Gradus Ad Parnassum

WITH A somewhat changed style of typography and general appearance the MAGAZINE begins it 29th year this month. It is hoped that the minor changes made in its dress will be generally approved as refinements in an already acceptable style. This is the hope of the editorial board. No attempt has been made, nor any need felt, for effecting changes beyond a slightly larger type size to improve legibility, a larger type page and column size to meet standard magazine specifications, and some new plans for make-up and presentation of editorial material. Throughout the evolution of this year's Magazine style, a period of nearly ten years, the suggestions of the designer, Vrest Orton of Weston, Vermont, and the Vermont Printing Company of Brattleboro, and its chief craftsman, E. H. Crane '98, have been invaluable. Their assistance is gratefully acknowledged by those who find the editing of this publication a stimulating and pleasurable task.

The business manager always has his own troubles, usually not so easily solved as are the editorial policies. For some years the MAGAZINE'S circulation has shown growth but only as a result of campaigning which approaches that of the class agents on the Alumni Fund in degree of intensity and persuasiveness. It is the hope of Norman Stevenson '05, who so kindly stepped into the position of business manager left vacant by the untimely death of Natt Emerson 'oo nearly a year ago, to build a "planned economy" for the MAGAZINE'S business affairs that will produce beneficial results all around. By this "all around" is meant the total of alumni subscribers who will pay the subscription fees; the class and club secretaries whose unselfish devotion to their Dartmouth duties deserves a wider circle of appreciative readers than the present subscription list gives them; the contributors to and editors of the MAGAZINE whose efforts might be enjoyed by more alumni; and finally the College itself, in that this publication should be an asset to it, and a zealous guardian of its best welfare, with a large circulation among its alumni and friends.

To avoid a determined drive for subscriptions, necessarily repeated every year,, is one large item of Mr. Stevenson's plan. He favors the class group subscription plan, handled on a five-year basis—that is, the combination of class dues and Magazine subscription is paid and no one is bothered again for five years. A saving in money to the individual is of course possible on this longer term plan. The idea has been proven practicable by some classes that have been notably successful in its operation. It is further endorsed by the MAGAZINE Advisory Committee of Messrs. H. P. Hinman 'lO, C. E. Leech 'l4, and F. H. Horan '22, and by other members of the Secretaries Association.

It seems that only if and when the five year group plan is universally adopted will there be any substitute for the present plan of annual subscriptions, at the present fee. Let us hope that the continuance of discussion of the possibilities of the plan which class officers are studying will lead to adoption of such ways and means as to make this publication of maximum effectiveness in Dartmouth relationships.

IF ALUMNI act with accustomed loyalty and interest in hastening to read whatever "Prexy" writes there will be a big sale of the current (October) issue of the Atlantic Monthly. For therein has Editor Ellery Sedgewick included an article, "Current Thoughts," by President Hopkins. It is safe to predict that the Republican National Committee will purchase plenty of reprints for the article is an explanation of why the President must part ways with the New Deal, after starting out four years ago as a friend and supporter.

Those who have read the article before seeing these notes will not need to be told that it is forthright and in the vigorous, stimulating style that marks the President as his best. "The voice is the voice of Jacob."

IN COMMENTING editorially on the opening exercises, Edward F. Ryan, editor of The Dartmouth, wrote:

"For over twenty years President Hopkins has made his convocation address ashead of the College."Yesterday he spoke as leader of the undergraduate body."

And the editorial continues in a vein most complimentary to the President's departure from custom, in talking informally to the student body rather than reading an address to the undergraduates. This more often than not went over their heads and through the doors of Webster Hall far beyond to the widespread audience of his admirers. The student reaction last month was one of gratitude and enjoyment in being addressed on problems of the College of the moment, and policies that are being evolved to solve them. There has never been anything except eagerness on President Hopkins' part to secure and give considerable weight to student opinion. This has been amply demonstrated in his frequent reference of perplexing problems to Palaeopitus or to other groups of students. It was an innovation, however, to discuss these things with the undergraduate body as a whole, and a fine innovation too.

The opening of the College year was colorful, as always, but something was added this year by the impromptu remarks which the President made throughout the program. Here was the great leader of their college, thoroughly respected (but not yet venerable!), talking to them so easily and moving quickly from the statement of a local Dartmouth problem to an explanation of his challenging hopes in regard to the solution. Confidence in the growth of effective cooperation between students, officers, and alumni was implied and expressed in his remarks.

No one can say things as he says them. Alumni aren't the only ones who revel in the force and facility of his phrases. Students seem to enjoy the process just as much. A noticeable ripple of chuckles went through the crowd in Webster when he described what most of us would call "flunking out" or, to be most dignified, "separation from college." The President was describing what would probably happen to about ten playboys in the freshman class. "They will go home," he said, "when thereis no longer any evidence that continuedrelationship between them and us is desirable."

Upon learning that there would be no written opening address some of the President's associates became alarmed. What, they wondered, would happen to the editorial writers who always editorialize on the address? This editor of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE believed that alumni would miss the complete text of the address in this first issue of the year. And many other friends would be similarly disappointed. Fears were expressed to the President. But he has never had any official advisers and he doesn't need any now, if the effect of his address this year is judged correctly.

ONE OF Professor West's classmates has written to the editors congratulating them on the monthly appearance of "Hanover Browsing" in these pages stating that in his opinion "Herb West is oneof the literate men of his generation." This compliment on the hard work and very readable presentation of books especially recommended for Dartmouth alumni is one thoroughly deserved. Through his own published books, through popularity among his students in courses in comparative literature, and through the columns of this magazine, the author of "Browsing" has created an ever growing circle of friends and followers.

There has been much talk among officers and alumni of colleges and universities throughout the country about the great desirability of encouraging "adult education" or as it is sometimes called "education of alumni after college." Without making any great issue of this question and without detracting from the recognized merit of the social and athletic notes and news in these pages, the editors are also eager to give alumni subscribers a regular fare of reading which may stimulate the intellectual aspects of their growth which received impetus during college years. It is our hope to publish some articles, in addition to the monthly section of recommended reading, that will interpret the purposes and accomplishments of the liberal arts college and particularly of Dartmouth. The College is noted for its high standards and its prestige is based not a little on the high grade of teaching in the faculty and creditable achievements of its students in academic activity. This magazine, as the best means at hand of keeping open the lines of communication between the alumni and the College, should measure up to the high standards of the College it represents.

IT MUST BE that times really are better. In mid-summer the announcement of the increased tuition fee was sent to all parents of undergraduates in the College. Protests or at least questions would not have been surprising. Inquiries reveal that hardly a murmur has come to officers of the College. The fact that Dartmouth's fee was distinctly lower than the fees of other eastern colleges, and that the increase will still leave Dartmouth in a favorable position in comparison to others, may also be a factor.

Although it may be popularly assumed that the increased fee is designed to cover costs of the new health service, there is beyond this, the fact that an increase had become inevitable in any event. The payment of big bills for student health service and recreational athletics, to mention two items, and subsidies for one or another student activity or service require the increased income.

Every attempt is being made by Prof. F. J. A. Neef, director of student aid, to see that increases in aid are made to needy students to offset the actual rise in per student expense.

ONE WHO is a good friend writes in to "wonder if Dartmouth realizes whata distinguished service the Frost family.has rendered the College." It is a fact worthy of much greater attention than it has received that this past year saw the completion of an unbroken record of 65 years of Dartmouth teaching by the family. During this period, which goes back to the beginning of the Civil War, either Dr. Carleton P. Frost '52, or one or both of his sons, Dr. Gilman D. Frost '86 and the late Dr. Edwin B. Frost '86, have been members of the College faculty.

Dr. "Gil" Frost continues this year as professor of clinical medicine in the Medical School. He has been a favorite teacher of medical students for many years—he first joined the faculty in 1887. His ministrations to patients in widely scattered homes throughout the countryside, and the services of his father before him, have made the Frost name a famous one in this North Country. Dr. Frost is hardly less distinguished in the line of his avocation. He is an authority on the science (or art) of genealogy. Tracing the history of families has been an absorbing hobby to him. With the help of two students his filing cards, each one carrying the irreplaceable data on some family tree or other, are being copied. Neat typing will replace his minute handwriting (the elderly doctor doesn't use glasses yet!). These two boys have been working on his cards for two years or so and they are now in the D's.

With the collaboration of the editors Dr. Frost is undertaking to publish in these pages some of the results of his lifelong study of Dartmouth and New Hampshire genealogies. Perhaps we can once and for all declare who are the descendants of Eleazar Wheelock, and trace other families, if not as complicated then fully as interesting.

IN LOCATING his new hideaway and penthouse eight stories above Beacon Hill in Boston, Bill Cunningham '19 laid down one specification for his landlords to meet. This was to paint the outside of his quarters a vivid Dartmouth Green. This was done and Bill now claims that the green is visible for at least 10 miles in three different directions, including Cambridge where there is preference for another color. In this Green Sanctum will be written the Boston Post columns, magazine stories, movie scenarios, and Bill's latest venture, script for radio broadcasts. Also to be composed there will be a story now and then for the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, of which Mr. Cunningham is a cordial friend and willing (and free!) contributor.

IN DRAWING upon recent photographs of Hanover scenes and events the editors wished to give alumni an example of the excellent work of a Hanover photographer, Safier, whose view of Tuck Drive is the cover illustration this month.

In 1913 it was Mr. Tuck's desire, expressed in a letter to President Nichols, that a new road be built "to connect theCollege Centre of the town, through theHitchcock property, with the site of thebridge." The expense of surveying and building the beautiful drive was met through Mr. Tuck's gift of $42,500 the following year. The drive, which was given his name, has since been kept in excellent condition, both in maintaining the surface of the highway and in landscaping the banks and walks that adjoin it.

A FREQUENT contributor of his carefully done pictures in these pages is a junior, Philip Jacob, of West Chester, Pa. His work is entirely done with a Lecia camera and many of the pictures used in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE this year, unless otherwise credited, will be his. He is editor of the Dartmouth Pictorial.

IT is DIFFICULT for many people to understand why a very busy man, and one who is highly successful in his career, should give much of his valuable time and energy to his college. Should there not be, for the college, enough of reflected glory in his distinctions, without asking him to take on certain rather arduous duties in the official life of the college? Why should a man be a class secretary, an alumni club officer, a class agent, a member of the Alumni Council or another governing group of alumni, or a member of the Board of Trustees?

For an answer, one needs only to turn to the lives of any number of men who have given so much to their colleges, in the midst of their own busy lives, that it is difficult to know what the colleges would have done without them. Such a man was Mr. H. B. Thayer of the class of 1879. He came on the Dartmouth Board at a time when he was rising rapidly toward the highest position in the Telephone Company. Dartmouth became an absorbing interest in his life. When, as president of the Company, he was the first man to talk with Europe he was counted as one of the men whose counsels Dartmouth could not do without. Upon semi-retirement to the chairmanship of the A. T. & T. Board Mr. Thayer spent more time in Hanover. Finally, entirely free from business, he took over the direction of Dartmouth's extensive building program at the time. The beautiful new buildings are his monument in Hanover.

Many men, and they are often great men, will say that they owe a tremendous debt to their college. It was in these terms of great devotion that Dwight Morrow spoke of Amherst. It is good to know that Dartmouth gave something to Mr. Thayer when he gave so much of himself to the College. No friend of a good college, whether it is large or small, need ever fear that its sons will not be ready to throw in their strength as it may be needed.

HARVARD'S POSITION of leadership in academic affairs needs no emphasis by Dartmouth men at a time when all the world is acclaiming the celebration of its 300 th anniversary. But it is nonetheless pleasant for us to proffer our respects and cordial congratulations on the occasion.

Relations between Dartmouth and Harvard have been so very friendly, with an increasing intimacy through the years, that Dartmouth can join most heartily in singing praises to this fair name. Our wishes are that the great University in Cambridge may move from a glorious past into a new era of prosperity and great achievement.

THE MONTHLY section "Letters to theEditor" is a full one this month. Whether a reader has a bit of Dartmouth history to relate, or is piqued by the frescoes (or he likes them), or something else, the columns of this cross section of correspondence are open to him.

NOT THAT anyone has written just the exact letter printed below, but it is rather a fair composite of a good many letters received:

'To THE EDITOR: "I have been reflecting on the record made this year, and for that matter in previous years, by the Alumni Fund. A story in the papers this morning says that 7,500 alumni contributed something over $92,000 to the College through their class campaigns. The treasurer of the College says that this money will keep Dartmouth out of debt this year and will pay something off the mortgage on the rebuilt Dartmouth Hall. Last year the campaign did the same job for the College. When Hoppy says that the Fund is 'indispensable' to the Trustees and that it is the very life-blood of the College, his words are backed up by figures.

"The work that the class agents and all their assistant agents do in collecting the money through class drives may be one reason for the success of this Fund as compared to those of other colleges. No one else makes any such record of percentage of contributors, although some colleges have a bigger total of gifts. But the Dartmouth Fund went as high as $130,000 a few years agQ and it will be back there before long. Anyway, here is one cheer for the class agents who get more Bronx cheers than anything else from some of their devoted classmates.

"Older alumni are apt to speculate, when they are talking college, about what will happen to these young classes that have four or five hundred men in them. How can they keep up the sort of records that have been made by older classes in supporting the Fund, the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, and other activities? Well, the fact is, they are doing all right on the Fund. Their average gift figure probably isn't very high but many of the classes that have graduated since the War are right up with the older ones in percentage of contributors. Class agents for these big, young classes have assistants and that's the way the job of communicating with every man is handled. I don't see how the secretary can be expected to keep closely in touch with all his men all by himself. Shouldn't he have some good helpers too?

"Unless I am all wrong there is a philosophy of giving that moves Dartmouth men, in such large numbers, to give to the Alumni Fund. It is a feeling that their gifts count. No matter how modest or generous, they make the gift with the knowledge that it is needed and will be used. Dartmouth is growing—not so much in the size of the student body for that remains fairly constant. But it is growing in prestige and solid accomplishment. Strong foundations were laid a long time ago. The gradual processes of making the College a major factor in the educational life of the country have been steadily at work, and alumni play a big part in the Story of Dartmouth. Their annual gifts have counted and their support in less tangible ways through one or another activity has helped.

"Dartmouth alumni are proud of the fact that their college is moving ahead, that it has been on the way up for a good many years. There is every indication that its leadership is not content to rest on laurels or to rely on past records. "To see the College strengthened at every weak point and to have a part in the great enterprise—this is the keen desire of the alumni."

NEWS ITEMS carried in other columns of this issue give welcome information on the strengthening that is being applied to some of the weaker spots in the daily life of the campus. It will be gratifying to the point of unrestrained joy for alumni to learn that a vigorous attack is being made by the Trustees on that ancient Hanover problem—the eating situation. Commons renovated .... new chairs, new tables, bright lights and cheery decorations .... a woman's touch in feeding the freshmen .... the old lounge refurnished .... you'll hardly know the place. And the menus are different, too.

But the news about a unit of upperclass dining halls is the news that has long been looked and hoped for. This is not to be the great social center that is still a dream of more prosperous times. According to President Hopkins' announcement at the opening of College it is to be a commodious, modern structure designed to accommodate a good proportion of upperclass men in comfortable and attractive dining quarters. The final details are still to be worked out, but what news! At long last —it seems possible to the Trustees to finance the project, even though it is on a shoestring and there are no funds in sight.

Throughout the summer that is so pleasant in Hanover (if there is no work to be done) members of the Council on Student Health have made final plans to put the new medical service into operation. Dean Neidlinger's hand is apparent in the sensible and liberal rules that have been formulated to guide the student in this very progressive development in medical insurance. For years The Dartmouth has been articulately hoping for a blanket health tax. The present set-up, made possible through an increased tuition fee (which had been contemplated in any event) goes far beyond the more modest hopes of proponents of the plan in other years. It is surely as complete and unfettered a scheme for protecting student health as one could wish for.

FINALLY, in the series of major developments that have marked this year as a significant one in Dartmouth history, is the shedding of light on the much discussed "fraternity situation." In the comprehensive survey of Dartmouth fraternities submitted to the President as part of the Social Survey Committee's report last spring, there was a division of opinion expressed as to what should best be done with the social groups which often, but not always, seem to be helpful units on the college scene. A majority (12) of the Committee favored the "ultimate dissolution" of nation fraternity ties at Dartmouth. A minority (2) expressed strong disapproval of this recommendation.

On the most important points in the report, at least so far as any immediate action is concerned, the Committee was in entire agreement. President Hopkins has expressed his hope that it will be possible to put into effect these recommendations for improvement of fraternities, on which the Committee made numerous suggestions in a unanimous voice. Responsibility for following up on the valuable report has been divided in half.

The Alumni Council has formed a special committee, under the chairmanship of that most willing and capable worker for the College, Clarence G. McDavitt 'oo. To this group has been referred the Trustees' request that the Council "study and dislast cuss" the report, with a view to gatheringalumni opinion on its several recommendations. For the more immediate effect of the report on undergraduates, Dean Neidlinger is in close touch with officers of the national fraternities. That men concerned with fraternities both away from Hanover and" within the College are sitting down to discuss their common problems, and are seeing eye to eye, is in itself a commendable result of the Social Survey Committee's long labors.

IN FACT, the Committee that went about its task so energetically and capably under the direction of its able chairman, Prof. Russell Larmon 'l9, can already be satisfied with some results of its work. Mr. Larmon pointed out in the foreword to the published sections of the report that there is a lag between the expression of group opinions and recommendations and any subsequent action taken on these. Some fire has already emerged from the smoke in the reorganization of the Outing Club, the Trustees' plans for revitalizing student stomachs with vastly improved eating facilities, and the progress made in a few weeks on the fraternity question. It was also an early suggestion of this Committee that a careful study be made of the whole student health situation. And the careful work of another large committee led to the adoption of the new and greatly expanded medical program.

ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT of major importance, announced some months ago but just now getting under way, is the required freshman course called Social Science 1 and 2. Beginning with the opening of classes this fall the entire entering class met with instructors in this new field of study. Both Evolution and Industrial Society (known to the Twenties as "Citizenship") are discontinued.

Under the chairmanship of Professor Gazley (History) a staff of 16 other members of the faculty, drawn from each of the social science departments, have embarked upon the experiment of cutting across departmental lines and attempting to integrate the work of the several departments concerned: sociology, political science, economics, and history. Social Science 3 and 4 will begin next fall, open to sophomores who are not going to major in one of the social sciences.

How can the results of this experiment be measured? Will the President and faculty be sure, after a period of time, what the Dartmouth experiment is proving? The answers must be that no definite answers can be given, any more than one can discover exactly what and how much effect a college education has had on a graduating senior. But the answers will rather be based on whether or not the plan is giving students an increased appreciation of the problems of their contemporary world, as they may demonstrate by undergraduate activity and as positions in society are taken in later life.

COMPANIONS ABROAD President and Mrs. Hopkins, and Dartmouth's great and good friend, the lateH. B. Thayer '79, snapped at the MedinetHabu, near Luxor, in 1935.

A NEW LANDMARK ON THE SKYLINE OF HILLS AND MOUNTAINSLooking north from Baker Library tower, the new White Church is an attractive additionto the village. At the left is the Hitchcock Hospital which will soon have a substantialaddition to its plant, if a fall building campaign is successful. At the upper right is OakHill, where the D.O.C. ski tow operates in winter. Beyond are Cube Mt., Moosilauke,and foothills of the White Mountains.