Letters to the Editor

And Other Stories

Ishmael Reed, looking at the visits of Wallace Stegner, John Cheever, Robert Penn Warren, Erskine Caldwell, Bernard Malamud, and John Updike to the campus during his summer writer-in-residency, said, these "white male writers" all "write pretty much the same way." Well, Reed is a very funny writer himself, but you might have trouble recognizing him because all these black writers from James Baldwin to Toni Morrison look pretty much alike.

[We asked Mary McCarthy, a fall-termMontgomery Fellow, what she thought ofReed's comment about the earlier visits of"white male writers who write pretty much thesame way." McCarthy's response: "Is it truethat there were no other women? Is that why Iwas invited? It does seem a bit strange. I don'tthink I would have particularly invited all those people." Ed.]

Versatility

God help the next president of Dartmouth! We are now realizing the truth of the cliche "It's a hard act to follow."

John Kemeny has demonstrated the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of the Incredible Hulk, the flexibility of an Olympic gymnast, the sensitivity of a fine watch, and the soul of Ella Fitzgerald. These qualities plus the ability to listen rather than hear, and to communicate rather than talk have had and will have endless influence on the tremendous young people of this generation.

Our faith in the goals, dedication, and continued judgment of the Board of Trustees has never been stronger. And we are forever appreciative of and grateful for John's and Jean's inexhaustible contributions to the College.

Pasadena, Calif.

I take issue with George Collins '34 [September letter "Changes"]. President Kemeny is far more than "an able technician and teacher of mathematics." He is a scientist, philosopher, and able administrator. It is futile to compare him with Ernest Martin Hopkins. Each is the product of his times, of the forces peculiar to his age. Moreover, to the credit of our respected incumbent should be remembered the perseverance and stamina with which he overcame the difficulties of his early highschool school training in this country, coping successfully with unfamiliar customs, a strange educational system, and a foreign language.

Our president is a beneficiary (and a notable one), like President Hopkins, of the great tradition of the liberal arts and sciences. He has shown the mature and balanced judgment of the humanist, the flexibility, open-mindedness, and vision of the scientist. With his balance and maturity of judgment he has steered the College through a decade fraught with difficult problems, culminating in fruitful, constructive change. His deep understanding and power of organization gave brilliant direction to the Three Mile Island nuclear commission. Nor let us forget his grand sense of humor, mark of our ablest leaders.

Lastly, let his successor be not necessarily a Dartmouth man, as happy as that would make us. Let us not fall into parochial habits! Vivat John Kemeny!

Concord, Mass.

Public Defenders

In the letters-to-the-editor section of your September issue, there seemed to be quite a bit of objection to your more recent covers, particularly the African one last May.

It's interesting that I was moved to sit down and actually read that very issue for the first time in the many years we've been receiving the magazine. Maybe unconsciously I have felt excluded by the College's insistence on traditional and typical imagery.

That issue also offered the article "In Two Worlds," which inspired me to write a letter-to-the-editor, and Professor Alverson was kind enough to answer it.

I love the cover on the September issue and think a work of art has a right to express itself in any way it wants to. Dartmouth is more than the physical plant itself. It's a warehouse of fine minds and the magazine a wholesale outlet for distribution and sharing with others for whom actual attendance at Dartmouth is and was an impossibility in any practical or retail sense.

in response to Professor Alverson's response, I know Dartmouth exists as a sensate fact and that it comes to me now in the shape of a magazine. But the way I view it in my imagination is as "a warehouse of fine minds" that doesn't exist at all. So which is the real Dartmouth?

Wilton, Conn.

Let me rise to your defense to counter the criticisms of fellow alumni Collins and Zimmerman [letters, September issue].

I believe I know something of special-interest publications, having edited and published some dozen community newspapers, three trade magazines and even, briefly, a newspaper for a half-way house for ex-convicts. Today I publish a business newsletter, am a contributing editor for a trade magazine, write editorials for a newspaper, have two books in print, and teach journalism.

Certainly, there's much in your columns which is abhorrent to me personally. I considered the suppression of R.O.T.C. stupid, for instance. If the College rejects a military role for its spawn, then it can hardly object if the troops sent to control some future riot are led by the likes of Lieutenant Calley. The fracas over the Indian symbol is equally silly. Recently, a high school near Peoria had to give up the name Chinks, despite the fact that the two oriental students enrolled were not among those who found it objectionable. Our ability to detect perceived discrimination is only exceeded by our talent for self-defeating flagellation.

However, in the past I too often found your magazine so predictable that I could, without disturbing my conscience, safely ignore it. Covers of the campus, showing it in summer, fall, winter, and spring, with and without duckboards, added to the impression of predictability.

I find I can't ignore you anymore. If your columns are occasionally exasperating, they are also informative and vital and endlessly amusing. You've become must reading, which is your purpose and no small feat. Don't let them get you down!

Barrington, Ill.

I have a few comments to make regarding the recent criticism of the editorship of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, and especially of its selection of cover photographs. To me, Professor Alverson's picture of a Tswana family says "Dartmouth" just as much as any shot of Dartmouth Row or Baker Tower. I studied with Professor Alverson at Dartmouth and read his book about the Tswana, Mind in the Heart ofDarkness, shortly after it was published. I believe the ALUMNI MAGAZINE should remind alumni of their experiences at Dartmouth but then let all segments of the alumni body be represented. Let women athletes see women's sports in its pages, let Native Americans see the annual pow-wow, let anthropologists see professors carrying out field work in Botswana, and, in addition to pictures of Dartmouth Row, let us see Hopkins Center, Kiewit, Channing Cox, and the Student Cooperative House. The people, events, and places that alumni recall when they think of Dartmouth are as varied as the alumni themselves.

But even more to the point, Dartmouth is not static. An alumni magazine that only invoked memories of the past would be missing out on another of its essential functions reporting on what is currently happening at Dartmouth. As the years go by I expect to see fewer familiar sights and faces in the pages of the ALUMNIMAGAZINE. I don't bemoan this; rather, I look forward to learning how things are changing, what new fields are being studied, what new opportunities exist for students at Dartmouth. After all, we don't read the class notes columns to hear over and over again "how good it was back when we were at Dartmouth." We read to find out what classmates are doing now. Let's allow the College the same opportunities to change and grow.

Seattle, Wash

Sisters and Brothers

Many thanks to Cobra for the new verse to "Men of Dartmouth." It fits perfectly with the spirit of the song yet makes a much-needed statement. I once again want to sing this song.

At my graduation in 1979, I stood out of respect and love for Dartmouth while my classmates sang the alma mater, yet I did not link arms to sway and sing with them. It seemed that President Kemeny was looking directly at me, wondering why that single spot in the sea of graduates was not swaying. Earlier that spring, I had attended Hums on Green Key weekend, the first year the event was moved from the steps of Dartmouth Hall to those of Phi Delt. Wearing red and black, I joined a group of similarly dressed protesters in a silent presence near the Hums participants. My reasons were partially personal and partially experimental as I was enrolled in Phil 20, "Feminism and Sexual Politics," that spring. As our group moved closer to the steps where some of the singers made their cuts at women and gays, several fraternity men linked arms in front of us, at times using physical force against us, to form a wall between us and the performers. (For live-action photos, see the June 19, 1979, edition of Esquire if you haven't already.) Soon they and the rest of the crowd broke into a vicious singing of "Men of Dartmouth," forcing us away from our own college with our own song. I decided to let them have the song until the present since the new verse says all I hoped to accomplish by attending that protest.

Most likely, some will not be satisfied until all traces of "men of' are gone. I imagine that will happen in time.

Brighton, Mass.

Bewildered

We were bewildered that your article, "Another Perspective," concerning the new student newspaper, The Dartmouth Review, did not include the story that the College has threatened to initiate legal proceedings against the newspaper. Why has the administration declared in writing that it plans to sue (and stifle?) The Dartmouth Review, an organ of student opinion run by students. This appears to be rather strong action, "outside of the Dartmouth family," to take against a fledgling organization. Do not the editors of this magazine consider that to be of interest to the alumni?

New York, N. Y.

[ln August, when the article in question waswritten, the ALUMNI MAGAZINE was not awareof potential legal proceedings involving theCollege and The Dartmouth Review - in partbecause the editor of the Review had enjoinedall members of his staff from discussing anysuch matter with the ALUMNI MAGAZINE. Hisreason: alleged "gross conflicts of interest" onthe part of our writer. For a report on recentdevelopments, see page 25. Ed.]

Done

In the galaxy of devoted Dartmouth alumni none rank higher than Pete Bogardus '51, who directed the September 5-7, 1980, Dartmouth Alumni Seminar in the Bay area. His vivacity, creativeness, and elan made it outstanding. Pete Bogardus represents the very best of Dartmouth. It's about time we told him.

San Francisco, Calif.

Into the Future

The love which Dartmouth alumni profess for their college evidently stems from their undergraduate days. The undergraduates today revere Dartmouth as much as do their predecessors, albeit their experience differs. Is it not that which is most important? Whatever your views of President Kemeny, coeducation, and the Indian symbol, recognize that that which you held dearly as an undergraduate may not be so held by today's undergraduates. Reminiscing is fun but hardly productive. Let us step back to the past but stride forward into the future. I anticipate many years of unswerving devotion to the College despite the many changes to come.

Norwich, Vt.

Manners

For the first time in my life, I was ashamed of my college this past weekend when I attended the Dartmouth-U.N.H. football game in Hanover.

A shameful incident occurred while the splendid U.N.H. band was serenading the Dartmouth stands between the halves and suddenly several hundred Dartmouth students (freshmen?) poured onto the field from the New Hampshire side and raced around the U.N.H. band, yelling and screaming so loud that the band could not be heard. Not once, but several times, they circled the group.

My embarrassment was multiplied because my guest at the game was my very old and good friend, Marsh Campbell, U.N.H. '25, a former football star at that sister college. His involuntary remark "that's disgusting" hit the nail on the head.

The worst thing about the whole thing was that it must have been organized by someone or some group.

I believe the College owes U.N.H. an apology.

Chatham, Mass.

[ln recent years the Dartmouth freshmen havebeen given to pouring out of the east stands athalftime and, as a display of spirit andsolidarity, forming their class numerals on thefield - sometimes during the performance ofthe visiting band. During the U.N.H. game, ahandful of campus police tried to head offseveral hundred 'B4s, with the result as notedabove. Ed.]

Oak Hill

Several years ago, the ALUMNI MAGAZINE noted the impending demise of the Oak Hill ski area in Hanover, due chiefly to the fact that the area was becoming increasingly burdensome in operating costs to Dartmouth College, the deterioration of the ancient J-bar lift, and the problems with grading and maintaining the trails and slopes at Oak Hill. The report also noted that the increased popularity of the Dartmouth Skiway in nearby Lyme removed much of the pressure for maintaining Oak Hill as a Dartmouth College ski facility.

I am delighted now to update that report by advising that the Ford Sayre Ski Council, a local non-profit organization in Hanover, has recently entered into a long-term lease agreement with the College for the use of Oak Hill as a community ski area, with particular emphasis on the teaching of skiing to Hanover area youngsters through the regular winter training programs conducted by the Ford Sayre Council.

Spurred on by a $20,000 grant from the Town of Hanover, the Ford Sayre Council has also approved a special fund-raising campaign to seek $50,000 for the purchase of a T-bar lift, for renovation to the trails and slopes at Oak Hill, and for initial operating costs. As part of this campaign it has been decided to seek gifts in honor of the late John J. Boardman Jr. '51, who died tragically from a heart attack a year ago in California and who, through the Ford Sayre Ski Council, learned to ski as a young man here in Hanover. One of the trails at Oak Hill will be named in honor of and as a tribute to John Boardman.

Work on the installation of a T-bar lift and on the necessary improvements to trails and slopes is now underway at Oak Hill, and the Ford Sayre Council expects to have the area fully operational for the coming winter season.

Hanover, N.H.

Art and Censorship

In response to the letter by Al Hormel '44 in your October issue, I don't think there is any inconsistency between the present policy regarding the Humphrey murals in the Hovey Grill and the president's statements concerning censorship of art if one understands that a decision was made to a) treat the murals as part of the College's art collection and b) not use them as the decor for a room that must be used for dining during part of the year. A very large proportion perhaps 90 to 95 per cent of the College's art collection is in storage at any given time and thus unavailable to the public, but no one would describe that situation as

"censorship of art." In the case of the Humphrey murals, it was determined that removal for storage would almost certainly have resulted in damage to the murals. Under those circumstances it seemed both appropriate and prudent to store the murals "in place" when they are not being exhibited, and this is accomplished by covering them with panels that permit display of other paintings in that room.

The Hovey Grill was normally locked last spring for the same reasons that it has always been locked during every term for more than a decade when it is not actually "in use." So that represents no change in policy. All a visitor need do to gain access is to ask at the desk, just as he or she would have done in years past during off hours. It is true that there was no sign at the entrance last spring giving that information, but there will be in the future.

Hanover, N.H.

[A. Alexander Fanelli is executive assistant toPresident Kemeny. Ed.]

The Symbol (cont.)

The controversy regarding the College symbol is still grumbling along, and I have wondered if a compromise might be made to satisfy all parties. Perhaps the Dartmouth Indian symbol should be the tomahawk, and the teams could then be called the Tomahawks, or the Tommies, or the Hawks or even the D.T.s, to satisfy the students living on Webster Avenue. At any rate, it is a subject that is certainly not dying out, and is one I think men of good will should try to agree upon. I can see no demeaning of the Native American by having the athletic symbol of the College a weapon which was greatly feared by other Indian tribes as well as white men.

As for "Eleazar Wheelock," the substitution of one word might solve that dilemma. In the second verse, instead of "ten squaws and more to come," substitute "ten scalps and more to come." Certainly the sign of triumph over enemies should not be insulting to even the thinnest-skinned Native American. It is sad to junk one of America's most unique and fun-to-sing college songs. So Dartmouth alumni lyricists, get going.

New Bern, N.C.

This is a letter-to-the-editor which I thought would amuse your readers. I applied for and received two tickets to the Dartmouth-William and Mary football game to be played on October 11. What do you know but that William and Mary is known as the Indian College, or rather "the home of the Indians." If you don't believe it I attach one of the tickets as I won't be able to attend the game. Where does this place Dartmouth in regard to the Indian symbol? Did William and Mary take it away from us or did we give in to some vocal minority pressure?

I was a good friend of Frell Owl, one of Dartmouth's great Indians and in my class. I'm sure that he could have cared less about action to abolish the symbol. He did say at one time that "wah-hoo-wah" meant something unprintable in Cherokee, but what of it Cherokee is not an international language.

New York, N.Y.

Habitual readers of letters-to-the-editor are familiar with the efforts of other educational institutions to find school symbols and nicknames which are unobjectionable to all. One school's solution led me to think about our own situation, and the results of my research are laid out below.

The Illinois town of Pekin feels an. affinity for the city of China with a similar name. Some time ago, therefore, the town high school decided to call its teams the Pekin Chinks. (How's that for a p.r. problem?)

In August, however, the high school responded to unrelenting pressure and changed its nickname to the Pekin Dragons. A clever switch which maintains the Chinese connection, parade-wise.

This news item got me thinking about the College. Dartmouth Dragons. Not bad. Has a good ring to it, and it intimidates. But my research unearthed no connection between Dartmouth and dragons.

As I pondered the question, my eyes settled on another word on that page of the dictionary I was consulting: dragoons. The Dartmouth Dragoons. Troops on horseback. An image to strike terror in the hearts of opponents, regardless of the sport. And since dragoons were around at the time the College was founded, one could argue for an historical connection.

But it bothered me that I couldn't find record that King George's dragoons ever trod the Green; and if a school symbol is to be effective it must have some basis in fact. So I kept digging. I learned that "dragoon" is a corruption of "dragon," and originally was the name given to a new kind of musket, so-called from its "breathing fire" like a dragon.

Now I felt I was on to something. Fire. Smoke. The outlands of 18th-century colonial America. People gathered around a campfire - then it came to me! Let's call ourselves the Dartmouth Indians!

Chicago, Ill.

The ALUMNI MAGAZINE welcomes comment from its readers. For publication, letters should be signed and addressed specifically to the Magazine (not copies of communications to other organizations or individuals). Letters exceeding 400 words in length will be condensed by the editors.