Chopping Champs
THE Board of Trustees has decided not to seat the winner of the recent contest for alumni trustee, Dr. John F. Steel '54, pending an investigation by the Association of Alumni of allegedly inac- curate representations in the ballot state- ment submitted in Steel's behalf. In a vote of alumni in May, Steel won the nomina- tion by defeating the Alumni Council can- didate, Raymond J. Rasenberger '49, by 7,013 votes to 5,025 votes.
The trustees' decision, announced on June 6 during their regular meeting before commencement, surprised most observers. Never before has the Board of Trustees deferred election of the nominee of the alumni. The possible "irregularities" in the ballot statement for Steel are believed to involve the listing of some alumni as en- dorsers without their permission. Steel campaigned for the return of the Indian symbol, a "unified alumni body," and more alumni involvement in policy decisions at the College.
Following is the full text of the trustees' statement issued on June 6: In June of 1979, this board informed the Association of Alumni and the Alumni Council that the term of an alumni trustee would expire on June 9, 1980, and requested those organizations to take the steps necessary under their charters to nominate an alumni candidate for that trustee position.
The Alumni Council requested suggestions for possible candidates through notices in the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE and at its December 1979 meeting unanimously selected as its candidate Mr. Raymond J. Rasenberger '49. A second candidate, Dr. John F. Steel '54, was nominated by petition. Under the terms of the constitution of the Association of Alumni, it was to conduct a balloting among the alumni of the College to determine which of the two candidates would be designated the nominee of the alumni for the trustee vacancy. Each can- didate was asked to submit a statement to be in- cluded in the mailing to the alumni. Mr. Rasenberger and Dr. Steel submitted such statements, but thereafter Dr. Steel withdrew his statement and submitted in its place a state- ment prepared by a committee of his sup- porters. A mailing including such statements and ballots was sent to all alumni in late April.
At its meeting on June 6, 1980, this board received from the president of the Association of Alumni a written report to the chairman of the Board of Trustees dated June 2, 1980, on such alumni balloting, together with a letter dated June 6, 1980, advising in summary as follows:
1) The ballot count showed 7,013 votes for Dr. Steel and 5,025 votes for Mr. Rasenberger, indicating that Dr. Steel was the nominee of the alumni.
2) On the day that the ballots were counted (May 23), the president of the association learned that several representations that had been made to him in April by Dr. Steel's representative to substantiate factual statements in the ballot material submitted on Dr. Steel's behalf were not accurate.
3) The president of the association advises that he would not have permitted the statement on behalf of Dr. Steel to be mailed by the association to the alumni in the form submitted had not such representations been made to him by Dr. Steel's representative.
4) The president of the association advises that he has not since his recent discovery of these matters had time to conduct a full in- vestigation into them or to determine whether any other portions of the candidates' statements or any other aspect of the nomina- tion process involved irregularities, or to meet with the other officers and the Executive Com- mittee of the Association of Alumni on this matter.
In light of the above, the Board of Trustees has decided not to fill the trustee vacancy at this time. Instead, the board asks the 1979-1980 of- ficers and Executive Committee of the Associa- tion of Alumni of Dartmouth College to ex- amine any irregularities associated with the nominating process and report to this board no later than September 30, 1980, their findings and conclusions. Such report should include a finding as to whether, in the judgment of such officers and Executive Committee members, the results of its recent balloting to nominate a Dartmouth alumnus to stand for election to this board should or should not be affirmed.
Green Key, the yearly alumni class officers' get-together, and the 34th annual Intercollegiate Woodsmen's Tournament all occurred in Hanover on the same weekend last month, but it was easy enough to distinguish between the par- ticipants in each happening. Students celebrating Green Key looked the way they always look, class officers wore name tags, and the woodsmen sported sturdy boots, suspenders, and other badges of their avocation. We attended a few alumni meetings and even dropped in on a Green Key dance worthwhile and enjoyable in their own ways but they weren't as much fun as the commotion on the College Green, which was bristling with axes, saws, and peaveys in the hands of over 200 com- petent contestants, competing in four different divisions, from eight participating colleges. It was a noisy, friendly, and ex- citing affair, conducted mostly on the Green but also at a field across Lyme Road from the golf course and at Storrs Pond, where the visiting teams camped.
The Dartmouth A team, captained by Warren Whitney 'B2, collected a total of 1,543.1 points, winning ten of the 19 events and regaining the first-place trophy it lost last year after winning it two years ago for the first time in about 15 years. We were particularly gratified because we had donated the use of our woodpile for the team to practice its splitting skills. (We also allowed team members to practice their stacking skills, but stacking doesn't qualify as a competitive event.) Events that did appear in the tournament included tree felling, ax throwing, log rolling, canoe paddling and portaging, fly casting, chain throwing, fire building, scoot loading, pulp throwing, speed chopping, and several kinds of sawing. The D.O.C.'s B team, led by captain Richard Lathrop 'Bl, placed second, and the Dartmouth women's team, captained by Lisa Conte 'Bl, came in sec- ond in the female division, beating 3 fourth-place alumnae team directed by Lex Bond '7B.
The tournament's most impressive per- formance came from Jim Taylor's alumm team, which amassed 1,744.2 points. (Taylor, who graduated in 1974, also coached the A and B teams. He's a fre- quent and successful competitor on the regional professional lumberjack circuit although he has a desk job with a local cor- poration. His idea of a relaxing evening at home is to spend two or three hours sharpening a cross-cut saw.) Some of the alumni and alumnae came from as far away as Alaska to participate.
Mike McMurtry and Amy Haak, both seniors, were coordinators of the tourna- ment, which Taylor said was the largest and most successful he has seen in ten years here. All the lumber for the competition almost 54,000 worth was donated by area companies, and all the chips and saw- dust the woodsmen turned it into were cleared off the Green by the D.O.C. within an hour or two after the last ax fell Sunday afternoon. Everything that could be burned ended up on the woodpiles of the Outing Club's cabins. If Ross McKenney were still around he would have been pleased. He started the whole affair back in 1947 to keep the traditional skills of north country lumberjacks alive in succeeding genera- tions of college students.
