1932

A note from Ed Marks, executive director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees, tells us that he recently returned from an international meeting on the World Refugee Year at Geneva. This, you will recall, is intended as a crash program to do for humanity (in the persons of some two and a half million world refugees) what the International Geophysical Year did for science. Sixty-four nations are taking part in the program. Ed says that on this same trip he also visited refugee camps in Austria, Italy and Tunisia, and near the Tunisia-Algeria border saw an Algerian refugee settlement which was especially grim.

About 22,000 Europeans, who were uprooted during World War II or who fled the Communist satellites in Eastern Europe, are still living in dismal camps. Most of these are the so-called "hard core" refugees, diseased, elderly, or otherwise helpless, and the principal W.R.Y. goal is to clear the refugee camps by the end of the year.

Another '32er concerned in international affairs is Howie Sargeant, chairman of the American Committee for Liberation. This is a private non-profit organization seeking freedom for the people of the U.S.S.R., and working closely with former Soviet citizens to this end. In a recent news interview Howie warned that the Soviet Union is attempting a new drive to enlist Russians living in other countries to join in pro-Communist propaganda and spy work. He said that the Soviet Union shifted its emphasis away from repatriation attempts after it became clear that few remaining Russians abroad were susceptible to a home-coming call.

Enclosed with Ed Marks' note was a bulletin of the Marlboro Book Club offering as the current selection for members "Philosophy and the Modern World," by Albert William Levi, published by the Indiana University Press. Bill is now Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, where he has been since 1952. Before that he taught at Dartmouth, the University of Chicago, Black Mountain College, the University of Graz, and the University of Vienna. He is the author of three books, and considers this last to be his most important work to date.

One of our class's chief celebrities, Bob Ryan, is coming East to play with Katharine Hepburn this summer in "Antony and Cleopatra" at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn. According to Murray Schumach in the N.Y. Times, Bob's frequent expeditions into the world of the legitimate theatre, where he works for practically nothing compared to his earnings in motion pictures, leave the salary-conscious movie world aghast. This in no way disconcerts Ryan, whose main concern is apparently lest Shakespeare eventually become permanently imprisoned in libraries. "It is the nature of the beast," says Bob, in explaining his Shakespearean binges. "I find it very rewarding to plough back into my work whatever talent I may have. This is the true capital gains."

Bill Peck, whose appointment as assistant general manager of the Southbridge Group of the American Optical Company found its way into these notes last October, has been named assistant to the president of that company. In his new position Bill will work in the area of corporate planning and will search for, analyze, and recommend new product fields and new company acquisitions. He will also coordinate technical activities of the company and generally assist the president on all technical matters.

The preceding bit of news is from George Hahn, who also tells us that he and Cynthia recently had a very pleasant visit with Joy and Bill MacKinney at their home in Lima, Penna. The MacKinney house is apparently one to gladden any horticulturist's eye, as adjacent to the living room is a fair-sized greenhouse in which many varieties of plants, principally orchids and cacti, bloom in profusion.

Washington University, where Bill Levi currently does his philosophizing, this year is celebrating its 107th anniversary. At Founders Day ceremonies, in February, Tom Curtis was one of twelve outstanding University alumni to receive alumni federation citations. Tom, as you all know, has been elected representative of the Second Congressional District of Missouri since 1951. He is a member of the American Law Institute and of the St. Louis County Bar Association, and continues to be active on the boards of a number of civic and welfare organizations as well as the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth.

Bo Wentworth reports having seen JohnZimmerman at a recent Canadian Society dinner. John looked to be in fine shape, despite his claim that his recently acquired responsibilities on the operational side of G.M.A.C., following a lengthy career on the financial side, were keeping him on the jump.

Final note gleaned from the news: Ken Hill was recently elected vice president and comptroller of New Hampshire Savings Bank in Concord.

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