Letters to the Editor

Dol-Com Fever

From Keith Hammond's comment that SGI, Oracle and Digital technologists produced "great, but mostly incremental technological advances," contrasted with the "explosive dynamic" of new Web activities, I get the impression that new Web ventures belittle the accomplishments of the earlier pioneers of microelectronics technology ["lt's the Ideas, Stupid," April]. This comparison greatly distorts the significance of the birth of microelectronic circuitry. The founders of Intel (Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce) basically invented the microprocessor. This is not an incremental accomplishment. This new form of integrated circuitry enabled miniaturization and mass production of basic components of computers. While the scientists and engineers who made this technology possible might not have initially compared with today's rapid Web millionaires in terms of personal fortune, their accomplishments are an essential foundation for the hardware infrastructure that the Internet depends on.

McMinnville, Oregon dan-frech@hp.com

Dartmouth's young Internet entrepreneurs deserve recognition, but you don't have to be tinder 30 to play in the virtual world ["The Net Generation," April]. A few examples of the greening of the Web: Lou Gerstner '63 (IBM chairman, CEO), RickBraddock '63 (Priceline.com chairman, CEO), Ken Novack '63 (AOL vice chairman), Bill Neukom '64 (Microsoft general counsel), T.J. Rodgers '70 (Cypress Semiconductor president, CEO), Jake Winebaum '81 (e-companies cofounder), GregMaffei '82 (360 Networks Inc. CEO; Microsoft former CFO), Trygve Myhren '58 (Verio director), Larry Bailey '63 (Preston Gates & Ellis), Peter Neupert TU 'BO (Drugstore.com CEO), Roger McNamee TU '82 (Integral Capital Partners), Ed Glasssmeyer TU '68 (Oak Investment Partners cofounder), Torn. Washing '63 (Sequel Venture Partners founding partner), Hank Paulson '6B (Goldman Sachs chairman, CEO) and Bill Davidow '57 (Mohr Davidow Ventures).

The torch is passing, but our flame hasn't yet burned out.

BETHESDA, MARYLAND DAWLEYHUTCHINS@YAHOO.COM

Thumbs Down to SLI

The most telling passage in the report of the Committee on the Student Life Initiative states that "it is not desirable diat Dartmouth become a police state." I would have thought that to go without saying. The fact that the committee did not speaks volumes about its recommendations.

The social engineers of another era thought the River and Choate dormitories would be a good idea. The students thought differently, and today even the committee acknowledges that the students had good reason to prefer the existing dormitories. Once again we need to ask whether the new world now being advocated will serve the student body better than existing institutions—institutions, one must note, that would not have survived if they did not serve real human needs. My conclusion is that the committee has failed to present a case for its rec- Omm endations that is sufficiently convincing to justify the enormous dislocation and cost their implementation would entail.

The path of social engineering is always paved with good intentions. But in grappling with longstanding problems that anyone would agree need addressing, die committee appears to have gotten carried 'away. In its zeal to separate the wheat from the chaff, it unfortunately has cast out both.

NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Continuing Education

I found myself envying today's students who can avail themselves of both the opportunity and the encouragement Professor Donald Sheehan offers to search within themselves and within classical and contemporary literature for the roots of violence ["Syllabus," April], Gaining some understanding of, and mastery over, this most prevalent, unruly and dangerous human vulnerability is a most worthy goal. I would relish the opportunity to meet Professor Sheehan and exchange thoughts on this subject with him. In the meantime I intend to read Violence Unveiled by Gil Bailie, one of the books he recommended.

ADAMSTOWN, MARYLAND CWD2@FREDERICKMD.COM

Carnival Camp

We loved your coverage of the movie Winter Carnival ["The Day F. Scott Fitzgerald Came to Campus," March]. Yes, it's a bit campy, but I fondly remember watching it at Webster Hall at midnight every Carnival. Do you have a source to buy a video copy?

HYANNISPORT, MASSACHUSETTS SWAN2@MEDIAONE.NET

The good news is that videotapes of Winter Carnival are available, though not commercially. The badnews is that they cost$200. Writeor fax Milly Sherman at Castle Hill Productions,1414 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY10019; fax (212) 644-0956. Your letter shouldstate that the tape will be used for personal, noncommercial home viewing. —The Editors

Unanimous but Small

You implied that the faculty unanimously favor dismantling the Greek system ["On the Hill," April]. While it is true that all 80 faculty members present at that meeting voted that way, your column leaves out the fact that Dartmouth has more than 250 faculty members: more than two-thirds of the faculty didn't even weigh in on the issue. Had only one person shown up at the meeting, there would also have been a unanimous vote!

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Electrify the Zamboni

Noel Perrin should still question use of a gasoline-guzzling Zamboni to smooth Thompson Arena ice, even though it leaves the rink's air "just fine" ["Curmudgeon," March], Dartmouth should get an electric Zamboni. Hydroelectric, nuclear, coal, gas and oil-fired power plants already face huge reductions in electricity demand due to compact fluorescent lighting, efficient appliances and other conservation advances. Therefore, brief, pennies-per-day recharging to top off the electric Zamboni's batteries would add little, if any, power-plant fouling of New Hampshire air, especially that in "lofty" Thompson Arena.

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NEW YORK

Forget the Tar

An outraged alumnus suggested that Noel Perrin had misled his students by telling them that electric vehicles can reduce dependence on foreign oil ["Letters to the Editor," November 1999]. Before we prepare the environmental impact statement necessary to tar and feather the good professor, perhaps we should try to figure out whether he was correct. A quick search on the Web finds that: (1) A gallon of gasoline has about 33 kilowatt-hours of energy. I'll assume an electric utility gets about the same energy from a gallon of crude oil. (2) Solectria (www.solectria.com) sells an allelectric car that uses 137 watt-hours per mile—energy comparable to a gasoline car getting 240 miles per gallon. Even factoring in transmission losses between the electric plant and the charging station, this electric car still runs far more efficiently than any gasoline or hybrid car on the market.

Exercise for the reader: Calculate the energy saved by not having to heat sufficient tar to cover one medium-sized professor.

MILILANI, HAWAII MIKE@MIKEMORTON.COM

Invasion of Privacy

How dare Michael Lowenthal '90 recount his experience as a Dick's House roommate to a dying former president John Sloan Dickey ["Roommates," September 1999]? Even with the noblest of intentions, occupants of a hospital (providers, technicians, visitors and fellow patients alike) have no right to access the personal information of any patient unless they either have that patient's permission or they are directly involved in that patient's care. Every person has a unique dignity that demands respect; no one deserves to have the intimate details of his or her illness, or in this case, final hours, whether they are filled with peaceful beauty or incoherent suffering, revealed to anyone. Mr. Lowenthal can feel free to appreciate his meaningful connection with Mr. Dickey, but don't tell anyone else about it. BONNIE HARTMANN COUTURE '92, DMS '96

Wichita Connections

Was it planning or serendipity that a picture of Amelia Earhart, one of the pioneers in the aviation history of Kansas, appeared opposite "Webster's Roots Are Really in Kansas" ["Dartmouth's Unknown History," January]? Wichita State University has Dartmouth connections beyond the trees Nathan J. Morrison, Dartmouth class of 1853, planted. Our third president, Walter H. Rollins, was a Dartmouth graduate, class of 1894. According to Wichita sources, one of our first coaches, Willis Bates, graduated from Kimball Union and played football and baseball at Dartmouth. It was his team at Wichita that threw the first forward pass in college football on Christmas day in 1905.I suspect that it was his Dartmouth connection that produced the game.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR EMERITUS WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY WICHITA, KANSAS

Sizzle Fizzle

I found it hard to admire Dartmouth graduates pushing cola and adding sexual tension to TV sitcoms ["Beyond the Hill," January] . Can we next expect detailed descriptions of Dartmouth graduates working their way up in tobacco companies?

COLUMBIA, MARYLAND BRIGHTPLUM@AOL.COM

Linear Feat

I was interested in reading of the various families who have had multiple female graduates ["Beyond the Hill,"January]. That is certainly to be lauded, but I wonder how many families can count six generations of Dartmouth graduates without a break. My grandson Peter Jacobsen is about to graduate with the class of 2000. His father is Garry Jacobsen '75, his grandfather Peter Jacobsen '41, his great-grandfather Sydney Clark' 12, his great-great-grandfather Francis E. Clark, class of 1873, and his greatgreat-great grandfather Edward Clark was in the class of 1844. And that's not to mention three uncles and two great uncles, one of whom, Eugene Clark, class of 1901, was secretary of the College from 1919 to 1930. We are proud to be a Dartmouth family.

(MRS. PETER JACOBSEN '41) SAGAMORE BEACH, MASSACHUSETTS

Classy Dress

As an addition to "A Flair for Fashion" ["Dartmouth Undying," March], alumni should know about Dartmouth's most fashionable era. "The following has been adopted as the uniform Dress of the Students: Black coat with rolling collar, single breasted, having on the left breast a sprigged diamond, 31/2 inches long, 3 inches wide; and on the left sleeve, half a diamond for Freshmen; two halves, placed one above the other, for Sophomores; three for Juniors; and four for Seniors. Black pantaloons, except in summer, then either black or white. Black or white vests, and cravats."

The source: The May 4,182 5, edition of die New Hampshire Spectator (Newport). The information is corroborated in "A Memorial to the Class of 1827" by Alpheus Crosby, class of 1827, a document in the College archives.

SUTTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Kaboom!

Though I agree in general with his sentiments, John N. Baldwin '55, M.D., states that a classmate of his was expelled from Dartmouth for blowing up a toilet with a firecracker ["Letters to the Editor," April]. Wrong. It was not a classmate of his, and we were not expelled. My 213 Topliff Hall roommate, E. Thomas Riker '56, and I were the culprits. Though we perhaps should have been expelled, the College administration, in its leniency, settled for our paying for the damage and accepting a semester's probation.

There is more to the story, however. It began with a series of bangs about three feet above my head at around 3 in the morning. It was the guys upstairs, sophomores, known to be a nefarious lot, fond of tormenting innocent freshmen such as ourselves. Tom devised a plan. "I know one of those guys from the cross-country team," he said. "Why don't I go up there tomorrow pretending to visit him, but actually to see where the firecrackers are stashed. I'll casually open a window just a bit and you can scale the building, slip through the window while they're at Thayer having supper and snag the crackers."

The plot went off without a hitch. What a haul: a bag stuffed full of cherry bombs. Not the sissy kind, cylindrical in shape and wrapped in red paper. These were the real thing: spherical, shiny and almost powerful enough to blow your damned hand off if you didn't get rid of it fast enough after lighting it. Ah, success.

If only we had left it at that.But no, we had to have revenge. Sophomores, after all, were scum.

The plan was to tape three or four of these babies together, fashion a common fuse and drop the bomb through the mail slot in the door of these guys' room in the middle of the night. It was not to be—and probably just as well. Instead, as we chortled over our soon-to-be-achieved revenge, I casually remarked, "You know, the fuses on these things are waterproof." "I don't believe you," said Murray Kaplan '56, our other roommate. "How are you going to prove it?" asked Tom. "You could light one and drop it in a bucket of water," suggested Murray. "Where are we going to get a bucket?" asked Tom. "We're right across the hall from the bathroom. We won't need a bucket," I said.

The rest, as they say, is history. And that, Dr. Baldwin, is the true story of what happened to that john in Topliff Hall.

TAOS, NEW MEXICO WNP@LAPLAZA.ORG

Way Cool

Coolest room on campus, you say ["On the Hill," March] ? Try coolest room on Earth. A certain magical relaxation overtakes anyone who finds their way up to the barn. I still feel the pain of the day I removed myself from that tired maroon barn chair after four terms of residence. This room's current, and from what I gather, most fascinating incarnation, is largely due to Jim Mahoney '95. He contributed much of what you see today on the walls, but more importantly he instituted the general barn vibe. Thank you, Mahoney.

The barn typifies the kind of college culture that makes Dartmouth so wonderful. It would do the current Dartmouth students, faculty and administration well to keep in mind that students, not "social initiatives," create places like the barn.

Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA C.ANDREW.HALL.97@ALUM. DARTMOUTH.ORG

Only one thing could be cooler than "the coolestroom on campus": To be married on a July Saturday soon after graduation, drive to Hanover the next day in order for both bride and groom to be at summer jobs working for the College by Monday morning, and then to spend the rest of a glorious summer living in the barn as honeymoon suite. Much better than any resort in the South Pacific. Guess that is why we are still together.

ATHERTON, CALIFORNIA TDREISBA@RICOCHET.NET

WRITE TO US We welcome letters to the editor. The editor reserves the right to determine the suitability of letters for publication and to edit letters for clarity and length. They cannot be returned. Letters should refer to material published in the magazine and must include the writer's full name, address and telephone number. Write: Letters to the Editor, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, 80 South Main St., Hanover, NH 03755E-mail: DAMletters@dartmouth.edu Fax:(603)646-1209