Dr. Seuss' Professor

For those who bemoan the fact that a lot of Johnnies really can't read - or write - even on the college level, an encouraging word has been heard of a faculty project at the College. English Professor Peter A. Bien, named in June as the first Ted and Helen Geisel Third Century Professor in the Humanities, is undertaking the development of a system designed to overcome a weakness in grammar observable among some of today's college generation,

The endowed chair, named in honor of Theodor Seuss Geisel '25, known to multitudes of parents and children alike as "Dr. Seuss," and his late wife, carries with it an additional stipend to support educational innovation. Professor Bien will use his, for the duration of the five-year appointment, for two projects: development of year-long interdisciplinary faculty seminars to further the exchange of ideas between academic departments and the adaptation of techniques used in teaching foreign languages to basic grammar instruction in freshman composition courses. The latter, he hopes, may be sufficiently significant to spread to other colleges and secondary schools.

NOBODY has ever had much good to say about the Vice Presidency. John Adams, who served first, said the job was "although laborious ... wholly insignificant." Finley Peter Dunne's satiric Mr. Dooley observed that "It isn't a crime exactly. Ye can't be sint to jail f'r it, but it's a kind iv a disgrace. It's like writin' anonymous letters." And there is John Nance Garner's pithy assessment, which turns out to be even pithier than commonly reported.

On the other hand there have been several Vice Presidents who demonstrated ability in office (of these Jefferson is best known, Thomas Riley Marshall leas: known), and as we are reminded all too often, higher responsibilities are just a "heartbeat away." An infelicitous phrase perhaps, but 13 Vice Presidents have become President, nine on short notice.

Is it not a fair hope that Vice President- designate Rockefeller, Class of 1930, will bring honor and intelligence to his job? | President Ford's not altogether surprisingbut nevertheless pleasing choice of NelsonA. Rockefeller '3O as Vice President setseveral of his classmates and Hanoverfriends to thinking about the undergraduate days of 1926-30. Apocryphalstories abound concerning Rockefeller as akind of campus Horatio-Alger-in-reverse(most of them involve ragged clothes and ameager allowance); and a student com-mentator on WDCR recently reported thatthe FBI, undertaking its clearance check,discovered that his poorest subjects werepolitical science and public speaking. Inany case the following recollections bythree classmates and a teacher reveal abright, well-rounded (if well-heeled), andfriendly student.

NELSON and I roomed together because our mothers thought it -would be a good idea.

Mrs. Rockefeller and my mother were both very active on the National Board of the Y.W.C.A. and were close personal friends. I was the only person going to Dartmouth from my prep school; Nelson came from the Lincoln School with two classmates, Ted Martin and Shelly Stark, but neither of us knew anybody else in the entering class. One day my mother brought me out to Pocantico so that Nelson and I could meet. I apparently passed inspection. For three years we lived in 18 Hitchcock, moving to the C & G House for our senior year.

What was he like as a roommate? Just great. He was always good company, always considerate of others. He was (and is) an extrovert, and had friends throughout the class. The fact that he was a Rockefeller didn't influence his conduct one bit, in fact he seemed quite unaware of the clout that was his to use. Once, when we were particularly fed up with all the wasted effort that went into fraternity rushing, I wrote a letter to The Dartmouth, which we both signed, criticizing the system. He was as amazed as I was when it appeared the next day on the front page of the New York Herald Tribune.

As a student, Nelson was very conscientious, working every night until he had completed his assignments for the following day. Normally, we would both finish about nine o'clock. This was the time when a student vendor would go by outside with "toast sides" and bottles of milk. We would bring these back to our room, and then talk about anything that came into our heads - girls, of course, included. We did speculate occasionally on our respective careers after college; so far as I can remember, Nelson didn't contemplate anything beyond working somewhere in the family activities. He felt very strongly that great wealth carries with it great responsibility, but I do not recall any suggestion that he might at some point turn to a political career. Although I think he ran once for class office (it may have been for vice president!) and lost, he didn't take much interest in campus politics. His popularity in the class was demonstrated, however, by the fact that in the elections for the at-large members of Palaeopitus (the student governing council), the spring of our junior year, he led the field.

JOHN FRENCH '30

MY first introduction to Nellie Rockefeller was during initiation by the sophomores of the freshmen outside Hitchcock Hall in the fall of 1926. Nellie was not to be singled out by anyone; he dressed appropriately for the rough house which followed and participated like the regular fellow he was throughout his four years at Dartmouth.

Nellie was always a good mixer and a gentleman. As a member of the Outing Club, he courageously climbed down over Holt's Ledge in a search for duck hawk eggs during an expedition headed by Professor Charles Proctor. This he accomplished by hanging to a tree at the top of the ledge which appeared to drop down precipitously about 1,000 feet.

One might have expected that he would have a car during his years in college, but this didn't occur until the time of his graduation. He was not a playboy, attended church regularly, and was always an honor to his family. He was industrious and studied late at night, but wasn't a brilliant student. He got good marks by the stint of hard work.

I'm sure that all of us feel that he will be successful in his recent appointment and be a credit to the Class and country.

HERMANN N. SANDER'30

ANY Dartmouth freshman with the name of Rockefeller would have been popular with his classmates. But Nelson quickly earned our respect and our affection by what he was rather than by who he was, and genuinely deserved the popularity he enjoyed throughout the four years. The exuberance, cheerfulness, and friendliness, the ready wit, sharp repartee, and good humor which he demonstrated as political campaigner and governor were

characteristic of him as a student. As son and grandson in the richest family in America, he might have remained aloof from his classmates, possibly being a snob or a social heavyweight, but he was just the opposite: a student involved in many activities, serious in his studies, democratic in principle and action, a genuine egalitarian who knew and liked, I believe, most everyone. It is significant that in illustrations for a parody of Byron's "Don Juan" in the 1930 Aegis, Nelson posed in the role of a grasping taxicab driver.

John French, a Senior Fellow with NelsonRockefeller and current president of hisclass, is a law partner in New York. He isa lifelong Democrat.

Hermann Sander, member of Cabin &Trail and captain of the ski team in hissenior year, is now a physician, semiretired, in Manchester, New Hampshire.