Letters to the Editor
Way-Hoo-Way Okay
TO THE EDITOR:
I'll confirm what Sherman L. Smith '17 wrote about Way-Hoo-Way in the January ALUMNI MAGAZINE.
When I was in Hanover, I worked in the Coffee Room and as night clerk at the Hanover Inn. During that time I heard Lon Gove, longtime clerk at the Inn, give the cheer just as Mr. Smith gave it; but I felt he did so in a jeering manner. Those were the days of Jim Haggerty and Perry Fairfield '00, manager of the Inn. How he hated it when some salesman would call him "Mr. Fairchild." He would always say "the name is Fairfield."
Boston, Mass.
No Dollar Sign
TO THE EDITOR:
Many thanks and a resounding "Wah-hoo-Wah" to James C. Forsythe '46, for demonstrating once again the abysmal depths for which "business world experience" can prepare men.
Perhaps the movements and issues to which he refers would be better off if businessmen would stay behind their cash registers and leave the direction of affairs to those who have thought about them and can see beyond their noses to issues whose solution requires more than a calculation of profit and loss.
Not all movements have the dollar-sign emblazoned on their flag.
New Haven, Conn.
A Base Canard Refuted
TO THE EDITOR:
I should like to clear up an error in the December issue in the story entitled "Diary of a Commuter." by L. G. (Larry Geiger).
Mr. Geiger is correct that I do arrange all the athletic team trips which included the football and soccer trip to Columbia, but his allegation that I forgot the time and kept the bus waiting is incorrect. I was there and also kept waiting by the usual problem of a late player picking up his equipment from the Davis Varsity House.
The planning and execution of a trip for 76 people always causes some confusion at departure time, but in eighteen years my record of being on time is unblemished. Because of this, I wish this statement corrected and on the record.
Hanover, N. H.
In Praise of the D.O.C.
TO THE EDITOR:
As an avid follower of the activities of the Dartmouth Outing Club I read and re-read with considerable interest Mr. White's article in the February issue of the ALUMNIMAGAZINE.
The background information in his article about the early days of the Dartmouth Outing Club was interesting, indeed, but I couldn't help wondering whether in the days prior to World War I the idea of "real" skiing might not have been looked down upon by the Old Grads of that era as an erosion of the granite in the muscles and the veins of the pre-World War I undergraduate.
None of us here in Hanover subscribes to Mr. Thayer's observation that the D.O.C. has fallen apart. In spite of his thesis it still is the predominant student organization on campus although its role is an evolving one - as is the role of the entire College itself. It is heartening to see the D.O.C. in action today. I'll just give you a couple of examples. The annual freshman trip is designed and administered by undergraduates who take over forty per cent of the entire entering freshman class on a four-day trip into the wilderness utilizing the very cabins that some say are being abandoned. Secondly, the Outing Club has an undergraduate membership well in excess of 1200 students or, again, over forty per cent of the entire student body which makes it far and away the largest student organization on the campus. Thirdly, you should see the marvelous physical educational program that is run by the Outing Club to teach undergraduates the fundamentals of recreational skiing! Upwards of 700 young men are currently taking advantage of this program.
I remember stopping at the D.O.C. office several days ago on a matter of business when a student came in to sign up for a cabin two weeks hence. Too bad, he was too late, all the cabins were in use.
With regard to the Canoe Club and other speciality groups being permitted "to drift away from the parent organization," as Canoe Club Adviser I can report that the Ledyard Canoe Club never was part of the Dartmouth Outing Club. For a brief time (1942-1945) during World War II when the Canoe Club was not in active operation, the Outing Club supervised the Canoe Club properties but as soon as the civilian students returned from World War II the Ledyard Canoe Club continued its independent way. Its independence is not the result of a lack of administrative leadership at the top, rather it is with the blessing of John Rand and his associates, who believe that outdoor activities should receive guidance and assistance but as little administrative supervision as possible.
Mr. White spoke of Fred Harris turning over in his grave. This may be true, but I suspect he's simply turning over to get a better look at all the exciting and interesting things that are going on within the Outing Club today.
Club Adviser
Hanover, N. H.
