Letters

QUOTE/UNQUOTE "Most of the people who reside in Hanover are there because of the College. They are all neighbors deserving each other's respect and consideration." EDWIN L. JOHNSON '67

Town-Gown Relations

AS A 30-YEAR-PLUS RESIDENT OF THE Upper Valley, a member of my home community's planning commission for most of that time, and a passionate "ruralist" who finds the loss of farmland, the spread of strip development and the gradual erosion of "rural values" a cause for remorse, I found your article on Hanover's growth ["A Delicate Balance," Jan/Feb] generally well-researched and balanced. I was also a 20-year employee of the College, who, in recent years, was intimately involved in much of the facilities planning Mr. Gurwitt describes. The sensitivity and complexity of these issues sometimes felt overwhelming, but I never found the College personnel grappling with them blind to the issues raised by the author. Yes, mistakes were made—the Chase Field imbroglio is a classic example—but we always tried to learn from them, remaining open to thoughtful suggestions and fair criticism.

Part of the problem we had, only partially revealed in the article, was responding to attacks that were neither thoughtful nor fair. Because it is so far from what College planners are striving for, it is hard to know how to respond to the broadside from a presumably otherwise thoughtful—and impartial—town official that Dartmouth's planning is a Disney World-like process "with casual reference to context and community." A College official would be excoriated for making such a public statement.

Thoughtfulness is one thing;fairness is another. There is just no knowing how to respond to the unfair distortions and half-truths casually circulated from time to time by the leadership of the Hanover Neighborhood Alliance. The intellectual discipline to which the College leadership aspires would not permit the careless use and misuse of the facts that are commonly found in these communications.

Efforts to improve collaboration and consultation are needed. When thoughtfully and fairly entered into by all parties, they work, as demonstrated in the downtown planning project. Most of the people who reside in Hanover are there, after all, for one reason or another, because of the College. They are all neighbors deserving each others respect and consideration. The trouble for some in the "loyal opposition" is recognition that this obligation cuts both ways.

Brownsville, Vermont

I AM SURPRISED AT THE SHORT memory of the people near Occom Pond, who wonder about future crowding and lack of recreational space at the old hospital site. When the hospital was there, the site was overloaded with physical plant, the place was full to bursting with patients, doctors, staff and visitors, and the traffic and parking were murder. The recreation area then—as now—was the pond area and the golf course. Not having seen the plans, I can't be sure that they would be compatible with the present neighborhood, but it hardly seems likely that the result could be much worse than the old hospital site.

Pelham, Massachusetts

I APPLAUD THE PROVOCATIVE ARTICLE. As I have returned to Hanover over the last decade, the "town/gown" relationships appear to be increasingly stressed. The College often appears to be insensitive to its neighbors, as the athletic field controversy showed. The lack of planning for additional housing has forced students into residential neighborhoods. President Wrights predecessor appeared to have little appreciation for Dartmouth as a "special" place. On the other hand, there are those who have moved to Hanover who have forgotten they live in a growing, vibrant college community. It reminds me of those who move to suburban communities near airports and are suddenly surprised that there are noisy planes that fly overhead.

The issue is the growth of the College. The trustees have rightly or wrongly coneluded that the growth of graduate programs is necessary for Dartmouth to maintain its stature in higher education. The implications of this growth on Hanover are not widely understood. Although Wright has made a real effort to improve the dialog, there is still no fulltime liaison between the Colleges administration and the community.

The frightening prospect suggested in the article is that the growth issues will end up in the courts. If so, both the College and Hanover will be the losers. I have the vision of two gladiators fighting to the death while the spectators roar. For those of us who love both the College and the town of Hanover, this is truly a growing concern.

Morris, Illinois

PERHAPS THE COLLEGE SHOULD follow the town's example and return to its small-college heritage. I'm sure that would please many of us.

Old Greenwich, Connecticut

I GLANCED AT THE FRONT COVER of the January issue that asks "How can the College expand in a community that is trying desperately to retain its small-town feel?" A fascinating conundrum, and one whose answer flashed into my mind in about 1/100th of a second: Restrain the president and the board of trustees!

Too many generations of the above "culprits" have had the desire to make their mark by slowly but surely enlarging the College, and the inhabitants thereofand that's the reason we now have two campuses and are heading toward becoming a small university as opposed to a small liberal arts college.

It is one persons opinion that we should have stayed in the class of the small but excellent colleges such as Amherst, Williams, etc. We have already lost a very substantial part of the real, meaning historical, College by the continual engrossment of facilities and enrollment. I truly regret the passing.

Ajijic, Jalisco,Mexico

THE TOWN-GOWN RIVALRY OVER Hanover zoning changes will eventually lead to expansion of the old College on the Hill to a Dartmouth University unrecognizable and unacceptable to most living alumni—not that it hasn't happened already. I hunger for the days of yore when Daniel Webster stood before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dartmouth College Case and argued: "It is, sir, a small college, yet there are those who love it."

Los Angeles, California

JIM WRIGHT'S GRANDIOSE SCHEME for a mega-Dartmouth bids fair to turn Daniel Webster's famous statement on its head: "It is a large university, but there are those who HATE it!"

West Hartford, Connecticut

THE COVER STORY IS A POSTER demonstration of the value of an independent magazine. In that article we got the whole story of the town-gown difficulties that have affected Dartmouth these past few years, starting when opposition from the town virtually forced the departure of the medical center to Lebanon. The story presented all sides of the problem and did not appear to pull any punches. I came away with a greater understanding of what is going on. In other words, that article was pure journalism and I would be surprised if some folks in the College administration didn't wince at some of the phraseology. In all probability, we could never have read that story in an "official" Dartmouth magazine. For one thing, there are the lawyers. Some of these matters are almost surely headed for litigation, so if the magazine were an official publication, the lawyers would be careful to delete anything that could be helpful to the "other side." As a public relations professional who works for another university (and who spent 25 years as a newspaper reporter and editor), I can tell you that no PR department is likely to write that story as toughly as this one was written. The attention of the PR departments is focused on institutional messages. Yet this story is central to the future growth of the Dartmouth campus. I think it is important for alumni to have the full picture. So when someone asks you why having an independent magazine is important to them as alumni, point out this story. My guess is that most of them will begin to understand.

Winston Salem, North Carolina

Editor's note: Conn is a former chair of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine editorialadvisory board.

Respecting Gorton

JENNIFER AVELLINO'S ARTICLE ["Whatever Happened to Slade Gorton?" Jan/Feb] revealed a man far more complex than portrayed either by his own party or by those opposed to him.

As one who may have helped defeat his reelection bid in 2000 (I wrote critical letters to all 134 newspapers in our state), perhaps my most indelible memory of the senator was watching him speak on the Senate floor against the $1.3 billion appropriation in military aid to Colombia. Facing overwhelming bipartisan pressure to fund a war on drugs in that country, Gorton and only one other senator criticized the measure as the boondoggle it became. The other senator was Paul Wellstone.

Senator Gorton and I disagreed on most issues, including the one I lobbied for during the summers of 1999 and 2000 (debt forgiveness for impoverished nations). But any man who would stand with Wellstone, and out of sheer conviction risk his political future by opposing an ill-advised but strongly supported "war," deserves our respect.

Salem, Washington

Healthy Doctors?

IN AN OTHERWISE EXCELLENT pictorial account of 24 hours in the life of an orthopedic surgeon ["The Body Shop," Jan/Feb], Peter McBride '93 perpetuates an important and widespread fallacy; i.e., " both orthopedic surgeons work with the same precision and intensity they showed 21 hours ago during the first operation of their 24-hour shift."

In fact, accumulating data suggest just the opposite. After 12 hours without sleep, both surgeons would be exhibiting the same degree of impairment as if they were legally drunk. Although not generally perceived by the surgical community as a problem (an attitude similar to that of airline pilots 25 years ago), sleep deprivation is now being recognized as an issue needing to be faced head-on by the medical community. While some states have begun to restrict duty time for residents-in-training, little attention has been directed at physicians currently practicing or nurses working mandatory double and triple shifts (up to 24 hours in total duty time).

As medical accidents and patient safety have become increasingly visible and more widely discussed, sleep deprivation is one factor that, if better understood and acted on, could contribute to a safer healthcare delivery system.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Iraq Debate

PROFESSOR PRESS PURPORTS TO weigh the danger posed by Saddam Hussein with nuclear weapons against the merit of a preemptive attack by the United States, and he concludes that a policy of containment is a better option ["The Iraq Question," Nov/Dec]. It strikes me, however, that Press fails to consider two of the more probable scenarios on the "danger" side of the equation. Saddam might invade Kuwait again and use the threat of a nuclear attack on Israel to deter a military action to remove him. Or he might covertly provide nuclear weapons to terrorists as payback for Desert Storm and years of sanctions.

Inasmuch as Press feels thaT our containment policy worked "so well" throughout the Cold War despite the Soviet Unions activities in Eastern Europe, perhaps he would view Iraqi occupation of a neighbor or two as acceptable. And perhaps he believes Saddam would never conclude—even mistakenly—that he could get away with covertly supplying terrorists with weapons of mass destruction. Did Press overlook these dangers, did he consider them too trivial to mention, or does he believe them significant but chose not to discuss them?

Anchorage, Alaska

PROFESSOR PRESS MAKES A PERSUASIVE case for containment of rather than for attacking Iraq, but he also exhibits the double standards of Congress and the Bush administration.

Press uses the term "rogue states" several times. For much of the world, the United States is a "rogue state," if that term refers to states that violate international law and support terrorist regimes. But "rogue states" is a propagandistic term worthy of Pravda or of Iraqi media, not of a U.S. college professor.

Everything Press does not like about Iraq can be said about Israel, a state that has weapons of mass destruction, "flouts international law," defies the United States, and is "brutal" to people (Palestinians) under its control. Is Israel a "rogue state?" Press is concerned that many "dictators" have weapons of mass destruction, while ignoring the threat of such weapons from "democracies" such as India, Israel and the United States itself.

Press is right in urging that U.S. foreign polity be used to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. But the United States sets no example and undercuts that laudable goal when Washington refuses to abide by treaties aimed at controlling such weapons and refuses to force Israel to abide by nuclear nonproliferation agreements. Nor can the United States maintain credibility in Europe, not to speak of the Muslim and Arab worlds, when Washington demands that Iraq abide by a score of U.N. resolutions while giving Israel the ability to ignore and violate scores of U.N. resolutions over five decades.

In a year when George Orwell is again in vogue, we might recall his take on nationalists: "The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them."

Framingham, Massachusetts

Mavericks in Their Element

CONGRATULATIONS ON A WONDERFUL Nov/Dec issue. Reading about Doug Tyson '81 ["Head of the Class"] was inspiring. His dedication to his career and his students is truly admirable. You all did a terrific service to tell us about him. I felt the same way about the article on Jill Fredston '80 ["In Her Element"]. I am looking forward to reading her books to my children. These are two alumni whose stories both humbled me and made me proud of being a Dartmouth grad. Mavericks make the world go round!

Highlands, North Carolina

Speaking With Grace

I WAS VERY SADDENED TO READ OF the death of professor John Finch ["Obituaries," Sept/Oct]. His Shakespeare course was a kind of monument to fine teaching, and I suspect that anyone who took it carries within himself an abiding sense of John's keen pleasure in bringing the world of this great poet to us.

John didn't act, and he didn't perform. The class was not about him—except insofar as a good teacher inevitably inbues the material with his own spirit, his love of the work. He stood before us as a kind of moral imperative, and spoke with a grave grace and simplicity, with a clarity of purpose, trusting the text and his own quiet passion to convey the full range of the humanity of Shakespeare's characters and the humor, madness and divinity of the plays. As he spoke he seemed somehow to hold the text up to the light, infusing it with his own gracious humor and insight, illuminating the work as if he were simply a glass through which a magical light shone. The colors and shadows and flashes of lightning were Shakespeare's, but we could not have seen them without John's framing of the glass to direct our attention.

Santa Monica, California

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