LETTERS
Owning Up
"Who Owns Dartmouth?" in the February issue sheds light on a question which has long troubled me—to whom do the College and Trustees respond?
Alumni should be recognized for what we are. Not unlike young soldiers, we shared intense experiences and rites of passage for a short while.
In our early 20s, we were mustered out with a ceremony. Like old veterans, we gather for parades each spring. Our honored status as alumni, however, confers no more right to govern the College than veterans have to govern defense policy or to dictate military strategy.
The College should run its own affairs and plan its own future while giving alumni no more than their due.
Please listen to us politely, pocket our money, and then administer and plan as you see best.
New York, New York
If we the alumni really own Dartmouth, as may well be, the intelligent thing for an owner is to be primarily concerned with the overall health and viability of the institution.
Day-to-day operation is the fane of the appointed leaders, the Trustees, faculty, and administrators, who are a lot closer to the real state of the place than anyone writing from the perspective of hundreds of miles and tens of years. If the alumni can exercise the old good sense and stop acting like the "dead hand of the past," all will be well. Second-guessing from the exalted perch of alumniship, working from knowledge gained only from the media, is a fool's errand and does only damage.
The general trend is what the proper owner watches—and to me the curve seems to have a positive look. Vivat Freedman!
Key West, Florida
Obnoxious Comparison
One of the College's odd talents in recent years has been its ability to offend and alienate various constituencies of alumni. Congratulations to Jay Heinrichs for doing it again ["Now for the Hard Part," February]. Comparing Dartmouth to both its larger and smaller competitors is an interesting topic, but the arrogance in the way this comparison is made is obnoxious.
As the parent of a recent Middlebury College graduate, I found little amusement in reading about "the doors leading to nowhere" at Middlebury, and the implications about the quality of education there or at any of the other excellent small colleges in the United States. My son and his friends all seem very comfortable with the fact that they graduated from a college they had selected not because it was like Dartmouth but because they truly wanted to be there. They never felt that "the doors lead to nowhere." Rather, the doors led to the path these students decided to follow. Planners at Dartmouth, and Air. Heinrichs, should "look in the mirror" again. Their time would be better spent establishing and maintaining the College's own identity rather than sniping at the competition—large or small.
Scarsdale, New York
Jay Heinrichs Replies: I was writing about real doors, not symbolic ones. They were to have led to a complex of science buildings that Middlebury tried, and failed, to build during the sixties. I noted in that piece that Middlebury offers "excellent, personalized instruction in the sciences" (some sniping!)—a small distance from where the college's administrators had hoped to take it. Dartmouth, on the other hand, has had the national clout to fund a state-of-the-art chemistry building. Will that building result in better-educated undergraduates? That depends on whether Dartmouth remains as committed to the undergraduate as Middlebury is.
I know how Mr. Mutterperl's son feels. I'm a proud Middlebury graduate myself.
The Battlefield
I commend Victor Zonana and you for your insight and courage to traverse the AIDS battlefield on both human and intellectual levels ["Z-Man Covers the War," February], Like war, AIDS takes life from the innocent in an untimely manner. But no one wins the AIDS war and we all lose many of the best and brightest of our time.
Chicago, Illinois
Not Harvard
While I enjoyed testing my ability to discriminate in the exclusive DAM quiz "Is Harvard Becoming More Like Dartmouth?", I was shocked when I turned to page 44 and learned that I had answered question 22 incorrectly. I should not have missed this answer since I knew that Harvard has done very little in the field of hyperthermia research, an area that has a strikingly low visibility in the Boston biomedical research arena. I also knew about the large, interdisciplinary hyperthermia research team at Dartmouth with clinical experience in novel areas such as intra-operative hyperthermia (Thomas Colacchio), brain tumor hyperthermia (David Roberts and Paul Hoopes), interstitial microwave antenna array hyperthermia (the IMAAH system of Stuart Trembly and John Strohbehn), concentric ring ultrasound hyperthermia applicators (Thomas Ryan), and transurethral choke antennas for prostate heating (Eugene Wong, John Heaney, Walter Eaton, and Dr. Trembly), not to mention the extensive engineering work of Professors Daniel Lynch, Keith Paulsen, Graham Wallis, and Trembly, biological studies by Ellen Jones...and even a provost who "still advises three Ph.D. students."
But why did I miss that Harvard was the correct answer?...I guess it is because I didn't go to Harvard grad school.
Hanover, New Hampshire
Actually, Professor Douple, who is aDartmouth radiologist, got the answerright: Dartmouth is the leader inhyperthermia research. Thanks to a typo,we got it wrong. Our apologies.
Its Own Mountain
Thanks for your efforts to highlight this special area of Dartmouth ["Dartmouth's Nature," Winter], The vitality of the North Country inevitably influences the uniqueness of Dartmouth. But we should also remember that the reverse is also true: Dartmouth's "natural" facilities and lands provide a resource of unparalleled importance to the North Country-Moosilauke and its trails, the 75 miles of Appalachian Trail, the College Grant, the many cabins and lodges, its outdoors programs and research.
We are "caretakers," not owners, in my mind. Or, as Tom Burack '82 noted at the Environmental Conference at Moosilauke last year: "Moosilauke has been called 'Dartmouth's Mountain.' I feel it more correct to paraphrase Mark Twain, who noted that a particular famous jumping toad was not anyone's toad but rather was 'his own toad.' Moosilauke is its own mountain."
Anyone who visits this peak through the year will meet a varied and often very "non-Dartmouth" selection of Moosilauke admirers. But there is a common language in that sharing of the special sense of place and human transience felt by all but the most hurried visitor. Dartmouth's legacy is as the most recent "caretaker"—hopefully a caretaker who will take the time to learn its history as well as it present wonders, and to cherish both.
Shelburne, Massachusetts
Season the Day
I once knew, but have since forgotten, the reasons for the Ivy League's (and Dartmouth's) policy against participation by their football teams in postseason play ["Great Dartmouth Teams That Never Played a Bowl Game," October], It seems to me that any consistent rationale resting on academic or educational considerations would be difficult to put forward today.
As far as I know, all other Ivy men's or women's teams are eligible for postseason collegiate championships, and do in fact participate in these tournaments, games, or meets. Presumably they do so even if exams, be they fall, winter, or spring, are near. And more confusingly, the winter sports teams, and I think of men's basketball in particular, travel and play in holiday tournaments all across the country during the season in which post-season football games are held. Indeed, many such holiday basketball tournaments bear the names of associated football bowl games.
I would think that, were they to be invited to the Division I-AA playoffs, the football teams should have the same opportunity for post-season play that their brother and sister teams enjoy
Norfolk, Virginia
Political Correctness
It appears to be fashionable to blame The Review for everything bad that has happened in Hanover in the past ten years. One reads every day of other colleges that have similar problems witminorities, diversity, and faculty politics. The difference seems to be that our administrators have a proclivity for handling such things in a manner that will bring the worst possible results. When they are taken to task for it, you can rest assured that they will blame The Review or someone else.
It is difficult for me to buy the absurd concept of a few undergraduates holding my college hostage for ten years. I refuse to believe that the institution is so puny that this could be possible. And yet, this story comes straight from Parkhurst—again and again.
Where are the Men (and Women) of Dartmouth-about whom we once sang so lustily—people of character who would have owned up to their shortcomings rather than trying to lay them on a few undergraduates who have the effrontery to disagree with their politics?
La jolla, California
The Dartmouth Review should eliminate the vitriolic satire, which has proven to provoke trouble. Also, the administration should be above reflexive outrage and careless accusations. However, at the heart of this ugly confrontation is a great issue, which should be openly discussed at Dartmouth, not shunned.
In government, in the courts, and on campuses people are debating the question: should minorities be given special treatment in an effort to correct past and present injustices, or should unmodified equality of opportunity be the rule?
This is, whether we like it or not, a great issue of the day. But even more essential to us all is the question: will Dartmouth College allow this debate to take place on its campus?
If someone questions the wisdom of favoritism for minorities, is he therefore against minorities? Is he evil? Should his opinion be suppressed? Philosophy, history, government departments, where are you?
Eliminating the opponent is not the way of democracy. Conformity of political opinion should not be a College goal. Fostering a civilized atmosphere, which encourages reasoned and fair debate of all the great issues, should be the job of the administration. Psychology Department, how about some conflict resolution here?
Who are the students and who are the teachers?
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
George Munroe's piece, "The Case Against The Dartmouth Review," from The Wall Street Journal, reprinted as an advertisement in the Winter issue of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, says it all.
I hope thousands of alumni/ae will join me in writing letters of support to him.
Alexandria, Virginia
I was surprised to see the amount of coverage devoted to The Dartmouth Review in the November issue. The administrators of Dartmouth College have again picked a highly publicized fight with The Dartmouth Review for reasons which are not clear. These public battles accomplish litde and demean the College's history of tolerance of differing opinions. The Dartmouth Review has a constitutional right to publish what it wishes; to express its opinions about matters concerning Dartmouth which it does clearly; and the administrators of Dartmouth College should accept this situation.
It does appear that the College administration has moved from the position that there really isn't anything happening at Dartmouth that is controversial (just inaccurate news reporting), to the position that the problems at Dartmouth are due to The Dartmouth Review.
There have been and still are events of substance happening at Dartmouth. The administration is taking actions, issuing statements, and making policies about which reasonable men and women can disagree. I would feel considerably better about the College if the administration would acknowledge the possibility of debate over such matters rather than dissipating resources on fighting with many of the debaters and with the messengers.
Dixfield, Maine
Enough, Already
Upon receiving the Winter issue, I immediately flipped to the back, as always, to read the 1983 Class Notes. (I must confess that for reasons both of time and inclination this is almost the only part of the magazine I ever read.) Instead of finding the usual news of my classmates, however, I ran into a screed by our class secretary on—of all things—The Dartmouth Review. There was not a word about jobs, travels, marriages, or children.
In fact, the only person whose name appeared anywhere in the two columns following the big "83" was our class secretary himself.
Is there any explanation for this? Do class secretaries have the option each issue of submitting either Class Notes or an op-ed piece (or, conversely, are they banned from the "Letters" section?) Did the editors of the magazine fail to read the '83 class notes before going to press? (As we know, a failure to proofread one's publication thoroughly can have disastrous consequences.) Perhaps someone felt that the latest controversy over The Review had not received adequate attention in the national press or the Alumni Magazine itself and should therefore be intruded even into the Class Notes section.
The merits of our class secretary's opinion are beside the point here. Turning the Class Notes, which ought to be a place where we can lay controversy aside for a moment and follow the lives of our classmates, into one man's soapbox is tasteless and boorish.
Someone owes the class of '83 an apology.
Arlington, Massachusetts We edit the class notes mostly for grammar and accuracy. The secretaries writewhat they please—within their word limitsand the bounds of good taste. They are heldaccountable by their classmates for what theywrite.
I am disappointed in the quality of your editing of the Alumni Magazine. While I certainly feel the Dartmouth Review controversy is newsworthy I don't feel that it warrants page after page of coverage. We have entrusted you to strike that delicate balance of issues and articles that separates our magazine from all others.
I hope you reacquaint yourself with the objectives of the Alumni Magazine and follow them more closely.
London, England
The goings-on in Hanover during the year just ended force me to reassess my support of the Dartmouth Alumni Fund.
I refer to the events involving The Dartmouth Review, including statements made by President Freedman and Trustee Chairman George Monroe. The "Dartmouth United Against Hate" rally attended by some 2,500 students in October also prompts me to reconsider my yearly donation.
I think I'll just double it.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Council Fires
A great many truly loyal and fully dedicated men and women of Dartmouth translated thousands of man-hours of work into a new Alumni Council armed with new committees and channels of communications—new tools—which can, with effective work by Council incumbents, effectively represent the alumni with the administration and the Board. This should give the alumni a much stronger voice in Hanover.
No one claims the new provisions meet every doubt, every criticism. But we alumni owe the Dartmouth people who painstakingly brought forth the new organizational approaches a strong vote of thanks for the work done. Now we must put our own shoulders to the wheel. We must, by our close attention, help the current members of the Alumni Council and its committees set the proper precedents and do the job the new provisions foresee, this to ensure that the hard work and dedication of so many determined Dartmouth men and women shall not have been in vain.
Houston, Texas
Lake Aside
The recent death of William S. Paley gives me the occasion to remind alumni of the handsome gift he gave to Dartmouth in 1970, in honor of his close friend and right-hand man at CBS for many years, John Minary '29. The Minary Conference Center, a beautiful 25-acre private estate on the shore of Squam Lake, about an hour and a half from Hanover, has served the College ever since as a secluded setting for Trustee meetings, faculty discussions, and modest-sized alumni groups of all kinds and in all seasons.
Operation of Minary Center has just been taken over by the Hanover Inn. As one who had a modest part in securing the Center for the College, I can't imagine a more pleasant place to hold a class or club officers' meeting, to plan your next reunion, to get your particular committee or discussion group together, for a day or for a weekend.
Hanover, New Hampshire
Bad Chemistry
The fundraising program for the new chemistry building has a goal of $26 million, from which an 80,000-squarefoot, four-story building would be constructed. This averages $325 per square foot.
I am involved with a very elaborate hospital addition in our community. The structure is five stories high, 115,000 square feet, and contracted complete at $16 million. Included in the cost structure are power plant, operating room, no-return air conditioning, and complete life support piped into 75 private rooms with baths. This sophisticated structure will cost $139 per square foot.
It is difficult for me to imagine a chemistry building costing two and a third times as much as our hospital addition. How can we reconcile the so much higher costs on a college campus?
Asheboro, North Carolina
Chemistry Professor Roger Soderberg Replies:
The construction cost for the building is $16.4 million ($205 per square foot). In developing a budget, the College adds to this construction cost a sum to cover architectural and engineering costs, various permit fees, moving expenses, relocation of other activities, furnishings and equipment, a contingency allowance, and other costs. This brings the budget to $23.4 million. To that, according to Trustee policy, must be added additional endowment to cover the increase in operating costs associated with the new building. The total goal thus is approximately $28 million.
No one would deny that this is an expensive building. It is appreciably more complex than a modern hospital. The unfortunate truth is that science buildings in general—and chemistry buildings in particular—are extremely expensive. This is why colleges and universities across the country are so hard pressed to maintain reasonably upto-date science facilities. The situation has become a significant national problem.
Into the new building will be packed all those facilities of the Chemistry Department that require state-of-the-art mechanical systems (particularly ventilation) and plumbing mandated by health, safety, and environmental considerations. Facilities include research laboratories for undergraduates and graduate students as well as instructional laboratories for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
Seventy years ago the College made a large commitment to the Chemistry Department when Steele Hall was built. This facility has served generations of Dartmouth students very well indeed-and after renovation for less demanding uses will continue to serve for a long time to come. We in Chemistry appredate the large commitment that the new building represents, and we are determined that these resources will be invested wisely and will serve Dartmouth students for many decades to come.
Credit Where It's Due
Q. What do Brown, Columbia, Penn, and Stanford have that Dartmouth doesn't?
A. Alumni credit cards.
Q. Besides providing free advertising for the universities, what else accrues to them?
A. About $50,000 to $100,000 annually to the alumni organization (except for Columbia) through sign-up awards and a percentage of sales. Funds are used in various ways, from improvement of alumni programs and seminars to scholarships.
Of course, we are talking peanuts when compared with the $12 million Alumni Fund; but how many of our agente have turned up a $50,000 contributor when we needed one?
If readers feel that an alumni card would be beneficial to Dartmouth— if not by their own use, at least by others who should have the opportunity to so express themselves—please write to President Freedman. Or easier yet, clip this out of the magazine and mail it to him. Now. I may be contacted at 50 Timber Lane, Fairfield, CT 06430.
Fairfield, Connecticut
Great Dropout
College dropouts ["Dartmouth's Greatest Alumni Who Never Graduated," November]? You missed one of the greatest: my husband!
He attended Dartmouth for two years—not graduating with the superb class of 1930. He then went to Switzerland where he taught in a private school in Vevey. He returned to the United States where he obtained a law degree from Kent College of Law in Chicago. Remember: this is without benefit of a college degree!
He served for 20 years (ten terms) in the U.S. Congress as a representative from Illinois's North Shore. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the law school in 1982—and was made an honorary doctor of laws by Lake Forest College.
Certainly he merits at least an honorable mention.
Washington, D.C.
Giving A Damn
In relation to John Hubbard's letter in the February issue, I will be the first to urge support of efforts to help children's nutritional and medical needs everywhere and am glad John has "started to help." As one who has tithed to such efforts and other equally critically needed activities in our nation and many others, I welcome him to the fold but would suggest that most of those of us who have tried to support Dartmouth through the years are probably among the leading contributors in our communities to the support of many other of our worldwide moral responsibilities. Those truly unable or irresponsibly unwilling to support such others are probably among the misanthropic resentniks who don't give a buck (or a damn!) for their college, either!
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Business Date
In "Our Passionate Preference" (February), Joe Mathewson '55 refers to Dartmouth's three long-standing graduate programs. The date given for the inception of the business program is 1901.
Edward luck actually founded the M.B.A. program in memory of his father in 1900. Mr. Tuck donated $100,000 in 1901 to the College for building the first Tuck Hall (now McNutt).
Tuck Communications Hanover, New Hampshire
Alumni have a large part in the continuingcreation of Dartmouth. So do they own it?
