1978
Unemployment is at nine per cent, interest rates at all-time highs. Companies are going out of business. Students in well-known business schools are having a difficult time finding jobs, succeeding only due to favorable comparisons to their peers, such as Jack Kiernan. (Jack, by the way, has replaced the bull in new Merril Lynch ads.) Don't be fooled, however; Reaganomics is working. Silently, the economy is turning around, with our nation s timberland providing the foundation for plentiful export clout and general supply-side overload. This effort is being spearheaded by a compassionate, ex-D.O.C. jock, Will Yancy.
Will has taken an unusual path to his new position of great power. He received a master of forestry degree in 1980 and is now the logging business management instructer at the Duluth Logging Vocational Institute. This institute has some famous alums, including James Watt, Johnny Appleseed, Richard Roundtree, and Tree Rollins. Although Will complains that the timber of Minnesota is inferior to Hanover's, the solitude should allow him time to work on Walden III.
Speaking of young spruces, Marty Cole and his wife Terri have had a young Chugger, Jack. Although mother and son are fine, the father still leaves something to be desired. Those of us who know Marty certainly hope Jack gets Terri's looks. Marty is still in Austin working as a consultant. Better pad the checkbook, Marty. When Jack reaches 18, a Dartmouth education will cost $60,000 per year.
It is not difficult to see why our nation's budget deficit tops S 100 billion dollars after a close scrutiny of State Department spending. For the past 18 months, the Inter-American Bureau has shown numerous 5100-plus dinner bills in Georgetown. Finally, the problem was solved. Mike Morgan is marrying fellow foreign service officer Joan Bernard. Although Mikey's transgressions are too numerous to list here, I'm sure that the rehearsal will provide a good forum for amusement, particularly if the old Wheeler crowd surfaces. After a May wedding, the happy couple will become co-military attaches on the Falkland Islands.
A former Morgan roommate, Steve Mandel, has announced his plans to merge this summer. Steve, a second-year student at East Stroudsberg Business School, is marrying fellow student and Vassargrad Sue Zadek. Steve is concentrating on cost accounting and will work for Arthur Anderson's Knoxville office. Sue is majoring in human resources management and will work for the T.V. A. in personnel. After a June wedding, the couple will honeymoon at Dean Smith's basketball camp in North Carolina. Similarly, Jeff Crowe is getting married, after a six-year courtship, to a Wellesley grad. Jeff is Steve's cross-state rival, getting his M.B.A. at Slippery Rock College. He currently has no job. A summer wedding is planned.
Some classmates continue to break new ground in the area of dual career marriages. Peter and Elizabeth Tagge are a prime example. Peter, after two years on a Fulbright research grant in Romania, has moved to Brussels and finally to Bahrain. He is now general manager in a computer training and investment company. Elizabeth is a grad student at Columbia School of International Affairs. I hope they own a Gulfstream. They were married last August under the auspices of ushers Bill Dye and Chris Webster.
Two classmates are climbing their way up the corporate ladder. Barb Snyder is working for I.B.M. in Boston and doing quite well. Ricki Fairley, a recent graduate of Northwestern Business School, is in marketing at McNeil. Both cite courses such as Oceans, Bio I, and Music 111 as critical to success.
Instead of ending this column with my usual gibberish, I would like to make a brief editorial note. The fund-raising campaign is now upon us. I know how you are feeling — the standard rap. However, with the recent budget cutbacks, the College has been forced to review many programs which have previously been considered "no-brainers"; need-blind admissions is a prime example. The College truly needs our support — as much as we can give, or more than Jack Kiernan.
Jeff Immelt 14 Peabody Terrace, Apt. 22 Cambridge, Mass. 02138
