Letters to the Editor
Tribute to Coach Julian
TO THE EDITOR:
Thank you for your excellent piece on Doggie Julian which appeared just prior to his death. I am certain that Dartmouth men everywhere will feel his loss.
Some 17 years ago I engineered his first appearance before an alumni group — in Washington, D. C. He was great. He then had an outstanding career at Dartmouth for 17 years. He had a winning record in spite of some lean years at the end. A real "dia-mond-in-the-rough," Doggie was a source of genuine friendship and inspiration for a host of Dartmouth basketball players and others. He was a real pro. He will be missed by many.
I have a son matriculating at Dartmouth this fall. One of his fondest memories was playing in an all-star basketball game at Wilt Chamberlain's basketball camp in the Catskills when he was 13 years of age. His coach for that game was Alvin Julian. That is the kind of tribute Doggie would especially like - and deserve.
Bronxville, N. Y.
Our Boner
TO THE EDITOR:
Although I imagine J. Donald O'Hara '27 has already written I want to be sure that the record is set straight. The excellent poem "Like Patching a Flat" in the June issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE was erroneously attributed to J. Donald O'Hara '27. It was written by Don's son, also J. Donald O'Hara, but class of '53. He teaches English at the University of Connecticut.
All the O'Haras are longtime friends; O'Hara '53 is a fine writer.
San Francisco, Calif.
The editor's mistake, bad enough in itself, misapplied the credit for one of thebest poems ever sent to the magazine. Professor O'Hara misapplies to himself thethought that his verse is "like patching aflat" when the Superchief (Ramon Guthrie)goes by.
A Second-Floor Poet
TO THE EDITOR:
It is a particularly happy thing these days to watch the new Inn take shape and see how extremely attractive will be the finished product. And it's fine to know that the porch will still be there with its railing for assorted footwear; and it's grand to hear Jim McFate enthuse about the second-floor rooms and suites of various sizes that will be available. However, nostalgic thoughts of the old second-floor, front corner suite evolve into the following doggerel:
ODE TO SUITE 101
A part of the pleasure of coming to town Was to be in a hundred and one - Sought by most of those in the know With its laughs, its stories and fun.
But if your request might get in so late That Jim couldn't give it to you The answer was easy - you went 'cross the hall
To stay in a hundred and two.
Philadelphia, Pa.
The Scholarship Cornucopia
TO THE EDITOR:
A recent issue of Time realistically outlined the financial plight of many private colleges and some of the reasons for this grim situation.
But, if each student entails a financial cost to the college, it is in order to examine the awarding of scholarships which swell the student ranks unfairly at the expense of the colleges and those of us who willingly - even eagerly - give to the colleges of our choice.
For instance: a man owning a business, a $26,000 house, two cars, and a saddle horse sends his child to college on a scholarship.
In another case one of our colleges awarded a scholarship to an applicant who took the money and a trip to Europe.
These two provable abuses (they are not Dartmouth examples) undoubtedly are duplicated in thousands of cases. They indicate a prodigal attitude which, in my opinion, is very serious - and rectifiable.
New London, N. H.
Turned Down
TO THE EDITOR:
I find it hard to understand how Dartmouth Medical School funds could be diverted to a "research support grant" for the College, and Dr. Raymond Sobel's time diverted from his job as professor of child psychiatry to produce the "study" and summary reported on in the May issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE.
I doubt that many of the industry contributors to the Medical School would approve, and I know that I, as an alumnus, do not.
The study does not prove anything, and certainly does not "scotch any myth" I've ever heard "about alumni sons." It just says that Dartmouth men's sons aren't all supermen.
By your academic standards at Dartmouth today most Dartmouth alumni with sons of college age could not be accepted themselves as students.
A question is: What are those standards? To answer that you have to know what the purpose of the College is. Is it educational in any classic sense? Educational in a classic sense like the ideal of Eleazar Wheelock and the original Dartmouth grant? Is its aim completely academic? Does it recognize that some people are "late starters"?
Facetiously, Dr. Sobel, in bad taste, says, "there is a body of thought among some Ivy League alumni which illustrates the psychological and emotional issues involved. Briefly, it says that every son should have the opportunity to flunk out of his father's college. It is exemplified by the case of the Princeton alumnus who stated publicly that he didn't care if his son stayed at Princeton only one week, so long as the boy could join the Princeton Club of New York!"
Apparently it was with "this background in mind" that he let his teaching duties suffer and spent Medical School funds on "his study," and, you, the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE, spent your time and money to publish it.
If I were Dean of Admissions, neither the doctor nor the editor would qualify in the world of common sense. ...
Montclair, N. J.
The editor is willing to stand with Dr.Sobel on the value of a study which oughtto scotch for good any idea that alumnisons are a vulnerable group when it comesto college performance. This idea, as Dr.Sobel stated, hangs on from an earlier daywhen it might have been true. We are alsoin favor of scotching the myth that everyresearch project is undertaken at the expenseof teaching duties. This idea, also, willprobably die hard.
The Wallace Affair (Concluded)
The editors present here a few June andJuly letters that they were unable to printin the July issue. With this third and finalinstallment of alumni views they declarethe topic adequately discussed in this particular department of the MAGAZINE.
TO THE EDITOR:
With reference to "The Wallace Affair" in your June issue, you may be interested in a copy of the editorial from the Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser of May 27, which was written after I had sent a copy of Dean Thaddeus Seymour's address at Wet Down. As you can see by this editorial, the reaction here in the city where Ex-Governor Wallace resides was entirely favorable to the College, because of the honest and forthright and courageous stand which Dean Seymour and the official College took.
Montgomery, Alabama has, in the past, also been victimized by the same kind of disorder. About five years ago, we had the "Freedom Rider incident" here when a bunch of thugs from out of the county came to Montgomery to cause the same kind of trouble. Our citizenry excused itself with such expressions that these people had no business here; that the news accounts were grossly exaggerated; that all the trouble was caused by outsiders, and that we could hardly prevent this kind of trouble in advance. Dean Seymour's words, "Let us not be quick to unload our sense of guilt on just a few, for last night was a part of every person here ..." are probably the most important in his message. Surely if we had had Dean Seymours speaking out in this community five year ago, we might have avoided what tragically followed in the years since — because the same words applied here as at Dartmouth when Dean Seymour said, "The test of this place and of each man here will be our capacity to learn from what has happened; to respond to reason, judgment and responsibility."
Realizing this, the people of Montgomery and Alabama must have appreciated what Dean Seymour said because Dartmouth College is more highly respected here than ever, and we alumni are prouder than ever of the College on the Hill.
Montgomery, Ala.
TO THE EDITOR:
It is a pleasure to see that at last the worm is turning in the Wallace post-mortem. The concern of elderly alumni for "decent and orderly conduct" would wear better if the polls of 25-year classes were not coming in so steadily 9:1 for conservatism vs. liberalism.
This establishment has, after all, gained all it needs from innovation and wants no more of it. Are we saying, "Give us peace in our time; only when we die may you make something else of this world"?
It is too easy to forget how we loved the crisp wind of technological innovation which paved our way into the establishment. Now, though, let us try to realize that this same acceleration has made a generation gap without precedent. The whirlwind we reap today is the crisp wind we sowed yesterday.
Could it be that, as an elite group, we suffer from having too many dollars, too little sense?
As a postscript, may I confess that concern for "images," for the "American image," the "Dartmouth image" has come to make me gag, and now, whenever I hear "image," I say to myself, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"
Berkeley, Calif.
TO THE EDITOR:
Having read thoroughly The WallaceAffair and the accompanying letters, may I offer a viewpoint that I don't find therein. As a teacher of psychology close to high school student protesters, I find myself nearer the feelings of Robert Christgau '62 than those of the others, including my own classmates of 1924. It does not seem strange to find the "granite of New Hampshire" still around, in the "brains" of many undergraduates. We alumni can of course be counted on to resent any great changes in buildings, etc., and "customs such as Wet-down, and polite and liberal listening."
Though I don't wholly approve, I somehow do not feel the shame that Dean Seymour expresses. And I should like to ask President Dickey whether his Democracy requires those who care to put up with the highly prejudiced and the agitators. Isn't inviting a Wallace to speak to such an audience somewhat akin to having a Nazi-uniformed person speak in a village where many of the Jewish faith reside?
Now for my main point of criticism. It is directed toward The Dartmouth and those College authorities who are responsible for inviting Wallace and acquiescing, respectively. It would seem to be exceedingly poor judgment, in view of the times and the customs. It would also seem to be an obvious trumpet call to one of those traditional spring "riots" we have all witnessed and joined.
Santa Barbara, Calif.
TO THE EDITOR:
Enclosed are the articles cut from the Portland Evening Express after George Wallace's visit to Hanover. I originally intended to send them in with the suggestion that President Dickey throw out all the students, fire the faculty and administration, and then tender his own resignation. But I decided to wait for the ALUMNI MAGAZINE before jumping to such a simple solution.
"The Wallace Affair" and the letters to the editor in the June issue present new points of view on the actual event, its roots, and its proper handling.
I sincerely hope my situation is like that of many alumni: I have a lot of other things to do and must depend on other people to run Dartmouth; I support Dartmouth alumni activities and contribute money to the College. And I'll continue to do so, almost indefinitely.
What concerns me is that I complained about the treatment Dartmouth seniors accorded a Great Issues speaker some time ago. The answer seemed to be that the entire Great Issues course was being studied by a committee of the faculty, some of our best students, leading townspeople, the police chief, local ministers, and the dormitory presidents. I was just inquiring about common decency and respect, and whatever happened to it. Now, here we go again.
Time and distance, as well as the orderly regulation of my own affairs, require me to continue to operate pretty much as I have in the past. I will continue to depend on others to run Dartmouth. However, a question is creeping into my mind as to the quality of the job being done.
Cape Elizabeth, Maine
TO THE EDITOR:
Though the blessed right of free speech must be preserved - for SDS as well as George Wallace — the incident reflects an intense involvement in contemporary issues that Dartmouth has long evaded. We smooth over the seething of our cities with glibness about social politeness. The hell with politeness. For one, I am delighted that Dartmouth now has an SDS Chapter and an Afro-American Society and that some guys felt fire in their souls.
Unfortunately, social and judicial pressures conspire to enforce conformity of overt behavior in Hanover and might just discourage other Afro-Americans or SDS'ers from applying.
"Letters to the Editor" in the June issue thoroughly condemn the incident (except for one hip '62). I find it credible to imagine these tweedy businessmen, insurance pros, and lawyers clinking cocktail glasses in suburban comfort and bemoaning the Old Green. Well, I bemoan them and Wah Hoo Wah the demonstrators whose brashness brings vitality and social consciousness to Dartmouth.
Westminster, Mass.
