The Undergraduate Year

YEARS, like good liquor and some individuals, mellow with age. On that assumption, the academic year 1947-1948 seems destined, in the eyes of present undergraduates, to be surrounded decades hence with an iridescent aura. For even now, while it still peers over hunched student shoulders, it stands out as a pretty good year.

For one thing, this was the College's first real "peace" year since 1940. And although the student body still consists predominantly of veterans, a 40 percent leavening of teen-agers has resuscitated that pre-war elan that again pulsates through undergraduate affairs. Veterans, not long ago accused of cynicism and extracurricular lethargy, now take themselves less seriously. The line of demarcation between the ex-serviceman and the recent high school graduate is now becoming nebulous.

1947"'948 at Dartmouth has been not only a year of postwar transition, but of growth. College spirit, notable chiefly for its absence the past several years, is back. With it has come a partial recrudescence of political awareness, a marked improvement in fraternities, a potentially significant Undergraduate Council, and an all-around increase in extracurricular participation.

Returning upperclassmen could detect the transformation even last October; 'sls were actually willing to lug sophomores' furniture.

But it was a score of helmeted stalwarts who did for local morale what helium does for a dirigible. After that not even rain over Carnival, rain over Green Key and rain through most of May could drag morale down into the psychological swamp lands. A football team that was doubly green surprised sports writers and students alike by holding Holy Cross to a scoreless tie before the semester got under way. It then went on to chalk up four vie

Tories against as many losses. The statistics are misleading; as far as most inhabitants of the Hanover plain are concerned the season's record was more like seven wins, two defeats. Judging by the tenor of press write-ups these many were moral victories.

Throughout the yeaf the three major sports contributed to undergraduate bliss. After the last football was deflated, Eddie Jeremiah's puckmen launched attacks upon the red light districts of Eastern rinks, winning the Pentagonal league championship and attaining the finals of the NCAA tourney. They lost the international trophy to Toronto.

A better-than-average sports year is now being rounded out by a baseball team which, at this writing, leads the Ivy League with a six and one record.

Athletic prowess, however, is but one manifestation of undergraduate vigor in '47-'48. Any phase of student life reflects much the same. Even the traditional political stupor of Hanover collegians has been to some extent displaced. Stassen, Wallace and Norman Thomas now have organized adherents on campus. Dewey and Eisenhower, for a short while the object of group adulation, have apparently been forsaken.

A small minority of Wallace supporters have provided the most active and vociferous political movement. Sponsors of several speakers, including two "Hollywood Red" writers, they have distributed campaign literature with gusto and petitioned the countryside for Wallace nomination signatures. Wallace club organizers were likewise the behind-the-scenes improvisers of the non-partisan "Peace Rally" held on campus in April to protest the passage of UMT and the draft. An estimated 250 attended.

Time does not change everything, however. Dartmouth students, like their fathers, are a conservative bunch. A recent survey by The Dartmouth indicates that a decided majority of students want Harold Stassen to occupy President Truman's new balcony.

Possibly this awakening of student civic interest is an indication of a new

undergraduate maturity. More likely it is a normal election-year reaction seasoned with Great Issues residue and the late winter months' war jitters. On the other hand, three new groups blossomed forth as the snow piled up for an unprecedented record: a local chapter of the World Federalists, the Dartmouth Human Rights Society and the Dartmouth Undergraduate Scientific Society. There is some reason to believe that these will not disintegrate come November 5.

One innovation that certainly will not disappear with the close of the semester is the Fraternity Competition plan. Beginning last fall, credits have been awarded to each house on the basis of quality and quantity participation in an exceptionally wide range of activities. The competition is being taken seriously, with most fraternities engaging in special projects ranging from social service work to informal talks by guest speakers. Whereas formerly perhaps 30 out of 60 members were kept interested by their fraternity program, it is reasonable to assume that 45 out of 60 currently participate in various events. Reawakened interest is also due in part to the transfusion of younger blood. The '49s and '50s frequently expect more from fraternities and are willing to expend more effort. Hazing is rapidly approaching its pre-war standards of severity.

Even fraternity conduct seems to be on the upgrade, possibly because of a widespread desire to conform to established moral codes. One suspects, however, that the ap- pointment of Captain Theodore Gaudreau as Chief of the Campus Watch with authority to inspect fraternities is a more plausible reason. A burly ex-policeman, Captain Gaudreau has the knack of handling a miscreant without incurring his wrath. It seems likely that if a tradition-in-the-making has sprung up during the year it is the "Gaudreau" tradition. Inspector Wormwood carries on as the Captain's assistant.

Both receive unexampled cooperation. In accord with the policy instituted in 1946, student self-government is fast becoming an actuality. From individual dormitory committees on up to the Undergraduate Council students are becoming increasingly responsible for their own affairs. 1 he Council, still little more than an infant, has learned to stand on its own feet during the year. Receiving little positive support from most students it has taken on and ameliorated several problems. Through its efforts library hours have been extended, the Dartmouth Quarterly subsidized, and dances arranged. More notably, the Council's Judiciary Committee assumed disciplinary control of student conduct and another committee brought about a low-cost meal ticket system at Thayer Cafeteria. At its present rate of growth the Undergraduate Council should be within two years the responsible and efficient governing body its designers intended. It will probably take that long to produce general undergraduate acceptance.

The foregoing constitutes a sketchy account of the significant developments of the year, profile points which perhaps form some sort of pattern. The nuances which give these two semesters a uniqueness and at the same time form a tie with preceding years at Dartmouth are to be found in the insignificant and the personal. In the courses one took, in the profs one had, in the friendships made, the dates flushed, in the attainments and the failures—in all these are to be found what, to each man, 19471948 was like.

A WAH HOO WAH!

FOR EDGAR H. HUNTER '01, Chairman of the New Hampshire Public Service Commission, recipient of the first annual "Good Citizen" Citation from the New Hampshire Taxpayers' Federation.

FOR FREDERICK CHASE '05, elected President of the Milton Savings Bank, Milton, Mass.

FOR DR. EDMUND E. DAY '05, elected President of the New York State Citizens' Council, organized "to stimulate interest in community problems .... and to develop citizen understanding of public affairs."

FOR HOWELL K. HALLETT '14, elected President of the Pelzer Mills, Pelzer, S. C.

FOR RICHARD M. PEARSON '20, named Managing Editor of the Educational Department of The Macmillan Company.

FOR JOHN w. HUBBELL '21, elected Vice President of the Simmons Company.

FOR JOHN 0. BREW '28, named Director of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.

FOR ROBERT T. GREY '28, elected President of the Association of Training Schools.

FOR GWYNNE A. PROSSER '28, Personnel Director for McCannErickson, New York, chosen by Paul G. Hoffman to establish the recruiting procedure for selection of senior personnel to carry out the Marshall Plan.

FOR ALTON K. MARSTERS '30, elected Vice President of the American Optical Company.

FOR PAUL F. POEHLER '30, named Headmaster of Clark School, Hanover.

FOR DR. JOHN R. ROSS JR. '35, named Director of the Child Guidance Clinic, Syracuse, N. Y.

FOR the six retiring members of the Dartmouth faculty, listed below, whose combined service of 189 teaching years at Dartmouth has been a notable contribution to the educational life of the College: LOUIS PAUL BENEZET '99, Professor of Education EVERETT WALTON GOODHUE '00, Professor of Economics LEON BURR RICHARDSON '00, New Hampshire Professor of Chemistry LELAND GRIGGS '02, Professor of Zoology JOSEPH WILLIAM TANCH, Professor of Physics ERVILLE BARTLETT WOODS, Professor of Sociology.

Undergraduate Issue The annual Undergraduate Issue, which has long been a feature of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE'S publication year, is again presented this month. With the exception of a few of the regular departments, such as news and sports, the front section of the June issue has been written entirely by undergraduates. The editorial summary of the year, on this page, is the work of Craig Fleming '46, until recently managing editor of TheDartmouth.