1941

For me, writing has always been the hardest kind of work-I hope it isn't apparent-and turning out this almostmonthly column is no exception. To begin with, of course, there is the matter of time; former class secretary Bob Harvey said that he d devoted about a week a month to the task. And he spoke of the difficulty of collecting class news, referring to the overlapping of the secretary's notes for the Magazine and the class newsletter.

The time required is not too demanding, and I'm taking steps to rationalize the relationship of newsletter to class notes. But now I also have to contend with Bob Conn '61, Secretaries' Representative, Editorial Board, Dartmouth AlumniMagazine-that's the way he identified himself in his memo of November 18, 1985, to class secretaries. Regarding the Class Notes Section," here is part of what he had to say: "I'd like to ask you to give strong consideration to transmitting your column to Hanover. . . . Teri and I have conducted a number of transmission tests with my computer, which happens to be a DEC Rainbow. I bought a $60 Radio Shack modem (Tandy Direct Connect DCM-3), and I'm using a Poly-TRM program to transmit (part of Polygon's PoIyCOM). The Magazine has IBM PCs and Smartcom II reception. The cheap modem described above will transmit at 300 baud, though my computer and the Magazine's are capable of transmitting and receiving at many times that speed. For those of you who already have modems, we tested both seven-and eight-bit transmissions, several different parity settings, and both one- and two-stop bits. All worked. Even if your machine cannot be adjusted for those variations, the Maga-zine's computers Can, so transmission is possible. (My ancient portable office com- puter, a Telegram P-1800, circa 1975, also can transmit directly to Hanover with its fixed seven bits, one-stop bit, parity non capability.) Please consider it."

Well, how do you like them apples? That Bob Conn knows how to hurt a guy. Here I am, still wrestling with my old secondhand IBM electric, and all that mumbo jumbo makes me feel like a functional illiterate when it comes to computers. Modem, Bit, and Baud sounds like a law firm. In any event, answering Mr. Conn: I have considered your request carefully, and for the present I shall continue to transmit to Hanover as I have in the past. That's by first-class mail, and it can't be all bad because Teri sends me a gold star whenever I meet the deadline. (That's Teri Allbright, folks, DAM's editor of class notes and obits, a delight to work with even though she gave me no warning that I'd be conned by Conn.)

So much for that, and now it's time for news from the Sunbelt: Les Davis reports that Ray and Hope Hall stopped by the ranch a while ago, and prospectively the latest from '4l to move to New Mexico are Sandy and Maryetta Courter. They'll be building this year in Taos, about 56 miles from the Davis digs in Cimarron. At the 45th, by the way, Les invited everybody to visit, and we Frostbelters are likely to be tempted to do so right about now. Through April one could carry right on to the Provost preserve in California's Palm Desert. Come to think of it, I wonder if the class secretary ought to make the rounds now and then to find out what's really going on with classmates. Now if Hugh Kenworthy will just send me an advance for expenses . . .

Way back in October I mentioned having received a lengthy letter from Al Adams. I remember having had a class with Al, but his family's situation obliged him to withdraw from Dartmouth before the end of freshman year. Not long after that he was fighting in Spain, and his life story is one adventure after another. I told you that he and Effie are presently studying the sex life of the praying mantis. That's because the mantis is the first line of defense against the killer bee. Science wants to expand the mantis population, and that involves trying to discourage the female from doing away with her partner at the climax of the sex act. More anon anent Al and Effie - and anybody else I hear from or about. Peace and joy.

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