For obvious reasons, the Class Secretary (Gus Buchtel) usually doesn't write about his own experiences, but a recent visit to our two children, who live in different parts of China, was too good to let pass undocumented. Visiting people is quite a different experience from visiting places (Margaret and I did that back in 1996), with train travel ("hard sleepers" and "soft sleepers", the latter being like the Pullman cars of yesteryear) and great meals in the homes of friends and colleagues. If you want to see China before its Westernization, you're a bit late for big cities like Beijing and Guangzhou (Canton), but small cities and pocket-sized neighborhoods in the bigger cities remain very different from what we're used to. Prices remind me of 1960s Europe (multi-course meals for $3.00 per person; long cab rides for around $1.50; silk and tailoring at ridiculously low prices).

Robert Rand (Randy) Beers has been keeping a low profile, so I hope he doesn't mind my publicizing that last fall he left his position as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to become the National Security Council senior director to combat terrorism. After his B.A. in History, Randy obtained a M.A. in History at the University of Michigan. He has served three times on the National Security Council staff and was Deputy Political Advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.

Jay Evans and Hasty are having an adventure moving their Privilege 42 Catamaran sailboat (Salty Dog) south from Norfolk, VA to Florida. They took up the cruising life after Jay's retirement from Fleet Boston; their daughter Posey, a member of the class of '98, is passing Dartmouth news along to them. Their Log includes references to kissing shoals, hugging green markers, eating rat cheese, and the like. Virginia and the Carolinas were freezing cold in January and they had to deal with thick ice on the docks and waterways.

The '64 sponsored intern in DC this winter term is Jason Ballet '04. A letter from Jason can be found on the class Web site. John Topping continues to coordinate this internship program, which has received excellent support from class donations. We'll be sponsoring a second intern in the spring term.

It's time to start thinking about 2003 Homecoming weekend. Dick Couch and Barbara have again invited classmates to their Hanover home for dinner on Saturday Oct 25th. There will be a post-game reception in Webster Hall with the classes of '63 - '66 preceding dinner at the Couch's. Make your hotel reservations early! Friday night will be the parade of Alumni Classes before the bonfire and Saturday morning will be a class meeting in Dartmouth Hall.

While you're looking over your long-term calendar, you might mark down that over Memorial Day weekend in 2004 we'll be celebrating our 40th Anniversary in Hanover. Ed Williams is coordinating the team planning this event and he would appreciate help from anyone interested in helping to plan this fun-filled weekend. Contact Ed at eqwilliams@somlaw.com

Gus Buchtel, 2861 Gladstone Avenue, Ann Arbor MI 48104-6432; gusb@umich.edu or http://happy.dartmouth.org/classes/64/news.html.