1940

We are saddened to read of the sudden, tragic death of Art Pollan, who died December 14, 1952, when his private plane crashed into the Pacific off Guatemala. He will be sorely missed by many of you who knew him better than I did. In writing his obituary, the thought impressed me that, too late, I wished I had known him better.

No doubt others of you hold the same view about many classmates who, although still with us, have not been heard from since graduation. I suppose that one of the prime objectives of this column should be that of reintroducing more of those members of the class who stayed out of the limelight in College and who have been very quiet since graduating. With a bond such as Dartmouth in common, we really ought to know each other better. That this column has failed in the objective of spreading the classmate news around should be obvious to all of you who read it consistently. The same old names keep cropping up, the same old groups get primary mention, and if news of a seldom-mentioned member hits the print it is too much like a refreshing accident.

Robert A. Skinner, that skimeister who has managed to direct his love of the long boards into providing him a pleasant livelihood from his own Sporthaus Ski Shop, speaks out against this secretarial delinquency in a recent letter which, I think, is worth quoting in full:

"In the past 12 years of reading the ALUMNIMAGAZINE one particular thought has frequently come to my mind, and X have often wondered whether any others have had the same turn of reason. I am referring to the 1940 news and the reactions of members of that class to the material within its section. Without further introduction, I will get to the point.

"Let us assume that a certain person reads the '40 news, issue after issue, and we will further assume that this person has never heard of Dartmouth and, especially, the class of 1940. (This last is quite an assumption, but maybe he's from Mars, or has been locked up all his life, etc.) Among other conclusions, it would seem, to me that he would be forced to come to one in particular, namely, that there were only a score or so in the class. Of course, if he were from Mars, he might conclude that they were more in number but made up of small groups all having the same name, one group all being named Scotty, another Bud, another etc.

"I do not envy you your task as secretary, but I am only wondering if it has ever occurred to you in scanning over a number of past issues that the same names along with the names of their wives appear repeatedly. It seems to me that it is a certainty that others in our class have noticed this fact. I, for one, am fed up with reading about the activities of this small group, and I'll wager I don't stand alone in this respect. If, for instance, one of my fellow ski team members wrote the news and limited himself to the activities of that particular group time and again wouldn't you eventually get a bit weary of it? "Ours was a large class, and in the form of the '40 news it has shrunk to a handful. Something should be done about this deplorable situation. A suggestion might be that the secretary leave the responsibility of writing the news to a different person each issue, and let's start with someone other than the same old names!"

Bob asks that any and all of you who agree with him send your thoughts to him at Box 628, Mt. Sunapee, N. H. or to me.

Let me second his views and admit that the errors of commission are mine and my predecessors. However, the errors of omission are most of them yours. For instance, that is the first belligerent letter criticising the system that I have received in the three years since 1 started writing this column. You'll all agree that it is long overdue, but damn few will come through with any news of themselves, even with a personal plea. There is little that is as exasperating as trying to write a news column without news. A circle of friends and neighbors do' come through with news of themselves fairly consistently. Most of those are guys who have long cared about the class and Dartmouth and the desirability of keeping class spirit going. Their material is supplemented by sporadic reports from a few others too few which help to make the grist for the monthly mill. Efforts at drumming up additional news by letters from this scribe to you have met with a very mediocre response. Nevertheless, despite three years of this short rations, 1 have just renewed a New Year's pledge to do more news-hounding through personal letters to you, and less complaining of this nature. How about a helping hand?

Secretary, 322 Canterbury Road, Westfield, N. J. Treasurer, 88 North Main St., Concord, N. H.