Letters to the Editor

Band Program Defended

TO THE EDITOR:

Two letters in the January issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE (I am glad to note that only one is a Dartmouth alumnus) expressed disgust and outrage that the Dartmouth Band saluted the Soviet Union's 50th Anniversary at the half of the Princeton game. One letter reminded us with righteous indignation that Soviet weapons are killing U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. What he didn't mention is that U.S. weapons and soldiers (no matter how Johnson, Rusk and Company try to rationalize the immoral and outrageous destruction of a small and poor Southeast Asian country) are killing Vietnamese in Vietnam, where no Russians are fighting.

I understand that the clock on the cover of the monthly publication of the Bulletinof Atomic Scientists has recently been moved from 12 minutes to midnight to 7 minutes to midnight, in recognition of the increasing chauvinism and violence which threaten the continued existence of the human race.

May I congratulate the Dartmouth Band (the team, too!) on the guts and timeliness of its halftime performance at Princeton, and assure the writers of the two above- mentioned letters that there are not necessarily any Communists either in the Dartmouth Band or hiding inside the tubas.

Princeton, N. J.

TO THE EDITOR:

Last fall the Princeton Public Library designed a window exhibit to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Russian revolution. The American Legion and other extremists in Princeton demanded that the exhibit be withdrawn immediately but more objective and tolerant members of the town and college vigorously defended the librarian and the exhibit remained for its scheduled period.

Now it seems that the Dartmouth Band had the audacity to implement a program between the halves of the Dartmouth-Prince- ton game also commemorating the anniversary of the revolution and similar elements are protesting. Perhaps the good taste of introducing a controversial subject before a captive audience at a football game might be questioned but otherwise I feel that the program was entirely legitimate, a credit to Dartmouth and a splendid contrast to the banal programs usual at such affairs.

Incidentally, seated on the Dartmouth side at this game, I heard no expressions of disapproval and certainly no boos. I suspect there were plenty on the Princeton side who had no desire to boo.

Whether we like it or not we most certainly will have to live with Russia for many years. Without sacrificing our integrity, isn't it wise for us to avoid, so far as possible, actions which can cause friction and to seize all legitimate opportunities to bring about better relations between the two nations? If we can induce a little more friendliness in the Russians by taking some slight notice of their celebration of fifty years of great progress, why shouldn't we do it?

And one doesn't have to be a communist or a communist sympathizer to favor a little common sense in our relations with Russia.

Princeton, N. J.

Professor Dimitroff

TO THE EDITOR:

I was saddened to hear of the death of Professor George Dimitroff.

Many students will remember Professor Dimitroff for his introductory course in astronomy: "Stars 1." I was extremely fortunate in being able to take a seminar with Professor Dimitroff, his last class at Dartmouth. Hardly a scientist, I was taking the course to fulfill my science requirement for graduation. However, Professor Dimitroff made a complex subject understandable.

As my main academic interest is architectural history, I did my research paper on the observatory itself. Professor Dimitroff was aware of the historical importance of the Shattuck Observatory both as an important monument in American astronomical history and as a monument in the architectural sense (the observatory was designed by Ammi B. Young, later first architect of the United States Treasury Department) .

George Dimitroff was for me, and other Dartmouth men, one of the College's great teachers.

New York, N. Y.

Greek Trip Questioned

TO THE EDITOR:

I hope this letter is not necessary, but it would seem that Professor Wiencke and his colleagues in the Classics Department should, at least temporarily, table plans to send Dartmouth students to Greece for foreign study. Although, in principle, this is a marvelous plan, at present any foreign support, no matter how slight, for the fascist military junta would help prevent the return of free government to "The Cradle of Democracy." I know that other Dartmouth alumni share my regret at the unfortunate conditions which now prevail in one of the world's most important nations and would not want to aid the growth of fascism, even in what seems like a small and insignificant way.

Hollywood, Calif.

Unintentional But ...

TO THE EDITOR:

The attached clipping of my 1944' class notes has upset me for two reasons.

First, because of the senseless and vicious beating that Chuck Glines experienced. My comments below in no way mitigate my feelings of revulsion for the act or the people who perpetrated it.

Second, because of the way the incident was reported in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE. Wouldn't "a group of young hoodlums" have sufficed? Why — when it is so important for the races to "cool it" — was the phrase "a group of young Negroes" allowed to appear? Does it serve a useful purpose — other than to convince whites that "there they go again — they'll never change"? And to once again indicate to Negroes that they are set apart inevitably and interminably — and we whites are not about to let them forget that? Had the group been white instead of Negro, would we have read about "a group of young whites"? I hardly think so.

I realize that, as editor, you cannot read every word sent in by correspondents. But since you do have a Class Notes Editor listed in the masthead, I cannot see any excuse for this kind of 1910 reporting. Sophisticated, intelligent newspapers and journals stopped racial baiting like this decades ago.

White Plains, N. Y.