1975
It was not too long ago that Nelson A. Rockefeller passed away. To him there were tributes and testimonials from world leaders, celebrities, politicians, and other luminaries. All spoke of the great accomplishments and tremendous generosity of this man. For some reason, however, many people, particularly those in the printed media, felt the need to stress that Mr. Rockefeller failed to achieve his most important objective - that of the Presidency of the United States. One national magazine headlined its "tribute": "The Champ Who Never Made It."
The fact remains, in spite of all those who perceive his "failure" as the singularly important aspect of his life, that Nelson Rockefeller had a tremendous impact on the diplomatic, cultural, and political life of the world. To bring all this closer to home, Mr. Rockefeller did a lot for Dartmouth. Few of us have any idea as to what he did financially for Dartmouth. No building on campus bears his name. As far as I know, there are no professorships attached to the Rockefeller name. Nonetheless, he was an alumnus who represented his alma mater with dignity and pride. We are fortunate that Dartmouth chose him and that he chose Dartmouth.
The month of March is not unlike November in the sense that both are purely rotten. In November we are anticipating winter and it is the beginning of the end. In March we are awaiting spring, and yet it never seems to come. But cheer up. It won't be long now.
The months between November and March are good ones for mail - probabiy because no one has anything else to do. At any rate, on with the news.
Chris Carlson recently sent the following chronicle of his activities since graduation: "Following graduation in 1975, we (Christopher Carlson and Randy Harshbarger) dedicated ourselves to making a long overland journey. We each worked for a year and saved money before the meeting in Paris in June 1976. Our primary areas of interest were Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Africa. In each place we studied language, history, and culture to the end of better understanding their peoples and ourselves. We were fortunate to find work-settlements in Italy, Syria, Israel, and Rwanda and to reach the summit of Africa's greatest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro, in July 1977. We concluded our journey of a year and a half with a 1200-mile passage on the Zaire River to Kinshasa and we returned to this country in December 1977. With greater vision we have now begun new studies, Chris in filmmaking, Randy, in law, in New York City. There are plans for the next journey."
My old Washington, D.C., Watergate-summer roommate, Bill Barmeier, has finally surfaced in California with some news about himself. "Following graduation, I headed off to Stanford University with the idea of pursuing a law degree. Well, along the way at Stanford, I was attracted to the business school as well - and consequently, this June (1979) I'll graduate with both a J.D. and an M.B.A. Doing this has involved a fair amount of work - but I've found plenty of distractions in Sunny California to keep me in good spirits.
"I'll be taking the bar exam this July and after an extended vacation, I'll be starting work next fall. I've accepted a position with Pettit & Martin, one of the large law firms in San Francisco. I'm very pleased with the opportunity and will enjoy remaining in the Bay Area.
"Though I've been on the West Coast for nearly four years now, I really don't feel I've lost touch with the College. Indeed, you wouldn't believe the number of '75s I've encountered out here. For the last two years I headed up the Dartmouth Club of Stanford (a club of nearly 80 Big Greeners), and out of this group alone there are: Jeff Walker, Mitch Olson, Jeff Morris, Rich Lifton, Paul Roberts, Bob Bell, Jim Connor, Dave Wendell, Scott Lockridge, Greg Hakanen, Blake Winchell and I'm sure I'm missing a few."
Back in November Bruce Anthony and Jeanne Sassone were married in Lynnfield, Mass. Bruce is employed by Diamond Inter- national in Wakefield, Mass. Currently, Bruce and Jeanne are living in Lynn. John Carsterns recently became engaged to Jan Synakowski of New Hartford, N.Y. Jan is a graduate of Smith and is attending SUNY Upstate Medical Center of Syracuse University. John is employed by Hamilton Standard of Hartford, Conn.
Jim Marion, a former resident of Chicopee, Mass., and now living in Stafford, Va., recently heard that he had passed the Massachusetts bar exam. He graduated from Western New England Law School last June.
Andy Johnson was the Democratic contender for a seat in the 19th District of Florida's House of Representatives. He was elected with 70 per cent of the vote and became the youngest member ever elected.
Doug Peterson is competing for a slot on the U.S. Olympic Team which will participate in the winter games in Lake Placid in 1980. He is presently on the five-man U.S. National A Team which is competing on the World Cup cross-country racing circuit in Europe.
That's all for this month. All you golfers take heart - opening day is just around the corner!
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