1975

Greetings from Boston. All around me I can see and feel the signs of late summer in August. Shorter days, cooler winds, less traffic on the roads, kids at home getting ready to go back to school and my work and travel schedule beginning to build. With summer on the way out, those of us here in the United States lose that rare moment in time when we are most like Australians year-round—-we lose the "no worries, mate" sense that gives us a chance at least once a year to remember that all in all, things are pretty good. Around the world, sanity for the moment seems to have returned and at least for the short term you can still buy a gallon of gas with a $10 bill and get change back. George W has decided that there may in fact be a climate problem, which is good news—since most of us have continued to experience unusual weather this summer and the thought of snow in Boston next summer would truly be depressing. And best of all, the First Family has put in context what many of us have known all along—college-age kids drink whether they're in Austin or Hanover.

Life goes on as it has for generations. Now to the mailbox. Good news on the class executive front, as Robin Felix responded in proper e- mail format to the Webmaster volunteer request. Robin has been Webmaster for several organizations and emphasizes content over glitz and currently runs a corporate intranet. He can be reached at robin @felix.org.

Drew Remignanti wrote me to let me know that he just had an article published in the spring exissue of Dartmouth Medicine about his recent perience as a WHO consultant in polio eradication in Pakistan. I read the article and it was great. Drew is a doctor and a graduate of the medical school as well. Keep up the good work, Drew.

And Michael Gennaco, chief of the civil rights section of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, was recently chosen to head the newly created office of independent review for the department. In this role, he will now oversee internal investigations of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. The appointment is a long anticipated move towards police reform. Michael has been a respected high-profile federal prosecutor and has been widely credited with expanding the number of prosecutions of hate crimes, police misconduct and other violations of constitutional rights. Congratulations, Mike.

And finally on the College front, I had the opportunity to return to Hanover in June and speak to a small group of seniors and juniors and can speak first-hand about the quality of these "kids." However it is happening, Dartmouth continues to produce a great product that we can all be proud of. Now if they would only stop taking themselves so seriously....

Enjoy the last remnants of summer. Keep those cards and e-mails coming.

5 Boardman Ave., Manchester By TheSea, MA 01944; (925) 937-3950, ext. 175 (w); (978) 526-4224 (h); jbildner@tier.com