1950

One message filters insistently down from the North Country. Fall is early this year, but the foliage flares brilliantly.

The Almanac was not so precise. However, the dust cloud from the Mexican volcano that erupted this year plus the early fall presage a long, cold winter. Prepare accordingly, wherever you are.

Gridiron gleanings: gloom. The worst fears have been fulfilled. Upstart Penn copped the first game and the three non-Ivies have followed recent form. Four up; four down. Forging a winning season will be even more difficult than imagined. Title contenders get nowhere without performance.

One prediction follows form: no defense. The offense is mixed. Spectacular long gains are nullified by the failure to gain short yardage on third downs. Mobility suffered when Polsinello was hurt early in the Penn game. But Stafford, returning after a serious knee injury last year, has passed effectively. One bright spot has been wide receiver Jack Daly; after four games he threatens several single-season catch and yardage records, including those set by Tom Rowe many years back.

The Dartmouth of today differs from the college we knew in one significant aspect the Hopkins Center. This facility has transcended the aspirations of the two key visionaries, John Sloane Dickey and Warner Bentley, who planned and developed the center. Both academic programs and creative activity in all forms of the arts now flourish. Expanding the center and adding the Hood Museum underscore the importance of this facet of the College. In recognition of the contributions of the center Fritz Jewett, who is not only the chief backer of America's Cup winner Freedom but also a dedicated patron of the arts, has endowed the George Frederick Jewett professorship of art in memory of his father. Fritz and all his family hope "... that the College will take advantage of this chair to appoint a distinguished artist who will inspire students through his or her creativity and ability to communicate."

The trek south remains more accident than trend. Gerry and Monique Breyton pulled up stakes after 25 years, left Florida, and moved to Newtown, Conn. The lure of sailboats and ocean cruising may temper resolve and class the move as temporary. In the meanwhile Gerry, as vice president of marketing, leads Metroplex, a small and innovative company, into the wonderful world of telemetry and data acquisition. One countervailing benefit to the siren's lure, of course, is that Hanover is now but a threehour drive north.

Never one to avoid confrontation or reality, Dave Luce, professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, recently announced a new course with an open letter to local student creationists. The purpose of the course is to analyze the conflict between science and religion. A crowded syllabus ranges from the classic to the current, from Judaic and Christian to Hindu and Buddist texts, from the trail of Galileo to McLean v. Arkansas Board ofEducation. As Dave hints, "If the class turns out to be a good mix of creationists and evolutionists, theists and humanists, believers and skeptics, it could be an exciting semester."

Tidbits here and there: Jim Birney exults at being able to scribble "None!" in the blank allowed for business phone. Kate, Jay Buck's fourth daughter, is an '86. When Marian Anderson was named Pennsylvania's distinguished artist for 1982 by the state's Council on the Arts, Fred Rogers of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was simultaneously presented the 1982 Hazlett Memorial Award. U.S. District Judge Lee Sarokin challenged Jersey City, stating that its administration stands "... as a monument to the biases and prejudices exhibited by the municipality ..." Ed Tuck has forsaken the travails of corporate life (the Hartford and ITT) for a taste of the life of a scholar; his haven, the archives room of Baker. Late flash: Pat Brewster, Bob Kilmarx, and Jim Moore attended a regional conference of the Lawyers' Alliance for Nuclear Arms Control held in Boston; more later. Charles Davison jumped ship to chart a new course, destination still unannounced.

The knell has sounded once again. Webster Thayer Gault, a renowned editor of the Hartford Courant, died at home in late September.

Autumn moves on. Indian summer dispels the chill. Only a hint of acrid smoke hangs in the lingering haze, just enough to stir memories of burning leaves. A football thuds; voices mingle in play. Soft light filters through leafless trees. Turkey time soon; then the lights of Christmas. See you later.

510 Hillcrest Road Ridgewood, N.J. 07450