last year, denis chebikin introduced the alternating descent of a permutation. for a permutation $\sigma = \sigma_1 \ldots \sigma_n$ in the symmetric group $s_n$, let $altdes(\sigma) = \{2i+1: \sigma_{2i+1} <\sigma_{2i+2}\} \cup \{2i: \sigma_{2i} > \sigma_{2i+1}\}$. then we can define $altdes(\sigma) =|altdes(\sigma)|$ and $altmaj(\sigma) =\sum_{i \in altdes(\sigma)} i$. we shall show how to derive the generating function for the joint distribution of $altdes$ and $altmaj$ over the symmetric group. slight variations of our technique also allow us to find similar generating functions for the groups $b_n$ and $d_n$.