Hurley's World

Cody Lavender, a member of the Class of 2010, died in the early morning hours of Dec. 14 while at the University of Edinburgh on the Dartmouth religion Foreign Study Program, according to College officials.

After receiving a record number of early applications, the College admitted 401 new members to the Class of 2013 on Dec. 10, according to Maria Laskaris '84, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. The Admissions Office received 1,571 early decision applications, a 9 percent increase from last year.

The College announced a new retirement incentive plan for staff members on Dec. 11 -- a move that represents the College's latest attempt to address its budget shortfall in the wake of the ongoing financial crisis. The plan, coupled with a hiring freeze announced in November, is part of Dartmouth's strategy to reduce spending without firing employees, according to Adam Keller, vice president for finance and administration.

Arthur Kantrowitz, a renowned physicist, engineer and professor emeritus at the Thayer School of Engineering, died of heart failure in New York City on Nov. 29. He was 95.

President-elect Barack Obama may not have to significantly increase health care spending in order to expand insurance coverage, according to a Dec. 17 policy recommendation paper by The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.

A new plan currently before state education officials would allow New Hampshire high school students to start college at age 16, according to U.S. News and World Report. The plan allows students who pass an exam at the end of 10th grade to receive their diploma early and take classes at community colleges. The program would be optional, and students could still apply to a four-year college after completing a two-year associate's degree. Supporters of the plan say it would provide an incentive for students to do well in core subjects and provide talented students with more challenging coursework, making them better candidates for top colleges and universities. Critics say it would create unnecessary pressure and hurt students' social development.

Over winter break I saw a commercial about polar bears. You know the kind I'm talking about. The commercial opens with some picture of a polar bear floating away on a block of ice, and then cuts to some authority figure -- usually a C-list actor whom you know you've seen somewhere -- telling you in a very serious voice about the grave threat that climate change poses for the polar bear population.

Two a.m. a few nights ago found me watching "Planet Earth" and trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. As I paged through Idealist.org's 1,909 internship listings -- deciding if I wanted to dedicate my life to human rights, the environment or education -- I just about flipped out. I'm 19, directionless and in no way qualified to be making these decisions alone.

After a disappointing 6-0 loss to Quinnipiac University on Saturday, the Dartmouth men's hockey team bounced back to conjure up a shutout of its own against No. 8 Princeton. The Big Green, ranked No. 20 before the weekend, dominated the Tigers 4-0 on Sunday in Princeton, N.J.

Dartmouth varsity athletes were able to chase ground balls Down Under and hit home runs in the Caribbean during their winter break training trips last month. The women's lacrosse team and the baseball team both took advantage of an NCAA policy that allows varsity teams to compete internationally every four years, travelling to Australia and the Dominican Republic, respectively.

Dartmouth played host to the annual Snowflake squash tournament this weekend, which featured collegiate players from Wesleyan University, Middlebury College, Williams College and Hamilton College. The Big Green varsity men were also represented.

Movies "Flight of the Red Balloon" It's artsy. It's obscure. And it's really French. But trust me -- this lyrical ode to childhood innocence is the best film of 2008. Juliette Binoche gives a luminous performance as a lovesick puppeteer struggling to raise her son with the help of a Taiwanese nanny (Song Fang). The characters' anxieties contrast beautifully with the film's stylistic tranquility, captured in expressive long takes and a color scheme of ethereal sunset tones. Loosely inspired by Albert Lamorisse's timeless classic "The Red Balloon" (1956), "Flight" is both a loving homage to its predecessor and an enchanting masterpiece in its own right.

More than 50 years after its Broadway premiere, "West Side Story" is back with an old face pushing the show into the 21st century. The old face (pun not intended) is Arthur Laurents, 91, who wrote the book for the original Broadway production in 1957 and returns as the director of the revival. This time around, though, the show will sound distinctively different: Much of the dialogue and some of the lyrics are in Spanish.

Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" earned its place in musical canon as a result of the songstress' overflowing charm. The same can't be said, however, for Nicole Kidman's uninspired rendition of the classic song in the recent film "Australia" (2008), as she attempts to convey charm by adopting the persona of an upperclass, stuck-up British woman. In fact, the entire movie falls far short of charming, thanks to an incoherence that plagues the film throughout.

Dartmouth announced a new retirement incentive plan for staff members on Dec. 11 – a move that represents the College's latest attempt to address its budget shortfall in the wake of the recent financial crisis. The plan, coupled with a hiring freeze announced in November, is part of the College's strategy to reduce spending without firing employees, according to Adam Keller, vice president for finance and administration.

Cody Lavender, a member of the Class of 2010, died early Sunday morning while studying at the University of Edinburgh on the Dartmouth religion Foreign Study Program, according to College officials.

Cody Lavender, a member of the Class of 2010, died early Sunday morning while studying at the University of Edinburgh on the Dartmouth religion Foreign Study Program, according to College officials.

Dean of the College Thomas Crady has extended the deadline for approving the proposed Alcohol Management Policy indefinitely to further assess student input. Crady originally planned to make a decision on the policy this month, but has postponed approval in order to fully understand student suggestions and gather more feedback, he said. The AMP proposal, written by a committee chaired by Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman, was drafted to replace the College's current Social Event Management Policy.

Students graduating from college this spring will face an eight percent decline in hiring when they enter the work force, according to a recent report by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University. The report, which surveyed 945 employers, found that, following a moderate employment year, job opportunities will drop off sharply after hiring this winter.

Student Assembly held its last meeting of the term on Tuesday, focusing on the organization's plans for next term and recapping a number of this fall's initiatives, including the solicitation of student feedback regarding the presidential search leadership statement and proposed changes to the College's alcohol policy.