Word: spitzer
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Although the club's membership numbers about 300, outgoing President Billy Spitzer '83 says that only about half that number are active, and that about 20 students are "very active." And, Spitzer adds laughingly. "Then there are one or two others like me who are hyperactive." Spitzer--who also just ended a year's tenure as president of the White-water Club--estimates that he spent two of three weekends last year on various expeditions both with the club...
...everyone is as active as Spitzer, though. For just $5 a year and light duties such as cleaning some of the club's equipment, members can check out any of the club's vast sporting gear and use the club's two cabins in Jaffrey and Jackson. N.H. Built in 1939 and 1949, respectively, by past club members, the cabins serve as starting points for many Harvard expeditions, as well as nearby escapes to beautiful and rustic simpicity Just an hour-and-a-half away, the Jaffrey cabin is nestled between lakes and hiking trails, while the Jackson cabin...
With enlargement, however, would inevitably come problems in administration, as well as a loss of spontaneity, Spitzer believes. "When the MIT Outing Club and the Appalachian Mountaineering Club decided to become more structured and systematized, people began to lose interest,' he says. "It takes a lot of the fun out of a trip when you have to sign up weeks in advance; one of the most memorable trips I took was planned the night before my final exam in the winter We took off 15 minutes after my exam ended and had a great time...
Despite the fact that all Outing Club trips are student-led and sometimes hastily organized, there has never been a serious accident on my expedition, Spitzer says. "At MIT you have to pass a lot of tests and requirements to lead trips, but they have had lot more problems and accidents than we have," he adds. "When someone proposes going on a trip that I know is way over their head, I'll gently tone down their suggestion by saying something like, 'Why don't you think about the difficulty of that trip a little more before you organize anything...