42 It has been a slow week for news from the class of ’42. I have sprinkled in some other news that you may have missed. From one of the two filmmakers who spoke at Commencement: “A common refrain of ours is it’s not spectacular to watch people argue. That’s something we all experience all the time. What’s spectacular is watching people get along.”

From Tom Harriman, going on 101: “I’m buying oil for energy as best way to get it while attending to requirements of environment and geo-politico-economic elements. This happens to buck current stock market lowering and results of inflation—cash and bonds lose value. Hey, how about some word from our economists? Remembering what ’42 went through in WW II, what’s our position on the U.S. Department of Defense being allowed to weaken? Has the Dartmouth professoriate gone leftist? Dartmouth gave me a liberal education!”

Our class scholar, Matthew Timofeev ’25, writes to the class, “Thank you for the generous help you have given me to make Dartmouth affordable. I believe that money should not be a barrier for motivated students. Education as a luxury is a slippery slope to a destabilized democracy, so your support goes beyond my personal education. Dartmouth is not perfect, but it gives me hope that students from every background do get in and can take advantage of its opportunities and themselves then contribute to the cycle of support. Thank you for helping make impossible dreams a reality.”

I received an email from a Pi Lambda about our Jon Mendes, age 102, and a writeup of his amazing and exciting life that appeared on that organization’s website. In summation: “Most anyone would think that brother Jonathan de Sola Mendes ’42 must have experienced so much living to 102. His longevity only scratches the surface of his fascinating life.”

—Joanna Caproni, 370 East 76th St., Apt. A 406, New York, NY 10021; caproni@aol.com