1962

William S. Shanahan has been appointed vice president and general manager of worldwide operations, of Helena Rubinstein Inc., and a vice president of the parent company, Colgate- Palmolive. After graduating from Dartmouth, Bill received a graduate degree in geography (an early indication, perhaps, of an adventuresome spirit) at the University of California, then attended the International Christian University in Tokyo where he completed his master's thesis. He followed this with a two- year stint in the Philippines, playing basketball. In 1965, Bill joined Colgate-Palmolive, starting in Harlem, N.Y., as a salesman. After six months, he was moved to Canada where he spent nine months in product management. Then he went to Mexico with the company for five years with the marketing division, and in 1972 he was moved to Brazil with a promotion to president of Colgate-Palmolive Brazil. Bill returned to New York in July 1977 as vice president-general manager of Colgate's marketing service division, and in October 1978 received his current promotion. Married and divorced (all past history now), Bill has been keeping in there with his basketball, enjoys "lots of beer after the games," and takes on a little mountain climbing as extra challenge.

In April 1978 we covered some events in the lives of Steve Kimbell and Doug Taylor. As an update, we hear that Steve, his wife Pat, and son Kenneth, born July 31, 1977, are enjoying life in Shreveport, La., where Steve is a doctor in the Air Force.

Doug Taylor, his wife Missy, and their son Darin have settled in Kansas City. Doug is professor of drama at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, where he relocated after a year spent at Ithaca College. Prior to that, Doug had been the lighting designer at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth. He teaches classes in technical theater and has charge over all technical production of the University and the Missouri Repertory Theater, a professional theater troupe in Kansas City affiliated with the University.

News came in about Tom Cutter and his efforts in promoting the two businesses he heads in the New England area. Cutter Firebrick Co. of Waltham, Mass., builds and services furnaces, boilers, and incinerators, and has a 20-25 per cent share of the New England refractories market. The other business developed when the increasing volume of sales to individual potters who wandered in to buy brick and bulk materials led to the establishment of a ceramics supply company. When seeking to expand the refractories market in 1977, Tom successfully landed some big construction contracts in New York, but was clobbered by what he termed "the fault of restrictive union policies in Suffolk County, Long Island." Payoffs, poor productivity, having to hire a second union driver when they already had their own Teamster - and other problems of like nature - all resulted in an unprofitable and exasperating experiment. The result was that Tom cut his losses and got out of New York.

Tom then decided to concentrate on expanding the ceramics supply business by expansion and acquisition, including the purchase of Newton Potters Supply. Cutter now enjoys approximately 50 per cent of the ceramics market and has projections for sales volume of over $1 million. The combination of the two businesses works very well, as ownership of his fleet of trucks gives Cutter the ability to piggyback ceramics deliveries. Also, the slow part of the ceramics season coincides with the boom season in the industrial furnace and boiler business when construction work reaches peak volume in the summer months. Tom lives with his wife and three children in Weston, Mass.

I could hardly believe my eyes when an article appeared in the San Francisco paper stating that the Trustees at Dartmouth have given the fraternity system a year to reform or it will be banned. Actually, the decision by the Board to put the system on what amounts to an indefinite period of probation is more moderate than the abolition recommended by the faculty. The fraternity system has been charged with promoting racism, sexism, and the abuse of alcohol, and in their official statement the Trustees said they share the faculty's concerns. However, the statement also calls attention to "a process of constructive self-evaluation by the fraternities" and commends the Interfraternity Council for recognizing that reforms need to be made. Both the fraternity overseers and the faculty are charged with monitoring progress over the next year, and the Trustees warned the houses that if "significant changes are not occuring," or if the "rate of change is unacceptable slow, then the Board will be prepared to vote on the abolition of the system."

I personally had an opportunity to speak with David McLaughlin, the president of the Board of Trustees, in San Francisco a few weeks before the Trustees met. At that time he indicated that while there was concern for the fraternities, it did not seem that drastic action was imminent. I really do not know all the facts at this time. However, my initial personal reaction is that abolition of fraternities and sororities would be a severe blow to Dartmouth as we know it. I would be interested in hearing your comments on this subject.

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