The Undergraduate Chair
HANOVER is now in a period of transition. Not only are the duckboards and the snow gone and the softball diamonds showing signs of life, but the class of 1952 is gradually handing over many of its coveted positions to the eager juniors. Following the turnover in TheDartmouth directorate early in March, several other large organizations changed hands before the opening of the spring vacation. Kent C. Robinson '53 was appointed station master of WDBS and Roland B. Leavens '53 was elected president of the Dartmouth Outing Club. The three senior secret societies (Sphinx, Casque and Gauntlet, and Dragon) gathered in new members, and the Senior Fellows and Reynolds Scholars were announced. With a surplus of cars flooding the Hanover streets and a few hardy souls already sunbathing along Tuck Drive, spring was definitely more than "just around the corner."
Seniors returned from Bermuda, Florida, Aspen and Canada with the sudden realization that this was "it." College suddenly meant more than just cramming for an hour exam or pressing for a higher semester average. There was serious consideration of tentative jobs, of the best deals in the armed forces and a flurry of engagements and wedding arrangements. There is an old saying that the junior year at college is usually the best, that the senior is too worried about his future to sit back and enjoy life. Although this bit of philosophy has its obvious fallacies, prospective graduates began thinking in terms unrelated to their four-year stay in the ivory tower. Aside from passing his comprehensives, the average senior wanted to settle down and enjoy his last six weeks, curiously and yet sadly watching the remainder of the undergraduates taking over most of the campus activities. The junior class was certainly champing at the bit.
But as the seniors relinquished their hold on college affairs, a few more milestones were reached. The College Chest Fund Drive broke all previous records as it rang up a total sum of $10,131, over a thousand dollars more than was collected during the annual drive in precedingyears. Headed by Drew E. Waitley '52, the Chest Fund Committee spent weeks of preparation for the yearly collection and carefully timed the soliciting and publicity angles of the campaign. Aiming at a goal of 110,000, the drive amassed a sum of $7,218.65 on the first of three collection evenings and passed the 1951 total the second night. Among the 13 charities which will share the proceeds of the Drive are the World Student Service Fund, the Golden Rule Farm, the New Hampshire YMCA, the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, and the Salvation Army. For the second year in a row, Theta Delta Chi and Topliff were first in the fraternity and dormitory returns.
The following week the interfraternity Council submitted its plan to combat the increasing flow of outsiders to big Dartmouth weekends. A demand for such controls was quick in coming after the results of this year's Winter Carnival when one saw ten strangers for every college student. A more systematic control of fraternity guests seemed the easiest way to arrive at a solution.
The new plan consists of four important regulations: fraternity men and upperclassmen will receive identification cards; invitations will be sent out to the guests of fraternity members and no one will be allowed entrance to the fraternities without a signed invitation; only women guests of active members and alumni will be permitted to remain in the houses overnight; and the IFC will hire directly all police officers whose responsibility it is to enforce the regulation.
Using Green Key weekend as a test case, the IFC hope that these restrictions might be effective and also point up any weaknesses so that permanent rules passed for the 1953 Winter Carnival would eliminate much of the damage, crowding and generally unpleasant atmosphere. Although it is difficult to tighten up on the general tradition of Ivy League hospitality, there is a limit and Dartmouth undoubtedly reached it this winter.
The generation of political interest naturally died down considerably following the concrete victories of Eisenhower and Kefauver in the New Hampshire Presidential primary, but two relatively new groups were still pressing forward. A reassuring audience of approximately 70 heard the Dartmouth Liberal Forum's first speaker, Prof. Dirk J. Struik of M.I.T., talk on "Academic Freedom and the Trend to Conformity." Planning to bring up another prominent speaker late in April, the Forum also intends to sponsor several lectures by faculty members and informal discussions between the students themselves. The recently organized "Students for Douglas" movement also gained momentum in its attempt to make the campus more aware of the views and availability of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas as a Presidential candidate. Prof. Ramon Guthrie praised the work of Douglas in a talk to supporters just before the spring recess, and more plans were made to step up the campaign for Douglas. A fact sheet on the Justice was being developed and a letter to other college campuses was being considered. Another meeting was decided upon for the last week in April with another speaker and films, and committee members also hoped to circulate a petition among the students after Green Key urging Douglas to run.
But not everything could be marked in terms of progress as winter went its merry way. A real disaster struck the Dartmouth College Rowing Club when its Connecticut River boathouse collapsed under the weight of the heaviest winter snowfall in years. Destroying six shells, oars and the structure itself, the cave-in put the Club in a bad spot since the insurance covered only damage by fire. The loss was estimated at $10,000. A self-supporting and self-coached organization, the Rowing Club had scheduled trips to Florida, Connecticut and Princeton during spring vacation. With support from other colleges, parents and alumni, the organization managed to take its spring tour, and the Undergraduate Council voted the Club a gift of $500 to help it through the remainder of the season. Green Key also chipped in with an additional $500.
As was obvious from the plans of many of the campus organizations, the College calendar was now revolving around Green Key weekend, set for May 9 and 10. With the announcement that Johnny Long and his orchestra would serve up the music for the spring weekend, the pressure was turned on all dateless, frustrated young men. Long, who organized a band while a freshman at Duke University, specializes in college appearances and has had numerous engagements at schools in the South and in the Big Ten circuit. Many, other dance details were yet to be announced, but memories of the cocktail parties, picnics, Glee Club and band concerts and The Players' spring production were already becoming more vivid. The balmy spring weather which is associated with Green Key beckons like indescribable bliss in the midst of the last grind until finals—although last year it started raining early Friday morning and didn't stop until late Saturday evening. Few spirits were dampened—there were simply more parties. Tradition has it that while Carnival is the time for parties, activities and haphazard rushing here and there, Green Key with its serene, peaceful atmosphere is the time when a young man's fancy really turns to affairs of the heart.
The senior had one consolation as his last spring rolled around. The Board of Trustees announced that, because of mounting expenses since 1949, $125 would be added to the "added fee toward the cost of education." The class of 1952 would slip out just before the blow.
CONRAD S. CARSTENS '52
Milestones
"THE DARTMOUTH" DIRECTORATE: Editor-inChief, Brock H. Brower '53, Westfield, N. J.; Managing Editor, Richard C. Cahn '53, Freeport, N. Y.; Editorial Chairman, Peter C. Grenquist '53, Glen Ridge, N. J.; Sports Editor, A. Douglas Brown '53, Lansdowne, Pa.; Assistant Managing Editors, Timothy S. Reed '53, Birmingham, Mich., and Roger E. Williams '53, Yonkers, N. Y.: City Editor, A. Donald Williams III '53, Hartsdale, N. Y.; Columns Editor, Burton Bernstein '53, Brookline, Mass.; Feature Editor, Richard H. Beatty '53, Cleveland, O.; Business Manager, Paul M. Arenberg '53, Highland Park, Ill.
WDBS DIRECTORATE: Station Manager, Kent C. Robinson '53, New York City; Production Director, Herbert F. Solow '53, Mount Vernon, N. Y.; Technical Director, William C. Gitt '53, Hanover, Pa.; Business Manager, James F. Penney '53, Worcester, Mass.; Production Manager, Norman Bander '54, Orange, N. J.; Advertising Manager, Robert A, Bennett '54, Sunnyside, N. Y.; Chief Announcer and Sports Director, Leonard Gochman '53, Flushing, N. Y.; Chief Studio Engineer, James S. Fordyce '53, New Rochelle, N. Y. SAILING: Elected president of the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association, Lawrence Conover '53, Mamaroneck, N. Y. "DARTMOUTH QUARTERLY": Editor, Timothy S. Reed '53, Birmingham, Mich.
D.C.A.C. MANAGERIAL APPOINTMENTS, Class of 1954: Henry Grebe, Maiden, Mass., executive manager; George Fletcher, Ithaea, N. Y., equipment manager; John Moore, Jamestown, N. D., football; John Feldman, Euclid, 0., J.V. football; Hugh Nolin, Skaneateles, N. Y., freshman football; Ben Bowden, Beverly, Mass., basketball; Robert Curtis, Silver Spring, Md„ freshman basketball; David Dyche, Rye, N. Y., hockey; James Clark, Swampscott, Mass., freshman hockey; Alex Gray, Mechanicsburg, Pa., swimming; Lee Huff, Highland Park, Mich., freshman swimming; Herbert Jacobs, Atlantic City, N. J., cross country; Reed Baird, Dunedin, Fla., freshman cross country; Desmond Tiihonen, Scarsdale, N. Y., track; Richard Pearl, Scarsdale, N. Y., lacrosse; George Brooks, Springfield, Mass., freshman lacrosse; William Walls, Atlantic City, N. J., soccer; Prescott Clark, Waban, Mass., freshman soccer; John Christy, Silver Creek, N. Y., baseball; Arthur Rauch, Jackson Heights, N. Y„ freshman baseball; Charles Morrison, Laconia, N. H., squash and tennis.
UNDERGRADUATE EDITOR: Conrad S. Carstens '52 of Manhasset, N. Y„ who is the occupant of the Magazine's "Undergraduate Chair" this year.
