Letters

Quote/unquote "I was astonished by how many letter writers in your Sept/Oct issue thought Stephen Colbert really did attend Dartmouth." —MICHAEL BRIGGS '54

What a Bracket

Two "LOST" TRADITIONS TO ADD TO those of your Sept/Oct issue ["Tournament of Traditions"]: (1) road trips, those venerable, no doubt politically incorrect excursions taken by generations of male students in search of the female of the species and (2), something seemingly lost throughout the country, correct use of the King's English.

I was pleased to see on page 44 of the article about Kelcey Grimm '96: "...Mitchell, whom she lives with." At least, like, you know, the author and editor, pretty much, did real good on the "whom" part.

Holland, Vermont

Northwestern Passage

YOUR PIECE ON THE FICTIONAL Stephen Colbert in the July/Aug issue by Bob Sullivan '75 was a marvelous bit of satire, but I was astonished by how many letter writers in your Sept/Oct issue thought Colbert really did attend Dartmouth. The real Colbert attended Northwestern. It reminded me of the time when Buck Henry (Zuckerman) '52 came to San Francisco in the late 1950s posing as a social conservative who advocated the clothing of all the animals at the San Francisco Zoo. "The private parts of these beasts must not be on view to the public," he thundered. It was on the front page, above the fold, in the San Francisco Chronicle. Ron Dunton '54 and I recognized Buck and we both notified the Chronicle on what was transpiring. Shortly thereafter it printed a very red-faced correction.

Placerville, California

Smear Tactics

WHEN ASKED TO RESPOND TO A statement by Frank Gado '5B that the victors in the Association of Alumni (AoA) election had "engaged in 'smear tactics' during the campaign," new president John Mathias '69 ["Campus," Sept/Oct] dodged the question.

Let me, as his counterpart on the pro-parity slate, address the same charge with this small sample of attacks in letters posted on Mathias' Web site. We were accused of being "secretive, divisive, deceitful and bigoted" by the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association, of association with "racist and sexist actions" by the Dartmouth Asian Pacific American Alumni Association, of having "not always included respect for women" by women of Dartmouth, and of espousing a view of the College that is "a concentrated dose of racism, sexism and homophobia" by the Dartmouth Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Alumni/ae Association.

Not an iota of evidence, not a single act, was cited to justify such viciously wanton, ugly aspersions on the men and women of our slate—decent, loyal Dartmouth alumni, every one. Let alumni judge whether, if they were so maligned, they would not regard themselves as having been smeared. Mathias said the election results indicate that alumni want all sides "to cooperate with one another." To facilitate this, surely alumni leaders should inhibit baseless, vile attacks, not promote them.

Windemere, Florida

In his interview Mathias inserts a comment that all individual trustees are alumni, while knowing that the question pertained to the number of trustees chosen by all alumni, thereby intentionally confusing the issue before readers. His observation that the latter is "a fair subject to talk to the board about" leaves one wondering if he and his fellow officers plan to do so, the original question which he avoided answering.

If the AoA represents alumni, and DAM informs them, both owe alumni information on what the AoA's current position is, and what specific actions, if any, are being undertaken. The fact that alumni voted against a lawsuit does not mean that they wish their association's officers to agree to the elimination of board parity without negotiation or explanation. An AoA election of five additional trustee nominees by alumni would accelerate the board's goal of expansion while retaining parity.

S. Royalton, Vermont

Dam word limits prevent responsible, detailed refutation of Mathias' wanton impugning of my honesty. Nevertheless, I cannot allow my objection to go unrecorded. Like the vicious campaign he headed, Mathias' statements are fanciful, misleading and rife with innuendo.

I never claimed not to "know what John MacGovem '80 was doing in the way of funding." From the first I knew Mac Govern was deeply involved in the fundraising effort—never a secret. He openly solicited alumni. But in order to insure that my executive committee colleagues and I would not be subject to any influence from contributors, I insisted on a firewall between us and knowledge of contributors' names. Mathias' claim that "MacGovem was introducing non-Dartmouth financiers to Williams and Connolly" is baseless.

Similarly hallucinatory is Mathias' assertion, "I would be stunned to learn that ACTA wasn't involved from the getgo. There's more to that story." Be stunned. There's not only not "more" to that story, there's no "story." ACTA had no role in the lawsuit, financially or otherwise. Moreover, Mathias misconstrues ACTA's nature. A laudable bipartisan organization, its board includes, besides Lynne Cheney, Martin Peretz (publisher of The New Republic) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (among others).

White River Junction, Vermont

Thank you for ublishing articles informing readers about last year's lawsuit against the College ["Campus," Jan/Feb] and other related articles.

Last year's AoA executive committee was inadequate. Not only did members bring about a damaging lawsuit against the College, they also cost the institution much in legal bills that should have been used for other concerns. Additionally they created a rift within the board of trustees and basically were dishonest in their approach by withholding various facts to serve their ends.

Knowlton, Quebec, Canada

Rubbish!

I almost threw my Sept/Oct issue of DAM on the floor when I read the letter from Terry W. Light '69 about the Shades of Meaning Police issuing a citation to the editors of DAM for quoting Jeff Deck '02 as saying, "This might go further ["Copy Edit U.SA," July/Aug]." Light suggested that either Deck had been misquoted or that the editors should have inserted a (sic) following the word "further." What rubbish! According to the usage note in my American Heritage Dictionary (New College Edition, 1978), "further" is the preferable usage in all senses other than physical distance. In fact, the note goes on to state that "further" is the only acceptable choice according to 89 percent of the experts on their usage panel in the sentence: "We must consider this matter further."

Walpole, Massachusetts

Seeing Double

APPARENTLY ONCE BOSTON ARCHl- tect John Lyman Faxon ["Campus," Sept/Oct] settled on a design for Rol- lins Chapel he had no qualms about reprising it three years later for the First Baptist Church in Newton, Massachu- setts, as is evident at www.fbcnewton.org/contact.html.

Jaffrey, New Hampshire

Clarification: In the story "In Their Own Words" [Sept/Oct], the reference to personal interviews was to oncampus, not alumni, interviews.

Write to Us We welcome letters. The editor reserves the right to determine the suitability of letters for publication and to edit them for accuracy and length. We regret that not all letters can be published, nor can they be returned. Letters should run no more than 200 words in length, refer to material published in the magazine and include the writer's full name, address and telephone number. Write: Letters, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, 7 Allen Street, Suite 201, Hanover, NH 03755 E-mail: DAMIetters@dartmouth.edu Fax: (603) 646-1209