Letters to the Editor

Hovey's Syndrome

TO THE EDITOR:

Some of my fellow alumni are victims of what we gerontologists call "Hovey's Syndrome." They keep muttering to themselves "THEY HAVE THE STILL NORTH IN THEIR HEARTS..." over and over. One victim just wrote me four profane pages on coeducation. My initial impulse was to correct spellings and return to the sender, but instead I asked him if he ever sang tenor any more, and it turns out he still does.

Last bad epidemic of Hovey's Syndrome here in the village was when they built Hopkins Center. One classmate wanted to raise money to plant poison ivy all over it. We made him chairman of the committee on arrangements. This helped a lot. So it goes.

My own viewpoint on coeducation is perhaps colored by the fact that I taught school for forty years at Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, and other places I can remember if I have to. With this background I am for coeducation because, no matter what the Trustees vote, I have observed what happens without coeducation. I don't want to go through that again.

I've had a touch of Hovey's Syndrome myself off and on. No joking matter. Makes you feel meaner than a short-tailed bull in fly time. Watch out for it.

Hanover, N. H.

"Stodgy Bias"

TO THE EDITOR:

President Kemeny's recent bulletin contains a breath of fresh air in the announcement of the appointment of Mrs. Sterling as an assistant.

A member of Dartmouth's all-male faculty bemoans the discrimination against women students. This same faculty has voted in favor of admitting women. (Have we an honor list of those who have volunteered to give their positions to women professors; and will future appointments be in proportion to the number of women students?)

The all-male Board of Trustees will make the final decision without the counsel of women members. And an almost all-male administration will carry it out.

One might logically have expected Dartmouth to have pioneered rather than followed the herd in this whole controversy, especially when it could have done so with slight socio-economic disturbance. Wives on the Alumni Council, women faculty members—what a start could have been made in Alumni College, and women on the Board of Trustees. Imagine a Helen Hayes or Katharine Hepburn leading The Player And think of the pulchritude that could have been added to the Trustees at picture " taking time.

Women's colleges have long had men 0n their faculties, but women teaching at men's colleges are as scarce as hen's teeth. Do you recall Mary Woolley's distress at the selection of her successor at Mt. Holyoke?

I fear the discussion coming from Han over shows the same stodgy bias to be found in my own profession—the ministry.

Suffield, Conn.

Too Much Development

TO THE EDITOR:

I have just received—as have many alumni—a preliminary prospectus of Controlled Environmental Corporation. This organization, which includes the College as one of its owners and sponsors, proposes to create a 350-acre, four-season recreational community in the Lake Sunapee area. Accompanying the prospectus is a letter of endorsement from Vice-President John F. Meek and Treasurer Paul F. Young.

If we in New Hampshire must continue to be afflicted with this never ending proliferation of condominiums and recreational areas I suppose it is desirable for the College to have a piece of the action. And I have no doubt it will be a fine investment. It seems to me, however, it is about time we take another look at where we are going landwise in this State. Our present recreational areas are already overcrowded and some of them are wearing out. Real estate values are skyrocketing as developers move in, make a fast buck, and move out. Our little town now has two ski areas and a prospective housing development surfaces about once a month.

I submit that what we need in New Hampshire are fewer and poorer of Commerce, ways and means of discouraging more visitors, and more effective regional planning that will limit our present runaway land development. And it seems to me that the College would be better advised if it were to apply itself objectively to offering solutions to some of our very real land problems rather than adding to the confusion by sponsoring one more unnecessary and undesirable recreational area.

Francestown, N. H.

Editors Note: So far more than 1500alumni have expressed interest in the planof Controlled Environmental Corporation.

Christian Meadows Recalled

TO THE EDITOR:

Heartiest congratulations on the cover of the October issue of the Alumni Magazine. I think it is one of the finest pictures of Dartmouth Row I have ever seen. The picture of Alumni College students leaving Hopkins Center is also a beauty.

The front cover is quite reminiscent of the splendid engraving done by Christian Meadows in 1851. Meadows was the outstanding engraver of his age and the College had great difficulty acquiring his services because he was doing time in the Vermont State Prison at Windsor for forgery. Arrangements were made for him to be paroled to the President of Dartmouth College and it is easily understood why he took such pains and so much time to produce his masterpiece of Dartmouth Row.

Washington, D. C.

Concerning Graciousness

TO THE EDITOR:

I am certain that the rest of the Class of '71 will join me in expressing thanks to Henry Wallace '34, who, through his letter to the Editor (Oct. 1971), has shown us all how to be gracious alumni. We shall strive, no doubt, in the coming years of Dartmouth Fellowship, to reach the exalted level of thoughtfulness, understanding, and, indeed, graciousness, epitomized by the Class of '21 resolution referred to by Mr. Briggs '21 in a letter in the same issue. May our fifty-year resolution manifest such concern for the intellectual life of the College!

Bloomington, Ind.

Seconded by 1945

TO THE EDITOR:

The executive committee of the Class of '45 was most pleased to see the letter to the editor in the October issue commenting on Cliff Jordan's superb job as executive secretary of the Alumni Fund. We, who are proud to have Cliff as a classmate, have been aware for years of his tremendous value to both College and Class, and want to formally add our commendation for his excellent leadership in the Alumni Fund.

Class Secretary

Cape Elizabeth, Me.

A Fun Letter

TO THE EDITOR:

We all seem to receive so many grim, threatening letters these days, I thought you migh be interested in a fun letter for a change.

dear mr campus policeman who unlocked nancy's door at 101B cohen last thursday night, dear sir, the last thing we heard you say was this: "how are you kids going to have a revolution if you can't even unlock your own doors." the answer is this: you are part of our revolution.

love william and nancy

College Proctor

Hanover, N. H.

Some Ledyard Lore

TO THE EDITOR:

John Ledyard gave his name to a bridge and a canoe club and is suspected of having some connection with the town in Connecticut which bears his name, but he also was an authority on primitive life in Siberia.

The Siberians (Atlantic, Little Brown 1970) is an account of the Siberian Arctic by Farley Mowat, an authority on the Canadian Arctic. In describing the northern reaches of the Lena River he writes: "Nicalai (a Soviet official guide) told me that in 1787 an American traveller came down stream to this place in an open boat from the vicinity of Irkusk, then went on to Yakusk where he spent the winter. This man's name was Ledyard. When I returned home I dug out this description of the Yakut people:

" 'The Yakut is a man of nature, not of art. He is a lover of peace. No lawyers are needed here. Never, I believe, did the Yakut speak evil of the Deity, or envy his fellow creatures. He is contented to be what he is. Hospitable and human, he is uniformly cheerful and tranquil, laconic in thought, word and action. Those who live with the Russians in their villages are above mediocrity as to riches, but discover the same indifference in accumulating more that a North American Indian does.'"

Hamilton, N. Y.

From An '09 Songster

TO THE EDITOR:

Not long ago you were kind enough to publish a letter of mine extolling the merits of the lovely song, Aura Lee. To substantiate my claim, I herewith submit the following verses honoring the Dartmouth Green.

THE DARTMOUTH GREEN

From the college on the hill, Boys alert and keen

Trot out on the playing field, Wearing Dartmouth Green.

Wah Hoi Wah!, Wah Hoo Wah!

Rooters cheer and sing:

Win or lose, they back their team; They know the Game's the Thing!

To sportsmanship a hearty toast! Respect a rival's hue,

For Johnny's Crimson may be host, Or even Eli's Blue.

A victory is luscious fruit, While pain in loss is keen,

But, friendly foe, a warm salute From wearers of the Green!

For the fun of it, I am sending a copy of this to the Dartmouth Glee Club. With their mastery of the artistic and of harmony,I should love to hear their rendition.

Greenville, N. H.

Controlling the Future

TO THE EDITOR:

A few words might be added to the agitated pool of arguments about Dartmouth past and present.

First, that Dartmouth has not produced a leader for itself in many years.

Second, that the average student, like the average person, does not know what is goo for him.

Finally, that the future of Dartmouth must not be left to the will of the mob. must be controlled by the aristocracy of brains in order to be above mediocrity.

Del Haven, N. J.

We Like You As You Are, Big Green!

Bob Hilliard, who produces that readable column called The Sports Desk in the N. H. Sunday News is worried about the size of Dartmouth's football stadium, and while we have spent a good many enjoyable Saturday afternoons watching the Big Green play in Memorial Field, we will be delighted if the college ignores his advice.

Hilliard suggests that Dartmouth could have sold 60,000 tickets for the Yale game, and perhaps an equal number for the Cornell game in November, which seems to us mighty Poor reasons for the kind of investment a larger stadium involves. We write this after staring at a few thousand empty seats at the Penn game. How many times a year is the stadium full? Once? Twice? And can you imagine Hanover's parking and eating problems if there were 60,000 fans in town?

Nor is it any great favor to Dartmouth alumni to have the big games in Hanover. Far more alumni live within easy driving distance of the Harvard stadium, the Yale bowl and Palmer field than live near the upper Connecticut valley.

The News writer compounds his heresy—in our eyes—by suggesting that it would be just dandy if Dartmouth resumed its former practice of meeting one strong outside-the-area team each year: Army, Syracuse, Notre Dame . . . you name it.

This is how it all starts. You build a bigger stadium, you play more outstanding teams in order to fill it, and you had better win your games or the gate receipts will fall off, and so you start recruiting players who can deliver, and never mind the niceties of an Ivy League education.

No thank you, Bob Hilliard. This is one alumnus who thinks Dartmouth is just fine as it is, with a lot to lose and little to gain by letting itself get caught up in the frenzy of big time football.

The Milford (N. H.) Cabinet

Class Secretary John B. Stearns '16 is DanielWebster Professor and Professor of the LatinLanguage and Literature, Emeritus. Hisletter was not intended for publication, butwe have persuaded him to let us print it.