The "Initiative"

More fraternal response, more Hollywood credits.

Social Life

Looking at the gorilla on your May cover, its teeth bared and with the word "Trapped" boldly printed across the open mouth, my gut reaction was that the photo is connected to a story on the coming changes of life in the fraternity system. I was relieved to see that I was wrong, and that the photo corresponds to interesting and useful knowledge. However, the connection between gorilla and fraternity system lived on. Perhaps there is a place for fraternities as we knew them deep in some impenetrable forest, where the subadult males can hoot and stomp and thrash to their hearts' content. Maybe some females will be attracted by all the ruckus and will join the party.

FAIRFIELD, IOWA SJAMES@MUM.EDU

There always was, and still is, room for NON-politically correct institutions in the American spectrum of education. What bothers me, deeply, is the fact that the past several College presidents have followed their own personal agendas for moving the College toward a politically correct, multicultural university. I think that the latest politically correct move to de-genderize the fraternities tears it for this alumnus. Harvard, fine, but not my school. I would not suggest to my children or grandchildren that they consider Dartmouth for a college, and that says it all.

JALISCO, MEXICO BOLLIE@LAGUNA.COM.MX

Dartmouth as a monastery of prep-schoolmentored gladiators and valedictorians was an interesting nightmare to me. (The beautiful blonde seen studying in my chair in Baker on last year's visit to campus was a shocking improvement; I still have not recovered.) My friendships with outstanding and unusual and foreign and other nonprep students were one of the best parts of my Dartmouth experience. The development of Latino, Afro, and Native "houses" subsequent to my time has appeared to further separatism and promote the superiority of the already elite.

I think Dartmouth has its head in the sand about how to foster enthusiastic learning experiences and how the residential circumstances of students relate to this. Dartmouth's disinterest in dealing with this until the millennium shows how sadly backward Dartmouth as an educational business continues to be. Keep working on it, folks.

KIRKL AND, WASHINGTON WAKEFIELD@WORLDNET.ATT.NET

Your "Social Index" [April] states that Princeton has no fraternities. I can say that it has at least one—a chapter of my fraternity, Chi Phi. (The house still exists at Dartmouth, but has gone local under the cognomen of Chi Heorot.) I asked the national headquarters why it is allowed to exist at Princeton, where the trustees and administration frown on the Greeks. The reply was that while they do not officially recognize fraternities, they allow them to exist without recognition. You also state that there are no fraternities at Harvard. I distinctly recall passing by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house a few years ago while walking to a Dartmouth-Harvard football game. The purple and gold SAE flag was flying from the window! Perhaps the Harvard authorities also look the other way.

Here's hoping the Trustees and administration will at least be willing to look the other way and let these precious bonds of single-sex fellowship survive!

CLEVELAND, OHIO JOHN-F-ANDERSON@PRODIGY.NET

Ken Dahl's "Questions You Ought To Be Asking" [April] contains the best advice to Dartmouth's students and President that I have yet read. Mr. Dahl points to at least one answer with potential: the concept of more faculty involvement with students. I hope that most of today's students have a high degree of intellectual curiosity that is only partially satisfied by organized instruction. President Wright, how about giving the faculty the challenge and opportunity to satisfy that desire? I bet that would be more effective than a new million-dollar building.

AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA

I agree with Ken Dahl '68 regarding the hope that single-sex, socially oriented houses will slowly disappear, and that the College will more strictly enforce a ban on underage drinking.

MALDEN BRIDGE, NEW YORK JNTRYSON@AOL.COM

Eighty-three percent of undergraduates oppose the President and Trustees' plan to outlaw single-sex houses. What are the figures for alumni? Your May issue was silent on this point, and your selection of letters makes it seem that the alumni are equally divided on the subject. I doubt that the alumni of Dartmouth feel that outlawing a tradition that is more than a century old is a good idea. To make large changes in policy, leaders need to develop a consensus. Our "leaders" made no such effort. They simply issued a fiat. Whose college is it, anyway?

BARRINGTON, ILLINOISPFAFFLAW@AOL.COM

No doubt thousands of other alumni are as tired as I am of the allegations of being, apparently, nothing more than a bunch of "sexist," "elitist," "racist," "homophobic," and "drunken" louts because we were once (and are still in our hearts) fraternity brothers. The fact is that we fraternity brothers have gone on to lead productive lives, and neither now, nor as students, could one conclude that the administration's ideologically-motivated baloney is or was true. I doubt that the administration could substantiate its charges against today's fraternity members. The administration's stance betrays an appalling disdain for the choice freely made each year by hundreds of students who, though apparently good enough to be admitted to Dartmouth (at $30,000 per year), are not to be allowed to choose where to live and with whom to associate.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK DANIEL.RODGERS@GTE.NET

What focus group did the administration use before releasing its "reinvent the social environment" announcement? A faculty vote against the Greek system, 20 years ago, or 20 minutes ago, is irrelevant. Faculty and administration have attempted for years to eliminate the well-rounded student in favor of some uni-dimensional, social engineering experiment in politically correct think-speak. But the education of the whole person does not begin and end in the classroom, or in some programmed extension thereof.

In the name of real diversity, continue giving aspiring Ivy Leaguers an alternative to me-too Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. Dartmouth suffers from no shortage of qualified applicants because it is Dartmouth, if barely. It has already been "fixed" too often.

ALEXANDRA, VIRGINIA RTEMPLEMAN@EROLS.COM

You say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I ask, "Who's to decide whether or not it's broke?" It seems to me that a large part of Dartmouth's success and longevity is attributable to the fact that the College is a work in progress. If the new administration believes it can create a more inclusive environment for all the student body, I say give it a try. Imagine what Dartmouth would be like today if no administration since 1769 had tried to make things better.

My generation's time at the helm has come and gone. We must let go with grace. To those who find it difficult to let go of the past, I say strive mightily to pry your fingers loose and get a life in the here and now. You and the world, including Dartmouth, will be all the better for it.

DALLAS, TEXAS JLASKY@FLASH.NET

Professor John Menge ["On the Hill," April] wrote that Tau Epsilon Phi, a "predominantly Jewish fraternity, disappeared from the campus in the early sixties after discriminatory charters were no longer acceptable."

That was not the case. In the early sixties, the brotherhood of TEP made a conscious decision to move away from being a "Jewish" fraternity and sought pledge classes that more accurately reflected the general Dartmouth population. That became a reality. The next major change was to disaffiliate from the national organization. In the early seventies, TEP got alternative financing and became a local fraternity, changing its name to The Harold Parmington Foundation (there is a story behind that name...). Several years later, the novelty of a non-Greek name wore off and it was changed to Delta Tau Delta. Membership declined over the years and the fraternity eventually became coed in a failed attempt to attract more siblings (administration take note). The fraternity finally went belly-up, and the College took over the house. In 1992 the College leased the house to a sorority, Epsilon Kappa Theta.

The old place has never looked better!

DERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE RWLLLETS@AOL.COM

Hollywood

Holly Sorensen '86 made a notable omission in her article ["Big Green in Tinseltown," April]. Bill Johnson '82 has been working in Hollywood for years as a film editor. He has worked on several Martin Scorsese films and the television series "Chicago Hope" and "Ally McBeal."

NEW YORK, NEW YORK JCONGDON@BESTWEB.NET

My sister, Gayle Gilman '85, was executive producer of the highly-acclaimed documentary The Farm, a feature film following six prisoners at Angola, the maximum security prison in Louisiana. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Feature Documentary category this year.

Alas, Gayle's film didn't take home the Oscar and she didn't get to hug award presenters Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. She lost out to a film whose executive producer was Steven Spielberg not bad company. But the film received rave reviews and picked up numerous awards, and it is a truly moving piece of work.

PORTLAND, MAINE AGILMAN@MAINE.RR.COM

Juliet Aires '84 is one of the hardest working screenwriters in Hollywood. Her credits to date include Noah and story consultant for this summer's Tarzan Disney blockbuster. Her feature Jilted is currently being cast for summer production. Juliet has worked with and for Bruce Willis, Bette Midler, and Chevy Chase, among others.

Writers have never been given their due by Hollywood. Dartmouth need not follow their example.

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA

I don't believe that you mentioned Denis O'Neill '70, the screenwriter for The RiverWild, or Peter Graves '71, who recently left Polygram, or my father, actor Bob "Tex" Allen, a.k.a. Ted Baehr '28, or those of us who work in different areas of the industry. For instance I publish Moovie Guide, which is on many TV and radio networks as well as a magazine.

CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA TED@TEDBAEHR.COM

"Big Green in Tinseltown" enjoyably told me what lots of my former students are doing now. But although she ranges from distinguished elders to the newest greenhorns, Holly Sorensen '86 nowhere makes clear her principle of selection. This can't be the only letter you're getting noting that worthy people have been left out.

For example, Libby Schmeltzer Hinson '83, former staff writer for Disney, now pursuing a distinguished career as freelance writer, with many scripts for live action and animation, most recently The Secret Garden, ABC, Humanitas Award, and Land before Time VI, Universal. Or in the hefty work of actually getting the shows built, Timothy Snowber '84, who as far as I know never went near the Film Society here, now an assistant ("leadman") to the set designer for The Big Lebowski, GrossePointe Blank, and the forthcoming Slums ofBeverly Hills and Crazy in Alabama. (He seems attracted to geographical titles.)

PROFESSOR OF SHAKESPEAREAN STUDIES DARTMOUTH COLLEGE HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Note: In May, the husband-and-wife team ofRick Hinson and Libby Schmeltzer Hinson'83 won a Daytime Emmy Award for theirsound-editing work on Voltron: The Third Dimension, the number-one-rated syndicatedweekly kids' show. Ed.

Money and Luck

I appreciated Regina Barreca '79's article ("Money and Luck") in the March issue. I grew up in a small, blue-collar town in northern New York State rather than a working-class neighborhood of New York City, but I share her French-Canadian heritage and her financial aid experience.

Now, living in a socially and economically privileged part of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, I continue to experience the sentiments that Barreca described. Many of my professional colleagues still seem to "have a distinct way of handling the world, as if they are simply overseeing what belongs to them." She helped remind me that there is a logical reason why my way of handling the world is sometimes different than my colleagues'. My outlook is a product of graduating from a high school where my classmates thought I was joking when I told them that I was applying to Dartmouth College. It is also a product of that Dartmouth experience—including the trips I made to the financial aid office, concerned that my Dartmouth experience itself was in jeopardy.

Eleven years later, my trips to the financial aid office are thankfully over. And my Dartmouth diploma hangs safely on my wall. Like Barreca, I am coming to accept that my modest background, my Dartmouth education, and my current success all belong to me. And yes, like her, I feel lucky and grateful, for all three.

UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS RTFOISY@MPSI.NET

Gorillas

Many thanks to Aliette Frank '00 for her excellent article ["Trapped in the Impenetrable Forest," May] which illustrates the complexities of practicing conservation in areas of conflict. It can be added that yet another threat to mountain gorillas and other animals in the region is the growing "bush meat trade," as loggers seek to enhance profits by killing animals for human consumption while bulldozing forests throughout Central Africa.

While poverty, corruption, and political instability continue to be facts of life in many parts of Africa, the challenges of protecting endangered species and the environmentalists who risk their lives to save them are difficult but have never been more urgent.

VICE PRESIDENT DAVID EVANCICH '74 TU '78 VICE PRESIDENT WORLD WILDLIFE FUND

Water Balloons

I attended the Dartmouth/Yale football game in Hanover last fall and was greatly dismayed to see Dartmouth students utilizing an elastic slingshot to launch items into the upper stands. These slingshots can produce blindness if a spectator is unlucky enough to be hit in the eye.

I recently published a paper entitled "Ocular and Orbital Trauma from Water Balloon Slingshots: A Clinical, Epidemiologic, and Experimental Study" in which I measured kinetic energies of water balloons launched from an elastic slingshot. The balloons' kinetic energies were in excess of those of bullets fired from a rifle and had velocities between 85-121 mph.

In view of the enormous potential for injury, I hope that this practice will be discontinued.l would hate to see Dartmouth's endowment reduced by a plaintiffs successful personal injury lawsuit!

DAYTON, OHIO

A Friend

Walter Lamb '55 ["Obituaries,"June] had a great love for the College, and the timeshe spent with classmates were especially meaningful to him. This was shown by his contribution to our 25-year reunion-book, "...one friend that will always hold a special place in my heart—her name is Dartmouth."

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

Divesting

Some years ago students on campus rose up against the College's investments in companies contributing to the dictatorship in South Africa, with apparent success. Now it is time for the College to use this strategy to effect change here at home. This can be done by divesting from companies in the Global Climate Coalition, a lobby of assorted oil, chemical, and automobile companies which refuses to recognize global climate changes that might harm bottom lines.

If the College is to be a leader in understanding the ecological imperatives of this small planet, it can do no less than refuse to profit from the activities of these philistines.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA R.JR@MINDSPRING.COM

The Poet's Due

Bill Bronk '38, died last February. He was a distinguished American poet, and I was dismayed, but not surprised, at the reaction of the Dartmouth community. He received in death what he got in life from his College—a resounding silence.

For those unfamiliar with his work, I suggest starting with Life Supports, which earned him the American Book Award for Poetry in 1982. An earlier work, TheBrother in Elysium, was a penetrating study of Whitman, Melville, and Thoreau, and should be on the reading list of any course in American literature.

It would be appropriate if some member of the English faculty, having heard of Bill, or even having read his work, could fashion a fitting tribute for some future edition of the magazine.

Near the end, when it was time to find a repository for Bill's manuscripts, correspondence, and other materials, he chose the Butler Library at Columbia University, not Baker Library. I recently sent letters covering five decades to the director of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Ms. Jean Ash ton. She would welcome any materials that classmates or friends may have. She can be reached at:

Butler Library 535 West 114th Street New York, NY 10027.

MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA CGILMIO7@AOL.COM

History Lessons

How can we explain the bombing of Serbia and its neighbors? In case anyone has forgotten, World War I started in Balkans. Some analysts think World War II was a continuation of World War I. President Wright alludes to the lessons of history ["Presidential Range," May]. Based upon his remarks, it appears that the lessons are not being learned.

RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS

More Credits

Your "Canon Fodder" photograph ["Dartmouth Undying," December 1998] shows a scene from Sophocles's Antigone, which was directed by my father, Dartmouth professor Errol G. Hill, as part of the Summer Congregation of the Arts in the summer of 1968. Although it was a professional event, a number of students were recruited for backstage work and small acting roles in an apprentice company of younger talent. Dartmouth students included Don Marcus '68, John Myers '69, Jonathan Mark '69, Peter Phillips '71, Carol Dudley '71A, and Merit Scotford, daughter of John Scotford '38. Rolf Beyer '55 created the fabulous designs for both productions.

Professor Hill also directed the Dartmouth Players in Euripides's Hecuba in 1982 and The Bacchae in 1989. More recently. Professor Rod Alexander staged Agamemnon by Aeschylus and the drama department has mounted The Searching Satyrs by Sophocles and Medea, directed by james Loehlin. One can truly say that classical drama continues alive and well on the Dartmouth stage.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA BOWMANQD@GATEWAY.NET

Better or Verse

The other day a Dartmouth applicant asked me what it had been like going to a single-sex college. I said that in those days we really appreciated our glimpses of girls (as we called diem) during weekends in Hanover or Hamp. I assured him that then:

The battle of the sexes was notVery fiercely fought.It was more fin to surrenderTo the opposite gender.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA

Libby Hinson '83 winsa Daytime Emmy.

The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine welcomes commentabout College affairs and the editorial content of themagazine. The Editor reserves the right to determine thesuitability of letter's for publication, using as standardsaccuracy, relevance, and good taste. Letters must besigned and must not exceed 400 words. Address andtelephone also should be included (though these will not bepublished). Copies of letters to other individuals, organizations, or publications are not acceptable. Letters may beedited for length and clarity. Address letters to: Dartmouth Alumni Magazine 80 S. Main Street, Hanover, NH 03755-2053 E-mail: Alumni.Magazine@Dartmouth.edu For fuller text of these and other letters to the Editor,check out the "opinion" in the virtual magazine. www.Dartmouth.edu/Alumni/Almag