1965

"Why can't life's big problems come when we are 20 and know everything?" Bits and Pieces, February 1981. Maybe we should hire the class of '81 as consultants!

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education (September 29, 1980), Dartmouth is one of the top schools when it comes to turning out people who will deal with those problems, however. A Standard and Poors survey of 55,834 executives listed 498 colleges and universities as their alma maters. Dartmouth ranked 12th with 882 alumni, and the top 11 were a diverse group: Yale (1,827), Harvard (1,494), City University of New York (1,339), Princeton (1,313), New York University (1,250), U. of Pennsylvania (1,171), U. of Michigan (1,125), U. of Illinois (1,072), U. of Wisconsin (1,017), Northwestern (932), and Cornell (904). The top 18 schools conferred nearly half of the graduate degrees and a fourth of the undergraduate degrees earned. Harvard (3,920), New York University (1,365), and Columbia (1,210) were the top three for graduate degrees.

Speaking of degrees, word has it that Ron Knapp received his Ph.D. in soil mechanics last summer while living in the shadow of Mt. St. Helens. He and Sandy have since gone "south of the border" and work out of Mexico City. At reunion time, Ron was in mid-dissertation and also had a talk to deliver in California. Hope you get your priorities straightened out by the 20th! Ron is an agronomy scientist in the wheat program for the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiente de Maize y Trigo (CIMMYT International Center for the Improvement of Corn and Wheat). More info in the next class newsletter. Dr. Ron Knapp can be reached at CIMMYT, Londres 40, APDO, Postal 6-641, Mexico 6, D. F. Mexico.

A release from the Northwestern National Bank of Minneapolis announced the election of three new vice presidents in December in the bank's trust and bond group. Among them was Gregg S. Hannah, elected vice president of the employee benefits investment services division of the Trust Department. Gregg joined Northwestern National in 1973 as an investment specialist and was elected assistant vice president in July 1978. Following Dartmouth, he earned an M.B.A. in finance from Northwestern University.

We have also learned that in December Martin E. Stackhouse, now of Longmeadow, Mass., was named second vice president and assistant general counsel in the law division at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. Martin earned an LL.B. degree from Boston University School of Law after graduating cum laude in English from Dartmouth. He then received the chartered life underwriter's designation in 1970. He joined Massachusetts Mutual in 1968 and was named a senior officer in 1977. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of Life Insurance Counsel, and the technical committee of the Life Insurance Association of Massachusetts. In 1976-77, he played a principal role in the drafting of tax-reform legislation to repeal the Massachusetts gross investment income tax and to substitute a tax on net investment income. What do you think of Proposition 2½, Martin?

A Boston Globe article on January 22, 1981 begins: "So you want to be an independent filmmaker? It's easy. Just get yourself a camera and shoot some film. If you're lucky and good, someone outside of your immediate family will want to see it. If you're not, you can join the other thousand independent filmmakers who go bankrupt each year.

"Chris Knight is lucky and good. He's been an independent filmmaker for 11 years now and he's successful."

The article describes Chris' career in filmmaking which does sound like a roller-coaster existence. He owns the New Film Company, Inc., a Boston-based concern which specializes in client-sponsored documentaries, and he has made a wide variety of films. Examples include a film about heroin addiction, recruiting for Middlebury College, a "Where's Boston"-type multi-media show for the Virgin Islands, and a documentary, "The War Comes Home," about returning Vietnam veterans.

Independent means do-it-yourself, and Chris does just that. He writes, shoots, edits, and distributes most of his films with just one assistant. His first film (1969) was "Carry It On" with Joan Baez and David Harris. His most recent, "American Challenge," documents the Observers Single-handed Transatlantic (sailing) Race. For this he had cameras aboard several of the boats and, while he "virtually obliges the viewer to experience the sea as the sailor does," he also deals with"the metaphysical struggle between man and himself." More important, though, is Chris' feeling about his work: "I'm doing what I want to do, when I want to do it. That's my idea of a good job." Ours too; keep at it!

Hope the winter wasn't/isn't too severe wherever you are. Coming up on Green Key Weekend in Hanover - happy spring!

Keep the faith!

Mike Cardozo '63 (left) was President Carter's chief legal aide in preparing thedocuments that spelled out the arrangements for the release of the hostages from Iran.

M.I.T. Room #10-122 Cambridge, Mass. 02139