THE UNDERGRADUATE CHAIR

AS SOON as the Green Key Weekend began Dartmouth students knew that the college year was almost over. And with comprehensive and final examinations just a few weeks away, the students accepted Green Key as the last big fling before worried pens hit the bluebooks.

Actually there is more than one reason to attach an air of finality to Green Key. Besides the close proximity of exams and summer vacation, the weekend brings the repetition of a Dartmouth tradition now 84 years old: Wet Down. The event which marks the passing of responsibility from one class to the next (and supposedly the graduation of the seniors) took place this year with the usual vigor and enthusiasm - that is, about one-third of the campus participated, one-third watched, and the other third kept on trying desperately to get a date for the weekend.

Besides the grueling gauntlet, the annual student awards were distributed at Wet Down. Gary A. Spiess '62 followed Alan A. Rozycki '61 as the winner of the Barrett Cup. Thomas P. Cranna '62 received The Dartmouth Cup and the Timothy Wright Ellis Award. Peter R. Suttmeier '63 was awarded the Milton Sims Kramer Award.

In addition to these awards the Norman Grant Clark Soccer Trophy went to Jerry R. Pepper Jr. '62; the Alfred E. Watson Trophy to Jerome H. Bentley III '62; the Robert Earle Mulherne Trophy to Derek H. L. Buntain '62; the Will I. Levy Marksmanship Trophy to Thomas L. Unks Jr. '64; the Dick Liesching Award to Louis J. Setti '62 and Thomas B. Saxe '62. The Alumni Lacrosse Award went to John C. Walters '62; the Thaddeus Seymour Rowing Award to David H. Gundy '62; and the Wrestling Trophy to Karl F. G. DuPuy '63.

Besides the picnics, parties, and panky of the Green Key Weekend, hundreds of people gathered in front of Dartmouth Hall for the annual Hums Competition. And this year the event occurred with little deviation from the past pattern. As they did last year, and the year before, and the year before, and so on ad infinitum (with few exceptions), the brothers of Alpha Theta put on a choral exhibition that won first place for them. Following the grand champions of song in order were Sigma Phi Epsilon, Delta Upsilon, Phi Kappa Psi, Psi Upsilon, and Kappa Kappa Kappa. The audience was also entertained by the brothers of DDA (Dartmouth Dining Association) who sang the reverent praises of their beloved Thayer Hall, its mentors, and its "mystery meat."

There was a new significance to the Hums this year. As a result of a recent decision of the Interfraternity Council, fraternities will begin their annual, allaround competition each spring term. Instead of competing from fall to fall the houses will now compete from spring to spring. Therefore the results of this year's interfraternity competition (which included only the fall and winter terms) were announced during Hums.

In the overall fraternity ratings, Sigma Alpha Epsilon was rated first. It was followed in order by Alpha Chi Rho, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Chi Phi, and Delta Upsilon. Sigma Phi Epsilon also won the projects award; Theta Delta Chi won the athletics crown; Sigma Nu won special events; and Pi Lambda Phi won in the scholarship category.

While the student body celebrated the weekend with vigor, members of the Dartmouth crew celebrated with even greater enthusiasm. The reason for the jubilation was both obvious and anonymous. Several weeks before, the lightweight junior-varsity shell was cut in two and lost in the Charles River after it had been rammed by an M.I.T. launch. For the sparsely financed Rowing Club this meant tragedy. The budget of the crew is met more than halfway by the assessment of individual oarsmen (each of whom must pay $100 just to participate in the sport). For the most part, then, the crew operates throughout the season under penny-pinching conditions. And dismal was the mood of the lightweights who lost their shell.

Dismal, at least, was their mood until one week before Green Key when an anonymous benefactor provided the crew with a gift of $2500 - the amount needed for a new shell. And so the reason for the added, special celebration.

Editorially The Dartmouth questioned the necessity for the crew's difficult position. To the DCAC the paper directed the question of the wisdom of the allocation of their funds. Hopefully this question can be adequately answered. Nevertheless, to the generous and anonymous donor, the thanks of the crew and the campus are sincerely offered.

As soon as the Green Key Weekend was over, the Buildings and Grounds Committee on the Preservation and Support of the Glorious Art of Featherbedding swung into action. Crews of B&G workers were seen everywhere making last-minute preparations for graduation and alumni reunions. Surprisingly the work was finished, and Dartmouth was ready for the propaganda pictures which are undoubtedly taken in quantity at this time of year.

While the workers worked, the Dartmouth seniors watched. As they did so, it became apparent to them that it was indeed almost over. Some smiled, some did not. As always, though in varying degrees, the mood of the seniors was ambivalent. Graduation means no more Great Issues (although for some Great Issues unfortunately means no graduation), no more Thayer food, no more classes at eight in the morning, no more mandatory Hanover winters, no more four-hour drives for a two-hour date, and no more of the numerous, though insignificant, little things that have been annoying during the past four years.

But graduation also means the cruel, cruel world (where they will be safe at last); or perhaps an even crueler graduate school. It means parting with friends, which in some cases is a permanent parting. It means no more Green Key or Winter Carnival. And it means so much more. But as with the classes before, and those to follow, the Class of 1962, in a few days, will receive their degrees with heads bowed, eyes bloodshot, and composures calm and thoughtful.

A photo feature when the Class of '62 entered Dartmouth College included the picture at left of James T. Hale '62 of Wayzata, Minn. At the right is the same JimHale, valedictorian of the Class of 1962, a scholar with a near-perfect record andmany honors. He is the son of Thomas T. Hale '33.

A photo feature when the Class of '62 entered Dartmouth College included the picture at left of James T. Hale '62 of Wayzata, Minn. At the right is the same JimHale, valedictorian of the Class of 1962, a scholar with a near-perfect record andmany honors. He is the son of Thomas T. Hale '33.