Crossing the Green

Top debaters in Hanover The sixty-two top debatng teams in the country came to Dartmouth in April for the 1986 National Debate Tournament. Dartmouth fielded two teams, the maximum allowable, in this year's tournament, which addressed the proposition "Should more rigorous academic standards be established for all public schools." The College's "A" team - Chrissie Mahoney '87 and Erik Jaffe '86 - came in fifth, and Jaffe was ranked the seventh best speaker overall. The University of Kentucky took first place, winning the Larmon Trophy, named after

Dartmouth alumnus Sigurd Larmon '14.

Good credit

Dartmouth has received congratulations from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators for having a student loan program default rate substantially lower than the national average. The College's default rate of 5% is almost half the national average of 9%. The national rate has improved notably from a high of 17.3% in 1978.

First woman Assembly head Wendy Becker '87 was elected president of the Student Assembly for next year; she is the first woman to serve in that position. She and classmate Tucker Taylor, elected vice president, hope to revitalize the Assembly, which has suffered from a lack of student support in recent years. The new leaders plan to increase student services and hope to provide a forum to represent student views. "Next year will be the make-orbreak year for the Assembly," Becker told The Dartmouth.

Blaik honored

Former Dartmouth football coach Earl "Red" Blaik was recently presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Blaik, who also coached football at West Point, was at Dartmouth from 1934 to 1940. He was the first non-alumnus to coach at Dartmouth, and during his tenure the College beat Yale for the first time ever, in 1935.

Jack-o forms alumni group The jack-o-Lantern, Dartmouth's venerable humor magazine, is organizing an alumni support group in the hope of resurrecting the publication, which has not been able to fund an issue for four years due to high printing costs. The staff, however, is far from mordant. It produces a weekly radio show, has sent gag letters to the freshmen, and sponsored a top-name comedian in Hanover. The group is seeking creative and monetary support from "anyone whose college days were enriched by the Jacket," according to former publisher Robert Levine 'B6. Interested alumni can write the Jack-o-Lantern at Hinman Box 5050, Hanover, NH 03755.

Engineering honors

Three students at the Thayer School have received national recognition for their work. Steven Levin '87 took second place in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers student design competition. Robert Mighell '85, a 1986 B.E. candidate, came in third in the ASME New England regional student presentations. And Byung Ye '86 received one of seven ASME scholarships for graduate study; he will attend Stanford next year.

Medical honors, too

Anjali Hulyalkar '84, a student at Dartmouth Medical School, was one of only 15 recipients nationwide of a grant from the National Council on the Aging/Travelers Geriatric Fellowship Program, enabling medical students to do research projects during the summer. Coincidentally, another of the 15 recipients this year was also a Dartmouth alumnus, Steven Winter '84, a student at New York Medical College.

Transitions

Several recent arrivals and departures in the administration include:

Jane Dawkins, in charge of advertising at the AlumniMagazine since 1984, has been named director of public programs. She is responsible for such public events as commencement and convocation and succeeds Frederick L. "Fritz" Hier '44 in the position.

Laura Dicovitsky, assistant director of the College News Service since 1983, has been promoted to associate director. Previously a reporter and state editor for The Baltimore News American, she replaces Howard Coffin, named News Services director at the University of Vermont.

Katherine Robertson has been named associate director of foundation and corporate relations, succeeding David Dawley '63. She came to Dartmouth from Smith, where she was assistant director for foundation relations.

Holly Glick has come to the position of director of public affairs for the Hood Museum and Hopkins Center from a post as associate director of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

And James Tonkovich '6B recently submitted his resignation as associate secretary of the alumni and director for class affairs. He has been in the alumni affairs office since 1977.