1975

One of the great benefits of being class secretary is that all sorts of interesting things show up in your mail. For example, an invitation to the premiere screening of Homecoming, at the Directors Guild of America Theatre, 7920 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles. This film stars Anne Bancroft, Bonnie Bedelia, and Kimberlee Peterson. The screenplay was written by Chris Carlson. Home corning will be featured on the Showtime Network (8 p.m.) April 14, 15,19,24, and 27, in addition to future dates. Chris has invited all classmates to tune in! In return, all he asks for is a copy of the 1975 AEGIS. Does anybody have an extra?

Chris attended the American Film Institute in L.A. in the early 1980s, where he studied screenwriting. Since then, he has written many feature scripts, including The Penny Elf released in 1984, starring Christopher Lloyd and Andrea Marcovicci. He has also written educational scripts for Disney children's films, and has done television producing for Story Behind the Story, in a series of specials for NBC.

Does everyone realize what an impact Rick White is having on the nation? The telecommunications bill recently signed into law included several of Rick's proposals regarding how to monitor smut on the Internet. Specifically, the bill provided for parental empowerment software (parents can screen out material they don't want their children to see). In addition, online service providers who have made a good-faith effort to put protections in place, are not liable for smut sent to minors. Rick's "harmful to minors" standard, which would have made it illegal to knowingly send or make available to minors any such material, lost by one vote, in favor of the "indecency" standard. According to the White camp, the indecency standard now passed into law remains undefined and of questionable constitutionality. Rick has now launched an Internet caucus on Capitol Hill, with the goal of furthering education among congressional members about the Internet.

"The language of philanthropy speaks to a person's heart and soul before it speaks to anything else. It must. If it did not, the tax benefits and the increased income so often touted as incentives to make a planned gift would add up to no incentive at all." The author? Doug White, in a newly published book called The Art of Planned Giving. Doug's book deals with the psychology of why people give money away, and also delves into ethical issues in the fundraising industry. The book just won the 1996 Staley/Robeson/Ryan/St. Lawrence Research Prize awarded by the National Society of Fundraising Executives. Doug told me it took three years of airplane time to write the book. He also said it was an incredible feeling to finally see the finished product. Doug is currently director of client relations at Kaspick & Cos., a planned giving investment firm in Menlo Park and Boston. He assists nonprofit organizations such as colleges and universities with establishing planned giving policies and donor relations. Doug lives in Andover, Mass., with his wife, Marcia, and two children, David 12 and Christa 10.

Mark Torinus is the new president of the Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges, a fundraising organization for 21 independent colleges and universities in Wisconsin. Mark spent many years in journalism, culminating as editor of the Janesville Gazette, before moving into Fundraising.

As an alumni interviewer, Mark helps recruit students to Dartmouth. His family includes his wife, Maryclaire, and three children, Nathan 15, Sarah 14, and Anne 10. Stay in touch.

429 E. 52nd St., #22E, New York, NY 10022; (212) 980-2267 (h), (212) 640-4280 (w)