Misplaced innovation

I recently received an email from the Dartmouth alumni relations office which contained a link to a news item with the headline "Engineering students challenged by Professor John Collier and President Jim Yong Kim to develop solutions to high-risk drinking." Gamely I followed the link (the article can be read here: http://now.dartmouth.edu/2011/11/dartmouth-engineering-students-help-tackle-binge-drinking/), and I must confess I was disappointed with what I read.

Students in ENGS 21, Dartmouth's undergraduate "Introduction to Engineering" class, were tasked with tackling the underage binge-drinking epidemic on campus. I have written before in this space about the lack of personal accountability when it comes to underage drinking. I reject the assertion that illegal consumption of alcohol is an inevitability for, much less the prerogative of, college students. The current Dartmouth administration (with which I largely have no problem) inexplicably ignores this reality, though it is quick to boast--hypocritically, if not necessarily inaccurately--that Dartmouth is the training ground of future world leaders and problem solvers.

Anyway, there have been a lot of useful, even brilliant products and systems to come out of Engines 21 over the years. But that is all the more reason that this current initiative is a poor allocation of resources. Let the engineering students work on solutions to problems that need to have solutions engineered for them. As for underage binge drinking, the solution is simple enough: DON'T DRINK UNDERAGE.

Happy birthday Dartmouth!

The Dartmouth College charter was signed 242 years ago today. The first class of students actually didn't arrive until 1771, but the official beginning of the College was on December 13, 1769. What a remarkable journey the College has undertaken! Dartmouth lore is well-known to its undergraduates and alumni, but every now and then you come across a surprising tidbit all the same. Imagine my surprise, for instance, when I learned of the Dartmouth Peace Conference, a 1960s-era series of summits between intellectuals from the United States and the Soviet Union. Although later iterations of the event were held away from New Hampshire, the conference retained its name based on the original host site. The founder of the Dartmouth Peace Conference was none other than my own uncle, Norman. What a small Dartmouth world.

Dartmouth athletics is getting back into the swing of things after taking a break for fall term final exams. The men's hockey team beat up on Sacred Heart on Sunday, winning by a score of 4-1, while the men's basketball team turned in a respectable, albeit losing, effort against Notre Dame. The women were in action as well, but since I didn't watch any of their games, I don't have the scores right at my fingertips.

Speaking of athletics, I have recently rediscovered the joy of playing squash. My friend Evan and I were playing tennis weekly during the summer and early fall, but as the weather turned cold and the snow began to fall, we were forced to move indoors. I never really got the hang of racquetball, but squash I like. I have no formal training whatsoever--which means my backhands occasionally look like a cross between a tennis swing and a ping-pong stroke--but Evan has been teaching me strategy and technique. Our games are getting closer, too. No longer am I counting the number of points I win; now I'm counting the number of games I win. And soon I hope to start counting my record of games won and lost (though at the moment it would be Miami Dolphins-esque).

In other news, scientists working with the Large Hadron Collider have announced that they still don't know if there is such a thing as a Higgs boson. But they might know by next year. Thanks for the update, CERN.

West Coast

Ellen and I flew to California this past weekend to see my father- and stepmother-in-law. Unlike our last trip to the West Coast, no tropical storms interfered with our travel, and the whole thing went remarkably smoothly. (Ellen is actually still out there, attending a conference in San Francisco.) We hadn't seen them since last December, and it was great to spend a couple days catching up. We don't make it out that way very often, and all four of us are glad we did!

Ellen will be the first to admit that her hometown, Quincy, is a bit on the small side. It might actually be a true one-stoplight town. Regardless, we found no shortage of things to do to amuse ourselves. In addition to just sitting and talking, we went wild Christmas tree hunting (more on this later), walked around Ellen's tiny hometown, attended her longtime church, and Ellen and her father taught me how to skip rocks. By the end of our brief sojourn to the creek, I was really getting it down. Either they're excellent teachers or I'm a quick study. Indubitably the former.

Quincy is closely entwined with the Plumas National Forest. Evidently, you are allowed to cut down Christmas trees in national forests (provided you buy a permit, of course). So that's exactly what we did. The four of us piled into my father-in-law's 1972 Ford pickup and away we went, first to obtain a permit and then off into the forest. When we found one that had just the right height, width, color, and shape, Ellen's father went to work. Armed with an axe and a bow-saw, the poor tree never stood a chance (although it took its best shot at revenge against my shins as we dragged it back to the truck). It was, I have to say, a lot more fun than simply going to a lot and pointing to one.

I'm back on the East Coast now, bracing for the 2-6 inches of snow predicted for tonight. I don't mind the coming snow at all (although I have been delighted by how late the temperatures have remained in the upper 40s and 50s); I just wish Ellen were here too. Only three more days!

Gold medal

The World Youth chess festival wrapped up in Brazil this week. The U.S. delegation turned in a phenomenal result, capturing the gold medal in the U8 Open and the silver medal in the U10 Open sections. Awonder Liang and Ruifeng Li, respectively, accomplished these remarkable feats. (Incidentally, I still outrate Liang by more than one hundred points, but seeing as he's seven years old, I don't think that's all that impressive!) Other top American finishers were Sarah Chiang (Girls U14) and Jeffrey Xiong (U12 Open). Congratulations to all of the competitors, and thank you to the trainers, coaches, and families for all of their support of U.S. chess in general and these U.S. chess players in particular!

Speaking of chess, I would be remiss for failing to mention that the New York Knights won a dramatic U.S. Chess League championship match last weekend. This is their first title since 2009 and second overall (not bad for a league that's only in its seventh year!). Top board GM Georgi Kacheishvili also won Game of the Week honors for his victory over Chicago GM Mesgen Amanov, which he concluded in fine style with the rare and difficult bishop-and-knight versus king checkmate. Congratulations to the Knights!

As for me, I don't have any tournaments scheduled for the near future. I may play a match sometime next month, but otherwise I will just wait and see what the tournament calendar brings my way. There are a couple upcoming events that look interesting, but for various reasons the scheduling won't work out. It's a bummer, but I'm trying to use the time to study and improve so that when I do return to tournament play I will be stronger than when I entered my winter hibernation.

And while I'm at it, a hearty congratulations to my friend Dave Carter, who last month was once again crowned Vermont State Chess Champion following his perfect score at the Vermont Open in Middlebury, VT. Way to go, Dave!

Whistleblowers and anonymity

The title of the article in last Friday's New York Times summed it up: "Ombudsmen Gave Whistle-Blowers' Names to State Agency." Evidently, employees who care for developmentally disabled patients have long been promised anonymity for reporting potential cases of abuse and neglect, but they have not actually been receiving it. The identities of employees who make such reports have been routinely forwarded to the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, which is in ultimate charge of many of these patients.

While the reports themselves must obviously be forwarded in order for the situations to be investigated and, if necessary, rectified, including the names of the employees filing the reports seems counterproductive at best and malicious at worst. Including the "whistle-blower's" name does nothing to aid the state in its inquiry. What it does do, however, is raise the specter of reprisals, which in turn disincentivizes employees from making reports.

Reporting cases of suspected abuse and neglect is not confined to employees of mental health institutions. In several states, EMS providers are "mandated reporters." As the name suggests, this means that if we encounter an instance of abuse or neglect--for both the pediatric and geriatric populations---we are required to file a report with the appropriate state office. To my knowledge, there is no assumption of anonymity that goes along with a mandated report. That's not a big deal, at least in my eyes, because we're told up front what to expect.

Whether or not there should be anonymity for whistleblowers is a different, though not entirely unrelated, question. It seems to me that there should be some sort of protection for those who speak up on behalf of those who can't be their own advocates. I'm not sure if complaints submitted entirely anonymously are the best way to go, but the ombudsmen know who came forward with which report. It's the facility administrators who are kept in the dark, which seems wise. The temptation to discourage reporting by wielding the threat of reprisals would be too great for some unscrupulous management teams to resist. Not all, maybe, but even one is too many. And as a measure of protection for the facilities themselves, the ombudsmen are well-equipped to do a little investigating of their own if a pattern of obviously specious complaints emerges.

Ultimately, New York's bait-and-switch with regard to whistleblower anonymity comes at the cost of the patients' welfare. And whenever it's the patient who loses in the end, something needs to be fixed.

Back on my feet

I'm now one week post-oral surgery and I'm pleased to report that my recovery has gone incredibly smoothly. The first few days following surgery went by in a blur of soft food and NSAIDs, but I diligently followed the oral surgeon's post-operative instructions and really haven't encountered any complications so far. The swelling was minimal and I was fortunate to avoid the dreaded "dry socket."

Ellen has been a wonderful care-giver. There is no way I could have done this without her. She even organized a movie night with our church Community Group on Saturday at our apartment because she knew that I would be feeling lonely after three days on the couch. What an amazing woman; I am so blessed to have her. And the outpouring of encouragement and support from the church body as a whole has been a huge help as well.

I returned to work on Monday unsure of how my body would stand up to a full twenty four hour shift. Fortunately everything went well and I was able to take all my medicine at the appropriate times. Going into the shift, my biggest fear was that my NSAID pain reliever would be inadequate. I was prescribed Percocet to take if necessary, but taking it on Monday would have meant I could not continue working. Fortunately the Toradol did its job and the pain remained manageable throughout the day and night.

At this point I am optimistically declaring myself fully recovered, and while I still have to complete my course of antibiotics, I am otherwise medication-free (and very much looking forward to my first steak!).

Oral surgery

I had three wisdom teeth removed last Thursday. All things considered, the process went extremely smoothly, as well as I could have (realistically) hoped. In anticipation of being unable to work my normal shift on Friday, I shuffled my schedule and ended up working two twelve-hour shifts on the preceding Sunday and Wednesday. I got saddled with a late call on Wednesday, so I got home later than planned, but fortunately there was still time for dinner before entering my pre-operative fast at midnight. And since Ellen prepared a special "last meal" homemade pizza with hamburger and veggies, I would not have wanted to miss that.

Intellectually, I knew that the fast was for the best, and that it would be highly unsafe to eat or drink just before general anesthesia. My stomach had other ideas, though, especially when I joined eight other men from the church for our Thursday morning study ... which takes place in a bakery. My resolve held in the end, and I arrived at the oral surgeon's office hungry, thirsty, and nervous.

Once I checked in, there was very little waiting-around time. The assistant brought me back to the procedure room and got me all situated. This included taking a set of vital signs and asking me what kind of music I wanted piped in through the overhead speakers during the procedure. That all set, the oral surgeon came in and answered any last questions I had, and then it was time to get started. The most discomfiting part of the experience was actually when the assistant removed my glasses. I would have preferred being able to see what was going on while I was still awake.

Near the end of the procedure, I became faintly aware of the oral surgeon working in my mouth, but I didn't feel any pain. And once he was all finished, the assistant helped me to the recovery area and went to retrieve Ellen, who had been in the waiting room the entire time. They didn't keep me in recovery long--somewhere between five and ten minutes--and then released me into Ellen's capable hands. I had already filled all my prescriptions earlier in the week, so all that was left to do was be driven home and begin the recovery process.

Off-season

I doubt I am alone in dividing the calendar year into not four seasons but two: Baseball season and the off-season. As of this morning, we are officially into the latter (in my eyes, the unofficial end of baseball season is whenever the Yankees play their last game). The St. Louis Cardinals were crowned Major League Baseball champions last night, and deservingly so. As late as mid-August, they were almost as far back in the playoff race as the Boston Red Sox were ahead (sorry, I couldn't resist). But they came storming back, and it wasn't until extra innings on the final game of the regular season that their playoff berth was secured.

Postseason highlights included their Game 5 contest against the Philadelphia Phillies, in which aces Chris Carpenter (St. Louis) and Roy Halladay (Philadelphia) turned in a pitchers' duel for the ages, and Thursday night's dramatic come-from-behind-twice victory in which they were down to their final strike on two separate occasions. Although I had little interest in either the Cardinals or their foe, the Texas Rangers, I will freely admit that it was a terrific series.

The World Series may be over, but the 2011 season is not completely in the books just yet. Over the coming weeks, the regular-season awards will be announced (although the announcements don't come until after the World Series, the selection takes place before the playoffs begin to prevent players' postseason performances from influencing the voters). I have a feeling Justin Verlander will get the Cy Young Award, although I would selfishly prefer to see him named Most Valuable Player so that C.C. Sabathia can receive the Cy Young. And after all the awards have been handed out, it will only be a few more months until pitchers and catchers report to spring training and we do it all again!

What's in a name?

I couldn't help but notice the release of Roland Emmerich's new film, Anonymous. The movie, which opens today, deals with the question of authorship of Shakespeare's plays and posits that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, is the true playwright. This theory is almost universally acknowledged as nonsense, and more than a few scholars and critics have pointed out that the film is so unbelievable that it actually serves to undermine its purported champion's cause.

As I understand it, the assumption underlying the so-called Oxfordian theory is that an uneducated man like William Shakespeare could never have written such dizzyingly complex plays as are attributed to him. Notwithstanding the flimsiness of that argument in the first place, I find it far more compelling to ask how Edward de Vere, who died in 1604, could have written more than half a dozen of Shakespeare's plays from beyond the grave.

Conspiracy theorists will exist no matter where you turn, and I'm not deeply offended on intellectual grounds by Anonymous (which, incidentally, I have no plans to see). But I just can't quite see the appeal of making a movie like this one; who would want to go see it? Wouldn't it be far more satisfying to spend time in the real Shakespeare than speculating about who else might have (but didn't) pen the works? I have enjoyed many of Emmerich's other offerings--especially Independence Day and The Patriot--and I suppose only time and box office receipts will tell if his directorial star power will outweigh such a ridiculous premise. As my college Shakespeare professor put it, "New evidence can always surface. But until it does, who wrote Shakespeare's plays? William Shakespeare."

In other news, we had our first snowfall yesterday here in Enfield (and across the Twin States, it seems). It didn't snow much--maybe an inch and a half--but I'm sure there will be plenty more where that came from. The next storm is already predicted for tomorrow. I'm just not sure I'm ready for summer to be over yet, let alone fall!

FIDE rated at last

I played in the Bedford Round Robin chess tournament over Columbus Day weekend in (you guessed it!) Bedford, NH. Expertly organized by Alex Relyea, Nita Patel, and Ken Ballou, the tournament consisted of two randomly assigned (but roughly balanced) ten-player round-robin sections. The goal of the tournament was to generate additional FIDE-rated players in the region.

First, an explanation of the FIDE rating system. FIDE, which is the French acronym for what translates into "World Chess Federation," is the worldwide governing body for chess. It administers the World Championship, assigns international titles (i.e., Grandmaster), and so forth. A tournament can be rated both by the national federation sponsoring it--in this case, the U.S. Chess Federation--and by FIDE, although certain conditions about the time control and the number of games in the event must be satisfied for an event to be FIDE-rateable.

One of the most vexing requirements, in my view, is that an unrated player must play at least three games against FIDE-rated players in the same event and score at least 1/3--either two draws or one win--in order to receive a provisional FIDE rating. Once you have a FIDE rating, all future games played against FIDE-rated players in FIDE-rated tournaments will be FIDE rated (no more minimums). I have previously played in a number of FIDE-rated tournaments, and even faced some FIDE-rated players, but I have always fallen short of the minimum games requirement.

But no more! Provided that each player in the section scored at least one point out of the nine games, every player in the section would receive a FIDE rating. From that standpoint, the tournament was a complete success, as all the requirements were met and approximately a dozen new FIDE ratings were issued (some of the players already had FIDE ratings).

From a chess standpoint, it was a mediocre event. I won a couple nice games, and I saved a couple draws (and even one victory) from difficult positions, but on the whole my score of +3 -3 =3 was a disappointment, especially considering I had the highest USCF rating in the section. There was a silver lining, though (beyond obtaining a FIDE rating, which truthfully was my sole goal going into the event). A couple mistakes popped up in almost all of my games at the event, bringing to light holes in my game of which I had been previously unaware. I will be much better able to target my studying now. My goal is to attain the National Master title, and I believe it is well within reach!

Nobel Prize 2011

The Nobel Prize in Literature was announced yesterday, which means it's time for my annual rant about "The subjectivity and poor qualifications of the ... committee." Can anybody tell me what a computational linguist actually does (when not deciding on the Nobel Prize recipient, of course)? Anyway, this year's recipient is Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer. I'm sure the man is a superlative poet (although be honest now: How many of you had read him before the award was announced?), but I'm still upset that the committee passed over Cormac McCarthy last year.

I will take a rare step down from my anti-Literature committee soapbox to admit that the seeming randomness of the selections can be attributed (rightly or wrongly) to a certain literary ethnocentrism in America. My wholly anecdotal perception is that apart from the classics, few of us read outside our own national borders. When was the last time you picked up a book of poems or short stories by an author whose hometown you couldn't even pronounce, just for the fun of expanding your horizons? Without borderless bookshelves, we will naturally be taken by surprise by any foreign recipient.

Having said that, though, many of the committee's recent selections have been inexplicable. (Actually, I think it is perfectly explained by the wholly inadequate qualifications of the committee members.) There are so many talented authors and poets out there ... what were they thinking when they selected Elfriede Jelinek (2004)? I'm not the only person who noticed the unsuitability of that choice, either; Knut Ahnlund resigned from the committee in protest over Jelinek's selection (it should be noted that Ahnlund is a literary historian specializing in nineteenth century Danish literature ... in what way does that qualify him to bestow the Nobel Prize?).

In happier news, I'm about a third of the way through Ernest Hemingway's Islands in the Stream, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It seems like he has essentially relocated A Moveable Feast (which is my favorite book of his) to warmer climes, but that doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the story.

New Hampshire Marathon

Ellen ran in the New Hampshire Marathon in Bristol, N.H. this past Saturday. She turned in a phenomenal time of 3:59:55, which eclipsed her pre-race goal of a sub-four hour finish. The race was the culmination of months of training and preparation, and I am extraordinarily proud of Ellen for doing so well. I took the following video of Ellen crossing the finish line:




One of Ellen's officemates--herself an avid runner--and I made the journey out to Bristol to cheer on Ellen. I was coming from work and unfortunately got a late call that meant I arrived after the race had begun. We had a detailed course map, however, so we would drive ahead to various spots on the course and cheer as Ellen passed by. It was a lot of fun!

After the race, Ellen was predictably sore; the rest of the weekend was spent doing as little walking as possible (going up and especially down stairs was particularly challenging). Ellen is more or less back to full strength now, though, which I credit to her diligent training and superior physical condition. The better shape you're in, the less excessively traumatic the race, and the quicker your recovery. Or so I reason. In any event, I'm extremely impressed at how well she is handling everything. Assuming I even finished a marathon (this is less an assumption than a fantasy), I would probably be on the couch the better part of a week before even attempting to get back on my feet.

Way to go, Ellen!!

Playoffs!

The Major League Baseball season drew to a close yesterday, with the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals securing the American League and National League wild card playoff spots, respectively. While the division races were decided days (or even weeks) before the end of the season, not even nine innings were sufficient to determine the final standings. Both the Yankees-Rays game and the Phillies-Braves game went deep into extra innings before things were decided. And while it's tempting to rub in the demise of the Yankees' nemesis, I think the Red Sox's September record is punishment enough. Actually, I take that back. Watching the Yankees' ticker-tape parade next month will be punishment enough.

The U.S. Chess League is at the halfway point of the season, with the Philadelphia Inventors and the New York Knights tied atop the Eastern Division with a record of 3.5-1.5 (though Philadelphia currently holds the edge on tiebreaks). In the West, the Chicago Blaze are the class of the league, with an unbeaten 5-0 record. The San Francisco Mechanics are in second place with a 3-2 record. Next week sees interleague action, with New York taking on the Seattle Sluggers and Chicago facing off against the Baltimore Kingfishers.

Despite living in Buffalo for more than a year, I never acquired a rooting interest in the Bills. Nevertheless, I am pleased that the Bills' 3-0 start in the NFL season has given them something to cheer about. Whether or not it will last remains to be seen, but for the time being life is good in Orchard Park.

In other news, Ellen is running in her first marathon on Saturday. Everybody wish her luck!!

Medical school EMTs

Time magazine ran a fascinating article back in July about Hofstra North Shore - LIJ School of Medicine requiring their students to obtain EMT certification and spend time riding on an ambulance. The program is new this year--in fact, everything is new this year, as this is the inaugural class of medical students--but a number of the students interviewed for the article said they were excited about it. One even said it influenced his decision to attend Hofstra North Shore.

The article went on to say that the program was implemented largely in response to the demand for physicians with improved people skills; forcing medical students to operate as part of an EMS unit would help forge their teamwork and leadership abilities. This is certainly true, and I think that the program will achieve its stated goals. I predict, however, that it will also have a number of unintended, positive results.

A common lament among EMS providers is that we don't get enough respect in the medical community. There are a number of contributing factors, but one big reason is that many hospital providers don't understand what we do or the conditions under which we do it. Putting future physicians in the field will imbue them with a better sense of how EMS fits into the patient's overall care. This will, I think, allow the next generation of doctors to better appreciate, interact with and utilize EMS in a way that maximizes the system's resources and provides superior patient care from start to finish.

Furthermore, the medical students will have in their capacity as EMTs a unique opportunity to provide direct patient care long before their traditional schooling would have allowed them to do so. For example, a student at Dartmouth Medical School doesn't do his OB/GYN rotation until midway through his third year, and even then in a controlled environment under close supervision. Some of these students may not make it one month in the field before they find themselves delivering a baby in the back seat of a car, alone.

And even if the students have a relatively "vanilla" experience on the ambulance, they will still gain valuable experience in delivering care to patients in their hour of perceived greatest need. Because no matter the patient's level of clinical acuity, the situation is still an emergency in his eyes and you must treat him with compassion. And that lesson alone is worth the price of admission.

Tunbridge World's Fair

Ellen and I decided that no one who lives in New Hampshire should go without visiting the Tunbridge World's Fair at least once. The fair, which is in its 140th year, is held in Tunbridge, VT and while I can't figure out where the "world" part came from, it's not definitely not small. Ellen and I enjoyed the livestock and crop exhibits in particular. I, for one, had never before seen a 700 pound pumpkin! (Nor, for that matter, a fifteen-pound zucchini.) Unfortunately the timing didn't work out for us to see the Antique Tractor Pull, but we were able to catch the first heat of the pig races. In case you're wondering what exactly transpires during pig races, it's precisely what it sounds like. Pigs run (surprisingly quickly) around a miniature track and the first one to cross the finish line is the winner. Coming soon to an OTB near you.

Earlier this week, Ellen and I visited Henniker, New Hampshire, a charming town on the Contoocook River. Henniker has two major claims to fame: It is home to New England College and it is, to quote what is evidently the town motto, "The Only Henniker on Earth." The weather held out beautifully, and we really enjoyed our time there. A special shout-out to the Henniker House B&B, which was our first exposure to a bed-and-breakfast and will no doubt set the bar for all others to come.

In other news, the U.S. Chess League season is well underway, and the New York Knights are tied for second place along with the Manhattan Applesauce. The Boston Blitz, fresh off their Week 3 victory over the Knights, currently enjoy a half-point lead in the standings. Next up for the Knights are the Carolina Cobras; I predict a return to form. Go Knights!

Border Battle

New Hampshire defended its chess honor against Maine yesterday in a ten-board, twenty-game match held at the Portsmouth Public Library in Portsmouth, NH. This event was held for two years in the late 1970s before beginning a thirty-five year hiatus. It was resurrected last year (New Hampshire won 12-8) and the organizers are hoping it will become an annual event. This year's edition saw New Hampshire field a slightly stronger team than in 2010, and when the dust settled, the Granite State retained bragging rights by a score of 14-6. Maine managed to save face, however, by scoring two second-round upsets; International Master Joe Fang lost to David Oshana and yours truly went down in a topsy-turvy game against Adam Schaff. I had an absolute blast playing, and I hope I will still be in New Hampshire for the 2012 edition!

I recently finished Closing Time by Joseph Heller. This 1994 novel is the sequel to his seminal work, Catch-22, and several characters return. I wanted to like Closing Time, I really did. As much as it occasionally irritated me, I found Catch-22 hilarious. Closing Time, unfortunately, just didn't make sense. I finished it half out of a sense of obligation and half in the hope that Heller would explain it all in the end (he didn't). If you enjoyed Catch-22, you may want to read Closing Time if only to see where all the characters' stories end. But if you decide not to, I wouldn't blame you a bit.

Now that the weather is turning cooler and the leaves are beginning to lose their verdancy, back to school is not far from mind. My schooling is, for the time being, complete, and as a graduate student Ellen works year-round. But DOC Freshman Trips is well underway, and Move-In Day for the Dartmouth freshmen is this coming Tuesday. Ellen and I strolled through campus this morning, and I was hit with a feeling of nostalgia. It's hard to believe that it was only six years ago that I was in their shoes.

And of course, no post published on this day would be complete without a mention of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Every generation has a day that comes to define it--November 22, 1963 for some, December 7, 1941 for others--and I think September 11, 2001 will be ours.

Oregon, Pt. 2

The travel hassles notwithstanding, Ellen and I actually had a delightful trip to the West Coast. We stayed with a childhood friend of my mother-in-law's in Vancouver, Washington, across the Columbia River from Oregon (the Portland Airport was actually visible from our hosts' driveway). They have a charming home, and all three of us (Ellen, her mother-in-law and me) were blessed by their friendliness and hospitality.

Unfortunately, our rapidly evolving travel plans meant that we arrived later and left earlier than we had planned, so we were unable to fit in everything we had planned to see and do. Nevertheless, we managed a full day and a half of sightseeing. On Friday, after our arrival, we took I-84 (which I was tickled to discover runs through Oregon, as I am more familiar with it as the road on which I traverse much of Connecticut) to the "Old Highway," which was an extremely scenic drive past a number of waterfalls and other hiking spots. One highlight was the Vista House on Crown Point, which offered a panoramic view of the Columbia River and the surrounding hills and mountains.

After lunch, we visited the Bonneville Dam, which is both a National Historic Site and a working dam and hydroelectric plant. There I was introduced to the concept of a fish ladder, which is essentially a way for fish to bypass the dam when returning to their breeding places in order to spawn. It's actually neater in real life than I'm making it sound. And in a tiny office off of the main underwater viewing area, the official Fish Counter was hard at work. Yes, this person's job is to count the fish that swim past her window.

Next up was a fish hatchery, which featured local legend Herman the Sturgeon. This seven-foot monstrosity has been the star resident for quite a number of years, according to the numerous signs surrounding the sturgeon habitat. A seven-foot fish is, actually, quite a striking sight, especially when the majority of the other fish there are extremely young (it is a hatchery, after all). There was also a simulated salmon run, and Ellen got a number of excellent photos of the fish trying to navigate the man-made locks.

On Saturday we ventured into downtown Portland, which is a nice little city. It's not New York, but then again, nothing is. We met Ellen's aunt, whose health is beginning to fail, and had a great visit with her. It's not clear when or if we'll get another chance to see her, and the whole trip was worth it for those few hours alone.

I'm not expecting to do any more significant traveling until early December, so now it's time to turn my attention to the rapidly approaching foliage season here in New Hampshire. I've begun to wonder if the brilliant colors of fall are an apology for the six months of winter that follow ...

Oregon, Pt. 1

The YankeeVox summer vacation is over. First and foremost, I hope that everyone has come through the recent East Coast natural disasters--the August 23 earthquake and Hurricane Irene--relatively unscathed. Ellen and I were extremely fortunate that we were almost entirely unaffected by the storm (and completely unaffected by the earthquake). As it happened, we were on the West Coast visiting Ellen's family during the worst days of the hurricane/tropical storm, and the only snags we hit were travel-related.

We were originally scheduled to fly from Manchester Airport to Newark and continue on from Newark to Portland last Thursday afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, an unrelated rainstorm delayed our flight out of Manchester for more than three hours, which meant we missed our connection in Newark. Maddeningly, our Newark-to-Portland flight was also delayed, so instead of missing it by a matter of hours, we arrived at the gate literally minutes after they shut the cabin door (the plane had not yet left the gate, but they refused to reopen the door to allow us to board). There were no more flights to Portland that night, so we were rebooked onto an early-morning flight to Seattle instead. A good friend from college lives near Newark, and he graciously offered to let us spend the night with him and his family, as well as providing rides to and from the airport. Thanks again, John!

Once we boarded our Newark-to-Seattle flight, things went more smoothly. We had an uneventful trip and brief layover before our final flight, from Seattle to Portland. My mother-in-law picked us up at the airport, and we began our visit, albeit regrettably about fourteen hours later than we'd hoped. Our time in Oregon itself will be the subject of a subsequent post.

Except for the text message Ellen received from Orbitz partway through Friday afternoon, which informed her our Portland-to-Newark return flight on Sunday evening had been canceled (our Newark-to-Manchester flight wasn't canceled until Saturday, but it was a moot point by then). As Continental Airlines had canceled hundreds of other flights too, their phone lines and website were overwhelmed by people attempting to rebook. Fortunately, we were staying only a few minutes from the Portland Airport, so we drove over there on Saturday morning to attempt to rebook in person. The ticket agent, who was remarkably pleasant considering the barrage of no doubt stressed-out passengers with whom she'd been dealing all morning, told us that the next available flight combination ending in Manchester would be on September 3. If we couldn't wait that long (which obviously we couldn't, as both Ellen and I had to go to work), then she could put us on a flight into Dulles Airport the next morning. With no other options we could see, Ellen and I chose to fly into Dulles.

Sadly, this meant cutting short our visit by close to twelve hours on the tail end, too. It also meant trying to find a way from Washington, D.C. to New Hampshire when many trains were not running due to flooded tracks and many buses were sold out. Renting a car was an option, albeit a sufficiently costly one that we considered it an absolute last resort. Finally, we were able to find bus tickets from Baltimore to Boston. And once again, we were bailed out in a major way by college friends of mine. One friend, who lives outside Baltimore, offered to pick us up at Dulles, let us spend the night in his apartment, and then drop us off at the bus terminal in Baltimore in the morning. The other, who lives in the Boston suburbs, agreed to drive us from South Station to Manchester Airport, where we could pick up our car. Ryan and Chris, thank you so much!

By the end of the day on Monday, nearly thirty four hours after we left Portland, Ellen and I had arrived safely in Enfield. It was a great trip, well worth the travel hassle. Pictures and a trip report to come soon!

Turning 24

I turned twenty four years old on Sunday. To celebrate, Ellen and I went down to Manchester for the New Hampshire Open chess tournament. Manchester plays host to several of New Hampshire's biggest chess tournaments throughout the year, and perhaps none is bigger than this. The tournament is open to any member of the U.S. Chess Federation, but the top-scoring New Hampshire resident in the Open section is crowned State Champion. In the final round I was paired with Black against five-time state champion FM Brad Bournival. Unfortunately, after a game filled with ups and downs, neither side could break through in the end. Our draw gave IM Joseph Fang his fifteenth (!) state title. All in all I was pleased with the way I played, and I had a great time! And it was especially nice having Ellen there with me. Maybe next time I can convince her to play!

Other than the birthday festivities, it has been pretty much business as usual around here. I am in the process of joining Enfield FAST (First Aid Stabilization Team); they are a paid-on-call transporting ambulance company serving, you guessed it, Enfield. The call volume is not high--last year they responded to 132 calls and this year is on pace to be even slower--but the equipment is fairly nice and most importantly it's a way for me to help out and give back to the community. Their biggest personnel need is daytime hours during the week, and that just happens to be when I'm home with nothing to do. I've been granted "ride-along" status currently and I'm looking forward to finishing the rest of the paperwork so I can become a full-fledged (or at least probationary) member.

Ellen is doing well; she has begun what will probably be the final year of her Ph.D. and is otherwise keeping busy training for her first marathon. I am proud of her and extremely impressed (but not in the least surprised) by all she has accomplished.

In other news, the space shuttle program officially came to an end today. I've been to Cape Canaveral, and it was an impressive site to visit. I wonder how this latest development will affect the area, tourism and all.

Enfield Family Fair

The Enfield Family Fair was held this past weekend at Huse Park in, you guessed it, Enfield. Since it took place just up the street and admission was free, I really didn't have any excuse not to go. And as the annual fair is an institution that seems to have bypassed Chappaqua during my childhood, I was eager to see what it entailed. Unfortunately, our schedules didn't work out for Ellen and me to go together, so we each went separately (and I went again with a family from church) and compared notes. Ellen was interested to note that it was extraordinarily similar to the fair that had come to her hometown each year. She said all the rides and booths were identical, although the Enfield fair was held in a much smaller space and consequently had less to offer. While nothing really drew my attention as far as attractions were concerned, I was nevertheless pleased to see this little town placed on the map, if only for a few days.

Speaking of Enfield on the map, it recently received attention of a slightly less flattering nature. According to The Dartmouth, a researcher at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is investigating the link between the presence of a toxin in the algae of our very own Lake Mascoma and the unusually high rate of Lou Gehrig's disease in people who live near the lake. So much for our plans to go swimming this summer.

In other news, the Yankees are back on top of the American League East. Where they belong and where they'll stay.

Summer begins

Happy third day of summer! Tuesday's solstice marked the start of my favorite season of the year. To make things even better, we had a church league softball game on Tuesday. Warm weather, lots of light, softball ... you just can't beat it. Ellen was a little bit apprehensive about the arrival of summer since that often heralds extremely high temperatures, but she has been pleased to see high temperatures in the upper 60s these past couple days. Not even a rainy, Marchlike day can dampen my enthusiasm for this new season, though.

Speaking of Ellen, she departs on Saturday for a weeklong conference in New Mexico. At the conference, she will presenting a poster summarizing some of her recent work as well as attending sessions of interest and reconnecting with space physicists from other schools and labs. It's an annual conference and this is not the first year she has gone; she's looking forward to being back. I'm excited for her and proud of her, although I'm certainly going to miss her while she's out West.

On the chess front, I contested a match last weekend with Dave Carter, the top-rated player in Vermont. Although I am not the top-rated player in New Hampshire (I come in at #7), we met at a tournament a couple months ago and play for the same online correspondence chess team. Dave, who has been a master for twenty nine years, is an extremely genial fellow and a strong chessplayer to boot. I had to battle back from a disadvantageous position in game one, ultimately securing a draw, and in game two the roles were reversed, with me carrying a slight plus into the endgame. Then disaster struck, however, and I blundered away the game in heart-breaking fashion. Until next time!

Conan O'Brien delivered the Commencement Address at Dartmouth's 241st Commencement on June 12. His speech deftly mixed the humor you would expect from a famous comedian with profundity you might not, and Ellen and I enjoyed watching it (albeit later on Youtube later that day). Congratulations Class of 2011! And perhaps most meaningfully for me, Commencement of two weeks yore marked the two-year anniversary of this blog. Thank you for reading, and here's to years more!

The provenance of leadership

Below is a conversation I carried on via Facebook with a friend of mine last month. His question: "Are leaders born or learned?" He went on to set the question in a purely secular context (so considerations like spiritual gifting did not enter into the equation) and to define a leader as "Someone who others follow, and willingly. Not a manager - a manager is someone who can spin many plates on sticks, do all the paperwork, keep a business running...a leader is bigger - people follow a leader/obey a leader, etc, but they want to..."

My reply:
"I'm going to go with learned. The cultural relativism card is often overplayed, but here it is useful. Throughout time and space, men have followed other men for a range of reasons that defies any one "inborn" trait. Loyalty itself has no one universal manifestation, and there is therefore no one personal characteristic that can elicit it. Rather, you must grow up in a society, becoming steeped in its constructions of valor/leadership/loyalty, before you can successfully wield them. Some people take to this better than others--which is often mistaken for "born" leadership--but in fact there is no such thing. (Remember, this is a secularly posed question.)"

His rejoinder:
"Rob, I think I disagree somewhat. I have found that some people are just naturally the leaders in any crowd. I've been trained in leadership for over 20 years - heck, I have an MBA with an emphasis in leadership, but I've found that all the training in the world only goes so far. Observe a situation with little kids - why do some kids 'lead' the group? They've no training in leadership or motivation. I've had leaders that I would follow through fire, and other leaders, with the same training, whom I would-uh-not follow...I think there is a very strong element of innate leadership that cannot be taught."

My response:
"Mmm, I don't find the example of children very persuasive. There are a lot of reasons some children 'lead' and others 'follow' ... peer pressure, politeness, timidity/assertiveness, the first kid to speak up happened to have a good idea the others like ... I'm skeptical that these young 'uns possess some transcendent quality that accrues them followers (in part because, as I wrote above, I challenge the notion that such a transcendent quality exists in the first place). I will add, though, that just because leadership must be learned does not necessarily mean that it can be taught ..."

What are your thoughts? Agree/disagree? Leave a comment.

Heat wave

I originally published this post by mistake on the Collegiate EMS blog to which I contribute. Eight days later, no one seemed to notice. I wonder what that says about how many people read the other blog ... Anyway, here it is now, lightly edited for timeliness.

Last week saw a brief but brutal heat wave, with temperatures regularly topping out in the low- to mid-90s. Those of us without air conditioning welcomed the challenge! Ellen is a big proponent of closing all the windows and drawing the blinds early in the morning to keep the sunlight out, which works pretty well, and I would add to that the less thermodynamically-sophisticated tack of taking a shower in the afternoon.

Dartmouth has been in the news recently for a handful of positive occurrences. First, Charlotte Johnson has been named the Dean of the College. Ms. Johnson, who previously held that post at Colgate University, replaces Acting Dean Sylvia Spears. Second, the Dartmouth rugby team was just crowned the victor at the national championships, and finally, All-Ivy pitcher Kyle Hendricks '12 was selected by the Texas Rangers in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. As of yet I can't find any information on whether or not he has signed with the Rangers or intends to do so.

On a smaller scale, the Upper Valley Church Softball League is finally underway, despite starting the season with a few weather-related cancellations. I didn't play last year because I was in Buffalo, but I had a blast playing the year before, when Christ Redeemer Church won the championship of the three-team league. This year two more churches have joined the fray, and I am thrilled to be back out there!

In other news (and since I can't let a title like this one go to waste), the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat four games to two to win the NBA Championship. I admit that the original version of this post concluded with the line, "At this point I have resigned myself to a Miami triumph, so at this point any Dallas victory just seems like dragging it out." I am pleased to see that I was mistaken!

Canobie Lake Park

Ellen and I visited Canobie Lake Park on Saturday. Neither of us had ever been there before, and we both enjoyed it quite a bit. It's an amusement / water park best described as a scaled-down version of Six Flags. I'm not nearly as much into the extreme rides and roller-coasters as Ellen is, but the park offered enough to satisfy us both. And Ellen was able to get me to step outside my comfort zone a bit and join her on some rides that I would never have considered previously. We were amused to note that we occupied a somewhat unique demographic among park-goers; that is, we were neither in high school nor walking around with children in tow. All in all we had a great time, and I would definitely recommend it.

Ellen has been occupied lately with helping her advisor host the annual meeting of the international radar group to which they both belong. The conference, which took place at Dartmouth all last week, gave me a unique insight into what Ellen does. More precisely (since I still have no conceptual grasp of what Ellen actually does), I got to meet a number of her colleagues from around the globe and listen to their conversations about their work. As I've mentioned previously, it is thrilling for me to watch Ellen in her professional element, to see her interact with scientific luminaries and be treated as an equal. I'm extremely proud of Ellen and everything she has accomplished!

Last Wednesday, the conference participants embarked on an "excursion" to Mt. Moosilauke in Warren, New Hampshire. As best I can figure, each year's conference host plans an outing for the attendees that showcases the local offerings / attractions in some way. And on a beautiful spring day at Dartmouth, you just can't beat a hike up Moosilauke and dinner at the Lodj (sic). It was, embarrassingly, only the second time I'd ever summitted Moosilauke. Since I did not participate in First-Year Trips as a freshman (though I led a trip my sophomore year), my first time up the mountain came my freshman summer. And although I had journeyed to the Lodj for dinner a couple times during my undergrad years, this was only my second time up the mountain. It was even more beautiful than I had remembered.

In other news, graduation season is here, and my brother Alex graduated from Princeton University last Tuesday. Congratulations Alex!

Ellen and I went to see "Beatlemania Now" at the Claremont Opera House two weeks ago. The show, which was the penultimate offering in the Opera House's 2010-2011 season, billed itself as a "Multimedia tribute to the Beatles." I'm a big Beatles fan and I always enjoy hearing their songs performed live. Unfortunately, the impersonators just weren't very good. They didn't look much like the actual band members (which is hard to blame them for, but still, the realism wasn't there) and they didn't sound much like them, either. "John" actually came pretty close, at least with the songs from the early period, but the rest of the band was underwhelming. Still, it was an energetic show and I enjoyed getting to go out with Ellen and see it.

On Saturday I played in the White River Open, a one-day, four-round tournament held in White River Junction, VT. The tournament was small but surprisingly strong; the Open section featured a Grandmaster, a Senior Master, an International Master, a National Master and two Experts. In fact, of the nine players in the section, five were rated above 2180! I took a first-round bye so I could sleep after getting off work in the morning, and I defeated southern New Hampshire Expert Clay Bradley in my second-round game. Unfortunately I faltered at a key moment against IM Danny Kopec in Round 3 before getting blown off the board by SM Denys Shmelov (rated 2529!) in the final round. My final tournament score was +1 -2 =0, which was good for a sixth-place tie. It's hard to be disappointed by my result, but I can't help wishing I'd been able to keep up the pressure in my game against Kopec. Regardless, it was a lot of fun to play, and I'm looking forward to my next rated event (which at this point is looking like a match in June against top-rated Vermonter Dave Carter).

Living in New Hampshire, I've come to accept the fact that many of my neighbors are (for some reason) Red Sox fans. My sports affiliations have, consequently, caused some good-natured friction at work. And after the Yankees were swept by the Red Sox over the weekend, I knew I was going to be in for it on Monday. And sure enough, when I returned to the station following an early-morning emergency call, I was met at the ambulance door by a coworker brandishing a broom.

In other news, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 opens on Friday. Apparently they are starting a new trilogy featuring some but not all of the old characters (Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rusch are back; Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are not). I'm looking forward to seeing it soon.

A new APOLOGIA hits newsstands

The Spring 2011 issue of The Dartmouth Apologia was just released. I just picked up a copy yesterday and have not had an opportunity to read it at any length yet, but I am very much looking forward to doing so! Watch back here for a review of the issue, probably to come in installments starting next week. Incidentally, this is the first issue since the journal's inception in 2006 in which I have not played any role whatsoever, either as an author or an editor. The official website is www.dartmouthapologia.org , but the new issue does not appear to have been put online yet.

Last Saturday saw the second Wheelock Conference on Faith and Vocation, sponsored by the Eleazar Wheelock Society and hosted by Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. As with last year's edition, the conference brought together current students, alumni and others for a series of lectures and panel discussion on the convergence of faith and career. It sounded fantastic, but I was once again unfortunately unable to attend. Perhaps next year! In the meantime, if anyone has any notes/materials from the conference, please let me know; I'd be interested in taking a gander at them.

Excitingly, the church softball league schedule was rumored to have been distributed to captains last night. I haven't seen it yet (my role is, at the most generous, that of bench coach), but I'm raring to get out on the softball field. My glove is just sitting in the closet, yearning to be let free!

In other news, I have recently rediscovered how awesome jellybeans are. Just one more reason I love springtime.

Change is in the wind

Dartmouth College announced on Tuesday that beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year, the fall term would be moved up so that classes start earlier in September and end by Thanksgiving. Currently, the first day of class is often as late as the fourth week of September and students return to campus following the Thanksgiving holiday for another week of classes followed by reading period and exams. I enthusiastically support this change, although neither Ellen nor I will be affected by it. Sending students home for five days only to recall them for a week and a half and then send them home again for three more weeks just doesn't make sense, and all the more so when you have as geographically diverse a population as Dartmouth does. The only potential downside is the overlap between Sophomore Summer final exams and the early sections of First-Year Trips, but that has always been an issue anyway and I doubt it'll be difficult to procure sufficient numbers of non-sophomore trip leaders.

As far as weird sporting happenings go, this one is right up there. The Rockies-Mets baseball game on Tuesday featured a rain delay, which is in and of itself relatively unremarkable, but the at-bat that was underway when the rain delay was called was a bit less pedestrian. Due to injury and fatigue (once pitchers cool down--as during a rain delay--they almost never go back out to pitch when play resumes), there were two pitchers and two hitters in a single at-bat! I'm with the sportswriter on this one; I doubt this was a precedented occurrence!

In other news, Gata Kamsky defeated Veselin Topalov in their quarterfinal Candidates match. His next opponent is Boris Gelfand of Israel; their first game today was a draw. Good luck Gata!

Trauma season is here

Now that warmer temperatures and longer days are here, people are taking full advantage of the nice weather. Bicycles and motorcycles are now common sights, and with the resurgence of outdoor activities begins what the emergency medicine community calls "trauma season." So please remember to always wear your helmet and/or seatbelt when on the roads and trails and make sure your passengers do the same.

While I'm making public service announcements, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the World Championship Candidates' Matches that begin tomorrow. These are, in essence, the "quarterfinals" of the cycle to determine a challenger for current World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India. Participants play a series of knockout-style mini-matches until there is only one player left standing. Russia and Azerbaijan are the best-represented countries with two players each (Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk from Russia; Teimour Radjabov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan); the other competitors are Levon Aronian (Armenia), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Boris Gelfand (Israel) and last but not least recently-crowned U.S. Champion Gata Kamsky. Notably absent is former world number-one ranked player Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who withdrew a few months ago in protest of administrative decisions that had been made surrounding the matches. Good luck to all the participants and go Kamsky!

As I reluctantly predicted last week, the New York Knicks were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs. I'm disappointed but not surprised by the result. As for the rest of my predictions, the Bulls are not off to a good start in their matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, and it looks like the Miami Heat will continue their manhandling of the Celtics. I had predicted the Bulls over the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, and I remain confident that Chicago will come through against Atlanta, but it seems that I misjudged the Celtics-Heat series.

In other news, The New York Times published an amusing article about the ploys people have tried in order to sidestep receiving parking tickets. Ever tried any of these? How'd they work for you?

Kamsky repeats!

Grandmaster Gata Kamsky clinched his second consecutive U.S. Chess Championship title yesterday with a 1.5-0.5 victory over Yury Shulman in the finals. Kamsky is now a three-time winner, with his first title coming in 1991. The last player to win back-to-back titles was Lev Alburt in 1984-1985. The women's championship has gone to tiebreaks and will be decided today; by this time tomorrow either Tatev Abrahamyan or Anna Zatonskih will be newly coronated. Last year's champion, Irina Krush, finished in third place.

Two of my former colleagues were recently highlighted for unveiling their culminating engineering project, a combination blood pressure / atrial fibrillation monitoring system. Adam Strom '10 and Jeff Spielberg '10, good friends with whom I served for multiple years on the Dartmouth EMS officer board, completed this project while finishing their BE degrees this winter. The first patient for the device was none other than Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim. This is an exciting achievement that has great potential. Way to go, guys!

Speaking of Dartmouth EMS, they organized the second annual Northern New England Collegiate EMS Conference this past Saturday at Dartmouth College. Comprised of a series of training sessions and two mass-casualty incident drills, the event was attended by squads from Tufts, Mt. Holyoke, the University of Vermont, the University of Massachusetts--Lowell, Amherst, Colby and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, along with host Dartmouth. I had the privilege to participate in the event, first as a drill evaluator and later as an actor in one of the simulations. It was an impressive undertaking, and I take my hat off to them for pulling it off in fine style.

Pain (not Thomas)

The government announced yesterday that it will seek to strengthen oversight of the prescription of certain narcotic painkillers. There is concern that patients are illegitimately obtaining and then abusing such medications as OxyContin, fentanyl and Dilaudid. Under the new proposal, physicians would be required to undergo training before being permitted to prescribe these medications. The hope would be that doctors could better identify "drug seekers" and reserve narcotics for patients that actually need them.

Whether or not this proposal will be implemented is unclear, as it would likely require Congressional action before taking effect. Also uncertain is whether or not this would even be a good idea. Drug seekers (people who fake or exaggerate pain to receive strong analgesics that they then use recreationally or sell) have been around as long as pain medication itself, and while it's certainly a dangerous practice that should be curtailed, there are risks inherent in doing so.

Not the least of these is the potential for "false negatives," patients who are in legitimate pain but are denied pain medicine for fear they're faking it. I read an interesting article a little while ago (which I'm unfortunately unable to locate at the moment) in which a physician discussed the relative merit of combating drug seeking versus the elevated risk of denying patients the medicine they need. That particular physician believed that nothing justified withholding needed treatment from a patient, and if the cost of avoiding that was rules lax enough to avoid false negatives but which also allow more drug seekers to achieve their ends, then so be it.

That's not to say that the new proposal would necessarily have this effect. Indeed, if the training were effective, physicians might be better able to identify those patients who are truly in pain (reducing false negatives) while also better weeding out those patients who are simply looking for narcotics (thereby also reducing false positives). Certainly it's a complex issue, and one I'll be interested to watch as it progresses along the often-glacial path to implementation.

First thunderstorm

To paraphrase Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Spring ... limps along, but it gets here all the same." With the first thunderstorm of the season this morning, I'm beginning to think winter might actually end this year. Saturday's snow flurries were a big of a downer, but the appearance of the first buds on the trees yesterday more than made up for that. It's not that I don't like winter, but ... enough already!

The U.S. Chess Championships are in full swing; youth is carrying the day so far. Surprise leaders include college students Robert Hess and Sam Shankland (technically speaking, Hess has not yet started at Yale, where he will be a freshman in the fall). Veteran participants--and past champions--Alexander Onischuk and Gata Kamsky are also at the top of the crosstable. The women's field is starting to clarify as well, with Sabina Foisor finally faltering as pre-tournament favorites Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih make up ground.

Unfortunately, my fantasy chess team is shaping up to be a basement-dweller this year. Some players are perennially high scorers, but my "dark-horse" picks have had rotten performances so far. I'm hoping for a second-half turnaround, but I have a sinking feeling that my fantasy chess team is going the way of my NCAA March Madness bracket. It's a good thing I don't gamble.

In other news, the 2011 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced this week; recipients included Joseph Rago '05 for his editorial contributions to The Wall Street Journal. Congratulations to all the winners!

U.S. Championships underway

The U.S. Chess Championships began yesterday in St. Louis. There are sixteen players in the men's tournament and eight in the women's; last year's women's champion Irina Krush declined her automatic invitation to the men's tournament and chose instead to defend her title. Unfortunately for her, she was upset in the first round by Sabina Foisor, but there's a lot of chess still to play and anything can happen. On the men's side, most of the first-round games were drawn, with only Grandmasters Ben Finegold and Alexander Shabalov falling, to GM Alexander Onischuk and GM Larry Christiansen, respectively.

Closer to home, the New Hampshire Quick Chess Championship was contested earlier in the month, but I was unfortunately unable to attend. I would have liked to play, but the tournament just didn't fit into my schedule. I did get to play in the Vermont Resort Open in Fairlee, VT last month, and even though I suffered a last-round defeat at the hands of FIDE Master Nelson Castaneda which dropped me out of the prize money, I still had a great time. Hopefully I'll play in another tournament soon!

The NBA playoffs begin today, although I have a feeling my interest will soon wane once the Knicks are annihilated by the Celtics. I know that Sun Tzu would disapprove of my attitude, and I also know that the Knicks have shown flashes of brilliance this season during which they can beat any team, but I fear their inconsistency will match up poorly against the Celtics' experience. Though that experience (read, age) will catch up to them as they, in turn, fall to a surprisingly talented Bulls team. And despite the preponderance of individual stars in the East, I'm predicting another Western Conference NBA champion this year. There, I said it.

In other news, the Internet has been ablaze with the story of Kevin Na, the PGA golfer who required sixteen strokes to finish a par-4 hole on Thursday. You have to admire the man's persistence, though. I usually call it quits on a mini-golf hole after eight shots.

Opening day

Opening Day is one of my favorite days of the year. At long last, baseball is back. And even though it was cold and snowy across the Northeast this year, nothing can diminish my enthusiasm for the return of the national pastime. One week into the season, I'm generally pleased with the way things are going. Other than Monday night's irregularity, the Yankees' bullpen has performed as advertised, and their lineup seems to be largely avoiding the prolonged start-of-season thaw they've endured the past few years. It comes as a pleasant surprise, too, that perennial foes Tampa Bay and Boston have started the season a combined 0-11. 162 games is a long time, and anything is possible, but I'll take what I can get. (I am less pleased by Texas's red-hot start ... they don't seem to be missing a beat despite losing Cliff Lee to free agency.)

I was reading the story of the pilot who made an emergency landing on a beach in Queens earlier this week. Fortunately, no one was injured and it doesn't seem like there was any significant property damage. Still, it was a bizarre episode. One of the many questions running through my mind after reading the account of the pilot's conversation with the air traffic controller: How does enrolling in medical school make you a paramedic?

As best I can tell, the looming government shutdown (with the deluge of media coverage this possibility has received recently, I'm beginning to think it should be all one word) is not going to directly affect ambulance operations in New Hampshire. Medicare will continue making payments, at least for a time, drawn on money set aside previously. Should a prolonged shutdown occur, who knows how that might affect ambulance services? Not I.

In other news, the University of Connecticut and Texas A&M won the NCAA men's and women's basketball championship, respectively, this past week. Congratulations to them both.

Mutiny on the Bounty

I just finished Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall's Mutiny on the Bounty. What a terrific book. I've yet to see its Best Picture-winning film adaptation (though you can expect a comparison when I do), but I'm certainly looking forward to it. Ellen saw the film long ago and said she enjoyed it. One of the things that struck me most about Mutiny on the Bounty is how gripping the prose was. Not just the story grabbed me but the words themselves did too. I could practically feel the sun beating down on me and the sea spray splashing against my face. I'm not exactly the seafaring type, but I enjoyed opening the book and feeling as though I were.

Evidently there are two sequels that deal with the lives of the other men on the ship. Whereas the latter part of Mutiny on the Bounty deals primarily with the men who stayed behind on Tahiti after the mutiny, the other two books follow the cast-off, non-mutinous crew and the mutineers who stayed with the ship. I'll have to look them up when I get a chance. For now, my next book looks like it will be Robert Bolt's 1960 play A Man for all Seasons, another offering on my Best-Picture-winning-movie-that-was-adapted-from-a-book list. Of the twenty entries on the list, A Man for all Seasons is one of only four plays. The others are Amadeus by Peter Shaffer, You Can't Take it With You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart and Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

The director of the Harvard University Library, Robert Darnton, wrote an intriguing op-ed in yesterday's New York Times. He remarked on Google's attempt to digitize every book ever written and the recent setback this endeavor was dealt when a judge rejected a settlement between the company and two groups that were suing it over the project. Darnton goes on to propose a digital public library that he feels would be a superior, more accessible clearinghouse than what Google had proposed. With the digitization of books becoming more widespread, it's an idea that will come to fruition sooner or later, in one form or another. The only questions are when, how and how well will it be done. The article is definitely worth a read.

In other news, I heard recently that Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco has begun his tryout with Major League Soccer team Sporting Kansas City. I guess everybody passes the time differently during a lockout ...

Shamrock Shuffle

Yesterday was the tenth annual Shamrock Shuffle, a 5K race put on by the Lebanon, New Hampshire Parks and Rec department as a fundraiser of some sort. Ellen participated for the first time this year, and she turned in a fantastic time, finishing in the top ten in her age group (there were six hundred sixteen runners overall). I was duly impressed, all the more so because she hadn't done any dedicated training for this race. Way to go, Ellen!

The NCAA March Madness tournament is in full swing, and I must admit I've had better years (at least I think so; I don't track my results from year to year). I don't pay a ton of attention to non-Ivy League college basketball--although I have a geographic soft spot in my heart for the Big East, too--but it's fun to fill out a bracket and hope I picked the right upsets. So far so good, although I certainly didn't see the Louisville and Pitt results coming.

Also, today is the first official day of spring. Between this and the advent of daylight savings time last weekend, I'm starting to believe that winter might actually end this year. Throw in sunshine, receding snow banks and a tentative return of the birds and things are starting to look up indeed. Now all we need is Opening Day and we'll be all set.

In other news, tomorrow is World Poetry Day. Enjoy it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm not wearing a speck of green today. Better fix that before I go outside next. Purple and blue are not a problem right now, but it's not St. Eggplant's Day, so that really doesn't count for much. As far as I can tell, Enfield, New Hampshire does not have a St. Patrick's Day parade on the order of New York City or Chicago (they actually don't seem to have one at all). Neighboring Lebanon is celebrating with a 5K race this weekend, though, and Ellen decided to enter. I'm looking forward to going and rooting her on!

Ellen and I recently discovered Netflix and we're enjoying it so far. It's nice having ready access to such a wide selection of movies. We don't have terribly esoteric tastes, but there have been a number of films Ellen or I enjoyed growing up that we've been wanting to share with each other that we haven't been able to obtain at the local video outlets. Most recently we watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which we both enjoyed. And I was pleased to learn that Butch Cassidy's real name is Robert.

I was reading recently that the discontinued production of sodium thiopental (also called pentothal), the first of three drugs used in the lethal injection "cocktail," has wreaked havoc with some states' lethal injection plans. Texas, for example, has hundreds of inmates on death row but a stockpile of pentothal that expires at the end of the month. Pentobarbital, another drug in the barbiturate family, is widely seen as the successor to pentothal. Ohio and Oklahoma both use it, and Texas has announced its intention to adopt it as well. Defense attorneys are vigilantly monitoring the proceedings to make sure that the rights of their clients are not infringed upon, but I don't expect the replacement of pentothal with pentobarbital to have any functional impact on the way death row inmates' cases play out. If the medical community has deemed pentobarbital safe when patients are intended to survive its use, presumably the legal community will not object to its use in an execution setting.

The 2011 U.S. Chess Championships start April 14 ... which means Fantasy Chess is almost here!

Chess-music

A friend of mine, Alex Barsamian '04, recently brought to my attention one man's idea for "Chess-Music." Pretty nifty, if you ask me (but not to be confused with Chess-Boxing) . Musical renditions of only a few famous chess games are posted on Mr. Stokes's blog, but his method could be used to transform any chess game, played anywhere by players of any level, into a piece of music. Those of you who appreciate aurally "pleasing" notes may or may not be satisfied with Chess-Music; after all, the notes are dictated by the chess moves, which were not played with this project in mind. But that raises the question: What would happen if you did it in reverse? Took a piece of music and played it out as a chess game, either using Mr. Stokes's system or another? My guess is an illegal position would be reached in short order, but I'd nevertheless love to see what a Beethoven symphony would look like on the chessboard.

I recently picked back up Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. I had started it last December but had to return it to the library before finishing. It's an easy book to get back into, however, and I had no trouble picking up where I left off. And once again I was struck by how poor a sailor I would have made. I don't think I would have lasted a week under Captain Bligh's command.

The Dartmouth featured an article recently highlighting the decision by Harvard and Princeton to reinstitute their early admission policies (I hadn't been aware they'd been done away with). Both are opting for a policy known as Early Action Single-Choice, under which applicants can be offered a non-binding admission offer or rejected outright. Schools also have the option of deferring action on a student's application and placing it in the regular admission applications for consideration in the spring. The difference between EA and its counterpart program, Early Decision, is that Early Decision admission offers are binding. If accepted, a student must attend that school (which of course means that only one ED application can be submitted, lest both be received favorably). And while EA is non-binding, schools featuring EA Single-Choice do not permit students to apply early to multiple schools. I don't know for sure what happens if you violate this regulation, but it's probably not good.

Dartmouth has always featured an ED program, and Dean of Admissions Janet Lavin was quoted in the article as saying that there are no plans to change this. Having never gone through the ED process, I don't have any strong opinion about it, but with the college application process as frenetically paced as it is, I can't help but think that compressing everything still further only increases the pressure on high school students. Some schools offer a competitive advantage to students applying early--that is, you are likelier to get in if you apply ED than if you apply regular decision--but not every college does this. I'm just glad the entire college-application process is behind me!

Firsts and lasts

Ellen and I went to our first Dartmouth men's basketball game of the season yesterday, and not a moment too soon. Before the game, Dartmouth held its annual Senior Night ceremony, honoring the two graduating seniors on the squad for their four years of commitment and accomplishment. At first it looked like Dartmouth was going to send off its seniors in style with an upset win over Penn, as it took a thirteen-point lead into halftime. Unfortunately, Penn came back on the strength of some timely outside shooting and managed a victory that was much closer than the final score would indicate. It was a disappointing way to end the season, but Ellen and I enjoyed getting to go watch the game all the same.

Speaking of college basketball, Harvard's 79-67 defeat of Princeton last night guaranteed the Crimson at least a tie for the Ivy League title. The outcome of the Princeton-Penn game on Tuesday will determine whether Harvard wins the title outright (if Penn wins) or if there will be a one-game playoff between Harvard and Princeton (should Princeton win) to determine the recipient of the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Seeing as Harvard is the only Ivy League team never to win an Ivy League championship, and the men's basketball team is the only one of thirty four Harvard teams never to win a league title, I suppose they were due.

I finished a book, the other day, Yasser Seirawan's Chess Duels, that Ellen had given me for Christmas. It was an excellent read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Seirawan, four times the U.S. champion and twice a contender in the World Championship cycle, details at length his interactions with and games against nine World Chess Champions. Chess players are nothing if not a colorful and engaging bunch, and Seirawan has a gift for textured, descriptive prose. What a great present this book was. Embarrassingly, though, this is the first book I have finished in 2011. By comparison, I had already completed nine titles by this point last year. I'm not sure what accounts for the difference, but I'm looking forward to catching up!

The Upper Valley has enjoyed a run of (relatively) warm temperatures of late. So balmy have the temperatures been, in fact, that the recent precipitation has taken the form of rain instead of snow. Quite a pleasant change for a summer-phile such as I, and seeing the mounds of snow shrink before my eyes has been further cause for glee. Sadly, though, winter is forecast to reassert itself this evening, with some reports calling for as much as ten inches of snow and sleet accumulation before tomorrow. I take comfort in the knowledge that winter's days are numbered, however. Spring (and more importantly, baseball) will soon be here.

To be or not to be

This is a big week in terms of collective bargaining. In addition to the well-publicized proposals to curb collective bargaining in Wisconsin and Ohio, the collective bargaining agreement between the National Football League and the NFL Players' Association is set to expire at midnight on Thursday. I've seen estimates that place the annual revenue for the NFL upwards of $9 billion, which is a staggering sum of money for an entertainment field. I understand that negotiating a new CBA is a complicated issue, but at a certain point both players and owners need to come to their senses and realize that there is more than enough pie to go around.

America's top-ranked chessplayer, Hikaru Nakamura, announced recently that he will not be competing in the upcoming U.S. Championships. This is a dismaying decision for some chess fans, who had hoped to see him go for his third title. According to one recent interview, his decision was fueled by a desire to pursue only the strongest, most exclusive tournaments in order to continue his chess development in anticipation of an eventual run on the World Championship. Whether or not this is a fair assessment of the strength of the U.S. Championships--Nakamura won by a half-point in 2009 but finished in third place last year--I wish him the best in all his chess endeavors (and I wouldn't mind seeing him reconsider).

In other news, the Oscars were held this past Sunday ... and just like last year, no one cared.

Sports shake-ups

I was pleased to see that the Knicks acquired Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets on Monday. I was convinced that the maelstrom of trade rumors would fizzle out and the question of Anthony's long-term plans would be resolved in the off-season via free agency. Pleasantly, I was mistaken. In a massive trade--one of the largest in NBA history--Anthony and veteran point guard Chauncey Billups were sent to the Knicks in exchange for Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler and Raymond Felton, not to mention a large handful of supporting players on all sides.

Initially, I had been concerned about the long-term cost of parting with so many of the Knicks' "core," their young, improving players. But a series of articles on the New York Times sports page pointed out that while supporting players come and go, stars are much harder to replace. Better to acquire a second legitimate star to complement Amar'e Stoudemire and then replenish the role players than to try to win a championship based on the power of Stoudemire and the role players alone. I think he might be on to something there--LeBron James's stint in Cleveland proved that no one superstar can win a championship by himself--and I hope the Knicks achieve everything they'd hoped with this trade.

Staying on the hardwood, the Cal Tech men's basketball team defeated Occidental 46-45 last night. This victory is significant because it snaps Cal Tech's 310-game conference losing streak. According to The New York Times, the last time they defeated a fellow Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe was during the 1984-1985 season ... which means the losing streak is older than any of the current players. Congratulations to Cal Tech, and I hope their baseball team will be the next to find redemption (412 consecutive losses in conference games).

And in baseball, spring training is underway and games start up this weekend. Opening Day is March 31!

Back to work

I started a new job a couple weeks ago. It has been a lot of fun so far, and I'm really enjoying working on my own as a paramedic. I also have a great schedule, even if I did spend all of Valentine's Day at work. Two twenty-four hour shifts a week is demanding, but having five days off is a definite upshot! Ellen and I are both pleased with the way things have turned out.

Looking at the bigger picture, taking my first solo call as a medic two weeks ago was the culmination of something that began all the way back in August of 2009. What a great testament to God's faithfulness that He saw Ellen and me through the entire paramedic school and National Registry certification process, strengthening and enriching our relationship in the process. (No "paramedic school divorce" for us ... just the opposite, in fact!)

Speaking of Ellen, she and I finally brought our car hunt to a close. We purchased a 2004 Pontiac Vibe last weekend, which was extremely exciting for both of us (and especially for Ellen, since she gets to drive it every day!). But as soon as I (resume and) finish learning how to drive stick, I will enthusiastically take a turn in the driver's seat. It's a very nice car!

Dartmouth's 100th Anniversary Winter Carnival was Valentine's Day weekend; Ellen and I got to spend a fair amount of time enjoying the festivities. The snow sculpture was more respectable than in recent years (which isn't saying much), but considering the amount of snow that fell this winter, the sculpture was a bit lackluster. There was enough snow to support a sculpture twice as big. Presumably the limiting factor is manpower, which is unfortunate. Have Dartmouth students forgotten that a Winter Carnival snow sculpture once held the world record for tallest free-standing snow sculpture? Whither that gung-ho spirit?

Dartmouth undergrads do get credit for showing up in force to the men's ice hockey game against Princeton (which Dartmouth won 4-1). And they get credit for launching an impressive barrage of tennis balls at the Princeton goalie following Dartmouth's first goal, as is the custom. Sadly, things took a turn for the disappointing as the crowd continued to pelt the goalie with tennis balls following each of Dartmouth's subsequent goals, which is not only a delay-of-game penalty but is also altogether not in keeping with the tradition.

In other news, the U.S. Amateur Team East, the largest team chess tournament in the country, concluded yesterday. "West Orange Krush," headlined by International Masters Mikhail Zlotnikov and Irina Krush, took top honors. I have never played in this event, and I had hoped to change that this year, but in the end the timing just wasn't right. Maybe next year!

Joshua Bell

Ellen and I went to see Joshua Bell perform at the Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts last week. We had fantastic seats to a fantastic show. Truly remarkable. It was Ellen's first time seeing him perform, but I had actually seen him once before, back in 2005. I was in Vienna on a class trip and a few friends and I used a free evening to watch him perform Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" (which happens to be my favorite piece). Pure bliss.

Moving back to 2011, there was only one part of the entire evening that stuck in my craw: When did standing ovations become de rigueur? Joshua Bell performed three pieces plus two short encores, with an intermission following the second piece and a series of applause breaks following the third. After each one of these, with the exception of the first piece, the audience broke into a standing ovation. Don't get me wrong: It was a terrific show, and in a couple instances the standing ovation was well-deserved. But who gives a standing ovation to a two-minute second-encore? In my view, you cheapen standing ovations by doling them out automatically rather than after an especially noteworthy performance. Perhaps some of my musically inclined readers can shed some light on the matter.

This weekend is Dartmouth's 100th Anniversary Winter Carnival. Between ski races, human dog sled races, the Polar Bear Swim, snow sculpting, an assortment of marquee home sporting matchups (men's hockey versus Princeton!) and a host of other events, there's sure to be something for every Dartmouth student and alumnus. I, for one, am looking forward to it!

Dartmouth Apologia review, Part III

This is the final installment of my review of the Winter 2011 edition of The Dartmouth Apologia. As always, I encourage you to read the issue for yourself before reading my take on it.

The cover article for this issue, "Quantum Mechanics and Divine Action," was written by Emily DeBaun '12. Quantum mechanics is not an easily accessible topic, but DeBaun does a commendable job of explaining its basic tenets without making the reader feel condescended to. The article abruptly shifts focus in the latter half, temporarily leaving behind the world of physics and looking at the biblical treatment of miracles, aided heavily by Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. I thought the second half of the article was terrific, though there probably could have been a stronger transition joining the two. If anything, I would have preferred the primary focus of the article to have been on miracles in the Bible, with physics playing a secondary role, but as it is, there should be something for everyone in this piece.

"A Proof for the Existence of God," by Editor-in-Chief Peter Blair '12, is an exposition of Thomas Aquinas's "First Way." The First Way, which Aquinas put forth in his Summa Theologica, is a version of the cosmological argument for the existence of God. No doubt due to the denseness of the source material, Blair's article is itself somewhat viscous, but he does an admirable job of capturing the essence of Aquinas's argument and making it accessible even to those who don't have a background in philosophy or Thomistic physics. The article is unnecessarily verbose in places, but if you take time to wade through it, it will be time well spent.

Alexandra Heywood '11 contributed "God in the Gulag," a compact history of Christianity in the Soviet Union (and the article with the snappiest title, in my opinion). As the title suggests, she pays particular attention to the way Christianity survived and even thrived in the infamous Soviet gulags. It's a fascinating article that strikes just the right balance between detail and fluidity. As I've mentioned, my natural bent is more toward the historical and literary than the scientific and philosophical, so this piece, like Nauman's, is right up my alley. Still, even if you lean in the other direction, you will not be disappointed by the substance and rigor of Heywood's research and prose.

The final article in the Winter 2011 issue is "Free Will, Predestination, and the Value of Christian Debate." Written by Anna Lynn Doster '12, the article is much less about free will and predestination themselves than Christian debate, namely that between Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther in the first part of the sixteenth century. Doster does a great job of relating the facts and context surrounding this fascinating exchange without taking one side or the other. I recommend both the article and its bibliography to anyone interested in theology, history or two dynamic and thoughtful minds conducting a (somewhat) civil discussion on one of the biggest issues of the day.

Dartmouth Apologia review, Part II

Having offered some general thoughts about the Winter 2011 issue of The Dartmouth Apologia, I would like to now look at each in turn. I will omit the interview with Peter Kreeft because it rather resists criticism, given its nature as an interview. And as before, I encourage you all to read the articles for yourselves before engaging with the reviews that follow.

First off, "Euthyphro's Dilemma and the Goodness of God," by Brendan Woods '13. Woods takes on the ancient Greek philosophical problem of what the implications might be when one considers God's role in determining what constitutes "good." The analysis is thorough and the conclusion sound; the only question I had about this article is why it was written in the first place. Woods wrote a post last March for "Tolle Lege," the Apologia's blog, in which he considered the identical topic. This article is merely an expansion of that earlier piece with relatively little to add to the discussion. Whether or not this expansion was ultimately unnecessary, though, it is certainly a well crafted piece.

This issue's guest piece, "Taking the Bible Seriously," is contributed by Luke Timothy Johnson. Professor Johnson teaches at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. (Incidentally, guest pieces are unique among the Apologia's offerings because they are the only articles not routinely edited for content.) Professor Johnson puts forth an interesting examination of contemporary "schools" of Biblical hermeneutics as compared to historical examples of the same, holding up Origen of Alexandria as an example of someone who really "got it" when it came to how to read and engage with the Bible. The writing style is a little on the polemical side for my taste, and Origen struck me as an odd choice for a protagonist (he was anathematized by the Fifth Ecumenical Council for believing in a hierarchical Trinity, among other things), but Professor Johnson's point about the importance of not skimming but deeply engaging with the Bible is nevertheless well taken.

"Science and Orthodoxy" by Grace Nauman '11 bears the subtitle, "The Faith of Galileo and Kepler." This piece takes on author Nancy Frankenberry's assertion that many of the giants of the Scientific Revolution may have been Christians, but they adhered to an, "Eccentric ... unconventional" theology. Through careful research and exposition, Nauman shows that the two titular scientists were not only not unorthodox but supremely mainstream. She includes an illustrative episode from Kepler's life in which he suffered a minor falling out with the Lutheran church over the doctrine of ubiquity. As it turned out, Kepler was right and later Lutheran theologians overturned the erroneous doctrine. Admittedly, my natural bent runs more toward history than philosophy, but all the same, this was one of my favorite articles in the issue, and I would encourage anyone picking up the journal not to miss it.

Dartmouth Apologia review, Part I

As I mentioned yesterday, The Dartmouth Apologia published its winter issue on Friday. I've been involved in the production of this issue in the capacity of editorial consultant, but I was handed a copy of the final product for the first time on Sunday. It is beautifully designed and laid-out; from front to back it is nothing short of visually stunning.

As I embark on a review of the content of the journal, I offer two provisos: First, as previously mentioned, I have seen a number of iterations of all of these articles. I will do my best to comment only on what appeared in the final version; please bear with me if I slip. Should I refer to a passage that seems nonexistent, that's probably because it is. Second, and more importantly, I strongly encourage you to read the articles for yourself and form your own opinions first. As of this morning, the new issue had not been placed online, but check back frequently ( www.dartmouthapologia.org is the official website). If you're on campus, pick up a hard copy of the journal. If past years' distribution efforts are any guide, you shouldn't have to look too hard.

I'd like to begin with some broad comments on the issue as a whole before delving into the individual articles. This edition consists of six student articles, one guest article and an interview. The "Final Thoughts" segment that was a mainstay during my undergrad years is again missing (the last issue didn't have it either). I suspect the editorial board has opted to discontinue this feature, which is too bad. I always appreciated its brief, uniquely personal look at an item of faith. Hopefully it will be revived in future years.

The articles are of their usual high quality. Technical writing proficiency combined with intellectually rigorous scholarship and discourse has always been the hallmark of the Apologia, and I'm pleased to see that this tradition is alive and well. The two seniors, three juniors and one sophomore who comprised this edition's writing staff are articulate, thoughtful and lucid writers and thinkers who have clearly poured countless hours of work into this endeavor.

The most notable omission in the Winter 2011 edition is a clear presentation of the Gospel. There is nothing wrong with using logic to show that a supernatural being must exist (as Blair and to a lesser extent Woods and DeBaun do), but this seems to me of little use if you stop short of considering--somewhere in the issue--whether or not Jesus of Nazareth is that God, incarnate and resurrected. There are a lot of religions with a lot of gods out there, and it is vital to take that last step and show that the one true God is in fact the triune God of the Bible. (My good friend and Apologia co-founder Charlie Dunn '10 used to insist on including such a piece in every issue.)