Co-Presidents:
Bill Higgins, 5360 Miami Road, Cincinnati, OH 45243
Steve
Warhover, 33 William Fairfield Drive, Wenham, MA 01984
Vice-President & Webmaster:
Chuck Sherman, 3100 Rittenhouse Street NW, Washington, DC 20015
Secretary:
Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605
Treasurer:
Jim Weiskopf, 13125 Willow Edge Court, Clifton, VA 20124
Head Agent:
Bob Spence, 16 Surrey Road, New Canaan, CT 06840
Bequest Chairmen:
Rich Daly,
PO Box 39, West Boxford, MA 01885
Steve Lanfer, 178 Sea Meadows Lane, Yarmouth, ME 04096
Alan Rottenberg, 24 Gould Road, Waban, MA 02468
Mini-Reunion Chairman: Al
Keiller, 7 Elcy Way, Simsbury, CT 06070
Newsletter Editor:
Bob Serenbetz, PO Box 1127, Newtown, PA 18940
Phone: 215-598-0262 Fax: 215-598-0770
Email: BobSerenbetz@prodigy.net
Class Website:
http://www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/66
February 2003
News from Classmates
A recent article in the ìWestport Minutemanî highlighted Tom Applebyís career in television news broadcasting. News Director and Co-Anchor of Connecticutís Channel 12 for the last eighteen years, the station has won more than two hundred major awards, including two New England Emmy Awards and two AP awards for ìbest newscastî in Connecticut. Prior to joining Channel 12, Tom received a Masters and PhD from the University of Michigan in English Literature and was a tenured lecturer at City College of New York. He currently resides in Rowayton, CT with wife Ilana and their three children.
Gary Rubloff writes, ìWe had an excellent twenty years in Westchester County, NY, with me at IBM Research, Sara (Skidmore í66) as a clinical social worker, and two children Becky and Ben, until 1993, when we undertook a change. We moved to Cary, NC as I entered academia (NC State Engineering) and then in 1996 to the Washington-Baltimore region, where I am a professor in engineering (materials) and now former Director of the Institute for Systems Research. The location is great, fairly rural, yet not far from city benefits in either direction. We are delighted to be accessible to both children, with Becky an attorney in New York City and Ben a teacher in Boston. The research world and its people and culture remain captivating, from semiconductor manufacturing processes to simulation, software systems, and now biotech. And I am still hooked on the bluegrass music strand I began to nurture while at Dartmouth. An irony of my UMD experience was my recruitment and collaboration with John Kidder as postdoc and then faculty member; it turns out that he is the son of Professor Kidder, our physics prof at Dartmouth. Moreover, Sara and I actually met John during Thanksgiving dinner at the Kidderís in 1963 when John was a year old infant.î
An update from Jim Hourdequin: ìI have a somewhat flexible schedule now that Iím semi-retired from IBM and consulting with my home maintenance/repair business. My wife Mary now puts in the long hours as a middle school principal here in West Hartford, and I do my plumbing, electrical and carpentry jobs for my senior Job Bank clients, and all the cooking, cleaning and maintenance here at home. Role reversalÖMr. Mom without the kids to contend with! Son Jim, Dartmouth í98, was home for Thanksgiving. He runs Longview Forest, a land management/logging company not far from Hanover, and will probably be a lifer in the area after he finishes business school at either Harvard or Babson starting in the fall. Son Pete is in Japan teaching English, learning Japanese, martial arts and surfing. He may someday find a career, but why rush things at 28. Daughter Marion is at Duke in a PhD program to become a philosopher/science-ethicist. Clearly a need, but a low demand for ethicists these days. But maybe someday sheíll teach Philosophy at Dartmouth.î
Brad Steinís son Zack, a Dartmouth í96, is finishing his MBA at Cornellís Johnson School. Brad and Mary hope to see classmates at either the mini this fall or in San Francisco next year for the 60th Birthday Party. He and Gerry Paul are partners at Flemming Zulack and Williamson in New York City.
Joff Keane has recently been named the American Ambassador to Paraguay.
Parker Smith writes, ìPracticing litigation law in Northwest Florida. See Joe Barker from time to time in Nashville. Daughter Keri (age 17) considering Dartmouth; weíll visit this spring. Iím married to P. Gayle Smith, who runs my law office. The area where we live and practice (Destin) is most attractive, with scrub pines and palm trees off the Gulf. Clear water, white sand. Excellent small boat sailing. We spend a lot of time in our little power boat enjoying the waterways between Pensacola and Apalachicola.î Parker can be reached at pbsmith @ gnt.net.
There is a reference in Jane Leavyís best-selling ìSandy Koufax ‚ A Leftyís Legacyî to our own George Blumenthal. Turns out George, several years ago, bought one of Koufaxí jerseys. On Fridays, George carries it in an old FedEx box to Zabarís, a famous deli on the west side of Manhattan, where he will allow patrons to wear it and take their picture in return for a donation to the Center for Jewish History. According to Ms. Leavy, ìheís raised over $2 million this wayî!! Thereís got to be a lesson there for the Dartmouth Fund!
Rich Abraham writes, ìWe had a Halloween treat! Our first grandchild, Jacob Paul (Jake) Abraham born to our son Jonathan and his wife Melissa. Both parents are high level athletes so, no surprise, Jake is nursing and growing like a champ. Dave Johnston, myself, and six other local fellows (with our menís group of fifteen years duration) will spend a traditional weekend cross country skiing in Vermont this monthî. Richís email address is richjudy @ attbi.com.
Dean Spatz has agreed to merge his company Osmonics with General Electric Power Systems, in an announcement made on November 4 of last year. The CEO of GE Power stated, ìBy combining Osmonicsí excellent technology and engineering resources with the complimentary capabilities of GE Water, we will create an even broader portfolio of products and services.î Osmonics manufactures water purification and fluid filtration, fluid separation and fluid handling equipment. The merger is subject to certain regulatory approvals and approval by shareholders of Osmonics.
On January 8, NPR interviewed Gus King on his pending six month trip across the US in an RV with wife Mary, daughter Molly, and son Ben. Gusí itinerary, photos of the RV, and progress through the trip can be tracked at ìwheresmolly.comî.
Mini-Reunion Activities
Walt Knoepfel has agreed to chair the 60th Birthday Party in May 2004. He and Al Keiller are currently putting together a West Coast committee to plan the event. Volunteers can contact Al at sienawine @ aol.com.
In Memorium
Dennis Chemberlin of Rockford, MN passed away on March 12, 2002 of unknown causes. He was not listed in the Aegis, so Iím not sure if he graduated with us. Undergrad activities included the marching band. We pass on our condolences to Dennisí mother, Dorothy Chemberlin.
Dartmouth Fund
Bob Spence has gotten Class of 1966 participation and gifts off to a great start. Through December 19, ninety-six classmates had donated a total of $36,299 compared to 27 and $29,690 respectively at the same time in 2001. An additional 81 classmates have pledged $12,696 for a total participation of 26.3%, well on our way to meeting Bobís goal of 50% class participation. The class dollar goal for 2003 is $200,000.
College News
By far the biggest news of early 2003 was the decision to reinstate the swimming and diving programs at Dartmouth, just six weeks after the College had announced the termination of the programs for 2004 and four weeks after the Dartmouth Alumni Council had called for reinstatement. Copies of the Alumni Council minutes have been distributed to email addresses, as well as comments from the Administration on the reinstatement. I believe the remarks of DAC President Noel Fidel on participation at the opening of the Council meeting, which I believe had a major influence on the decision, were also emailed to classmates.
Alumni Apathy
Some more opinions on why the College has seen a 20 point drop in the percentage of alumni contributing to the Dartmouth Fund, paying their dues, and voting in Alumni Trustee elections. Chris Meyer offered the following:
Dear Bob,
I would guess that most alums have only modest direct contact with their colleges, so what there is should be positive. My only direct contact with Dartmouth (not counting reunions which are super, but which are us, not the College) has been as an alumni interviewer, which I just stopped after about 25 years. I never got the feeling that Admissions paid much attention to our work, and they rarely accepted the many excellent candidates we wrote about, so all in all that was at best a wash as far as my feelings about Dartmouth. Never got a ìthank youî either.
Then the traditions. We had bonfires. Now they have one. I had the Tabard. Now what? We had an Indian at games, now they have cheerleaders who donít exactly stir the crowd.
I always have followed college football and hockey, and combined with the University of Michigan (MBA long ago), generally have good teams to follow. Of course Michigan is a fine school, but all I see usually is a football team and a hockey team that strive to be national champions every year. They invariably are excellent. That leaves a positive taste in the mouth. Dartmouth? Well, Marie and I go to a football game or two in the fall, but we never count on seeing a victory. Hockey seems to be improving, but they have a long way to go.
The truth is that nothing remains the same, so for alums to feel close, at least a semblance of the past can be maintained by keeping up traditional things. Michigan does that with athletics; Dartmouth traditions are long gone.
Anyway, thatís my take on it. Cheers!
Chris Meyer
John Harbaugh, like Chris, also offers up criticism of the Admissions Department:
Dear í66 Classmates,
Upon reading Steve Smithís informative letter in the December Newsletter, I must say that I have been disappointed in the Dartmouth attitude, which I describe as insensitive and arrogant. Iíve noticed that attitude in the Admissions Office on two occasions with my own daughterís application. First, when I inquired if her great grandmotherís being a Cherokee Indian would influence admission to Dartmouth, I was told ìNo!î What is the policy about Native Americans and Dartmouth acceptance? Secondly, Brooke was put on a waiting list and then rejected. If an all-A student, with 1340 SATís and superlative recommendations and a legacy is rejected, what does it take to be accepted? When I inquired of President Wright, I received a form letter from him and the Dean of Admissions. Iím very disappointed.
John Harbaugh
Robin Carpenter looks at the overall student selection process as part of the problem:
Hi Bob,
On the subject of alumni engagement and participation, one of the swim team members was quoted in the ìValley Newsî as saying she now may transfer to some other school because of the swim team cut. Well, sheís entitled to do that, and Iím sure Dartmouth will be OK without her.
But I think this kind of attitude is telling us something about the nature of her relationship here. I spent a lot of time wrestling here and would have been sharply disappointed if wrestling had been cut in the midst of my participation.
Nevertheless, if Dartmouth had suspended wrestling in the middle of our time here, I canít imagine I would have decided to skip out. Indeed, if wrestling had been such a central issue, I never would have come to Dartmouth! The difference, I think, is that the transferring swimmer is simply not engaged with the College in the kind of way that I was (or that any of us were, I think). If less engaged or committed as a student, I presume that she will continue to be less engaged if and when she becomes an alumna.
So the participation problem does not seem to arise from lack of ìinclusiveî alumni activities, nor related to procedural kinks and flaws in the Association of Alumni. Itís certainly not treatable with better ìalumni communicationsî from the administration. The problem is that theyíve changed the undergraduate process in some fundamental ways. I believe theyíve also changed the selection and admissions process. When you change the input, and change the process, you necessarily change the output. Iíll spare my litany of all the ways the processes are differentóyou know them as well as Ióbut the basic problem is that Dartmouth has transformed itself into an ordinary excellent university and an ordinary excellent university is destined to turn out ordinary excellent alumni.
Robin Carpenter
Certain facts support Robinís contention; participation levels for Dartmouth classes that graduated in the nineties is a woeful 20%!!
Bill Dowling (a Professor of English at Rutgers) offers a different perspective in a letter and article (which Iíll edit, but is available in its entirety on the ìDaily Dartmouthî website for October 4, 2002):
Dear Robert,
Just read Steve Smithís note on why Dartmouth is losing alumni loyalty.
I agree with Steve that Jim Wrightís excursion into a mindless political correctness is part of the problem. I think he fails to see that the Wah Hoo Wah mentality is the other part. One would ideally want a Dartmouth without either.
For what itís worth, hereís an op-ed I wrote for the Daily D a month or so ago. You may reprint it in the class Newsletter if youíd like.
Best regards,
WCD
Ivy League Set Asides
Last August, alumni went to their mailboxes to find an issue of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine featuring an interview with Dick Jaeger í59, retiring after thirteen years as athletic director. To anyone aware of the controversy about Ivy athletics since the release of Shulmanís and Bowenís ìThe Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Valuesî, the Jaeger interview had an unreal quality.
The point of the book is that the Ivies havenít been acting much differently than Nebraska or UNLV. Where UNLV might lure blue-chip athletes with gold chains and SUVís, the Ivies do it by offering a slot in an Ivy League school. These ìset-asidesî have been running as high as 21-24 percent of Princetonís entering class. Mr. Jaeger believes that Dartmouthís problems could be solved with one extra wildcard with admissions. I wrote Mr. Jaeger the following:
Dear Mr. Jaeger,
The idea that one extra wildcard for coaches would be your single wish for Dartmouth shows that a mentality that has already done serious damage to the Ivy League is more stubbornly entrenched at Dartmouth than one knew. Your thinking about the issue is wrongÖDartmouth would benefit from a reduction of set-asides compared to the Big Three. It would mean thirty fewer players available to Harvard, Yale and Princeton, all of whom would be likely to choose Dartmouth over the other Ivies.
If I remember my own freshman Green Book at Dartmouth correctly, something like 55% of my entire class had been Captains of at least one varsity team in high school. This was before the professionalization of Ivy sports had set in, but I think the forces drawing such students to Hanover ‚ our reputation as an outdoor school, etc. ‚ remain in play.
Dartmouth is in a bad way. With a focus on ìone extra wildcard for coachesî and the utter failure of Jim Wrightís attempt to abolish frats, we are going downhill at an accelerated rate.
The only thing that will save Dartmouth is a thorough housecleaning: a new President, one with the energy and vision to move the College upwards in the Ivy League as Yale is moving down; dismantling the Greek system and thus dissuading the mediocre applicants the frats so overwhelmingly attract to Dartmouth; an athletic director who will work for the complete elimination of athletic set-asides; abolition of the bizarre Dartmouth Plan and institution of the two semester system that has always worked successfully at Harvard and the other Ivies; and a person-by-person elimination of the ìoldî Dartmouth mentality from the higher administration.
Sincerely yours,
William C. Dowling
Any other opinions or positions on this issue are more than welcome.
On a Lighter Note
Jon Colby offered a couple of perspectives on ìagingî. The firstÖ
Last fallís college freshmen were born in 1985
They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up
Their lifetime has always included AIDS
Soft drink bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic
The CD was introduced a year before they were born
They have always had an answering machine
They have always had cable
They cannot fathom not having a remote control
Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show
Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave
They never took a swim and thought about Jaws
They canít imagine what hard contact lenses are
They donít know who Mork was or where he was from
Theyíve never heard:
-Whereís the Beef?
-Iíd Walk a Mile for a Camel
‚-de plane, boss, de plane
They donít care who shot JR ‚ or who he even was
McDonaldís never came in Styrofoam containers
They donít have a clue how to use a typewriter
And more recentlyÖthe ìOlder than Dirtî Quiz
Count all the ones you remember, not the ones you were told about:
1. Black Jack Chewing Gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Cafes/diners with table-side juke boxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard toppers
7. Telephone party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (Pennsylvania 6-3000)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16. Hi-fiís
17. Metal ice trays with a lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulbs
20. Beanie and Cecil
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash-tub wringers
If you remember 0-5: youíre still young
If you remember 6-10: youíre getting older
If you remember 11-15: donít tell your age
If you remember 16-25: youíre older than dirt!
Mini-Reunion Photo Gallery
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(L to R) Robin Carpenter, Margo and Paul Doscher, Marcy and Frank Blod, Abigail and Teresa Carpenter