Class Note 1987
Issue
March-April 2021
What better panacea for our socially distanced lives than gathering with our fellow ’87s! Our 35th reunion, with the theme “The Spell on Us Remains: Apart, Yet Connected,” is scheduled for June 17-20. Give a rouse to reunion chair Tim Parker and his team, which includes many of our class officers (whose titles are omitted for space considerations): Hermann Mazard and Stacey (Wolff) Savas (registration); Sarah (McCraw) Crow, Julie (Park) Hubble, Tom Palisi, Gregg Rippey, and Betsy (Wall) Rutherford (communications); Deb (Rowe) Marchiony and Scott Rusert (activities); Bob Charles, Dennis Goldstein, Anne Kubik, Holly Silvestri, Lisa Snyder, Regina Speed-Bost, and Sarah Woodberry (programming); Margaret (Carter) Farinella and Tracey Salmon-Smith (catering); Jennifer (Lane) Hamlin (beverages—I love how beverages warrant a separate leader!); Ben Moynihan (entertainment); Crystal Crawford (memorial service); Kathleen (Joyce) Kusiak (swag); Maurice Holmes (treasurer); and Karyn (Wienski) Calcano and Peter Murane (reunion giving). As I write this column in December, Tim remains optimistic that we will be together in Hanover. “We’ll leverage technology to bring Dartmouth beyond Hanover,” Tim said. “Content streamed online will complement the energy and excitement of being on the Green and connect those unable to join on-campus festivities.” Thanks to Tim and the reunion committee for their flexibility and perseverance during these uncertain times.
This past fall Betsy spoke with London resident Wendy Becker and learned that Wendy was recently appointed to the council of the University of Oxford, England. As the university’s executive governing body, the council is responsible for both Oxford’s administration and management of its finances and assets. Wendy reported that she is the first non-alumni member of the council in the university’s more-than-900-year history. Impressive!
Many classmates were similarly impressed (and thrilled) to hear the voice of Pam Metzger on the radio in December, albeit on an unhappy topic. A professor and director of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Pam was a guest on an NPR program titled Vaccinating Inmates is Good for Public Health: Why Aren’t More States Doing It? Pam discussed the health risks to inmates—including pre-existing conditions, cramped living areas, poor nutrition, and problematic ventilation—and explained that “all of these conditions mean that the jails and prisons are breeding grounds for illness and disease long before you add something highly contagious like Covid-19.”
As we continue to look for light in the darkness, Ricki Stern encourages us to tune into Netflix to watch Break Thru Films’ Surviving Death, an in-depth investigative series exploring the possibility of an afterlife through innovative, new research and firsthand accounts. Ricki directed and executive produced the series, based on Leslie Kean’s book, Surviving Death: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for an Afterlife. A slew of other Dartmouth alumni worked on the project, including entertainment attorney Emerson Bruns. “Given how our world is suffering so much loss, my wish is that the series will speak to people in grief and provide a bit of hope,” Ricki said.
—Laura Gasser, 746 17th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94121; marcklaurag@aol.com
This past fall Betsy spoke with London resident Wendy Becker and learned that Wendy was recently appointed to the council of the University of Oxford, England. As the university’s executive governing body, the council is responsible for both Oxford’s administration and management of its finances and assets. Wendy reported that she is the first non-alumni member of the council in the university’s more-than-900-year history. Impressive!
Many classmates were similarly impressed (and thrilled) to hear the voice of Pam Metzger on the radio in December, albeit on an unhappy topic. A professor and director of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Pam was a guest on an NPR program titled Vaccinating Inmates is Good for Public Health: Why Aren’t More States Doing It? Pam discussed the health risks to inmates—including pre-existing conditions, cramped living areas, poor nutrition, and problematic ventilation—and explained that “all of these conditions mean that the jails and prisons are breeding grounds for illness and disease long before you add something highly contagious like Covid-19.”
As we continue to look for light in the darkness, Ricki Stern encourages us to tune into Netflix to watch Break Thru Films’ Surviving Death, an in-depth investigative series exploring the possibility of an afterlife through innovative, new research and firsthand accounts. Ricki directed and executive produced the series, based on Leslie Kean’s book, Surviving Death: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for an Afterlife. A slew of other Dartmouth alumni worked on the project, including entertainment attorney Emerson Bruns. “Given how our world is suffering so much loss, my wish is that the series will speak to people in grief and provide a bit of hope,” Ricki said.
—Laura Gasser, 746 17th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94121; marcklaurag@aol.com