1985

2835 North Racine Chicago; IL 60657

As I departed DC with my personal consultant, Julie Mazman, and began the long road-trip north for homecoming, little did I know what lay in store yes, Julie and I were to become guest columnists for your reading pleasure. Now, as we travel down 91S, the weekend behind us, we have ample time to reflect upon the insights and experience of our classmates. Well, having completed that five minute conversation, we'll begin.

The Dartmouth turmoil of which we had read in the papers was nowhere to be found. The most drastic changes seemed to be the large quantity of new buildings (boathouse, gym, dorms, mall, etc.), the large number of new Red Sox fans, the hairstyles sported by Linda "Coopy"Cooper and Laura Hicks, and a remodeled CES. Those things which are really important, however, the smell of AD's basement, the salad bar at Collis, Dave Hall, the high prices at the Coop, the partying habits of many of the larger '85s, and Burt Nadler's obsession with viedotapes (by the way, have you seen the cassette, "How to find your second job after college") remained unchanged.

Our first stop was the alumni tent, where Gayle Gilman was spotted talking with John Early. Lisa Eisenberg and Michael Balmuth were among those '85s who wished to show off Hanover to a new beau. From the looks of things at the tent, not many alumni caught much football action. Unfortunately, from the sound of things, not much of the Dartmouth offense did either.

As did many alumni, we crashed in a condo in Quechee. Our time there was enlightened by a couple of alums who have refused to let graduation quench their thirst for knowledge. Fresh from their continuing education course on astrology, Sue Finegan and David Etz brought the skies alive!

After watching the World Series, the time was right to find our fellow alumni friends. Off to AD ....

I (Julie) was pleased to run into several '85s. As Dave Hallagan smoothly spilled a beer on my new sweater part of my postgraduation collection I was able to learn that he is working in Florida selling swampland, I mean computer equipment, for Teledyne (based in Chicago).

In the AD stairwell, I simultaneously conversed and blocked all traffic flow. Greg Capello is working in Boston for the Boston Five Cents Savings Bank (if you have some spare change, consider making an investment). That's all I learned because I was soon forced to stumble down the stairwell into the arms of Todd Soutor. Souts is "a transitional man." Basically, that means that he hasn't slept in a bed for over a month now.

Rather than fighting my way to the taps for some of that special keg beer, I (still Julie) decided to talk to my coworkers from Strategic Planning Associates in DC. (Nothing more satisfying than traveling over 500 miles to hang out with the people with whom you work.) Ted Meisel, who is currently working in Memphis, Tenn., (because Elvis IS still the King) will soon be heading to Singapore to join Charlie Ormiston in advising the Far East. John Palmer was rambling on about his upcoming vacation in Seattle and San Francisco with Andy Ford. Andy works for Senator Bingaman from New Mexico. On Sunday we got away from it all by climbing Mt. Cube with MaryBeth Keifer. Remember, "If you're in New Hampshire, you're near MB." MaryBeth is up at Pinkham Notch, where she is doing acid rain research with the Appalachian Mountain Club and various other interesting activites with nature.

Later we hung out at Peter Christian's, where we ran into Jim Newton and EdSweeney. Jim looked regal, as Nancy Hart had presented him with a headpiece similar to that most often worn by the King of Nepal. Nancy is home for a month from her stint in the Peace Corps and will soon be returning to Nepal. After working for James Reston in DC, Jim has moved to NYC to pursue his career with the NewYork Times. Ed is doing the Western thing and will soon pull up his stakes in Aspen and move to the coast.

While we're on eastern Asia, EliseMiller also entered PC's and related that she had recently returned from a 10- month sojourn in India. She had some amazing experiences and interesting tales to tell. However, what impressed us the most was her description of the Gandhian philosophy, "Embrace those things which disgust you most." Needless to say, our conversion to that philosophy led us to an eventful evening.

Many '85s were made conspicuous by their absence. David Burt could not take time off from the campaign trail. He is a key player in Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's congressional campaign in Maryland. Rumor has it that Mark Engel couldn't make it because he was vacationing in the Bahamas. It seems that since he's been class treasurer he has a surplus of cash flow. Lisa Schmitt would have loved to make the trip. However, the airfare from Frankfurt, where she is teaching, was too much. Maybe Mark could visit Lisa on his next trip that is, if the rest of you guys would send in your dues.

Well, 300 tapes later, we're pulling into DC and back to our housemates, EmilySaltzman and Eric Grubman '84. Emily is working for Hartnett and Associates, a political consulting firm and enjoying herself in a number of ways. Eric, infamous '84 class secretary, is enrolled in Georgetown Med School, where he is working hard and learning to enjoy fruit salads.

JANET COIT '85 AND JULIE MAZMAN '85