FEBRUARY 2013 NEWSLETTER

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CLASS OF 1981
FEBRUARY 2013 NEWSLETTER
Remembering the Greatest Snow on Earth
Still Peaking!
Chris Niehaus and his daughter Elizabeth (‘14)
take on Kilimanjaro
We heard through the far-reaching Dartmouth
grapevine that one of our own may have accomplished something most of us mere mortals can
only imagine. One email to the subject in question
confirmed the rumor: classmate Chris Niehaus recently summited Tanzania’s 19,341-foot volcano
Mount Kilimanjaro! Here’s how it came about, in
Chris’s own words:
My odyssey began in April 2012 when my wife,
Lori, and I visited our daughter Elizabeth ‘14 in
Rome during her Art History FSP program. Over
a lovely Italian dinner with lots of pasta and
wine, Elizabeth invited/challenged me to climb
Kilimanjaro with her during her December break.
The resultant experience was a “capital L” Life
Chris Niehaus with daughter, Elizabeth ‘14 on the summit of Mt. Kilamanjaro.
Event for us. The preparation/training was fairly
mate zones, starting in the rain forest at 5,000 feet and ending in
intense but I got into great shape and miraculously got back
the alpine desert at 19,340 feet. Conditions on the mountain are
down to my college weight. We had some great hikes over the
very primitive, but we stayed in good spirits throughout. We were
summer/fall in the White and Green mountains, including climbfortunate to mostly avoid any symptoms of Altitude Mountain
ing Mount Washington the day before Hurricane Sandy struck.
Sickness (AMS), but the summit night was still pretty rugged. Our favorite was the Franconia Ridge hike. I felt like I was back
We left base camp at midnight and hiked up through the night
on my Freshman Trip.
locked in our own personal battles against body, mind, the moun tain and the elements (sub zero wind chill). A picture is truly
We left for Tanzania on November 29th and embarked on our
worth a thousand words, and you can see that we reached the
seven-day climb December 2nd with our own entourage of guide,
Roof of Africa at sunrise. Very proud and happy Dartmouth Dad! cook and porters. My sister joined us for a true family adventure. Summiting Kilimanjaro was a Bucket List experience. The climb was beautiful as we ascended through four distinct cli-
Rachel Kenzie King
Washington, DC
Things are good with us. Our daughter Langley graduated from Duke in the spring and is
working in Charlotte with a non-profit focused on education reform called Citizen Schools.
They partner with public schools to help on a variety of initiatives, and she is at the MLK
Middle School there. The environment is very challenging, but she really loves working with
the kids.
Jerry Pierce and his wife, Kenya, at the
Kennedy Center Inaugural Ball.
Our son Connor is in his second year of medical school at Georgetown, so it is great having
him back in DC since we can see him from time to time. He is working hard but happy to
be doing what he wants to be doing and looking forward to things
Continued on Page 5
www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/81
Tom Zurich in Paradise
Your observant and ever vigilant editors
caught up with classmate Tom Zurich
just after he and his wife were in DC for
President Obama’s inauguration. Here is
the news from Tom:
I moved to the Caribbean – to Tortola –
in 1989, and first I fell in love with the
islands and then, quite a while later, fell
in love with an island woman. Jessica
Cadette and I married in June 2010. She
has a 16-year-old son, Joseph, who is finishing high school this spring. He’s looking
to attend prep school for a year to do a
postgraduate program before moving on
to college. I manage a local business that
sells office equipment – copiers, printers,
servers, networks, surveillance systems –
all that fun stuff – and while it keeps me
on the edge of technology, I long for days
gone by as a yacht captain. Jessica does
marketing for a local department store,
and we own and manage a vacation rental
villa here on Tortola, with special rates for
‘81s!
Life is good here. We live on
top of a hill looking down on
two beautiful beaches, Cane
Garden Bay and Brewers Bay.
In the distance we see St.
John, St. Thomas, and all the
little islands and cays around
them. That alone makes waking up each day enjoyable.
The Caribbean has a fun
Christmas tradition that
I’ve adopted, with encouragement from my wife. On
Christmas Eve a group of 80100 from our church sets out
Christmas caroling, at about
10:00 pm. Volunteers from
the church and broader com- Tom Zurich with his wife, Jessica Cadette-Zurich, and son,
Joseph Buffong.
munity are forewarned, and
therefore forearmed, that
was very excited about attending. Despite
we may arrive at any hour. We go from
the cold weather for us Caribbean types,
house to house in buses, SUVs, and trucks
we had a great time. The Mall experi(you can ride in the back here), sing a few
ence was actually fun. Despite the long
songs, have a bite to
wait, there was a very friendly crowd and
eat, and move on to the
lots of cheering when the time finally
next house. We typically came. For the parade, we managed to get
stay out until just about bleacher seats across from the Treasury
day break Christmas
Department, a stone’s throw from the
morning – the Caribbean President’s reviewing stand, and that was
version of an all-nighter. a real treat. We saw the first couple walk
It makes for a very reby, and Mrs. Obama gave a shout out to
laxing Christmas Day.
the Chicagoans in front of us. Joe Biden
was doing his Irish uncle act, posing and
It was my wife’s idea
shouting out to everyone it seemed – a
to attend the inaureal crowd pleaser!
guration. She’s from
the Commonwealth of
I keep trying to find a reason to move
Tom shares paradise through a rental property in Tortola, where we
Dominica - is not a US
back to the States but never seem to find
were imagining a retreat for the newsletter editors to recover from
citizen - and as a person a good enough one to make the move. So
our rigorous publication schedule. Villa Matija is nestled comfortably into the hillside overlooking Brewers Bay on Tortola in the
of African descent, she
here we stay in paradise.
British Virgin Islands. Get in touch with Tom if you’re interested!
So, Facebook is not your thing.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t
connect with classmates through
social networking. We have
69 members in our Class of ‘81
LinkedIn page. Not as many as our Facebook page with 239 members, but it’s a
start. If you’re already on LinkedIn, join the ‘81 group at http://www.linkedin.
com/groups?home=&gid=4103130&trk=anet_ug_hm
FEBRUARY 2013 NEWSLETTER
Page 2
1981 Class Officers
Co-President
Julie Koeninger
[email protected]
Co-President
Molly Sundberg Van Metre
[email protected]
Vice President
Andrew Lewin
[email protected]
Secretary
Robert Goldbloom
[email protected]
Secretary
Brian Cusack
[email protected]
Treasurer
George Alexakos
[email protected]
Newsletter Editor
Pat Berry
[email protected]
Newsletter Editor
Lynne Gaudet
[email protected]
Newsletter Editor
Abner Oakes
[email protected]
Newsletter Editor
Rick Silverman
[email protected]
Webmaster
Will Blanchard
[email protected]
Webmaster
Jim Jankowski
[email protected]
Alumni Council Rep
David Edelson
[email protected]
Co-Head Agent
Martin Weinstein
[email protected]
Co-Head Agent
Lon Povich
[email protected]
Page 3
President’s Message: Projecting Into The Future
Greetings ‘81s!
First, a personal note about February: our first baby turned 21 this month, and our second
baby turned 18. Both huge milestones worthy of recognition and celebration. Surprisingly,
these birthdays don’t make Doug and me feel old; rather we are energized as we watch
our daughters transition into adulthood and a whole new kind of relationship with us.
Definitely something to look forward to!
Speaking of looking forward, your class officers have been engaged in an ongoing conversation regarding class projects. By definition, a class project supports some aspect of the
College and is funded via the collection of dues. As has been much discussed in earlier
newsletters, all classes have been relieved of the necesssity of funding Dartmouth Alumni
Magazine subscriptions for their classmates this year (and, we hope, in the years to come).
A key impact to each class of this change is that it will have more resources to devote to
class projects.
If you read the dues solicitation letters that you recieve in the mail, you know that for the
past several years we have been funding a number of items, collectively, “class projects”.
The largest of these are three undergraduate internships: A Rockefeller Public Policy internship, a Tucker Fellow, and a general Undergraduate Research Intern. We have also enabled
all of you to designate your project contributions to our 1981 Scholarship Endowment and/
or our 1981 Memorial Book Fund.
This year, we made a decision to change our collection process a bit. You’ve no doubt noticed that we’ve asked for a combined $50 dues and project contribution--but we won’t be
hurt if you give more than that--and we aren’t including check boxes for the Scholarship
or Book funds anymore. In addition to the fact that the record keeping for allowing such
designations is a nightmare, we have started to think more broadly about class projects.
We plan to continue to contribute to those two endowments, just not via your restricted
donations.
End of long preamble. So here are a couple of projects we are looking into supporting. The
first is called Dartmouth Partners in Community Service, an organization which supports
students who commit to community service projects all over the US. In addition to being
able to contribute dollars to this group, we can also serve as mentors to students working in communities where we live, and provide suggestions for worthy community service
organizations that would be willing to take on a Dartmouth intern. The exciting part about
DPCS is that it’s not just about the money: any of our classmates could be involved in this
project. Another group we’ve looked into is something that Jim Wright was passionate
about and which now is an official organization: the Dartmouth Undergraduate Veterans
Association (DUVA). The class of 1956 (our partner class, if you recall) is the driving force
behind the funding and support of this organization, and we are looking into whether we
could also make a meaningful contribution. And finally, there are always a host of student
internships and research associates that we can support financially, as we have been for
the past several years.
We all feel strongly that class projects are important and we wanted to bring you up to
date on what’s happening. As always, we welcome your ideas and feedback.
--Molly (and Julie)
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CLASS OF 1981
www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/81
2012: A Review of the Year’s
Reading
Your literary-minded editors asked classmates what they read in 2012 that they
really liked, and here’s a sampling of their
recommendations.
Julie Matuschak: I’m finishing A Casual
Vacancy by J.K. Rowling, her first adult
book after the Harry Potter series. Very
well-written – light reading but an interesting intertwining of characters.
Lydia Lazar: The science fiction book (and
first of a series) The Unincorporated Man
by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin. I’m now
totally ensconced in the third book of this
series – just keeps getting better.
Jim Pearson: The Chess Machine by Robert
Lohr. A visual novel where a world of
engaging characters, fiery hopes, and
vox clamantis longing emerge from this
drama of Europe in the late 18th century.
Science meets entertainment meets court
intrigue meets love and need gone greatly
wrong. If you want an escape into dreams
anchored in some sense of history, this is
your fireside read.
Elliott Davis: If I had to boil it down to
one or two it might be Wendy Burden’s
memoir Dead End Gene Pool and Stephen
King’s 11/22/63, for very different reasons
– one’s a look at a vanishing way of life
and the other rewrites history in a fast-
FEBRUARY 2013 NEWSLETTER
paced style. Also, E.B. White’s One Man’s
Meat – his story of leaving the glamorous
NYC life as a writer for the New Yorker
and moving with his family to a Maine
saltwater farm and becoming a farmer. It
chronicles his evolving perspective and
that of his new home, before and during
WW II. You see a rural 1930s village still
using horse and buggy, for example, get
thrust into the dislocations of the time.
It’s also where he was inspired to write
Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little.
Kirk Read: I read a fair amount for pleasure and constantly for teaching. I prefer
fiction and memoir in exploring the human
condition. Much more truth there, to my
mind, but that is just one humanist’s opinion! Two memoirs I’ve read from authors
from my state (Maine): Richard Russo’s
Elsewhere about his life with his mother
in all her disease, neediness, love and dysfunction (as if any family is functional).
Honest, heart-breaking, wonderfully rendered. Monica Wood’s When We Were the
Kennedys about the early death of her father in Mexico, Maine, and the aftermath.
Superb on central Maine mill culture and
Catholicism and the early 60s. Quite specific in those ways but “relatable” as my
students would say about anything they
connect with. Both authors have a keen
eye for family and loss and keeping on-ideas that most of us with aging or deceased parents are coming to terms with.
Warren Bromberg: Craig Nelson’s Thomas
Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and
the Birth of Modern Nations reads like a
novel, and for anyone interested in early
American history, this is a must read. Paine
was perhaps one of the most instrumental
thinkers of the 18th century but was a
lousy politician so he does not get a spot
on our founders’ pedestal as do Jefferson,
Washington, and the like. Very interesting account of the French Revolution as
well, so you get some European history as
well. Lots of crazy behind-the-scenes filler
which augments the overall drama.
Dirk Olin: Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary
Mantel’s sequel to Wolf Hall. It chronicles
the rise of Henry VIII’s minister, Thomas
Cromwell (whose great nephew, of course,
inspired one of Elvis Costello’s best songs).
The author is an undoubted genius (this
won the Man Booker, as did the predecessor in 2009.)
Here, Henry’s ever wandering eye is turning from his second wife, Ann Boleyn
(who has “failed” – never mind Henry’s
syphilis – to give him a male heir), to
Jane Seymour, who will soon become his
third. As Boleyn’s fortunes decline, she and
Cromwell are increasingly pitted against
one another; he outmaneuvers her various treacheries and exploits her weakened state to settle various old scores.
And he plays a brilliant game of chicken
with France and the Vatican. (Michael
Corleone’s got nothing on Cromwell.) We
Page 4
get all the way inside his head, which he
keeps (for now) while all about are literally
losing theirs.
York-based intellectual and author of the
cross-Atlantic award-winning history book
Postwar.
Mantel’s research was meticulous and
obsessive. She had stacks of 3x5 cards for
each character, having documented their
itineraries and whereabouts so as never
to misplace a player – chronologically or
corporeally. But that’s just her platform.
She transcends her own brilliant historicity
with a shaman’s insights and a poet’s ear.
To date, this is, IMHO, the second greatest
historical novel of all time, and by the time
part three comes out, she might well surpass Tolstoy (I am anticipating classmate
blowback on this) – if not in philosophical scope and reach, then in psychological
depth and reconstruction.
I also review cookbooks on a weekly basis at my Super Chef blog, and one of my
favorites this year is Yottam Ottolenghi
and Sami Tamimi‘s Jerusalem: A Cookbook.
Both chefs grew up in Jerusalem; one
is Palestinian and the other is Jewish.
When they look back at the comfort food
they grew up with and the cuisine that
Jerusalem offers today, there is very little
difference between the two sides. It is a
beautiful book of exquisite photographs
and inspired recipes and underscores the
point that food can bridge huge divides
between people.
Juliette Rossant: Thinking the Twentieth
Century. The late Dr. Tony Judt (19482010) of New York University reviews the
last century in a fascinating conversation
with Yale’s Dr. Timothy Snyder and covers all the way up to the 2007-2008 economic downturn -- the final conversation
with a controversial, London-born, New
Polly Duncan Collom: Mary Pipher’s The
Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our
Families, published back in ‘96 – wish I’d
discovered it sooner. (Seeing the stack of
copies of the book on my desk, my daughter wondered aloud who wasn’t receiving it
from me for Christmas.) Much of pro-family writing out there comes from culturally/
politically conservative sources. Pipher
Rachel Kenzie King (from page 1)
turning more ‘clinical’ as he moves into third year.
John and I are fine. He continues do work on the
occasional film as well as to work with some nonprofits in the area. Lately he has been involved
with a Chinese democracy group and did a short
film for them about the imprisoned Nobel Peace
Prize winner Liu Xiao Bo. I’m still working in bio-
Page 5
isn’t in that camp, which is refreshing, but
she says some of the same stuff – making
the point that the state of the American
family (in all its diverse manifestations)
is a critical issue for all, no matter our
stripes. From her experience as a psychologist to all kinds of families, Pipher describes cultural stresses on families, noting
that families, which have too often gotten
a bad rap in therapy-land, can actually be
a very positive factor in life. Her critique
of media/screen influence warmed my
neo-Luddite heart, and my husband Danny
particularly cheered her indictment of late
capitalism’s stresses on families.
I’m thinking a lot these days about the
healing potential of strong family life, as
our eldest had a tough sophomore year in
college and is taking a year off, living at
home, working for Americorps and thinking
about life’s Big Questions. It’s been great
being a family of six again and watching
all four sibs enjoy each other. Oh, yeah,
we have four now, having adopted our
Abraham at age ten from Ethiopia two and
1/2 years ago.
technology and really enjoying that. The company
I co-founded has just completed a major clinical
study in sickle cell disease, and we should have the
data later this spring - so we are crossing our fingers hoping for good results. I’m also involved with
the Biotechnology Industry Organization and that’s
been fun and meaningful for me.
(By the way, kind reader, check out Rachel’s company GlycoMimetics. It’s doing some cool stuff.)
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CLASS OF 1981
www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/81
Remembering the Blizzard of ‘78 on
Tracy Bennett Yes and it was glorious! Best carnival
ever because folks from out of town couldn’t get there just Dartmouth classmates!
Wednesday at 1:44am · Like · 2
Pat Berry So, it turns out tomorrow, 2/6, is the 35th anniversary of the blizzard of ‘78. Didn’t we get the day
off?
Like · · Unfollow Post · February 5 at 10:54pm via
BlackBerry
Seen by 59
John Sconzo, Sharon Washington, Shelley Wieler and 5
others like this.
Rahn Fleming Seems I remember it was the first of its
kind in 50 years, Pat. (The day off, that is.) At least, that
was the talk back then. Wow, you just opened a floodgate of memories of that blizzard...
February 5 at 11:02pm · Edited · Like
Molly Sundberg Van Metre Just another excuse for
me to hop on that bus to the Skiway. Maybe with Beth
Tonneson?
February 5 at 11:06pm via mobile · Like
Jocelyn Evans Yes I believe we did.
Sent from Jocelyn’s iPad
February 5 at 11:13pm via · Like
Greg Clow Coming from California
I thought this was normal for New
Hampshire!
February 5 at 11:17pm via mobile ·
Like
Annette Taylor Could hardly see over the snow alongside paths across the green
Wednesday at 2:33am via mobile · Like
Rick Silverman I thought it was just morning classes
that were cancelled officially, though unofficially, most
classes were cancelled or moved to x-hours.
Wednesday at 6:13am · Like
Susan Spencer I don’t remember anything about classes
but I remember pooling tickets for concerts n’ stuff with
fellow classmates and getting to see Santana.
Wednesday at 7:57am · Like · 1
Pam Fiertz Meyers My recollection is that it was the
first time classes were cancelled in 30 years. They almost cancelled Winter Carnival because many main
roads in Massachusetts etc were closed so people from
the outside world could not make it.
Wednesday at 7:57am · Like
Brian Cusack I think we did, but our “ classmates “
around Boston got the week off.
While many suffered hardship and more, remembering
some of the stories from
my friends bring a smile to my face. Most
revolved around creative beer procurement.
Wednesday at 8:37am via · Like
John Sconzo It was a boom year for snow
sculptures! Sadly, that tradition has all
but faded away.
Wednesday at 8:44am · Like
Margaret Layman I was in
Salamanca on Foreign Study!
February 5 at 11:24pm · Like
Abner Oakes Does that mean we can take
the day off today?
Wednesday at 9:05am · Like · 1
Nancy Milholland Science labs
weren’t cancelled. Some TAs skied
over.
Wednesday at 12:46am via mobile ·
Like
Doug Harrison First time classes
cancelled since 1950’s
Wednesday at 12:58am via mobile
· Like
FEBRUARY 2013 NEWSLETTER
81s were prominent among the clown construction team at Winter Carnival ‘78
Hallidie Haid yes freshman winter. first
time classes were cancelled since vietnam
protests. Otho ker (‘79) got a pass from
his town’s mayor in Mass. to drive up for
carnival because the highways were officially closed in that state. New Hampshire
Page 6
handled better
Wednesday at 1:27pm · Like · 1
Wednesday at 11:32pm via mobile ·
Like · 1
Hallidie Haid snow men on second
floor of Fayerweather
Wednesday at 1:28pm · Like
Bill Barker We built a snow slide up to
a second-story window in Butterfield.
Thankfully, it was not my window.
Thursday at 3:45pm · Like
Rick Silverman As I recall, the carnival theme was “The Greatest Snow
on Earth,” and the Hitchcock snow
sculpture was a power lifter designed
by Greg Clow with the title “Snatch”-as in the lift.
Wednesday at 2:39pm · Like · 3
Susan Spencer Hitchcock rocked!
Wednesday at 2:45pm · Unlike · 2
Shelley Wieler I broke my nose diving into snow banks on the green, and
I recall that classes were cancelled for
he first time in decades.
Thursday at 8:14pm via mobile · Like
Paul Feinman My roommate, Sascha
Steinway, who is a little shorter than
a lot of us (though he carries himself
with quite a large stature) went off the
path to show me that the snow was
NOT up to his chest. But I still say it
was.
Thursday at 9:22pm via mobile · Like ·
Julie Koeninger Classes were canceled but labs and tests weren’t so
They don’t build ‘em like this anymore
I remember wading through waist
deep snow to get from the River
Cluster to get to my chemistry test-yuck! But then I
1
remember skiing and watching the ski jumping on the
golf course.
Margaret Layman Now I remember that! I miscalculated
Wednesday at 6:05pm via mobile · Unlike · 2
the year. That actually was the last full winter I spent
in Hanover (I got my fill of Hanover winters through my
Greg Clow I had squash practice, so I walked through
earlier schooling). I guess it blurred together with many
the deep snow plowing my way from the street corner
another massive snow and ice storm in my memory.
to the Alumni Gym stairs. Hundreds of athletes followed Yesterday at 12:58am · Like
my path since none had been plowed. When the snow
melted in the spring, there remained a nice straight dirt
Veronica Wessels Do I EVER remember that! Coming
path. A decade or so later the College paved the path. A from Argentina, I had barely come to terms with snow
proud moment for me!
at that point - I have such great memories of sliding
Wednesday at 6:37pm via mobile · Unlike · 5
out of my bedroom on the second flor of Butterfield!
And now I live in Snow 7 months of the year :)
Pat Berry If I’m not mistaken, Greg, that’s called a deFeb 14 at 6:16 PM · Like - 2
sire line. Proud moment indeed!
Wednesday at 6:40pm · Like · 1
ARE YOU A SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT—
Sue Reed Zero snow to 30” in 8 hours. No dates, no
lettuce, no eclairs, no sidewalks, Russian Flu, people
jumping from the second floor windows. OK, the last
one was for fun.
Wednesday at 7:14pm · Like · 2
Peter Corren Recall the 2nd floor window jumping.
What a spectacular storm that was. Little Dartmouth
sidewalk bulldozers doing their work on the Green creating a maze of white walls. Fun to use as protection
during the late night snowball fights fueled by...endless
snow...and beer.
Page 7
OR WANT TO BECOME ONE?
Our many internet outlets need an overseer. We’re on
Twitter (“@Dartmouth81”), Linked In (“Dartmouth Class
of ‘81”), and Facebook (“Dartmouth Class of 1981”), plus
we have a website (www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/81).
Help us strategize, generate traffic, steer conversations—in
short, use social media and class/college content to keep
The ‘81 Connection thriving. Join the leadership of one of
Dartmouth’s most wired classes! Contact Julie Koeninger
([email protected]) or Molly van Metre ([email protected]) for more info.
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CLASS OF 1981
www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/81
Mailing Panel
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CLASS OF 1981
FEBRUARY 2013 NEWSLETTER
Remembering the Greatest Snow on Earth
Inaugural Fishing Trip
When we asked for photos
from the recent presidential inauguration, Ben Pierce
shared these photos from
President Obama’s visit to
his Bozeman, Montana home
for his first try at fly fishing. Apparently, no fish were
harmed by this activity.
President Obama with fly fishing guide, Dan, Ben’s
cousin.
Ben with son, Amos, wife, Penelope, and the president.
www.alum.dartmouth.org/classes/81