Improver

Beverlie Conant Sloane, at left, controversial director of health education at the College, has been given the first annual "Orton Scherman Award" by the student newspaper Common Sense. The awardnamed for Orton Hicks '21 and William Scherman '34—is presented to the person "who has done the most during the preceding year to make a positive improvment to life at Dartmouth."

In the past year Conant Sloane's work included a race to control an outbreak of measles, and free cholesterol testing on the Green. But it was not until she plunged into an explicit campus campaign against AIDS that the nation listened to what the educator from Dartmouth had to say. And not everyone liked what they heard. She instituted an AIDS education program that included a "safer-sex kit," complete with condom and sexual advice, which launched a national debate.

"What is it about measles that is not controversial, and what is it about AIDS that is controversial?" Conant Sloane asks rhetorically. "Sex. If AIDS were spread by mosquitos, we would be out there—no questions asked—spraying trees and giving people mosquito repellent."

Award Winner: Beverlie Conant Sloane was recognized by the student newspaperCommon Sense.