ou choose. You pay $32,000 a year to attend Dartmouth,including a $156 student activity fee, you’d think that’s enough to cover, say, student activities. But if you want to make a box in the woodshop, you’ll have to pay five bucks for the orientation class before you even pick up a tool. Does a show at the Hop sound like a good time? Fine. That’ll be five bucks for you and thirty for your visiting friend.
Thinking about signing out equipment from Dartmouth Outdoor Rentals? You may be left out in the cold. Renting a fleece top for one day will cost you eight dollars. Add to that your tent, sleeping bag and backpack and the not-so-grand total is $35, $54 if you want to camp out for the entire weekend. Kayaking or kegs, backpacking or beer, mountaineering or mungÑit’s often more expensive to enrich yourself than embarrass yourself. Does Dartmouth really want us to abandon our debaucherous ways? While the College tries to discourage us from indulging in drunken revelry, the cost of alternative activities remains beyond the budget of many students.
You don’t have to look far to see the wide range of extracurricular opportunities offered on campusÑand the fees attached to them. Even physical education courses, which are mandatory for graduation, are not included in our already sizeable tuition. For instance, it costs $100 to participate in an introductory rock climbing course. And even when you’ve completed your PE requirements, Dartmouth still finds a way to charge you for your outdoor interests.
Being a Dartmouth Outing Club member affords students many benefits during their undergraduate years. But DOC membership doesn’t cover Ledyard Canoe Club fees or the three-dollar daily cost for climbing in
the Daniels Gym.
Even if you have your own skis, Dartmouth will make you pay to use their facilities. A season pass to the Silver Fox Ski Touring center costs $40, not including equipment. The Dartmouth Skiway charges students $130 for a season pass.
Compare this to another college that prides itself on being "green." Middlebury’s tuition is slightly lower than ours, but over there they don’t seem to be pinching pennies when it comes to student life. As a member of the Middlebury Mountain Club, you pay no rental fees whatsoever. Only when you are late in returning your equipment are you charged money. Middlebury also provides incentives to their students to seek new and inventive ways to enjoy the outdoors. This year, Middlebury purchased top-of-the-line skiing equipment for the newly inaugurated telemarking club which, like all other sports gear, can be borrowed for free. And, unlike at Dartmouth, visiting students aren’t charged additional fees as guests.
If you prefer to spend your free time indoors, the Hopkins Center offers many opportunities to explore your artistic curiosity and creative tendencies. The woodshop, jewelry and pottery studios require a per-term payment of ten dollars for use of all three. If you want, Dartmouth offers the option of a $30 yearly fee – great for those ambitious sophomores, but few others. The real price of making items in the workshops rests in paying for the materials you use. Staff must occasionally remind students about these fees, which often grow to beyond what the shop user might anticipate.
Five dollars will get you admission to most shows at the Hop. Visitors, though pay a heftier price, regardless of whether or not they are undergraduates at another college. How many times have you wanted to see a show with an out-of-town friend, only to find that their ticket would cost five times as much as yours? Some schools take a more progressive approach to lowering the price of attending drama performances and films. Students at the University of Virginia pay $12 out of their tuition and receive 75 "arts dollars" toward performing arts and cinema tickets. According to Robert Chapel, chair of UVA’s Drama Department, attendance at events has tripled since the "arts dollars" program began in ’92. And, by the way, Middlebury doesn’t have I.D. police guarding their concert hall doors; so all students enrolled or visiting pay the same price for shows.
According to the Student Life Initiative, "The quality of the out-of-classroom experience is an essential measure of our success in educating all of our students in the broadest manner possible." Quality is important, but what about cost? As Dartmouth continues to promote participation in wholesome activities over taking part in the Greek system, the College needs to work harder to make these alternative options available to every student. All these activities (as the S.L.I. reminds us) represent the best of what the school has to offer in terms of non-academic pursuits. But then again, while it costs quite a bit to develop your artistic talents or spend a weekend climbing Moosilauke, it’s still free to get drunk.
