Thayer School
After one of the warmest and most beautiful falls we can remember, snow hit Hanover in the first week of November. Though only one inch fell on the campus, skis and ski racks appeared immediately, and many of the New Hampshire and Vermont ski resorts opened for business. Another result of the snow and subfreezing temperatures was some scurrying around by the sophomore, ES-21, student companies to find a spot under cover for their experimental work on cars. The project area is Highway and Auto Safety, with student company work on improved windshield visibility, energy absorbing systems, warning devices including radar, radio, and visual, better seat belts, and a drunkometer tied to the car's power plant. Join us on December 5 for the final presentations.
Prof. Al Converse is offering, this winter term, a Dartmouth College undergraduate course which will cut across departmental and discipline boundaries. This course, Introduction to Policy Formulation, is open to all upperclassmen regardless of major. Professor Converse's objective is to give Dartmouth undergraduates an opportunity to study a specific public need and concern for the purpose of formulating that policy which best satisfies the need. Students will hear lectures from social scientists, scientists, and engineers; the major effort will be applied by the students, in small groups, in their discussion and formulation policy pertinent to an important public problem. This is a large step ahead toward a major involvement of the Thayer School in the College's study of social problems and needs.
Also to be congratulated is Prof. Joe Ermenc who has carried his extensive studies of the history of technology into the classroom. Professor Ermenc offers both a lecture course for all undergraduates, and a freshman seminar on the development of technology. His lecture course has become so popular, in three years, that Spaulding Auditorium must be assigned to accommodate the several hundred who elect it.
Adjunct Professor Fred Sanger has published two important papers recently. "Ground Freezing in Construction" appeared in the ASCE Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division, and the Journal of the New England Water Works Association presented his paper, "Computations on Frost in the Ground." Fred is Special Assistant to the Experimental Engineering Division, Army Terrestrial Sciences Center (formerly known as CRREL), in Hanover.
Phil Meyer '66 has passed his preliminary exams at the University of Michigan and expects to complete the doctorate by the end of 1969. He is working as a nuclear engineer with a consulting firm in addition to his studies. Dale Runge '65 has returned from Chile, and was seen by several of us at UCLA last June. His plans at that time included graduate school.
John Cernius '54 played an important role in the moon shots while in responsible charge of several aspects of the beginnings of Surveyor. John was with J.P.L. at that time, but has more recently moved over to Space General. He is still located in California. Joe Wattleworth '60 has also changed jobs this year. He is now in Washington, D. C. with Kelly Scientific, having transferred his research and system design activities from the Texas Transportation Institute of Texas A&M. We are reminded that the Highway Research Board meetings will be held again in Washington early in January. Will those attending please contact Joe Wattleworth in regard to a possible reunion for Thayer alumni? Chuck Way '48 was chairman of an important organizing committee for the annual ASCE meeting in Pittsburgh in October. Chuck is a partner in the firm of Richardson, Gordon and Associates.
Vic Macomber '52 spent part of his summer vacation in Hanover and helped us very much in obtaining experts for our ES-21 course on Auto Safety. Vic's son, Dwight, is an E.S. major, in his junior year, and keeps station WDCR, the College radio station, running singlehanded. The Quarterly of the Colorado School of Mines has announced a publication dealing with geophysical and geological studies of the Rocky Mountains. Dick DeVoto '57 is author of one chapter, "Quaternary History of Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Environs." Dick is Assistant Professor of Geology at Colorado School of Mines.
Tad Comstock '48 has been very busy recently in charge of the New Hampshire office of the Federal Highway Administration. This year the U.S. Congress has expanded the Interstate System of Highways and also increased the FHA efforts in many directions. Tad has represented the FHA with the N. H. Good Roads Association and the N. H. Dept. of Public Works and Highways. He attended the national transportation meeting at Denver in August to discuss the implications of the 1968 Highway Act on state planning. He was a panel member for Transp '68 at New England College, Henniker, N. H. Tad was joined on this panel by Fred Auer '28, Director of Planning, N. H. Dept. of Public Works, Harry Scheiber, Professor of History, Dartmouth, and Russ Stearns '38. Harry's attendance is another indication of the development of interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis of problems involving society and technology. The Bethlehem Steel Corporation has announced the appointment of Gerald D. Sarno '51 as assistant manager of sales in New York. This is a move for Gerry from the position of contracting manager in the New York sales office into the responsibilities associated with one of the largest steel markets in the world.
