1970

The December deadline for this column loomed when suddenly news arrived from 'round the girdled earth. Yes, Eleazer, there is a Santa Claus!

Stu Zuckerman has been named co-chair of the board of overseers of Dartmouth Broadcasting. Stu reports that the stations face many challenges, from aging equipment to the financial pressures of a slow economy and smaller advertising budgets, "not to mention that most students now choose to listen to music on their computers and iPods. Radio as a medium has been resilient over the years (it was declared dead when TV came along) so the exciting challenge will be to find Dartmouth Broadcastings role in the new media landscape while still maintaining its primary mission as an educational extracurricular opportunity for students."

"The Princeton tailgate was great, despite the fact that it was probably the coldest football game I've ever attended" writes our class commander-in-chief Star Johnson. "It's turned into more than just a '70s event, joining with tailgates by Wells Chandler '68 and Herb Hopkins '74, assorted other Big Green classes and some Princeton folks as well." Other '70s present were Jim Decker, Pete Donovan, Jeff Dahlman and Bob Mlakar via cellphone, who claimed to be watching the festivities on Google Earth. As usual we laughed a ton and told a bunch of stories, undaunted by the loss (28-10, to conclude a winless season) on the football field."

Other news: Steve White and his new wife, B.J., will be doing (by the time you read this, will have done) Hurricane Katrina recovery work on the Gulf Coast through the Tucker Foundation.

Bill Wilson e-mailed me a day or two before Christmas with news that in addition to himself a few other '70s were in Hanover in mid-December attending Whitey Burnhams memorial service at Rollins Chapel, among them Star Johnson, Fred Nitschelm and David Arndt. Whitey's passing in November was, indeed, as Bill points out, a huge loss to the Dartmouth family. Whitey had served as a lacrosse, soccer and wrestling coach during our days in Hanover, and many who attended one of our reunions a few years back (the 30th?) will remember his wildly entertaining after-dinner speech. Bill also shared news of his and wife Anns three weeks spent traveling last fall with daughter Christy in South Africa, where she was spending a semester at the University of Stellenbosch. Coincidentally, "while at Stellenbosch Christy reconnected (different than hooked-up, I'm told) with Andrew '11, son of our class' Alumni Council representative Tom Peisch and his wife, Alice, who was in South Africa during a D-Plan term off working with kids in Port Elizabeth." Bill adds, "South Africa is an amazing country—fascinating histoiy, engaging people, extraordinary physical beauty and a lot of really good wine." Sounds like the grand slam of vacations!

Please keep those cards and letters and e-mails coming or I will be obliged to fill the next column gloating over the Phillies' World Series win—a matter spoken of reverently in this household.

P.O. Box 607, Grantham, NH 03753; hollansx@hotmail.com; 6 Pump House, Springhouse, PA 19477; j.oplinger@ yahoo.com