1949
First and foremost function of this column must by very definition be the dissemination of news pertinent to the class itself. Yet I have occasionally mentioned in brief events which occur in the daily life of the College which are of interest and which are not necessarily covered elsewhere for all of you to read. Several such news items are worth reviewing at this time.
For those of you with likely freshman candidates in the not too distant future, a few current statistics are in order not to discourage the weaker students but rather to set down some basic facts for all to evaluate. For the next freshman class there were a total of 7423 preliminary application cards filled out and 4171 fee paid applications completed as of January 15. The last figure had jumped several hundred by the end of January as last minute registrants completed their applications. From this total a freshman class of roughly 800 will be selected. A study of the acceptees normally shows that around 85% of them will stand in the top quarter of their high school class scholastically and 70% will be in the top tenth. Their average Scholastic Aptitude Test scores will show approximately 700 in Math and 650 Verbal. Before he goes into a dead faint, please have your son remember that with any average there are as many below as above this figure. Dartmouth does not want to discourage any candidate nor at the same time does it feel that the obviously weak candidate should be unduly encouraged, for it is certainly better to be realistic than to build false hopes.
To continue with a few interesting statistics, almost 75% of the freshmen will come from public schools. This figure has risen steadily over the years as high schools have improved in their college preparatory function. The financial aid office reports that as clearing house for the employment of students they were able to fill some 550 jobs last year for students interested in improving their financial resources. These jobs ran the gamut from baby sitters to tree servicemen to painters and truck drivers. Incidentally, some 40% of the freshman class will request and receive financial aid as tuition climbs to a $2200 figure.
It is finally possible for Dartmouth prospects to correspond not solely with the admissions office but also with undergraduates listed according to their own special fields of interest and involvement on campus. Undergraduates have volunteered to correspond with freshman candidates interested in these areas. Their names are known to all district enrollment directors as well as the admissions office, so if you have a prospect in mind he has a potential pen pal in Hanover. As a wind-up on this subject, let me also mention that a group of students have recently completed a guide for fifty undergraduate courses. The guide evaluates these courses on the basis of both content and quality of teaching. This is an innovation at Dartmouth because it assumes the right of the student to make a public criticism good or bad of his courses and professors and is an expression of student concern with the quality of his educational experience. A one dollar bill to the Dartmouth Undergraduate Council, Box 453, Hanover, N. H., will bring a copy to you of this student adventure in daring do.
On the lighter side, two hundred females from Mount Holyoke College were invited to attend Dartmouth during their late January one week semester break. They paid for their own off-campus rooms, and all college facilities were open to them. The week was well received by all but hardly a fair test of Dartmouth acceptance of coeducation, an issue which has of late been bubbling in Hanover.
Mike Metz has been made senior editor of The Wiesenberger Investment Report, an investment advisory service for individuals and institutions, published bi-weekly by Nuveen Corporation. He was formerly editor of Poor's Investment Advisory Survey, and holds his LL.B. from Harvard and an LL.M. from New York University Law School. He is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars. He and Janine continue to make New York City their home.
I checked in with our class president Bob Alden the other day and found out that he is now more than simply the good skier. Bob took some intensive courses and now qualifies as a member of the ski patrol at Bromley in Vermont. Bob and Persis have rented a ski cottage nearby and spend their weekends on the slopes along with their three children who have taken to the sport in a bigway.
Cal Titus also works in New York, and when I phoned him he gave me some address changes to pass along. Titus is on the advertising sales force for the Chicago Tribune with responsibility for a few giants including National Distillers and TWA. He and Denise and their five kids are mad about the Jersey shore. Cal also told me that Ted Harnett is about to open the first of a string of eskimo pie stands in Anchorage. Maybe Ted would like to comment. Stu Sayre, long ago defector to a neighboring class but forever a classmate in my books, recently moved back from the mid west to New Jersey. He has located in Rumson.
We win one and lose one, however, as Paul Bloodworth left the same shore area to live in La Canada, Calif. (5457 La Forest Drive). Cal and I were wondering if Paul might have been transferred out there by Kaiser Industries to run the recent open golf tournament sponsored by his firm and nationally televised. Officially, though, he has been appointed manager of Southern District Sales for Kaiser Steel Corporation of Oakland.
An article I caught in "Women's Wear Daily," the bible of the apparel industry, confirms the fact that Harv Nolan pulled a real coup in Woonsocket, R. I. You may recall that while local merchants were spilling salty tears over sluggish business classmate Nolan was making plans to move his retail emporium to a more trafficked and more convenient shopping center just out of town. Happily, McCarthy's Department Store can report an amazing 75% increase in sales over the eight months since the move. He is already talking about additional stores, so it really looks like everything is coming up roses for a fine merchant.
Three news clips from the Bay State round out the news for the month. WadeElliott of Boxford has been appointed to that town's elementary school building committee. He is also president of the local PTA and as previously mentioned as with Nelson Personnel Consultants, Inc. of Auburndale. His work is certainly cut out for him as the committee is just beginning to plan for a new ten-room elementary school wing. Jim Flanders, deputy associate director and program manager of advanced guidance for manned missions at MIT, recently spoke on the Apollo program at an engineering meeting in Springfield. Jim has been a staff member of the MIT instrumentation laboratory for the past seven years and was associated with the development of an allaltitude flight control system for fighter aircraft. Jim and Susan have three boys and live at 35 Brewster Street in Cambridge. Another speaker on the rubber chicken circuit is Lee Van Voorhis, plant manager of the Kendall Company of Griswoldville, Mass., whose topic "Zero Defects — It Can Be Done" was most enlightening to Vermonters of the Bennington Area Industrial Management Club. Lee continues to be most active in industrial management circles.
A small group of classmates met the other evening, and we phoned a lot of you from whom we have rarely heard a word. Much news came out of this effort, but it must wait for the next issue.
Secretary. 15 Twin Oak Rd. Short Hills, N. J. 07078
Class Agent, 62 Highland Ave., Roslyn, N. Y. 11576
