1955

Mordecai Jacksen sends news of an organization that he helped create several years ago, and for which he is now director. This is the Men's International Price Exchange (MIPE), located in Swarthmore Pa., whose mission is to bring together men (and women) "To foster peaceful beliefs, attitudes and behaviors for us to move from cultures which support men in being violent to ones which support men in being peaceful." Mordecai also sent press releases about MIPE's recent Second Annual Men's International Peace Conference, October 22-24, 1999, at Fellowship Farm, featuring a number of prominent speakers who addressed the conference's theme of launching an agenda for a 21st-century cultural shift from violence to peace, "To continually work toward a culture in which men's values are those that build peace." For those who are interested, the 2000 Men's International Peace Conference is scheduled to be held October 20-22, again at Fellowship Farm.

Bill Gavitt sends from The Los AngelesTimes an interesting feature article that describes at length the "New 1990's-Style" Freshman Orientation Program, which consists of a three-day hike through woods and mountains (specifically at Pomona College). Now, for many of us who arrived in Hanover in September 1951, immediately to be packed off to freshman orientation "1950's-style" at Dartmouth in the "wilds" of Mt. Moosilauke, this is indeed old hat! And to its credit, The L.A. Ti?nes article acknowledges that these contemporary schools model their new outdoor programs after the nation's oldest, which of course is Dartmouth's, founded in 1935. The article also points out an interesting statistic from a study of the University of New Hamsphire's freshman wilderness trip, which shows that 81 percent who went on that trip were still in college three and a half years later, compared to 61 percent of those who did not; all of which makes me wonder if Dartmouth has kept such statistics and, if so, what they show.

Jud Hale, editor of New Hampshire- based Yankee magazine, and probably the recipient of more press coverage than any other member of our class, is the subject of a fine profile in the Sunday Times Argus of Barre, Vt. Noting that Jud is widely credited with making the magazine a more profes- sional publication than it was at its founding in 1935 by his uncle, the author of the arti- cle pens this rich description of our fellow classmate: "Hale is an embodiment of the magazine and the regional image it projects, a 'Yankee' in all senses of the word: outdoorsy, literate, possessed of a dry sense of humor and a head of white hair."

Finally, tie College has informed me of the death last November of FrancisTimothy Downey Jr. after a long illness, in North Weymouth, Mass. And I have just learned, through Harry Ambrose, that RoyB. "Sky" Hill passed away suddenly on December 20, 1999, in Miami, Fla., due to a massive heart attack. Obituaries of both will appear in later issues of the magazine.

600 West 111th St., New York, NY 10025; (212) 663-5286 (fax); leonmartel@aol.com

'55/45TH June 12-15