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Saturday, October 12, 2002

The sad state of College-sanctioned journalism

Chien Wen Kung calls for the Daily Dartmouth to explain its editorial butchering and botching of an article written by a contributor who has since been fired (see that contributor's response to the edited article here).

There are two separate issues here. The first concerns editorial supremacy: the Daily Dartmouth's editors have a right to edit, as they see fit, any copy submitted to them. Implicitly, this is a vital part of the editor/reporter relationship. Owing to publication deadlines and editorial process, the reporter might not always or ever be contacted about changes made to his or her piece. The Daily Dartmouth's editors owe no one an explanation for any changes they may have made to the original article as submitted by the reporter.

The second issue is one of editorial responsibility. The Daily Dartmouth has clearly erred by publishing an article that was shoddily researched and written. In all likelihood, one or more sources were misquoted. This is, simply, inexcusable. That the unedited article contained such errors or, even worse, that they were actually added by editors highlights the failings of the Daily Dartmouth's editorial process. Misquotings and factual inaccuracies have been plenty in the pages of the Daily Dartmouth of late, and corrections few. Put simply, that's no way to run a newspaper, and the Daily Dartmouth owes its readership (and those misquoted) an explanation of how this was allowed to occur and what steps will be taken to restore the Daily Dartmouth's trustworthiness from the depths to which it has fallen.

Most likely, the editorial board has simply been playing fast and loose with its fact- and quote-checking, a lapse caused by lazy staff and looming deadlines. When it is determined who failed to put a hold on this article, those persons should be fired for neglecting their basic editorial duties. It may be well and good for the editorial board to persist in firing its reporters and cartoonists over trivialities and misunderstandings, but, when a news source's tarnished credibility is on the line, those with ultimate responsibility, the editors, must own up to their failings.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 7:21 PM (0 comments)

Friday, October 11, 2002

Highly Fraudulent

Hey Talc, you notice the unicwash.org email address that you're supposed to forward that to?

From The UN Information Centre's website: "Note: We have learned that there is a new petition circulating that claims to have been started by our office -- we have not, nor have we ever, initiated any petition. "

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Rollo at 3:42 PM (0 comments)

"A Human Crime"

(The following notice, concerning this article, has been spotted on campus bulletin boards and was retyped verbatim)

"The following is a statement concerning a student's right to his or her own writing - A statement about a human crime committed by the editors of The Dartmouth newspaper - A statement about journalistic integrity and the public's right to read completely objective factual articles.

"On Tuesday, October 8, The Dartmouth published an article researched and originally written by this writer, Vassilia Binensztok. The article, entitled "Wright won't sign tolerance petition," concerns a statement initiated by former Dartmouth College president James O. Freedmen [sic]...

"As I wrote it, the article covered both sides of the story -- objectively covering the issues at hand, presenting the information clearly and letting the reader decide his own opinion.

"The editors of The Dartmouth COMPLETELY RE-WROTE the article that I had written, changing the wording and added complete paragraphs without EVER consulting me..."

(read more)

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 3:38 PM (0 comments)

Re: Highly Inappropriate

Talc, a better title might have been "Highly Irrelevant," considering the actions of our elected representatives in the House and Senate.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 3:20 PM (0 comments)

Highly Inappropriate

This was sent out by a professor, Ifi Amadiume of the Religion Department, to a recipient list of professors AND two classes worth of students.

11 Oct 2002 12:55:33 EDT
Mourn the Victims.
Stand for Peace.
Islam is not the Enemy.
War is NOT the Answer.
Today we are at a point of imbalance in the world and are moving
toward what may be the beginning of a THIRD WORLD WAR. If you are against
this possibility, the UN is gathering signatures in an effort to avoid a
tragic world event.

Please COPY (rather than Forward) this e-mail in a
new message, sign at the end of the list, and send it to all the
people whom you know. If you receive this list with more than 500
names signed, please send a copy of the message to:
AHREF="http://lw7fd.law7.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/HoTMaiL?curmbox=F000000001&
http://lw7fd.law7.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/HoTMaiL?curmbox=F000000001&>
>a=82092be0c941785830a08f69199eb0c2">unicwash@unicwash.org
180&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=brief>
Even if you decide not to sign, please consider forwarding the
petition on instead of eliminating it.
1) Suzanne Dathe, Grenoble, France
2) Laurence COMPARAT, Grenoble, France
3) Philippe MOTTE, Grenoble, France
4) Jok FERRAND, Mont St. Martin, France
5) Emmanuelle PIGNOL, St Martin d'Heres,FRANCE
6) Marie GAUTHIER, Grenoble, FRANCE
7) Laurent VESCALO, Grenoble, FRANCE
8) Mathieu MOY, St Egreve, FRANCE
9) Bernard BLANCHET, Mont St Martin,FRANCE
10) Tassadite FAVRIE, Grenoble, FRANCE
11) Loic GODARD, St Ismier, FRANCE
12) Benedicte PASCAL, Grenoble, FRA NCE
13) Khedaidja BENATIA, Grenoble, FRANCE
14) Marie-Therese LLORET, Grenoble,FRANCE
15) Benoit THEAU, Poitiers, FRANCE
16) Bruno CONSTANTIN, Poitiers, FRANCE
17) Christian COGNARD, Poitiers, FRANCE
18) Robert GARDETTE, Paris, FRANCE
19) Claude CHEVILLARD, Montpellier, FRANCE
20) gilles FREISS, Montpellier, FRANCE
21) Patrick AUGEREAU, Montpellier, FRANCE
22) Jean IMBERT, Marseille, FRANCE
23) Jean-Claude MURAT, Toulouse, France
24) Anna BASSOLS, Barcelona, Catalonia
25) Mireia DUNACH, Barcelona, Catalonia
26) Michel VILLAZ, Grenoble, France
27) Pages Frederique, Dijon, France
28) Rodolphe FISCHMEISTER,Chatenay-Malabry, France
29) Francois BOUTEAU, Paris, France
30) Patrick PETER , Paris, France
31) Lorenza RADICI, Paris, France
32) Monika Siegenthaler, Bern, Switzerland
33) Mark Philp, Glasgow, Scotland
34) Tomas Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden
35) Jonas Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden
36) Karin Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden
37) Ake Ljung, Stockholm, Sweden
38) Carina Sedlmayer, Stockholm, Sweden
39) Rebecca Uddman, Stockholm, Sweden
40) Lena Skog, Stockholm, Sweden
41) Micael Folke, Stockholm, Sweden
42) Britt-Marie Folke, Stockholm, Sweden
43) Birgitta Schuberth, Stockholm, Sweden
44) Lena Dahl, Stockholm, Sweden
45) Ebba Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden
46) Jessica Carlsson, Vaxjo, Sweden
47) Sara Blomquist, Vaxjo, Sweden
48) Magdalena Fosseus, Vaxjo, Sweden
49) Charlotta Langner, Goteborg, Sweden
50) Andrea Egedal, Goteborg, Sweden
51) Lena Persson, Stockholm, Sweden
52) Magnus Linder, Umea ,Sweden
53) Petra Olofsson, Umea, Sweden
54) Caroline Evenbom, Vaxjo, Sweden
55) Asa Peterson, Grimes, Sweden
56) Jessica Bjork, Grimes, Sweden
57) Linda Ahlbom Goteborg, Sweden
58) Jenny Forsman, Boras, Sweden
59) Nina Gunnarson, Kinna, Sweden
60) Andrew Harrison, New Zealand
61) Bryre Murphy, New Zealand
62) Claire Lugton, New Zealand
63) Sarah Thornton, New Zealand
64) Rachel Eade, New Zealand
65) Magnus Hjert, London, UK
67) Madeleine Stamvik, Hurley, UK
68) Susanne Nowlan, Vermont, USA
69) Lotta Svenby, Malmoe, Sw eden
70) Adina Giselsson, Malmoe, Sweden
71) Anders Kullman, Stockholm, Sweden
72) Rebecka Swane, Stockholm, Sweden
73) Jens Venge, Stockholm, Sweden
74) Catharina Ekdahl, Stockholm, Sweden
75) Nina Fylkegard, Stockholm, Sweden
76) Therese Stedman, Malmoe, Sweden
77) Jannica Lund, Stockholm, Sweden
78) Douglas Bratt
79) Mats Lofstrom, Stockholm, Sweden
80) Li Lindstrom, Sweden
81) Ursula Mueller, Sweden
82) Marianne Komstadius, Stockholm, Sweden
83) Peter Thyselius, Stockholm, Sweden
84) Gonzalo Oviedo, Quito, Ecuador
85) Amalia Romeo, Gland, Switzerland
86) Margarita Restrepo, Gland, Switzerland
87) Eliane Ruster, Crans p.C., Switzerland
88) Jennifer Bischo ff-Elder, Hong Kong
89) Azita Lashgari, Beirut, Lebanon
90) Khashayar Ostovany, New York, USA
91) Lisa L Miller, Reno NV
92) Danielle Avazian, Los Angeles, CA
93) Sara Risher,Los Angeles,Ca.
94) Melanie London, New York, NY
95) Susan Brownstein , Los Angeles, CA
96) Steven Raspa, San Francisco, CA
97) Margot Duane, Ross, CA
98) Natasha Darnall, Los Angeles, CA
99) Candace Brower, Evanston, IL
100) James Kjelland, Evanston, IL
101) Michael Jampole, Beach Park, IL, USA
102) Diane Willis, Wilmette, IL, USA
103) Sharri Russell, Roanoke, VA, USA
104) Faye Cooley, Roanoke, VA, USA
105) Celeste Thompson, Round Rock, TX, USA
106) Sherry Stang, Pflugerville, TX, USA
107) Jean-Pierre Sergent, New York, USA
108) Nkemdilim Amadiume, New York, USA
109) Ifi Amadiume, NH, USA

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by alex at 2:03 PM (0 comments)

Misplaced Priorities

Philip Mone '02 contributes this:
An article in today's D, reports that administrators are closely considering serious cuts to Dartmouth�s library system, including significant changes and/or closings of Sherman Arts Library and Sanborn Library, which many consider jewels of �Old Dartmouth,� especially when compared to the sterile Berry Library.

Due to loss on endowment returns, cuts to Dartmouth�s operating budget are a must, but shouldn�t other options be explored before shutting down the very aspects of the College which make it unique and desirable? During my tenure at the College, hundreds of thousands of dollars were wasted on items not even remotely connected to the academic mission of the College. Among these expenditures: bringing fifty plus cable TV channels to every single dorm room, adding two superflous televisions to a single lounge in the Collis Center (one of which is a plasma flat screen, always on mute) and bringing Dartmouth its first alcohol- (and student-) free nightclub, Poison Ivy. Perhaps if during the boom years of endowment returns, the College had stockpiled returns instead of increasing budget allocations to non-academic programs, Sanborn and Sherman would not be at risk of closure today. But don�t worry students, if those libraries are closed, just pack up your literature and art history readings and head over to Collis, perhaps Friends is playing on three big screens.
Dartmouth's library system is the heart of its campus, both physically, procedurally, and academically. The librarians at Sherman are specialists and, as such, fluent with a number of texts and indices specific to art and art history that are all but unknown to general reference librarians. Students and faculty in the arts, art history, history, and anthropology (not to mention students with an extracurricular interest in art history) will suffer for this change, if it is implemented.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 1:10 PM (0 comments)

Thursday, October 10, 2002

Well, at least we're 42nd

Even more influential than US News' rankings, Seventeen listed Dartmouth as the 42nd "coolest" college in the country. That's,um, like, the best, you know?
I'm lost as to how MIT could be rated cooler than Dartmouth.

[Note: I don't read Seventeen, I just found this elsewhere. Honestly.]

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Christian at 4:56 PM (0 comments)

Wednesday, October 09, 2002

Iraq

Awesome collection of quotes from the president and other officials.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Rollo at 2:05 PM (0 comments)

Tuesday, October 08, 2002

Say Again?

In an article in today's D, Al Nur (a Muslim student group) advisor Amin Plaisted is quoted describing a petition signed by many college presidents against anti-semitic hatred and intimidation thusly:
It would seem to be a petition that encourages and invites exactly what it claims should stop, perhaps a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Had Mr. Plaisted actually read the petition, he would know that it seems nothing like his inept characterization.

The petition declares that "intimidation and hatred" do not "have any place on university campuses" and that "death threats and threats of violence," the destruction and defacement of Jewish students' property, and "libelous information or images" will "not be tolerated on campuses." To say that the petition "encourages and invites" these behaviors, as Mr. Plaisted does, isn't just misleading; it's absolutely unfounded.

Unconvinced? Read the petition yourself.

In that the petition may limit students' speech rights, there are good grounds for opposing it. That it advocates hatred, violence, and intimidation, however, is not among them.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 3:17 PM (0 comments)

Race to the Bottom

Here's an article from the D on college professors and a petition to denounce "threats, taunts, and intimidation" in debates. Apparently, dissent is appearing in the two-headed monster of Jim Wright and James Freedman -- Freedman engineered the petition, and Wright refuses to sign it. Because Wright has found a new respect for free speech and concedes that the price is oftentimes unpleasant speech? Alas, no. He's worried because the petition only mentions Jewish kids, and what about those poor Muslims? He would willingly sign it, if only itall of the Left's favorite groups, and not just Jews!

Watching lefties try to outflank each other in lefty nonsense is pretty entertaining, however.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Emmett at 2:19 PM (0 comments)

Response to the Freshman Issue

I must disagree with the list of Dartmouth's Worst Professors. While on the whole, the list seems fairly accurate, there is one professor who does not belong on that list. Marlene Heck is one of the best professors at Dartmouth and one of my favorite professors. Her lectures were, and still are, extremely interesting and I will never forget how much I learned the term I had a class with her.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Alison at 1:53 PM (0 comments)

In Policy Review

Former Review Editor-in-Chief Benjamin Wallace-Wells writes on Greenwich Village in the new edition of Policy Review.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by J. Lawrence at 1:54 AM (0 comments)

Monday, October 07, 2002

Balanced Time at UPenn

Scheduled for tomorrow:
The Robert A. Fox Leadership Program, Leaders and Issues in the Politics of Food presents:
"FAST FOOD, LOW WAGE WORK AND YOU!"
An afternoon forum featuring: ERIC SCHLOSSER, Author of FAST FOOD NATION; Al Vincent, United Food and Commercial Workers; Prof. James Pope, Constitutional and Labor Law Rutgers School of Law.
Class of '49 Auditorium, Houston Hall
This is organized by the same people who put "Fair and Balanced" within virtual quotation marks. Maybe it's time for a little bit less sarcasm and a bit more substance?

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 7:03 PM (0 comments)

Sunday, October 06, 2002

Dartlog.net updates

Two new things on the site:

- Newswire: The latest Dartmouth news from all over the place, updated every half hour. This is a test version, but it should work. Once the bugs are ironed out, I may put the headlines in as a third column on the main Dartlog page.

- Search: Finally, you can search past Dartlog postings using the search box over in the lefthand column...except it doesn't work every time because Google hasn't rolled out its October update on all of their servers (Dartlog archives were regenerated this past month to make them Google-friendly...like you care). There is a "plan b" search solution, but it doesn't work as well as Google.

Also, you can now sign up to receive Dartmouth Review headlines and article summaries in your email inbox every time a new issue is put online (once a week? once a month? It's up to Larry). Just click here.

Full post and comments below the fold.

Posted by Andrew Grossman at 6:23 PM (0 comments)

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