were sold the next year. The popularity of the fountain pen and the typewriter likely contributed to the demise of the cubbyhole filing system.

Though his factory was in Indianapolis, Wooton moved to Wichita, Kans., and subsequently to Denver to join his daughter, Mattie Wooton Spray, my grandmother. He died in Denver in 1907 and his wife died there the next year.

In addition to the sources listed above, I am indebted to my kid sister, Rev. Patricia Robbennolt, who listened to our mother and her stories better than I did.

Walter S. Rothwell, M.D.,
DC '45, DMS '45
Trenton, Mich.

A motivated mega-mentor
I have just finished reading your profile on Dr. Mark Israel ("Mega-mentor," Summer 2005) and want to compliment you on capturing his essence and spirit. I have known him for about 12 years and not only is he a wonderful friend, but I consider him one of the brightest, most motivated people I know. He will serve DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center well and be a credit to your university.

Henry R. Kwiecinski
Philadelphia, Pa.

Reading list
I have to tell you that Dartmouth Medicine is on my reading list for sure. The articles are extremely interesting.

I was a general practitioner in Orlando, Fla., for 50 years—and loved it.

Ian Macdonald, M.D., DC '44
Vero Beach, Fla.

System gets gamed
There was a recent article in the news about research from DMS regarding physician responsibility for the variance in medical costs.

Absolutely true! However, much of this is because the system and its rules

A letter below about this plaque, buried deep in New Hampshire's Lincoln Woods, offers a coda to a feature in our Winter 2000 issue about an event that took place in 1959.

manipulate and dictate how physicians must code different diagnoses to get paid. There has been a squeeze on physician reimbursement to keep down the cost of care. One can argue how much a physician should make, and I don't intend to go there. However, it is true that in 1976 the amount of "adjustment or denial of payment for write-off" of physician billings was about 26%. By the mid- 1980s, it had risen to about 54%. That means if a physician billed $1.00, he or she received 46c. Most hospitals and medical practices have professionals who know and apply the most appropriate codes to get the best reimbursement. It is a game played by both sides—those paying and those submitting the bills. This is the result of the transformation of health care into a business. If consumers aren't aware of this game, it can cost them. I have written an article with some advice on the subject.

It is unfair to blame only doctors. They are relatively unwilling participants in the sad business game that health care has become.

Michael McKeown, M.D.,
DC '58, DMS '59
Hillsboro, Ore.

The letter above is commenting on a report in the national press about a study

by Dr. Brenda Sirovich that is covered here in this issue of Dartmouth Medicine.

Plaque gets scrubbed off
I recently came across your article on the two Dartmouth Medical School faculty members who crashed their plane in Lincoln Woods in 1959—Drs. Quinn and Miller ("Unforgiving Forests," Winter 2000 issue). Enclosed is a photo [reproduced at left] that I took in 1994 of a memorial plaque to them.

We came upon the bronze plaque while we were camping, deep in the woods. It was covered in growth and mounted on a concrete slab. I cleared it off and photographed it. None of the rangers at the trail office had even heard of the plane crash, much less laid eyes on the plaque.

The photo has been in a scrapbook that I recently came across. I decided to Google the names of the doctors and found the article about them on your website. I thought I'd share with you the fact that the two doctors are not yet forgotten.

Hank Davidson
Medford, Mass.

Holyoke communion
After reading in the Summer issue of your magazine, at a Mt. Holyoke classmate's home, the article about Susie Neidlinger (who was also in our class at Mt. Holyoke, for our freshman year), I continued to read other articles and found the whole issue so informative.

My friend said that I had only to request a subscription to get on your mailing list—so I hereby do request one. I hope she was not wrong, and if she was not, many thanks in advance.

Mary L. Bennett
Feeding Hills, Mass.

We are happy to add to our subscription rolls anyone who is interested in the subjects we cover.