LETTERS

Letters Aweigh

This may be the most unpopular letter ever written to the magazine. I predict everyone will be against the concept involved.

Let me preface my concept with the following facts: (1) I am no stranger to the "Letters" column, having been published frequently over the years. (2) As a former member of your Editorial Board, and having been the one who analyzed the readership study a few years ago, I know how popular the "Letters" section is. (3) I scan it myself.

Now comes the suggestion. Having read the latest edition I find myself wondering whether we really need a "Letters" section. The content of the letters is dismally redundant. (I like the Review, the Indian Symbol, the designation "College," "Men of Dartmouth," diversity, for the following reasons, or I dislike the Review, diversity, the nomenclature "University," etc. for the following reasons . . . and the same reasons are repeated in issue after issue). Often the enthusiasm of the letter writer? obfuscates any real message or communication. Seldom is any new or meaningful information disseminated.

Thus, the question I'm raising is this: Does allocating 14 pages (read more than 15 percent) of the magazine at today's printing costs make sense for a magazine that represents an academic institution? Just think what kind of editorial freedom and flexibility you would gain by the recapture of that space. Just think what kind of hard, professional information you could offer your readers, information that would be based on fact instead of partially informed opinion, information that could enlighten rather than bore the reader to death.

Thus, my point is . .. Let's do away with the "Letters" section and recapture those pages for serious journalism about education and the College's commitment to teaching kids to become responsible and responsive members of society.

But would we discourage letter writing to you? No way. We would put a note in the magazine that we encourage letter writing and that we will guarantee that those letters are forwarded religiously to the president of the College.

Now I know the people in Blunt are shuddering and trembling about this suggestion as they think it would stimulate the alumni to think that they, the alumni, are being muzzled and that the administration is managing the news. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your magazine is independent of the College; you have proved that. You have demonstrated that you are not a mouthpiece. If you and the Board made the decision, I think it would be widely accepted as an independent action.

And your Board will probably throw up their hands at dropping such a well-read section. I would like to think that your Board would feel as confident as I do that you could fill that recaptured space with more enlightened and therefore more compelling and interesting material than graces those pages now.

Finally, our letter writers (a very small percentage of the alumni body) will feel frustrated that their public forum has been terminated. Certainly that would be true, but their root aim of communicating their opinions to the president would be intact and thoughts about the magazine would be received by yourself. In my opinion, this loss of publicity is a small price to pay for the receipt by your readers of increased real knowledge and usable information.

Thus, my plea is for you and your Board to consider recapturing those "Letters" pages for the dissemination of thoughtful, well researched journalism that can elevate the reader to new intellectual heights.

And if you do, be ready to duck. ..

Hanover, New Hampshire

We're already ducking, Don. Althoughwe can't see eliminating the Letters"section, over the past eight decades theeditor occasionally has been forced to cry"Enough," cutting off letters on a particular subject.

As of this issue, we have done that withletters on the Dartmouth Review. Afterdevoting countless pages to the controversy over the past several issues, we'rebeginning to get sick of the whole subject.If something new happens, we'll reportit—and publish letters commenting on it.Meanwhile, unless someone has something truly novel to say about the subject,we'll free the space for other topics. - Ed.

Med School's Role

The cover picture of Karen Wetterhahn and the caption on the February issue feature a subject usually ignored or relegated to the background: research at Dartmouth. That research and academic excellence can, and should, go hand in hand is readily apparent in your choice of examples. I was especially impressed by the final boxed color feature picturing Dr. Christopher Coughlin, professor of clinical medicine at the Dartmouth Medical School, who was not identified. (By the way, the place where the research takes place is the Norris Cotton Cancer Center of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.)

After various comparisons with Harvard, Princeton and MIT, the text points to the impressive $38 million figure for sponsored research at Dartmouth in fiscal 1988. I am pleased to point out that two thirds of that amount, i.e., over $25 million, was awarded in 242 grants to members of the Dartmouth Medical School faculty. That figure represents a 25 percent increase over the previous year. The lion's share (about $22 million) of the DMS total came from federal grants, an essential funding source that is not identified in the article, but one that provided more than $1.5 million to the College in the form of indirect cost recovery. The DMS achievements in grant and contract awards have been the result of strong, competitive applications by an academically dedicated faculty backed by an Office of Sponsored Programs under the direction of Ms. Judy Emery, by DMS's own Development Office, and by helpful collaboration from Ken Spritz (director of Foundations and Corporation Relations for the College).

I am also pleased to point out that the Office of Industrially Sponsored Research under the direction of Nathan Dinces, while serving the entire College and "reporting" to the Office of the Provost, has been totally dependent upon the combined support of DMS and Thayer School of Engineering since its creation three years ago. It is expected to serve as a major participant in the growth of Dartmouth's biomedical engineering program.

In the late twentieth century, all leading medical schools must promote and maintain faculties identified with active, productive research interests. These institutions cannot be expected to support full faculty salaries and major research projects from limited endowment or patientcare income. Sustained academic quality and institutional stability are more and more dependent on revenues derived from sponsored research. DMS is working toward that goal and, in the process, wishes to share in the academic quality and growth of Dartmouth College.

Hanover, New Hampshire

Dr. McCollum is dean of the DartmouthMedical School.-Ed.

Mom and Apple Pie

Chris Lasell ["Mom and Apple Pie," February] is proud of the fact that his mother would slaughter a living thing solely to make a flakier crust? And he thinks that clogging his veins with cholesterol by cooking with lard is a good idea?

Next time I'm in Hanover, I won't be dining at the Hanover Inn.

Metuchen, New Jersey

Congratulations! The February issue made a real contribution to world peace by providing something that the Arabs and the Jews will certainly agree about. That is of course that the best apple pie in New England isn't fit to eat.

Apple pies are about orchards not pig sties.

Fairfield, Iowa

University Continued

I admire President Freedman and his concern for excellence. I hope that he can build Dartmouth College into a closer scholastic competitor with Harvard College. But Dartmouth should not try to become even a smaller edition of Harvard University. It lacks the financial resources to become as outstanding a university as it is a college. Besides, it should not let itself be distracted from its traditional goal of general education by offering graduate courses and degrees, except in the three related professional schools already long established.

I live beside the campus of the University of Chicago, and see the tension between the needs of the undergraduate college and the graduate schools which make a university. The undergraduates feel shortchanged in favor of the graduate students, and also complain that they are taught too often by graduate students instead of by professors because these are obsessed with research and seeking funds for it. This is distressing to all who are concerned with higher education. I hope that Dartmouth may be spared this permanent dilemma between education and research, by remaining an outstanding liberal arts college.

Chicago, Illinois

I believe there is much to admire and something to criticize in President Freedman's October 31 address to the faculty. However, I am confused about the apparent conflict between pages 28 and 33 of your winter issue. Specifically, we read on page 28, "Freedman said he was merely opening a debate on Dartmouth's future." On page 33, on the other hand, we are told "President Freedman declares Dartmouth a liberal arts university." Will the real president please .stand up?

Fairfield, Connecticut

Give Them a Chance

No institution, be it governmental, corporate, or collegiate, can function well with constant bickering within and without. President Freedman and his administration deserve an opportunity to try out new ideas, and to move Dartmouth in new directions. Only after his course is well charted and his ideas well tested should he be subject to close scrutiny and criticism.

Dartmouth alumni shouldn't cut back on their financial support while this is happening—we're supporting Dartmouth, not necessarily President Freedman's new ideas. Past alumni contributed to our education (when I suspect there were some contentious issues on campus) now it's our turn.

Let's give President Freedman a year or two of calm waters to move the College ahead. If we find Dartmouth dead in the water then, we can all raise our voices. In the meantime, there are plenty of other "Great Issues" in our world on which to focus our attention.

Glencoe, Illinois

Recently, I had the pleasure of running the teleconference for President Freedman's speech for the Alumni Association of Eastern Massachusetts. I came away with one major observation.

President Freedman is standing in front of the College describing the tradition of a liberal arts education, stressing the need for diversity in the student body. Diversity furthers the goals of broad-based individuals moving into society. In our room in Boston, we had many of those diverse individuals with diverse positions and concerns. This was in part a direct result of their liberal arts Dartmouth education. There was a healthy and respectful sharing of information, thoughts, and perspectives on the College and its future direction.

Isn't it ironic that many of these people are the ones who feel Dartmouth is going down a bad path when in fact everyone is exhibiting the wondrous example of the liberal arts education past, present and future?

Boston, Massachusetts

Ozzie's Dynasty

I am remiss in not responding sooner to a blurb in the October, 1987, issue which states in essence that Doggie Julian was responsible during his tenure as varsity basketball coach for "a winning dynasty which hasn't been matched."

Although Doggie was a wonderful person and a superior coach of basketball at Dartmouth (and before Dartmouth, at Holy Cross, which he coached to an NCAA championship in 1946-47), the basketball coach with the most victories and Ivy League championships at Dartmouth was the late Ozzie Cowles. Ozzie's last season at Dartmouth was the immediate post-World War II season of 1945-46. Dartmouth won the Ivy League title that year, just as Dartmouth had won approximately seven out of eight prior Ivy League tides under Ozzie, including 1941-42 when Dartmouth lost to Stanford in the NCAA finals and 1943-44 when Dartmouth lost to Utah in overtime in the NCAA finals.

After the 1945-46 season, Ozzie left Dartmouth to coach basketball at Michigan, taking with him one member of the Dartmouth varsity, Boyd McCaslin, as well as a topnotch recruit from Schenectady, New York. Michigan captured the Big Ten title that following season and Ozzie thereafter departed for his native Minnesota, to coach the Golden Gophers for several years prior to retirement. His teams at Dartmouth were characterized by a highly structured offense and unremitting defense.

San Francisco, California

A Liberal Problem?

Last night I terminated a commercial opinion survey that asked among other questions: "Do you rate Dartmouth's dedication to the liberal arts tradition as a problem: Serious, Less Serious, or Not Serious?"

I am a retired General Officer of the United States Air Force dedicated to the most fundamental traditions of this country. I am also equally dedicated to the fundamental traditions of fair play. To refer to Dartmouth's dedication to the liberal arts tradition as a "problem" is either a misunderstanding of liberal arts or dedication to a slanted survey.

Birmingham, Alabama

Juicy Statue

I think the Sigma Nu Winter carnival sculpture ["Dartmouth Undying," February] was either 1951 or 1952, not 1950. Minute Maid approached a Sigma Nu chapter in Florida and us in Hanover. The statue was that of a mermaid riding a dolphin. The deal was that the company would supply the frozen orange juice if the Florida lads would make the statue, and then Minute Maid would transport the statue in a refrigerated truck to Hanover and set it up on our front lawn. A couple of the Florida brothers came down with bad colds while or from making the statue in the Minute Maid facility. Our statue automatically disqualified us from the competition but we didn't really care. It was fun watching many who just had to lick it to see if it really was orange juice. It was.

Santee, California

Let's Move On

Having known for years that the primary function of the Review is to gain attention for its staffers (as opposed to generating relevant or intelligent debate), I was at first put off by the number of Review-related letters in the March issue. Upon closer examination, however, I was delighted to discover that the letters section contained only one demand for the return of the Indian symbol. The furor over the Review seems to have distracted our professional letter writers from beating a horse that was dead even when I was an undergraduate. Perhaps we can eventually move on to important issues, that affect the fundamental nature of Dartmouth, such as the college versus university question.

Belmont, Massachusetts

Change the Name

Why not persuade all the Ivy magazines to change "Alumni" to "alumna!"? The need exists, the word exists, the institutions claim to represent institutions devoted to knowledge. . . Now, what's holding you back?

Stonington, Connecticut

Mysterious Mural

That "Missing Mural" of Walter Humphrey wasn't the one that was behind the bar at the Dartmouth Club in N.Y.C., was it? And if not, where did that delightful mural disappear to? Was that "burned" too?

Auburn, Maine

Dartmouth Was First

So often in the past, these pages have held letters from alumni accusing the College of being overly sensitive to the native American population in its treatment of the Indian symbol issue. Recent articles in the St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch suggest the College, far from being thin-skinned, was actually far ahead of its time.

Last year the Minnesota Board of Education called for state schools to drop Indian-theme team names. The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union (of which, by the way, I would be proud to be a card-carrying member) has threatened to sue. 54 state schools that have refused to do so. The suit involves 22 schools with the team name "Indians," 14 called "Warriors," six "Braves" and two "Chiefs."

Washington, D.C.

An increasing number of letters urge us not to publish any.