1945
We are told that the physical reality of the present student body of 2900 men is the one factor this fall which has changed or perhaps only intensified Dartmouth over the prewar Dartmouth. For the benefit of those of us who are no longer a part of the Hanover Corps, the increased pressure has made itself felt in every way imaginable: classes are larger; courses are divided into more sections; Webster Hall overflows at Convocation or whenever there is a half-decent show; dorms are jammed; no one has enough furniture and prices are high; Memorial Field capacity has been increased to seat 16,000; Wigwam Circle and Sachem Village could hold not a papoose more; all the teams and organizations are larger; fraternity allotments have been increased, and still there are many who wish fraternity life who will be disappointed; eating anywhere in town is an elbow-jarring and time-consuming task (some of the pressure has caused an overflow to White River at times); there are so few garages to take care of the many cars that the students have been urged to leave their cars home this winter. We could go on and on.
Yet, naturally, there are many ways since the 1941 to 1946 Rip-Van-Winkle snooze in which Dartmouth is again the old Dartmouth. Again fraternities are open; again we have football polls, DBS, Dartmouth Night, "Love Rides the Rails," taxbooks, Mac's, football rallies, Barbary Coast, Thayer Hall, cross country, Ledyard Canoe Club, DOC, DCU, the Players, Glee Club, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, and dorm and fraternity touch football. Again do The Dartmouth and Jacko unfailingly slam each other, again do the freshmen and sophomores annually maul and brain each other for fifteen minutes of mayhem, and again do the freshmen take the buttons and go berserk. Again the "moderate use" of alcoholic beverages is permitted in the dorms. Again is The Dartmouth campaigning over something or other; this time the big issue is to drum up an enormous vote on Election Day. Again is the College Hall tap room open (with Mrs. Broderick moved across Wheelock Street to first floor College which is now "Dartmouth House"). Again are there Vox Populi kicks to the Daily D about the lack of student government, the lack of "upperclass maturity," the lack of freshman college spirit, or the lack of something else. Again there's that old guy who comes into the dorms and yells, "Sweet cider!" up the stair-wells. Again there will be Carnival and skiing and moonlight tobogganing and basketball and hockey games and those clear, sharp nights around ten o'clock when, as you cross campus on the way to Puts to get a milkshake and a sandwich, the air is so alive, yet still, that you feel sure you can reach out and grab a hand-full. Again, and always, well miss it, every darn microscopic detail that makes up the. whole Dartmouth.
Well now, we've raved on enough. Here is the latest list of guys who have picked up helpmates somewhere along the wayside:
Thorn Birdsell, now a "Master" at Episcopal Academy, is engaged to Barbara Jane Breininger of North Hills and the U. of Penn. Fletch Clark, now back at Thayer, and Frederica Whetton (Needham, U. of N. H., and Forsyth Dental Infirmary) will probably be married before these notes are published. Dick Elston and the former Jayne Ann Hessler were double-ringed September 21 (which as you will see was a very popular date). Jayne is from Meriden, went to Pembroke; Dick was three years with the Army Air Force, and both are now in Hanover for Dick's senior year. Eliot Goodman has engaged himself to Norma Broinberg of Simmons. Ed Hubbard was married (September 21) to Sarah Elizabeth Showalter both of Northampton. Ed was a lieutenant with the Marine Air Corps at Guam and Saipan; Sarah was a Katherine Gibbs. September 22 was the happy day for SpenceJohnson and Barbara Beecher Constantine of Lexington, Mass., Colby Junior, and Charm Magazine. Spence also is finishing up at school this year. Geoff Maclay was married on September 14 at Big Cedar Lake, Wisconsin, to Edith von Schleinitz. The bride, a graduate of Pine Manor, is again exposed to college life while her hubby is after his Masters. Also at Dartmouth again is Rupe Ray who was married September 21 to Anne Virginia LaFevre of Fairfield Beach, Conn., Columbia, and the Berkeley School. All these engagements and marriages month after month and hardly any notice of little bambinos! Is it only my future in-laws who are keeping those diaper service joints out of the red? '
As for what goes on in Hanover with the class of 1945, we have the following:
Hunt Bennett is varsity basketball manager; Bill Brown, the same for cross country; Cameron Cray, swimming; Lloyd Nintzel, baseball; Bob Tirrell, wrestling; and Ted Bennett is head manager of intramurals. Among the fraternity bigwigs are Maurice Frye, new DTD president, replacing Earle Goldsmith; DonSisson, Theta Chi treasurer; John Chambers, DKE president; Don Ash, Sigma Chi vice president; John Halstead, SAE president; JohnJennings, SAE vice president; Roger Brown, SAE secretary; and Maurie Baruth, Pi Lam secretary. John Chambers is vice president of the Interfraternity Council and Bob Grunditz is treasurer. Austin Wason is editor of Pictorial, the oldest college pictorial in America. Roger Brown is Director of Features for the 1947 Carnival and will therefore have charge of the central snow sculpture theme in the central of campus. Rog is also director of DOC membership, and, he along with Burt Hicock and John Halstead make up three-sevenths of the Cabin and Trail Council. Dave Kendall is chairman of Cabin and Trail on Bruce Colgrove's retirement. John Bernheim turns out stuff for the Daily D. and Marty Anderholm, naturally, is captain of the swimming team. The '45's have roughly one-third of the members of this year's Green Key, the same being Don Ash, George Barr, Larry Bellows, HuntBennett, Roger Brown, Fred Covalt, ElliotGoodman, George Pulliam, Austin Wason,Tommy Yates, and Art Carey. Of these men, George Barr is vice president and Don Ash is secretary. (George Barr, by the way, had some experiences with the OSS in Rumania that would make Alan Ladd hang his head in shame.) And it has gone too long unannounced that the Treasurer of the Class of 1945 succeeding John Callaghan is Rod Walser.
Outside Hanover we have little news; do we have to give you guys hotfoots? John Hoffman is an orchardist in Peterborough, N. H.; Harry Judge is a med student at Albany Hospital; Paul Sanbourne is a flour broker in N. Y. C.; and Fred Campbell is a law student at Northwestern. And that seems to be all until next month except for the writer's wish that everyone have a pleasant Christmas (and as inexpensive as possible), a successful and Happy New Year, and may Santa be good to all o' yiz!
Acting Secretary, 273 Converse St., Longmeadow 6, Mass.
Treasurer, Steele Chemistry Bldg., Hanover, N. H.
