Letters to the Editor

That's Who

"Who in Hell Was Jeff Tesreau?"

I was aghast when, on page 13 of the April issue, I saw in large type, along with a wonderful likeness of old Jeff, that heading to what turned out to be a fine tribute to "one of nature's gentlemen."

On second thought, whoever may read the signature to this letter will sure as hell say. "Who in hell is Pete Grey?"

Well, Pete Grey's only claim to fame is that 61 years ago this spring, he was privileged to be the captain of the first Dartmouth baseball team that Jeff ever coached and this was in 1919.

My purpose in writing is to add my tribute to that of "his onetime student manager," and 1 will be surprised if many more are not forthcoming.

I am sure that Jeff had a long-time friendship with Rip Heneage, but the one that I am more familiar with is that between Jeff and Harry Hillman and the length to which each went to play practical jokes on each other two fun- loving gentlemen.

An interesting sidelight on all this is that, of last year, unless I am greatly mistaken, we could field the original team of 1919 with the excep- tion of two positions in the outfield. Our battery could be George Harris '2l and Mel Merritt '2O. The infield, starting at third base, would be Spider Martin 'l9, Wally Kopf '2l, Ginger Bruce '2O (brought in from center field to replace Johnnie Murphy at his old position), Pete Grey 'l9. Right field Val Grundman '2l. With a battery and infield like that, who needs the other two outfielders? All of these youngsters 80 years or older.

That 1919 team didn't do too badly. As near as I can make out from my scrapbook, out of 20 games scheduled we won 13 and lost 6, one of the wins being a 9-0 no-hit, no-run game against Harvard at Cambridge with the inimitable Cuddy Murphy on the mound. As far as Cornell is concerned, we did better for Jeff than a one-run decision, taking them 6-0 at commencement time.

Forget Jeff Tesreau? Never.

Chatham, Mass.

"Who in Hell Was Jeff Tesreau?" is a delightful piece of nostalgia for which un- dergraduates of 40 to 60 years ago are deeply grateful to my classmate Ed Gruen.

Perhaps he will forgive me for a correction or two and some additional information.

"Jeffs" middle name was "Monroe" and not "Morton," and this is of incidental interest si at one time he ran for the New legislature under the name of Jeff Tesreau w was challenged, re-ran under his real nam? lost. 6,and

The story about his association with Arthur Lawrence (Bugs) Raymond is apocryphal. Buss' last year with the Giants was 1911. Jeffs . year was 1912, with a record of 17-7. In that connection it is noteworthy that with Mathew- son and Marquardt (26-11) on his staff McGraw chose freshman Jeff to open the 1912 World Series. This seems an even more remarkable tribute to Jeff in view of Mar- quardt's left-handedness and that the Red Sox power was on the port side, namely, Speaker Gardner, Lewis, and Hooper. The result was no disgrace, for Jeffs opponent was Smokey Joe Wood (34-5), who beat Jeff again in the fourth game. Jeff got revenge in the seventh, winnine 11-4.

I add one memory. On a bitterly cold Januarv night in 1929, Bill Hardy, Dick Harpin, and I were returning to our off-campus rooms after a bit of study at Baker. As we passed Jeffs garage on the side street, we saw him through the fogged-up glass washing a new Chrysler. Dick said: "You know him, Spence, step in and ask about chances of playing first this spring." I did, and quick as a flash Jeff gunned a cake of wet yellow soap at my midsection, and as it fell to the cement he calmly said, "Not any."

Portland, Maine

Gruen's article about Jeff Tesreau and his stirring account of that exciting '3O commence- ment game with Cornell reminds me that I have a movie of Lauri Myllykangas hitting the home run that won the game. As Ed mentioned, Jeff did enjoy practical jokes. I played third base on his 1928 team and recall that he would have Buck Downey give the umpire the starting lineup and discuss the ground rules with him as though he were the coach.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Unique Role

With regard to your story about the fraternities brought before the Fraternity Board of Overseers ["The Hanover Seven," April issue], I would like to clarify a few points men- tioned.

The restrictions placed on Phi Sigma Psi, for the most part, revolve around three areas cited by Dean of Students John Hanson: long- and short-term improvement of the physical plant, financial viability, and a "sufficiently high" membership level. The last of these appeared to us to be the most important, for a house with a sufficient number of members will not only be financially viable but also capable of diverting funds toward permanent improvements.

While it is true that we only sank two new members last year during "formal rush," we did gain four new pledges this past winter, and two more joined almost immediately following our appeal. Added to this are the ten who joined the house this year during sink night and another ten who pledged within three days. The house is currently 45 members strong, and we believe this will more than adequately solve any problems relating to membership or finances, and also help' significantly to improve the physical plant.

The house has also made a substantial effort to revitalize the alumni organization durins th« past year. The file was completely updated"a ri a second newsletter is being mailed Th" response from our alumni was both immediate and generous, and we are confident that the% will continue to take a very active role in the future of the house, a role which will be verv helpful in making major repairs.

It is important to stress the unique role of Phi Sigma Psi in the Dartmouth community, we are one of only four coeducational houses on campus. While we do not believe that any house should be forced to abandon its single-sex status, we honestly feel that the Kreider Report sex-blind admissions, and Alpha Theta's recenl decision to revert to coed status are all in- dications of an increasing sensitivity to the role of women at Dartmouth. Thus, our existence becomes very important for the College, and that importance will increase significantly within the next few years. We think it is reveal- ing that of the 26 newest members mentioned above, 1 1 are women.

We at Phi Psi have no doubts as to our ability to meet the restrictions of our current warning status, and we are confident that we will be com- pletely exonerated when the entire fraternity system is reviewed again in October.

Hanover, N.H.

[Thomas Spencer is president of Phi Sigma Psi.His mention of the Kreider Report refers to thefaculty committee that recently recommended,among other things, that no fewer than two-thirds of the fraternities be opened to womenmembers. That specific proposal was not adoptedby the trustees. Ed.

Lingering Thoughts

A highlight of Freshman Parents Weekend last April was emeritus Speech Professor Ives' seminar on the history of Dartmouth College. His historical perspective kept us captivated throughout. Some interesting and pertinent facts remain with me.

It was Occom, a young Mohegan Indian who spent four years living with Eleazar Wheelock in Connecticut learning to become a missionary, who went to England. With his strikingly copper-skinned good looks and rare command of the English language, he packed the churches. The money thus raised enabled Eleazar to fulfill his dream of founding our college in the north country.

Somehow, as I listened to Ives and realized the astonishing legacy provided by Occom and Eleazar, the current state of sensitivity over anything to do with the Indian seemed not only as abstruse as I've felt all along but downright disgraceful. (Last summer, my daughter and all other entering 'B3s received their orientation papers which included a statement to the effect that use of the Indian symbol "in any form is considered in bad taste.)

Later, Ives described President Hopkins handling of the then very controversial Orozco murals with a strong stand that no matter how offensive, freedom of expression must remain. Hopkins warned his successors to "have nothing to do with murals." It's hard to believe his ad- vice would be taken so literally that in 1979 the Hovey Grill murals would remain dark behind a locked door. Parents and freshmen couldn t view this jocular presentation depicting the founding of the College.

Ives refreshed my memory of being present at President Eisenhower's now famous "book- burner" speech at the 1953 graduation. During the McCarthy era, as many will recall, passions ran high and many very responsible people really thought there was a Communist around every corner until the far greater danger to our individual freedom was realized. Now, I don't wish to pretend a parallel of intent to those times or criticize many improvements to the college so many of us love so well. I will state that telling freshmen what is in bad taste, telling all students what cheers they can't use, the elimination of "Eleazar Wheelock" from the Glee Club repertory, and the lock-up of the Hovey Grill is all too narrow a distinction from the book-burner philosophy to make me com- fortable. The perspective on this subject seems to have been lost by equating feelings with rights.

I urge these modern Indian descendants and their sympathizers, the trustees, and the new ad- ministration to figure out a way to pass the peace pipe to the overwhelming 40,000 alumni who truly respect the symbol. This unresolved dilemma won't go away and Occom's historical contribution would seem to justify that the In- dian will not and should not die!

Thornwood, /V. Y.

[ln commenting on the Hovey Grill murals as a"source of controversy and schism," PresidentKemeny said late last summer that "in dis-cussions with the Native American community Imade it clear that I would, under no cir-cumstances, agree to censorship of art, and Iwas assured that this was not the issue." After itwas determined that the murals could not bemoved to a "place where they could be studiedas historic art" without serious damage,Kemeny said, "in the future the Hovey Grill willbe used for a rotating exhibit of College art withan emphasis on the history and traditions of theCollege. In the spring term, when the HoveyGrill is used for special events rather than dailydining, the original . . . murals will be on dis-play." In practice this meant that during last falland winter terms the murals were covered withpainted wallboard and the room decorated withseveral 19th-century portraits. This spring, thewallboard was removed and the murals were ex-posed, but the Hovey Grill was locked except for"special events."

As for the tradition of Wheelock and Occom,the two men parted in a disagreement over ex-penses, and Occom, who apparently nevervisited Hanover, is said to have fallen into"great poverty and occasional intemperance." Ed.]

Enduring Symbol

Thank you for printing the illustration, lower right, page 33, April issue, which may be my most enduring symbol of Dartmouth. The prin- cipal "saintly figure" must represent John the Baptist. The "business in Latin" is Vox claman-tis in deserto parate viam Domini.

All of us thrill to the phrase reminding that Dartmouth is a voice crying in the wilderness. The bottom line of John's mission (parate viamDomini) is his exhortation to prepare the way of the Lord.

Whether we are spurred to an ultimate of Christian faith or to a high excellence toward some other worthy goal, Dartmouth's voice has helped or can help us.

Eaton. N.H.

[The illustration in question was of a stainedglass window in the first-floor bathroom ofBartlett Hall, an unexpected fancy that hpuzzled many visitors. According to Mar\ KGould, secretary of the Drama Departwhich is one of the occupants of Bartlett Twindow was donated to Dartmouth in the 1%%but never installed in the chapel because thfigures were deemed too small. Instead, it H. <placed in the north side of Bartlett. in what w*then a reading room. "At some time oranother" the window was boarded up andforgotten. Gould said that during a remodelinproject several years ago, workmen uncoveredthe window and started to remove it but weredissuaded. More recently, there was additionalremodeling and the bathroom, which used to befurther down the hall, was moved to where it «now. Yes, the scene depicts John the BaptistGould, who comes from Bermuda, said, "Wehave the classiest 100 in the Upper Valley." Ed ]

Bikers Best

As former members of the D.O.C. cycling team, we were pleased and proud to find our teammate Douglas Bangs 'BO portrayed on the cover of the April issue. Doug is seen competing in the Eastern Collegiate and Ivy League cycling championships held last May (1979) jn Hanover. Doug rode in the 57-mile men's A race; he finished third in the Easterns and first in the Ivy League men's individual standings. He contributed to the cycling team's third con- secutive Ivy victory and to its close second-place Eastern finish (Rutgers won by a single point).

This April, the team traveled to Rutgers to vie once again for the Eastern title and to defend its Ivy crown. Doug Bangs finished strongly again in the A race as he took ninth place. His team- mate David May 'BO inherited the individual Ivy title from him, however, when he nabbed second in the sprint. In the men's B race, Jesse Pelton 'BO poured it on at the finish also to grab second place. But Betsy Frazier, a special student at Dartmouth this year, earned highest honors as she sprinted to victory in the women's race, win- ning both the Eastern and Ivy League women's titles.

With strong finishes by the other Dartmouth riders, these individual triumphs led the team to its first Eastern Collegiate victory as well as to its fourth Ivy League title. As a result, next April the D.O.C. cycling team once again will host the cycling championships in Hanover, and we invite everyone to come see the race.

E. CHRISTOPHER BRYAN '79

Hanover, N.H.

Orozco

"Jose-Clemente Orozco, lean, one-armed Titan, has his place on an elevated peak, a sort of Goya in his phantasmagorical country. I talked to him often. The violence that haunted his work seemed alien to his personality. He had the gentleness of a potter who has lost his hand at the potter's wheel but feels he must go on creating worlds with his other hand. His soldiers and their women, his peasants gunned down by overseers, his sarcophagi with horrible crucified bodies, are immortal in our native American painting, bearing witness to our cruelty" a quotation from Memoirs, the autobiography of the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.

Orozco was indeed a Titan, as Eastern and Western Europe and the southern part of this hemisphere have long been aware. Exhibitions of Orozco's art have been moving from countr> to country. In September 1978, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Havana showed 200 of his works. Thence to Paris in February 1979, where they were shown in the Museum of Modern Art. In Madrid, the queen of Spain was present at the opening in June 1979, at the Centro Cultural de la Villa. At the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City (September 1979) 620 works were exhibited (graphics, water colors, oils, char- coals, pencil, attesting to his extraordinary ver- satility). In January 1980, the exhibit moved to the Hermitage in Leningrad (an achievement rarely if ever occurring for the North or South American artist). In April the pictures will move to the Tetriakov Museum in Moscow. From Moscow to East Berlin, later to Vienna and Brussels.

For many years the murals have been the main attraction for the many tourists who pass through Hanover (so reports the information booth on the campus). In 1983, the 100 th an- niversary of Orozco's birth will occur. Since Baker Library contains one of the great ex- amples of his fresco painting, would this not be a fitting date to declare the basement of Baker to be a museum, with appropriate lighting and comfortable arrangements for leisurely study of these extraordinary murals? They are destined to be recognized more and more as the greatest treasures Dartmouth possesses, not to be shared with other activities, other diversions. Perhaps an organization labeled "Friends of the Orozco Murals at Dartmouth" would be in order, to im- plement the beginning of a proper setting for these jewels.

Hanover. N.H.

The Essence

Your March issue was superb. Not only did you have the good sense to feature my classmate Michael Moriarty, but there was a well-written article on one of my favorite people, Ms. Nancy Elliott.

Having lived in Hanover for some years after graduation, I had the privilege of knowing Nan- cy both professionally and socially. Your article captured the essence of a lady who is respected and enjoyed by thousands of Dartmouth alumni.

Now, if she could just get my zip code straight. . . .

Kalamazoo, Mich.

Neuter Gender

There is a curious dichotomy in the concept of a college between Daniel Webster and President Kemeny, both highly intelligent and articulate men but separated in time by 162 years when they articulated their contradictory concepts.

In 1818, in his peroration to the Supreme Court in the Dartmouth College Case, Daniel Webster said: "It is, sir, as I have said, a small college and yet there are those who love it."

In The Bulletin of March 1980, Mr. Kemeny said, referring to an arrangement between the medical schools of Dartmouth and Brown, as being "cooperation with a distinguished sister institution ..." (emphasis added in both cases).

Webster places the College in the third person neuter gender; Kemeny has it in the second per- son feminine.

Is this merely a matter of semantics, or does it suggest a basic shift in attitude resulting from the feminist movement, coeducation, and a retreat from macho chauvinism? Hard to say; but in pondering the question these things might be kept in mind;

1) Somewhere along the line "alma mater" crept into the language, but a fostering mother is quite different from a sibling sister, as weali know. 2) I have misplaced or lost my cony ■ The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Hoi Jr., so I have to rely upon a faulty memory- recall that he cites it as a rather unusual dena'0 ture from common practice always to refer ■' ships, in maritime law, in the feminine gender for reasons of uncertainty, danger, and un predictability in their governance, I believe 3) corporation is a "person" under the Constitu- tion of the United States, according to the Supreme Court presumably a third person like Webster's "it" neither man nor woman Just as well, I'd say.

What do others, lawyers and laymen, think about these things?

Hinsdale, 111.

[Lawyers aside, the 19th-century songwriters in-dicated a strong preference for the feminine overthe neuter. Richard Hovey took this preferenceto rather fantastic lengths when he wrote "OurLiege Lady, Dartmouth." Part of the refraingoes "Up with the green/God save ourQueen!/Thron'd on the hills of her highlanddemesne/Royal and beautiful, wise andserene/Our Liege Lady, Dartmouth!" Ed.]

Dangerous Assumption

As a followup to President Kemeny's report on Three Mile Island in the December ALUMNI MAGAZINE, I suggest that the interested reader look up an article in the MIT TechnologyReview for February, "Human Error in Nuclear Power Plants." It brings out how much we must do to match man and machine safely, a for- midable yet not hopeless task.

In my freshman year my father died of pneumonia. A few years later my mother's brother died of TB. Many friends were stricken with polio. These scourges are history, and to- day Hodgkin's disease responds to treatment. Leukemia could well be next, and now [the drug] Interferon has appeared. It would be foolhardy and dangerous to assume that cancer will follow the same path, but is it wise to dis- count medicine's enormous strides and present efforts, in view of the practical certainty that anti-nuclear prejudice can lead us into a power squeeze and even mortal danger to our nation, both militarily and as individuals who vitally need electric energy?

So now is no time for "reasoned analysis" (to borrow words from reader Rubens '72) to give in to emotionally motivated, organized ig- norance.

South Easton, Mass.

The Sexes

I must respond to Jay E. Weidenhamer s letter [March issue] in which he bemoans the coming of women to Dartmouth and asks whether a man "would relish citing a degree from .Vassar." I graduated from Vassar in 1976. being in the third class which admitted men as freshmen. Not only do 1 relish citing my Vassar degree, I am proud of being a graduate of the first college in the United States to give women an education equal to what men could have at the Ivy League schools. Vassar came into being because such institutions as Dartmouth refused to grant women the privilege of education, and it appears from Mr. Weidenhamer's uncontrite letter that many Dartmouth men still have this antiquated attitude toward women and their education. I am very glad to have been a student at a school which was innovative enough in 1865 to open its doors to women, and in 1970 also to open its doors to men.

Mr. Weidenhamer has the decidedly patroniz- ing attitude that women go to Ivy League schools either because it is the "in-thing" to do, or as a "conversation piece," or to be "more sophisticated." Hogwash! Women have been denied equal opportunities in education and employment for centuries, and now that they can take advantage of an Ivy League education at the Ivy League schools as well as at the Seven Sisters, it should come as no surprise that they do, and not at all for the vain and vapid reasons Mr. Weidenhamer suggests.

Wake up, Mr. Weidenhamer and countless like-minded alumni of Dartmouth. Much as you might wish for women to disappear from Dart- mouth and from all the other institutions and activities of society, they will not. If Dart- mouth's alumnae do not support the college financially and spiritually (as is his fear), it will only be because Dartmouth oppresses them, as society at large oppresses them. When they can achieve their full potential at Dartmouth and in society, Mr. Weidenhamer will have little to worry about. They will give to Dartmouth, and to society, as much as men currently do. I suggest Mr. Weidenhamer and others look forward to the time when women have equal educational opportunities, so that they can con- tribute fully to all society's institutions.

As for the goals of the "best women's schools" being parallel to Dartmouth's, as I see it Vassar's goals are not only parallel but superior. Vassar is going about the business of educating women and men equally. Though it is no easy task, Dartmouth apparently has much further to go than Vassar or any other former women's school, since the women's schools never indulged in the sexism which unfor- tunately shows itself so obviously in Mr. Weidenhamer's letter.

Philadelphia, Pa.

The selection of letters-to-the-editor for the March issue was outstanding. Proof: Reading therein, the letter of Jay E. Weidenhamer '33 brought to my mind the male chauvinist "We are a wonderful sex" line that Shaw in Pygmalion and Lowe and Learner in their musical adaption My Fair Lady give to Professor Higgins to crown a hilarious scene. Rex Harrison on stage and celluloid does so by leaning back in his chair, stretching his legs, and delivering the line with relish and satisfaction short of gusto and smugness.

Further into the letters section, reading the letters of Ollie Kobisk '26 and Ken Andler '26,1 found myself leaning back in my chair, stretching my legs, and pronouncing, like Sexy Rexy (only to an empty room), "We '26ers are a wonderful class."

Darien, Conn.

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 ex- ceeding 400 words in length will be condensed by the editors.