1951

We all knew that someday it would happen: on the slope heading down, "over the hill and picking up speed" (as one of those palliating coffee mugs puts it). No doubt about it, statistics don't lie, so here they are. Don't flinch now. In the September issue of DAM we have officially crossed that invisible boundary: of the 40 pages devoted to Class Notes, we now occupy a space closer to the front of the section than to the end of it just a tad closer, but closer nonetheless. Of course, the so-called older classes have much shorter Class Notes while the younger classes have much longer ones, thus taking up more space and forcing us toward the front. Well, we always wanted to be in the forefront of things, right? Yessiree, we're sure making progress!

As Alumni Fund head agent, Jake Livingston led our class to a new fund record of giving for classes 36 years out of the College. That news came just after my previous column had been posted, but such an effort and accomplishment deserves another round of applause from us all. Nice going, Jake! And thanks again to all you givers to the fund.

Many of us who have attended mini-reunions in Hanover over the years have come to know Al and Dottie Mori's daughter Nina. The three often welcomed us to their hilltop home above Etna Village. Recently Nina was married and though we may not see her as often, we wish her joy and long life in Florence, Italy, where she will be living with her husband, Michele Gorini. The wedding was a bi-cultural affair—crossed American and Italian flags flying from the Mori house and a bilingual ceremony. By the time you read this, Al and Dottie will have flown to Florence to visit Nina and Michele, after which they will have traveled to Venice and toured the Italian lake country.

I wish to emphasize one of the points Hank Sanders has made in his report on the Alumni Council published in Batch's August 10 newsletter: namely, that this Class Notes column will increasingly be expected to present news and views of general interest to all Dartmouth alumni/ae, while the newsletter will carry those items of timely interest to our class. Therefore, let me urge you to think about what you can communicate to the greater Dartmouth family via this column. Here are a few possibilities: news of any meeting with any Dartmouth person; your thoughts about Dartmouth, education, the meaning of life; some problem or concern that "networking" among alumni/ae might solve; a reminiscence of College days. Or how about sending along some other suggestions about what these Class Notes might communicate?

Bob Hopkins, our class pres ident, informs us that our class dues will not have to be increased from $15 as was earlier thought necessary. Howie Read, our treasurer, has clear evidence that parsimony pays off: the 35th reunion committee has returned $1,000 of unspent monies, while about $2,000 has been collected from generous dues-payers for an as-yet unspecified class project. However, such husbandry works in the long run only when we all share our class's minimal financial burden which, unfortunately, we do not. About one-third of us do not pay our class dues, even though they continue to receive the Alumni Magazine. But the $l5 not only pays for the DAM, it also pays some of the newsletter costs and the donation to Baker Library of a book in memory of each deceased classmate. If we are to meet such obligations, more of us need to contribute, as costs will increase and we ourselves will decrease in the future.

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