Well my apologies for the factual inaccuracy with the boarding. That being said, however, you must not have read the editorial, since you completely missed the point. It is not a criticism of the UGA program at all, rather the budget priorities of the college at large. I think the library should be given full funding before the UGA program receives a stipend. What was the matter with $300 a term? And it is my understanding from grads from before four years ago that, at some point, there wasn't a cash stipend.

Read the article on the libraries, and maybe you'll see my point, or understand what I'm referencing. There would still be UGAs if they weren't paid a grand a term. And maybe some of the extra money could preserve some jobs in the library, which is more central to the aims of the College.

I understand the contentious issue of budget priorities when cuts are made, and I agree that the libraries deserve adequate funding. However, I am not comfortable with the zero-sum game that pits one specific program versus the library system. Clearly, UGAs are not directly responsible for the current situation with Dartmouth's library system, nor are they the most wasteful recipients of Dartmouth funds. Picking the UGA program for elimination reflects a particular agenda rather than a sincere desire to preserve the libraries, and it distracts from the issue at hand. Even if the half-million figure for UGA pay is accurate, it represents something like 1/7 of 1% of Dartmouth's annual operating costs and provides over 100 current students (about 3% of the currently "R' term student body) with part-time jobs to fund their expensive Dartmouth educations.

But, like I said, I don't see why it's the UGAs vs. the libraries. The argument then comes down to an elimination of a half-million dollars in student wages in order to give the libraries more money (unless you argue that they should be made up elsewhere, in which case there would be $0 saved for additional library use). If I were to argue that we should cut a half-million in student wages from DDS or, what the heck, the library system, I'm sure you would not think of that as a rational means of supporting the libraries.