a mergers, conglomerate mergers and resale price mainte- interesting, though sometimes less thorough, arguments. contributor to The Dartmouth Review. nance, arguing that they can increase efficiency and cannot The sum is an eminently worthwhile book. n Page E10 The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009 Teaching Children Their Manners

By Raquel Merchant to the sink after a meal; and wipe spills from the floor. image of God,” and that all of our actions essentially reflect These are just a few ideas to get you started! the respect we have for Him. As a small touch of capturing Perhaps today’s youth could use a refresher course on Granted, it may be hard to find a literary example that the lesson at hand in a certain passage, Santorum includes what it means to be well mannered. Karen Santorum’s Ev- expresses the specific nuances of etiquette, and these im- quotations on the margins of the page, a majority of which eryday Graces: A Child’s Book of Good Manners is written portant rules may have not have been in the excerpt of The are from the Bible. She features messages from Pope John with the noblest intention: to teach children, and maybe Little Princess by George Macdonald that Santorum tries Paul II to close a couple of sections, really linking pious even their parents, the good forms of social behavior that are to use as an example, but her “few suggestions” are simply reverence with good manners. so easily forgotten. Santorum stresses that politeness goes one of her many disguised lists of what is and what isn’t far beyond the dos and donts of mealtime, and that a well- appropriate. Some of the poems that she picks are blatant aren Santorum’s Everyday Graces: lists, just in a nifty rhyme scheme. In a way, her method A Child’s Book of Good Manners is antorum presents her book as a mean- may prove to be more difficult for one to learn by, since her K rules are scattered randomly throughout the book and can written with the noblest intentions: to teach Singful bonding activity, as it meant for be oddly specific without the benefit of being organized in children, and maybe even their parents, a helpful manner. a parent to read to his or her child. But this the good forms of social behavior that are trying effort is weak in its actual goal of Everyday Graces can be potentially confusing. Many of its stories are examples of how one should not behave, so easily forgotten. educating children. which can be easily misinterpreted by a younger audience. Pippi Longstocking, a character who is celebrated for her spunk and eccentricity, provides the lesson on table manners. But if Santorum proposes that having proper manners should be a universal standard, should she have tied it so mannered person is also someone who has a strong sense When invited to a coffee party, she makes a loud entrance, closely to her own religion? The righteous reasoning behind of character and personal integrity. She includes sections greets the hostess rudely, is dressed inappropriately and what is considered to be accepted behavior almost makes dedicated to topics that one may not expect to be covered even sprinkles sugar all over the floor and dances on top manners out to be denominational. in an etiquette book, among them are addressing how one of the mess she makes. No one ever tells Pippi that she’s This dimension of the book alienates non-Christian should treat the sick and elderly, being kind to animals and behaving improperly, she isn’t even subtlety snubbed. With readers and has the potential to offend them, or at least even a section that encourages patriotism. no negative sanctions, and just a brief statement of “What a guest!” in the passage’s explanation, it may be easy for make them uncomfortable. On the other hand, it also has a child to miss that the attention Pippi’s actions draws to the power to have a strong moral influence on impression- Book Review herself are negative. able young minds. The examples can also be a tad repetitive, Everyday Graces: A Child’s book of sometimes needlessly good manners re-emphasizing simple points that Santorum Karen Santorum clearly makes in her first ISI Books, 2003 examples throughout the book. She aims to educate her audience through lessons in She follows up her literature. Her work is a collection that includes poetry, excerpt of Pippi’s story short story, adaptation of myths and fables, and biography. with a scene from Lewis Excerpts of classic children’s novels she frequently refers Carroll’s Alice in Won- back to, such as Pinnocchio, Pippi Longstocking and Anne derland, in which Alice of Green Gables. behaves rudely at a tea Instead of providing a long list of rules and procedure party. What variation! for children to memorize, an approach that Santorum feels And there are only so is boring and ineffective, she looks to make her lessons many heart-warming memorable by teaching through the examples of her widely stories and poems that varied and carefully selected stories and characters. stress the importance of She usually either introduces or concludes her passages being humble and kind with an explanation of what the story is supposed to edify. that any grown person But however well intentioned or innovative this method of with an ounce of natural instruction is meant to be, Santorum’s attempts at explanation cynicism that could take turn into exactly what she does not want—a list of rules. at a time. While some of her explanations are simple restatements One may need of text that may be too complex for younger children to fully to constantly keep in understand, others become an extension of the lesson that mind that this book is the literature does not necessarily provide in the first place. primarily intended for In a section on behaving in someone else’s home, Santorum small children, since it provides her own suggestions for one to: seems that only such an audience would be able veryday Graces can be potentially con- to tolerate it. While the tone of Efusing. Many of its stories are examples each lesson attempts of how one should not behave, which can to reveal the maternal be easily misinterpreted by a younger audi- expertise that Santorum must have acquired ence. Pippi Longstocking, a character who through her experience is celebrated for her spunk and eccentric- of raising six of her own ity, provides the lesson on table manners. children, her comments can seem as patronizing When invited to a coffee party, she makes a and annoying to any loud entrance, greets the hostess rudely, is reader over the age of twelve. dressed inappropriately and even sprinkles The frustration of reading her commentary is not unlike There are probably better books that can give a more sugar all over the floor and dances on top the experience of talking to someone who has been around straightforward instruction on etiquette. But what makes of the mess she makes. young children and babies for too long, when his or her Everyday Graces: A Child’s Book of Good Manners distinct vernacular is now injected with baby talk and is expressed from those other guides is Santorum’s heartfelt philosophy in that usually faked, kind and melodic tone of voice. that a person’s character is as much of a proponent of one’s Now the mental picture of the author might explain a behavior as one’s skill of writing appropriate thank you cards. Wholeness of being is a concept that is too often overlooked place your shoes neatly by the door when you enter; lot about her work. Karen Santorum is the wife of a United by other writers. leave the bathroom clean and dry; hang the towel after States Senator and a mother of six, who left her careers in Santorum presents her book as a meaningful bonding you wash your hands; return games and toys to their nursing and law to be a full time homemaker. Her Kennedy- activity, meant for a parent to read to his or her child. But this shelves; don’t open the refrigerator or kitchen cabinets esque family portrait explains the wholesome, all-American trying effort is weak in its actual goal of educating children. without asking first; bring your plate, cup and utensils undercurrent in Everyday Graces. The overwhelming Christian sentiment in Santorum’s But on its own, Everyday Graces is a worthy collection of book is particularly salient. Every so often, she reminds her children’s literature that every family can appreciate and Ms. Merchant is a freshman at the College and a readers in one way or another that “we are all made in the enjoy. n contributor to The Dartmouth Review. January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page E11 Two Unnecessary and Disastrous Wars By Jeffrey Hart the war, suffered more than 4000 soldier killed and perhaps vided a classic account of this. The best and the brightest 15,000 wounded, seen an undeterminable number of Iraqi were well born, highly educated and very intelligent men Peter Galbraith is the son of John Kenneth Galbraith, civilians killed, perhaps 200,000 and 2 million fled into who led us into a quagmire and carnage in Vietnam. In his the economist and President John F. Kennedy’s ambas- miserable exile in Syria and elsewhere. sador to India. His son has had extensive experience in the What the surge has achieved is space for Bush to go region and first-hand experience on the ground in Iraq as a out the door before the dimensions of the disaster become Book Review staff member for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee clear. The Obama administration will be accused of losing and considerable diplomatic experience, as ambassador to the war that Bush had won. Croatia, is an expert on arms control. In The End of Iraq he Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy All of this has the quality of déjà vu for me. This is argued that the incompetence of the Bush administration and the path to war in vietnam where I came in during the 1960s when the Vietnam war created an endless war in a country composed of hostile was sliding into defeat. sectarian groups joined together in an artificial state when Gordon M. Goldstein The Korean war caught up with me in 1953 when I began the Ottoman empire collapsed. almost four years as an officer in Naval Intelligence. In Korea Henry Holt, 2003 we achieved an armed stalemate at the 38th parallel. I did not Book Review know then that the new president Eisenhower had ended narrative the term “the best and the brightest” acquires the fighting in Korea by sending a secret message through an ironic quality. McGeorge Bundy was the best and the New Delhi to Mao Zedong: unless the fighting ended we brightest of the best and the brightest. A Boston Brahmin, Unintended Consequences would respond “without inhibition as to the weapons used.” he had been an academic star at Groton. A math major at (Seen Fred I. Greenstein, The Hidden Hand Presdency) Yale, and based on his record was appointed to the Society Peter W. Galbraith Mao had no nukes. The fighting ended. Today South Korea of Fellows at Harvard. This meant he did not need to take Simon and Schuster, 2008 is a prosperous modern nation, North Korea a communist courses and could pursue any project that interested him. backwater. After three years he was considered qualified to teach When President Kennedy sent 16,000 “advisors” to at Harvard without earning a Ph.D. He joined the Harvard In 1920 the British waged a disastrous air and land cam- South Vietnam, I thought we could win, defining that as Government Department and was considered a star. When paign in Iraq, failing to crush rebellions and insurgencies. achieving an independent South Vietnam. I learn from the department recommended him for tenure, President Churchill called it an “ungrateful cauldron.” In the northern Lesson in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War James Bryant Conant was surprised that a man who had not part of Iraq, the Kurds, though Muslims, are not Arabs, that Kennedy was determined not to Americanize the war. taken a single undergraduate course or graduate course in have been resistant to the Saddam Hussein Sunni minority Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 11, 2003. government was being recommended for tenure. But Bundy dictatorship. The Kurds would prefer to form a Kurdistan Just after his landslide 1964 victory over Barry Goldwater was awarded tenure. In 1953 Harvard’s new president with Kurds who are now part of Turkey. Galbraith favored now President Johnson was determined not to lose the war Nathan Pusey selected Bundy for Dean of the Faculty. At a loose confederation of the three sectarian groups rather and greatly expanded the number of American combat age 34 he was considered a magnificent dean, a master of than a strong central government in Iraq. He noticed that troops in South Vietnam. At the time I was certain we would often complex faculty politics. the Bush administration was either ignorant of or did not prevail. Nixon, elected in 1968, knew that the war was not win- understand the sectarian animosities and paid little attention I did not know our goal was unachievable. nable. His strategy was the withdrawal of American troops, to the religious differences between Sunnis and Shiites. National Security Advisor under Kennedy and Johnson, replacing them with South Vietnamese soldiers (ARVN). In McGeorge Bundy also thought we could win. Les- 1972 when Kissinger returned from the Paris negotiations sons in Disaster is a very moving account of how this and announced “Peace is at hand,” Nixon advisor John nintended Consequences argues persuasively brilliant man misjudged the war, and now painfully Erlichman met him in the White House and asked how Uthat the invasion of Iraq not only has failed understood his responsibility and his failure. Bundy long the ARVN could hold out. Kissinger replied, “About a to achieve any of the goals for which Bush went was the perfect Kennedy New Frontiersman, along year and a half.” In fact the “peace accords” were a protocol with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, for American withdrawal. They even agreed to allow North to war and in fact have turned into a strategic former CEO of the Ford Motor Company, and Vietnamese troops to remain in South Vietnam. disaster for the United States and its allies. now persuaded that the war could be won, adept During the war Tom Hayden was a young anti-war with charts and statistics purporting to show that leader and founder of the radical Students for a Democratic we were winning. Society. Two years ago he returned to South Vietnam and in Unintended Consequences argues persuasively that the Early in 1968 President Johnson called the elder an article expressed disappointment. In the former Saigon, invasion of Iraq not only has failed to achieve any of the statesmen known as Wise Men together to advise him about now Ho Chi Minh City, he found that Vietnam has become goals for which Bush went to war and in fact have turned a new and large escalation of troops in the field demanded a “consumer society.” People riding motorcycles. Small busi- into a strategic disaster for the United States and its allies. by General William Westmoreland. Former Secretary of ness flourishing. American investment welcomed. Though He summarizes: State Dean Acheson demanded access to lower rank officers, authoritarian, Vietnam is communist in name only. Hayden did his own arithmetic, and concluded that the escalation found that old revolutionaries were also disappointed. This 1. A war intended to eliminate the threat from Saddam would be futile, war could not be won. Hussein’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction Senator Eugene McCarthy had he Vietnamese had been defending their indepen- been running as an anti-war candidate. ended up with Iran and North Korea much closer to dence against China for centuries. When Japan having deployable nuclear weapons. Now Sen. Robert Kennedy declared his T 2. A war intended to fight terror has helped the terror- candidacy. In August, still in Sacramento, occupied Vietnam, then a French colony, during World ists. I watched on TV as Senator Kennedy War II, the Vietnamese fought the Japanese. After the 3. A war intended to bring freedom and democracy to spoke to his supporters about his victory Iraq now has US troops fighting pro-Iranian Shiite over McCarthy in the crucial California war, when the French re-occupied the country, the Viet- theocrats and alongside unreformed Baathists. primary. Then Kennedy was shot. namese fought the French and forced them to withdraw 4. A war intended to undermine Iran’s Ayatollah’s has Over there, as Americans sang in from what became North Vietnam. They saw the United resulted in a historic victory for Iran. Iranian-backed 1917, the facts were intractable: political parties control Iraq’s government and armed The Vietnamese had been defend- States as the successor to the French. The war for them forces, giving Iran a role in Iraq that it had not had for ing their independence against China was a patriotic anti-colonial war. four centuries. for centuries. When Japan occupied 5. A war intended to promote democracy in the Middle Vietnam, then a French colony, during East has set it back. World War II, the Vietnamese fought was not the communal society they had idealistically fought 6. A war intended to intimidate Syria and make Israel the Japanese. After the war, when the French re-occupied for. In 1919 when the victorious powers were meeting at more secure has left Israel more threatened and Syria the country, the Vietnamese fought the French and forced Versailles to discuss the shape of the peace, Ho Chi Minh, less isolated. them to withdraw from what became North Vietnam. They a young Vietnamese nationalist, was in Paris as a student. 7. A war intended to enhance America’s relations with saw the United States as the successor to the French. The Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George and Clemenceau rep- moderate Islam has made Turkey among the most war for them was a patriotic anti-colonial war. resented the major powers. Wilson advocated peace without anti-American countries in the world. North Vietnam had an excellent regular army coming victory and self-determination. Ho Chi Minh noted that 8. A war intended to boost American global leadership down a trail network through Laos and Cambodia and into self-determination. He tried to make an appointment with has driven US prestige to an all-time low. South Vietnam. This network had been under construction Wilson and even rented a morning coat for the occasion. He 9. A war intended to consolidate Republican power in for years, and was equipped with rest areas, hospitals, repair never got near Wilson. And of course Clemenceau would Washington for a generation cost the GOP control of facilities for trucks and other equipment. In addition to the have laughed at the idea of turning the colony of Vietnam both Houses of Congress in 2006 and seems likely to North Vietnamese regulars, Hanoi had another army in the over to the natives. help an anti-war Democrat president in 2008. South, the Viet Cong, or National Liberation Front. These The catastrophic 1954 defeat of the French army at 10. A war intended to make America more secure has left fighters were invisible since they lived there and looked like Dienbienphu was one result. In 1961 President Kennedy the country weaker. anyone else; and they had a great deal of local support. stopped in Paris on his way to a Vienna summit conference The United States has spent about a trillion dollars on I was not alone in my false expectations, but I had the with Nikita Krushchev. In Paris he spoke with President excuse of ignorance. Charles De Gaulle, who told him to stay out of Vietnam, Dr. Hart is professor emeritus of English at the This is not so for the men around Kennedy and later that it was a quagmire. Similarly, we should have stayed out College and author of The Making of the American around Lyndon Johnson. They were disastrously wrong and of Iraq. Meddling in Iraq will cost this country as much, if Conservative Mind. dangerously over-confident. not more, as meddling in Vietnam. n In The Best and the Brightest David Halberstam pro- Page E12 The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009

We should take care not to make the intellect our The more you read, the more things you will know. People who don’t read are brutes. god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no per- The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. —Eugene Ionesco sonality. —Dr. Seuss ­—Albert Einstein Language is the armory of the human mind, and at Human history becomes more and more a race between once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons Language is wine upon the lips. education and catastrophe. of its future conquests. —Virginia Woolf —H.G. Wells —Samuel Taylor Coleridge

What a distressing contrast there is between the radi- When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries No matter how busy you may think you are, you ant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality disappear and life stands explained. must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to of the average adult. —Mark Twain self-chosen ignorance. —Sigmund Freud —Confucius

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at destroy you. the end. You live several lives while reading it. —Ray Bradbury gordon haff’s ­—William Styron

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that There is a great deal of difference between an eager I can borrow. the last word. man who wants to read a book and a tired man who —Woodrow Wilson wants a book to read. ­—G.K. Chesterton Real education must ultimately be limited to men who Compiled by Blair E. Bandeen insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding. Always read something that will make you look good —Ezra Pound Words of Wisdom if you die in the middle of it. They shine upon the strength of an nation —P.J. O’Rourke A chief event of life is the day in which we have en- Conquer the enemy on with education countered a mind that startled us. —Tupac Shakur I find television to be very educating. Every time —Ralph Waldo Emerson somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room A man is the whole encyclopedia of facts. and read a book. Mad, adj.: Affected with a high degree of intellectual —Ralph Waldo Emerson —Groucho Marx independence —Ambrose Pierce What is the mind but motion in the intellectual The books which help you most are those which make sphere? you think the most. The hardest way of learning is A room without books is like a body without a soul. —Oscar Wilde by easy reading: but a great book that comes from a —Cicero great thinker—it is a ship of thought, deep freighted The action required to sustain human life is primarily with truth and with beauty. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a intellectual: everything man needs has to be discovered —Theodore Parker people who mean to be their own governors must arm by his mind and produced by his effort. themselves with the power which knowledge gives. —Ayn Rand —James Madison Barrett’s Mixology By Christine S. Tian The Sweeney Todd EBAS.com 1.5 oz. Gordon’s gin 6 oz. tomato juice 1 dash salt 1 dash pepper 2 dashes lime juice EBAS (proper noun): Stir with a straight razor and serve ice cold. Long before Stephen Sondheim penned a Tony Award-winning Everything But play about him and Johnny Depp made murderous psychopathy look entirely too appealing while playing him on the big screen, Anchovies, a Hanover our good friend Sweeney Todd appeared in a 19th-century penny dreadful named The String of Pearls: A Romance. I chanced culinary institution which upon a cheap, tattered copy of this serial in an overstuffed London flea-market antique stall and left clutching the literary delivers pizza, chicken masterpiece like a hard-won prize (along with an ancient china dog, a few yellowing fly-posters, and two rusty novelty salt- sandwiches and other and-pepper shakers the shopkeeper seemed desperate to rid himself of.) Roaming the streets of The Old Smoke with my local delicacies until nose buried in the book, I was alternately delighted, appalled, and guiltily enthralled with the lurid exploits of the homicidal 2:10 A.M. every night. barber, his meat pie-baking associate Mrs. Lovett, and the two plucky young lovers, Johanna Oakley and Mark Ingestrie, who The ultimate in eventually triumph in exposing Todd’s grisly secret. Here was an antidote to the monotony of endless days of studying in a performance fuel. sterile cubicle in the British Library, reading even more sterile texts on Victorian literature; it was impossible, I realized gratifyingly, to apply any sort of serious literary analysis to this book’s melodramatic plot and sensational writing style. I needed the break. And as I strolled into a pub on Fleet Street, 603-643-6135 the fictional location of Sweeney Todd’s barbershop, I decided a nice British twist on the Bloody Mary would wash down quite well with this nice British twist on the Bloody Novel, capping off a perfect day of fighting the literary blues. January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page  Budget Cuts Panel (January 8, 2009) By Fernando W. Rodriguez-Villa was a common refrain over the course of the discussion. of uncertainty it has created in the college community. He Moderator Ezekiel Turner ’09 pushed the trio to give remarked that the current economic climate is as uncertain as On Thursday January 8, Paleopitus and the Student examples of visible changes that would come as a result of it has ever been since he arrived at the college in 1974. This Assembly hosted a panel on Budget Cuts at the College. the budget cuts. Keller cited the halting of plans to build a Monday the Provost is meeting with the faculty committee, Provost Berry Scherr, Dean of College Tom Crady which will undoubtedly have concerns regarding their and Vice President of Finance and Administration salaries and, for some, their jobs. “We do expect that Adam Keller gave an hour of their time to share there will be fewer people working at the College elements of the decision making process with ap- than there are now,” Keller admitted. “There will proximately forty students in the Tindle Lounge. be morale issues.” Dean Crady had more to add to Many of those in attendance were attracted by the this sobering announcement, saying, “there’s going advertisement sent out via Blitzmail which promised to be discomfort in the process, and you should answers to several questions including, “how will know that.” budget cuts affect your Dartmouth Experience?” Even the anticipation of this discomfort has While ample time was spent sharing the specifics yielded negative effects. Students applying for re- of the budget cutting process, the three members search grants are increasingly anxious about their of the panel shied away from providing details or chances for success. Some on campus performing concrete examples of what would be cut. groups have already had to confront the reality of The process, which reportedly began in Octo- a cautious environment. “We were originally ap- ber, is due to culminate in the first or second week proached by Dean of Faculty Carol Folt’s office of February, when the three administrators will to perform at a reception honoring the academic make a proposal to the trustees. The student body department chairs and center directors,” Adam and the greater public should know the details of Frank ’09, Business Manager of the Aires recalls. the cuts by the middle of that month. The objective, “A few weeks before the show, the office in- according to Keller, is to cut 40 million dollars from formed us that the entire event was being postponed a 460 million dollar operating budget over the next indefinitely until the effects of the economy on the two years, a reduction of historical proportions. college could be analyzed. This was even before the “I don’t think any of us that work at well en- administration had made any official announcement dowed institutions thought we would see a day like of budget cuts.” this,” Scherr admitted. Dean Crady added that the Despite his ambiguity in specifying what to 40 million dollar target was based on “a whole set expect, Mr. Keller stressed that the administration of educated guesses,” and that even that figure may has been working hard to minimize anxiety and not be sufficient. uncertainty. “Everybody will see a reduction, there won’t Dean Crady said that he and his staff were con- be a division that is exempt from that,” Keller said. stantly asking themselves “what are the fundamental Dean Crady predicted that some offices might be things that students need on a campus” so as not to combined, which he claimed would not necessarily jeopardize any of these necessities. He also thanked be a negative change. “Maybe [this way] you don’t those who filled out the Student Assembly’s recent have to walk to five places to get something done,” survey that asked students to rate the importance he suggested. Crady, who came to Dartmouth this of Dartmouth’s services and programs and make —The Great Depression at Dartmouth— year from Grinnell College in Iowa, where he was Vice- recommendations. President for Student Services, stressed his background new dining hall to replace Thayer. Dean Crady also men- Though details regarding how community mem- as an administrator at an institution with a much “leaner” tioned the decision to repair rather than drastically renovate bers’ lives will change once these cuts are made are scarce, it budget. Indeed, the concept of programs “getting leaner” the stands of Memorial Field. Beyond these two previously is clear that the core elements of the Dartmouth experience announced facility cuts, the three denied the audience of will remain. In February, people will know much more about any further examples. the effects of these cuts and will be able to adapt accord- Mr. Rodriguez-Villa is a sophomore at the College and a Scherr acknowledged that the most immediately effec- ingly. Until then, uncertainty and anxiety may prevail. n contributor to The Dartmouth Review. tive result of the budget cutting process has been the sense Rugby Secures Spot in Nationals

By Michael R. DiBenedetto match head coach Alexander Magleby ‘00 said “Credit In the finals Dartmouth faced off against a well-bal- to Brockport, coach Mike Hodgins has done a great job anced Syracuse team in a match which would determine After a hard fought battle with Syracuse, ninth- with them. They have some real athletes and they played who would earn a spot in the national championships. ranked Dartmouth rugby finished the fall season winning well.” Magleby also praised the team’s ability to retain The first half was filled with adversity for the Dartmouth the D1 Northeast tournament and qualifying for the USA their composure in a game which on paper looked to be side. Captain Conlan O’Leary ‘09 separated his shoulder Rugby national championships. The young team, which a blowout. The win in Hanover gave Dartmouth a date in the first half, and scrumhalf, Tommy Brothers ‘11 was lost over twenty seniors last spring, was not expected to with Rutgers in the Northeast semifinals at West Point. sin-binned for losing his feet at the tackle. Neverthe- be so dominant in the Northeast. Dartmouth finished Learning from the match with Brockport, Dartmouth less, Dartmouth was able to quickly build up a 10-0 lead off the season winning their last five games in convincing did not underestimate Rutgers, who made the playoffs with tries from Matt Dinger ‘10 and Derek Fish ‘12. A fashion. After the DRFC’s sole loss to Army, no game in their first year as a D1 college team in the consistently try by Chris Downer and a penalty kick by Jeff Kolovson came closer than seventeen points and no team scored extended Dartmouth’s lead to 18-0 at the half. In more than two tries on the defensive-minded the second half co-captain Matt Alkaitis showed Dartmouth squad. artmouth now awaits the result of the Western why he deserved an All-New England nomina- The playoff result means that the Indians will Dunion playoffs to see which team they will face tion, scoring two tries in eight minutes. A mix of have the Northeast number two seed and overall in the national championships in the spring. Dartmouth’s tactical kicking and impenetrable number fifteen seed in the national champio- defense helped to keep the ball in Syracuse’s half ships. On a tremendously windy day Dartmouth weak Met-NY union. The wet, rainy conditions were not virtually the entire game. The only points for was forced to earn its quarterfinal win against a scrappy Syracuse came from a consolation try with Dartmouth’s Brockport team. Brockport was blown out in the last conducive to Dartmouth’s “champagne rugby” style, but the Indians won the match by grinding down the undisci- full complement of reserves on the field. The final score meeting of the two teams, but came out strong this time was Dartmouth 30, Syracuse 7. After the match an elated around. The wind neutralized the Indians tactical kicking plined Rutgers team. Dartmouth played almost flawlessly, with the excep- Alex Magleby said, “It’s a percentage game in the playoffs advantage, which may have contributed to a first half and the boys stuck to the game plan. They ground Syra- which ended with a score of 5-3 in favor of Dartmouth. tion of a few key knock-ons and turnovers which kept the score within thirty points. The tough Rutgers team cuse down for the win. It was a good finish to a season The Indians regrouped at halftime and came out fir- where we were rebuilding after having graduated twenty ing in the second forty, scoring three tries in the second refused to quit and played passionately the entire game. Points were scored by Derek Fish ‘12, Jeff Kolovson ‘09, two players. These guys weren’t fully aware of their half. Ry Sullivan ‘09 scored a try in his Rugby debut. character, culture, or what they wanted to accomplish at Tempers flared throughout the match between the two Alkaitis ‘09 and Chris Downer ‘11. The match ended with a great display of Dartmouth’s tough defense as Rut- the beginning of the season, but they worked hard every rivals, causing the referee to show three yellow cards. week and this victory was a nice way to end the season.” Dartmouth’s stingy defense held firm and did not give up gers was unable to score from five meters out. In the end the Big Green shut out Rutgers 29-0. After the match Dartmouth now awaits the result of the Western a single point in the second half. At the final whistle, the union playoffs to see which team they will face in the scoreboard read 20-3 in favor of Dartmouth. After the coach Magleby said, “The guys played well given the circumstances. It was a set-piece game, I suppose they national championships in the spring. The Indians will all are, and I thought the team handled that area of the be spending the winter training indoors in Hanover and Mr. DiBenedetto is a junior at the College and Sports game well. Rutgers has improved mightily from where spring break touring the West coast and playing three n Editor of The Dartmouth Review. they were last year, and so it was an exciting challenge.” top-ten teams. Page  The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009 Forever Poor: Wright Reflects on Tenure By Blair E. Bandeen facilities from the past ten years is extensive, encompassing changes in budget spending. Like the Board of Trustees, Dartmouth students of all On Monday January 12, President Wright sent a blitz new residential halls, common spaces, athletic facilities, demographics ranked financial aid a top priority; they agree to the student body sharing with them a report discussing academic buildings, and dining halls. that “financial aid should not be changed or sacrificed in the progress of the college in the last ten years, as well as President Wright has also spent much of his tenure any way.” Also highly rated by students were student-faculty reflecting upon his tenure at the school in his final months trying to “diversify” the Dartmouth student body. Presi- initiatives, student-initiated program funding, extended here. Entitled “Forever New: A Ten-Year Report,” the report dent Wright’s “vision of Dartmouth is of a rich and diverse hours of hang-out and common areas, and advising and addresses changes Dartmouth has undergone, progress made community committed to a sense of shared purpose and academic resources. The Student Assembly/ Palaeopitus toward achieving set goals, and projects that still remain. values.” The percentage of students of color has increased Senior Society 2009 letter sent to the administration also A primary concern was how Dartmouth would navigate its 16 percent from the class of 2002 to the class of 2012 (for a listed recommendations for areas where spending should current financial woes into the future. total of 36 percent), and the percent of international students has increased 4 percent (for a total of 8 be reduced. s President Wright notes, Dartmouth has “managed percent). In addition, the percentage of Heating and energy costs, as well as “inefficiencies of students receiving need-based aid from DDS” were the suggested areas for budget cuts. It was also Ato adapt fully to a changing world, to changing ex- the school has greatly increased, as has suggested that the school might consider re-structuring the pectations, and still remain dedicated to [its] purpose and the amount of the average scholarship. residential advising program, Dick’s House, and auxiliary While it is clear that a lot of programs (DDS and Hanover Inn, etc.). principles,” the true mark of an “enduring” institution. progress has been made in the last ten Not included in the letter to the administration, but years at Dartmouth, what will come in found in the budget survey summary that was sent to the the next few years remains less certain. entire student population, was a more complete list of what Why “Forever New”? Aside from conjuring images of Looking past President Wright’s tenure at Dartmouth, the the students do and do not value. The top seven “fundamen- Bob Dylan, the title of the report implies that one of the most crucial issue facing the next president is what effect tal” areas valued were (in order): financial aid, traditions, ways Dartmouth is so successful is in its ability to adjust to the current world economy will have on the College. As academics, the DOC, off-campus programs, dining halls, the world around it. As President Wright notes, Dartmouth Dean Crady said in his January 13 blitz to the school, “At and sports. Some specific recommendations were outlined, has “managed to adapt fully to a changing world, to changing the moment, managing the budget situation needs to take including the beliefs that: residential education and OPAL expectations, and still remain dedicated to [its] purpose and precedence.” are viewed as inefficient, students should be given incen- principles,” the true mark of an “enduring” institution. The College’s endowment has expanded from 1.5 billion tives for being more energy efficient, professors should During his tenure as president, President Wright has dollars in 1998 to 3.66 billion dollars in September, 2008. be encouraged to use paper-free technologies, and Food accomplished many things that benefit all students at the Gifts to the Dartmouth College Fund (which Court’s trays should be eliminated. college. Since 1998 the graduating class’s overall satisfaction sustain most operating costs of the school) have with their undergraduate experience has risen. This may be grown to 42 billion dollars from 16 million dol- the result of several changes made to the undergraduate resident Wright’s ten-year report provides lars during that time. This has allowed for many learning experience, including the reduction of average both an optimistic and sobering view of the new initiatives in the past several years, but as the P class size, increased opportunities for learning experiences school turns to the future the outlook is a more school. On the one hand the progress made in that outside of the classroom (such as academic internships and “sobering picture.” independent projects with faculty), reorganization of the period of time is remarkable, yet on the other the According to President Wright’s report, “we faculty advising program, and a strong focus on development immediate future presents serious obstacles. will need to adjust projected expenses by up to ten of the faculty. A commitment to building up interdisciplin- percent, or approximately 40 million dollars, over ary and international education has also been an important the next two fiscal years.” Declining endowment factor in the past ten years. In his letter to the students, Dean Crady invites anyone performance has led to significantly reduced who is interested to talk to him or submit feedback regard- revenue, and restructuring the financial expen- ing any new proposals. On top of this many students have ome specific recommendations were outlined, ditures of the school is of great importance. taken action to start circulating petitions, sending blitzes including the beliefs that: residential education Attempting to lighten the situation somewhat, S encouraging their peers to save OPAL and the like. Thus the president points out that “this challenge and OPAL are viewed as inefficient... it appears that student involvement will play a large role in also presents an opportunity to clarify our the future of the College, particularly in financial matters. priorities in concert with our values,” a fact President Wright’s ten-year report provides both an The implementation of the Student Life Initiative (SLI) made very clear by the high level of student involvement optimistic and sobering view of the school. The progress in 1999 has also been an integral, though controversial, part in the matter. made in that period of time is remarkable, yet the imme- of President Wright’s time at Dartmouth. Initially, SLI was On December 22, all undergraduate students of diate future presents serious obstacles. In his afterward, meant to replace the Greek system through a set “commu- Dartmouth found in their inboxes an invitation to complete President Wright chose to remark upon the richness of the nity building” efforts. When he realized the unpopularity of a student budget survey to make clear what their priorities school as coming from its “remarkable human wealth in replacing Greek Life with the SLI, President Wright directed were for budget allocation. 1493, or 34 percent of all stu- students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and friends—what the SLI initiative to more harmless goals. Since 1998, stu- dents, responded to the survey, and on January 5 a letter I have described as the true endowment of Dartmouth. dent surveys have shown that student satisfaction with the was sent to school administrators conveying the results. This wealth,” he claims, “will sustain Dartmouth through College has increased significantly as a result of some SLI In his ten-year report President Wright outlined which yet another economic downturn.” In ending the letter there measures like increased: extracurricular activities, athletic programs and initiatives the Board of Trustees think should is a definite optimism in the proclamation that, “Dartmouth and residential facilities, food services, and general sense be protected most from the financial cuts. Listed as top is well—and will continue to be.” President Wright invites of community. The list of new and substantially renovated priorities are: financial aid, academic strengths (defined as all to join in the effort to ensure the continued success of tenure-track faculty), “overall educational environment,” our school, using our human capital to maintain and further Ms. Bandeen is a freshman at the College and a con- and support of employees. It is also noted that the school is the school which we all love. n tributor to The Dartmouth Review. attempting to initiate not just temporary, but “sustainable” Stinson’s: Your Pong HQ

Meetings Cups, Balls, Paddles, Accessories Mondays at (603) 643-6086 | www.stinsonsvillagestore.com January 23, 2009 The Dartmouth Review Page  Dartmouth and the Recession By Jeffrey Hart I will try to summarize what these books tell us. Constitution. In 1936, where Schlesinger ends The Age of The fundamental cause of the Great Depression was Roosevelt, the economy was trending up as a result of the Obviously, the national economic collapse has serious the fact that efficiencies achieved in both manufacturing massive measures enacted by the New Deal. implications for Dartmouth. The declining interest on the and farming during the 1920s produced more goods than In 1937, however, the Federal Reserve, concerned about endowment, the declining income from investments, and the the public had money to buy. This depressed prices and possible inflation, cut back the money supply and caused difficulty of fundraising under current circumstances all have drove many enterprises to the brink and over it. Foreclo- a downturn. The economy finally recovered and boomed ramifications for the College’s future vitality. The question sures multiplied, most extensively in the farm belt, where with the production begun with the run-up to the war. is: how should or can the College allocate its resources? revolution was in the air as neighbors showed up with guns Franklin Roosevelt was the most important president The College’s priorities on spending should have been to prevent a foreclosure. One judge was actually dragged since Lincoln. debated before we invested so much in buildings while sub- from his courthouse and lynched. In 1933 Roosevelt thought Now it’s Obama’s turn. The massive stimulus package ordinating other considerations. This emergency will give that if he failed he would be not only the worst president he is proposing, 700 billion dollars plus the 350 billion us a chance to open that debate for discussion. What the but the last. dollars left over from the Paulson stimulus—but now to be College should be doing with finite resources is of particular During the mid 1920s the Stock Market had risen rap- more wisely spent—looks like the Second New Deal (but interest to alumni. I will offer some suggestions in a mo- idly and kept going up because people expected it to keep still less costly than the cost of Bush’s unnecessary war in ment about how the College should allocate its resources, going up, even buying stocks on credit. In 1929 the Market Iraq). And in addition to our economic crisis, Obama faces but only after some remarks on our national crisis. crashed. the ongoing war abroad against radical Islam. The outgoing Secretary of the Treasury, Hank Paul- The New Deal understood that the situation was desper- If we are looking at a Second New Deal under Obama, son, is a Dartmouth graduate and was also an outstanding ate and getting worse. The fist thing Roosevelt did was call he is also aware of his relation to Lincoln, and announced his football player while at Dartmouth. Oddly enough, the a special session of Congress to address the deteriorating candidacy for the presidency from the steps of the Illinois incoming Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, is situation. Since banks were failing all across the nation, people capitol in Springfield, where Lincoln had also served in the also a Dartmouth graduate. unable to recover their money, the Roosevelt immediately legislature. Indeed, the very fact that Obama is president In 1933 when Franklin Roosevelt replaced Herbert declared a “bank holiday” during which it could address the has its origin in Lincoln’s basic proposition, derived from Hoover as president, unemployment stood at twenty five emergency. Then, he created the Federal Deposit Insur- the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created percent, and by some calculations it even hit thirty percent. ance Corporation that made it safe to take your money out equal” with their right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of Today, unemployment has reached fourteen percent. Chrys- of the mattress and put it in the local bank. happiness.” In his Gettysburg Address Lincoln cited the ler and General Motors are in desperate shape, needing The New Deal, as Schlesinger shows, came out of the Declaration as the founding document of our nation, and federal rescue. And investment banks no longer exist as tradition of progressive reform exemplified by Theodore described the abolition of slavery as a “new birth of free- they once did. Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. dom.” As an African American, Obama is included in that Are we sliding from recession to another Great Depres- The word “pragmatism” is often used to describe “new birth of freedom,” which indeed is the theme of his sion, as in the 1930s? In 2008 home foreclosures were up the New Deal, and now also used to describe Obama. As Inauguration. 81 percent over 2007. Homes are many people’s chief asset, developed by William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, and On January 20, as Obama stood at the rostrum at the and homes generally declined in value as they flooded the John Dewey, pragmatism is a uniquely American school east side of the Capitol, he took his oath of office on the market. of philosophy based on the belief that the truth is preemi- bible Lincoln used. I thought of Lincoln’s first Inaugural The current collapse began with mortgages sold on easy nently to be tested by the practical application of a belief. Address; terms to people who could not afford them. When massive It is skeptical about certainties derived from metaphysical defaults occurred, the housing boom collapsed. But invest- abstractions. The New Deal indeed proceeded by trial and Though passions may have strained it must not break ment banks had bundled the risky mortgages into offerings error, retaining what worked, discarding what did not, as our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, they then sold to other investment banks, who then sold the it moved into unexplored territory. As Franklin Roosevelt stretching from every battlefield and every patriot’s bundled mortgages to other banks. The repeated purchases said in May 1933: grave to every heart and hearthstone all over this drove the value of the mortgages higher and higher . . . until land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when it crashed and the value collapsed. Foreclosures spread The country needs, and unless I mistake its temper again touched, as surely as they will be, by the better across the country. People lost their homes and whatever demands, bold, persistent experimentation. It is com- angels of our nature. they had invested in the risky mortgages. mon sense to take a method, and try it: if it fails, admit Last year, as the availability of credit diminished danger- it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. Obama has vowed to be president not of red and blue states ously, Secretary Paulson recommended a $700 billion grant The millions who are in want will not stand by silently but of all Americans, and, indeed, has chosen ability over to the major investment banks that had not yet gone out of forever while things to satisfy their needs are within partisanship in important appointments. Obama will be the business in order to prevent them from failing. The bailout their reach. best writer since Lincoln to be president, and Lincoln set was also meant to stimulate liquidity (usable credit). Today, the bar high for First Inaugurals. having spent some 350 billion dollars, the banks have failed Action was the order of the day. First, the New Deal And when I listened to Obama on January 20 I thought to use the money to free up credit; instead they are buying created jobs with federal investment. The Civilian Con- also of Roosevelt’s urging that we can accomplish all that other banks, paying dividends, and paying other expenses servation Corps put millions of unemployed young men to is necessary, but only if we are not paralyzed by fear: “The that are irrelevant to shrinking funds for credit. Purchasing work at one dollar an hour, living in camps and working at only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unrea- power has slowed dangerously. The Paulson plan did not reforestation, soil conservation projects, trails and campsites soning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to provide a method to track the money once it had passed to that are still in widespread use. In our own area here in New convert retreat into advance.” Roosevelt’s word “paralyzes” the investment banks, a startling omission. But Congress and Hampshire we have a segment of the Appalachian Trail, still leaps from the text with personal resonance. Roosevelt President Bush share the responsibility for this oversight. popular for hikers and built by the CCC. had risen from polio to be elected four times as president, Without credit people cannot make large purchases of The New Deal undertook massive projects under the surmounted The Depression and led a great coalition to many kinds, purchasing that is basic to the economy, such as WPA (Works Progress Administration), building schools, victory in a global war. Obama has the calm self confidence automobiles, home improvement, and so on. Credit injects repairing and building roads and much else. The New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt, and also a Rooseveltian smile. purchasing power into the economy and the money spent immediately began work on bridges, dams and other massive Obviously, our present national economic crisis pos- circulates, a single dollar, for example, moving through projects, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built sesses important implications for Dartmouth College. A many hands—the greater its “velocity,” as economists call it, dams that generated electrical power for an entire region, few suggestions: the healthier the economy. But credit now is frozen due to effected flood control and helped to create our prosperous I am astonished that the College is going ahead on incompetence and dishonesty by the big investment bank- Sunbelt. Lebanon Street with a very large building designed for the ers. Some people are talking about bankers as “banksters,” The New Deal tried to reform investment banking with performing arts and costing some fifty million dollars. The with reference to the word “gangsters.” the new Securities and Exchange Commission to establish performing arts are at best marginal to the serious concerns President George Bush, whose approval rating now rules for investment, and also transparency about transac- of a liberal arts college, and we already have the Hopkins stands in the mid twenties, may leave the presidency as a tions, the absence of which had contributed to the stock Center. Furthermore, judging by pictures I have seen, this second Herbert Hoover as far as the economy is concerned. market crash of 1929. Similarly, the failure to regulate the projected building is a monstrosity. Not surprisingly the new President Barack Obama has been sale and bundling of sub-prime mortgages led to our present Given the financial crunch, it would be fitting if the studying the history of the early New Deal, and is known to financial meltdown. new Dartmouth president requested a salary less than the have read Jonathan Alter’s Defining Moment, a book about Free market ideology rejects regulation, and here Fed- 400 thousand dollars now received, given a large house is the first hundred days of the Roosevelt administration. The eral Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan may be the origin provided on Webster Avenue and many other amenities. first one hundred days define an administration because of our problem, but his successors followed him in resisting Furthermore, the College in recent years has invested they establish the course for what is to come. regulation. The anti-regulation Bush administration has done heavily in building construction. That may be all very well, But how much can we learn from the Great Depres- nothing to prevent the meltdown. The free market is not but surely the College needed much more urgently to invest sion of the 1930s? Obama is wise to be considering that self-correcting. As George Santayana famously said, “Those in improving the faculty. history. who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Two of the most important authors in the history of The books I have found useful include Alter’s Defining From the New Deal, the “alphabet soup” agencies Western civilization are Dante and Shakespeare. Dartmouth Moment, just mentioned, and the recently published FDR: come into existence and multiplied: Works Progress Ad- does not have a nationally recognized Dante scholar teaching The First Hundred Days by Anthony J. Badger, a Professor ministration, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Divine Comedy, nor does it have a nationally recognized of American History at Cambridge University. Also, and in Reconstruction Finance Corporation, National Recovery Shakespeare scholar teaching the most important poet in considerable detail, Arthur Schlesinger’s Age of Roosevelt Administration (its excessive regulation ruled unconstitu- the English language. Professors of the required standing is useful. tional by the Supreme Court). The New Deal re-wrote the cost money. It is time to put the masonry ideas aside and social contract, making the federal government a partner focus on teaching. Dr. Hart is professor emeritus of English at the College in securing “the general welfare,” as is mandated as the Alumni should make that clear to the next Dartmouth and author of The Making of the American Conservative fifth of the six goals of government in the Prologue to the president. The time is now. n Mind. Page  The Dartmouth Review January 23, 2009

As sure as the spring will follow the winter, prosperity Our incomes are like our shoes; if too small, they Most men love money and security more, and creation and economic growth will follow recession. gall and pinch us; but if too large, they cause us to and construction less, as they get older. —Bo Bennett stumble and to trip. —John Maynard Keynes —John Locke It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover a depression when you lose yours. When we were at peace, Democrats wanted to raise it with perfectly good ink and make the combination —Harry S. Truman taxes. Now there’s a war, so Democrats want to raise worthless. taxes. When there was a surplus, Democrats wanted —Milton Friedman The stock market has forecast nine of the last five to raise taxes. Now that there is a mild recession, recessions. Democrats want to raise taxes. As on the one hand, the necessity for borrowing in —Paul A. Samuelson —Ann Coulter particular emergencies cannot be doubted, so on the other, it is equally evident that to be able to borrow An economist is a surgeon with an excellent scalpel upon good terms, it is essential that the credit of a and a rough-edged lancet, who operates beautifully nation should be well established. on the dead and tortures the living. —Alexander Hamilton —Nicholas Chamfort gordon haff’s Stock prices have reached what looks like a perma- Blessed are the young, for they will inherit the na- nently high plateau. tional debt. the last word. —Irving Fisher —Herbert Hoover The apologists of luxury have sometimes gone so far A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t as to cry up the advantages of misery and indigence; keep us from buying it. Compiled by Michael J. Edgar on the ground, that, without the stimulus of want, the —William Feather lower classes of mankind could never be impelled to Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge labour, so that neither the upper classes, nor society To those critics who are so pessimistic about our in adversity. at large, could have the benefit of their exertions. economy, I say, Don’t be economic girlie men! —Aristotle —Jean-Baptiste Say —Arnold Schwarzenegger Political economy came into being as a natural result In the same manner if any nation wasted part of its “Everyone for himself,” cried the elephant, as he of the expansion of trade, and with its appearance wealth, or lost part of its trade, it could not retain danced among the chickens. elementary, unscientific huckstering was replaced the same quantity of circulating medium which it —Charles Dickens by a developed system of licensed fraud, an entire before possessed. science of enrichment. —David Ricardo Herbert Hoover, it has been said, called in the best —Karl Marx economists in the country and took the advice of I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be danger- none of them; Franklin Roosevelt called in the worst ous to offer me the position. economists and took the advice of all of them. No complaint ... is more common than that of a scar- —Mark Twain —William Harlan Hale city of money. —Adam Smith

Barrett’s Mixology By James T. Preston Jr. Hard Times Highball EBAS.com 2 parts alcohol 2 parts more alcohol Splash of gin Tonic as desired

As I wanders into the old gin joint over on fifth, I EBAS (proper noun): ask the barkeep if there’s any specials today. No specials, says he, don’t you know there’s a reces- Everything But sion on? So I has a few drinks anyways to pass the time. But after I’m a few drinks in and don’t feel Anchovies, a Hanover nothin’, I start’s to get to wondering. Hey buddy, says I, you put any booze in this? What’dya want culinary institution which me to do, he asks, we’re on hard times. I can’t just be throwin’ away money no more. C’mon delivers pizza, chicken fella, says I, make the next one up strong like you guys used to, for old time’s sake. He says no can sandwiches and other do, says he’s doin’ bad enough as it is. And he’s right. Lookin’ around the place, its just a few job- local delicacies until less bums like me trying to drown our sorrows. I reach for my wallet to buy some more, but it 2:10 A.M. every night. looks like I’m outta dough and outta luck. Time was a man could run up a fine tab on credit here, The ultimate in but not no more. These days its cash or nothin’. Fortunately, the chum picks this time to go take performance fuel. a leak. So I leans over the bar, see, and I grab the nearest two bottles and pour them into what’s left of my gin and (mostly) tonic. I hear him comin’ back from the john, so I put back the bottles real quick without seein’ what they were. I slam it 603-643-6135 down real quick so’s I can scam. It almost knocks me over, but these days I can’t be too picky. And hey, all in all it ain’t half bad.