Success!
Admin privileges have been granted. Thanks to Mr. Shah. I'll get the staff assembled and the writing wheels turning again. Blitz me if you'd like to contribute. Keep checking back for updates. I hear the weather in Hanover has been rain for a month straight. Can anyone confirm? Juicy sophomore summer gossip also welcome.
Don't Call It A Comeback
Hello Little Green Bloggers, Nathan Bruschi here. I've been trying to wrestle this blog from the cold, dead, graduated hands of one, Niral Shah '08, and thus far with little success. It strikes me tragic that such a storied center of campus debate as this one would whimper in to the forgotten shadows of history. With Wheelock as my witness, I intend to forestall its demise! You may have noticed the emergence of a fascinating little organization, The Dartmouth Political Union, which some colleagues and I started a few terms back. The DPU aims to become a nexus of student political interaction by promoting and organizing political ideologies on campus and then pitting them together in constructive debate. Until we can get back on our feet here, and baring something better to do, I see LGB's place as an online community surrounding Union activities. Don't worry, we'll still give DartBlog and DartLog a run for their money with campus gossip, but I thought I'd make our bent clear from the get go. So here we are. Hopefully someone will give me admin privileges so I can invite the other contributors waiting in the wing. Keep checking back to see if they ever do. Keep it chill, Dartmouth, and let everyone know we're back. Nathan Bruschi
Barack Obama Is A Rockstar
As the event ran yet later and later, the sun beat down on an increasingly restless crowd, and still, no sign of Obama. The crowd had endured the strange choice of location (off the side of the Rocky overhang), being herded together with the usual masses of geriatric townies, the searing heat, and a few rounds of live easy-listening music. Finally, a respite. The Aires took the stage. As every delightfully un-instrumented melody drew to a close, one could see the crowd tensely anticipate what might follow. "What? Are they going to stop singing? No! I don't want politics. I came here to listen to a capella!" Soon, it was obvious Obama would be upstaged before even making an appearance. Seriously, even for those of us that might still have a soft spot in our hearts for a capella (and after three years of college, I don't), there is a time and a place for it, and this was not it. Perhaps they were just stalling for time, but about an hour deep into listening to the Aires, even the toddlers around me looked bored.  Still, if the College Democrats were trying to prove that Obama is a rockstar, they did it. Though the crowd dwindled a bit during the sing-a-thon, an impressive number stuck it out to hear the man. Freshman Congressman Paul Hodes stepped up to reinvigorate the crowd and introduce Barry, who was in full form. Obama did what he does best, saying very little, yet somehow being inspiring. Obama spoke largely in platitudes, but without sounding like a politician. Though he may not have touched on anything more controversial than Hillary has in weeks past, he left the audience with the impression of a no-nonsense, above-the-fray, charismatic leader. In the months leading up to the primary, we'll get our fair share of political celebrity facetime, but I doubt any candidate can come close to matching Obama's appeal. I guess we'll find out next time the spectacle rolls into town. Until then, back to the library with me.
Student Governance Task Force
So I'm a little late on the uptake, but yesterday, the Student Government Review Task Force issued its recommendations. The full version was blitzed out to campus, and if it becomes available online, I'll update with a link. In the meantime, DartWire has a pretty comprehensive guide to look at, and Dave Nachman '10 chimes in on his new SuperDartmouth blog. While Nachman pines for the radical Shpeen-revolution that never was, the strength of this report actually lies in its painfully boring pragmatism and attention to bureaucratic nuance. It calls for streamlining and coordinating funding allocation, changing voting and candidacy requirements, instituting campus referenda, direct election of certain committee chairs, and an overall reorganization and redistribution of responsibilities and committee structure. In it's most ambitious proposal, instead of pushing for a young trustee (an unsuccesful campaign of numerous SAs past), they advocate a formal liason and gradual re-evaluation and, ideally, expansion of the significance of this role. Of course, it's still SA, and so painstaking research doesn't always equate to reasonable expectations. The centralized online calendar thing has been tried before, and though making funding contingent on its use could force groups to post, it's not going to make campus use the thing. The plan to "Advertise happenings every fortnight in The Dartmouth and send out campus update blitzes every full moon," besides being absolutely bizarrely phrased, gets to the point. SA, as I have opined, is at its best when dealing with campuswide minor issues. For SA to fulfill this purpose more efficiently and visibly might decrease our collective disdain for the organization, but its pretty unlikely to stir up more interest. So, once again, no revolution will appear to save the day and shake us all from the terrible apathy in which we disregard the great things SA has done for us. Still, while it's hardly inspiring, we probably will all benefit from an SA that is more introspective, realistic, and marginally more efficient each year.
On Sleep Deprivation
I apologize for the brief hiatus here on LGB. Seal, unfortunately, has insisted on finishing his thesis, and with the whole graduation thing coming up, he's got all these plans to move on to bigger and better things. As for myself, eh, I've had a couple of late nights getting work done. It's the sort of thing that can really take the wind out of one's blogging sails. Sleep deprivation is nothing new to most of us, however, and we're all familiar enough with the resulting haze and delirium to avoid such situations whenever possible. Tony Wright, apparently a sleep researcher of some kind, lacks our aversion to the masochistic. He is currently attempting to break the world record for sleep deprivation. He's got a website and, if you can get it to work, even a webcam. Wright is trying to best the record of Randy Gardner, who, in 1964, at the age of 17, stayed awake for 264 hours, or 11 days. Gardner was himself trying to beat an earlier record, Peter Tripp's 8 day session in 1959. (In an aside maybe yet more familiar to some of our readers, Tripp's 'wakeathon' was apparently entirely fueled by Ritalin, and ended in psychotic hallucinations and paranoid delusions). Anyway, consider the hiatus over, and good luck in all your insomniac endeavors.
SA Elections: Travis Green Wins
Travis Green will be Student Body President, with his "running mate" Ian Tapu serving as Vice President. The full results, in somewhat messy form (all 12 "rounds" of runoff), can be found here. Overall, Nova had a far stronger showing and broader appeal than I think many expected, coming in second place, benefiting about as much as Green from Carlos being eliminated, and being the largest beneficiary of Raj's elimination. For VP, Tapu pretty much dominated off the bat. Also worth noting, three people writing in our beloved DFP chief Travis Mushett for '08 SA Class Rep was enough to get him elected. Thanks, whoever the other two of you are, Travis is thrilled to serve alongside his fellow luminaries. My consolations to Carlos for not getting the spot, despite having the same exact number of votes. So, another year, another SA. Let us all rejoice. (More election results in the comments section).
New Dartmouth Group Blog
Three '10s have started a group blog called Dartwire. I know one of them, Adi, and have been impressed by his measured writing and eagerness to look at things squarely. I imagine (and hope) his friends are similarly minded. Click on over to check them out.
The DFP Isn't Much Better at Endorsements
I kid, I kid. There's a difference between lacking the chutzpah to brave political controversy and acknowledging the relatively inconsequential nature of an election. Or maybe The D was on the right track the first time, choosing not to endorse someone over choosing someone thoroughly unqualified and incapable just for the sake of endorsing someone. Or maybe this is all self-serving justification. But you all know I'd never speak poorly of the DFP, and so with that, I present this year's DFP Student Assembly Elections Issue, and the Editorial Board's (non)endorsement. 
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