1973

What kind of autumn this strange weather year?

President Kim made one of his periodic swings through the San Francisco Bay Area in May. At one event I spied Mike Havern, whom I run into once or twice each year, and at another Steve Toll, whom I also cross paths with on occasion. Both are well as previously reported. Most delightful, however, was encountering Steven Yamada, whom I've not seen since he was in graduate school at UC Berkeley more than three decades ago. Steven looks great and has enjoyed a successful career as a recruiting consultant, focusing on senior management searches for hospitals, healthcare organizations, universities and various not-for-profits including foundations, professional/trade associations and community-based organizations. He currently is in Witt/ Kiefifer s Emeryville, California, office.

A few of the more notable comments from President Kim: "An event or activity referred to as a 'long tradition' at Dartmouth might not in fact be all that old, nor is it simply adherence to doing something repeatedly; rather, it is loving the fact of being part of a community and having a depth of emotion about the place and people." We all should be able to relate to that sentiment. "Friendships formed at a young age and kept over the course of one's life are good for cardiovascular health." Isn't that what our '73 connection is all about? With regard to some of our Ivy rivals and the topic of brain function, probably my favorite remark was: "You can subject your brain to the noise and clutter of the city or you can come to Dartmouth, where, in a natural environmental setting, your hippocampus will grow." Amen.

Reed Moran in Southern California was impressed enough by John Dreazen's closing comments in the last column encouraging classmates "to share stories of their lives, no matter how unimpressive" to forward the excerpt to his personal network with the notation, "How about that for a lifetime challenge? At least we're all in this together...." It would be great to receive news from more of you.

At least two of our number are busy pediatricians: Rich Cimma in upstate New York near Albany and Rene Esquerre in the Newark, New Jersey, area. At the other end of the spectrum is John Hedberg in the Lakewood, Colorado, area focusing on geriatric medicine. With most of us reaching the big 60 this year, we have an increasing awareness of the importance of that specialty.

Head class agent Rick Routhier extends a huge thank-you to eveiyone who contributed and helped with the alumni fund giving this year. Our class has set a contribution record for 38 years out of more than $700,000, surpassing 1964 by $100,000. We achieved more than 40-percent participation (final figures pending). Rick encourages classmates to think about our upcoming reunion and to plan ahead to contribute, regardless of amount, so as to truly be a class gift in the broadest sense of the term.

Need a New Hampshire respite or chuckle? Check out Granite State of Mind at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7nQrCgALM.

227 Sylvan Ave., San Mateo, CA94403;al.armento@lum.dartmouth.org