1979

The Alumni Magazine has deemed this Nostalgia Month; my orders from headquarters are to "go all out" and "recap events from our college days." What a bonus. It's tough enough to write witty news reports on you yupsters.

FRESHMAN YEAR: • Over 1000 pea green 'shmen arrive, convinced they've landed in the Garden of Eden; • the bubble begins to burst when we discover the new definition of triple suites: three students to a room; • we "enjoy" an unnatural three to one ratio resulting in a class of women who are superstars and a class of men who are underachievers (only kidding guys); • the infamous facebook is issued; with each passing weekend its pages become more tattered; certain of us look as though we have just graduated from second grade (e.g. JimHolden); others appear to be senior members of the Partridge Family (e.g. RickMagnuson and Dave Kratz); • a bonfire record: 100 tiers form 100 wins, and DeBelius on the front page of the D; • English 5, Math 3, Language Lab; • shimmering bowls of jello at Ma Thayer, where each line develops into a subculture; • great skiing while skating on thin ice in Govy 6 and Rocks 1; • Bicentennial Carnival; • springtime treks to Oceans culminating in a lobster dinner in lieu of a final exam; how could anyone accuse Dartmouth of being antiintellectual? • fraternities rush; sororities flourish—an entire row of Sigma Kappas falls during hums; • the realization that the Administration's new personality tracking program for housing assignments still had a couple of glitches in it; • Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison; • Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Fleetwood Mac for those "special moments;" • Russell Sage goes coed; • rappeling out of dorms and down stairwells; • stair skiing; • first-term mid-terms and learning the definition of "E4"; • looking for the underground entrance to Sphinx; • tiring of upper-classpersons' tales of midnight capers at Eleazar Wheelock's grave; • "thanking God for the Dartmouth Film Society on those long, cold, lonely winter nights; • learning the true meaning of "alone"waiting for a ride to campus from White River Junction as the lights of the northbound Montrealer fade into the frozen dawn; SOPHOMORE YEAR: • LSA/FSP/London School of Economics/ Edinburough; disrupted friendships; • a number of premeds begin to think that Harvard B-School is not a bad idea after all; • summer on the river, at UVD, and in the cemetery; • cramming for the Kiddie Lit final; • learning the true art of class selection: any course that even arguably fits into one of the five majors you have elected, as long as it starts after 10:00 a.m.; • wondering why they call it "A" lot; • PC's cheap wine and good mustard; • tea (with great cookies) at Sanborn House; • unnecessary pre-law anxieties with Starzinger, and the meaningful exercise inherent in memorizing the names (not the holdings) of 160 things called "cases." JUNIOR YEAR: • Tally Rallies; • Star Wars, SENIOR YEAR: • Ivy Crown; • Dartmouth and the media: throw-back to the social issues of the 1960's, or cradle of that oh-so-chic "Animal House" mystique; • Collis Center • the tolling of the bells when the Trustees announce the adoption of a sex-blind admissions policy; • John G. and Three Mile Island; • the shrill pitch of the bagpipes as we head to the Green for the sheepskins; When you think about it, they were the best of times, and on occasion they were the worst of times. And most of us cherish the memories. My sincere thanks to Hank Young for helping me to dredge them up.

Tom O'Neil, 3400 Oakenshaw Place, Baltimore, MD 21218