Letters to the Editor

Lasting Impressions

It struck me that the November issue contained three articles (the interview with Noel Perrin, the survey of Hanover barbers, and the feature on The Dartmouth's compositor, Ira Holmes) with a common thread: The people in and around Hanover the "townies" or "emmets" at first overlooked or even condescended to as we revel in the heady intellectual ambience of Dartmouth, come to leave as lasting an impression on us as do our professors and classes.

Ira Holmes's 25 years with The D had one four-year interruption, coinciding exactly with my four years on The Dartmouth. Ira's chair was taken by another equally colorful, irascible, and indispensable compositor, Sid Varney.

Dozens of Daily D alumni remember as vividly as I do, I'm sure, that first walk at 10:00 p.m. down to the rather run-down Dartmouth Printing Company building on Allen Street as a lowly assistant night editor, finding our way through the darkened plant past quiet machines, over to the lighted corner where Sid Varney, wearing a white cotton T-shirt, was getting the ancient Linotype machine ready for its night's work.

Sid had little interest in what our fathers did, where we went to high school, or what we were majoring in. He did respond, though, to us as people. If we worked often enough as night editors, Sid would allow as how he knew our names. And what an honor it was to pass muster finally with Sid and be accorded ... friendship.

Since the article on Ira mentioned Connie Lambert, I could hardly close without mentioning Connie's predecessor as secretary housemother to The D's staff, Mim Rodgers-one of the warmest, wisest, most tolerant people around!

Thanks for the article on Ira Holmes. It brought back good memories of two other fine, local "Wearers of the Green."

Springbrook, Wise.

I never met Ira Holmes but have a vivid memory of his getting the last laugh.

As an eager book reviewer for The D in 1968-69, I wrote to Philip Roth's publisher and got an advance copy of Portnoy's Complaint. I promptly wrote a long, thoughtful, admiring review, and looked forward to seeing it published the same day the book was published -just as, say, the New York Times would do.

But the book came out and the review didn't. I asked the editors about it, and they abashedly told me the problem. The review was structured around the book's chapter headings, one of which contained a dirty word for a part of the female anatomy, and Sid and Ira had balked. One printer was a church deacon who was personally offended by the word. The other was a more practical-minded sort who feared that publishing the obscenity would be bad for the paper. Thus, an impasse.

Explaining to the editors that I was less interested in winning a free-speech battle than in seeing my long, thoughtful, admiring review in print, I suggested compromises: "C Crazy," it could read, or even "**** Crazy."

They persuaded Sid and Ira to set "C*** Crazy," and the review came out. But the head looked funny.

One of the editors had chosen to use in the headline a phrase from my long, thoughtful, admiring review, the one where I described Alexander Portnoy as "neurotic, Oedipal, eternally horny." Thanks to Sid and Ira, it came out, in large type, as " Neurotic, Oedipal, Eternally Corny. "

Roosevelt Island, N.Y.

Always a Leader

My former partner, George W. Stetson, was of the class of 1886.I remember various stories that he told me about Charles Eastman, the Sioux. The picture in the January/February issue showing a group of students after some type of roughhouse brings back memories. Mr. Stetson told me several instances of which there were student battles in which Eastman always excelled and was always a leader and very respected contestant. The picture of him in the center of his cohorts is consistent with the tales about him and his prowess in all. kinds of physical contests.

Middleborough, Mass.

Symbol or not, Ohiyesa Charles Alexander Eastman may well be the finest Dartmouth Indian. I say change the cry of wah-hoo-wah to the challenge of the Sioux warrior: Hanta Yo clear the way!

Thanks to Rob Eshman for a finely written piece of inspired research.

Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Nominating Trustees

I write as a concerned alumnus about the current nominations for membership on the Board of Trustees by ballot vote of the entire alumni body. To my knowledge, this is the third time that the nominee of the Alumni Council has been challenged since our Alumni Council was charged with this responsibility early in the century.

I hasten to add that I do not write as one in favor of one candidate or another. Rather, I write in support of a procedure which has been followed by the College for many decades and which was supported by President Hopkins, President Dickey and, I would assume, has the support of President Kemeny. I also write as one who for a period of 12 years served as staff assistant to the Board of Trustees, a position created in 1959 by a committee established by the board to make an in-depth study of the board. It was called the Committee on Trustee Organization, and consisted of such Dartmouth stalwarts as Harvey P. Hood '18, chairman, Ernest Martin Hopkins '01, Dudley W. Orr '29, and Robert S. Oelman '31.

A primary consideration of the committee was the question of size, and the committee recommended that the board be increased from 12 to 16, with the president of the College and the governor of the state of New Hampshire to serve ex officio. It also reaffirmed the process for filling the remaining 14 places which are divided between the so-called alumni trustees and those now designated as charter trustees. The former were to be nominated, as in the past, by the Alumni Council and then elected by the board. The remaining seven were to be nominated by a trustee committee and elected by the board.

In opting for a 16-member board, it was the conclusion of the committee that a workingboard be retained, an executive policy agency if you will, consisting of trustees carefully selected to fill the needs of the board in such areas as finance, budget, buildings and grounds, and government affairs and who would be answerable to their own consciences and their own sense of responsibility to the trust imposed by the charter and not be representatives of any group, interest, or geographical area.

As previously indicated, it is the Alumni Council, the representative body in the Dartmouth community, which is charged, in making its nomination, with the responsibility for carefully considering the needs of the board and those qualities required to meet these needs. To accomplish this end, a great deal of time and effort is expended by the council on behalf of all of us.

In view of the above, I urge my fellow alumni to carefully consider the procedure for the selection of alumni trustees, which has served the College so well in the past, before you cast your vote.

Hanover, N.H.

[Gilbert Tanis currently is director of continuing education at the College. Ed.]

Several Theories

Gail M. Raphael '34 develops several theories about Dartmouth graduates in his letter appearing in the January/February issue, apparently emanating from his views in opposition to Dr. John F. Steel '54, newly elected trustee of the College.

They are 1) The prejudice of a Dartmouth alumnus increases in direct proportion to the number of years since graduation; 2) a Dartmouth alumnus of 25 years or more has become so senile or unintelligent that he should be disenfranchised from voting for College trustees and merits only a seat on the 50-yard line.

Applying these theories to his own status, and noting that Raphael will have his 47th reunion come this June, it follows that he has himself developed a high degree of prejudice. Furthermore, in relegating graduates of 25 years or more (he is almost 22 years over that figure) to the 50-yard line, he must have had a good seat in the stadium when he wrote that letter. Won't someone please tell him that the game was postponed on account of rain and he can come in now.

I wonder what Mr. Raphael would do about those poor grads 25 years and more out who have contributed so many millions to the College. Would he contend that they do not appreciate the object of their bounty?

Gladstone, N.J.

To begin on a pleasant note, I would like to thank Gail M. Raphael '34 for his letter in the January/February issue. Not only did he save me the trouble of writing a similar letter, but because of his perspective he was able to make his point much better than I ever could have done. Three cheers!

I apologize in advance if the rest of my letter states the obvious, but there is at least one person to whom it is clearly not obvious. I am referring to Mr. Herpel and his letter, also of the January/February issue. For his benefit I must point out that it is hardly up to the status quo to conduct a survey in support of itself. The Board of Trustees has made its decision regarding the Indian symbol and, having publicized its reasons for that decision, stands by it. If you are dissatisfied, Mr. Herpel, it is up to you not President Kemeny, not the trustees to provide responsible and valid evidence that the change you seek' is, firstly, humane and just, and, secondly, desired by a true majority of Dartmouth alumni. If one honestly evaluates the first point, the second is of no consideration at all. However, in my opinion, Mr. Herpel hasn't a leg to stand on respecting either point, and since he refuses to conduct a proper survey, he will never know it. How sad.

Hanover, N.H.

Although I have been distressed by some changes in Dartmouth in recent years, I try to remember that change is the law of life and that we should struggle against succumbing to what Eric Toffler calls "future shock."

Consequently, with some difficulty as an old alumnus, I have reached the point where I am ready to applaud the letter of Gail M. Raphael '34 in your January/February issue. Especially his statement: "Because he led the College through not only some of the most turbulent years in American higher education but some of the most meaningfully changeful years in Dartmouth history, Dr. Kemeny becomes a double target. ... In my opinion, the significant fact is that Dr. Kemeny achieved this progress without deviating from Dartmouth's basic values: the quest for excellence, the courage to innovate, and the true challenge of a liberal education."

Listening to many alumni regarding Dr. Kemeny, I am reminded that the Bible states, "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country, in his own house."

Chicago, III.

Counterprotest

My distress about the ascendency of the alumni-student movement which is seeking to change the philosophical direction of Dartmouth College goes far more deeply than a concern about the natural phenomenon of a periodical rightward oscillation of our political pendulum. Rather, I am horrified by the moral insensibility exhibited by some leaders of this movement. This is exemplified by the "lobster salad" letter by Keeney Jones which appeared in The Dartmouth at the time of the Oxfam fund drive on the campus last fall. I understand that this feast, held on a day designated for a Fast for World Harvest, was privately financed and provided free to the celebrants.

My personal counterprotest to the Keeney Jones letter was to display it in conjunction with a photograph of African children in an advanced stage of malnutrition from the November 16 New York Times Magazine.

As a medical educator striving to increase the access of underrepresented, underserved minorities to health care, I must emphasize how such overt moral insensitivity coupled with the elevated racial tensions on campus makes more difficult the mission of Dartmouth Medical School toward this goal.

Hanover, N.H.

[Dr. Margolis is minority affairs officer at theMedical School. The letter he cites, signed byKeeney Jones 'B2, said: "In conjunction withthe Oxfam activities, a group of students andfaculty members will be dining in the HanoverInn today at 1:45. The luncheon will consist oflobster salad and champagne." Ed.]

Modest Proposal

Might I suggest that the College could do with several more — to use the words of Spencer Miller '31 [letters, January/February] — "giggling, squealing, and mincing" females such as Mary Cleary? I have a vague feeling they would go a long way toward reminding alumni that Dartmouth is a college and that the fundamental purpose of college is education. I may be wrong, but I can't help but think that Mary Cleary is "continuing in the finest tradition of the College. I mean no disrespect, but to dismiss her and hundreds of other alumnae as giggling, squealing, and mincing is, one must admit, somewhat insulting.

Chicago, III.

[As reported in the January/February issue,Mary Cleary '79 was recently named Dartmouth's 52nd Rhodes Scholar. Ed.]

The Word from Oxford

In the December issue you write that Professor of Biology David Dennison enjoys teaching genetics to his freshman composition class in part because it gives him a chance to introduce students to science in your words exactly "a non-laboratory situation." What kind of an example to set for freshmen is a phrase like that? In the name of good English, I demand a public apology.

Oxford, England

The Symbol (cont.)

Were they amiss? The brave group of Americans who flew for France in the Lafayette Escadrille in World War I had as their insignia the feathered head of a Sioux Indian brave in all his war paint.

They thought it best expressed America, its courage, its devotion to a just cause. Incidentally, it was the brain child of their commanding officer, Bill Thaw, a Yalie.

Pompano Beach, Fla.

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.