HISTORY that FLEW

Extraordinary Omission

I WAS ASTONISHED TO FIND THAT what had been represented to be a biographical piece on me turned into a foil for an angry and one-sided exposition on the ill-fated exhibit of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian. ["The Bomb in the Nation's Attic," May],

I took over the Smithsonian well after the controversy about the exhibit had arisen. I found that the original script, by concentrating almost exclusively on the end of the war and the period thereafter, was seriously unbalanced in failing to provide enough information on the causes of the war and, in particular, the pattern of Japanese aggression. This omission, coupled with the endless pictures and artifacts illustrating devastation wrought by the bombs, created an impression in many that the United States was the cruel aggressor and the Japanese undeserving victims.

I am at a loss to know how the advisory committee, which included the vehement critic of my action, Martin Sherwin, could have ignored this extraordinary omission. Their failure to respect the commemorative context in which the exhibition would be received is equally baffling. Smithsonian exhibits are more than history books. What goes up on the walls can affect millions of visitors. The more controversial the topic the greater the care that must be taken to assure balance and non-partisanship. While historians continue to debate the use of the bombs, hosts of veterans of that era believe that their use, which clearly ended the war, saved their lives by making the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands unnecessary. Unless an exhibition is carefully balanced, any questioning of President Truman's decision to use the bombs will be read as disregard for their lives and great sacrifice.

When the Smithsonian, the Nation's Museum, undertakes an historica1 inquiry into a topic fraught with deep emotions, it should present a full picture, but it must handle the subject with great care and understanding. Otherwise, societal pressures will frustrate the effort as has happened here.

Secretary Smithsonian Institution

IN REGARD TO Professor Sherwin's statement that President Truman "surprised" the Japanese with the atom bombing, as an officer on a Destroyer Escort southeast of Japan I personally heard Truman broadcast to the people of that country a threat to drop a newly discovered weapon on one of their cities if they didn't surrender. They ignored the threat, much as the United States press who never saw fit to write about it. Actually it took two bombs before they quit.

I blame the increasingly liberal Dartmouth Alumni Magazine for being taken in by his statement and castigate the College for hiring such a man.

Essex, Connecticut

That Thing Called Swing

CONGRATULATIONS TO Jay Paris and the Alumni Magazine for a splendid piece on the sport called rowing. You do not list rowing in Jay's background but surely he has felt the sweaty blade, heard the rush of slides to the catch?

In seven years of rowing in high school and at Dartmouth I never could master the fear and raw nerves one feels at the start of a race. In Hanover, one must endure a long three and a half mile row to the starting blocks, all the while glaring at your foes in their sleek shell. The crew finally reaches the starting position a complete wreck. Your nemesis in the shell 20 feet away is just as nervous, you hope. And he is wearing your future shirt or are you sporting his? There is no time to ponder this, because soon you hear the "Are you ready? ROW!!" and are off the line. Perhaps the best part of the pain in the legs and back incurred in the race is that all those jitters are finally gone.

As the Brits would yell on the banks of the Thames at Henley: "Good show, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine! Good show!"

TTAD@Aurora.Alaska.Edu

JAY Paris did an admirable job expressing what is so magical about the sport of rowing. Some of my happiest moments were spent trying to perfect the concept of "swing." Some of my closest friends were, and still are, rowers in pursuit of that same goal.

Yet Paris fails miserably by not exploring what is so magical about rowing at Dartmouth—a program which, in the past four years, has had four boats win Eastern Sprints, finished second at the National Championships twice, won the eights title at women's Henley, won the lightweight points trophy in 1993, and had its lightweight and heavyweight crews finish second for the team title in 1994.

The degree to which alumni support the yearly budget of Dartmouth Crew, as well as their attendance at races and regattas throughout the year and around the world, can attest to their continual commitment to the program long past their graduation.

I spent many hours practicing on the Connecticut River, in all types of weather and at all hours of the day; hot and humid, cold and snowy, at sunrise, sunset, and everything in between. In my mind's eye, I can see every bend in the river, every house on its banks. I can name every landmark; from the dam in West Lebanon to Ledyard Bridge, from the island in Lyme all the way back down to the glorious Friends of Dartmouth Rowing Boathouse. The College has given this alumna the opportunity to be a part of a great tradition of rowing at Dartmouth, with facilities unmatched in the league and with teammates who would do anything to be first across the line. It's a shame Paris did not have the opportunity to discover what it means to be a part of Dartmouth Crew. If he did, his article would have been much different—and much more pertinent to Dartmouth alumni.

New York, New York

Clean Thoughts

REGARDING THE TEXT ATTACHED to "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the O.R." ["On the Hill," April]: While the surgeon may well be deep in prayer, the way his hands are held is probably a conditioned response to being yelled at, during his training, by various scrub nurses, surgical residents, and surgeons to maintain the sterility of his surgical attire. The veterinary profession adopts the same pre-surgery pose.

GMOORE@VT.EDU

Room Gods

I HAVE ALWAYS WONDERED ABOUT the Dartmouth students who had roomed (or are rooming) in the rooms I'd called "mine." I wonder a fraction less now, after reading your article on Nels Armstrong '71 in the March issue.

Mr. Armstrong had been a Topliffer/Toplifter/T opper/Topless god/goddess in Room #203. I, too, had been a T/T/T/Tg in #203 at one point, but Mr. Armstrong's recollections make #203 come alive in a light particular to his own Dartmouth experiences.

The room will be lit by many more new lives as long as there are students to fill it.

Who else remembers #203 Topliff? And would not collected recollections compose a wonderful book?

New York, New York

Upper Valley Dialectics

PROFESSOR AL FOLEY TAUGHT US that Dan & Whit's was in NORRICH, not NORE-WICH, as Professor Perrin says it now is.

Either Dan & Whit's moved in the last 30 years or all them city folks, that moved up to Vermont, changed the language. Next thing I know Thetford won't be Thet-fud and Corinth won't be called Crinth. I may never find my way around the Upper Valley again!

Hillsborugh, California

And don't forget Lebn'n here in NewHampshuh. While we hear Norwich pronounced both ways, WICH has seemed to gainascendance in the last few decades—perhaps because the transplants who furtively shop forvintage wines in Dan & Whit's don't wish tosound too effete and flatlanderly.

Posture Photo Scandal

MANY OF THIS MAGAZINE'S readers have doubtless seen the January 15 cover story of The New York Times Sunday Magazine, "Posture Picture Photo Scandal," about the thousands of nude pictures that were taken, in the name of science, of students at many colleges. Although Dartmouth was not of them, many alumni have friends and spouses who were.

In February the Sunday Times published a letter I sent in response to the article. I recalled that Dartmouth fraternity pledges in my day were sent out in search of posture pictures, particularly those rumored to be held in a specific secure location at Wellesley. Since the letter appeared, I have had an amazing response. Friends from all over America dropped me a line. I have had people stop me on the street to discuss the subject. An old girlfriend from Dartmouth days, who now lives in San Francisco, sent a card that ended: "Oh, you Dartmouth boys—I should have known!"

I could not have imagined how stirred up people would get by the scandal. At our class executive committee meeting in New York, I had dinner with three classmates and their wives, all of whom had had posture photos taken. All three wives acknowledged that they had felt imposed upon or personally violated. They all said that at the time they had remained silent despite their strong feelings, because that was the tone of the times. They said they felt some relief or closure by discussing the subject openly, albeit many years later.

Perhaps the Alumni Magazine should get other readers' views. I am confident that a wonderful "symposium" could result.

Cleveland, Ohio

Different Drummer

I FEEL THAT THE Dartmouth College Marching Band is owed a defense, in the face of criticism from Robert Fisher '42 ["Letters," April], I have attended Dartmouth Night and the Homecoming football game the past three years (including the events Mr. Fisher commented upon), as a member of the Alumni Band component of the DCMB.

The "drum major in a Scottish costume who couldn't even spin a baton" is Josh Marks '96, an accomplished bagpiper in authentic Black Watch regalia. Josh has transcribed the Dartmouth fight songs for bagpipe, and he regularly played them with the Band until becoming dram major. As a band leader in the British/Scottish tradition, he does not twirl his leader's scepter like a majorette. His Black Watch tartan had, as a dominant color, "Dartmouth green." The previous two DCMB drum majors dressed as a leprechaun and a purple-robed Merlin figure respectively, so Josh is at least as appropriate as leader of the DCMB.

I make no excuses for the text of the football game half-time show, except to note that it was intended to insult Yale undergrads, not Yale alums. The perceived difference between Ivy schools are much more important to students than to graduates, and Dartmouth's quirks and peculiarities are certainly fair game for the half-time shows of the other Ivy marching bands. Besides, the sophomoric humor probably struck a chord with at least onequarter of the students attending the game: the sophomores.

I hope Mr. Fisher will plan to attend the hundredth anniversary of Dartmouth Night and the Homecoming game this fall, where the DCMB and the Cornell band (if it attends) will probably trade friendly jibes and insults. After all, the Cornell band, in marionette uniforms, is generally considered to be the last surviving "high school marching band" in the Ivy League.

Hanover, New Hampshire

Organ Stop

IN COMPILING "Not a House but Still a Home" ["Dartmouth Undying," May], you omitted the student who—during the Twenties, I believe—is supposed to have lived for a while in a small, unused space behind the Rollins Chapel organ. The way we heard it from our instructor in French 101, a man named Leith, what finally gave the squatter away were cooking odors escaping from his litde hideaway. Fact or folklore?

Hopewell, New jersey

The Truth

TED Wolf ["Letters," April] would be surprised to learn that Evalyn Bennett is only one of hundreds of Dartmouth graduates who believe in Creation as did the College's founders, and the fathers of modern science: Maxwell, Faraday, Kepler, Newton, Pasteur, et al. Ted created a "straw man" which he easily blows over. However, the Catholic church, though it may have insisted that the earth was flat and the center of the universe as late as 1633, did not write the Bible. Those who were used by God to do so produced a book which is supported scientifically, historically, archaeologically, in terms of literary integrity, in terms of logic. Christianity is the thinking person's religion. Although Christ died to take away our sins, He didn't die to take away our brains. Consequently, it might be more appropriate to say that all religions require faith, but one, at least, is based on Truth. Just try honestly to find a single conflict between God's Word, and God's world!

Springfield, Massachusetts

Tale Endings

PROMPTED BY MY CLASSMATE Fran Horn's reaction to the March "Tales Out of School" issue ["Letters, April]: David Lambuth was a sight to see as he walked by in his cape and spats. He was the subject of a fascinating book called TheProfessor's Wife from which he issued forth as a presence and attention-getter in or out of class. But he did indeed introduce us to values in contemporary literature (of the teens and twenties).

His son-in-law Kenneth Robinson gave a remarkable course in those days on Social Backgrounds of Literature. I remember well sitting in his class in Thornton, and finding myself gazing out of the window following up a thought he had given, and finding out how I could think for myself about literature and its ramifications. Great experience!

Royal Nemiah was the very apex of quiet sophistication as he taught brilliant courses in Greek and Roman Civilization—introducing us to Socrates, Plato, Sappho, Aristophanes, the tragedians, and to Cicero and Marcus Aurelius. Along with him, another sophisticate was Ben Pressey, who showed us the style and ideas of the English romantic poets. His sly smile was charming, and taught us not to be overwhelmed by the seriousness of four succeeding waves of nineteenth-century poets. In contrast the level-headed seriousness and wide range of information given by W.K. Stewart in his courses in Types of German Thought and Types of French thoughtwidened our intellectual horizons in fascinating fashion. He was quiet but appealing.

All, of course, are gone now, but for me they symbolized what a liberal education was all about, and what Dartmouth stood for.

I'm sure in the faith that the College has since carried, and now carries on such stimulating classes and courses, with equally stimulating professors. Hence, I continue to support the College by annual giving.

Hanover, New Hampshire

Hold the Rye

IN RESPONSE TO THE "Syllabus" on witches in the September issue, I am including a Xerox copy of an article from American Scientist. Apparently, there is a chemical basis for the witchcraft trials in Salem during 1692, and one wonders where else. The necessity to grow rye for bread probably led to ergotism. Ergot is a fungus which is also a source of LSD and occurs on rye grown under cold wet conditions. Apparently, most of the victims were children and immature adults with sufficiently low body weight to allow concentrations of ergot at toxifying levels with relatively nominal intakes of rye bread.

I guess it comes out like this. The witches were apparently young women spaced out on LSD from moldy rye bread. The author notes that males were affected similarly, but I suppose that chauvinism prevented their trial on such charges. As the article describes there were a host of other environmental factors helping this phenomenon along—among them cold winters, low-lying farmland, wheat rust, etc.

Traverse City, Michigan

Flying Tips

Aviator and invertor Harry Nelson Atwood spoke at Dartmouth College sometime in 1935 (or perhaps 1934). Atwood learned to fly with the Wright Brothers and won fame in 1911 with two cross-country flights. In the 1930s he was developing the Duply Airmobile at a furniture factory in Milford, New Hampshire. The plane had a successful test flight in June 1935. At Dartmouth, Atwood spoke of his inventions and his belief in space travel.

Any remembrances, no matter how brief, would be greatly appreciated.

P.O. Box 127

Hancock, NH 03449

Hancock, New Hampshire

Radical Liberalism

FOR AT LEAST TWO DECADES, THE administration had told us that "Diversity" is an absolute virtue. If this indeed be so, perhaps someone can tell me why the overwhelming majority of the faculty and administrative personnel is radically liberal. This is diversity?

Lewiston, Idaho

Go Moose!

It is about time Dartmouth had a mascot rather than being the "Big Green." For several reasons, I am putting my two cents in for the moose. It is a natural for us: it is an inhabitant of our same North Woods (unlike the Princeton Tiger or the Columbia Lion). It is majestic and a fierce fighter. As for aspersions being cast as being dumb, we do have an alma mater with the line, "the granite of New Hampshire in their muscles and their brains" and that has not seemed to slow us down one bit.

Here is a top ten list for the moose: 10. No confusion over the singular or plural.

9. Already a cartoon hero for children.

8. The Co-op already stocks a "Dartmoose."

7. Romantic animal (i.e., the unrequited love of the moose who courted the cow in Vermont last year).

6. All true sports teams have a moose (i.e., Moose Johnston, Moose Skowron).

5. Potential corporate sponsorship tiein (Moosehead beer).

4. Weekly television (Northern) exposure.

3. Athletic break away cheer, "The moose is loose."

2. "Politically correct" are not words in Mooseage.

1. Perfect mascot costume for a student named Berkowitz.

New York, New York