1961

Los Angeles in '93! That was the vote at the class meeting on Homecoming Weekend for the site of our next major mini-reunion—a reunion we envisage to be on the scale of the one in Washington, D.C., when we jointly celebrated our 50th birthdays.

The place has all the ingredients: our class has several folks heavily involved in Hollywood; there already is a regular mini-reunion in Los Angeles, so there is a core of guys who see each other regularly who can help us to plan and steer the reunion; and, as in Washington, there's a lot to do as a class group and as individuals. You'll recall that Arizona lost by a narrow margin to Washington in the last class vote, so we felt classmates wanted a western reunion, and '93 is roughly halfway between our Hanover reunions.

We're thinking of the first weekend in May 1993, unless there is a major Dartmouth conflict, such as Class Officers Weekend. President Art Kelton is checking on that. And, in a telephone call soon after the weekend, Art also won quick agreement to help from Oscar Arslanian, whose knowledge of Hollywood and Beverly Hills certainly will help make the reunion memorable. Details will follow as plans become specific. But locking in the date early will mean that most of you can make reservations at the lowest possible air fares.

Complete minutes of the class meeting will be distributed in an upcoming newsletter. But here are some other highlights:

• The class directory will be out soon. It will include a dedication to the late John Sloan Dickey.

• Henry Eberhardt is seeking new blood to help him in the Alumni Fund campaign. He is trying to start earlier, to expand the number of leadership ($1,000) gifts, and to increase the percentage of the class that is giving. His recommendations: a class goal of $160,061, up ten percent; 400 donors, up nine percent; 70 percent participation, up from 62 percent, and 61 leadership donors, up from 41.

• Mike Murphy, our former vice president, has taken on the job as class projects chair and is evaluating options for future projects.

Other news: David Birney was one of eight people honored at the tenth anniversary gala of the Foundation for Biomedical Research in Washington. Among the other honorees were former Speaker Tip O'Neill, Dr. Louis Sullivan, the HHS Secretary, and Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, the heart surgeon. Karen Hoffman, executive director of the N.C. Association for Biomedical Research, told me David was an "eloquent spokesman for the need for animals in biomedical research." Karen said David mentioned his seven-year-old twins and struck her as "a dad that cares."

Frank Mahady was awarded an honorary degree by St. Michael's College last May for "his moral and courageous leadership and his outstanding performance as a jurist, scholar, and family man." The college press release said Mahady "is known as a fair and courteous jurist who does what is right, not what is popular."

In his commencement address, Frank urged the graduates to become moral leaders, saying history applauds those who see, recognize, and respond to injustice, inequality, hunger, despotism, and pain in the world. "We cannot afford a new generation concerned merely about building a better mousetrap without worrying about what uses it will be put to."

To that, I say amen.

Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston- Salem, NC 27157-1015