Spenders of the Green

Just before Commencement we asked seniors wnat they expected to do with their first post-graduation paycheck. About a third said they will pay off student loans and other debts, and another third plan to turn their new- found income" to rent and food. A couple said they hope to save it. And for a handful, graduate study will postpone their first real paycheck for so long that they couldn't answer the question.

Eric Dorre said he will "pay for my previous month's golf trip to Ireland and Scotland, the credit card bill for which should arrive at about the same time as the paycheck."

Kenneth Park replied, filially: "Giveittomymom." Allison Pell has a similar idea: "I'm going to pay back my parents the $2,500 that I owe them, then I'll just put the rest in the bank and pay my rent, food, etc." After taking care of student and car loan payments, Catherine Rymas promises to "take my parents to dinner to thank them for the tons of money they poured into my Dartmouth education." Sanjay Gupta will "send part of it to my sister, who sent her first Procter & Gamble paycheck tome."

"What I'd like to do," said Heidi Hachtel, "is buy some new toys (fall-suspension mountain bike, or astyleyThule bike/ski rack, or some fun stuff like that), but what I'll probably end up doing is paying off loans and credit card bills."

Casey Barnett is a realist. "I will buy a bad suit so that I have something to wear to work." And Christy Hanse is an idealist. She hopes to "end world hunger, let every student go to college for free, and give Ledyard Canoe Club a fleet of new marathon canoes...or, if my paycheck isn't quite big enough, maybe just get a beat-up car."

The youngest alumni have plans for their cash.