CAMPUS BRIEFS: Thursday, October 23, 1997

Dartmouth celebrates 25th year as coed school Dartmouth remained predominantly male for several years after initially admitting women in 1972, but reached gender parity with the Class of 1999. Today, Dartmouth boasts that an Ivy League-leading 25 percent of its tenured faculty are women. Recalling her arrival on the school's Hanover, N.H., campus in 1976, Dartmouth History Professor Judith Byfield noted the small percentage of women, especially black women, she found at the school. But she stressed that things have changed. "There are more places, more people, more mentors for women to go to for issues relating to their own lives and growth," she said in a written statement. The school's curriculum has also become more sensitive to gender issues, she said. "In my own discipline, there is a recognition that historical events and policies have differential effects on men and women," Byfield said. Dartmouth will continue its commemoration of the anniversary throughout the academic year with a series of performances and programs. -- Laura Robbins Two con artists scam students over weekend A pair of unrelated con acts last weekend taught two Penn students an important lesson --Egood people do often finish last. Claiming to be a student who left his wallet at home, a man approached a male student in Superblock Monday night and asked him for $14, which he said was what the American Automobile Association would charge him to fix his red Nissan Maxima. The student gave the man the money, who then got back into the car --Ewhich he had told the student was malfunctioning -- and drove off. After seeing the man drive off, the student grew suspicious of his motives and reported the incident to University Police. In an unrelated incident last Sunday night, a woman, who identified herself as Camden, N.J., resident Tamara Brown, approached a female student on the 3400 block of Chestnut Street and asked her for $100 for a new car battery, which the student gave her before contacting police. Police suspect that the two incidents -- which they described as "flim-flam" -- might have involved coercion, but did not have any further information. -- Randi Rothberg