A Procrastinated Holiday

Take Cover

THE WINTER COVER ARRIVED AT my house a week before the high Christian holiday of Christmas.

Where I come from we have a saying to "cover" such things: To Hell & Pitch It.

MELVIN VILLAGE, NEW HAMPSHIRE

WHILE THE BLACK COVER MAY depict Procrastinator's Night and the feelings of many students come exams before Christmas break, it does nothing for me. In fact I hardly see how you could call it a magazine cover.

Something lighter for the holiday season or winter would certainly have been more appropriate for alumni. After all it is the alumni magazine.

HINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS

Healthy Procrastination

I LOOK AT OBITUARIES AND SKIM MY class notes. Rarely, and in the former case thankfully, do I recognize anyone. Not there or elsewhere in the magazine. So it was with pleasure that I read "Procrastdnator's Night: Confessions of a Collegiate Insomniac" in the Winter issue. At last a fresh, idiosyncratic take on the Dartmouth I attended along with many others who rarely surface in the Class Notes. I find so much of what is written about Dartmouth from the left or right clubby and cloistered and above all obsequious of the institution, as though Dartmouth would be defiled by a dash of irreverence, to say nothing of a lampoon. Good for Jane Hodges '92, and good for you for printing her piece. It celebrates, above all, the individual voice, and an experience of Dartmouth that is all too often lost in the communal green rash.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Leap of Poetry

DAVID BRADLEY'S ARTICLE "THE Big Jump" in the Winter issue was pure poetry. No, those who came for the one last time did not go home to a lesser world. They had come with shining faces, they had one last jubilant salute, they had tested themselves anew, they had been alone with their fears, they had had a final toast of Akvavit!

What a lovely celebration that must have been and thanks to David Bradley, skier and poet, for sharing such a memorable time with us.

CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR FHE wonderful articles in the Winter 1993 issue by Messrs. Bradley, Perrin, and Sullivan.

I especially enjoyed the "Big Jump" article. I remember climbing the jump in warm weather. It was awe-inspiring and had a terrific view. Looking down from the top, one could appreciate the magnitude of fear that was apparently possible for humans to conquer. I suppose there were good reasons for removing the jump, but it does seem that something elemental has been taken away.

It also struck me that the "Big Jump" would have made an excellent cover story. I didn't get around to reading the one you picked.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Unplugged

PROFESSOR NOEL PERRIN WOULD have us believe that we face a crisis because of our excessive energy consumption on such things as cars, the air force, aluminum pans, and speedboats ["An Environmental B-Minus for Dartmouth," Winter]. If Professor Perrin truly believes in a crisis, why does he live 131/2 miles from Dartmouth when he could live in town and commute by bicycle (as I do)? And why does he have a lawn so large it requires a riding mower when we know from American Forests' Global Releaf program that retaining and re-establishing forest cover is of enormous importance for the environment?

I say this not to criticize Professor Perrin but to make the point that virtually none of us is willing to give up personal pleasures in life for the environment, except at the margin. That being the case, it is the absolute number of people that will ultimately determine our environmental fate. If the U.S. population, not to mention the world population, continues to grow, environmental degradation is assured, regardless of what those of us who consider ourselves environmentalists can do at the margin. To end the nation's population growth will require not only a reduction in the birth rate but also a lowering of the immigration rate. To achieve this will require specific, egislated changes in U.S. public policy that will be controversial and will entail enormous political battles. I would hope that Professor Perrin and other Dartmouth environmentalists would be led by the logic of their positions to join the battles for changes in U.S. policy on immigration and family size.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

NOEL PERRIN TALKS ABOUT what the College's environmental studies faculty "preaches" and about the information they spread regarding the "probable collapse of our industrial civilization." Though I personally support the desirability of energy conservation, I was disappointed at the narrow-mindedness these phrases convey. Rather than laying out one supposedly "correct" point of view, I hope our faculty spends time laying out the various points of view. It should also help teach students the process of how to arrive at logical conclusions rather than preaching the conclusions.

Professor Perrin further posits the notion that in the event the Trustees do not accept the collective wisdom of the environmental studies faculty, the Trustees should consider dismissing the faculty. Even though this part of the argument may be a rhetorical device, it, too, betrays a distressing attitude toward teaching. Professor Perrin seems to be saying that an important part of finding good faculty is finding people with the "right" point of view. I, for one, would prefer to hire teachers who are talented at explaining, laying out various arguments, and making the subject matter come alive. The logic of Professor Perrin's argument would seem to mean, for example, that our Trustees should be Marxists or else dismiss faculty members who favor a Marxist point of view.

Irrespective of one's thoughts about the scientific merit of Professor Perrin's beliefs, I hope he and the faculty have a higher concern for appropriate teaching expectations than was displayed in his article.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON PERRIN MISSES THE POINT THAT our economy and collective norms of behavior are not well suited to living in a resource-wise manner. What does it mean to live in this manner? Many "PC" answers immediately come to mind. Use paper bags at the Supermarket. Get a diaper service instead of Pampers. Don't use styrene coffee cups. Eat Rain Forest Crunch. But we cannot save resources with such simple gestures. Instead, we need to turn to a bigger and more important task: reconsidering our economic system.

Recent "life-cycle" cost analyses of some products and processes help to show the comparative wisdom or foolishness of many economic behaviors. Yet fall-cost information is not readily available for many other economic activities. Meanwhile, industrialists and environmentalists continue to use economic measures that do not truly account for all costs and more often promote intensive use of "cheap" resources. Efforts should focus on developing a more inclusive "industrial ecology" that demonstrates meaningful incentives for wise resource use. Ecological concepts must be introduced into economics.

The College should become a home for truly cutting-edge education of economists and industrialists for the twenty-first century. Tuck, Thayer, and disciplines involving the environment, business, industrialism, economics, and government should work together and nurturresource-use innovations. What better place than a college whose natural endowment can be the focal point?

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

IF PROFESSOR PERRIN WAS SERious about saving the environment and the world he would (1) walk, bicycle, or eliminate his 27-mile daily electric car commute by moving closer; (2) mow his lawn with a pusher mower; and (3) cut his wood with a hand saw. Rather than criticizing the College for its efforts, he should concentrate on lowering his personal consumption of electricity and act as an example to his students. "An Environmental B-Minus for Dartmouth" should be study material for the science fiction course which Noel Perrin taught in the past.

The best suggestion made by the author is that the Trustees fire him (or at least return him to teaching American literature where his lack of technical background will not have a negative impact on his students).

The article substitutes emotion for logic and reason. This is common practice for those who have not taken the time to learn anything of the disciplines that allow a person to make reasonable and rational judgments in technical areas and now wish to influence those areas. It is a technique widely used today to hamper or to stop reasonable progress. I suggest that there are some very qualified professors at Thayer School who could prepare a technically qualified article on this subject, including the tradeoffs which are available to us.

MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE College could be doing more to protect the environment and to conserve energy. For that matter, we all could. The College has already devoted significant resources to addressing these issues and has an environmental record that most other schools would do well to emulate.

Professor Perrin's article did not mention a very direct way in which members of the Dartmouth family can support the College's environmental efforts. In 1990 the College recognized the Dartmouth Environmental Network (DEN) as an official "Friends Group" whose primary purpose is to support the College's environmental education, research, and protection programs. DEN's 300-plus members have provided not only financial support but also a technical resource that has been tapped by administrators and faculty to help address a wide range of issues and concerns, both on and off campus. DEN's potential to help make environmental issues an integral part of decision-making and instruction within the College is nearly boundless. For more information, call (603)646-3174; or send e-mail to Dartmouth.Environmental. N etwork@ Dartmouth.edu.

DUNBARTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Tom Burack is the president of theDartmouth Environmental Network.

I PROPOSE THAT THE CQLLEGE ASK the Thayer School of Engineering to conduct a study on the feasibility of converting Dartmouth's 30,000- plus acres of woodland to fuel.

The Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury, Vermont, burns wood chips. Perhaps Dartmouth can.

Union Carbide builds plants to convert wood chips to methanol, or wood alcohol. Methanol can be used to fuel internal combustion engines that power dynamos and generate electricity for heat and light.

Perhaps burning wood chips or methanol could reduce our fuel costs considerably.

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

NOEL PERRIN REPLIES: Malcolm Churchill and Paul Sowa have a good point. I should live closer to the College, even though that would mean giving up the sort-of farm I've owned and loved for 30 years. I should also have a smaller lawn. I'm not sure I need to give up the electric chainsaw, since it gets its power from the 28 non-polluting solar panels on the barn. But I readily agree: At best my environmental activities deserve the same grade as the College, a B-minus.

Jon Fine is right; my suggestion that the Trustees should fire the College's environmentalists if they do not believe what we say is true was mainly rhetorical. But I do think his letter blurs the distinction between points of view and ascertainable facts.

I wish J.D. Lindeberg and John Goode would expand their letters into fall-scale articles.

House Calls

CAN THE FAMILY DOCTOR REcover?" in November does not look at the stunted development of the medical school. All medical schools have been nonprofits since 1910 when, in the name of quality control and aided and abetted by the AMA, political authorities closed medical schools and let doctors be in charge of medical education. The number of doctors per capita fell from 1910 onwards and did not reach levels approached prior to the closure of the medical schools until 1970. Would you let your car salesman be in charge of what constitutes quality transportation?

We have medical practitioners who can provide cheaper primary care to rural areas and the inner city than the M.D. can. They are known as nurse practitioners and physician assistants. They cannot practice independently in many states such as Illinois. Is this prohibition on their independent practice due to market forces or is it due to the lobbying efforts of the AMA and the local medical societies who do not want competition?

In the booklet, "Functions and Structure of a Medical School," we are told that the Liaison Committee on Medical Education which accredits medical schools is made up of medical-school faculty members, deans, teaching-hospital executives, and persons who provide a public perspective. It is a well-known axiom of law that no group of men can judge themselves in their own cause.

If we want more primary medical care, then we should change our laws to allow for-profit medical schools coupled with for-profit hospitals which will not be accredited by members of the medical profession. These new institutions will write contracts financing education and medical care. They will provide more access to a career in medicine and more access to medical care.

RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS

AS A NEUROSURGEON INVOLVED in the training of primary-care physicians, I have several observations on Dr. Koop's prescriptions for the nation's health care system. Most patients seen by specialists such as myself are sent by primary-care doctors because that physician (a) doesn't know enough about a specific problem or recent advance to provide complete care, (b) doesn't want to deal with a complex issue because of either liability concerns or time constraints, or (c) was asked by the patient to make the referral.

The need for specialists will not decline until the present system teaches medical generalists to think at least a little like neurosurgeons and cardiologists, stops threatening them with suits based on a lack of omniscience, and elevates public trust in the government's promotion of primary care.

After reading your article on Dr. Koop's plan for change, I haven't lost any sleep over job security.

BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK

TWO POLICY SHIFTS ARE IN ORder: the first is to obviate doctors' need to generate massive income in order to pay down debt and live a decent lifestyle. States and the federal government should subsidize the loans of students of preventive medicine and of doctors who switch to the field. Savings generated through the reduction of costly and often needless procedures could be applied against the $70,000 to $100,000 loan burden carried by recent graduates.

The second shift should be in education. Unless the general population is given a good, convincing health education from the earliest ages, the need for specialists will continue unabated. We either invest in our people early on or we pay later, one way or the other. And sooner is always cheaper.

PAMPLONA, SPAIN

The True Freshmen

MANY THANKS FOR AGAIN PUB- lishing the picture of the three freshmen literally carrying out their traditional chores for the unidentified upperclassman. This now-classic pic- ture has appeared three times in the past two years: November 1993, September 1993, and September 1991. The correct identification of the three freshmen (left to right): Chet Caswell, Bob Stiles, and Dick Fleming—all 's3s, all residents of North Fayer and the sons, respec- tively, of Chester F. Caswell 'l9, Charles N. Stiles '2l, and Herbert P. Fleming 'l9.

I well remember the day in the fall of '49 when we three freshmen were summoned by the upperclassman to move his furniture stored in North Fayer over the summer—the move you have so well documented.

I hope that the upperclassman will be correctly identified.

BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS

I WONDER HOW MANY MEMBERS of the great class of 1953 have writ- ten to correct Bob Ringstad '52. He mistakenly identifies the three beanied freshmen in the September 1993 is- sue. The three, left to right, are: Chet Caswell, Bob Stiles, Dick Fleming. The fourth member is an upperclass- man for whom such services were mandatory in the fall of 1949.

How many things have changed since this photo was taken? And in spite of, or because of, Dartmouth be- ing the finest institution of its kind.

ELON COLLEGE, NORTH CAROLINA

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT NONE of the beanie-clad figures is Buck Henry. And the fellow bringing up the rear is Ted Laskin '5l, erstwhile editor of the Daily D, whipping his heelers into shape with a little muscle work.

Not only was Buck Henry a mem- ber of the 1952 class, to my recollec- tion, but—despite moving many to risibility during his undergraduate days—he also never voluntarily or otherwise moved a piece of furniture if it could be avoided.

ANGELS CAMP, CALIFORNIA

Tea and Empathy

I WAS RECENTLY IN HANOVER seeking employment in the area. After six interviews, including a lun- cheon date, I eased into a chair in the Sanborn Library on a Friday after- noon. I planned on reading a good book and relaxing until 6:30 p.m. when I was to meet some friends for dinner. Around 4:00 p.m. a woman began making tea. It was such a sim- ple yet enjoyable pleasure to sit in a comfortable chair, with a much-ap- preciated footstool and a cup of tea (Earl Grey) on a rainy day. I had for- gotten that tea was served there.

Small groups of students were qui- etly chatting, others were writing let- ters, and still others studying. One Ph.D. student offered me her chair upon leaving, suggesting that it might be more comfortable. What a de- lightful, restful afternoon. In these times of severe cutbacks, I was relieved to see that tea was still served in Sanborn Library. Dartmouth, Set a Watch Lest the Old Traditions Fail.

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT

Ma If ires

HAS ANYONE ELSE RAISED QUES- tions regarding the huge railroad- tie fires at Dartmouth Night celebra- tions, getting larger and larger each year?

The waste of good timbers! The time spent in searching for and col- lecting them! The danger to life and limb in constructing those tremen- dous piles! The heat is so intense that people can't get close safely to enjoy the fire!

The smaller fires built in my day were safer, less costly, less wasteful, and much more enjoyable.

MIDDLETOWN SPRINGS, VERMONT

Technically speaking, they are not rail-road ties; since 1987 the bonfire's exteriorhas consisted of creosote-free "landscape"ties—unmarketable scrap ties purchasedthrough a local dealer.

While the bonfire is considerably largerthan it was during the twenties, it has gotten smaller in the past decade. TheCollege's official Bonfire Safety Policiesand Procedures state: "The bonfire willcontain 35 tiers in the base star, 25 tiersin the hex and 1 tiers in the square," thuslimiting the structure to 61 tiers, or 51percent of the record-setting height of 117tiers set during the 1910s.

Incidentally, the Bonfire Safety Policiesand Procedures comprise 15 rules, all ofwhich wake interesting reading. Notableare rule number 5 ("During construction, a maximum of six students will beallowed on top during the building of thestar. When the hexagon commences, fourstudents will be allowed on the top of thestar and two students on the hex. Thesame number will apply while buildingthe square."), and rule number 8 ("A restraining rope ringing the structure at adistance of 110 feet will be in place theevening of the fire.").

We must concede Mr. Kenny's remarksas to cost and heat. Despite the administration's obviously sincere efforts to ensure universal safety and enjoyment, wecan only be reminded of Job 5:3: "Man isborn unto trouble, as the sparks fly up-ward. "

born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. "Truman's Independence

AS AN ADMIRER OF HARRY Truman, I enjoyed reading Jim Freedman's "Presidential Range" (Winter) summarizing Truman's life. He is indeed an outstanding example of how a lifelong pursuit of reading and education can prepare one for life's unforeseen challenges.

One factual correction. Freedman states that Truman was born in Independence, Missouri. Independence is the seat of Jackson County, with which Truman was associated all of his adult life. However, as a native of Jackson County myself, I must point out that Independence was Truman's fourth home. He was born in Lamar, Missouri, the seat of Barton County 90 miles to the south.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Back Paddling

I WAS TAKEN WAY BACK BY WILL Lange's account and photos of a Trip to the Sea [Summer]. Somewhere in club records there must be accounts of trips to the sea during the years Will says there were no trips—1935-1956.

I can attest to one made by me and at least five others in two segments in 1954 and 1955. My motivation was to satisfy the requirements for a geography course I was taking. I wrote an account of the trip and the recommended portages and got a passing grade, thanks to Van English's generosity.

We did not enjoy the luxuries described by Will such as parties, banquets, and balls hosted by various alumni groups. We did float through Springfield, drinking wine out of gallon jugs and urinating over the stern. Later that afternoon, our obnoxious behavior was punished by a heavy rainstorm and strong winds that forced us to seek the first available safe landing. After an uncomfortable night under the canoes, we awoke to find ourselves in a poison ivy patch just below Wethersfield Prison.

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA

Despite the un-holidaylike cover, JaneHodges' story hit a latent chord.