YankeeVox comes to Twitter

For those of you who have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon (or are thinking about doing so), I invite you to follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/YankeeVox. I'll be happy to give you a follow as well.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Buffalo and chess making headlines together the other day. Ken Regan, an International Master and computer science professor at the University of Buffalo, was recently lauded in The New York Times for his work in developing a program aimed at sniffing out instances of computer cheating among top chessplayers. I highly recommend the article, which is extremely accessible to both chess and computer science laypeople. Of particular interest to me was the way in which the program can be applied to not only root out cheating but also to clear players who have fallen under suspicion. Give it a look.

In other news, today was the home opener for Dartmouth baseball. I was pleased to catch the first two innings; they looked good!

Chess dress addressed

Dress codes are nothing new in chess. Many top-level events--which are populated almost exclusively by men--sport requirements that participants wear a jacket and tie or similarly dignified attire. This is usually at the behest of the sponsors, who appreciate the image of professionalism that this projects. The recently concluded European Individual Women's Chess Championship, though, featured a unique response on participants' fashion choices.

The event, which was held in Gaziantep, Turkey, and won by Russian International Master Valentina Gunina, sported a "two button rule." As reported by Chessbase, and picked up by the NY Daily News, the participants were permitted to unbutton their shirts no more than two buttons from the top. Furthermore, skirts could be a maximum of ten centimeters above the knee (longer garments were, of course, allowed).

The reason for the new regulation, according to European Chess Union General Secretary Sava Stoisavljevic, is to curb crude remarks coming from the spectators. This is yet another example of a women's sport trying to find the balance between marketing itself through the quality of the game and simply trading on sex appeal. It's not an easy balance to strike--after all, if playing up participants' physical appearance were ineffective, it would have been abandoned long ago--but I can't help but think this is another example of legislation replacing common sense. Having said that, though, there would be no need for such legislation if common sense were in the driver's seat.

My favorite element of the new dress code? The rule banning excessive body odor. Now that is a rule long overdue.

Dartmouth president is President's pick

Once again, it has been a busy month, and I find that this space is updated far less frequently than I would like. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention that on Friday, President of the United States Barack Obama nominated President of Dartmouth College Jim Yong Kim to lead the World Bank. The current head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, ends his term on June 30th. There is no guarantee that President Kim will succeed Zoellick, but given the U.S.'s influence in the selection of the World Bank chiefs, it seems unlikely that he would not.

In an email sent to undergraduates and alumni, President Kim wrote, "When I assumed the presidency of Dartmouth, I did so with the full and deep belief that the mission of higher education is to prepare us for lives of leadership and service in our professions and communities ... the prospect of leaving Dartmouth at this stage is very difficult. Nevertheless, should the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors elect me as the next president, I will embrace the responsibility."

While no one seems to be addressing the question, "What does a physician know about finance?" I'm nevertheless delighted for President Kim. We never overlapped at Dartmouth, but his nomination nevertheless reflects well on the institution as a whole, and I am, as always, proud to be Green.