1956

Hanover in early May looked like California did in mid-December. The hills of New England were still bare, and gray was the dominant tone. While driving across Vermont, snow was visible in the northside shadows but the leaf buds hadn't begun to show. Recent heavy rains, added to the thaw, had brought flood conditions to the rivers and streams, and the first day of trout season looked like anything except a day when you'd see a fish.

My reason for being in Hanover was to meet with Line Spaulding- and BillCarleton of our Class, as well as with about 200 other officers of other classes to discuss the nitty-gritty of keeping class activities tuned up as well as to recharge batteries for what are by and large pleasant but thankless tasks. Considering the controversy that raged through a similar group a year ago when it considered the possibility of coeducation at Dartmouth, the scene this year was absolutely placid. This isn't to say that the weekend was managed, necessarily, but it's odd that some flare-up didn't occur since the subject still strikes sparks with a percentage of undergraduates and members of the alumni body alike.

Far and away the most exciting thing about the College today is the clear sense that the challenge of educating men and women for useful lives in an increasingly complex society is being met head on. Thirty new faculty members are being added at a time when not many other institutions are in the market and when literally hundreds of very well qualified teachers are unable to find employment. Dartmouth will be a beneficiary of that sad situation. The Dartmouth Plan for full year use of the facilities of the College also offers great opportunity for students and faculty alike.

Today a student chooses his path with on and off campus study, work and play in a highly individual way. There is no sense that sophomores still re-read the awkward prose of a college catalogue to see if she/he fits the narrowly prescribed track to a degree. Take your choice, all male, all female, or coeducational dorms. Live on or off campus. Speak only French. Choose a cluster dormitory, similar to the colleges at Yale where smaller units representing a reasonable cross section of the whole college population take the lost-in-the-crowd aspect out of life. There are 24 overseas locations for study in Europe and Central America principally; there are work programs for credit in Atlanta, Jersey City, and Boston, as well as at locations in Alabama and California.

Through all this change in format and style comes a clear sense of validity in the education available at Dartmouth today. The calibre of the undergraduate seems remarkably high; he is taught to learn while using superb facilities. It is astonishing to me how the computer has come to be the tool of just about all disciplines and how its use by the average undergraduate (if there is such a person) is as everyday as the 1902 Room was some years ago. In sum, you can start thinking about Dartmouth for your own children if you want their college education to do more for them than yours did for you.

At a dinner in San Francisco honoring John Kemeny, there were nearly 350 present and, as my first sample of the Dartmouth spirit of the West, it was impressive. The only classmate I spotted in the turnout (which was such that we were among the older classes, like it or not) was Bill Beagle. News there is that Bill has switched careers from computer marketing to corporate finance with the distinguished banking firm, Dean Witter & Co. Bill and Norma and their four children enjoy the outdoor life style and lots of tennis of California and are looking forward to being in Orinda for a while. They have moved every two years like clockwork up 'til now. Incidentally, Orinda is a town of about 15,000, east of San Francisco across the Bay Bridge and just over the Berkeley hills. For its size, there is a large number of Dartmouth graduates living there, includ- ing Bob Woodberry '54 and Bill Kramer '57.

Bill Carleton will be at Cambridge, England for the summer, returning to Hanover where he is on the Tuck faculty, in the fall. It is being said that very few among the Hanover residents will miss the fall of '72 which brings the class of '76 onto the scene, and Bill is no different in being curious about the reality of freshmen coeds. As a side note, the disappearance of the Indian symbolism has taken Wah-Who-Wah with it, and just in time. A scholar in the crowd has determined that it is Sioux, and not very nice to go about shouting with young ladies present.

Take a moment at the lake, at the shore, or in the mountains while you and your family are travelling this summer to drop a line and let us all know how you are doing. My four-year-old collects postcards and, if that size and style suits you, they'd be gratefully received twice.

Joe Mathewson '55 (I) congratulates AlanPritz '76 of Arlington Heights, Ill., whowon Chicago Club's $1000 scholarship.

Secretary, 112 Amber Valley Dr. Orinda, Calif. 94563

Class Agent, Eli Lilly International Corp. Box 32, Indianapolis, Ind. 46206