Of Appointments and Disappointments
Divers Notes and Observations
Sooner or later, the classroom was going to supplant the tent and the beer keg as a preferred locale of reuning alumni. It's now happened: at the first-ever Reunion College, veteran history professor Charlie Wood, with the help of the chair of the geography department, Richard Wright, will revive and update an all-time favorite, "Great Issues at the Millennium," in Cook Auditorium on June 11. Two days later Wood will team with Mark Williams, assistant professor of film studies, on the topic of "American Culture: Where Is Tt Now and Where Is It Going?" and reuners will venture out on the information superhighway to discuss with their classmates die current and future states of television and the computer. One such issue, the difficulty of enforcing laws concerning intellectual property, was recently the subject of a talk by Trustee William Neukom '64, senior vice president for law and corporate affairs for Microsoft Corporation. Overseas piracy for software, said Neukom, approaches 90 percent, but our own country's record of respect for intellectual rights is nothing to be proud of.
At Class Officers Weekend, the new Dean of the Tucker Foundation, Scott Brown '78, made a good case tor social awareness and involvement in the foundation's many community service projects. Another new face in service to Dartmouth will be that of Trustee Nancy Kepesjeton '76, who was your choice in the recent election to succeed retiring Joe Mathewson '55, whose term ends next month. You will not have another chance to elect an alumni Trustee, incidentally, until the year 2000.
Although he has been at Dartmouth for the past 22 years, and dean of graduate studies for the past three, biology professor Ed Berger also steps into a spotlight as dean of the faculty, succeeding Jim Wright, who is serving as acting provost. The mild-mannered Berger is the author or co-author of nearly 100 publications. He will now be boss of more than 300 faculty members in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. Among other things, he has a special interest in the problems of ethics that biology has recendy laid on our doorstep.
We were disappointed that Carl McCall '58, a possible candidate for governor of New York, had to cancel his Dartmouth speaking appearance in favor of showing up at the 50th-year celebration of Jackie Robinson's historical entry into major league baseball. We hope that he can re-schedule as part of the Black Alumni Association's 25 th anniversary event, which will take place on Memorial Day weekend. (Whether or not he makes it then, he will definitely make an appearance in a fall issue of this magazine.) Another, and far more tragic disappointment: the death of adjunct professor Michael Dorris just as he was to deliver the keynote address at a Native American Studies conference here at Dartmouth. (A tribute to Dorris can be found on page 15.) It was not the happiest of weeks, as they also marked the passing of twice New Hampshire Governor Lane Dwinell '28, TU '29, and of professor emeritus Chauncey N. Allen '24, who taught us abnormal psychology in 1933.
While spring reminds us of the current successes of the men's tennis, women's lacrosse, and equestrian teams, Athletic Director Dick Jaeger '59 may have finally found the remedy for the hockey woes that have afflicted the Green for the last several seasons. He has persuaded Bob Gaudet '81 to take on the task that has eluded quite a number of coaches since he himself performed in the nets namely, to bring back a few winning years for Dartmouth hockey. Gaudet was twice all-Ivy goalie, served for five years as assistant coach here at Thompson Arena and for nine as the highly successful head coach at Brown. A different sort of gift for Dartmouth athletics arrived on Jaeger's desk two weeks later, namely $100,00 from John Manley '40, TU '41 and his wife Carla, for the construction and outfitting of a new exercise room for the teams in intercollegiate competition, releasing the current equipment for recreational student use.
The walls of the Hood Museum are glistening with a brilliant series of paintings from India entitled "Realms of Heroism." On loan from the Brooklyn Museum, the exhibit depicts gods and goddesses, folk heroes, and historic rulers in rich colors and almost microscopic detail. The artists must at times have used only a single hair of their brushes.
We looked askance at the announcement that a publisher calling itself Ivy Essays would pay for essays from successful admissions candidates, to resell to prospective high school seniors for their applications. It recalled, however, a favorite anecdote about a student who was stuck with a woeful lack of inspiration for an important paper, due the next morning. He suddenly remembered that the attic of his fraternity house was where graduating brothers would dispose of various articles of impedimenta when leaving Hanover for good. Sure enough, a search of the attic turned up a 12-pager on just the subject he needed. He retyped and submitted it. Three days later he got it back, with the written comment from his young professor: "When I wrote this paper some years ago, it got a "B." I now give it the mark it deserved "A."
