Regardless of your opinion on the outcome, it is a relief that the interminable 2012 presidential race is finally over. Did you realize that the combined fundraising by the presidential candidates exceeded $2 billion (yes, that’s b-i-l-l-i-o-n; as in a “2” followed by nine zeros)! This tops the list as the costliest campaign in history. So how can we honestly think either one of these candidates, or any politician for that matter, will undertake any serious action to reduce the nation’s debt or tackle the real pressing issues around the country when that amount of dough can be raised for an election campaign? 


Forgive me—I digress.


One of the only good things about major election years is that when all is said and done, late-night TV hosts have an abundant stockpile of material, much of it from the final weeks leading up to the big vote. While most of their humor will never be ready for primetime—or these prime pages—I did find one of Jimmy Fallon’s quips quite apropos for this class column: “The final presidential debate was held tonight in Boca Raton, Florida, and was moderated by 75-year-old Bob Schieffer from CBS News. That’s right, 75 years old—or as Florida residents call that, ‘a tween.’ ” So what does that make those of us approaching the half-century mark? Preschoolers, right?


I swore I would avoid the suggestion of my class column co-author (who, we all know, is the more witty of our pair with his pen) to write a column dedicated to our half-century birthday. But with little else to write about, why not muse about this momentous milestone? And it is one of life’s signposts, particularly if you recall that it was not all that long ago that the average life span was only 60 years. In the past few years there has been a lot of discussion around the growing trend of extended adolescence as more and more of us are taking longer and longer to move through the “stages of adulthood.” Heck, why not delay the inevitable (although would someone please let my body in on that “50 is the new 30” pronouncement). 


Leaving aside all the problems with “growing up” as a category, let’s step back and look at the bigger picture. What do you suppose that means for our planet and the environment overall? As for me, I have absolutely no idea. But luckily for us, our classmate Terry Plank, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University, can tackle that issue. Having been named one of 23 MacArthur Fellows for 2012 (in case you have not heard of this, these fellowships are widely referred to as “genius grants”), Terry is described as a geochemist “working literally at the edge of phenomena shaping the Earth’s crust.” So, who better to analyze the impact on Mother Earth of all these shifting aging paradigms than Prof. Plank? Heartfelt congratulations to you, Terry!


By the time you are reading this column (admittedly, one of the more random ones penned), we will know who our next U.S. president is and we may also have an announcement regarding filling the truly crucial vacancy in higher office these days—18th president of Dartmouth College. Somehow, I think that involved a more realistic “campaign” expense budget and will certainly identify someone who, regardless of your political persuasion, we can all rally around for the greater good of the Big Green. 


Now, give a rouse for our collective half-century milestone and embracing it with arms wide open. All the best to all of you!


—Leslie A. Davis Dahl, 83 Pecksland Road, Greenwich, CT 06831; (203) 552-0070; dahlleslie@yahoo.com; John MacManus, 188 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 525-4541; slampong@aol.com