1974
From the XIII Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y., came news of Don Nielsen, who participated in the ten-kilometer biathlon, placing 44th in a field of 50 with a time of 38:51.02. The race was won by East German Frank Ullrich in 32:10.69. While Don's time was far off the medal pace, his participation in the event is indicative of rising interest in all of the winter events here in the United States, and the class expresses its congratulations on his participation and best wishes for future races. Don's picture also appeared just prior to the Olympics in the Valley News in connection with his participation in an experiment at the Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover. The experiment centered on why shooting accuracy drops when the temperature reaches below zero.
Don had some thoughts about the biathlon. "There are a lot of things on your mind out there. You want to make sure you have the right wax on your skis and that your rifle is zeroed. And, when you have it zeroed and you have controlled all the fickle variables, it's a great feeling. It's like having an eagle flying over your head."
As promised in last month's column, here are the adventures of Mark Thomas, who took a leave of absence from his job as senior accountant for Price Waterhouse in Chicago and headed off around the world. At the first stop on his travels he met Holger Liepmann, who works for Cutter Labs, and the two of them spent a week in Mexico, visiting Mexico City and working their way across to Acapulco.
After a flight back to Los Angeles, Mark was on his way to New Zealand, where he spent a week touring both the north and south islands. He was impressed by the country's natural beauty; "the topography reminded me of a scaled-down Switzerland." Mark then flew on to Melbourne, meeting Bruce Kimball '73 for a bicycle trip up the-coast to Brisbane, covering about 1,300 miles. "The Australians are incredibly friendly and do drink quite a lot of beer many times we needed the entire day of bicycling to 'dry out.' " Mark said the cycling was more difficult than his previous trip across the United States, as the Australian coast from Melbourne to Sydney is quite rugged and hilly.
From Australia, Mark flew to Hawaii, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and New Delhi, spending two or three days in each city, "Each city . . . had a special and unique flavor, but I thought the Indian countryside around Delhi was one of the most poverty-stricken places on earth it was very depressing." From Delhi, Mark flew on to Europe and stayed with Tuck classmates for a week in France, then went home to Chicago and work.
Mark hopes to get together with Gregg Kelley and Bill Perell for a camping adventure soon. He also reported Gregg's time for last year's Birkebeiner ski race: about four-and-ahalf hours, a respectable time for a 55-kilometer race. Gregg plans to go back this year to improve his time, while Mark has retired from this activity.
Philip Smyth married Susan Silhavy (Mount Holyoke '73) last August 25 in Madison, Conn. Philip, a graduate of the University of Connecticut Law School, practices with the New Haven firm of Thompson, Weir, and Barclay. Susan, who attended the College as part of the exchange program in 1972, teaches vocal music in West Hartford. Among those attending the ceremony were Tuck Bailey '73 and Dave Sullivan '73.
Among recent news clips was the announcement of the engagement of Adrienne Halpern and David Sugerman. Adrienne is a graduate of Yale and, along with Dave, a member of the class of 'BO at New York University School of Law. Dave served as assistant press secretary to former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis. He expects to join the firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham, and Taft upon graduation from N.Y.U., where he is currently a Root-Tilden Scholar and a member of the law review.
A dues notice from Jack Thomas in St. Louis brought news of several classmates. Among others, he saw Ken Canfield when Ken visited St. Louis. Jack claims that Ken "was amazed by this city and had a few local 'brews.' " Jack also mentioned that Steve Bell periodically visits St. Louis in the course of clerking for Judge Lay, chief judge of the Eighth Circuit (Federal Court). During the fall Jack went to West Lafayette and saw Tom Eggleston for a big Purdue football game. Jack's comment on the class project: "Good luck I suggest paying off the Alumni Magazine." Words of wisdom from our past class treasurer!
Charles Ziese wrote that he and Carolyn are still living in New York City, where he is a vice president in the public finance department of E. F. Hutton. He claims that work has him on the road three or four days per week and he figures to hit the million-mile travel mark in about two years. Carolyn is employed by a company which places Latin American guaranteed debt. They bought a co-op in Brooklyn last May and Charles says that he has finally stopped living out of boxes!
A short note from Paul Dixon's mother let us know that Paul is spending the winter in Ger- many again in Selb this year playing hockey.
Rafael Castillo is on the last lap of his doctoral dissertation at St. Anthony's College, Oxford, England. He still longs for the days spent in Alpha Chi Alpha.
That's it for April keep the good news coming!
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