1990

Since I haven't received too many letters lately, I thought I'd take some space this month to tell you a little about another Dartmouth activity I'm involved in, the Alumni Council. The Council meets twice yearly in Hanover for about two days at a time. We are briefed on current events at the College by undergraduates, faculty and administrators. We also have the opportunity to question these same people about virtually anything. Each councilor sits on two committees and must contribute specific pieces ofwork to those bodies. Our function is essentially to appraise the Board of Trustees of alumni sentiment and concerns, to maintain a dialogue with the admin-istriation,

and to vote to approve or disapprove projects concerning alumni. The most recent meeting took place December 2-4. Students, faculty, and admini-strators seemed to share the view that the campus has been relatively quiet lately.

The communications committee, of which I am a member, has devised, along with the College and Board of Trustees, a national alumni opinion survey. This survey was scheduled to be conducted by telephone by a professional survey research organization in December 1993.

The Council felt such a survey was necessary in order to gather some data on alumni sentiment on a number of College issues. Councilors must often depend on their own personal contacts with other alums, faculty, and administrators to take the pulse of the alumni body. I am confident the data will prove helpful by providing scientifically determined data we can use in making decisions affecting alumni and the College. The Council and the College had not reached an agreement at press time as to how the results were to be distributed.

The new Collis student center was opened in January, and it's gorgeous. It's hard to describe, but the renovations of Collis and College Hall have created new spaces, such as the three-story open space in the center of the building and an enlarged dance floor where Common Ground once stood. There are places for socializing, studying, meeting, entertaining, eating, and even drinking and pool playing. Stop by next time you're in Hanover.

Kate Olsen wrote in to say she's in her last year at the Smith College School for Social Work's master's program. She's also serving as co chair of the school's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Alliance.

"Anonymous (not Jennifer)" wrote in to say that Jennifer (Budgett) Islas is living with husband Julian and two children, Isaac (one year old last August) and Chloe Marisa (two weeks old at our graduation), in San Rafael, Calif. They are building a home in Puebla, Mexico. Jennifer is working for Marin Maternity Services in San Rafael and will become a nurse midwife.

Finally, Peter Brown writes, "Who says you can't learn bush medicine in a big-city hospital?" He's in his third year at Georgetown and continues to pursue his interest in Native American health care. Last summer he worked at a Navajo medical clinic in Arizona. This coming summer he'll be in Kotzbue, Alaska, at an Indian hospital 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Cool. Peter recounted one recent episode in Washington, D.C., where he had to decompress a patient's lung while holding a flashlight between his teeth because of a power failure.

Rob Crawford is teaching reading and mathematics in the upper school at Derby Academy in Hingham, Mass.

Jonathan Owens is in school at U.C. Berkeley in the civil engineering department's Coastal and Hydraulic Engineering Division. He says that means he studies hydrology. He also works parttime studying the scale of soil structure, and he married Teri Balzer '92 in December.

That's it for this month. How about sending me some news?

7164 Strathmore Road #18, Brighton, MA 02135

Peter Brown recounted an episode in Washington, D.C., where he had to decompress a patient's lung while holding a flashlight between his teeth. JOHN ARONSOHN '90