CONTROVERSY MARKED YEAR

The remainder of March passed without controversy. That, in itself, was a peculiar phenomenon, for if there was anything that marked the Dartmouth mind of 1939-40 it was controversy. There was a transition from skepticism to the desire for open discussion from all sides. "Let George do it" was conspicuous for its absence. It may have been the fear growing from the European turmoil which stimulated students to take greater interest in all that was about them. Whatever the mental adrenalin may have been, it was good.

It was a year of laughs. No one will forget the amateur radio station, run by four students, which was broadcasting its own programs and was finally caught because its Sunday evening broadcast interrupted President Hopkins' favorite comedian, Charlie McCarthy.

It was a year of surprise. Three students packed up their clothes, bought an old car, and headed for Mexico. "We come back next year" was their farewell... .a new dormitory was rushed to completion and new trees were planted to replace those that the hurricane had ripped from the ground.... an audio-visual department was instigated to work with the other departments in teaching by means of films Hanover's newest restaurant arrived on wheels, parked on Allen Street, and is planting flowers out in front. It looks as if it were here to stay.

But it was also a year of sorrow. Death took Professor Brooks Henderson in late summer, taking from the faculty one of its most sensitive and inspiring members. .. . the same hand snatched Franklin McDuffee and Dartmouth College lost another of its great teachers, a man who instilled the fire of the poets in his students and made the dead live again Professor Leonard McWhood of the Music department died suddenly, leaving the College with which he had so long been attached. He was a part of the College and made the College a part of him

But the severest blow of all was the unexpected death of Dartmouth's grand old man, Craven Laycock, remembered and loved by all who came in contact with him during his 48 years of service to the College. There will never be another figure like him; there can't be, for he will be a memory that Dartmouth will want to keep unique.

Looking back at the year, as far as orke can when he has been so much a part of it, there was nothing which would make this year a great one, an unusual one, or a mediocre one. It was just another year in Dartmouth's history packed with all the little things which make the lives of 2400 students stand out as good and full: there was skiing on the golf course and getting up for 8 o'clocks; studying late at night or not studying at all; loving the weather, hating the weather, or taking it as it came; going to the Nugget, going home for vacations, glad to be home, coming back to Hanover, and glad to be back; eating three times a day, watching the Big Green play, going to houseparties, read: ing the morning mail—when there was any —taking examinations, singing Dartmouth songs, and carrying on extra-curricular activities.

Last year at this time, when we wrote our first column, we said all those things and said them better because we weren't a senior and felt that we could look at college life with some degree of objectivity. It was a fallacy which won't happen again. The only true thing that can be repeated about college life is that one has to be away from it by several years before all the little peaks take shape as a mountain range.

By now it must be obvious that this is a swan song which we are trying to avoid singing and the reason is good. When the last word is written we no longer speak for the undergraduates; we are about to look for jobs; we are about to become alumni, not that we mind coming out there but we hate to leave it in here. So we'll just step outside and throw a baseball around. It's warm and the buds are beginning to burst; the turf has a nice spring to it and the snow remains only in the shady spots.

UNDERGRADUATE ATHLETIC EXECUTIVES Philip J. McCoy '40 of Enumclaw, Wash, (left) as senior executive manager is administrative assistant to Director of Athletics William H. McCarter '19. Abbott C. Combes III '41of Elmhurst, N. Y., as junior executive manager is in charge of the athletic managerialcompetition.