1941

The class project, "Is There Life After Dartmouth?" drew a bumper crop of students to its candid discussions of careers with alumni and may produce a continuing version in which all classmates could take part. Would you be willing to talk with a student or recent graduate about aspects of your field, the advantages/disadvantages, and the life-style flowing from it?

The size of the task of affording these young men and women some hopefully meaningful look into the workaday world may be expressed by noting that the 160 man-hours given by visiting alumni is just a beginning. This was an overnight event in Hanover January 18/19, and emphasized the students' privilege of popping candid questions. Following a panel presenting the 15 alumni to about 400 coming to Center Theater, there were career seminars in a dozen fields, in which the visitors talked with small groups of students, answering questions and telling about our fields, discussing college curricula, grad school and the like. The next day, we talked with individuals in even greater detail.

Some students wanted details on various pursuits (What are the differences between publishing and printing? How to get started in a writing career? Is grad school a help in getting a newspaper job? What are the chances of working in publishing in New England?) There were at least as many questions on how to go about getting a job. Since some fields recruit most haphazardly or not at all, while others often tend to present a canned, pink-cloud pitch, this question triggered the thought that alumni contacts available all over the country could help students, while home on vacations, while studying away from the campus, and while looking for a job or shaking down choice of a career. Ours and the other classes represent an immense pool of talent and experience, so that this project could function best thus on a year-round basis. In shaking down thoughts, in looking for opportunities, we in general counseled seeing as many people as possible, and you could be one of those taking a helpful (and appreciated) part.

There is something of a network now, since a number of Dartmouth clubs have job placement chairmen, so the thought of everyone a potential participant is to intensify that effort. The College has also been developing career/job finding activities and has started to list openings, fellowships, summer jobs, internships and the like.

Some students talked at length, and a couple hung on for a good-humored late beer-cum-rap session, but the time one could give an individual was essentially very limited. The students' interest argues vividly for continuing the event in Hanover and putting it on a year-round basis elsewhere.

Our forces included George Herman, who told some absorbing stories about his career with CBS and touched on the varied nature of a reporter's week; Ed McMillan discussed the pros and cons of working in a large corporation; Chuck Bolte, now a free-lance writer and publishing consultant, offered some lightly wry stories on an unusual career in the public sector; Charlie McLane talked of opportunities in teaching and said the excellence of one's education in Hanover is an invaluable asset; to illustrate the half-mad, half deliberate nature of publishing, deponent told a Vermont story; and, recounting a naughty irreverent yarn touching on current politics, Bruce Freidlich, brought down the house.

Others on the panel included Martha Fransson, '70T, first woman graduate of Tuck, on banking; Dr. Alan A. Rozycki, '61 a Hanover doctor and once an exceptional half-back; John Kimball Jr. '43, law; and the Rev. Arthur M. Brown '43, religion. Also represented were social work and government. Four panelists were from the Class of '65. Thomas B. Berdeja, '74, senior class president, presided, the event being sponsored on the campus by the undergraduate classes and Green Key.

Since '41 founded this project, and in order to take the financial load off the students and the College, our class funds supported this event. Aside from the Alumni Magazine subscriptions, this and the book purchases for Baker Library are the projects where class moneys are being spent. A savings certificate is being acquired because the class income needs to be increased. Another class project, planned to benefit the students, is in the works.

Now, instead of just helping by paying class dues, for these reasons, classmates may also help immeasurably by taking part in career counseling programs, steers, tips, dates with other appropriate people, rap sessions, and so on. There is an immense opportunity here and much will flow through local clubs' job placement chairmen, as well as efforts by the College. They used to say that we were among the indifferent, but I do wisht you fellers could of ben along and seen what went on in Hanover.

Secretary, Box 108, Concord, N.H. 03301

Treasurer, 140 Steeplechase Road, Devon, Pa. 19333