Letters to the Editor

Lunatic Delinquency

TO THE EDITOR:

Although the delay on this letter is considerable, our need to speak out is not thereby diminished in the least. The focus of our concern is the address given by Chip Reese in the Bema on Class Day, Friday, 8 June 1973. But, in a larger sense, we speak of two intertwined aspects of our "Dartmouth experience:" coeducation and the Big Greener, or, with all due respect for "tradition," the new vs. the old Dartmouth.

After having heard Chip Reese's speech and having observed the general reaction it evoked from many of our fellow classmates - nervous chuckles to loud guffaws - there could be no doubt in our minds that there were certain irreconcilable differences between ourselves and a large segment of our class. Chip Reese spoke to the Big Greeners, about the Big Greeners, for the Big Greeners, making the frivolous and quite inaccurate assumption that all those present were in accord with the general tenor of his remarks. With silent disgust we watched him beaming with smug self-satisfaction, as he recounted with pride the bold adventures of the Big Green horde. If he occasionally neglected the juicy details, his innuendoes clearly indicated his opinions concerning such events as the Bones Gate Halloween "skit" of October 1972, the Woodward Hall letter of April 1973, and the Butterfield-Beta incident of May 1973. (For the uninitiated, these events involved a puerile and obscene public performance - considerably poorer in quality or merit, than, shall we say, The Miller's Tale - and general harassment of coeds.)

Having endured this disgusting and juvenile display, we left the Bema with the discomforting awareness that, for many of our classmates, these incidents, these spasmodic eruptions of hysterical and lunatic delinquency, formed the backbone of the Great Dartmouth Tradition; and the perpetrators of these less-than-enlightened acts thus the true and worthy sons of Dartmouth.

Although we did not speak out on those occasions, nor on the occasion of Chip Reese's fine speech, we would like here to register our own contempt for that speech and for everything that he and the archetypal Big Greener represent. For us, the Big Greener stands for no great tradition, he is no real heir to the stuff of which the College is made. Rather, the Big Greener is quite the opposite. He is an animal, who grovels in a morass of perverted, parochial, and archaic perceptions of human society and sexuality. He is one who treats females in general, and female students at the College in particular, with ridicule, as subhumans, as mere instruments for the satisfaction of physical desire. It is this same Big Greener who views as traitors to the College those who believe that students, as young adults, should conduct themselves with a certain amount of respect for others and regard members of the opposite sex as fully endowed with certain inalienable rights ...; be able to attend football games without risking or threatening others with bodily harm; and recognize the need for and legality of disciplinary action in cases where the community's normal standards of conduct have been violated too often or too far.

We do hope that the incidents of the past year are the final convulsive death throes of the Big Greener, that with the increasing distance we put between ourselves and the heyday of the Big Greener the College will more easily be able to carry on with its learning business. Further, we hope that Year-Round Operation, off-campus programs, and coeducation will foster a new spirit of social consciousness and communal responsibility in the College that will replace the Big Greener mentality. And we hope that all members of the Dartmouth community, including the alumni, will do something in his or her own way to nurture that new spirit.

Wilmette, I11.Erie, Pa.

Leadership in Responsibility

TO THE EDITOR:

I have just read the latest (June 1973) AlumniMagazine about the "obscene letters under the doors" at the women's dorm. Woodward Hall; and President Kemeny's remarks.

About the time the Magazine must have been in the presses, I received an Alumni Fund flier calling for contributions as a token of Dartmouth leadership in responsibility. Almost in the same breath, the flier made much ado of a recent "Dartmouth triumph" of bravery and courage in lauding the film "Last Tango."

I decided for "leadership in responsibility" and sent my alumni contribution to the organizations CITIZENS FOR DECENT LITERATURE and STOP IMMORALITY ON TV.

I hope for better days at Dartmouth.

Hollywood, Md.

In the Wah Hoo

TO THE EDITOR:

In reference to the allusion that Wah Hoo Wah has a dirty connotation, there have been many surreptitious questions as to its meaning. The Shadow knows!

A non-Dartmouth retired admiral told me that while threading his way across a Wisconsin pasture his Cherokee companion warned him not to step in the Wah Hoo. It is not so bad, is it?

All right. Now we can relax. Exhale.

Carmel, Calif.

Certain Ethical Questions

TO THE EDITOR:

I have written the following to the manager of the Hanover Inn: "Dear Sir: On the bank of the Connecticut River north of Brattleboro and visible from Rt. 91 is a large Hanover Inn sign. Although legal, the sign misses certain ethical questions.

"The sign contravenes the effort of the people of Vermont to prevent the visual pollution of our scenic resources.

"I should like to suggest that you review the benefit of this sign to Dartmouth College."

If the sign is not removed, I have a concern which I would like to express to other alumni via the Alumni Magazine.

Brookline, Mass.

(Editor's note: Robert Merrow, Manager of the Hanover Inn, announced last spring that the roadside billboards would come down as soon as the contracts expire, thereby ending visual pollution ... and saving a hefty sum of money.)

Or Fay Wray

TO THE EDITOR:

Oh. well, at least it wasn't Jane Fonda.

Baltimore. Md.

(Editor's note: Mr. Holin presumably refers to the honorary degree awarded to Shirley MacLaine at Commencement in June.)

Loyal Opposition

TO THE EDITOR:

There have been a few letters in recent issues of the Alumni Magazine denouncing the Dartmouth Alumni Trust. This trust was formed by very loyal Dartmouth men who felt that their voices in College matters were going completely unheard. This is a group of recent graduates, including a large portion of last year's football team, and not graduates from much older classes who might be expected to have more reactionary viewpoints.

This is a charitable trust and all monies will go to the College. If enough alumni contribute to the College through this trust their joint effort will hopefully have some influence on College decisions with which they are concerned.

I corresponded at length with officials of the College objecting to numerous changes which I felt were detrimental to the College. While these letters and personal visits were acknowledged, I know they had little impact. The purpose of this trust is to combine these "individual voices crying in the wilderness" into a body of opinion that can be effective. In no way are the operators of this trust or those that contribute any less loyal than those who gave directly to the Alumni Fund!

Sunapee, N.H.

Fifth Down Revisited

TO THE EDITOR:

Here's a future headline and news item:

Cornell Wants Re-Count

Ithaca, N.Y. November 15, 1983 Cornell has protested Dartmouth's 21-19 football victory last Saturday when it became known that Margie Smith, the Big Green's field goal and PAT kicker, was pregnant when she scored the three important PATs. Cornell claimed twelve "men" on the field.

Troy, N.Y.

Other Sports

TO THE EDITOR:

Being a daughter of a devoted Dartmouth graduate, I sat down to read your AlumniMagazine recently. When I got to an article titled "Big Green Teams," I found it very distressing that "girls sports" were not given good coverage. In fact, they were given two small paragraphs under the heading of "other sports." Were the girls tennis and lacrosse teams not considered varsity sports? I know that both teams, especially the tennis team, were outstanding. Since Dartmouth is now coeducational, I think it's about time that women were given equal coverage.