Dartmouth University:
- The Dartmouth reported on student reactions the announcement that the Main Hall of Baker-Berry Library will be renovated. The decision to install sofas and a coffee bar into the historic hall has been met with mixed emotions. In particular, students are worried that because “the Maine Hall is conducive to echoing,” the noise level could be raised to untenable levels following the remodeling. In this impressive piece of journalism, *The Dartmouth *basically gave students the opportunity to give their own input as to the state of the Main Hall. There is literally no content of significance in the original article.
Harvard University:
- For once, interesting news out of Cambridge. The Harvard Crimson reported on the 2010 Senior Survey rating Harvard’s varied academic departments. Interestingly, Crimson students panned the economics and government concentrations while the English department was ranked positively. On a five-point scale, English improved from 3.94 to 4.34, while economics and government received scores of 3.72 and 3.92, respectively. English Department Chair W. James Simpson attributed the results to a new curriculum, but added that he “[didn’t] want to sound overconfident.” Not that anyone would ever worry about the head of a humanities department at an Ivy League institution sounding pompous.