It’s spring!


Marie Shaffer is our new alumni councilor. For the next two years she is our “eyes and ears” in Hanover, so please let her know your ideas and questions. After her first meeting she sent a report to all with current email addresses (good reason to update) identifying the two hot button issues as Moving Dartmouth Forward—a complex initiative to reduce sexual assault, high-risk drinking, and non-inclusive behavior on campus—and living-learning communities, new housing opportunities students may choose. Under consideration is whether students should be able to live in dorms that are language or co-curricular-activity based. What do you think of this idea? Would this have enhanced your Dartmouth experience or not? Marie can be reached at marie.e.shaffer.73@dartmouth.edu.


The Laws of Attraction, Howard Reiss’ third novel, came out in October. The story is about a young woman’s fight over her elderly husband’s estate and her claim to be the reincarnation of his first wife, which leads to a rather unusual and somewhat comical trial to determine whether or not there is life after death. Howard’s Columbia Law School legal training is evident. The Midwest Book Review calls him “an especially gifted storyteller with a knack for creating fully developed characters and original storylines that engage the readers complete attention from first page to last.”


I was fortunate to receive a copy of the first book of poetry by Chips Hughes, titled The Gravediggers’ Art: Poems by Owen Hughes. A slim volume with varied verse, the cover notes, “He is a lawyer by trade, a poet at heart and lives under the spell of language.”


Another tome recently brought to my attention, not by any of us but about Ivy League fashion in the late 1960s, is Take Ivy. Originally published in Japan in 1965, it is a collection of candid photographs shot on Ivy League campuses, focusing on men and their clothes, perfectly encapsulating the unique academic fashion of the era.


President Hanlon was in San Francisco in early December, but Mike Havern was the only ’73 I spied across the room and we did not have an opportunity to chat. The event focused on the progress made during the first year of the new presidency toward the goals outlined at the beginning and the move toward increasing opportunities for experiential learning. Among the points made is the importance of Dartmouth students graduating not only with critical-thinking and analytical skills but also with the ability to think creatively. Also mentioned was the cluster initiative, which will involve interdisciplinary teams of faculty, in part by drawing on roughly half of a record $100-million anonymous donation announced last spring. Anyone interested in the range of topics and issues, large and small, on campus, should check www.improvedartmouth.com.


Due to the uncontested nature of the recent Association of Alumni election for executive committee members, Mark Harty will continue to serve in this capacity for 2015-16.


—Val Armento, 227 Sylvan Ave., San Mateo, CA 94403; val.armento@alum.dartmouth.org