A Two-for-One- Convocation and the Med School's 200th

Divers Notes and Observations

After a drowsy summer which finally perked up with some beautiful weather, the College seemed to rocket into high gear on the mid-September weekend just before Convocation. The campus filled up with out-of-state license plates bringing back upperclass members (most of the freshpersons were out on Outing Club trips); classfuls of mini-reuning alumni crowded the Inn and surrounding havens of rest; the class agents met in special conclave; and the football team's contribution to it all was a barn-burner and a heart-stopper both.

And now the calendar over-floweth. What was called "everyone's Convocation" kicked off the 200th year celebration of the founding of the Dartmouth Medical School, fourth oldest in the nation. For that reason, the two-for-one guest speaker was Samuel Thier, M.D., president and CEO ofMass General and a former president of Brandeis as well as a former member of the Med School's Board of Overseers. On the topic "Medicine in the Twenty-First Century: Profession or Industry?", Dr. Thier posed no lack of challenges for those members of 2000 who plan medical careers (and particularly a throng of first-year med students, with DMS 2000 badges, among whom we found ourselves seated). These would be the ones, Thier said, who will usher in the new century's inevitable shift in emphasis from medical treatment to medical care.

The mentor traditionally offered by President Freedman for the students' emulation this year was one of his predecessors as a Dartmouth trustee—three-time New Hampshires governor John G. Winant. Freedman hailed Winant, whom history seems to have forgotten, as an outstanding teacher, idealist, and public servant, though his life ended in disappointment and tragedy.

First in line in the parade of speakers in the year-long Med School bicentennial was Dr. Richard D. Klausner, head of the National Cancer Institute. As the year rolls on we will try to keep you up-to-date on the array of distinguished medical personalities, exhibitions, books, memorabilia, and time capsules that will culminate in a major symposium on the biomedical sciences on September 5, 6, and 7, 1997, of the Med School's Year 200.

From medicine to law: Sponsored by the Dickey Center and its acting director Professor Gene Lyons, the chiefs of the leading Russian courts of justice met for two days in late September with U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter and the chief justices of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. They were here to compare the Russian and American legal systems. At a press conference, the Russian justices said that their main concern was the lack of funds to support a smooth transition from Communist rule to a constitutional system. The justices also highlighted the problem of engendering public belief that the new system was free from political influence. Mr. Justice Souter (another favorite New Flampshire son, on the verge, in our opinion, of statesmanhood) genially stressed the second of these problems, mentioning periods in U.S. history when the public trust in our own legal system has also had its down moments.

A bit further along on the legal horizon was the appearance of Jamie Gorelick, number-two attorney in the Justice Department. The dust-up over the Montana Freemen tookpredecence over Ms. Gorelick's appearance here last spring. It was rescheduled for September 30, when she spoke on "Political Rhetoric and Public Participation."

Should you require evidence of even more activity on the local forums, be here later this month for the Nelson Rockefeller Public Service Award lecture by Paul Tsongas '62; also for Dr. Kevorkian's attorney, Geoffrey Feiger, on "Ethics and Policy of Assisted Suicide"; and finally, for noted paleontologist Stephenjay Gould. All well before the snow flies or the leaves have left.

With that brand of headliners, you can see why it's no wonder that Hanover was recently the only New England community to be rated among the top 20 of the "101 Smartest Spots" in the United States, according to the magazine American Demographics. People holding bachelor degrees or higher average 20 percent of the U.S. population, but for Hanover (and Norwich as well) the figure is three times that. Supporting good news also from the respected 1997 Fiske Guide to Colleges, which goes through the roof in its recommending Dartmouth for "the combination of superior academics, a blossoming social life, one of the safest campuses in the U. S., a small, community atmosphere" and just about everything else.

We're happy to report that the basketball team acquitted itself favorably in a two-week pre-season trip to Portugal, going 5-2 against mostly professional teams. But the big sports news so far is the season-opening Dartmouth-Penn fracas, billed as the game that would decide the Ivy tide. No piece of cake for the Green, though the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week, Quarterback Jon Aljancic '97, pulled it out 24-22 in the last 19 seconds. The defense pulled off a heroic second-half performance those stalwarts may really be who decides the Ivy title.

It was a fine first weekend of the term, as both men's and women's soccer, and field hockey too, beat the Quakers. Even the band has learned a new number.