L.A. CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT RECONSTRUCTING HAITI: ERIC GARCETTI ’92, ’93 SIPA YOUNG ALUMNI, STUDENT BRIDGES CITY’S DIVIDES VIEW RAVAGED NATION page 20 page 4 Columbia College March/April 2010 today

How To Survive Your Own Financial Crisis Jonathan Dahl ’80, ’81J, editor of SmartMoney magazine and author of 1,001 Things They Won’t Tell You, helps readers by making business writing personal

plus Columbia Forum: 1959: The Year Everything Changed, by Fred Kaplan Alumni Reunion Weekend 9ebkcX_W9ebb[][

Come Celebrate Alumni Reunion Weekend 2010 — the reunion that everyone is looking forward to!

In addition to class-specific events throughout the weekend, you can join all Columbians celebrating their reunions on Friday at the “Back on Campus” sessions, including Core 1945 Curriculum mini-courses, engineering lectures, tours of the Morningside campus and its libraries and more. There even will be unique opportunities to engage deeply with the 1950 city’s arts community with theater, ballet, music and gallery options.

1955 Columbians will be dispersed throughout the Heights and greater Gotham all weekend 1960 long, but Saturday is everyone’s day on campus. This year’s Saturday programming will invite all alumni back to celebrate and learn together from some of Columbia’s 1965 best-known faculty in a series of public lectures, at the Decades BBQs and affinity receptions. The night wraps up with the reunion classes’ tri-college wine tasting on 1970 Low Plaza, followed by our biggest line-up of class dinners ever and a final tri-college gathering for champagne, dancing and good times on Low Plaza. 1975 1980 Dates and Registration Information 1985 Thursday, June 3–Sunday, June 6, 2010 1990 REGISTER TODAY! For more information or to register online, 1995 please visit http://reunion.college.columbia.edu. 2000 If you register before Monday, May 3, you’ll receive a 10% discount on all events, excluding South Pacific, West Side Story, Next to Normal, American Ballet Theatre 2005 and New York Philharmonic tickets. 9ebkcX_W9ebb[][ CCT10_8.25x10_v2.indd 1 1/27/10 4:23:03 PM Columbia College Today Contents

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Cover Story Alumni News Departments

31 B o o k s h e l f 2 Le t t e r s t o t h e Jo n a t h a n Da h l ’80, ’81J Ma k e s 17 Featured: Katherine Howe ’99 Ed i t o r Bu s i n e s s Wr i t i n g Pe r s o n a l pulls from the stories of her real-life Salem, Mass., 3 Wi t h i n t h e Fa m i l y The SmartMoney editor helps readers weather ancestors to write The Physick 4 r o u n d t h e u a d s Book of Deliverance Dane. A Q their own financial crises by providing practical, 4 Reconstructing Haiti accessible information in print and online. 33 O b i t u a r i e s 8 Medical Mission to 34 Connie Maniatty ’43 Haiti By Yelena Shuster ’09 10 5 Minutes with … 36 C l a s s No t e s Stuart Firestein A l u m n i Upd a t e s 11 Alumni in the News Features 12 49 Joseph Goldstein ’65 Student Spotlight: Victor Suarez ’11 64 Maya Gupta ’99 Er i c Ga r c e t t i ’92, ’93 SIPA Is 13 Campus News 20 69 Jake and Marty 14 Ma k i n g Ti n s e l t o w n Gr e e n In Memoriam: Harriss, LaSalle ’07 Kroeber, Yerulshalmi As Los Angeles City Council President, Garcetti 15 72 A l u m n i Co r n e r Update from Kabul: uses a soft-spoken style to help create a greener, After Core Curriculum Sarah Takesh ’95 more livable city. overload, a young alumnus 16 Claire Shipman ’86 By Justin Clark ’04J learns to stop whining and and Womenomics love reading again. 16 Affinity Groups To 24 Co l u mb i a Fo r u m By Nick Kelly ’09 Gather at Reunion Allen Ginsberg ’48, Jack Kerouac ’44 and the Beats were one reason that Fred Kaplan titled his new Web Exclusives at www.college.columbia.edu/cct book 1959: The Year Everything Changed. This excerpt 5 Mo r e Mi n u t e s shows how Columbia played a pivotal role in the Watch Stuart Firestein discuss his life and his work year’s culture shift. studying humans’ sense of smell. Do n ’t Sa y We Di d n ’t Wa r n Yo u Read an excerpt from Jonathan Dahl ’80, ’81J’s 1,001 Things They Won’t Tell You: An Insider’s Guide to Spending, Saving, and Living Wisely. Ch i l d r e n o f Al l Ag e s Watch juggling twins Jake and Marty LaSalle ’07 perform magnificent feats. Me e t Er i c Ga r c e t t i ’92 View a video biography of Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti ’92, ’93 SIPA. COVER illustration: jean-claude Suarès columbia college today Letters to the Editor

The Road Less Traveled warm period: A thousand years ago, it was Volume 37 Number 4 I liked the January/February 2010 cover about three degrees warmer than now; March/April 2010 story, “The Road Less Traveled,” and en- Greenland grew crops; wine grapes were Editor and publisher joyed reading about Columbia grads who raised in Scotland; and London was not Alex Sachare ’71 under water! Managing Editor followed unusual career paths. As an Ar- Lisa Palladino menian-American jazz pianist and com- 3. The earth’s average temperature does associate editor poser (see 1972 Class Notes, same issue), not correlate with CO2, but is correlated Ethan Rouen ’04J my career path also has been unusual with solar activity. When Pennsylvania’s Associate Director, Advertising as well as enlightening, and perhaps the coal fields were being formed, the tem- Taren Cowan best post-graduate education I could have perature was similar to now, and the CO2 forum editor Rose Kernochan ’82 Barnard hoped for. was 14 times the current Contributing writer Armen Donelian ’72 concentration. If you liked Shira Boss-Bicak ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA Hu d s o n , N.Y. Gore’s erroneous film [An Editorial Assistants Inconvenient Truth], watch Grace Laidlaw ’11 McAleer/McElhinney’s Julie Poole ’11 GS Thank you for the focus on Jesse Thiessen ’11 Arts the “road less traveled.” Not Evil, Just Wrong. Since Design Consultant It was a choice a lot of us 2007, the Arctic ice has Jean-Claude Suarès made many years ago. It’s grown by 20 percent. art director interesting how the same 4. CO2 is beneficial to Gates Sisters Studio alma mater could have plant life and therefore webmaster Thomas MacLean such divergent offspring. beneficial to animals and Contributing Photographers I think that’s the sign of humans. Eileen Barroso good parenting. 5. Subsidizing uneco- Char Smullyan Daniella Zalcman ’09 Tim Krupa ’63 nomical forms of energy to Ca n n o n Be a ch , Or e . minimize warming from Published six times a year by the CO2 is fruitless. The physics show limita- Columbia College Office of Molly Ivins ’67J tions on “greenhouse” energy storage as Alumni Affairs and Development. dean of alumni affairs The mention of Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life by CO2 concentrations rise, anyhow. and development Bill Minutaglio ’76 and W. Michael Smith This writer is unsubsidized by oil, coal Derek A. Wittner ’65 in the January/February “Bookshelf” fail- or utility companies! For alumni, students, faculty, parents and friends of Columbia College, founded in 1754, ed to mention that Molly, a former Texas Fred DeVries ’49, ’50E ’51E the undergraduate liberal arts college of Observer editor and nationally syndicated Ch a d d s Fo r d , Pa. Columbia University in the City of New York. columnist, also was a Columbia graduate. Address all correspondence to: The Rule of Law Columbia College Today Molly, who is remembered by her beloved Columbia Alumni Center Texas Observer with “The MOLLY Nation- In his letter to the editor (January/Feb- 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 New York, NY 10025 al Journalism Prize” awarded each June, ruary), James E. O’Brien ’66 asserts that 212-851-7852 was in the Graduate School of Journalism CCT’s article on Attorney General Eric H. E-mail (editorial): [email protected]; (advertising): [email protected] Class of 1967. We miss her. Holder Jr. ’73, ’76L “is rather biased in that www.college.columbia.edu/cct Carlton Carl ’67, ’68J it suggests repeatedly that some terrorists ISSN 0572-7820 Au s t i n , Te x a s were too harshly treated during the Bush Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect official years.” Mr. O’Brien then attempts to make positions of Columbia College [The writer is CEO/publisher of The Texas a case for what he calls “enhanced inter- or Columbia University. Observer.] rogation” — i.e., waterboarding and other © 2010 Columbia College Today All rights reserved. forms of torture. It has been repeatedly Going Green? demonstrated that torture doesn’t yield Pleased for your euphoria in using recy- anything in the way of useful intelligence, cled paper. Totally distressed, however, but what might be called the “pragmatic” as are tens of thousands of technically case against torture pales by compari- trained people, that there is no open re- son with the legal and moral arguments view of the “managed perception” that against it. Torture is a crime against hu- carbon dioxide causes global warming. manity. When the United States tortures, CCT welcomes letters from readers about We consider this the scam of the millen- it violates international treaties and estab- articles in the magazine, but cannot print or personally respond to all letters nium! In a nutshell: lished American law. Torture won’t make received. Letters express the views of 1. Alternate warm and cool periods us safer, but it will most assuredly corrupt the writers and not CCT, the College or the University. Please keep letters to 250 have occurred every 1,500 years for a mil- its advocates and practitioners. words or fewer. All letters are subject to lion years. Alan Wallach ’63, ’65 GSAS, ’73 GSAS editing for space and clarity. Please direct 2. Previous Roman and Medieval warm Wa s h i n g t o n , D.C. letters for publication “t o t h e e d i t o r .” periods were warmer than the present

march/april 2010 2 columbia college today

W i t h i n t h e Fa m i l y How To Survive a College Shopping Trip

t’s Presidents Week as I write give you an accurate representa- this, and since many high tion of the school. schools are on vacation, this Linger on campus. Grab lunch Iaffords an opportunity for or a snack in the student center students and their parents to go and sit for awhile, observing the college shopping. A year ago, my students and what they’re up wife, daughter and I mapped out to. You’ll get a feel for the place a five-day trip that had us visit- you won’t get on the formal, pro- ing eight schools from western grammed part of your visit. Massachusetts to Boston and then Remember that this shopping down through Connecticut before trip is only one component of we headed home. Snow forced us the process, and an early one at to drop one visit, but we still man- that. Think of it as a first round of aged to hit seven of our targets. interviews. After your teenager Hectic as that sounds, a year later narrows his/her choice — region; we look back on the week as a fun city, suburban or rural; large, me- vacation, so we must have done dium or small; private or state; something right. rah-rah or laid-back — you will We didn’t have college shop- After touring the University of Vermont, Deborah Sachare and have a second, more manage- ping trips when I was growing her dad visited the Ben & Jerry’s flagship store in Burlington. able list. All schools have special up. I went to a conference of Photo: Lori Sachare follow-up visiting days for pros- high school newspaper editors at pects, when students can sit in on Columbia when I was a junior, fell in school. If he/she sincerely likes the classes and special sessions are run love with the campus and the idea of place, has taken advantage of the op- for parents, and these will give you a going to college in the city, and that portunities it affords and would make much better feel for the school than was that. But times have changed, the same decision if he/she had it to the initial whirlwind visit. so here are a few words of advice for do over again, you’ll feel a lot better A wise woman at Smith College parents who may be contemplating about the school than if you get a tour said on one such VIP day, “The college college visits in the near future: leader who is just going through the selection process is not about the stick- Stay in an Embassy Suites-type ho- motions. er in the rear window of your car.” In tel. Your teenager needs his/her space, Bring a notebook, and use it. Make other words, don’t limit yourself to the and being able to shut the bedroom that two notebooks, one for the teen- “name” schools. Be open to schools door is nice. So is the free breakfast. ager and one for Mom/Dad. If you you may not have heard much about, Look for a hotel that is centrally lo- don’t, you’ll be amazed how easily but may be better for your teenager cated, within a reasonable drive from colleges can blend into one another than the prestigious schools. several schools so you don’t have to — was it BU or Northeastern that had That same woman also said, “Keep move every night, and one that offers the great internship plan, and which in mind that this is your child’s college, free parking. And if you find one with school was it that had the nice dorms? not yours.” In other words, it ultimately an indoor pool and hot tub, so much Take information sessions with a must be his/her decision. the better. grain of salt. Every schools offers one, Most importantly, don’t stress out on Pack light. You are going to be on usually led by an admissions officer, these trips. Have fun. Remember that the move, and you don’t want to be often accompanied by a campus video. there are hundreds of fine schools out constantly nagging your teenager over For all the time, effort and money there, and any number of them would packing. If you can teach him/her to schools spend on these, they tend to be a great fit for your teenager. Our live out of a suitcase for a week, you’ll be remarkably similar. A friend of ours daughter was fortunate enough to be be teaching a valuable lesson. went so far as to eliminate information accepted at her first choice on early de- Wear comfortable shoes. Every sessions from his family’s visits. On the cision, but on our trips we discovered school offers a campus tour led by a other hand, some sessions incorporate several other schools at which I know cheerful undergrad, and that walking current students or faculty into the pre- she would have been happy, too. can add up. As you might suspect, sentation, and these can stand out. the student tour leader can go a long Go while classes are in session. A way in shaping your impression of the campus devoid of students does not

march/april 2010 3 columbia college today Around the Quads Reconstructing Haiti Young alumni visit island nation ravaged by earthquake and look for signs of hope

photos: daniella Zalcman ’09

oshua Robinson ’08 under a white sheet and be- is a freelance writer and hind plenty of police tape. So Daniella Zalcman ’09 is when we stepped off the bus Ja freelance photographer. and the sticky, acrid smell They live in Manhattan, filled my nostrils, it took me and their work has appeared in far too long to realize what Columbia College Today as it meant. That odor followed students and as young alumni. us for the entire week — in After reading many touching collapsed churches, near the stories and seeing countless destroyed National Palace, in heart-wrenching images follow- the fringes of tent cities. It was ing the earthquake that struck a terrible reminder of just how Haiti, they traveled to Port- much we hadn’t seen. au-Prince to document not the destruction but the first steps of JR: When the time came for reconstruction. us to actually start reporting, Children play in the ruins of an abandoned structure in Cité Soleil. we thought, “Where do we DZ: We arrived in Haiti on even start?” January 24, 12 days after a 7.0 So many iconic images earthquake flattened three of the coun- diately: the collapsed buildings where the and momentous stories had already try’s densest cities. Footage from Port-au- second floor seemed to have consumed gushed out of Haiti, how were we, Prince (the capital), Léogâne and Jacmel the ground floor, the people lining the with so little local knowledge, going had saturated news outlets for more than streets where they would spend the night, to find something new and meaning- a week. As journalists, we were clearly and the pungent smell of garbage and ful? But with the help of a guide and a late to the scene. But for every story that death. broken-down Toyota with cracks in the had been unearthed by CNN or the As- windshield and a “Merci Jésus” sticker sociated Press or the BBC, we knew there DZ: I’d heard, from colleagues and peers across the back, we began by exploring were dozens more waiting to be told by who had already returned from Haiti, as much of Port-au-Prince as possible. the 1.2 million Haitians who had lost their that the stench of death was everywhere. We spoke to everyone we could find — homes and were living in makeshift tents. But I had no idea what that meant. I’d tent city residents, doctors, aid workers, And so we decided to make our way to barely encountered a corpse, except for Marines, Haitian officials. The idea was Port-au-Prince and report on Haitians to expose ourselves to everything. taking stock and facing the future, finding hope where there seemed to be none. DZ: It didn’t take long for us to realize that the stories were there. A woman JR: Because the airport there had been named Marie, who was on the plane with commandeered by American troops and us from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was rush- aid organizations, getting to Port-au- ing to Port-au-Prince to find her brother, Prince became a 30-hour ordeal. It meant the youngest of her six siblings. The other flying into Santiago in the Dominican five had died on January 12, along with Republic, taking a taxi to Santo Domingo their spouses and children. Darlande, and then embarking on what turned into a medical student we spoke to, had ar- an eight-hour bus ride to Port-au-Prince. rived at the American Embassy at 5 a.m. We arrived at our destination as night People sift through the rubble in downtown every day for five days hoping to obtain was falling. Everything we had read Port-au-Prince, seeking to salvage usable the necessary paperwork to emigrate about and seen on television hit us imme- building materials and personal objects. to America — knowing full well that

march/april 2010 4 columbia college today around the quads without a U.S. passport she wouldn’t be and the space was filled with rubble, but permitted to even speak with an embassy the pews had survived. I walked into one official. Robert had lost his parents, his of the last rows to take a shot of the altar, two younger sisters and his girlfriend to and lying in the middle of a pew was an the earthquake and was living in a two- abandoned bridal magazine. Had a young person tent with 11 friends from his high woman, soon to be married, been looking school soccer team, taking care of one over white dresses in this spot on January classmate’s infant brother. The struggles, 12? The thought absolutely shook me. and stories, were everywhere we looked. JR: Whenever people heard that we had JR: Of all the tent cities, all the piles of A bridal magazine on a pew in Sacré Coeur come from New York, they immediately rubble and all the devastated neighbor- church in Turgeau. told us about their relatives in the United hoods we saw, the slum of Cité Soleil will States — in places like Miami, Boston stay seared in my memory. In the area sur- come through, and in all likelihood, they and Queens. And now, in their family’s rounding Haiti’s former state prison, a vile weren’t planning on it. time of need, many of those relatives hole that witnessed more than 30 years of were frantically trying to circumvent untold horrors under the Duvalier dicta- DZ: The most powerful images for me the aid process and send money to them torship, some of Haiti’s poorest live amid were the relics of life before the earth- directly. So when the wire remittance rotting fruit, broken glass and feces. Pigs quake. Toward the end of the week, I’d offices like Western Union began reopen- run free through the mounds of garbage. begun to worry that I had been desensi- ing some two weeks after the quake, the Women make food out of dried mud. tized to much of the devastation. Seeing lines were endless. Realizing that the area had hardly so much ruin on such a large scale had On the steps of a Unitransfer office in been affected by the earthquake only made it almost impossible for me to downtown Port-au-Prince one Saturday, made the scene more upsetting. This comprehend the earthquake’s effects on Laurrette Maitre crouched in a sliver of was the same abject poverty the people a human scale. shade. Her parents and two siblings in of Cité Soleil had always known, and And then, one morning, I visited the the Bronx had promised to send her $150 little was going to change that, espe- remnants of the Sacré Coeur church in to help with food. For days, she had been cially now. No aid organizations had Turgeau. Most of the walls had collapsed, surviving on insufficient aid handouts.

A woman makes food from dried clay in Cité Soleil, one of Haiti’s poorest slums.

march/april 2010 5 around the quads columbia college today

found in all of Port-au-Prince. We certainly thought so. We brought enough protein bars from New York and almost enough water from the Dominican Republic to sustain ourselves for those nine days, ex- pecting not to be able to find supplies any- where in the city. But on our second day in Haiti, our guide stopped at a bustling supermarket and asked us if we needed anything. I was shocked — the shelves were well-stocked and the aisles were bustling with customers. But few of them were Haitian. The food was available, but the prices were far from affordable for most of Port-au-Prince’s residents.

JR: And yet, it was impossible for us to share our resources with the people who truly needed them. Several United Na- Even before the earthquake wreaked its devastation, Haiti was the poorest country in the tions workers strongly warned us against Western Hemisphere. handing out anything because it could be enough to spark a riot — the aid organi- She hoped to restart her small business she knew that it would not get them far. zations had all experienced it themselves. selling drinks. “It’s enough to eat a little, Price-gouging had spiraled out of control. It meant that we were rarely welcome and maybe even begin working again,” Gas, for instance, was going for $8 a gal- when we visited tent cities. “We weren’t she said of the expected funds. lon. In places, a loaf of bread reached $10. waiting for journalists,” one man told me. A few yards behind her, Pierrette “It’s still better than nothing,” Longue- “We were waiting for help.” Longuefosse had come from a nearby fosse said, exasperated. “But it will only tent city with her sister and husband. She last two days, maybe three.” DZ: Many people didn’t want to discuss had three children to feed, so she waited what had become the worst two weeks of for five hours to collect $100 from her DZ: I think a widespread misconception their lives, and they certainly didn’t want younger sister in New York, even though was that there were no resources to be to be photographed. Josh had an advan- tage in that he speaks French fluently; all I could do was point at my camera and hope it was understood that I wasn’t trying to capture their shame but rather document a crisis and the beginnings of rebuilding.

JR: When I first drove by the tent cities and saw people living under four posts and a bed-sheet, I’d wrongly assumed that many of them had been poor before We’ve got you covered. the earthquake. Cheap, poorly built hous- ing, I thought, was hit hardest, and those with the means to leave had done so. It wasn’t until I began wandering Through Columbia Alumni Association, through the tents that I understood life insurance is available in amounts up to two things. First, the disaster didn’t $1,000,000, underwritten by New York Life Insurance Company (NY, NY 10010).

For details about eligibility, coverage amounts, rates, exclusions and renewal provisions, please visit alumni.columbia.edu/insurance or call the plan administrator at 800-223-1147

The eyes of a hungry child tell of the earth- quake’s consequences. columbia college today around the quads

discriminate. There were middle-class professionals, teachers and businessmen assembling shelter from cardboard boxes alongside people who had evacuated slums. And second, not everyone want- ed to leave — Port-au-Prince was still their home, even without a house.

DZ: It wasn’t long before shadows of those homes started springing up in tent cities all over Port-au-Prince. The evolu- tion of those communities during the course of the week that we spent in Haiti was stunning. One in particular, the St. Louis community, changed tremen- dously in just a few days. The first time I explored the 10-acre tract, there was nothing more than sheets and plastic tarps fashioned into makeshift tents. But by our last day in Port-au-Prince, Haitians living in one of the Red Cross’ tent cities in downtown Port-au-Prince find ways to set St. Louis had progressed to a growing up their own businesses that they run in exchange for food and water. shantytown with street signs (named after American states) and an address JR: Nowhere was this clearer than in clearing debris. They dug out whole system, grocery stores selling canned and Léogâne, a town about 18 miles up the bricks and steel cables, things that dried produce, and salons offering a trim coast from Port-au-Prince where the would become construction materials and a shave. Children clustered around a earthquake had torn down 85 percent in a new Léogâne. Even small busi- generator-powered television, watching of the structures, according to official nesses seemed to have been revived. cartoons. Women gave each other mani- figures. Its main street had none of Of course, people knew it would be cures. Men wove branches and straw into the desperation of sprawling Port-au- years before they recognized their panels to create walls and thatching for Prince. In this smaller, closer commu- hometown. But more quickly than any- more permanent housing. Reconstruction nity, every pile of rubble was as busy where else we visited, they had sprung was underway. as an anthill, with dozens of people into action.

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GIVING.COLUMBIA.EDU/SCHOLARSHIPS101 around the quads columbia college today Reactions from a Medical Mission to Haiti

B y Sa l l i e Wi l s o n ’11

ate last summer, my dad and I falling apart except the mountains. perate need of both doctors and supplies. planned a weeklong medical This is not to say Haiti is not beautiful. My main concerns for Haiti are first, volunteer trip to Haiti for the first The white-sand beaches of Jacmel could the thousands of homeless Haitians L week of January. Little did we be mistaken for beaches in the Caribbean who now will have an even harder time know that we would narrowly be avoid- on which world-class resorts build their finding the food, water and shelter we ing death, or at least tragedy, by leaving reputations. The mountains were lush, take for granted. Second, the escape of just two days before the earthquake of green and terraced. inmates from the prison in downtown January 12. When I found out that the earthquake Port-au-Prince means some of those re- Why did we choose Haiti? We had had hit, I was shell-shocked, stunned, sponsible for the 2003–08 violence now found a group in Gastonia, N.C., not too speechless, what have you. I learned that are free. Third, the country itself had so far from my hometown of Charlotte, far to go with its medicine before the with a strikingly pure medical mission earthquake. King’s Hospital was in statement and established ties in Haiti. need of fundraising to establish a fund When we first visited Lumière Medi- to support the many Haitian patients cal Missions, I was struck by their gen- who could not pay full price for their uine altruism. They were not working necessary medical attention. Now for media attention and certainly not the attention of the world is on earth- for money, which was refreshing. quake relief (as it should be). Thank- My dad, a cardiologist, had always fully, Haitian causes have become the wanted to do medical mission work, focus of charities nationwide, but to and Haiti appealed to us because it what end will Haiti be restored? is the poorest country in the Western My hope is that aid and disaster Hemisphere. I had studied Haiti relief efforts will establish a greater in- in passing during the course of my frastructure rather than merely restore French studies, and its culture had the recent but tenuous stability Haiti intrigued me. I was excited to see the had, which was due to an increase in practice of medicine in a less formal police force and the recent capture by setting — a general clinic — where I President René Préval’s forces of the could be more participatory in patient leader of the gang responsible for the diagnosis under a doctor’s instruction. revolts. We stayed with Haitian-born doc- Haiti is not just a disaster-torn, tors Hubert Morquette and Junie third-world country to be pitied or Hyacinthe in their newly built mission Sallie Wilson ’11 with two Haitian orphans at the King’s Hos- patronized. Participate in the restora- hospital, King’s Hospital, in Port- pital complex in Port-au-Prince before the earthquake. tion process for the sake of its people PHOTO: Hadley Wilson au-Prince. Their complex includes a and potential. A great place to start six-story hospital, an orphanage of 64 is by donating to the Helping Hands children and a school of 108 children. the Presidential Palace had been damaged for Haiti campaign organized by the The most eye-opening part of the trip and no longer looked like the image I had Haitian and Caribbean Students’ Associ- was not the sight of the shantytowns or in the packet of developed photos I had ations. At the very least, resist becoming the size of the stomach of a malnourished just brought home from the drugstore. I desensitized to the issue as the images of child, but the repetition of these sights. felt that all of the memories and stimula- disaster become redundant and the pas- We drove to the beach on the Friday of tion that had painted my experience — the sage of time and stress of daily life make our weeklong trip. Again and again we sights, the people, the sounds, the smells it easy to tune out this crisis. What the passed young children with stomachs — had ruptured along with Haiti. This earthquake has not changed is Haiti’s that ballooned out due to malnourish- kind of heartbreak was new to me. potential to be a thriving island nation ment. Even at the orphanage, where the A day after the earthquake I heard with an intriguing identity. Now, more children are well-fed, the two youngest from Lumière Medical Missions; I found than ever, it needs help to get there. had enormous bloated bellies from being out that Hubert had called at 5:30 p.m. malnourished as infants. after the earthquake to say no one had Editor’s note: A version of this story first ap- The top of King’s Hospital had a com- died and the hospital was one of the few peared in The Columbia Daily Spectator on manding view of Delmas, a suburb of in Port-au-Prince still intact. Up until the January 25. Port-au-Prince, and the valley leading to earthquake, King’s Hospital was not open the coast. Few buildings were more than to patients due to lack of funds, supplies Sallie Wilson ’11 is from Charlotte, N.C. She one-story high with a few rooms; the hos- and staff. Afterward, it was filled beyond is majoring in French with a premedical con- pital was the tallest building within the capacity, with Hubert and Junie perform- centration and plans to continue volunteering 360-degree view. Everything seemed to be ing surgeries. I was told they were in des- in Haiti as she pursues a career in medicine.

march/april 2010 8 ive Yourself a Gift. This holiday season, treat yourself to the benefits and privileges of the GColumbia University Club of New York’s newly renovated clubhouse.

See how the club and its activities could fit into your life. For more information or to apply, visit www.columbiaclub.org or call (212) 719-0380.

e Columbia University Club of New York 15 West 43 St. New York, NY 10036

Columbia’s SocialIntellectualCulturalRecreationalProfessional Resource in Midtown. around the quads columbia college today

Professor Stuart Firestein student for $106 a semester. are parts of it that work and call a model system. The brain teaches biology and the pop- I took a class in animal com- parts that don’t. The part is too hard to understand ular “Ignorance,” a course munication from a professor that seems to work is the big all by itself. One looks for that invites professors to named Hal Markowitz, who lectures. You get Columbia’s simpler systems along the speak to students about was a wonderful mentor and world-renowned faculty to idea that fundamental mecha- what they don’t know and remains a good friend. It may put together two, three or nisms in the brain are going what they question in their have been the most important four lectures in their field, but to be found on simpler levels, field. He earned his bach- thing that happened to me making their field accessible. possibly in simpler organ- elor’s in biology from San in life. I finished a graduate I think that alone, aside from isms, like worms or flies, or Francisco State University degree by my 40th birthday, what it does for the students, subsystems of complicated or- and his Ph.D. from UC Berke- which was my goal. I was which is the primary thing, is ganisms. The sense of smell is ley. A theater director before hoping there’d be some time important because you actu- a good subsystem of the brain entering academia, Firestein between tenure and emeritus. ally enlist faculty who usually to learn a lot about important did post-doctoral research issues in the brain. at the Yale School of Medicine before coming Five Minutes with … Stuart Firestein What are you teaching to Columbia. this semester? I teach a course I slapped How did you end up at spend all their time buried in Where did you grow up? together myself called “Igno- Columbia? the lab, and you get them to Philadelphia. rance.” It comes out of this I came down and gave a talk pause and think about how to notion that the one mistake What did you want to be to the department, and they put their work out there for a that we make unavoidably growing up? liked me, and I liked them. I mostly lay audience, a group in teaching science is that we I started out with the usual could have stayed at a medi- of kids who are smart but teach them a bunch of facts. childhood things — cowboy, cal school, but I always really not trained. It’s good for the That’s important, but it’s not fireman. My first interests wanted to return to a univer- students to see the depth of what science is about. When were in science. I wanted to sity situation. I like under- research and the way it hap- I meet up with scientists, we be an astronomer. That lasted graduates, and I like teaching. pens here. never talk about what we until the middle of high school This sounds terribly corny, A little less successful, as know; we talk about what we when I got involved in the but I feel a sense of respon- I understand it, are the indi- don’t know. It’s the only thing drama club. Then I became sibility to return what I was vidual classes that meet once that’s of interest to a scientist. interested in the theater. I think given, and I believe there’s a a week for two hours. These I was worried that we weren’t it was in part because I went to better chance to do that at an are labor-intensive, difficult giving our students any sense an all-boys school. There was undergraduate campus. Plus to organize and use up a lot of that at all. They thought an all-girls school down the I liked hanging out with phi- of faculty. It’s the part of the science was just a big fact street and the only interaction losophers and classicists and course that uses the most book. between them was in the language people. resources and therefore has theater because we needed to give back the most, which Are you married? Do you “Frontiers of Science” is girls to play the female roles. it isn’t doing at the moment. have children? up for its five-year review. We’ll figure out how to fix My wife is a professor of ani- How did you become a Where do you see it going? that eventually. mal behavior at Hunter. My biologist? This is not a trivial issue. There daughter entered the College I worked in the theater for What are you working on? in the fall. almost 20 years. I did not go My laboratory works on the into science until rather late sense of smell. We’re a neuro- How do you recharge? in life. I didn’t go to college science lab, so our interest is I like to hang out in coffee [straight from high school]. the brain and how it works, shops and bars, and I have Instead, I was an apprentice which is the big question. friends who are not in the and worked my way up, With no hope of answer- sciences or academia. I know eventually directing, which ing that, we chopped off a some actors and singers, and I did for a number of years, small piece, and the piece I think spending time with both on the East Coast at rep that I came away with them is useful. I recharge by companies and on the West was the nose. We use the being social. Coast in San Francisco, and nose as what we a little bit in Los Angeles. To watch Firestein talk more When I was 30, I decided about his work and life, go to to go back to school. In www.college.columbia.edu/cct. those days, one could go to San Francisco Interview and photo: State and be a full-time Ethan Rouen ’04J

march/april 2010 10 columbia college today around the quads alumni in the News n Millions of Americans are now financial institutions still stand- and CEO of Jumpstart, a nonprofit waking up to George Stephano­- ing,” according to The New York organization that works with p­oulos ’82. In December, the Observer, which went on to say, organizations to create “an inclu- former ABC News Washington “Those billions will define the sive, diverse and dynamic Jewish Bureau Chief and host of This Week career of Ms. Carnoy, quietly one future.” Calling Landres a “pri- Become a fan of took over the reins co-anchoring of the most powerful women on mary evangelist of innovation,” Columbia College Good Morning America with Robin Wall Street.” Forward wrote that he “emerged ® Roberts, replacing Diane Sawyer. this year as an essential thinker in Today on Facebook Stephanopoulos also became ABC’s n Ezra Koenig ’06, Chris Tom- explaining the new Jewish spiri- chief political correspondent. One of son ’06, Rostam Batmanglij ’06 tuality and culture to the Jewish Keep in touch with the powerhouses of political televi- and Chris Baio ’07, who make establishment.” fellow alumni and get sion journalism, he has conducted up the indie rock band Vampire extensive interviews with President Weekend, reached the top of the latest news from Barack Obama ’83, Vice President the Billboard charts in January Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary with their second album, Con- the College and CCT. Clinton and many other high-rank- tra. The album sold 124,000 ing members of the administration. copies in its first week, easily beating out the shticky Susan n The U.S. Senate voted 84-0 on Boyle, whose album sold February 9 to confirm Joseph A. 77,000 copies, for the top spot. Greenaway Jr. ’78 to the U.S. Court Vampire Weekend, which was of Appeals for the Third Circuit, formed while the members Advertise which hears cases from New Jersey, were at Columbia, also was Pennsylvania and Delaware. Presi- the subject of a lengthy profile here! dent Barack Obama ’83 had nomi- in The New Yorker in December. nated Greenaway in June, and he Connect with all won the Senate Judiciary Commit- n The publishing industry tee’s approval in October. Green- may be suffering, but that Columbia College alumni. away, who is an adjunct professor hasn’t stopped Jodi Kantor ’96 Donald Krim ’67 (left) and Richard of English and comparative litera- from scoring a huge advance Lorber ’67 Reach an audience of ture, received the University Medal for a book about President of Excellence in 1997, the Black Barack Obama ’83 and his fam- n Donald Krim ’67 and Richard prominent, affluent, Heritage Award from the Alumni ily. Kantor, a Washington, D.C., Lorber ’67, stars in the indepen- well-educated readers of Color Outreach Program in 1997 correspondent for The New York dent and foreign film release and the College’s John Jay Award Times, has written extensively world, have combined their re- who are leaders in their for distinguished professional about Obama and his closest al- sources to form one company that fields — attorneys, achievement in 2003. lies, including pieces on his time will be “the biggest of the little at Harvard, his basketball games guys” in the film world, accord- physicians, politicians, n It isn’t often that and a New York Times ing to The New York Times. Krim’s scientists … yes, even a a public offering can Magazine cover story Kino International, which has in- make the business on his marriage. The troduced numerous foreign film- President. world’s collective jaw book was purchased by makers to American audiences, drop, but Lisa Lan- Little, Brown following merged with Lorber HT Digital, Significant savings dau Carnoy ’89 raised a heated auction, ac- of which Lorber is CEO, to form $19.29 billion for Bank cording to The New York Kino-Lorber, Inc. Although both opportunity. Call today to of America in Decem- Observer. divisions will continue to handle ber, shattering records their own releases, the combined find out more. and allowing the bank n Shawn Landres ’94 company will manage a list of to pay back its TARP was named by Forward about 600 titles. Lorber and Krim Contact Taren Cowan loan. The deal may as one of the 50 most met during their freshman year at “be seen as a turning influential leaders in the College. at 212-851-7967 or point in the fate of one Lisa Landau American Jewish life. [email protected]. of the most important Carnoy ’89 He is the co-founder Ethan Rouen ’04J

Have You Moved? DATE SMART! To ensure that you receive Join the singles’ network exclusively CCT and other College for graduates, faculty, and students information, let us know if of the Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, you have a new postal or and a few others e-mail address, new phone number or even a new name. Send an e-mail to [email protected] or 800-988-5288 call CCT at 212-851-7852. www.rightstuffdating.com

march/april 2010 11 around the quads columbia college today

student spotlight Victor Suarez ’11 Explores the Art of Filmmaking

B y Na t h a l i e Al o n s o ’08

n his short but forward- story about familial estrange- Spanish producer Carlos Na- with. He knows what he wants moving career, filmmaker ment and reconciliation. Its varro and was rewarded for his from a shot,” says Norich, who Victor Suarez ’11 already logline (one-sentence summary initiative, as Navarro agreed to was nominated for Best Actress has experimented with or pitch) reads: “Following co-produce the film. He re- at the 2009 SoCal International Iseveral genres and modes of the death of his father, a man ceived funding from the Gatsby Film Festival for her perfor- storytelling. returns to his family in Spain, Charitable Foundation as well. mance in Nel Reinu. “He also In January, he directed a music bringing his young American In total, Nel Reinu boasted a relied a lot on the actors’ inter- video in Brooklyn for indepen- daughter who discovers an en- $15,000 budget, which Suarez pretation of text. He trusted my dent rock musician and Yale during connection to his past points out is a huge sum for an choices and I his opinion, so it student Laura Zax. and family that transcends the undergraduate film. was a nice collaboration.” “It includes a giant cardboard politics that tore them apart Nel Reinu is set in Oviedo, Nel Reinu has been screened machine that turns bottles into decades ago.” the capital of Asturias, and was at film festivals throughout the humans. It’s about a dual Zax United States and abroad. It — one in the normal world at was named “Best of Festival” at Coney Island and one in this the 2009 Open APPerture Film colorful absurd world — who Festival, which is run by stu- eventually switch places,” says dents at the Appalachian State Suarez, who approached Zax University in North Carolina. It about making a video after hear- also won a Silver Palm Award ing her song “Doctor, Doctor.” in the Student Film category at Laura LaPerche ’10 and Char- the 2009 Mexico International lotte Kauffman ’10 produced Film Festival. the video through King Cub Suarez has co-written an- Productions, a Columbia under- other movie script, a dark com- graduate production company, edy about a teenage couple and helped raise funds for the about to fulfill a suicide pact, project. Suarez also received titled Date and produced in a grant from the Gatsby Chari- 2008 by Amalgamated Dynam- table Foundation through the ics, the production company of Columbia Arts Initiative. Academy Award-winning visual Suarez’s interest in film has effects artist Alec Gillis. evolved gradually since he was Born in California, Suarez a child, when he would enter- lived in Connecticut before tain himself by playing with moving to Chicago as a third- his parents’ video camera. His Victor Suarez ’11 (center), shown in 2008 during the shooting of Nel grader. Fond recollections of childhood pastime eventually Reinu, obtained $15,000 in funding for the film. day trips to the Big Apple even- became a passion fueled by his PHOTO: Charlotte Kaufman ’10 tually drew him back to the tri- involvement in theater during state area and to the College. high school. Nel Reinu’s storyline stems filmed in Grao, a rural village “I really wanted to live in “I now had a bunch of friends from Suarez’s curiosity about just outside the city. The dia- New York,” says Suarez. “All my who were also actors and were his father’s past; the John Jay logue is in English and Bable, childhood memories are from always game for making a mov- scholar explains that his father, the local language in Asturias. New York.” ie. Writing and directing became who is from Asturias, left home Suarez, who speaks Spanish Suarez has chosen not to so fun and were so rewarding for a long time as a young man but not Bable, wrote the script study film as an undergraduate that I wanted to do more and for reasons unknown to Suarez. in English and worked with and is instead majoring in eco- more,” says Suarez, the only “That’s what Nel Reinu is one of the local actors hired by nomics and philosophy with a child of a Spanish father and a about — trying to read who Navarro’s production company concentration in history. Japanese mother. your parents are by trying to to have certain lines spoken in “I plan on going into film after Accompanied by five fellow piece together their past to the provincial language. I graduate,” he explains. “I’m go- Columbians, Suarez headed to see who they were when they Molina and Schwartz trav- ing to be doing that for the rest Spain in July 2008 to carry out were your age,” says Suarez. eled to Spain with Suarez for of my life, hopefully, so I don’t his most ambitious cinematic After working on the script the filming, as did LaPerche and really want to study just film. I endeavor to date: the filming of for about two months, Suarez Kaufman, who were production want to learn other things.” a short movie, Nel Reinu, aka successfully pitched it to Proj- managers. Nessa Norich ’08 Bar- The Kingdom, that he wrote ect Bluelight, an undergraduate nard played Julia, the American Nathalie Alonso ’08 is a free- and directed. film production group created daughter. All had their expenses lance journalist and an editorial The 13-minute film, shot by Michael Molina ’10 and Jeff paid for but did not receive ad- producer of LasMayores.com, against the scenic backdrop of Schwartz ’10 in early 2008. ditional compensation. Major League Baseball’s Span- the province of Asturias, is a Suarez also reached out to “Victor was a joy to work ish language Web site.

march/april 2010 12 columbia college today around the quads

Transitions CAMPUS NEWS n RELAY FOR LIFE: The seventh fight back against the disease that n LIBRARIES: Columbia Univer- n Mariela Maldonado joined annual Relay For Life, a walk- affects one in every three people sity Libraries has joined HathiTrust the Alumni Office on January a-thon style fundraiser held by worldwide. (www.hathitrust.org), a shared 4 as associate director, ad- Columbia’s Colleges Against After six years of being held on repository for the digitized content ministration. She spent the Cancer chapter to benefit the the Low Libary steps, this year’s from academic and research librar- last 4½ years at the Earth American Cancer Society, will relay will take place indoors. As ies. Columbia plans to contribute Institute, most recently as the take place on April 17 from 10 a result, this year’s traditional public domain volumes digitized assistant director of human a.m. – 10 p.m. in the Blue Gym luminaria ceremony will feature through its partnerships with resources. Maldonado will in the Dodge Physical Fitness colored glowsticks instead of Google, Microsoft and the Internet work with Merideth Kerby, di- Center. Members of the Columbia candles. Archive. HathiTrust’s repository rector of planning and admin- and Morningside communities as For more information about currently includes the member well as cancer survivors will once this event or how you can contrib- libraries of the Committee on Insti- istration, on financial issues again come together to celebrate ute to the fight against cancer, tutional Cooperation, the Univer- and human resources and will those who are surviving, remem- please visit www.relayforlife.org/ sity of California system and the manage the day-to-day ad- ber those who have been lost, and columbiauniversity. University of Virginia. ministration operations.

n Star Sawyer joined the In Lumine Tuo University’s Office of Alumni n FELLOWS: Don J. Melnick, ciation for the Advancement of fellows are among 531 inductees Development on February 8 Thomas Hunt Morgan Professor Science, a prestigious scientific from across the nation. as the new director of the of Conservation Biology in the society established in 1848. Also Welcome Center, which is Department of Ecology, Evolu- selected were Jeffrey A. Lieber- n GERRARD: Michael Gerrard located on the first floor of tion and Environmental Biology man, the Lieber Professor of ’72, director of the Law School’s the Columbia Alumni Center. and professor of anthropology Psychiatry; W. Ian Lipkin, the John Center for Climate Change Law, Sawyer, who is from Bellaire, and biological sciences; Robert Snow Professor of Epidemiology has been selected as the first Texas, comes to Columbia Y. Shapiro, professor of political and professor of neurology and Andrew Sabin Professor of Pro- from the University of Florida science; and Liang Tong, profes- pathology; Stephen S. Morse, fessional Practice. This new en- Alumni Association in Gaines- sor of biological sciences, are professor of clinical epidemiol- dowed professorship is the first ville, where she led programs among seven Columbia profes- ogy; and Lorraine S. Symington, at any law school in the world and activities for Florida’s sors who have been elected professor of microbiology and devoted exclusively to the 300,000-plus alumni base. fellows of the American Asso- immunology. The seven new study of climate change law.

SAVE THE DATE

Columbia College and the Columbia College Alumni Association are proud to sponsor Dean’s Day 2010. Scheduled for Saturday, DEAN’S DAY June 5, the program provides the opportunity for alumni and parents to participate in thought-provoking lectures and discussions with some of Columbia’s nest faculty.

Dean’s Day 2010 is particularly noteworthy, as it is Dean Michele Moody-Adams’ rst Dean’s Day as Dean of the College. Additionally, Dean’s Day 2010 coincides with Alumni Reunion Weekend. With even more alumni on campus, this year’s event should be the most exciting and well-attended yet.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 8:00 a.m. Registration Opens — Alfred Lerner Hall 8:30–10:15 a.m. Dean’s Continental Breakfast with Opening Address by Michele Moody-Adams, Dean of Columbia College 9:30 a.m. Camp Columbia for Kids

10:30–11:45 a.m. Public Intellectual Lectures Noon–1:30 p.m. Lunch 2:00–3:30 p.m. Core Curriculum Lectures 3:30-5:00 p.m. WKCR, Columbia Daily Spectator and Columbia University Marching Band Anity Receptions and a special performance by the Glee Club and other singing groups

SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 2010 • NEW YORK CITY

CC_half_page_Deans Day Ad.indd 1 1/28/10 3:43:38 PM around the quads columbia college today

In Memoriam

when it was not cool to be a con- servative, especially at Columbia,” said Kingdon. “I remember Profes- Class of 2012 Student Passes Away sor Harriss warning us about the John David “JD” Fernandez ’12, last summer. Eric Staib, a senior extraordinary power of the govern- known by classmates and at the University of Oklahoma, ment: ‘Nothing can be as cruel as the government.’ peers for his optimism and attended the program with Fer- “During the 1970 student strike, political convictions, died from nandez and noted in Spectator I learned later, a classmate was pneumonia on January 16. that money is being raised to picketing a building that the pro- Fernandez was vice presi- create an award in his name. fessor wanted to enter. ‘You can’t dent of the Columbia University The Spectator article in- go in,’ my friend declared. ‘Why Libertarians and contributed to cluded a number of tributes, not?’ Professor Harriss asked. ‘Be- the Web site of the Ludwig von including: “He was a whirlwind cause then you would be a scab.’ Mises Institute, which works on of energy confined to a wheel- In response, Professor Harriss “advancing the scholarship of chair. Every time I’m on the PHOTO: FABIAN BACHRACH brushed by and entered the build- ing while declaring, ‘A scab is part liberty” in the tradition of the grounds of Columbia, I’ll think n C. Lowell Harriss ’40 GSAS, pro- of the natural healing process.’ Austrian school of economic of JD,” wrote CJ Maloney — a fessor emeritus of economics, died “Teachers in the department on thought. Fernandez was plan- blogger for Mises who spoke on December 14, 2009, at his home both the left and right loved the ning to major in economics and at Columbia last fall at Fernan- in Bronxville, N.Y. He was 97. man. He was soft-spoken, toler- philosophy. On his personal blog, dez’s invitation — in an e-mail. Born in Fairbury, Neb., on Aug- ant, smart, non-dogmatic but firm The Liberty Review, he described Also, “He served as a huge ­ust 2, 1912, Harriss graduated in his beliefs. His classroom style himself as “a stormtrooper inspiration to me. I never heard summa cum laude from Harvard was brusque, informative and of the Yankee Universe and a him complain,” noted Stephan in 1934. Upon graduation, he clear. He committed many random classic liberal of the Misesian Vincenzo ’12, who had been received a Sheldon Fellowship, acts of kindness, such as writing which enabled him to travel for 13 a complimentary note about me strand.” friends with Fernandez for two months throughout Europe, in- to my father, and helped students Fernandez attended a week- years. cluding Berlin and the Balkans, as with letters of recommendation to long program at Mises University Jesse Thiessen ’11 Arts well as Turkey and Northern Af- his many friends that led to jobs or rica. This trip was the beginning of entry into grad school. a lifetime of travel that would take “I watched him age gracefully him around the world nine times. almost to the very end, vigorous in ties, died on November 8, 2009, at his sor Emeritus of Jewish History, Harriss served as an officer in mind, body and spirit, an inspira- home in Brooklyn. He was 82. Culture and Society, died on De- the Army Air Corps from 1943–46, tion to us all. I miss him very much.” Kroeber earned a bachelor’s cember 8, 2009 in Manhattan. He working on aircraft and manpow- Harriss also taught at Stanford, from UC Berkeley in 1947 and was 77. er procurement, on the economic UC Berkeley, Yale, Princeton, The a Ph.D. from Columbia in 1956. Born in the Bronx to Yiddish- problems of the shift of fighting Wharton School, the New School After teaching at the University of speaking immigrants, Yerushalmi to the Pacific, and finally on the for Social Research and Pace. He Wisconsin for 14 years, he returned earned a bachelor’s from Yeshiva problems of economic demobi- earned Fulbright professorships to Columbia in 1970 and taught in University in 1943 and Ph.D. in lization and the postwar aircraft from the Netherlands School of the English and Comparative Lit­ history from Columbia. He taught industry. He began teaching at Economics (now Erasmus Univer- erature Department until his retire- at Rutgers and Harvard before Columbia in 1938 while pursuing sity), Cambridge and the Univer- ment in June 2009. returning to Columbia in 1980, a Ph.D. in economics at GSAS and sity of Strasbourg, France. A prolific scholar who published where he directed the Center for remained at Columbia until retir- One of the last living economists a wide variety of books, Kroeber Israel and Jewish Studies until his ing from teaching in 1981. to have experienced the Depres- was well-recognized for his work retirement in 2008. University Trustee Mark E. sion, Harriss authored 16 books on Romantic poetry but also wrote Yerushalmi authored multiple Kingdon endowed, in 1998, the on economics and hundreds of on narrative theory, Native Ameri- books, most famously Zakhor: C. Lowell Harriss Professorship articles. He was known for his can literature and ecology, among Jewish History and Jewish Memory, of Economics in honor of “my seminal work on taxation of land, other subjects. which focused on the tension teacher, mentor and friend.” property tax, finance reform, land Kroeber was known for being a between the collective stories of “I took Professor Harriss’ public values and planning land use. demanding but compassionate Judaism and the verifiable facts finance course in the late 1960s, Harriss also had advised state, professor who relentlessly chal- of history, a subject to which federal and foreign governments lenged his students. “He’s some- Yerushalmi devoted much of his on tax policy including the Depart- body [who] was always there to academic life. He also wrote on ment of Treasury; the City of New provoke and to counsel,” said the history of Spanish, Portuguese Help Us Go Green York; New York State; the Common- James Shapiro ’77, the Larry Miller and Germany Jewry as well as wealth of Puerto Rico; the Federal Professor of English and Com- historiography and psychoanaly- f you prefer reading CCT District of Venezuela; the Ministry parative Literature and a longtime sis. he was in the process of com- I online, you can help us go of Finance, Republic of China; the colleague of Kroeber’s, in an inter- pleting a translation and study green and save money by United Nations; and the Agency of view with Spectator. “He was never of Solomon Ibn Verga’s Hebrew opting out of the print version. International Development of the comfortable with easy answers.” chronicle, Shevet Yehudah. Please send an e-mail with U.S. Department of State. Kroeber is survived by his “Yerushalmi did not suffer fools Harriss met and married Ag- wife Jean, sons, Paul and Arthur; gladly,” wrote Beth Kissileff ’90 in your name, class year and ad- nes Bennett Murphy in 1936. She daughter, Katharine K. Wiley; a tribute. “He expected a certain dress, so we can locate you in predeceased him in 1992. Harriss four grandchildren; brothers, level of knowledge from students, the database, to cct@colum is survived by his children, L. Clifton and Theodore; and sister, yet had no patience with anyone bia.edu, subject line “Opt-out.” Gordon ’68, Patricia, Martha and Ursula K. LeGuin. There will be a showing a particular kind of reli- You may be reinstated at any Brian; five grandchildren; and memorial service at Columbia on gious bias or parochialism.” time, and we will continue to sister, Marion Engelhart. Thursday, April 8. He is survived by his wife, Oph- notify you by e-mail when each ra; son, Ariel ’92; and a grandson. n n issue is posted online. Karl Kroeber ’56 GSAS, the Mellon Yosef H. Yerushalmi ’66 GSAS, Lisa Palladino and Professor Emeritus in the Humani- the Salo Wittmayer Baron Profes- Jesse Thiessen ’11 Arts

march/april 2010 14 columbia college today around the quads

Save the Date! Update from Kabul SPRING SEMESTER 2010 B y La u r a Bu t c h y ’04 Ar t s uch has changed at Tarsian shifting control of the company to her Monday March 8 Friday May 14 & Blinkley since 2005, when business partner, an Afghan tailor, in CCT first reported on the 2006, when the challenges of operating Café Science Spring Term Ends M women’s clothing business founded a local business as a foreigner became Monday March 15 Sunday May 16 by Sarah Takesh ’95 in Kabul, Afghani- increasingly difficult to manage. Now Café Humanities Baccalaureate Service stan (www.college.columbia.edu/cct_ Takesh resides in Dubai with her archive/nov05). husband, Saad Mohseni, an Afghan Monday–Friday Monday May 17 Started in 2003, Takesh’s company national who owns a regional media March 15–March 19 Class Day and Alumni employed Afghan women organization with television Spring Break Parade of Classes to embroider women’s stations in Afghanistan and apparel in a central Kabul Iran. She continues to fly to Monday March 22 Tuesday May 18 workshop. Today, her enter- Afghanistan to assist with Café Social Science Commencement prise has transformed into the business but has turned a locally owned business over control to the local Tuesday March 23 Thursday–Sunday that operates in a three- owner as she prepares to June 3–June 6 Columbia in the Capital floor facility on the outskirts have her first child. She (Washington, D.C.) Dean’s Day and Alumni of Kabul. Employing 500 also is thinking about her Reunion Weekend Monday April 12 people, including 350 wom- next venture, which may Café Science en, the expanded Tarsian & include designing furniture. For more information, please Blinkley has shifted focus to include “It’s a strange feeling I never ex- Monday April 19 call the Columbia College Office goods for the local market, such as pected to have in middle age,” Takesh of Alumni Affairs and Develop- Café Humanities sweaters, t-shirts, socks and uniforms. says, “but I am convinced that the ment, 866-CC-ALUMNI, or In addition, the company operates a big thing I was supposed to do in life visit the College’s alumni events Monday April 26 Web site: www.college.columbia. smaller facility near the Pakistan bor- hasn’t happened yet!” Café Social Science edu/alumni/events and the der, and a second building three times University alumni events Web the size of the Kabul facility should Laura Butchy ’04 Arts is a freelance Monday May 3 site: http://alumni.columbia.edu/ open next to it by the summer. writer, teaching artist and dramaturg Last Day of Classes attend/eventscalendar.aspx. Takesh (far right on cover) began in New York City.

“My life opened up when I “Why? came to Columbia,” Case says. “I want others to have the same So tomorrow’s experience and that’s why I put students can Columbia in my estate plan.” Join Steve Case and others walk through in the 1754 Society, alumni and friends who have made the same doors bequests and other planned that we did.” gifts to the University. Steve Case ’64CC, ’68LAW To learn more about Steve Case’s Columbia university Trustee experience—and about planned giving— Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) inaugural chair visit giving.columbia.edu/plannedgifts or call 800-338-3294. around the quads columbia college today Claire Shipman ’86 Discusses Womenomics

B y Sh i r a Bo ss -Bi c a k ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA

early 100 women (and three stop” in Moscow and covering men) gathered on campus at the White House, and said after The Italian Academy on Janu- she had her son several years Nary 26 to hear ABC news cor- ago, she started to feel differently. respondent Claire Shipman ’86, ’94 SIPA “I became a ‘difficult person’ for talk about the research in her new book, ABC, someone who was ‘compli- Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for cated,’ and would say ‘no,’ ” she Success, cowritten with BBC said. World News America cor- She has negoti- respondent Katty Kay. ated more flexible Womenomics argues that work assignments giving women greater flex- and a four-day work ibility in the workforce —to week, but says Among those attending Shipman’s talk were (left to right) make schedules and even women should not Dean Michele Moody-Adams, Student Council President choose locations that work have to work out Sue Yang ’10 and Isabel Broer ’10. well with their lifestyles — individual arrange- PHOTOs: CHAR SMULLYAN both furthers their careers ments and that com- and is more profitable for panies should be leaving the workforce for family reasons. businesses. Claire Shipman ’86, ’94 SIPA eager to accommodate them Shipman now has two children and Shipman recounted her advocates greater flexibility more formally, to prevent Kay has four children. “At cocktail par- experiences “working non- for women in the workplace. the “brain drain” of women ties, instead of figuring out how to be on TV tomorrow, we were trying to figure out how not to be on TV,” Shipman said. While the women were negotiating their own more flexible work arrange- More Affinity-Based Gatherings Slated for ments with their employers, they discov- ered research about how businesses profit Alumni Reunion Weekend from women’s involvement at all levels. uilding on the popularity of last Columbia will celebrate its vocal past “The argument of the book is: giving year’s gatherings of former WKCR with the first Glee Club reunion, a chance people flexibility and letting them work Band Spectator staffers during for alumni to see old friends and “lift how they want to work is not a favor or a Alumni Reunion Weekend, the program is voices” once again. Plans, which are still p.c. thing to do. It’s a very good business being expanded this year to include the being finalized, call for a little rehearsing, strategy,” Shipman said. “The more senior Glee Club, other singing groups and the some post-rehearsal socializing and a women you have in a company, the more Marching Band. Alumni Reunion Weekend performance in Lerner Hall, followed by a money it makes.” is scheduled for Thursday, June 3–Sunday, reception for singers and audience. The After her talk, Shipman answered June 6. reunion will even include news of today’s questions from the audience and signed “We enjoyed such success last year Glee Club and a discussion on how Glee copies of the book. with our launch of affinity-based recep- Club alumni might stay in touch. tions, the College and our partners at Band alumni, meanwhile, are expected SEAS and Barnard thought it made sense to gather on Hamilton lawn on Saturday Shira Boss-Bicak ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA, an to expand the program,” said Ken Catan- morning to rehearse before making their author and contributing writer to CCT, writes della, executive director of Alumni Affairs. grand entrance to the lunchtime barbecue about her three whippets at Saving for Sesame “More important than the increase in the tents on South Field, where they will play (http://savingforsesame.com). number of receptions is the interactive Columbia classics and other tunes for re- nature of this year’s program. Whether union attendees. it is oral histories at WKCR, rehearsal for Alumni interested in attending any of the Glee Club and singing groups, a tour these affinity-based reunions should log of the Spectator offices or the Marching on to these special Web sites for more Band stomping through the Reunion and information: Dean’s Day barbecue on Saturday, the • Marching band: http://reunion.college. entire program feels more robust.” columbia.edu/band WKCR and Spectator held successful • Singing groups: http://reunion.college. alumni gatherings last year, giving alumni columbia.edu/singing a chance to reconnect and also visit with • Spectator: http://reunion.college. some of today’s staffers, as well as tour the columbia.edu/spectator current offices. Similar events are planned • WKCR: http://reunion.college.columbia. for Alumni Reunion Weekend 2010. edu/wkcr Shipman signs her book Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success.

march/april 2010 16 columbia college today

Jonathan Dahl ’80, ’81J Makes Business Writing Personal Editor of SmartMoney magazine and author of 1,001 Things They Won’t Tell You helps readers survive the financial crisis

B y Ye l e n a Sh u s t e r ’09

ince he was a child, Jonathan of SmartMoney magazine. Last May, he established his expertise to the general public as author of 1,001 Things They Won’t Tell You: An Dahl ’80, ’81J has known Insider’s Guide to Spending, Saving, and Living Wisely, which now has that he would spend his pro- 25,000 copies in print. The book was an extension of SmartMoney’s fessional life fighting for a popular “Ten Things They Won’t Tell You” column, which has cause. He has been protect- been enlightening consumers since 1992 on everything from tax preparation scandals to purposely misleading movie ads. ing people with ink and pa- At SmartMoney, Dahl continues in the tradition of serving his per ever since. readers. Dahl’s father, Theodore “Whether Jonathan was covering travel as a reporter or run- Dahl ’49, ’50J, instilled in ning the Journal’s Weekend Section, what’s always driven him as a journalist is to be the proxy for the reader. It’s a real challenge him the concept of journal- for a journalist to ask the question for the average reader and get ism serving as the fourth es- to the bottom line: ‘How is this really going to affect people?’ ” tate — a term for the says Tom Weber, who has worked with Dahl since the ’90s when both were at the Journal. Weber became SmartMoney’s press that dates to the 19th century and Web editor in 2008. implies a duty to effect change. Whether For Dahl, SmartMoney is a safeguard against consumer reporting on homelessness for The Hous- exploitation. Ston Chronicle or on asbestos danger for “We are there to question not only government policy but also Wall Street mutual fund industry policies,” Dahl The Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Dahl has says. “That’s where we stand out. We’re the self-appoint- followed this belief in a successful career ed watchdog over the investment side of the that has spanned more than 20 years. business. “I am the cliché,” Dahl says. “I wrote for “To me, testing a million-dollar port- folio or gas tank should be equally im- my elementary school paper. Journal- portant to covering the White House,” ism is all I’ve ever done.” Dahl continues. “This is your money, Since 2006, Dahl has been advis- this is your life. It’s remarkable how little attention has been paid to that. ing 800,000 print readers and two Personal finance reporting was million Web readers on all matters of not where newspapers put their personal finance as editor-in-chief resources.”

photo: courtesy hearst corp. jonathan dahl ’80, ’81J columbia college today

he crash of 2008, however, quickly shifted ev- their deliberations and grabbed Don Pickles, then-managing edi- eryone’s attention. And Dahl found SmartMoney tor of The Houston Chronicle, on his way out. Dahl told Pickles, “I in the center of the spotlight. As the financial need two minutes of your time to tell you about my life and why I crisis was unfolding, Dahl saw an opportunity think journalism is an important calling. You probably get a lot of to increase the magazine’s relevance and on- candidates, but you probably don’t have any who have been doing line presence (www.smartmoney.com). He had it so religiously for so many years.” Then Dahl showed him a lede Ta two-pronged approach: On the production side, redesign the page, a sheet that contained the first paragraph of six or seven sto- magazine for a broader interest beyond wealthy hedge fund ana- ries Dahl had written, ranging from an expose about Vietnam vet- lysts; on the editorial side, refocus the content so that stories have erans not getting any medical coverage to a personal essay about a personal appeal past the statistics. being beaten by the top junior girl tennis player. The boldness paid With clarity in mind, Dahl led a major redesign in October off. By the time they had left the building, Pickles offered Dahl a 2008 to appeal to non-investors by staying away from a “stodg- position covering the night police beat Wednesday through Satur- ier, heavy-print” look. This redesign included larger art, funnier day from midnight to noon. Despite the night hours, Dahl couldn’t photo illustrations, shorter stories, more sidebars and a layman- wait and drove to Texas the Monday after graduation. friendly “Term of the Month” section that explained obscure fi- At the Chronicle, Dahl worked in the “cop shop,” a tiny room nancial terminology. at the Houston police department The first cover story after the where reporters covering the beat crash, “Rebuild Your Wealth,” hung out, listening to scanners which ran in the December 2008 and phoning in scoops in an old issue, showed Dahl’s editorial ap- telephone booth in the middle of proach: what to do now to earn the room. At the same time, Dahl back money that was lost. Rebuild- began serving as a freelance cor- ing your wealth has remained the respondent (known as a “stringer” editorial focus of the magazine. in the newspaper business, be- Another approach included cause in the old days they were more personal interest stories to paid based on the length of the complement the magazine’s cov- string of clippings they would erage of statistic-based stock pick- compile) for The New York Times. ing. Dahl’s eye for stories such as He would leave his shift at noon “Parents in Crisis,” about a report- and go straight to the Times bureau er’s mother’s financial ruin, and office. For theTimes and the Chron- “When Trouble Trickles Down,” icle, Dahl covered everything from about families coping with the nursing home scandals to Hur- older generation’s financial woes, Dahl at his graduation with his parents, Theodore ’49, ’50J and ricane Alicia. After three years, helped bring in new readers. Sheila; brother Dwayne ’72; and sister-in-law, Beth. he got a job in the Dallas bureau Photo: Courtesy Jonathan Dahl ’80, ’81J On the Web side, Dahl created of The Wall Street Journal, where a financial help line that invited he delved into business reporting readers to send their questions via e-mail and an 800 number. Re- and began covering topics such as asbestos and bankruptcy. porters and editors then answered the questions online or with In 1986, Dahl transferred to the Chicago bureau of WSJ and a Webcast. In spring 2009, Dahl also provided a free, 40-page began developing the travel beat. Two years later, he moved to downloadable tax guide, researched and written by SmartMon- the New York bureau of WSJ and started a travel column, which ey’s tax expert, Bill Bischoff, meant to clarify how the new admin- focused on the headaches consumers faced in the first years of istration’s policy affects the consumer’s tax report. With 30,000 airline deregulation. From there, Dahl was promoted to travel downloads in a week, the guide was a hit. The Web site also re- editor and later became one of the founding editors of WSJ’s ceived some industry buzz after Weber launched @relivethecrash Weekend section. on Twitter, which featured daily news recaps of how the financial Dahl’s rise through the ranks is no surprise to his coworkers, crisis unfolded from one year ago. Both strategies worked: Web many of whom view him as a valuable teacher. Staff Writer Neil site traffic has been up 20 percent since the crash, now averaging Parmar, who has worked for Dahl since 2005, acknowledges that two million unique visitors a month and generating 19 million Dahl can be “very intense, no matter if you’re working with him monthly page views. for the first time or millionth time.” Parmar began as an intern at SmartMoney before transitioning to staff writer. He considers ahl has gained a bit of celebrity since the crash. Dahl a mentor. “I didn’t get the attention at cocktail parties that “He’s involved in everyone’s stories, whether you’re the in- I do now,” he deadpans. But his path to success tern, staff writer or a columnist. As an intern, I found that very was not easy. Like the Class of 2009, Dahl also surprising. I just assumed there was a huge chain of command graduated in the middle of a recession. He did and I would never see him,” Parmar says. “Instead, he often not have any luck finding a job with tradition- walked by and asked me, ‘How’s it going? What ideas do you Dal methods, so he got creative. On the day of the Pulitzer Prize have? What are you working on?’ He’s known all of the interns deliberations, held on the Columbia campus, Dahl prepared a on a similar basis. You never get coffee, never check personal resume, clips and spiel with which he accosted every editor he e-mail. He gives the interns a lot of reporting.” could find. WSJ reporter Nancy Keates worked for Dahl at the Weekend Dahl decided to wait for Pulitzer jurors in the hallway during Journal for a decade, and also considers him a mentor. Keates

march/april 2010 18 columbia college today jonathan dahl ’80, ’81J

began pitching to Dahl while working for the Dow Jones news- er forget my dad weeping when Columbia beat Princeton in the wires, and under his editing helm contributed stories ranging ’70s at what was then called Baker Field,” Dahl says. When it was from hotel room service to water quality on airplanes (back when time for Jonathan to apply to college, his father told him he had a they had water fountains). “He put time into teaching me how choice of two schools: Columbia or Columbia. to transition from a wire service reporter to a newspaper feature He credits the College for inspiring the work ethic that enabled reporter,” Keates says. “I think his greatest strength as an editor is him to succeed. “At Columbia, you were really rewarded if you that he teaches reporters not to stop. He pushes you to keep look- worked hard. I got used to that habit that the College had really ing and keep finding. He really made an effort to help reporters instilled,” says Dahl, a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa learn how to write a better story.” graduate. “You have to be street smart from day one. I couldn’t Many coworkers agree: Dahl’s pursuit of the perfect story is have been a journalist otherwise. I one of the things that drives his success. wouldn’t have learned to think on “With a monthly magazine, you have the problem of a rela- my feet.” tively long lead time. What we write At Columbia, Dahl wrote for today has to hold up and not be Spectator for three years and was a out of date a few weeks down sports associate for a semester, learn- the road when people buy it at ing how to write on deadline and the newsstand,” says Executive other aspects of journalism. “I learned Editor Bob Rose, who has worked by doing at Spectator,” he says. “One intermittently with Dahl since the time a sports editor told me, ‘You’re ’80s when both were reporters in not using verbs. That’s the most im- WSJ’s Chicago bureau. “Jonathan portant tool.’ He was right, and I never is very smart with story ideas. Give forgot it.” him a fully edited story and he can Asked about favorite courses at find a problem with it quicker than Columbia, Dahl cites American his- anyone I’ve seen.” tory with Henry Graff ’49 GSAS, which Parmar cites a similar strength. gave him a sense of perspective that is “Whenever I figure out a story, he a “great tool for a journalist to have,” always spins it around and asks and English with Carl F. Hovde the questions I haven’t found the ’50, which helped him with answers to yet: ‘How can you make long-form journalism. And he this anecdote funnier? How can you still appreciates the texts of the get a more recent statistic? How can Core. “When I give speeches you get the story shorter while mak- today, I might pull out a quote ing the same impact?’ ” Parmar says. from Ovid,” the American his- “Until it’s shipped, he’s always on it tory major says. to make sure it’s as fresh and up-to- Dwayne Dahl ’72, an art his- date as possible. He’s not content tory major who now is manager letting a story sit around for a week of operations for a computer or even half a week if he knows it company, is not surprised his can be tweaked.” brother became the editor-in-chief of SmartMoney. The two would ahl credits Smart- share anecdotes when the young- Money’s staying Dahl is a hands-on editor whose colleagues er Dahl had his travel column at pow­er to “staying say he is driven in his pursuit of the perfect story. WSJ and Dwayne was traveling one step ahead of Photos: Yelena Shuster ’09 100,000 miles a year while work- the curve — what’s ing for General Electric. next, what’s beyond Twitter and Facebook,” he All three Dahls — Jonathan, Dwayne and their father — were Dsays. “I think print media will have a smaller place out there. We’re members of the Fiji fraternity, and both sons lived in Carman. “He not going to have large magazines down the road, you may have a was a skinny little kid, but grew up and made it big,” Dwayne Kindle-type of experience. It’s a matter of trying to anticipate what says of his brother. “And that was a big dream that our father had readers will want. for him.” Theodore kept every clip that Jonathan wrote in a book, “If you’re a good journalist, you’re always looking for trends,” which Jonathan found after his father’s death in 1988. Dahl continues. “From day one, whether writing for the high Most of Dahl’s friends from college became doctors or law- school paper or the Journal, I was trying to put together patterns. yers, but Dahl says he would never trade in his experience for To take it to Columbia, what helps you be a good student when more money or stability. “I think I’ve had a lot more fun in my you’re asked to do a whole reading of books is to find trends in career than a lot of my classmates. Many of the lawyers I know the books you’re reading.” complain about their field,” Dahl says. “I wake up every day Columbia has been a part of Dahl’s life since he was a child. bursting out of bed. It never gets boring.” His father and his mother, Sheila Larkin, met at a Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity party. Dahl’s house was filled with CU para- Yelena Shuster ’09 is a freelance writer living in New York. She has phernalia from large beer mugs to jerseys. The family had been written for Time Out New York, New York magazine and The Huff- going to Columbia football games since Jonathan was 8. “I’ll nev- ington Post.

march/april 2010 19 columbia college today Making Tinseltown Green Los Angeles City Council president Eric Garcetti ’92, ’93 SIPA gets things done with cool conviction and a soft-spoken style

B y Ju s t i n Cl a r k ’04J

ric Garcetti ’92, ’93 SIPA remembers the time he stayed up late with a broken heart in his dorm room at Furnald Hall. The future president of the Los Angeles City Council wasn’t recovering from a break-up or a bad grade. The problem was more serious than that. “I was watching my city burn,” he recalls. It was April 29, 1992, and like many other Americans, Garcetti Esat in front of the television through much of the night and the fol- lowing days, watching the skies above Los Angeles turn a hellish shade of ochre. Having flown back to New York the day before, Garcetti had physically avoided the riots that rocked Los Angeles in the wake of the infamous Rodney King verdict. Mentally and emotionally, however, he was back in Los Angeles. His father, Gil Garcetti, was successfully campaigning to replace his boss at the district attorney’s office, Ira Reiner, whose failed prosecution of the King case had sparked the riots. Seeing the mess his father was going to inherit was sobering for the urban planning and political science major. “I felt at that moment I had to do something,” he says with cool conviction. At the time, Garcetti had no idea that doing something would mean running for office. He had already cut his activist teeth at Columbia, however, helping to build housing in Harlem through the Harlem Restoration Project and Habitat for Humanity; run- ning Columbia Area Resource Exchange, a program that allowed New Yorkers to buy food vouchers for the homeless; and serving as president of the National Student Coalition Against Harass- ment. Garcetti had co-founded the Columbia Urban Experience, Always an activist, Eric Garcetti ’92, ’93 SIPA is more than a “pothole a program that took incoming Columbia students on tours of the politician” who focuses only on short-term problems; his goal is noth- neighborhoods near campus. ing less than to reform urban culture in Los Angeles, starting with the area he represents, District 13. “All those years at Columbia, I had been trying to effect change Photo: Michael Powers in New York City,” Garcetti remembers. “I suddenly realized it was needed in Los Angeles as well.” After studying in the United Kingdom and returning to Los Angeles to teach public policy at Occidental College, Garcetti ran for city council in 2001 and was elected president in 2005. Since then, he has represented the quarter-million residents of District

march/april 2010 20 columbia college today eric garcetti ’92, ’93 sipa

Clockwise from top: Garcetti surrounded by children at the 2007 opening of Seily Rodriguez Park, the 20th park created in his district since he took office. Garcetti, outside his office, has represented one of Los Angeles’ most densely populated districts since 2001 and says, “The con- stituents are starved for green space.” Garcetti’s popular UNTAG program has greatly reduced the amount of graffiti in the area by having the city and commu- nity work together to immediately paint over fresh graffiti. Photos: Courtesy Eric Garcetti ’92, ’93 SIPA

march/april 2010 21 eric garcetti ’92, ’93 sipa columbia college today “I chose to be at Columbia, to be in the midst of things as opposed to being sequestered from the world.”

13, an ethnically and economically mixed area of Los Angeles that passionately spoke out for its electric brethren in the 2006 docu- stretches from the posh apartments of Hollywood to downtown’s mentary Who Killed the Electric Car? immigrant and working-class flank. In 2008, he co-chaired the But is it possible to survive without a car in Los Angeles? In California election campaign for President Barack Obama ’83. certain areas, Garcetti says, it is. “In a year or two, Hollywood To many observers, Garcetti is more than just a member of will be that,” he offers. the city council. He is a younger and less flashy breed of politi- To accomplish that goal, Garcetti organized the Great Hol- cian, more culturally literate than most of his colleagues. A fluent lywood Walkabout. Armed with tape measures and surveying Spanish speaker with a mixture of heritages — Mexican, Italian, equipment, he and 126 volunteers took to the streets of Holly- Jewish — Garcetti’s background bridges some of the city’s tricki- wood in 2006, measuring sidewalks, timing intersections and est racial divides. observing on a minute level how the neighborhood functioned. As associate director of Loyola Marymount University’s The resulting observations helped develop the Hollywood Com- Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, Jennifer Magnabos- munity Plan, a pedestrian-friendly vision of the neighborhood’s co ’95 SW, ’01 SW has tracked Garcetti’s career for years. “I don’t future that is light on parking lots and heavy on shopping and know if his ethnic background is an explicit advantage,” she says, retail centers in walking distance of existing residences. “but it raises people’s comfort levels, because L.A. is the most Garcetti is frequently called a “pothole politician” — one who multicultural city in the United States.” focuses on more immediate problems, sometimes at the expense According to Magnabosco, it isn’t Garcetti’s background of larger, longer-term issues. But his ambitions go deeper than that has made him popular, but his focus and affability. Tall and simply eliminating graffiti and reducing congestion. He wants to lanky, Garcetti could physically intimidate his colleagues, yet do nothing less than reform urban culture in Los Angeles. As the somehow doesn’t. His soft-spoken style is neither ornate nor car is an article of faith to most Angelenos, so is the backyard; the folksy. His avoidance of scandal has left the local press deject- love affair with private green space has deprived public green ed. Despite his boundless energy — six hours is a good night’s space of political and economic support. Even so, Garcetti has sleep for him — Garcetti lacks the showman’s touch, preferring managed to double the number of parks in his district. to talk about his policies rather than himself. One might think “My district is one of the most densely populated in the city,” he him bland until he starts talking about his ideas for making Los says, explaining why he pursued the traditionally neglected issue Angeles greener and more livable. That’s where Garcetti’s ten- so aggressively. “The constituents are starved for green space.” ure has become most apparent. The toughest of Garcetti’s environmental ambitions is restor- ing Los Angeles’ polluted waterways. Garcetti helped author ake Echo Park, a neighborhood still associated Proposition O, a 2004 bill that set aside $500 million to clean up with gang violence in many Angelenos’ minds. L.A.’s storm-drain system and reduce the 10,000 tons of trash For years, the shopkeepers and homeowners in that wash up on the city’s beaches each year. Well-known envi- this famously graffiti-covered neighborhood rare- ronmentalist Laurie David, a National Resource Defense Coun- ly bothered to report vandalism to the city clean- cil Member who produced the movie An Inconvenient Truth, has up crews, imagining it would only reappear the called Prop O “one of the greatest environmental opportunities Tnext day. Then, in 2004, Garcetti started Uniting Neighborhoods in L.A.’s history; a once in a generation opportunity.” With Prop to Abolish Graffiti (UNTAG), a neighborhood tag-spotting pro- O funds, the city has already installed tens of thousands of storm gram premised on the proposition that taggers could lose their drain screens, expected to reduce the volume of trash dumped enthusiasm if their handiwork was painted over quickly enough. into the L.A. River by twenty percent. One of the most ambitious Block captains are asked to contact the city’s graffiti abatement projects, a $76 million rehabilitation of the Machado Lake Ecosys- teams as soon as they see a tag, and the city responds immedi- tem, is now a quarter done. ately. With an 85 percent reduction in graffiti in the district over Garcetti’s willingness to take on global environmental issues the past five years, UNTAG is an obvious success. from his current office is either quixotic or visionary, depending Compared to the other environmental problems Garcetti has on whom you ask. “When I think about women’s rights or global singled out for repair, graffiti is a piece of cake. A more difficult warming, when the national government won’t take action, our ambition is to turn Angelenos into pedestrians in a city where no ability to [take] action at the local level is imperative,” he says. one walks. When he talks about the Bush administration’s refusal to support “Those of us who have lived in New York know how wonder- the Kyoto Protocol, for instance, Garcetti speaks with obvious ful it would be to have dinner, see a show, go to work and shop, passion but maintains his well-known composure. all in the same neighborhood, walking or using public transport,” In fact, says District 13 legislative deputy Cecilia Cabello ’96, says Garcetti, who grew up in the car-dependent San Fernando Garcetti’s secret weapon is that he always keeps his cool. Valley. “He handles really difficult situations with the most grace and Indeed, Garcetti already practices what he preaches, taking patience and understanding,” says Cabello, an art history major early morning walks in his neighborhood with his constituents. and former political adviser to the Israeli Consul General who at- He points out that the problem isn’t necessarily that citizens are tributes to Garcetti a trait all but extinct in today’s politicians. “He lazy, but that they have not been involved in the decades of urban never raises his voice,” she says. planning that have made driving a necessity and confirmed Los Friend Brian Yorkey ’93, a musical lyricist whose work includes Angeles’ claim to the second-worst air quality in the nation, after a Broadway adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel High Fidelity and Pittsburgh. Garcetti’s primary target is the conventional car; he the current Broadway show Next to Normal, has a similar opinion

march/april 2010 22 columbia college today eric garcetti ’92, ’93 sipa “I chose to be at Columbia, to be in the midst of things as opposed to being sequestered from the world.”

of Garcetti. “He’s incredibly smart and aware and knowledge- for something much more important,” says Yorkey. able and yet it never makes him forbidding or hard to know,” Fortunately for District 13 (and perhaps unfortunately for says Yorkey. “That combination is rare.” music lovers everywhere), Garcetti had to set aside Random Ac- That sense of approachability has helped Garcetti in politics. cess unfinished — he was off to England. He’d been rejected for a At the beginning of her boss’ tenure, Cabello recalls, three constit- Rhodes Scholarship during his senior year, but his urban politics uents who were angry about an issue attempted to disrupt City professor, Carlton Long ’84, himself a Rhodes Scholar, told Gar- Council meetings with racial slurs and inflammatory language. cetti not to quit. As with his graffiti-abatement program, Garcetti proved that pa- “Carlton told me he was in the same class as George Stephano- tience can be a powerful weapon. Simply by keeping his calm, poulos ’82, who didn’t win until he applied a second time,” says Garcetti managed to convince his visitors to adopt a more civil Garcetti. “So I was encouraged to submit again.” discourse, without resorting to threats himself. This time, Garcetti was accepted. “I’m convinced to this day the reason I got the scholarship arcetti’s remedy for L.A.’s urban tension, his pro- was because, unlike the other candidates flying in from around found calm, is stereotypically Californian, yet he the country to New York for the interview, I knew the city is quick to credit and was comfortable there,” he much of his po- says. “I guess I was lucky to litical vision to have been at Columbia for that his time at Columbia. reason, too.” G“L.A. doesn’t admit it’s a city, Garcetti spent 4½ years across but in Manhattan the city hits the Atlantic, first at Oxford and you squarely in the face from then at the London School of the first moment you’re there,” Economics, where he began says Garcetti. “It was one of the work on a Ph.D. in ethnicity and reasons I chose to be at Colum- nationalism. It was while abroad bia, to be in the midst of things that he met his future wife and as opposed to being sequestered fellow Rhodes Scholar, Amy from the world.” Elaine Wakeland. Wakeland, There was another reason who is from Indiana, was the Garcetti chose Columbia over California political adviser for Harvard, however: the theater. Howard Dean’s 2004 Presiden- An aspiring jazz pianist, he’d tial campaign. Wakeland’s time originally come to Columbia is now taken up with a more to pursue a stage career and important client: her husband quickly became involved as the — they were married in January composer for the Varsity Show. Garcetti was sworn in for his second term as councilman in 2005 by his 2009. “It’s funny, because I hate mu- father, former Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti. Joining That job is likely to prove them are his mother, Sukey, and Amy Elaine Wakeland; Garcetti and sicals,” he says with a laugh, “but Wakefield were married in January 2009. only more challenging as time I really enjoyed writing them.” Photo: Courtesy Eric Garcetti ’92, ’93 SIPA passes. Garcetti prefers to Yorkey got to know Garcetti speak in present terms, but ru- when Yorkey answered an ad in Spectator seeking a new artistic mors are already circulating about a future in mayoral and pos- director for the Varsity Show. Yorkey’s friends were impressed to sibly national politics. His background in international affairs hear that he was collaborating with one of the best-known figures makes him, in the eyes of many observers, an ideal candidate on campus. Yorkey was impressed with Garcetti’s restless energy for Congress. In 2007, Garcetti received Harvard’s prestigious and musical ability. John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, offered to one elected of- One of their first songs together, “Always A Protest,” chron- ficial under 40 who best represents Kennedy’s legacy of public icled the romance of an anti-war liberal feminist woman with a service. But Garcetti is nothing if not methodical in his approach Republican football player. Yorkey says the tune was inspired to politics, and for now he is content to build his appeal by fill- by the political culture on campus during the run-up to the Gulf ing potholes. War. Later, Garcetti worked on another topical project: a musical “[Eric’s] biggest challenge is to keep that reputation at a high called Random Access. level, especially in light of what’s going in L.A. with a number of “It chronicled four people after college involved in different our other leaders,” says Magnabosco, referring in part to Mayor industries, starting with the riots and ending with the (1994 Antonio Villaraigosa’s admission of adultery in July 2007. “But Northridge) earthquake,” says Garcetti. “It was the story of if you have a reputation like Eric does, people aren’t going to be Los Angeles in those years that the Presidential elections were taking that for granted.” happening.” It was yet another sign that Garcetti’s theater wasn’t going to Justin Clark ’04J is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who has writ- be on Broadway but rather at L.A.’s City Hall. “Eric could have ten for the San Francisco Chronicle, LA Weekly, nerve and other been Richard Rodgers [’23] if he’d wanted to, but he’s destined publications. He is working on a Ph.D. in U.S. history at USC.

march/april 2010 23 Beat legends Jack Kerouac ’44 (left) and Allen Ginsberg ’48 read a book together in 1959, the year in which author Fred Kaplan contends “everything changed.”

photo: john cohen/getty images columbia college today

[ Columbia Forum] 1959 The Year Everything Changed

B y Fr e d Ka p l a n

Is 1959 the year when our own age was born? In Fred Kaplan’s book 1959: The Year Everything Generations Howling Changed, the dawn of the Space Age seems to n the night of February 5, 1959, Allen Ginsberg usher in breakthroughs and liftoffs of all kinds. [’48] gave a poetry reading in the McMillin The Soviets’ space capsule Lunik 1 blasts off on Theater [now the Miller Theatre] at Columbia January 2, and as it leaves the atmosphere, all University before fourteen hundred specta- sorts of barriers seem to rattle and crumble. Tex- tors, nearly all of them students, with hun- dreds more turned away for lack of space. It as Instruments announces the invention of the was a triumphant night for Ginsberg, his first microchip. The birth control pill is submitted to return to the college that had suspended him the FDA for approval. The Motown sound is a decade earlier under sordid circumstances, born. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission makes and he was returning as a literary celebrity, al- most a pop star. its first report, which leads to an overhaul of seg- A few years earlier, Ginsberg had been living regation laws. As Kaplan once wrote in an essay in the Bay Area of California. Kenneth Rexroth, a local poet-impre- for Slate (where he is a columnist), 1959 really is sario, sponsored weekly poetry readings at art galleries and coffee shops in San Francisco’s North Beach district, a scruffy neighbor- “a pivotal year — not only in culture but also in O hood that was attracting a growing number of young bohemians. politics, society, science, sex: everything.” On October 7, 1955, Ginsberg appeared at one of these readings, In the cultural events of this critical year, Co- at the Six Gallery on Fillmore Street, and recited the first part of a lumbia plays a pivotal part. Years earlier, in the poem, which he’d started writing two weeks earlier, called Howl. It was a brash, profane, apocalyptic meditation, with long, syn- mid-’40s, a small group of Columbia students copated lines and turbulent imagery (“I saw the best minds of and their like-minded friends — Jack Kerouac my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked ’44, Allen Ginsberg ’48, William S. Burroughs /. . . angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly con- and others — had coalesced around the Morning- nection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night.”), and Ginsberg read it with what even he later described as “a strange side Heights campus. The soon-to-be Beats took ecstatic intensity.” The event caused an instant sensation. It was PHOTO: WILL O’LEARY in the rhythms of Harlem jazz; they traded ideas widely written up, hailed (though in some quarters mocked) as and influences. A new literary movement took a new kind of poem and, more, as the cry of a new generation shape. By the end of the ’50s, major works such alienated by crass materialism and conformity. Ginsberg publicly credited Jack Kerouac [’44] with coining the as Kerouac’s On the Road, Ginsberg’s Howl poem’s title and inspiring its style of phrasing — “a spontane- and Other Poems and Burroughs’ The Naked ous bop prosody,” as Ginsberg put it, referring to the cadences Lunch had established the friends as ground- of Charlie Parker’s bebop jazz. As a result, Howl made Kerouac breaking new voices. In this excerpt, Kaplan tells famous, too, and Viking Publishers, which had laid aside a pro- posal that he’d submitted months earlier, gave him a contract for the story of the Columbians whose Beat writings, On the Road, the most ambitious of eleven novels that he’d writ- in 1959, were changing the face of the culture. ten in the previous six years, only one of which, The Town and the Rose Kernochan ’82 Barnard City, had ever been published (and it was largely forgotten).

march/april 2010 25 1959: the year everything changed columbia college today

To the extent Kerouac was known at all until then, it was for Chronicle, wrote that the bohemians hanging out on the North a remark that he’d made back in the early fifties to a friend and Beach were as “far out” as Sputnik—and so dubbed them “beat- fellow writer named John Clellon Holmes. They were talking niks.” The term stuck. about contemporary parallels with the “Lost Generation” after By 1959, newspapers and magazines were filled with stories World War I and the philosophy of existentialism that followed. about beatniks, who tended to be portrayed as either morally Kerouac said,” You know, this is a really beat generation.” Holmes dangerous or eccentrically dimwitted. Hollywood B-movies, like leapt up and said,” That’s it, that’s right! ” Inspired by the line, High School Confidential, The Wild Party, The Subterraneans and The Holmes wrote an article in 1952 for the New York Times Magazine, Beatniks, hit screens across the country. The Dobie Gillis Show pre- called “This Is the Beat Generation,” in which he credited “John miered on television that year, with Bob Denver playing Dobie’s Kerouac” for the phrase. bongos-slapping beatnik friend, Maynard G. Krebs. Life maga- Soon after the reading at the Six Gallery — at which Kerouac zine published a story called “Squaresville U.S.A. vs. Beatsville,” passed around jugs of wine — the “Beat” label was applied to a about three teenage girls in the small town of Hutchinson, Kan- whole group of North Beach poets, including Rexroth, Michael sas, who wrote a letter to Lawrence Lipton, self-described leader McClure, Gary Snyder, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who also of the beatniks in Venice, California, inviting him and his friends owned the City Lights Bookstore and had just started an imprint to come visit. “This town is Squaresville itself,” the letter read, to publish many of these poets’ works, including Howl. “so we as its future citizens want to be cooled in.” The plan was When On the Road appeared in bookstores in September 1957, a squelched when Hutchinson’s police chief put out the word that review in The New York Times declared it an “authentic work of art,” any beatniks would be arrested on sight. A “beatnik doesn’t like a “major novel,” even a “historic occasion,” proclaiming, “Just as work,” the officer said. “Any man that doesn’t like work is a va- Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises came to be regarded as the testa- grant, and a vagrant goes to jail around here.” ment of the Lost Generation, so it seems certain that On the Road The beatnik craze annoyed Kerouac, who had always been will come to be known as that of the ‘Beat Generation.’ ” shy and now retreated to isolation. The term angered Ginsberg, The review was a fluke. The Times’ regular book critic, a thor- too, who publicly called it “a foul word.” But Ginsberg was also a ough square named Orville Prescott, was on vacation when Ker- flamboyant showman — he declaimed his poems with high dra- ouac’s novel came in. An editor assigned it to a staff writer named ma, sometimes gleefully disrobing in his passion, as if to bare his Gilbert Millstein because he seemed to know something about the body along with his soul — and he played on the PR possibilities. subject. Five years earlier, Millstein was the editor who’d commis- He scribbled, in a letter to Kerouac, “The general public image of sioned Clellon Holmes to write the Times Magazine article about beatnicks built up from movies, Time, TV, Daily News, Post, etc., is the “Beat Generation.” Millstein had favorably reviewed Holmes’s among the hep a fake and among the mass Evil and among the novel, called Go, whose main characters were based in large part liberal intellectuals a mess — but that is weirdly good, I dig that on Kerouac and Ginsberg, whom Holmes had known when they we are still so purely obscure to philistines that it’s inevitable that all lived in New York. And so the links came full circle. it be misunderstood…. Mockery is inevitable compliment.” When Prescott returned from vacation, he panned Kerouac’s But the Beats were getting at something disturbingly stagnant novel in the Sunday Book Review section, as expected. But Mill- about American society, and mockery was the easiest way to dis- stein’s rave in the daily paper had made its impact. On the Road miss the messengers out of hand. was the book of the moment; it climbed the best-seller charts, and attracted a vast following among restless young men for decades erouac and Ginsberg met in 1944, when they to come. were studying literature at Columbia. Ker- Ferlinghetti had published Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems a ouac had started college as a football player year earlier, but Customs officials declared it “obscene” and seized but injured his leg during the first semester copies. (One official was quoted in the press as saying, “You wouldn’t and, with some relief, rekindled his longtime want your children to come across it.”) The U.S. Attorney’s office in love of books. Ginsberg started out wanting San Francisco declined to pursue the case. So the feds tried again, to be a labor lawyer, but turned to poetry af- this time sending undercover agents into the City Lights Bookstore ter taking Columbia’s mandatory freshman to buy a copy and then to arrest Ferlinghetti for publishing, and his Humanities course. The university’s English poor cash-register clerk for selling, obscene materials. department valued high modern poetry with At the ensuing trial, which was heavily publicized, provoca- irony, tight stanzas, and clear meters, usually iambic pentameter. tive passages from the poem were read aloud, and a stream of KGinsberg was very good at this form. He won several college eminent critics testified that it was a masterpiece. The federal prizes for his poems and often discussed his work with his pro- judge, Clayton Horn, ruled that the book was not obscene. Be- fessor, the famous critic and novelist Lionel Trilling [’25]. fore the trial, only a thousand or so copies of Howl had been in That same year, through a mutual friend, Ginsberg and Ker- print. After the ruling, Ferlinghetti couldn’t print copies quickly ouac met William Burroughs, who was doing postgraduate work enough to sate the mass hunger for this once-forbidden fruit. in psychology. Burroughs was a decade older and had an aris- Judge Horn’s ruling came down on October 3, 1957, just a few tocratic bearing. He came from a wealthy St. Louis family — his weeks after Millstein’s rave review of Kerouac’s novel. To most grandfather had invented the adding machine — and he was liv- of the book-buying public, then, Howl and On the Road appeared ing on a trust fund, which allowed him to get by well enough at the same time. And so, the two works, along with Kerouac and without working. Burroughs also had a broad grasp of literature Ginsberg themselves, were forever linked as the essential artifacts and a penchant for authors that no one was teaching at Colum- and heroic figures of the Beat movement. bia — romantic poets, like William Blake, Arthur Rimbaud and Then came another wrinkle. On October 4, the day after Gins- Hart Crane, who glorified individual expressiveness above obei- berg’s legal victory, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first satellite, sance to formal rules. The two students spent many hours in Bur- into orbit. Herb Caen, a prominent columnist for the San Francisco roughs’ living room, discussing ideas and books.

march/april 2010 26 columbia college today 1959: the year everything changed

Burroughs had a very dark streak and a cynical detachment. mystical vision, an out-of-body experience, a touch of Nirvana. He once told Kerouac, “I’m apparently some kind of agent from He later interpreted the sensation as a psychological revelation, a another planet, but I haven’t got my orders decoded yet.” message from his inner self that this was the kind of poetry — in- When Burroughs was an adolescent, one concerned neighbor tensely personal, nakedly emotional, magically prophetic — that called him “a walking corpse.” Burroughs agreed, wondering only he should be writing. whose corpse it was. A classic problem child, extremely bookish Around this time, Ginsberg found himself attracted to the but anti-social, he was fascinated by con men. His parents sent outlaw derring-do of a hustler, and another friend of Burroughs, him to the Los Alamos Ranch School in New Mexico, where the named Herbert Huncke. One night, Huncke enticed Ginsberg to government later built the atom bomb — a connection (Burroughs join him and his pals for a cruise through the city in a stolen car. didn’t believe in coincidences) that haunted him the rest of his life. The pal who was driving took a wrong turn on a one-way street, In the thirties, an uncle named Ivy Lee had worked as Hitler’s pub- sped away from an approaching police car, and crashed into a licist in America — another blood tie to death and sin. telephone pole. They were all arrested. Ginsberg was saved by By the time Ginsberg and Kerouac met him, Burroughs was the intervention of Lionel Trilling, who brought in a professor experimenting with drugs and hanging out with thieves and hus- from Columbia Law School, who in turn convinced prosecutors tlers from Times Square. The fascination rubbed off on the impres- to commit the young poet to the Columbia Presbyterian Psychiat- sionable students. In August 1944, a fellow student named Luc- ric Institute, free of charge, instead of sentencing him to prison. ien Carr, who was also a member of this circle, got into horrible After eight months in the hospital, Ginsberg went home to his trouble. A friend of Burroughs named Dave Kammerer was in- father, a high-school teacher and poet, in Paterson, New Jersey. fatuated with Carr (everyone in this (His mother, who had gone insane group had at least leanings toward when he was in high school, lived homosexuality), stalked him inces- in an asylum up in the Bronx.) Al- santly and one day followed him len wrote some articles for a local into Riverside Park, demanding labor newspaper and asked for an sex. Carr stabbed him repeatedly assignment to interview the poet with a pocketknife. Carr confessed William Carlos Williams. to Burroughs, who advised him to Williams, who was in his sixties, go to the police. Instead he went to lived in Paterson, toiling in rela- Kerouac, who helped him dispose tive obscurity. Certainly nobody at of the weapon. The next day, both Columbia, or most other colleges, were arrested, Kerouac as a mate- was teaching his work. Williams rial witness to homicide. They were took a liking to Ginsberg, and met also expelled from Columbia. The with him several times after their crime made the front pages of local (Left to right) Hal Chase, Kerouac, Ginsberg and William S. Bur- first talk. Williams came out of papers. Kerouac was bailed out of roughs enjoy each other’s company in Morningside Heights. the Black Mountain school of po- jail by his girlfriend, and the two PHOTO: © Allen Ginsberg/CORBIS ets, former teachers or students at fled to Michigan.* Black Mountain College, an avant- Several months later, Kerouac returned to New York and stayed garde school set up in the thirties in Asheville, North Carolina, in Ginsberg’s dorm room, spending all his time reading. Ginsberg where artists and writers were encouraged to take their inspira- then caused a campus scandal. As a prankish protest, he traced the tion from materials and objects found in their surroundings. words “Fuck the Jews” on his dusty windowpane. A maid reported Once, when Ginsberg and Williams went for a walk through the deed to the dean of students, along with the tidbit that, when the woods, they sat and wrote poems about things lying on the she entered Ginsberg’s room, he was in bed with Kerouac. Some ground — a sliver of tin, a chunk of concrete, a hairpin. took Ginsberg’s scrawling as self-hatred (he was Jewish), others as Williams also felt strongly that a poet shouldn’t be confined by homoerotic double-entendre. In any case, he was suspended. arbitrary rules about the length of a line or regularity of a meter. He At that point, Ginsberg worked at a few menial jobs, to get a should write in his natural voice, constructing phrases that matched taste for ordinary life, then took a seven-month voyage as a mer- the rhythms of his own breath. This wasn’t easy. In fact, done well, chant marine on a freighter ship. Meanwhile, Burroughs and his it was harder than conventional poetry. You couldn’t just fill in the wife moved to Texas. Kerouac went home to Lowell, Massachu- blank spaces of the metronome’s ticktocks. You had to listen to your setts, where his father, a French-Canadian immigrant who owned voice, very carefully, and devise ways to capture that rhythm, a a small printing press, was dying. He was rescued the following rhythm that might not ever have been written down before. summer by a call from a friend named Neal Cassady, who asked Kerouac was thinking along the same lines; he and Ginsberg him to come along for a car ride across the country, the first of sev- remained in frequent contact, either in person or through corre- eral such journeys that would provide the material for On the Road. spondence. But they both needed a voice before they could figure (Cassady was the real-life model for the character Dean Moriarty.) out how to transcribe it, and the voice they aimed for, the voice that Ginsberg came back to Columbia in the spring of 1947 and most appealed to their desire for speed and risk and transcendence, resumed writing the stiff poetry that his professors encouraged. a sound at once hot and cool, was modern jazz — “a spontaneous One day in the spring of 1948, he was sitting on his bed, reading bop prosody,” as Ginsberg described Kerouac’s phrasing. “Ah! Sun - flower” by William Blake, one of the romantic poets While they were studying at Columbia, the two often went that he’d learned about from Burroughs, and suddenly he had a to the jazz clubs in nearby Harlem and got to know some of the musicians, including the trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, who along * Carr served two years in prison, then cleaned up his act, eventually becoming a reporter, then a top editor, for United Press International. The military historian with Charlie Parker invented the style of bebop. At one set, which and novelist Caleb Carr is his son. a fellow Columbia student was recording, Gillespie improvised a

march/april 2010 27 1959: the year everything changed columbia college today

melody, based on the popular song “Exactly Like You,” and titled Though the letter was cordial, Trilling no doubt read it as a per- it “Kerouac.” (He thought about calling it “Ginsberg,” but that sonal jab, and correctly so. (He wrote back, saying that he didn’t wasn’t as jazzy a name.) like the poems at all.) Trilling had never regarded Whitman or Kerouac set down the idea of his poetic phrasing in a short essay any of Ginsberg’s other idols as great writers. He distrusted liter- called “The Essentials of Spontaneous Prose,” in which he likened ature that celebrated passion, transcendence, or the liberation of the act of writing to playing jazz. Sentences should be punctuated the self from society. Like most members of his intellectual circle, not by periods but only by “the vigorous space dash separating who lived in New York and wrote for the Partisan Review, Trilling rhetorical breathing (as jazz musicians drawing breath between out- was an ex-Marxist (some were still Marxists but anti-Stalinists) blown phrases).” This was how he wrote the original draft of On the who cherished the tradition of high modernism — with its canon Road, all of it in one unindented paragraph, typed on sixteen-foot of works, formalist theory, and critical method — as a civilizing rolls of Japanese drawing paper, which he taped together as a mas- tool, grounded in a sense of history, to ward off the pressures of sive scroll. That was the ideal way to capture the vista of the land- ideology and totalitarianism. scape, the whoosh of motion, the immediacy of experience. Strict form was important because it represented the elevation To Kerouac, it was cheating even to revise a first impulse of rationality, which Trilling saw as “a principle of control.” Back (though he did rewrite On the Road, adding when Ginsberg first met Burroughs, and es- punctuation, to make the book publishable). pecially after his mystical experience while Ginsberg wasn’t such a purist. He sought to reading Blake, he urged his teacher to recon- convey the impression of spontaneity, but he sider Rimbaud in particular. Trilling gave relied on craft and artistry to get there. him a read, but he was repelled. Rimbaud’s A year before he wrote Howl, Ginsberg wrote “rejection of the ordinary social values,” he to a friend, “I have been looking at early blues told Ginsberg, amounted to “an absolutism forms and think will apply this form of ellip- which is foreign to my nature and which I tical semisurrealist imagery to rhymed blues combat.” type lyrics. . . . Blues forms also provide a real Later, Trilling wrote an essay, perhaps with varied syncopated meter, with many internal Ginsberg in mind, noting that he understood variants and changes of form in midstream like why some of his students “have become ex- conversational thought.” He later told a critic cited over their discovery of the old animosity that Howl’s cadences were inspired in part by a which Ezra Pound and William Carlos Wil- recording of Dizzy Gillespie’s trumpet solo on liams bear to the iamb, and have come to feel “I Can’t Get Started.” that could they but break the iambic shack- Ginsberg and Kerouac were inspired, les, the whole of modern culture could find then, by several diverse influences: Bur- a true expression.” But, Trilling went on, he roughs’ reading list of romantic visionaries found this notion illusory—and, more than like Whitman, Blake, and Rimbaud; William that, dangerous, because unshackling formal Carlos Williams’ veneration of natural objects Ginsberg attracted a capacity crowd when structure could unravel the underlying social he returned to campus for his poetry read- over lofty ideals and human breath over pre- ing in McMillin Theater (now Miller Theatre) thread. In a sense, Trilling was right. Gins- set meter; and the frantic, jagged cadences of on February 5, 1959. berg, too, saw the connection between free- blues and bebop. photo: Fred W. Mc Darrah/getty images dom from structures in poetry and freedom Jazz inspired Ginsberg to extend his lines from structures in all of life. The difference much longer than any poet — even Whitman — had ever at- was that Ginsberg yearned for both freedoms. tempted. He explained later to one critic that his earlier attempts Back when Ginsberg was a student, Burroughs advised him at free verse were “not expressionistic enough, not swinging to veer away from Trilling, warning, “He’s got no orgones, no enough,” adding, “I have to let off steam by building a longer mana, no charge to him.” climactic line . . . a jazzy ride . . . to ride out on the break-rhythm The irony was that, deep inside, Trilling might have agreed, without any artificial built-in guides or poles or diving boards . if not in those terms. In 1985, a decade after Trilling’s death, Par- . . no forcing the thoughts into a straitjacket—sort of a search for tisan Review published excerpts from his private journals, which the rhythm of the thoughts and their natural occurrence. . . . It’s a revealed a very unhappy man who loathed his own sense of seri- jump up forward into life, unknown future.” ousness and responsibility, and who envied those capable of cut- The poem’s long, jangling lines were what gave Howl its drive ting loose and expressing themselves openly. and power. But they were also what led many writers and critics He appeared to feel this inadequacy as far back as 1933, when of the day to dismiss it as unserious, not a real poem. his friend Clifton Fadiman [’25] showed Trilling a letter that he’d received from Ernest Hemingway. It was “a crazy letter,” Trilling ot least among those who dismissed it was recounted,” written when he was drunk — self-revealing, arro- Lionel Trilling. Ginsberg had stayed in touch gant, scared, trivial, absurd: yet I felt from reading it how right with his former mentor and savior from Co- such a man is compared to the ‘good minds’ of my university lumbia days. When Howl was published, he life — how he will produce and mean something to the world . . . sent Trilling a copy, along with a cover note. how his life which he could expose without dignity and which is “I think what is coming is a romantic period anarchic and ‘childish’ is a better life than anyone I know could . . . a reassertion of naked personal subjective live. . . . And how far-far-far I am going from being a writer — truth,” he wrote. “Perhaps Whitman will be how less and less I have the material and the mind and the will.” seen to have set the example,” after having Similarly, in 1948, around the time Ginsberg urged him to read “been bypassed for half a century.” Rimbaud, Trilling wrote in his journal of coming back from a din-

march/april 2010 N 28 columbia college today 1959: the year everything changed ner party where someone had praised him for leading a life of As Mrs. Trilling walked into the already-packed auditorium, “equilibrium,” a comment that gave him “a twinge of pain” and she noticed that the audience was “crazily young.” She sighed “the sense of some awful doom” that, at age forty-two, he had at the girls with their “blackest black stockings” and the boys in “no more time, no more time” to do something creative. Not long their checked shirts and blue jeans (“standard uniforms in the after, he wrote, “I have only a gift of dealing rather sensibly with best nursery schools,” she would cluck). But she was also sur- literature,” which he regarded as “a great hoax.” prised. She’d expected the kids to smell bad, but they didn’t. In 1949, while still convalescing at the psychiatric institute, “These people may think they’re dirty inside and dress up to it,” Ginsberg came to see Trilling and told him that Harcourt, Brace she wrote in her essay, but they were “clean” — as, it turned out was about to publish Kerouac’s first novel, The Town and the City. when they came onstage, were Ginsberg and his friends. “I predicted that it would not be good & insisted,” Trilling wrote Ginsberg read a long poem, called “Kaddish,” about his moth- afterward in his journal. “But later I saw with what bitterness I er, who had died three years ago; he choked and cried as he read had made the prediction — not wanting K’s book to be good be- it, yet, Trilling wrote, no one “tittered or showed embarrassment cause if the book of an accessory to a murder is good, how can at this public display of emotion.” Then he read “Lion in the one of mine be?” Room,” after announcing that it was “dedicated to Lionel Trill- Trilling despised the notion, popular in some avant-garde ing.” She misinterpreted the poem. It was about Ginsberg’s vi- circles, that an artist had to be pathological. But he also wanted sion while reading Blake back in 1948. His dedication was ironic, to believe in the opposite idea — that a real artist couldn’t have a as he’d criticized his old teacher for failing to see the lion himself, streak of “wickedness” — and he feared that he might be wrong. for resisting sensory experience. The tensions between institutional order and instinctual grati- Perhaps because of her misunderstanding, Trilling found her- fication racked many among the generation that came to maturi- self liking the poem. “I was much moved by it, in some part un- ty after the war, but Trilling’s sense of decorum and dignity — his accountably,” she wrote. “It was also a decent poem, and I am ideas about the moral grounding of literature — kept his inner willing to admit this surprised me.” She was also struck that all of bohemian under wraps. Ginsberg’s poems dealt with “serious subjects” and that he read Diana Trilling, his wife and fellow critic, would later wonder, them in a poetic meter. It seemed he was a poet after all. During in her memoir of their marriage, whether any of Lionel’s friends the question-and-answer period, he even led a discussion of the knew “how deeply he scorned the very qualities of character — meaning of prosody and the influence of William Carlos Williams. his quiet, his moderation, his gentle reasonableness — for which Suddenly, she saw that Ginsberg and his friends had “earned . . . he was most admired in his lifetime and which have been most their right to be heard in the university” — not because of “their celebrated since his death.” whackiness and beat-upness,” but by “their energy of poetic im- pulse . . . their studious devotion to their art.” hen Ginsberg returned to Co- When Diana Trilling arrived back home, her husband’s meet- lumbia for his poetry reading ing was still going on. It was a meeting, she wrote, “of the pleas- on a cold Thursday night in ant professional sort,” like “the comfortable living room” in February 1959, it was at the which such meetings usually take place “at a certain point in a invitation not of the English successful modern literary career,” confirming the writer’s “sense Department but of a student of disciplined achievement and well-earned reward.” This com- group, the John Dewey Society. fort was “not ever to be spoken of except with elaborate irony,” Almost no professors showed she continued, “lest it propose a life without risk and therefore up for the event; they didn’t without virtue.” want to grant him the legiti- W. H. Auden, the legendary poet, and the only one of the men at macy that their attendance might convey. the meeting who was not dressed in a suit (he wore an old brown WLionel Trilling stayed home, too. Some of his colleagues were leather jacket), asked her what she thought of the reading. coming over to discuss an intellectuals’ book club that they were She replied that she’d been moved by it. trying to get off the ground. “I’m ashamed of you,” Auden said. But Diana Trilling — who, later that year, would chide Nor- “It’s different,” she responded, “when it’s human beings and man Mailer for abandoning his earlier style of literary realism — not just a sociological phenomenon.” did go, along with two other faculty wives, who all nervously She left the men with their drinks and their discussion. She mapped out ahead of time where and when to meet, as if they concluded her Partisan Review essay by noting an “unfathom- were conspiring to commit a crime. able gap that was all so quickly and meaningfully opening up She wrote an essay about the event afterward for the Partisan between the evening that had been and the evening that was now Review (whose editor, Philip Rahv, accepted it after expressing so surely reclaiming me.” misgivings about giving the Beats the implicit credibility). In her For an inkling, she sensed that Ginsberg’s poetry reading at essay, she recounted her husband’s turbulent past with Ginsberg Columbia and the intellectual establishment’s hostile indifference and how she had chided Lionel at the time for giving his brilliant to it, both on campus and now in her living room, marked the but clearly disturbed student too much attention and leniency. first crack in a sociocultural breakup that would grip the coming Like everyone else, she had read the recent magazine stories decade — the opening fissure of the Generation Gap. about the now-celebrated poet, his beatnik friends, and their antics. (The issue of Time that was then on the newsstands de- scribed a cocktail party in Chicago, where Ginsberg introduced Excerpted with permission of the publisher John Wiley & Sons from 1959: The himself by saying, “I’m crazy like a daisy,” to which his lover Year Everything Changed. Copyright © 2009 by Fred Kaplan. This book is and fellow poet, Peter Orlovsky, replied that he was “crazy as available at all bookstores, online booksellers and from the Wiley Web site at www. a wild flower.”) wiley.com, or call 800-225-5945.

march/april 2010 29 columbia college today

Alumni 31 Bookshelf 33 obituaries 36 Class Notes News 72 alumni Corner

november/december 2009

PHOTO: DANIELLA ZALCMAN ’09 30 columbia college today Bookshelf

Music in the Head: Living at the Palmarini. The authors point out Logicomix: An Epic Search for she begins having clairvoyant vi- Brain-Mind Border by Dr. Leo Ran­ the limitations of Darwin’s belief in Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis ’72 sions (Simon & Schuster Books for gell ’33; foreword by Oliver Sacks, natural selection as the underlying and Christos H. Papadimitriou. This Young Readers, $16.99). professor of neurology, psychiatry mechanism of evolution (Farrar, graphic novel illustrates the life and the arts. Rangell, a psychoana- Straus and Giroux, $25). and work of philosopher and logi- The Whole Island: Six Decades lyst, explains the neurological and cian Bertrand Russell (Bloomsbury of Cuban Poetry edited by Mark psychological mechanisms that The Secret Life of Emily Dickin- USA, $22.95). Weiss ’88. An anthology of modern produce the human experience of son: A Novel by Jerome Charyn ’59. Cuban poetry presented in the music (Karnac Books, $24.95). Charyn writes from Dickinson’s Flannery: A Life of Flannery original Spanish with accompany- perspective in this fictionalized O’Connor by Brad Gooch ’73. ing English translations (University Chronicles of My Life: An Ameri- account of the poet’s life (W.W. Gooch draws on interviews and of California Press, $70). can in the Heart of Japan by Don- Norton & Co., $24.95). O’Connor’s correspondences to ald Keene ’42, the Shincho Professor piece together the famously reclu- Modernism after Wagner by Juliet Emeritus of Japanese Literature Louis D. Brandeis: A Life by Mel- sive author’s life (Little, Brown Koss ’90. Koss examines the effects and University Professor Emeritus. vin I. Urofsky ’61. A biography of and Co., $30). of Wagner’s career on German Keene’s autobiography places em- Jewish activist and Supreme Court aesthetic ideals and political phi- phasis on his years in Japan (Co- justice Brandeis (Pantheon, $40). Fork on the Left, Knife in the losophy (University of Minnesota lumbia University Press, $19.95). Back by Michael Musto ’76. The Press, $29.50). The Forgiveness Solution: The author, a celebrity gossip writer for Franz Kafka: The Office Writings Whole-Body Rx for Finding True The Village Voice, has compiled a Guadalupe in New York: Devo- edited by Jack Greenberg ’45 et al. Happiness, Abundant Love, and selection of his favorite essays and tion and the Struggle for Citizen- The editors present a series of es- Inner Peace by Philip H. Fried- columns (Alyson Books, $14.95). ship Rights among Mexican Im- says Kafka wrote during his years man ’63. Friedman emphasizes migrants by Alyshia Galvez ’95. The as an insurance lawyer and offer the psychological importance A Force for Change: African author states that religious obser- commentary about the relationship of releasing negative emotions American Art and the Julius vance has political significance for between his legal career and his and offers readers techniques for Rosenwald Fund edited by Daniel Mexican immigrants living in New literary work (Princeton University practicing forgiveness (Conari Schulman ’82. Schulman celebrates York City (New York University Press, $45). Press, $16.95). the work made possible by grants Press, $23). from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, Why Are Jews Liberals? by Norman Liber A: 1628–1700 of the Colle­ an organization established in Between the Assassinations by Podhoretz ’50. Podhoretz analyzes the giate Churches of New York 1928 to benefit African-American Aravind Adiga ’97. Adiga’s latest historical appeal of political liberalism edited and translated by Francis J. writers, artists and scholars (North- collection of short stories explores for American Jews (Doubleday, $27). Sypher ’63. This work contains the western University Press, $39.95). issues of caste, religion and eco- founding documents of the Re- nomic stratification in Kittur, a vil- Explaining Human Actions and En- formed Dutch Church of the City Remembrance: Roots, Rituals, and lage on the southwestern border of vironmental Changes by Andrew P. of New York, translated from a Reverence in Vodou by Jerry M. India’s Karnataka state [see Janu- Vayda ’52. In a selection of his essays 17th-century text (William B. Eerd- Gilles ’85 et al. The authors describe ary/February “Columbia Forum”] from the last two decades, Vayda mans Publishing Co., $49). the history of vodou and examine (Free Press, $24). stresses the value of explanation- its relationship with other religious oriented research in the social and Invisible by Paul Auster ’69. Auster’s traditions (Bookmanlit, $37.74). Andy Warhol by Arthur C. Danto, environmental sciences (AltaMira latest novel centers on a student the Johnsonian Professor Emeritus Press, $75). and aspiring poet who attends the The Seven Rays by Jessica Bend- of Philosophy. Danto discusses College in 1967 and gradually de- inger ’88. Bendinger’s protagonist, the philosophical implications of What Darwin Got Wrong by Jerry scends into madness (Henry Holt Beth Michaels, is a high school stu- Warhol’s work (Yale University Fodor ’56 and Massimo Piattelli- and Co., $25). dent whose life is disrupted when Press, $24).

march/april 2010 31 bookshelf columbia college today

A Witch and Her Descendent Katherine Howe ’99’s novel uses her ancestors’ stories

f you stroll through the seaside town whose members included Matthew Pearl, of Marblehead, Mass., you’ll see house author of the popular novel The Dante after plain New England house, their Club. At one of their gatherings, Howe had old faces prim and bleak as Puritan mentioned her idea for a book. (“She was Iportraits. In the 1800s, Marblehead’s neigh- trying to throw us off the game,” Pearl bor, Salem (of witchcraft fame ), grew rich jokes.) Pearl spoke about it to his agent, from Far Eastern trade. But Marblehead Suzanne Gluck at William Morris, who was stayed poor — and so it has one of the interested. In January 2008, Gluck sold the country’s largest collections of 18th centu- novel to Voice, an imprint at Hyperion. The ry architecture, says Katherine Howe ’99. following June, it debuted on The New York It’s an easy place to think about history, Times bestseller list at No. 2, and stayed she says, to mentally erase today’s power on the list for 12 weeks. Foreign rights lines and cars and imagine one’s self in an have been sold in at least 15 coun- earlier century. tries. Optioned for TV in August 2009, In summer 2005, as Howe strolled with the book is being developed as a CBS her dog around Salem and Marblehead, Katherine Howe ’99 series. Photo: BRIAN PELLINEN she began to muse about the towns’ co- Howe says her years at Columbia lonial past. Summer turned into autumn, helped equip her for her sudden career but the walks continued; Howe, a graduate student in American as a novelist. Growing up in Houston, she and New England studies at Boston University, was tense about says, “I was really smart, curious — and her upcoming orals. Her musings assumed the shape of what completely scattered.” The Core and its she calls a “thought experiment.” What if Salem’s witches really rigors were “a structure that I craved.” (A had been practicing magic? What would it look like? How would true College advocate, she’s served for it happen? As the “thought experiment” turned into a plan for years on the Alumni Representative Com- a novel, Howe imagined a heroine — like herself, a modern-day mittee, interviewing prospective students.) grad student who had moved to Marblehead — whose research Howe credits the College with teaching would uncover a book of working spells from old Salem, a po- her how to think and write and revise, all skills she needs now tent “shadow book.” Ultimately, she would name the novel she as she readies another two books for publication. “There actu- wrote after that original book of magic: The Physick Book of ally is such a thing as a Columbia education,” she says firmly — Deliverance Dane (Voice, $25.99). something she feels isn’t true at every school. Quite apart from showing a historian’s natural interest, Howe Then there’s the personal side: Howe met her husband, Louis had good reason to feel connected to the territory. On her fa- Hyman ’99, at the College. In the Columbia version of “meet ther’s side, the family’s roots in Essex County stretch back 300 cute,” they shared a senior-year class on Nietzche, Marx and years. She is related to not one but two of the women accused Freud. He was a “hard-line Marxist in vegan jackboots,” she as witches in the Salem witch trials. One, Elizabeth Howe, was remembers; he recalls her “stunning feminist critique of Freud.” executed by hanging. The other, Elizabeth Proctor, survived be- (“I’m a nerd, so I’m a sucker for that kind of thing,” he remarked cause of a pregnancy. Her tale was later woven into the austere in their New York Times wedding writeup.) Hyman, having fin- fabric of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. ished an American history Ph.D. at Harvard, is starting work at The book Howe eventually wrote is a suspenseful supernatu- McKinsey in early 2010. ral bestseller. Flashing back and forth between the late 1600s Post-bestsellerdom, Howe is keeping busy. There’s the forth- and 1991, the story follows the persecution of an accused Salem coming paperback of Deliverance Dane (April 2010). There are witch, Deliverance Dane, and the increasingly dangerous re- the virtual “visits” she makes to her readers’ book clubs (to ar- searches of the witch’s modern-day descendant. Scouring range a Skype or conference call, contact her at www.katherine archives, libraries and even a venerable auction house, Harvard howe.com/bookclubs). She’s also editing a book of primary student Connie Goodwin tries to trace Dane’s powerful “receipt sources on witchcraft for Penguin Classics. Then there’s the booke,” which could be a history-changing find. Howe has both new novel she’s writing, The Scrying Glass, set in Boston in a scholar’s in-depth knowledge of period (and academic politics) 1915, in the twilight of the Spiritualist movement. Howe is cryp- and a novelist’s gift for atmosphere. The result is a riveting read: tic about it, a little mysterious, though she admits that her story, “Harry Potter meets The Da Vinci Code,” enthused Northern once again, has an occult element. It’s another chance for her to Virginia Magazine. erase the present and immerse herself in the dense, captivating No less exciting was Howe’s route to bestsellerdom. She be- atmosphere of the past. longed to a poker group — “graduate students, nerdy types” — Rose Kernochan ’82 Barnard

Dangerous Citizens: The Greek the Greek Civil War (1946–49) (Ford- C. Taylor, professor and department about past events [see January/ Left and the Terror of the State by ham University Press, $80). chair of religion. Taylor looks back February “Bookshelf” feature] Neni Panourgiá, associate professor of on his life, focusing on the ways in (Columbia University Press, $26). anthropology. Panourgiá chronicles Field Notes from Elsewhere: Reflec- which a recent near-death experi- Grace Laidlaw ’11 the historical roots and aftermath of tions on Dying and Living by Mark ence has led him to think differently

march/april 2010 32 columbia college today Obituaries

1936 his travels. For many years after degree in 1942 from P&S, he joined assigned to the Manhattan District Robert C. Plumb, retired, South- his retirement, he and his wife vol- St. Luke’s Hospital, with which Project in Oak Ridge, Tenn. After bury, Conn., formerly of Briarcliff unteered at Muttontown Preserve, he was affiliated for more than 45 being discharged, he joined Union Manor, N.Y., on June 16, 2009. where they shared their knowledge years. Knox served in the Navy Carbide’s nuclear division. Later Plumb attended business school of nature with groups of school Medical Corps from 1944–46 and in life, Newlon competed in USTA and retired in 1979 after 25 years children. He also enjoyed camping, participated in the third wave of the tournaments, and he and his wife with American Cyanamid. An sailing on Long Island Sound, col- invasion of Okinawa. He spent his entertained nursing home residents avid skier and golfer, he was ac- lecting stamps, gardening, painting entire medical career at St. Luke’s with a music and poetry show. tive in both sports well into his watercolors, and playing bridge and St. Vincent’s Hospitals, where They established the Charles E. and 90s. Plumb is survived by his and Rummikub. Thompson was he held several leadership positions Dorothy Newlon Scholarship at the wife, Eleanor Powers; son, Robert; predeceased by his wife in 2002 and in their departments of vascular College and established a chair for daughters, Sally Haun, Catherine is survived by his children, Jeanne surgery. He also was a professor of Oriental studies at Hiawassee Ju- Croft and Margaret Karell; and and Norman. clinical surgery at P&S and chief nior College. Newlon is survived by of vascular surgery emeritus at St. his sons, Charles and his wife, Don- seven grandchildren. Plumb was 1937 predeceased by his first wife, Vincent’s. Knox had been president na Stephens, and Lisle and his wife Carol Durham Plumb, in 1996. Philip D. Wiedel, surgeon, Red- of the New York County Medical Janet; daughters, Jeanne L. Haynes ding, Conn., on July 26, 2009. Wie- Society, the New York Surgical and her husband, Stephen, and Donald R. Thompson, retired math del earned a degree in 1941 from Society and the New York Car- Louise N. Irwin and her husband, teacher and track coach, Sea Cliff, P&S and later worked and taught diovascular Society. After retiring, Ray; five grandchildren; a step- N.Y., on June 25, 2009. Thompson there as an associate professor of Knox continued to be a diagnosti- grandson; a step-great-grandson; grew up in Valhalla, N.Y. He at- surgery. He was a naval officer in cian. He also enjoyed participating and brother John and his wife, Jane. tended Furman University and the Pacific during WWII. Wiedel in sports. Knox is survived by his Newlon’s wife of 65 years, Doro- the College, where he majored in is survived by his wife, Monique; wife of 58 years, Amie; children, thy Jean Craumer, passed away education. Thompson served in the daughters, Suzanne and Janine; Graham, Robert and his wife, Doro- five weeks after he did. Memorial Army Air Corps during WWII; he and three grandchildren. Memorial thee, Amie and her husband, Jim contributions may be made to St. was a sergeant working in enlist- contributions may be made to The Kelley, and John and his wife, Page; Mary’s Hospice, 7447 Andersonville ment and classification of recruits. Danbury Land Trust, PO Box 32, and eight grandchildren. Memo- Pike, Knoxville, TN 37938. In 1947, he got a job teaching math- Danbury, CT 06813 or the Philip D. rial contributions may be made to ematics at Sea Cliff School. He and Wiedel M.D. Fund for Humanism the Joseph Collins Foundation, 787 his wife, Virginia, bought a home in and the Surgeon, CUMC Develop- Seventh Ave., Rm 3950, New York, Sea Cliff in 1952, where they lived ment, 100 Haven Ave., Ste 29D, NY 10019. New York, NY 10032. the rest of their lives. When the local 1940 high schools were consolidated 1939 into North Shore H.S., Thompson Oswald Braadland, former bank taught and coached track until his Kermit “Kim” Easton, retired CPA president, Delray Beach, Fla., on 1975 retirement. After retiring, the and firm partner, Redding, Conn., May 30, 2009. Braadland was born in couple traveled extensively around on June 29, 2009. Formerly of West- Charleston, N.D. He was an Army the United States, visiting the 48 port, Conn., Easton was born, raised veteran of WWII and was awarded contiguous states. Thompson was and educated in New York City. He the Bronze Star. The former presi- an avid bird watcher, eventually earned a B.A. from the College, an dent of the Mass Bank and Trust of identifying more than 500 birds in M.B.A. from the Business School Brockton, where he spent more than (1940) and a J.D. from Brooklyn 30 years, Braadland moved to Flori- Harold Rogers ’41 Law School. Easton served in the da several years before his death. He Obituary Submission Navy in WWII and was assigned was predeceased by his wife, I. Hel- Harold Rogers, teacher, Tokyo, Guidelines to the Japanese Language School en (Trafford) Braadland, in 2007, and on July 12, 2009. Born in New as a naval intelligence officer. He is survived by his children, Peter, York City, Rogers attended the Columbia College Today became a senior partner of SD Suzanna Duquette and her husband, Navy Japanese/Oriental Lan- welcomes obituaries for Leidesdorf & Co. when that firm George; and three grandchildren. guage School at the University of College alumni. Please include merged with and became part of Colorado with a number of other the deceased’s full name, what is now Ernst & Young, from 1941 Columbia alumni, including Don- date of death with year, class which he retired as a senior partner Charles E. “Chuck” Newlon, re- ald Keene ’42, James Di Crocco year, profession, and city in 1980. Easton is survived by his tired engineer, Knoxville, Tenn., on ’43, Paul Hauck ’42, Gene Sosin and state of residence at wife of 64 years, Freda; son, Richard October 20, 2009. Newlon entered ’41, Bill Voelker ’42 and Owen time of death. Biographical and his wife, Denise; daughter, with the Class of 1941 but earned a Zurhellen II ’43. Rogers earned a information, survivors’ names, Judith Shaw; and four grandchil- B.S. and a Ph.D., both in chemical degree from Teachers College in address(es) for charitable dren. Memorial contributions may engineering, in 1942 from the Engi- 1942. After being honorably dis- donations and high-quality be made to Friends of the Westport neering School. Newlon was born charged from the Navy, he went photos (print, or 300 dpi jpg) Center for Senior Activities, 21 on July 14, 1919, and was raised to California to teach French and also may be included. Word Imperial Ave., Westport, CT 06880; in Point Marian, Pa. He became Spanish to Japanese-American limit is 200; text may be the Prayer Book Fund of Temple known at the College as “Tuba internees at Manzanar H.S. During edited for length, clarity and Israel, 14 Coleytown Rd., Westport, Charlie” and was consistently a the military occupation of Japan, style at editors’ discretion. CT 06880 or the Memorial Beauti- finalist in state band competitions. Rogers became a teacher there and Send materials to cct@ fication Fund, Meadow Ridge, 100 Newlon was class valedictorian stayed from 1946–2009. Upon ar- columbia.edu or to Obituaries Redding Rd., Redding, CT 06896. and, as manager of the marching rival, he went to Sendai to teach Editor, Columbia College band, received the Gold King’s illiterate American soldiers to read Today, Columbia Alumni W. Graham Knox Jr., surgeon, Crown. He was a member of Phi and write English; he also worked Center, 622 W. 113th St., MC Greenwich, Conn., on June 26, 2009. Gamma Delta. Newlon joined in Fukuoka and Tokyo, where 4530, New York, NY 10025. Knox was born on March 18, 1918, DuPont in Charleston, W.Va., and he taught French, Spanish and in New York City. After earning a after enlisting in the Army was occasionally Latin at various De-

MARCH/APRIL 2010 33 obituaries columbia college today

nese at the end of the war. He was an architect in New York City until Connie S. Maniatty ’43, Trustee Emeritus 1975, then in Cambridge, Mass., until his retirement. At the end of and Generous Benefactor his career, Bissell was working for Benjamin Thompson & Associates Connie S. Maniatty ’43, a Wall nie S. Maniatty Award was estab- in Cambridge, Mass. His career as Street executive, University lished to recognize the leading an architect was heavily influenced trustee emeritus and generous male and female athletes among by the “Modern” school. Bissell is donor, particularly to Columbia the senior student-athlete class. survived by his wife since 1942, El- athletics, died on January 8, Presented at the annual Varsity vira; daughters, Annette Woodcock 2010, at his home in Westport, ‘C’ Awards Celebration, it is among Abel and her husband, Jonathan, Conn. He was 90. Columbia Athletics’ most prized and Beatrice; sister, Ophelia Louise Bissell Molla; and four grandchil- Born in Greenfield, Mass., awards. dren. Memorial contributions may Maniatty attended Deerfield The University honored Ma- be made to The Putney General Academy before matriculating niatty with an Alumni Medal in Store Building Fund or Brattleboro at the College. After graduation, 1975, and the College honored Area Hospice. he joined the Wall Street firm him with a John Jay Award of Salomon Brothers (now a Connie S. Maniatty ’43 for distinguished professional Martin J. Klein, professor emeri- subsidiary of Citigroup), where achievement in 1982. tus, Chapel Hill, N.C., on March he became a partner in 1960 Hall of Fame as a member of its Outside of Columbia, Mani- 28, 2009. Klein was born in New York City on June 25, 1924. He and stayed until 1979, holding inaugural class in the Special atty’s philanthropy was similarly earned an M.A. in physics in 1944 the titles of partner and manag- unfettered, most extensively Category for Individual Achieve- from GSAS and a Ph.D. in phys- ing director. “Connie was my ment. The category was cre- reflected in his work for Norwalk ics from MIT in 1948. Klein joined first boss at Salomon Brothers ated to honor those “who have Hospital in Norwalk, Conn. He the physics department at Case in 1966, and I was lucky to land brought honor and distinction served on the hospital’s Board Institute of Technology (now Case under him,” said New York City to Columbia athletics through of Trustees from 1979–95 and Western Reserve University) in Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in significant involvement and founded the Norwalk Hospital 1949. In 1967, he joined Yale, where a Westport News obituary. “He support of the intercollegiate Foundation in 1989, serving as he chaired the Department of was a great mentor and a true athletics program.” chairman from its inception to History of Science and Medicine from 1971–74. Klein won the first gentleman.” “The Columbia Athletics 2006. During his tenure, Maniatty Abraham Pais Prize, the first major A former football player, raised more than $55 million for family has lost one of its true award for the history of physics, three-year letter winner in pioneers,” said Athletics Direc- the hospital. He also co-founded in 2005. He was elected to the baseball and avid tennis player tor M. Dianne Murphy. “Con- the New York City Police and Academie Internationale d’Histoire later in life, Maniatty’s support nie’s contributions to Columbia Firefighters Widows and Chil- des Sciences (1971), the National for Columbia and its athletics athletics are immeasurable, and dren’s Benevolent Foundation. Academy of Sciences (1977) and programs was legendary, par- thousands of student-athletes “We have lost our true lion, a the American Academy of Arts and ticularly his work raising mil- benefited from his leadership.” great man, a great friend, a great Sciences (1979). At the time of his lions of dollars for the construc- Maniatty’s support was not trustee,” said Bill Campbell ’62, death, Klein was the Eugene Hig- gins Professor Emeritus of History tion of Lawrence A. Wien [’25 ] limited to football, however. ’64 TC, current Board of Trustees of Physics and Professor Emeritus Stadium. The Maniatty-Remmer chairman and Columbia’s head Through the decades he had of Physics at Yale. He also was the Alumni Lounge, which he also raised money for every male football coach from 1974–79. former senior editor of The Col- helped fund, bears his name as and female athletics team. “I can honestly say that I have lected Papers of Albert Einstein. Klein well as that of his late friend “He believed strongly in never known anyone whom I was predeceased by his wife, Joan Eugene Remmer ’43, ’43E. women’s athletics, and when we respected more.” Blewett, and is survived by his Maniatty was a University began them in the early 1980s, Maniatty is survived by his daughters, Rona, Sarah Zaino and Trustee from 1973–85. He also he contributed to them,” said wife, Betty; daughters, Margaret her husband, Joseph, Nancy Klein served on the College Board of Al Paul, athletics director from Maniatty Fullington and Anne and her husband, Paul Dailey, and Abby; and former wives, Miriam Advisors from 1975–83, was 1974–91, in an article on the Maniatty Walker; son, Philip; five Klein and Linda Booz Klein. Permanent President of his class Athletics Web site. “The NCAA grandchildren; and five brothers. and was the 1943 CCT class cor- limits recruiting budgets to funds Memorial contributions may 1948 respondent from 2006–09. contributed by alumni, and we be made to Columbia Athletics Benjamin J. Immerman, ob/gyn, In addition, Maniatty served would never have been able in memory of Connie S. Maniatty. Great Barrington, Mass., on May for 35 years on both the Foot- to recruit for women’s teams, Gifts may be sent to Columbia 27, 2009. Immerman was born in ball Advisory Alumni Commit- which of course had no alumnae, Athletics, Attn.: Katie Day, Colum- 1924 and was a 26-year resident tee and the President’s Advi- if he hadn’t been supportive.” bia Alumni Center, 622 W. 113th of Great Barrington. He was a sory Committee on Athletics. In Maniatty was honored in 1974 St., 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10025. decorated WWII Air Force veteran who flew dozens of missions over 2006, he was inducted to the with the Varsity ‘C’ Club Alumni Lisa Palladino and Germany as a bombardier in the Columbia University Athletics Jesse Thiessen ’11 Arts Athletic Award. In 1994, the Con- legendary B-17 Flying Fortress. Im- merman graduated from SUNY Downstate Medical Center and partment of Defense Dependents’ Sophie Fumie; brother George; Architecture School in 1951. He became an eminent ob/gyn who Schools. In 1991, Rogers attended daughter Paula Radetzky ’91; and was born on June 12, 1922, in New practiced for nearly 40 years in For- his daughter Paula ’91’s gradua- son-in-law William. York City and served with the Ma- est Hills, N.Y. He is survived by his tion, where he presented her with rines during WWII from 1942–46, wife of 18 years, Agnes; son, Bruce her class pin while attending his 1943 participating in the landing on ’79; stepdaughter, Jennifer; brother, 50th class reunion. Rogers’ friends George H. Bissell, retired archi- Okinawa on Easter Sunday 1945. David; and eight nieces and neph- and relatives remember his story- tect, Putney, Vt., on June 18, 2009. Bissell was with American forces ews. Memorial contributions may telling, poetry recitals, sarcasm and Bissell entered with the Class of in Sing Tao, China, when America be made to Tidewell Hospice, 5955 jokes. He is survived by his wife, 1943 but earned a degree from the accepted the surrender of the Japa- Rand Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34238.

MARCH/APRIL 2010 34 columbia college today obituaries

1955 Donald M. Schappert, retired ex- Other Deaths Reported ecutive, Stuart, Fla., on November 30, 2009. Schappert was born in Columbia College Today also has learned of the deaths of the following alumni. Complete obituaries Brooklyn, N.Y., on March 25, 1933, will be published in an upcoming issue, pending receipt of information and space considerations. grew up in New Jersey and lived in East Greenwich, R.I., and Stuart, 1929 Richard “Dick” Silberstein, radio engineer, Boulder, Colo., on November 30, 2009. Silberstein Fla., for the past 22 years. He earned earned two degrees in 1930 from the Engineering School. multiple recognitions for his athletic 1931 Charles M. Metzner, judge, former University trustee, Sarasota, Fla., on November 5, 2009. accomplishments in baseball, bas- Metzner earned a degree in 1933 from the Law School. ketball and football at Westwood 1934 Arnold Beichman, teacher, writer and Sovietologist, Stanford, Calif., on February 17, 2010. Beichman H.S. and recently was inducted into earned degrees in 1967 and 1973 from GSAS. the Westwood H.S. Sports Hall of 1937 Robert M. Paul, retired teacher, Portland, Ore., on January 3, 2010. Fame. At Columbia, Schappert was 1938 Edward S. Liska, retired adult and child psychiatrist, San Francisco, on January 10, 2010. the first recipient of the Lou Gehrig James W. Stitt, [’23] Scholarship. Upon gradua- sales and advertising manager, Easton, Pa., on January 12, 2010. Stitt entered with the Class of 1938 but instead earned a degree in 1938 from the Business School. tion, he entered the military as a 1st 1941 lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He John M. Mullins, college exams board executive, Holyoke, Mass., on July 11, 2009. had a 30-year career in sales and Stanley H. Gotliffe, physician, Pawleys Island, S.C., on January 30, 2010. Gotliffe earned a degree management with IBM, from which in 1944 from P&S. he retired in 1987. Schappert was an 1943 Bernard Amster, physician, West Hollywood, Calif., on December 4, 2009. avid boater, sailor and fisherman, clifton C. Field Jr., retired editor and speechwriter, Brunswick, N.J., on November 30, 2009. and enjoyed playing cribbage and 1944 David V. Becker, physician, teacher, scientist and artist, New York City, on January 25, 2010. Becker reading. He is survived by his wife earned an M.A. in 1945 from GSAS. of 54 years Joan (Moseley) Schap- 1947 Peter F. Brescia, retired diplomat, Alexandria, Va., on January 17, 2010. Brescia earned a degree in pert, children, Mike and his wife, 1950 from SIPA. Helen, Jim and his wife, Kathy, 1948 Carter H. Hills, retired diplomat, Arabist, Washington, D.C., on December 8, 2009. Rob and his wife, Cathy, and Ann vincent G. Quinn, retired professor, Seattle, on December 21, 2009. Quinn earned a Ph.D. in 1959 Asadorian and her husband, Guy; from GSAS. brothers, Richard and his wife Sue, 1949 Lexes H. Coates, Kent City, Mich., on October 13, 2009. and H. Robert and his wife, Nancy; louis H. Schmid, microminiature electronics expert, Oceanside, Calif., on November 29, 2009. and 10 grandchildren. Memorial 1950 Frank P. McDermott, retired insurance executive, Agawam, Mass., on December 11, 2009. contributions may be made to the harvey M. Radey Jr., retired Army lieutenant colonel and hospital administrator, Clarkesville, Ga., Marine Corps Heritage Founda- on December 24, 2009. tion, 3800 Fettler Park Dr., Ste 104, 1952 Dumfries, VA 22025. Gene A. Baraff, Berkeley Heights, N.J., on January 3, 2010. Karl R. Lunde, retired professor and gallery director, New York City, on December 27, 2009. Lunde 1956 earned an M.A. and a Ph.D., both in art history and archeology, in 1953 and 1970, respectively, from Garrett W. “Digger” DeGroff, GSAS. Amsterdam, N.Y., on June 30, 2009. frank K. Walwer, Bradenton, Fla., on January 1, 2010. Walwer earned a degree in 1955 from the Born on April 6, 1934, DeGroff was Law School. a graduate of the former Wilbur H. raymond J. Zablocki, Menlo Park, Calif., on May 13, 2008. Lynch H.S. After the College, he 1953 Warren R. Sanchez, computer analyst, systems designer, banker and entrepreneur, Beaufort, N.C., served in the Army in San Antonio, on December 2, 2009. Sanchez earned a degree from the Business School in 1957. Texas, where he resided for eight 1955 Alfred L. Ginepra Jr., business executive and professor, Santa Monica, Calif., on February 2, 2010. years. DeGroff returned to Amster- Ginepra earned a degree from the Business School in 1963. dam in 1965 and was employed John L. Rigatti, physician, Sturbridge, Mass., on January 11, 2010. at General Electric in Schenectady, 1956 Stephen D. Schenkel, TV writer, producer and executive, New York City, on January 11, 2010. and its successors, until March 1965 Donald E. Welsh, magazine publishing executive, Millerton, N.Y., on February 6, 2010. 2009. DeGroff was a member of St. 1966 Harold Hotelling Jr., Rochester Hills, Mich., on December 29, 2009. Ann’s Episcopal Church, coached 1970 Robert W. Butterfield, sexton, Bethlehem, Pa., on January 5, 2010. Cinderella softball and church stephen G. Plummer, chairman and CEO, Crumpler, N.C., on October 20, 2009. league basketball, and was an avid 1972 Glenn R. Switkes, environmentalist, São Paulo, Brazil, on December 21, 2009. gardener, stamp collector, New 1977 York Yankees and Amsterdam george M. Mackor, dentist, Tiverton, R.I., on December 6, 2009. Mackor earned a degree in 1982 H.S. Rams football fan. He enjoyed from the Dental School. 1981 spending time with his family, es- James A. Eddinger, Camarillo, Calif., on December 24, 2009. pecially their summer vacations on Cape Cod. DeGroff is survived by his wife of almost 53 years, Anne; pany of New York as an investment ney Museum of American Art and 1988 daughters, Elizabeth A. “Betsy” analyst and subsequently was an a member of the Director’s Circle Daniel J. Selmonosky, finan- Capel and her husband, Joseph, assistant director of investments and on the American Painting and cial executive, Bedford, N.Y., on Karen L. Ressel and her husband, (energy and minerals). In 1977, Eckel Sculpture subcommittee for the May 16, 2009. Selmonosky was Scott, and Allison D. Busseno; son, joined Lehman Brothers as an associ- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He a partner at BC Partners of New Tomas and his wife, Amy; sister-in- ate in corporate finance and in 1978 is survived by his father, John Sr.; York City. He is survived by his law, Nancy Bebb and her husband, was elected assistant v.p. in energy brother David and his wife, Sandra; wife, Lisa; daughters, Olivia and Warren; and nine grandchildren. finance. Eckel then became involved sister Anne Lowery and her hus- Isabella; parents, Carlos and Sonia in the energy industry, founding band, Greg; and a niece. Memorial Selmonosky; sisters, Deborah, 1973 drilling, service, and exploration contributions may be made to the Monica, and Arlene Miller; in-laws, John R. Eckel Jr., chairman and and production companies before Whitney Museum of American Art, Kathy and Richard Smith; broth- CEO, Houston, on November 13, founding Copano Energy in 1992, Attn: Michele Snyder, 945 Madison ers-in-law, Josh and Jeffrey Smith; 2009. Eckel was born on October where he was president and CEO Ave., New York, NY 10021, or to and sister-in-law, Allison Fisher. 22, 1951, in Houston. Following his until April 2003, when he became the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston College graduation, he joined the chairman of the board of directors (American Painting and Sculpture), Lisa Palladino securities investment department and CEO. Eckel was a member of Attn.: Tammy Largent, PO Box 6826, of The Mutual Life Insurance Com- the Director’s Counsel at the Whit- Houston, TX, 77265.

MARCH/APRIL 2010 35 columbia college today Class Notes

Columbia College Today Division, designated Combat Team like other people read novels. But in other capacities, one now sits on Columbia Alumni Center C, were deployed to Cape Glouc- not this time, not this one. the Supreme Court of the United 25 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 ester, New Britain. The mission: to “Something I have found in Marx States: Judge Samuel Alito. Len tells 39 New York, NY 10025 capture the enemy-held airfield so that I thought very interesting, and me that his North Branford domi- [email protected] that we could establish a base from which I was not aware of, was that cile, which is close to New Haven, is which to bomb the air and naval he thought Benjamin Franklin was full of Yale people. I reminded Len Richard Silberstein ’29, ’30E passed stronghold of Rabaul at the eastern a great economist. This from a man that this gave him an opportunity to away in September, shortly after his end of the island. who seemed to have read the works remind them of the advantages of 103rd birthday. After earning a “For this three-month campaign, of every other economist from the attending a really excellent college degree in electrical engineering, I served as operations officer for beginning of time and who criticized like Columbia, which has recently Richard did graduate work at Penn. the Seventh Marine Regiment. One every one of them! produced a few talented alumni He held various jobs in the radio morning, as I was busy with tacti- “If I live to finish Karl, then I can such as President Barack Obama industry until WWII, when he joined cal planning for the following day, go on to try to understand Adolph.” ’83; Attorney General Eric H. Hold- the radio section of the National the phone rang. I recognized the Alice and Jack Mullins were er Jr. ’73, ’76L; and FCC Chairman Bureau of Standards. After the war, voice; it was a good friend of mine among the regular Arden House Julius Genachowski ’85; as well as Richard administered high-frequen- at division HQ. reunion attendees. Alice wrote that Len himself in another era. Res ipsa cy propagation experiments for the “ ‘Hey Vic, we have a Japanese Jack passed away in July. He and I loquitur. bureau in Washington, D.C., and prisoner.’ had been classmates for eight years In the September/October CCT, I Boulder, Colo., where he lived with “ ‘Congratulations,’ I replied, at Horace Mann and Columbia. He reported that Professor John Smith, his wife and among many friends ‘but why are you calling me?’ will be missed by many of us. an ordained Presbyterian minister, until his death. [Editor’s note: An “My friend said, ‘He says he Dr. Sherwin Kaufman, immi- held a faculty appointment at the obituary is scheduled for a subse- knows you.’ grant, musician and physician, sent Yale Divinity School. John, who quent issue.] “ ‘C’mon Joe,’ I said. ‘I’m really a short and interesting biography retired after a long and distin- Malcolm S. Mason ’30,’34L, has very busy, and … ’ about his successful careers as a guished career at Yale, graciously posted a paper, “Directed Discre- “ ‘Wait a minute, Vic. This pris- fertility specialist and songwriter. reminded me in an e-mail message tion and Regulation’s Penumbra,” oner, a major, says he knows you as One of his songs, “Sing America,” on November 17 that, although about an often-misunderstood ap- a classmate at Columbia University.’ was played at the Ellis Island Med- he did have some Yale Divinity proach to legal propositions. Those “I said, ‘I do remember the name, als of Honor Gala in 2001. students in his classes, his faculty interested can download the paper but never met the man. I have a appointment at Yale was not in the without charge from SSRN: http:// lot of work to do, but if you think Divinity School but in Yale College papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? I might do better at interrogating Melvin Hershkowitz and The Graduate School of Arts abstract_id=1494761. him, I’ll come to HQ right away.’ 42 3 Regency Plaza, Apt. 1001-E and Sciences. Mea culpa, John, and Howard N. Meyer ’34, ’36L “Joe said, ‘It won’t be necessary; Providence, RI 02903 thanks for keeping in touch. (See writes, “I rejoice in the filing at age he’s been very cooperative.’ 42 toward the end of the column for [email protected] 95 of my final brief and service as “Before I hung up, I said, ‘Good, more on John.) counsel of record for the Hon. Charles and thanks for the call.’ On November 6, I received a warm Morris Grossman, whose work Gittings Jr., amicus curiae in the “I never saw the man and do letter from Judge Leonard Garth re- and career I discussed in the No- case of Kiyemba et al v. Obama. The not know what became of him. The porting that he and his wife, Sarah, vember/December CCT (he was a story of a group of Moslem Chi- moral of the story is that even war had left their home in New Jersey professor of philosophy at Fairfield nese, dragged to Guantanamo to can produce strange bedfellows.” and were now settled into an adult University) reported on November spend a dozen years in a militarist’s resident community in North Bran- 19 that he recently visited NYC to dungeon, is one of incredibly un- ford, Conn. Len had been strug- attend several opera performances American cruelty well beyond the Robert Zucker gling with the effects of multiple and to see some of the exhibits at usual repression of civil liberties.” 41 29 The Birches spinal surgeries and was no longer the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Roslyn, NY 11576 able to navigate around his original Despite his walking difficulties, 41 home. On the brighter side, he re- Morris remains mobile and pur- [email protected] Seth Neugroschl ported that he was functioning well sues his interests in art and music, 40 1349 Lexington Ave. Leonard Shayne is busy completing with a motorized scooter and cane, as well as working on his promised New York, NY 10028 his personal humanities program. and moreover, the federal govern- book. 40 He writes: “In my 85th year, I set ment had refused to let him retire as On November 21, your corre- [email protected] out to read, in detail, the following, a senior judge on the Third Circuit spondent, who lives in Providence, Victor Streit wrote in again with an- which I had read in my college (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- R.I., listened to the entire Columbia- other fascinating tale about his time years: the Old Testament, the New ware, Virginia), and had provided Brown football game on our local during WWII: “On Christmas Eve, Testament, the Koran, the Book of him with an office and chambers sports station. A year prior, I sat in 1943, elements of the First Marine Mormon, Das Kapital, Mein Kampf from which he continues to work Brown Stadium on a freezing late and a commentary about Buddhism, and sit on the Court. Len reminded November day and watched Brown after which I would permit myself me (and himself) that in January, he defeat us 40–10 on a thoroughly Class Notes are submitted by the easy luxury of reading the popu- had served on the Federal Court for miserable afternoon. This time, alumni and edited by volunteer lar literature of our day. 40 years, an extraordinary record of I was astounded and elated as I “Unfortunately, in my 89th year, I distinguished service and a tribute followed the account of Columbia’s class correspondents and the have been hung up about one third to Len’s longevity and the great re- victory, 28–14, in Wien Stadium. Dr. staff of CCT prior to publication. of the way through Das Kapital, not spect he has earned from colleagues Gerald Klingon, a loyal financial Opinions expressed are those of because I have any strong feelings in the legal profession. Len’s leader- supporter and astute analyst of our individual alumni and do not about it one way or the other, but ship and accomplishments on the football program, was at the game reflect the opinions of CCT, its simply because I want to under- Third Circuit are exceeded only by with our old friend Ray Robinson class correspondents, the College stand it well and that is proving to his notable modesty (never a boast ’41. Gerry told me that our fresh- or the University. be slow going for me. The fact is, has emerged from the Garth lips). man quarterback, Sean Brackett ’13, honestly, when I was in college, I Among the young lawyers who who had a spectacular performance used to read economic textbooks served under Len as law clerks and with his running and passing,

march/april 2009 36 columbia college today class notes

already was the best quarterback in years, after which Stew commented by his wife, Marilyn, in 2006. He is lyn Institute of Technology before the Ivy League. If true, Columbia that she is now the breadwinner survived by his daughters, Diana, becoming the director of its Long should win a lot more games in the and he the housekeeper. I am cer- and Robin Smith Swanberg, and a Island campus in Farmingdale. next three years, and might even tain that both are highly competent grandchild. John was a modest man Ben lives in Tucson and enjoys his win the League Championship. Our in these roles. At Columbia, Stew with a wry sense of humor, a great retirement years by hiking and hopes are up! Roar Lions! was a tough halfback on the football scholar and philosopher, and one playing the violin with amateur In early December, our Alumni team and also played varsity bas- of the finest members of our Great chamber music groups. Office notified me of the death of ketball while pursuing his pre-law Class of 1942. We send condolences Richard Held sent CCT a copy Theodore Furman on October 29 studies. After military service, Stew to his daughters and grandchild. of a brief autobiography. It had at his home in Saratoga, Calif. After returned to the campus and gradu- (Look for John’s obituary notice in a been requested by the editors of the three years of military service in ated from the Law School in 1948. subsequent issue of CCT.) work The History of Neuroscience in the Army in WWII, Ted returned He served in the FBI until 1952 and As I write these notes, 2010 is Autobiography. The fact it had been to the campus and graduated from then embarked on his long and upon us, and I send good wishes solicited is a mark of Richard’s the Law School in 1947. He then successful career in the interstate for good health, happiness and distinguished career as a scientist moved to California and spent 40 trucking industry, first with Trans- prosperity to all classmates. I in this challenging field. His con- years in the aerospace industry, continental Lines and later with welcome your e-mail messages, tributions have earned him many working at Lockheed, Ford Aero- Illinois-California Express, from written notes and telephone calls honors through the years as well as space and Loral before retiring at which he retired. Among his friends (401-831-5464). Hail Columbia! appointments at major universities 82. When not working, Ted coached at Columbia, Stew was known as and institutes, including a chair Little League teams and continued “Snuffy,” the origin of which now at Brandeis. Although officially his lifelong devotion to the New escapes me, but it was pronounced G.J. D’Angio retired, he intends to continue his York Yankees, which began when with great affection and respect Department of Radiation research activities. he was 10 and he saw Babe Ruth for his modesty, gentle humor and 43 Oncology Giulio D’Angio had a busy fall play in Yankee Stadium. At Colum- quiet warmth. Stew is one of the 43 Hospital of the University of and early winter. Two trips to the bia, Ted was a good friend of fellow finest members of our Great Class Pennsylvania, Donner 2 United Kingdom, one as a panelist Californian Don Mankiewicz, who of 1942. Classmates can reach him 3400 Spruce St. in Edinburgh, were sandwiched as I write this, is alive and well in at 11690 W. 22nd Pl., Lakewood, CO Philadelphia, PA 19104 between lectures at meetings in Sao Monrovia, Calif. Ted was an ac- 80215-1109, telephone 303-233-6997. [email protected] Paolo, Brazil, and Montreal. complished and respected umpire With sadness and regret, I must Ensign Leininger recalls that of intramural softball games on report the death of friend and pro- Henry Corey was shocked to learn President Nicholas Murray Butler South Field, during which his dis- fessor John Smith on December 7 of Gordon Billipp’s death [Sept­ (Class of 1882) shook the hand of tinctive basso voice and decisive in Arlington, Va. The New York Times ember/October­ CCT]. They had every graduating member of our gestures gave much pleasure to honored John with a prominent been close friends. They both Class in ’43. Ensign passes on infor- players and spectators. In 2006, as obituary notice, including a nice graduated from Mamaroneck H.S. mation about Jean Cook ’45, a doc- editor of our great Class of 1942 photograph of a smiling and some- and commuted together via train tor, who now lives in Nice, France. newsletter, I asked Ted to write an what quizzical John, and a lengthy, and shank’s mare to Morningside Also, Richard D. Hunter ’44 became article about his WWII service. He laudatory description of his life and Heights. Henry has retired as a an ordained minister in the United responded with a long, fascinating work. John was the Clark Professor founding trustee of a mutual sav- Church of Christ after retirement reminiscence of his experience as Emeritus of Philosophy at Yale, ings bank and now enjoys the best from the Navy. Ensign is himself a a master gunner who sent early where he had taught since 1952, of two worlds: Martha’s Vineyard retired minister in the Presbyterian warning signals to our troops in the with a special emphasis on the phi- and Falmouth, Mass. Church. One daughter of his seven ETO. He also included some funny, losophy of religion, until his retire- Herman Weck brings us up to children has followed him into the cynical, critical and occasionally ment in 1991. (See my previous note date. He worked for Amoco Oil Presbyterian ministry. Living in complimentary remarks about the on John in the September/October for 36 years, retiring in 1981. He Chicago, he notes that the societal tactics and strategies of Generals issue, in which John commented and his wife traveled extensively problems of hunger and homeless- Montgomery, Patton and Eisen- on the controversy at Notre Dame in the United States and Europe, ness are due to inadequate incomes, hower. We published this essay in University over President Obama’s and he has continued his voyages high costs of housing and health the fall 2006 issue of our newsletter, commencement address there. after her death in 1996 to places care, and low skill levels. so classmates who are interested John held an honorary degree from afar on cruise ships. Herman lives will find it there. Ted’s Army career Notre Dame.) At Columbia, John in an independent living facility in took him from master gunner’s earned a bachelor’s in philosophy Geneva, Ill., where he is president of Henry Rolf Hecht school at Camp Davis, N.C., to and a subsequent Ph.D., between the board of directors. His many off- 11 Evergreen Pl. Scotland, France (Utah Beach on which he received a master of di- spring are scattered across the U.S. 44 Demarest, NJ 07627 D+42), Nancy, Metz, Luxembourg vinity degree from Union Theologi- Andre L. Fraysse was a com- 44 [email protected] City, on into Germany at Trier and cal Seminary. He was an ordained muter from West New York, N.J., Munich, and finally back home for Presbyterian minister and wrote during his Columbia days and With regret, we must report the pass- discharge at Fort Dix, N.J., and the several important books, among enlisted in the Army in 1942. He ing of Dr. Thomas Tamlyn last April. Law School. Ted is survived by his them, Reason and God: Encounters returned to Columbia after the war, Before leaving Cambridge, Mass., wife, Gerry, and daughters, Teri of Philosophy with Religion. His last obtained a B.A. and rejoined the for a Christmas stay on Maine’s Mt. Howes and Sue. I send my person- book was Quasi-Religions: Human- Army. After a military career that Desert Island, Dr. Bruce Mazlish re- al condolences to them, as well as ism, Marxism and Nationalism. He took him to Europe, Rwanda and ported that early 2009 saw the publi- condolences from our classmates. was also the editor of The Works of Burundi, Col. Fraysse retired and cation by Palgrave MacMillan of his I was delighted to receive a Jonathan Edwards: Volume 2, Religious worked in Germany for 16 years. book, The Idea of Humanity in a Global holiday card and nice note on De- Affections. There, he was a gastarbeiter (guest Era. His basic theme is that “human- cember 18 from Stewart McIlven- At Columbia, I met John when worker; working as an inventory ity has come down from the clouds” nan in Lakewood, Colo. Stew also we ran together on the freshman control officer) for an electronics as an abstract idea and “taken on included a family report from his cross-country team. He was a company. actuality as a judicial entity” (e.g., charming wife, Marie ’47 Barnard, strong runner, and with the approv- Ben Senitzky returned to Co- Nuremberg, Yugoslavia, Rwanda). with comments on their sons, John, al of coach Carl Merner, he became lumbia to complete his studies for “The communication revolution Phil and Len, who are all doing captain of the varsity cross country a B.S. in electrical engineering after has helped collapse time and space well. Stew and Marie recently cel- team. He was also a member of the time in the service. He then worked ... Humanity itself can now be ap- ebrated their 61st anniversary, and Undergraduate Committee on Ath- for the National Advisory Commit­ pealed to as a sovereign power.” Stew has had cataract surgery and letics, the University Christian As- tee for Aeronautics before again While Bruce’s “health is not treatment for macular degeneration sociation, the Pre-Theological Club returning to Columbia to obtain a great” and he’s slowly “losing in one eye. Marie recently renewed and the Varsity ‘C’ Club Executive Ph.D. in physics. After some time in mobility,” he can happily count on her teaching license for another five Committee. John was predeceased industry, he taught at the Brook- “four children and three grand-

march/april 2010 37 class notes columbia college today children [to] pick up where I am REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 book, reminiscences at Columbia Times editor (November 9, 2009) that losing strength.” Meantime, wife Alumni Office Contacts et seq. Another about my ‘weekend rightwing extremists are gaining “Neva Goodwin keeps flourish- Alumni Affairs Jennifer Freely hippie days’ while employed con- strength and prominence in almost ing as an economist.” Bruce adds: [email protected] servatively weekdays in the ’60s all European countries from Britain “Her real pleasure in life is a new 212-851-7438 and ’70s. It should be a lot of fun to Latvia and beyond. The specific grandchild, her first.” Geneva, Development Paul Staller reminiscing about lots of freedom grievances may differ in different born last summer, is beginning to [email protected] and free love in California from an countries, but the underlying mood crawl around Montana. “Other 212-851-7494 old Brooklyn boy. A third about my of anger, of implicit violence — in than that,” Bruce tells us, “I just Columbia College Today 10-week trip hiking in all the west- short, of plain, ominous bloody- keep putting one foot in front of 45 Columbia Alumni Center ern national parks from a former mindedness couched in national- another,” which is about what all 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 city dweller (definitely ‘former’). istic rhetoric — is everywhere the the rest of us octogenarians are 45 New York, NY 10025 “I would love to hear from any same, he contends, and is very bad aiming for. guys, also gals from Barnard who for the West. [email protected] Joe Leff and his wife of 42 knew me, if they are willing to ’fess Gentlemen, mark your calendars. years, Juanita, were, as usual, Our 65th reunion is right around the up.” On Thursday, May 6, the class is happily ensconced in Boca Ra- corner, Thursday, June 3–Sunday, The Class of ’45 is still looking for meeting for lunch at Moran’s ton, Fla., for the cold months, June 6. The weekend will be filled a class correspondent to write a bi- Chelsea, 146 10th Ave. (at West l9th though their chief residence with events around Columbia and monthly column for Columbia College Street) in Manhattan. It is conve- remains Purchase, N.Y. Joe “still New York City, including opportuni- Today. If you want an open platform nient to public transportation, and [has] a few business responsibili- ties to engage in cultural happenings and a chance to reconnect with drivers will find parking lots on 10th ties” in NYC and also remains as well as a Saturday class dinner classmates, please contact Associate Avenue near the restaurant. Moran’s “actively engaged with the 92nd with the Class of 1950 followed by a Editor Ethan Rouen at ecr2102@ is an “American trip back in time” Street Y.” A bad shoulder has champagne toast and dancing under columbia.edu or 212-851-7485. Until and also features an amazingly large forced Joe to give up golf, but the stars on Low Plaza. Please con- then, please send notes about your collection of Waterford glass. It is “otherwise, Juanita and I are in sider coming to catch up with old life, thoughts, travel, family and situated alongside New York’s most surprisingly good health.” One friends and make new ones. experiences at Columbia to the ad- recent attraction, the High Line, a drawback cited by Joe: He may Albert J. Rothman, who entered dress at the top of the column. linear park with seasonal plantings miss the one-year window of with the class but graduated with built on top of a derelict elevated no estate tax if he doesn’t exit in the Engineering Class of 1944, wrote railway that transported danger- 2010. But he’s happy for added to tell about his book, A Brooklyn Bernard Sunshine ous freight. The High Line parallels time to enjoy two daughters, Odyssey: Travails and Joys of a Boy’s 46 255 Overlook Rd. the Hudson River between 10th three granddaughters and a Early Life, and life in general: “At New Rochelle, NY 10804 and 11th Avenues, from West 20th grandson. the end of the book, I proudly told 46 Street at the north end to Gansevoort [email protected] Henry A. Imshaug and family of my Pulitzer Scholarship, without Street. A walk through the park with recently discovered that in 1974, which I would not have been able Burton Sapin reacted to this col- a ranger will follow lunch. Notice of the Advisory Committee on Ant- to pay for tuition to our beloved umn’s recent note about Malvin the luncheon will be mailed. arctic Names put his name on “a Columbia in 1941. Thanks for Hu- Ruderman and wrote: “Delighted In the last issue’s column, I broad, snow-covered cove at the manities with [Moses] Hadas and to hear about Mal’s academic suc- suggested that class luncheons be south side of Lehrke Inlet.” The many friendships formed at CC, cess. You did not have ‘Emeritus’ held in centers outside New York, Imshaug Peninsula recognizes most or all of them now gone. in his title. Is he still an active for example, Washington, D.C.; Henry, who taught botany at the “Now, I’m writing and publish- teacher and scholar? That would Los Angeles; Miami; and Hilton University of Idaho and Michi- ing poetry, essays and so forth, surely be impressive.” Head. Combining ’46 with ’45 and gan State, for his service as a a big change from my employ- Burt, the answer is in the affirma­ ’47 seems logical and will increase biologist in a long-range biosys- ment and degrees in chemistry tive on both counts. Mal is the Cen- turnout. tematic study of sub-Antarctic and chemical engineering from tennial Professor of Physics at Co- Contact information for the men flora, which he carried on in Columbia and Berkeley (Ph.D.).” lumbia, teaches graduate students in these classes who live in your area various locations between 1965 “I’m working on a few more and continues to do research there can be made available. I encourage and 1971. books: my years following the first and in other parts of the world. you to pick up the baton and get in Burt continued. “While on the touch with me. topic of outstanding Columbia stu- dents of physics, I used to run into Columbia School Designations Harold Brown in Washington. Even Bert Sussman In Class Notes, these designations indicate Columbia tried to get a book of his translated 47 155 W. 68th St., Apt. 27D degrees from schools other than the College. into Japanese.” New York, NY 10023 Herbert Hendin has devoted his 47 [email protected] Arch. School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation distinguished career in medicine Arts School of the Arts to suicide research, prevention and George Cooper kept this Class of Barnard Barnard College survivor counseling. Herb is CEO ’47 notes column alive for decades. Business Graduate School of Business and director of special projects at Unfortunately, his death robbed us Suicide Prevention International, of a chance to say to him, “Thank CE School of Continuing Education and he told me SPI will hold five you, George. Well done.” Dental College of Dental Medicine benefit walks this spring. Two will The Class of ’47, scattered as it is E The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and be in the New York area: Sunday, by WWII, presents a special chal- Applied Science May 2, in Westchester County’s lenge to someone trying to evoke GS School of General Studies Glen Island Park (New Rochelle) a common identification. Yet every GSAS Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Saturday, May 8, in Riverside month, George sent out his mes- J Graduate School of Journalism Park (Manhattan). The others will sage to us to write. And despite L School of Law be held in Macon, Ga., Minneapolis the paucity of replies, he persisted Nursing School of Nursing and Seattle. For information, e-mail optimistically month after month, P&S College of Physicians and Surgeons [email protected]. As spring year after year. awakens, spend a few worthwhile The sad fact is that we were, in PH Mailman School of Public Health hours in beautiful surroundings at the main, not responsive. But in SIPA School of International and Public Affairs these community-centered events no way, shape or form should that SW School of Social Work with schoolmates, friends and new be taken as criticism of George. TC Teachers College acquaintances. On the contrary, nothing could Fritz Stern wrote to the New York be further from the mark. George

march/april 2010 38 columbia college today class notes

deserves nothing but praise for specifics, but at bottom are waging more accommodating. They were Friday in early December, I met Paul refusing to become discouraged. culture wars, demeaning tolerance glad it was over and were more Auster. At the end of the shooting George was a man of quiet and reasoned argument. The vi- interested in acquiring cigarettes, day, we chatted awhile, and he strength and gentle charm, and we cious and mendacious campaign soap and other sundries from us reminisced about his undergraduate are all in his debt for his keeping against health reform in our own in return for badly inflated paper times, including the infamous stu- his faith in us. country is a particularly ominous money. I bought a slide rule for 30 dent occupation of Hamilton Hall. I called Robert Weber in No- form of protest, usually confined yen, and about three packs of Cam- I have to confess, despite the CCT vember and in response, he wrote to fringe groups, but at times when els, which we could buy at 5 cents cover story featuring Paul (www. the following: “I enjoyed our talk. confidence in so much that holds a pack. By the end of 1945, MacAr- college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/ It kindled many fond memories. society together, can herald the thur had stabilized the currency. mar_apr06), I had never read any Indeed, I met my wife of 62 years wish for a new authoritarianism. The new dollar-based yen looked of his work. My son, CC ’05, has on campus when she was work- “The civic passivity of the many the same but had a sticker on it.” read everything and admires Paul’s ing at Low Library while pursu- and the fanatical activity of ideo- The January/February Obitu- work immensely. At this writing, I ing her classical singing career in logues, bolstered by vast money, aries section carried word of the am halfway through The Brooklyn Manhattan. bespeaks danger to open and liberal deaths of two more class members. Follies. I can only say that if any of “Like many of us during those societies.” Clinton Latimer, who had migrated you have not discovered the plea- years, WWII clouded our class from the Bronx to Honeoye Falls in sure of reading Paul’s work, this affiliations, and the timing of my the Finger Lakes Region, died April is a very good place to start, and College degree in 1947 was little Durham Caldwell 16. At Columbia, he’d been v.p. of you should waste no time getting more than a coincidence. Starting 48 15 Ashland Ave. the Lutheran Club, active in the Pre- started. with the Class of 1944, I had been Springfield, MA 01119 Med Society and a member of the Perhaps, if this anecdote does enrolled in the Professional Option 48 varsity lightweight crew. Kenneth serve to introduce some of you to [email protected] Program. When I returned to the J. Sabella, whose relocation was this author, you will share your campus in June 1946, I resumed Retired physician Richard Calame, from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Bloomfield, thoughts with us via this column. classes in the Engineering School, who has the distinction of having Conn., died September 24. As an Let me hear from you. picking up enough points for my his listing in the 1948 Columbian undergrad, he’d been a cheerleader, B.A. in October 1947. I received just ahead of mine, has joined me a Newman Club member and a REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 an Engineering B.S. in June 1948, as a Massachusetts resident. Says member of the track team. Alumni Office Contacts and a few years later I returned on Richard, “After spending my entire Alumni Affairs Jennifer Freely a part-time basis and received an life on Long Island, we sold our [email protected] M.S. in industrial and management last property there in November John Weaver 212-851-7438 engineering in June 1955. and bought a house in Hingham, 2639 E. 11th St. 49 Development Paul Staller “My management career includ- Mass.” A chief attraction: “Two Brooklyn, NY 11235 [email protected] ed years with several Bell System of our three children have homes 49 [email protected] 212-851-7494 companies and 25 years working there.” Despite his affection for on the AT&T corporate staff in the North, Richard still winters in Here I sit with the luxury of a much Mario Palmieri Manhattan. I retired as industry re- Florida. later than usual deadline and no 50 33 Lakeview Ave. W. lations manager at the end of 1985. Richard also informs us, “I’ve word from either the usual suspects Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567 A year or so later, we moved from recently spoken with Walt Henry or a formerly forgotten classmate 50 [email protected] our home in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., and Harry Ekblom, and all things who has found the time to emerge to Sun City West, Ariz. We enjoy considered, we’re all doing quite from the shadows long enough to Before I get to some updates, I active lives and savor visits from well. Harry has now settled per- write to me! want to remind you that our 60th our three sons, three grandchildren manently on Cape Cod (Osterville, A short-lived opportunity to Reunion will be held on campus and three great-grandchildren. Mass.) while Walt still is in Port Jef- share some Christmas cheer with from Thursday, June 3-Sunday, “I cherish my years at Columbia ferson on Long Island.” Walt also classmates was scuttled by a Decem-­ June 6. The weekend will be filled and have kept in touch with my is a retired physician, Harry a re- ber blizzard. No chance to shovel my with cultural events, cocktail par- friends from the Engineering School tired banker. driveway in Sheepshead Bay and ties and enough goings on to keep and those in my fraternity, Phi The generally peripatetic Char- drive in to Bill Lubic’s Manhattan us busy deep into the night. It will Gamma Delta. Unfortunately, there lie Cole has been settled down for soiree. I’m certain braver souls with be a chance to catch up with class- are too few of us left.” two years now at Bristol Village in less of a traveling handicap made it. mates and meet fellow alumni from After talking and reading Rob- Waverly, Ohio. Among his recent Lacking a word from any of other classes as well. The weekend ert’s notes, I regretted not having activities: credited with saving a you, I can tell a short story of my culminates on Saturday night with any memory of the brief time we neighbor’s life with quick and ef- own. In the unexpected way that a champagne toast and dancing were on the campus together. How- fective CPR, learning a new indoor opens unanticipated doors, I found under the stars on the steps of Low ever, he joins the correspondents tennis game called Pickleball and myself in the presence of fellow Library. I urge you to attend what I have met on this job whose lives tending a 65-by-30-ft. vegetable Columbian Paul Auster ’69. I have will certainly be a wonderful event. are testimony to the Columbian garden (if it grows, it’s there). And written before of my work with the Ray Annino has posted a new contributions to our country and one to make his old Humanities nonprofit organization PortSide show­ing of his watercolors on his the world. instructors look down from above NewYork. Our home is aboard the Web site (http://rayannino.com/ This column was written in De- with a smile: During December, retired coastal tanker Mary Whalen, jan2010show). There you can view cember. A couple of months ago, I Charlie gave a lecture on the Eng- berthed in the Red Hook container about a dozen of Ray’s latest works, saw a letter to the editor in The New lish poets Donne, Pope, Thomas, port in Brooklyn. A documentary which include arctic seascapes, York Times, and feeling the issue ad- Keats, Byron and Shelley. Charlie film director in Berlin knew of the winter landscapes and summer dressed was crucial to us all, I wrote admits to one disappointment: lack ship and called from Berlin. She landscapes. You also can view to the author, our almost-classmate, of duplicate bridge players. was making a documentary on the previous showings by following Fritz Stern ’46, University Professor Arthur Bradley has told us more life and career of Charlotte Ram- the prompts. Emeritus and a distinguished his- about the Naval service that inter- pling. Paul, who lives in Brooklyn, John Rosenberg, who retired torian. I asked Fritz to add a little to rupted his undergraduate years at is a friend of Ms. Rampling, and from the Columbia English Depart- the Times letter. This is his answer: Columbia: “I spent half of my two- they wanted to find a location ment in early 2009, has completed a “My recent letter to the Times year service in boot camp and radio where they could film a conversa- book on Cervantes’ Don Quixote, a sought to place American radical- school. When I finally got assigned tion between Paul and Charlotte. It subject he had taught for nearly half ism in a wider context. We need to to a ship, the conflict was over. My had to be somewhere in New York, a century in the Humanities course. be aware that illiberal movements vessel (LCS 95) docked near Tokyo, and they thought the ship’s galley The title of the book is The View are gaining strength in most of and I got to see the wreckage of one would make an interesting and From Rocinante: Reflections on DON the countries we once confidently of their major airports. The Japanese unique setting. QUIXOTE. The themes in John’s called the West; they differ in many people could hardly have been And so it came to pass that one book are appearance and reality in

march/april 2010 39 class notes columbia college today the novel, and the remarkable close- as producing newsletters concern- been married since 1956, and they that this would be short and to the ness among the four principals: the ing foreign aid. Richard then live in Englewood, N.J. They have point, and it is. My best wishes to Don and Sancho and Rocinante and moved to Washington, D.C., and two children: Liza is a banking exec- my classmates.” Dapple. Publication is expected to founded the International Business utive in Charlotte, N.C., and Zach- Bill Hallisey writes: “Married be later this year. Affairs Corp., which produced ary is an environmental specialist to the ‘light of my life,’ Jane, for 54 Piero Weiss is the oldest faculty newsletters and provided trade for the State of New Hampshire. years. Four children, each completed member who is teaching full time and export consulting. Some of his Please don’t forget the last para- advanced degrees, 10 super grand- at the Peabody Institute of The significant journalism concerned graph of my column in the previ- children. As a Marine, 34 years, I was Johns Hopkins University. Piero is the Soviet Union’s worldwide ous issue CCT. Your contribution very involved in four wars. I retired co-author, with Richard Taruskin trade and the ultimate threat of to support this magazine during as chief of staff at the Marine Corps ’65, of Music in the Western World, a communism to the free world. these difficult economic times will Air Ground Training Center in textbook now in its second edition. Richard and his wife, Janet, have ensure future publications. California as a colonel. I then served a daughter, Nadia, and his retire- 13 years as deputy CAO of Riverside ment has allowed him time to teach City, Calif., with jurisdiction over George Koplinka English as a Second Language to Sidney Prager police and hospitals. The challenges 75 Chelsea Rd. students in Montgomery County. 20 Como Ct. were tremendous. Columbia taught 51 White Plains, NY 10603 He has long admired Professor 52 Manchester, NJ 08759 me how to think, plan and leave 51 William C. Casey and his sociology 52 nothing to chance. Now I’m enjoy- [email protected] [email protected] classes at the College, noting the ing the achievements of my family. Please make a note that my e-mail influence on his life. Hello, gentlemen. We are in the I’ve had a full life. I love it.” address has changed to desiah@ The Korean War touched many busy month of March. This is a Thomas Houghton writes: “Joy, verizon.net. No change to my members of the Class of 1951. Peter month of change and new begin- ’52 Sigma Chi Sweetheart runner-up, telephone number, which remains E. DeBlasio had an active duty year nings and a month of remem- and I have been happily married 914-592-9023; or to my mailing ad- with the Navy before assignment brance and celebrations. Daylight for 56 years. I was active in sports dress, which remains the same as to the Naval Reserve program. In savings time begins and gives reporting at CC through WKCR and above. My USPS letter carrier is in 1954, he earned a degree from the us more daylight to shine on the Spectator. I had a weekly show with great physical shape so there is no Law School and began his career things and activities that surround interviews and game broadcasting. danger that you will overburden in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Peter us. There will be the first day of Member of Sigma Chi. Retired for 20 his mail pouch. Are you all catch- spent four years in the New York spring to usher in and welcome years, active volunteer in hospitals, ing the drift? City office, where he met aspiring awakening of trees, flowers and enjoy travel, large family of 25 The recent bad news from Flo-­ attorney Elliot Wales. In 1958, Peter warmth. Of course, we will have including 13 grandchildren and one rida, as reported by Stanley Schach- joined the law firm of Reilly and the days of remembrance as we great-grandchild born St. Patrick’s ter, is about strawberries. Cold Reilly, judging John Reilly to be one observe and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day ’09 and named Otis Houghton weather killed the crop, so your of the best defense attorneys he ever Day, Palm Sunday and Passover. after James Otis. Two granddaugh- Wheaties are going to be lonesome. came across. After honing his skills I have had the opportunity, ters in college, one at Princeton The good news is that Floridian as a trial lawyer, Peter established during my quest for updates from but seriously dating a Columbia classmates have been thinking his own law firm in 1961 and did classmates, to speak to two high- sophomore. Had Whipple surgery about the 60th reunion of the Class not retire until 2006. Married and ranking military officers. I person- last August, but just about fully of 1951, which will be less than 15 the father of two children, he lives ally, privately, thanked these men recovered and planning four winter months away by the time you read on Staten Island. Incidentally, Peter for the service they provided to our months at our condo in Deerfield this column. A steering committee played five sports at Columbia: country. I want to publicly thank Beach, Fla., where it is warmer.” is currently in the embryo stage. If football, baseball, basketball, hand- them again. I, like many of you, James Hurley writes: “When you have ideas and suggestions for ball and golf (not all on the varsity served in the military for a relatively Sid asked me for a personal blurb, I what will make a great celebration, level). As a sophomore, he sat on short time. These men devoted a wondered if I could find any distin- please organize your thoughts and the bench during Columbia’s great large portion of their lives and made guishing feature of my ‘checkered pass them along promptly. Mark victory over Army. Coach Lou Little a career of defending and protecting career’ that might separate me from your calendars now for Thursday, never played sophs! Resulting from our country and its people. They the really distinguished careers June 2–Sunday, June 5, 2011. his relationship with the New York deserve, at the very least, our thanks of classmates like [Max] Frankel, Here is some news about Athletic Club, Peter has won several and gratitude for a job well done. [Larry] Grossman and [Roone] classmates. Richard L. Barovick handball championships. Colonel Winston S. Fliess Jr. Arledge. I immediately thought of lives in Bethesda, Md. In his post- Levon (Leo) Z. Boyajian admit- writes: “I received an outstanding one: that I’d never really made any College days, Richard acquired ted that only his grandmother education from an academically money and might qualify as the least two master’s degrees from NYU, called him Levon. After his college superior college, for which I am materially successful member of the one in English literature and the days, he earned an M.S. from the extremely grateful, and I should still class. But then I had an awful lot other in political science. Journal- University of Illinois and an M.D. look back at Columbia with pride of fun doing a variety of things so I ism proved to be his life’s vocation. from Yale. When questioned about and admiration. However, starting might qualify for another somewhat Following a brief stint as a teacher why he went to Yale, Leo replied with the takeover of Columbia by a more dubious career category of ‘ad- at what was then Staten Island (with tongue in cheek), “Because bunch of rabble-rousing dissidents venturer.’ Starting off as a junior civil Community College, he wrote for that was the only place that would (the nicest description I could think servant in Washington, I moved on the International News Service, take me!” The Navy was not reluc- of) with the acquiescence of the Uni- to be a vice-consul at the Consulate did some insurance investigatory tant to take him. In 1960, Leo was versity authorities through a series General in Lahore, where I traveled work in lower Manhattan and was assigned to Camp Lejeune, a major of well publicized anti-American frequently to Afghanistan and the subsequently affiliated with the training base for the Marine Corps. actions and statements by faculty Northwest frontier, and participated Journal. Most of Richard’s writ- His career in psychiatry began members, and culminating in Co- in a British expedition to K-12 in the ing in the Journal’s foreign trade there, and in 1962 he was released lumbia’s esteemed president invit- Karakoram-Himalayas, then spent a department covered international from active duty with the rank of ing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an couple of unsuccessful years trying trade and ocean shipping. An lieutenant commander. Since then, avowed enemy of the United States, to be a scholar at SOAS in London, opportunity with Peabody As- Leo has had a lifetime in commu- to speak at Columbia, while barring returning across the pond rather sociates led Richard to journalistic nity psychiatry and administration from campus the ROTC, dedicated battered to learn about New York experiences in public relations and in the South Bronx and northern to the defense and protection of the City as a guide with Gray Line, Cue an opportunity with the British Car New Jersey. He dedicated himself United States, I must say that I am Magazine and the Museum of the Association before he returned to a to those in need, many of whom embarrassed to admit that I am a City of New York, subsequently second affiliation with the Journal. would have gone without help save Columbia graduate. And based on moving on to found the Weeksville This led to his association with the for his psychiatric care in the many a few conversations I have had with Project in Bed-Stuy (now known United Nations, working in public hospitals where he was accredited. classmates, I am apparently not as the Weeksville Heritage Center), relations and development as well Leo and his wife, Gloria, have alone in this view. I promised Sid then serving as director of the Long

march/april 2010 40 columbia college today class notes

Island Historical Society in Brooklyn While it was the right choice, we in crew. That degree of interest was gratitude to Bob and Don for the before becoming reference archivist are now considering the possibility termed ‘too much’ by the dean Varsity “C” which, 57 years later, is for the NYC Municipal Archives and (need?) to move to some sort of of admissions at the College of still there. finishing up my local government retirement community. We haven’t Physicians and Surgeons.” P&S’ Donald Taylor: In 1980, Don time as the first archivist and records come to an agreement yet, and the loss was Boston University’s gain. was married for the second time, to manager for the NYC Landmarks prospect is very daunting. Wish After graduating from BU Medical Charlene. They live in Upton, Mass. Preservation Commission. us luck.” School, Bob went on to become After medical school and complet- “I retired early in 1991 to upstate It is with great sadness that we the chief resident of pathology at ing an internship at Vanderbilt, Don New York to become an antiquarian report the deaths of Gene Baraff Sloan-Kettering. Later, after work- returned to Montefiore Medical book dealer specializing in South and Frank Walwer, the results of ing at the Armed Forces Institute of Center in New York, where he com- and Central Asian books based on different automobile accidents. The Pathology, he earned his post-doc at pleted residencies in internal medi- the 7,000 titles I collected, an activity Class of ’52 sends its condolences Rockefeller University. Subsequent- cine and radiology. From 1963–66, I still pursue with great pleasure at to both families. ly, Bob spent 40 years as a professor he was associate professor of radiol- 81. Does it sound like the qualifi- in the department of pathology and ogy at Columbia Medical Center. In cations of genuine adventurer? I ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins, 1966, Don joined a private practice suspect so. How many other nearly Lew Robins where he did basic research on the in Brookline, Mass., and was assis- full-time adventurers do we have in 1221 Stratfield Rd. relationship between the body’s im- tant clinical professor of radiology this or any other class? If you don’t 53 Fairfield, CT 06825 mune mechanism and disease. He at Boston University Medical Cam- care about making much money or 53 is the author of more than 120 sci- pus. In 1977, Don opened a solo [email protected] want to take a big chance on mak- entific papers. Bob is on the board radiology practice in Chestnut Hill, ing much while doing your own My apologies to Mort Freilicher of directors of the Marine Biological Mass., and became preeminent in thing, I heartily recommend it.” and his many friends for an inad- Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., the practice of mammography until Jim Hoebel writes: “I reluctantly vertent error that appeared in the and is an adjunct senior scientist. he closed his office 25 years later, retired in 1999 from the U.S. Con- January/February issue. The CCT Talking to Bob by phone, I in 2007. Talking to Don by phone, sumer Products Safety Commis- story “The Road Less Traveled,” learned that he was the classmate I learned that he continues to be sion. I had a great job, managing the about seven alumni who chose who decided that it would be a vigorously active and reads ap- development of National Con- unusual careers, included a sec- good idea to paint a large Varsity proximately 50 digitized mammo- sumer Product Safety Standards tion that described the software I “C” on the great rock that’s oppo- grams daily. I asked Don’s opinion in the fire safety field. My work had invented to enable adults who site the boat house on the Harlem of the research reports that indicate contributed directly to the benefit of are no longer able to speak to use River. However, he enthusiastically that women in their 40s and 50s the public in an agency that took the a computer to communicate us- suggested talking to Don Fagan to only require mammograms every responsibility of balancing benefits ing only one click per word. CCT learn how they managed to use 20 two years. Along with many other and costs seriously. I am very proud reported, “Robins has been perfect- gallons of white paint to paint the breast cancer experts, Don believes of the resulting standards, including ing the system with Paul Sawyer, C. One last note: Bob is still row- that women should have annual [those for] children’s sleepwear, the law partner of Mort Freilicher ing. He only regrets that there isn’t mammograms. mattresses,­ upholstered furniture, ’53. Frelicher, who represented a rowing club in Massachusetts. William Dick: Sad to report child-resistant cigarette lighters and the astronauts during the moon Don Fagan: Don and Diane that after a courageous battle with others. Since that time, I have served landing, lost his ability to speak have been married 51 years and Parkinson’s, Bill passed away in on the Science Advisory Committee and was severely paralyzed after have three children and five grand­ November. Bill earned a master’s of the National Association of State suffering a stroke, but he still has children. They spend most of their from Oxford in 1956. However, Fire Marshals and the ASTM com- control of his left hand.” time living in Acworth, N.H., a his most important achievement mittee developing new fire safety By mistake, the article reversed quiet, friendly town of 850 people. at Oxford was meeting and mar- voluntary standards for candles. Mort and Paul’s roles. Mort did In 1976, Don founded a pharma- rying Esme Inglew. She survives My wife, Arlene, and I have enjoyed not have a stroke. He was never ceutical research company and him, as do sons Paul and Peter; and our retirement by traveling and severely paralyzed, nor did he ever was active until he retired in 2007. grandchildren Connor, Kelsey and interacting with our five children lose his ability to speak. He did not When I asked Don what was one Stephen. Amazingly, Bill was de- and nine grandchildren. Arlene was represent the astronauts during the of his most fascinating projects, he scended on his mother’s side from a high school English teacher. She moon landing. I’m extremely grate- recalled doing research to deter- the family of Hans Hansen Bergen, has been a continuing inspiration ful to Mort for having introduced mine why many older men were one of the original European settlers and strength to me and our family me to his courageous law partner, not using a certain ‘erectile dysfunc- of the colony of New Amsterdam. both in the home and in our careers. Paul, who had been unable to tion’ medication. As a result of his From 1960–98, Bill taught Latin at The recent availability of a cruise speak for 17 years after suffering a research, the company began to the Brunswick School in Green- port in Baltimore has made it much severe stroke. During the course of promote the drug to younger men! wich, Conn. He also was dean of more convenient to cruise. Our fam- my first afternoon teaching Paul to As Bob predicted, Don eagerly coordination for Brunswick and ily joined us in 2005 on a cruise to use the new technology, he pointed remembered painting the Varsity the Greenwich Academy, and Bermuda to celebrate our 50th an- to an American flag mounted in a “C” during our senior year. He developed a system that allowed niversary. And last August, we pre- picture frame that hung on a wall recalled that Bob had written to the students in the high school section sided over our first Hoebel family in his Lincoln Center apartment. New York Central Railroad, which of both schools to enroll in classes at reunion. My retirement project was Below the American flag were the owned the property, for permis- either campus. Some of Bill’s poetry to convert my extensive vinyl jazz signatures of the astronauts with sion to paint the “C” on its rock. has appeared in anthologies and record collection — accumulated by an inscription that indicated they After they received an appropri- textbooks. He wrote the following my father and myself — into CDs. brought the flag back from the ate response, he and Bob sold the for his sons. I now have the entire collection moon as their way of thanking chief of building and grounds on housed in two coupled CD players, Paul for his work as their attorney providing them with 20 gallons “For Paul and Peter” with a capacity of 800 CDs. I have during the moon landing. of white paint. After enlisting the more than 12,000 individual jazz se- Once again, I’m terribly sorry team’s rigger, “Pops” Johnson, As children grow we do not stay lections that are catalogued and can for any anguish the article may who had been a sailor in Norway, the same each swiftly-wheeling day, be dialed up quickly. The problem have caused Mort, his family, and to build a bosons chair, they got but change with them, teach and is what to do with the old 78s and many classmates and friends. 200 feet of ¾-in. manila rope. They learn, LPs. I doubt that there is much of a [Editor’s note: A corrected version hooked the bosons chair to a wire as a nervous lake inherits blue, market for old, used jazz records, of the note is available at www. at the top of the rock and began yet gives the air a silver glow nor any institution interested in a college.columbia.edu/cct.] painting the “C,” which is 60 ft. x sparkling in return. donation. Any ideas? They are now Robert Prendergast: At the time 60 ft. Before winter sent in, they gathering dust in our basement. of our 50th reunion, Bob wrote, completed about 80 percent of the We learn to cheat the end of death, “When we retired, we decided “My fondest recollections of Co- “C” and finished their work in the for whatever sphere God’s grace to stay put in Fairfax County, Va. lumbia College concern my interest spring. We all owe a huge debt of or wrath

march/april 2010 41 class notes columbia college today is pleased to send us, we shall leave Robust and Wide-Open: A Free Press for not final at this writing, but it looks would you want to be at this time two angel minds remembering a New Century, in which he argues like another home run. One part of the year? who make us demigods, and sing that while freedom of the press was of Alumni Reunion Weekend will Three months to go, guys. what trifles we achieve. a great 20th century achievement in be the affinity group segment on Love to all, everywhere! the United States, an increasingly Saturday afternoon when alumni of And more, as first they play or read global society must have robust, the choral groups (Glee Club, etc.), or love in that novel, smarting time, uninhibited and broadly friendly Spectator, WKCR and the band will Alan N. Miller we know ourselves; not displayed news media. The book makes for in- all get together (not in one room, 56 257 Central Park West, at once, but love and hate in sum, teresting and provocative discussion. however). For more on this, see Apt. 9D as no one knows the road’s high A couple of interesting lectures were “Around the Quads.” 56 New York, NY 10024 bend given recently at the Café Science At the special bimonthly class- [email protected] But the climbing traveler at the end. and Café Social Science series of talks mate dinner, we espied newcomers at the PicNic Café in the campus Peter Pressman, Stanley Zinberg Guys, when you read this, it hope- I’m sure all our classmates join neighborhood: “The Birds and the and Bob Kushner. Most of the fully will be much warmer and in saying to Esme and the family, Underwater Bees: Sex Education in group — Bob Brown, Bill Epstein, spring-like. The end of December “We’ll miss him!” [Editor’s note: Animal Societies” with behavioral Herb Cohen, Larry Balfus, Dick and first half of January were bit- An obituary is scheduled for a ecologist Dustin Rubenstein, and Kuhn, Ron Spitz, Alfred Gollomp, terly cold and snowy, not just in future issue.] “Sex and Death in the Galapagos” Mort Rennert and Don Laufer — NYC but in much of the country, with science writer Jonathan Weiner. will be at one or more of the events including Florida. I spent New There was much give and take be- in early June. As you might expect, Year’s in the north Berkshires with Howard Falberg tween the attendees and the faculty. other classmates of note (aren’t my sister and 96-year-old mother. It 54 13710 Paseo Bonita It was definitely worth the price of they all noteworthy?) will be part was well below zero with the wind Poway, CA 92064 admission. of the 55th (from near and yet so chill, windy and snowy. I spent the 54 We recently met up with the far): Chuck Garrison (upstate New next weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich., [email protected] Class of 1955 Scholarship recipient. York), Jim Berick (Cleveland), visiting my first cousin and best Come on, gentlemen. We can do For the second consecutive year, Jin Jeff Broido (California), Arnold friend since age 3 in the Bronx, who better. Please send me your news. Izawa ’10 was the recipient of our Schwartz (Connecticut) and Eliot is dying of cancer. It was just as bad. We all want to read it. class’ benevolence. Jin, who was Gross, Ezra Levin and Roland Plot- To go to another topic, I was born in Hawaii, will be working in tel (Manhattan). And the list keeps invited to the Columbia-Maine the Far East after he graduates. growing. We almost forgot Jack basketball game at home by two REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 What’s new with our class and Stuppin from Northern California, friends and poker players from Alumni Office Contacts specifically our classmates, you whose paintings will be part of the Class of ’58, Ernie Brod and Alumni Affairs Stella Miele-Zanedis ask? Joe Vales, who we last saw at a special showing at a gallery in Peter Cohn. The first half was OK, [email protected] the Society of Columbia Gradu- Chelsea in late March for classmates not great, and the second half was 212-851-7846 ates Great Teachers Award Dinner and members of the Class of 2005. a disaster. We managed to lose. Development Paul Staller last October, was ecstatic that his Donald Kuspit, a noted art critic The players were so confused and [email protected] granddaughter had been accepted and writer, will be the featured disorganized that we thought they 212-851-7494 to the College. Stanley Lubman speaker. needed more coaching. We hope Gerald Sherwin (from Berkeley) reports that The The reunion program is almost for better. 55 181 E. 73rd St., Apt. 6A Wall Street Journal recently has initi- set except for a couple of minor I recently had a long talk and New York, NY 10021 ated a blog on China, “China Real details —Thursday: class reception exchanged e-mails with Hillel To- 55 Time Report” (http://blogs.wsj. at the home of a classmate; Friday: bias, who, as a full-time surgeon, [email protected] com/chinarealtime) and that he American Museum of Natural envies us our ability to have class Not only is Dean Michele Moody- will be contributing his thoughts History Tour in the late morning lunches. Maybe he will eventu- Adams trying to meet with as many on Chinese law. Jim Hudson’s with Columbia astronomy profes- ally find time to join us. I invited College students as possible, but former floormate in John Jay sors, followed by lunch at Citrus him to work on the 55th reunion. she also is getting together with and roommate in Hartley, Frank and dinner on campus; Saturday: Hillel recently was honored as the alumni, either on campus or across Pasquinelli ’56, has been trying to Dean’s Brunch, lunch on campus, American Liver Foundation Physi- the country. In January, she made contact Jim to renew old ties and lectures/panel discussions, affinity cian of the Year at the foundation’s the West Coast swing to Los Ange- memories. From Washington, D.C., group gatherings, wine tasting, annual gala at Cipriani. Supporting les and San Francisco, where she we heard from Lew Mendelson, dinner on campus and then danc- him at the awards dinner were talked to an enthusiastic bunch of who told us that he spent the ing on Low Plaza. Other things many of his Phi Sigma Delta fra- College alumni, students (on break) end of 2009 living at the historic are being planned as you read this ternity brothers, including Robert and parents about the state of the American Colony Hotel in East column. Cabat, Munro Levitzky ’57, Myron College, her goals and her thoughts Jerusalem, consulting on a USAID Don’t forget the Columbia Col- Stein ’57 and Ira Jolles ’58. Hillel is about undergraduate education. West Bank/Gaza project with the lege Fund. Our goal is 55 percent a professor of medicine and medi- Remember the song (and movie), Palestine Capital Market Author- participation (the highest ever for a cal director of the Liver Transplant April in Athens? In late April, Deans ity in Ramallah. Lew has been in reunion class) and $275,000. We are Service at NYU Medical Center. Carol Becker (School of the Arts), touch with Gerry Pomper, who getting there! Also on a pleasant note, we con- Feniosky Peña-Mora (SEAS) and mentioned his new book, in which A sad note to report: Don Schap- gratulate Steve Easton on the birth Mark Wigley (Graduate School of he presents essays from The New pert passed away a couple of months of a fifth grandchild. He is now Architecture, Planning and Preser- York Times’ coverage of Presidential ago (see Obituaries). Close to Don one ahead of me, but two more vation) will join alumni for a visit to elections going back to the origin of were Tom Brennan, Ron McPhee, marriages and one more child. This contemporary and ancient Greece. the Times. For further information, John Naley, George Raitt, Jack marriage is working well. The experience will include special Google “Gerald M. Pomper New Freeman, Charlie Brown ’56 and I recently had several long talks access to the Acropolis and the York Times Presidential Elections.” Paul Taormina ’56. Condolences go to with Bob Long, who lives in Syra­ newly opened Acropolis Museum. All the aforementioned gentle- Don’s wife, family and friends. cuse and who has never seen so Incorporated in this breathtaking men probably will make an appear- Members of the sterling (and much snow. Bob is the author of 50 tour will be a visit to the Parthe- ance at our 55th, along with Sven sturdy) Class of 1955, the ground- books and is working on No. 51. non and the Temple of Poseidon. Johnson, who recently played a role swell is well underway. Classmates He is impressed with the number Alumni might have to write a paper in a special Toys for Tots initiative are busy signing up to be part of of classmates who are authors (up about their experiences on this tour. involving the United States Marine another record-breaking reunion. to 12). He is preparing an article There is no shortage of new books Corps League. This group involved Rest assured, there will be some- for the next CCT summarizing our being written by Columbia people. businesses, stores and service or- thing for everybody. You’ll want to class talent. [Editor’s note: CCT In fact, our own President Lee C. Bol- ganizations collecting an estimated reminisce on College Walk under profiled Long in the “Bookshelf” linger recently finished Uninhibited, 28,000 toys. The 2009 results were the stars in early June. Where else section in September 2005. Go to

march/april 2010 42 columbia college today class notes

www.college.columbia.edu/cct_ Lutz, Neil McLellan, Carlos Mu- Youth Championship ... Of course, archive/sep05.] ñoz, Steve Ronai, Mark Stanton, as soon as I arrived at JFK, my We have started planning our Ed Weinstein and himself. cell phone started ringing. Adam 55th reunion enthusiastically, since After the luncheon, Marty and Kaplan, being only 13, was an unac- our 50th was magnificent. The first George discussed George’s recent companied minor, so he couldn’t meeting will be held in my apart- trip with his wife, Eileen, trac- check in. I had to go out, get him ment, with sandwiches from the ing St. Paul’s apostolic journey to and re-enter. The next call was from Second Avenue Deli, as we did for Rome via, among other places, Owen Lien; his plane was going to the 50th. I think the food added to Damascus, Antioch, Tarsus (his be three hours late from Atlanta. the enthusiasm. We will have meet- birthplace), Colossae, Ephesus, Great! When we finally were ready ings at various places, including Philippi, Thessaloniki and Corinth. to leave JFK, we were missing five lunch at the nicely redone Faculty George brought his journal of the players. Two got in as they were House, evening meetings at the trip, and Marty brought a biblical closing the plane door. Owen got Columbia Alumni Center on West atlas with a map of the journey. Af- rerouted through Paris. The others 113th Street and at other various terward, George introduced Marty came the next day.” apartments— Ed Botwinick, please to the Onassis Cultural Center, 645 We’ll leave out the details of note. A number of the usual guys Fifth Ave., near East 52nd Street, the match, except to say that both were down in the freezing South where they saw a very good early teams won bronze medals. — could have stayed in NYC — or El Greco icon exhibit. Jim concluded, “The Turkish Class correspondent Alan Miller unavailable but said they will make The New York Times, December hospitality was exceptional. Then ’56 (right) got a tour of Buz Paas- future meetings. At one point, we 23, covered the exhibit,“The Origins after 12 long days, it was time to well ’56’s office in November. had a Reunion Committee of almost of El Greco: Icon Painting in Vene- go. Fortunately no one had lost his Paaswell recently was named 30. All are welcome to join us in this tian Crete,” which was scheduled to passport, and we all got to the air- interim president of City College. fun undertaking and offer ideas by run from November­ 17, 2009–Feb- port in plenty of time for the long whatever communication means ruary 27, 2010. According to the ride home. It was a great experi- preferred. At our first reunion Times, “this glowing show [was] ence. Everyone came home with Wednesday of every month. This meeting were Steve Easton, Lou essentially a triple-layered visual a medal, and [we’ll] try to bring happens to coincide with the post- Hemmerdinger, Alan Broadwin, essay. It rough[ed] out the complex home the gold next time.” ing of my monthly Social Security Al Franco ’56E, Ralph Kaslick, texture of a specific, cosmopolitan, A blood-testing product that checks, certainly a notable occasion Maurice Klein, Ron Kapon and East-meets-West island culture. It was pioneered by Paul Liberti, for this senior citizen. Fortunately, yours truly. [told] the story of a great artist who a physician in Naples, Fla., has working full-time, I do not have to At the great 50th, we added 10 emerged from that culture, lived received an award for “best medi- rely on this miserly sum to sustain annual scholarships to the four outside it and lasting­ly belonged cal technology” from Prix Galien me, particularly since my daughter, permanent ones we set up decades to it. And it [began] to suggest the USA, which recognizes technical, Rae (18), is in her freshman year ago. Please keep giving to the Co- variety and charisma of icons as scientific and clinical research skills at the Berklee College of Music in lumbia College Fund to keep the a genre: spiritually instrumental that lead to innovative medicines Boston. It’s hard to believe what scholarships going (www.college. the costs are compared to our day. columbia.edu/giveonline). It is I hate to think what they will be for marvelous meeting these impres- Paul Liberti ’58 received an award for “best medical my five grandkids!” sive young people annually. In its ongoing series of articles So guys and dolls, let me hear technology” from Prix Galien USA for a blood- on health care reform, The New York from you with news for CCT and Times quoted Dave Rothman’s ideas for our 55th reunion, sched- testing product he pioneered. wife, Sheila, who said “People are uled for Thursday, June 2– Sunday, being asked to think differently June 5, 2011. Don’t be bashful. about risk. The public state of mind As usual, here is wishing us all objects that lie outside and beyond and advancements. The selection right now is that they’re frightened health, happiness, longevity, and ordinary definitions of art.” committee includes seven Nobel that evidence-based medicine is a rising stock market and positive The Times reported the Web site Laureates. Paul developed the going to be equated with ration- financials overall. We continue to for the exhibit was onassisusa.org, CellSearch System, which identi- ing. They don’t see it in a scientific be hopeful for concerned children which noted that the exhibit includ- fies circulating tumor cells to pre- perspective.” Sheila is a professor and extraordinary grandchildren. ed “approximately 46 exceptional dict the progression of cancer in a of public health at Columbia. Dave Any great-grands, let me know for works from public and private patient and to determine the effec- teaches at P&S. publication. Do keep contributions collections in Greece, Europe, the tiveness of the chemotherapy. Paul The Class Lunch is held on coming to CCF for our scholarships. United States and Canada, many of created the devices and techniques the second Wednesday of every Love to all. which will be traveling for the first that made the system possible. month, in the Grill Room of the time.” He discovered that his magnetic Princeton/Columbia Club, 15 W. systems could recover cancer cells 43rd St. ($31 per person). E-mail Herman Levy when only a few per billion were Art Radin if you plan to attend, up 57 7322 Rockford Dr. Barry Dickman present in bone marrow. On this to the day before, at aradin@radin- Falls Church, VA 22043 58 25 Main St. basis, he theorized that cancer glass.com. 57 Court Plaza North, Ste 104 might be spread by means of solid [email protected] 58 Hackensack, NJ 07601 tumors shedding small numbers Raymond Federman, writer and [email protected] of cells into the blood at an early Norman Gelfand professor emeritus, died in San stage of the disease and that detect- 59 c/o CCT Diego on October 6. He entered Adding to our last note about him, ing and characterizing the cells Columbia Alumni Center with the Class of 1957 but earned Jim Sternberg sent us a copy of his could be helpful in treating cancer. 59 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 a degree in 1957 from GS. A full article from Sunshine Bridge News Paul founded a biotech company New York, NY 10025 obituary will be published at a about his trip to Turkey for the (eventually acquired by Johnson [email protected] future date, pending receipt of World Junior Championships. “It & Johnson) and tested the system information and depending upon could have been worse. I, as coach at the University of Texas Medical Stephen Joel Trachtenberg sends space considerations. for USA Blue ... along with USA School and M.D. Anderson Cancer us comments on our reunion: “I’ve Marty Fisher reports that at- Red, were meeting at JFK airport Center. just returned from our reunion and tendees at the December 8 class on our way to Istanbul, Turkey, the Morrie Amitay wrote, “I enjoy a quite splendid reunion it was, too. luncheon were Alan Brown, Ted players having previously quali- reading the Class Notes, and I just Sincere thanks and congratulations Dwyer, Sal Franchino, Dave fied in the USBF trials to play in noticed that the regular Class of to all volunteer members of the Kinne, Ron Kushner, George the World Bridge Federation World ’58 lunches are held on the second class who served on the committee

march/april 2010 43 class notes columbia college today and to the Columbia professionals academy. I have been scribbling walking up and down the dormi- students to grow and contribute who I think executed this year’s madly: two books; a year-and-a-half tory corridors with a shopping both as professionals and as indi- event better than did any of their of columns two or three times a cart laden with bread, meats and viduals in their communities. The predecessors over the past half- week for the Chronicle of Higher Edu- cheeses? When their business fell achievements of the members of the century. As soon as I got in the front cation; lecturing all over the country, off noticeably, Ta-Kome complained Class of 1959 bear witness to this. I door of my house and put down indeed all over the world; and serv- to Columbia that it was a zoning wonder if the raw talents of class- my overnight bag, I went online ing on boards in Hong Kong, Eng- violation for a food sales operation mates would have developed in to see what messages had accu- land and Madrid (and New York to take place in dormitory halls. I the same ways if they had attended mulated while I was in New York. and Washington). I also consult for also remember taking fencing with other schools where they perhaps Not surprisingly, Stanley Feld had Korn/Ferry International, serving Archie Oldham as my contact sport, might not have been challenged already written to ask for commen- as a trusted adviser to colleges and since he also was my tennis coach on quite as rigorously to think in new tary. I do not know what vitamins universities, searching for the next the freshman team.” ways. Stanley is taking but whatever they generation of institutional leader- I continue with the comments “A second personal outcome of are, I want some of them! ship: college presidents and law from Luigi Lucaccini (domani@ the reunion is the belated recogni- “Reflecting on those in at- school deans and such. It is a full pacbell.net): “Unique education: tion of how many members of the tendance, two thoughts came to plate without a lot of support staff. The reunion awakened in me Class of 1959 were not economi- mind. With notable exceptions, “For me, our 50th reunion was memories of the superior educa- cally privileged, but had to work we look healthier and younger educational in its own way and a tion that Columbia provides — a hard for their education, depend- than our parents did when they chapter in a continuing narrative function of its unique faculty and ing heavily on financial support to were 70. And I was struck at the that began in 1955 when I arrived curriculum, not to mention the obtain it.” continuing intellectual as well as in Morningside Heights after grad­ ongoing interaction with fellow John Erlich is sorry to have physical vitality that was apparent. uating from James Madison H.S. students. Somehow the excellence missed the 50th and the opportu- Whether it was the active discus- It occurred to me, as I listened to of this process had dimmed in my nity to reconnect with old friends. sion about ROTC or [Bernard] Roald Hoffman, that I had a debt consciousness during the last five He reports being reappointed as Wishy ’48, [Norman] Gelfand and to the institution, and of course, to decades. adjunct professor of social work [David] Horowitz reflecting on the professors and to you — to all “The discussion of Gandhi’s by Smith College School for Social the times we’ve lived through, we of you, from whom I learned so life led by Roosevelt Montás ’95 Work. His responsibilities include were all Columbia men, which is much during our four undergradu- was a reminder of the breadth and advising 18 M.S.W. students who to say, opinionated and slightly ate years and from some of you rigor of the Core Curriculum we are spread across the country with quarrelsome, but in a good way. who have been my friends and experienced 50-plus years ago, of a “community project” that focuses We are, of course, very different teachers ever since. We all have the range of ideas we were forced on mental health reform. Other than those who will celebrate their a debt to the future, as well. As a to confront and engage. I believe projects address health care reform 50th reunion five decades from recovering university administra- that the quality of education I ex- and gender equity. now. First of all, I didn’t see a tat- tor, I can’t resist urging those of perienced at Columbia served me From Allan Franklin: “My at- too in the crowd, nor a nose ring; you who have not yet contributed well, helping me think a little better tendance at our 50th class reunion not even an earring. And surely in to the College to do so. These are and clearer, and sensitizing me to a was the first time I had attended a the next half-century they are go- daunting times for colleges, even world of issues beyond my parochi- reunion. It was pure magic. Every- ing to discover a cure for baldness. Ivy League institutions, and these al upbringing in an Italian Catholic thing about the four days was mar- They have already found a way of schools particularly need discre- tradition in a small California town. velous. It was great to see people I dealing with gray hair, but interest- tionary funds that they can use “Although I entered as a member hadn’t seen in 50 years and catch up ingly, I don’t believe very many of like the fingers of little Dutch boys of the Class of 1959, I did not gradu- on how their lives had gone. It was our colleagues took advantage of to fill holes in dikes. I thought the ate with the class. After struggling quite important and even moving the cosmetic option. I didn’t spot College was particularly gracious for three years as a chemistry/ to talk with people who were very much plastic surgery, either — a in not hammering us with this chemical engineering major (there important to me at a very important choice I have, I confess, flirted with subject, but I am under no such were no Nobel prizes in my future, time of my life. I don’t think I heard for myself from time to time. diplomatic restraints. Give a little nor did work operating a New an unkind word during the four “Our world seems to have now and more in your estate plan- Jersey soap factory beckon), the days. I am looking forward to the broken down into two groups: ning. administration gently but firmly 55th reunion. those who have retired — some “Take care of yourselves, and I suggested that I take some time off “I teach at the University of successfully, some less so — and will do likewise. Take your meds. to determine what my true voca- Colorado. My big plans for [2010] those continuing to work — some Eat with care. Drink less. Exercise. tion was. are a 2,000-mile bike ride from successfully, some less so. People I’d love the pleasure of seeing you “I returned to California, found Brainerd, Minn., to Bar Harbor, asked me how I was enjoying in five years, at our 55th reunion, work as a chemist and quickly Maine. It is one-half of a Sea-to- retirement. I replied that I hadn’t and five years hence at our 60th verified that my interests lay Shining Sea ride.” retired. I had, after 38 years as a reunion, but I have no ambition to elsewhere. Rather than return- M.J. Tannenbaum had quite a university administrator — dean, be the last man standing. It is qual- ing to Columbia, I transferred to Thanksgiving. He was a guest at v.p. and president — given up ad- ity of life we seek, not length. Our UCLA and pursued a career in the the ceremony for the awarding of ministration and taken advantage lives have been informed by the then-new field of human factors the Ettore Majorana-Erice-Science of my tenured professorship to time we spent in Hamilton Hall. engineering-ergonomics. I ended for Peace Prize on November 25 at assume an academic chair at [The] Let’s cherish it and each other and up with a Ph.D. in engineering the Pontifical Academy of Sciences George Washington University. I make it possible for generations psychology and worked some 32 in The Vatican, and presented a reinvented myself. yet to come. And for mercy’s sake, years for the U.S. Public Health short talk on “Fundamental Sci- “My wife had prompted me in buy my book, Big Man on Campus: Service in San Francisco, first as ence and Improvement of the this direction, pointing out that A University President Speaks Out on a research scientist and then as a Quality of Life — Space Quanti- being a university president is a Higher Education. You can reach me program manager, all the while zation to MRI” at the following high wire act, all the more so in at [email protected]. Hugs to teaching business and manage- discussion on “Why Science is these daunting economic times, you all.” ment part-time at local colleges Needed for the Culture of the and underscoring the fact that we From Robin Motz: “When Paul and universities. Along the way Third Millennium.” The talk is lived in Washington. She thought Winick was my roommate in Liv- I got an M.B.A., which proved posted at www.phenix.bnl.gov/ I ought to give it up before I got ingston, the late Robert Nozick, who valuable as an administrator and a WWW/publish/sapin/confer indicted! spoke memorably at our 25th class teacher. I like to think that my time ences/EricePrizeVatican/. “Strangely, I find that in some reunion, was our connecting-door at Columbia taught me the value of “By the way, the 12-minute talk ways I am working harder now. roommate, and we had fascinating, an education and how to get one. went over very well,” said M.J. “To Teaching is more daunting than I all-night bull sessions. And does “Bottom line: For me, the 50th be clear: I wasn’t a prize winner, had given it credit for being, not anyone remember Brian Ardizone, reunion is a reminder of the unique only a guest (of Nino Zichichi). In withstanding all of my years in the who competed with Ta-Kome by opportunity that Columbia offers fact there were six prizes awarded.”

march/april 2010 44 columbia college today class notes

M.J. later had dinner at the Yale Universally, the name “Hiro- at Smith College, Karl Donfried have an attribution. Club in New York. shima” evokes an ineradicable was awarded one of 20 annual One classmate submitted several Eric Jakobsson wrote to us from set of images framed in a horrific Mellon Foundation Emeritus Fel- suggested additions to the ques- Champaign-Urbana: “ ‘Hold fast fragment of time — August 6, lowships. Karl will use the grant tionnaire. The sequential response to the spirit of youth, let years to 1945. The Potsdam Declaration to study “Paul, Judaism and the options to each question end with a come do what they may.’—In- was issued on July 26, calling for Roman Empire,” visiting sites in the humorous yet revealing possibility. scribed on a mantelpiece, John Jay Japan’s unconditional surrender, near East, including a synagogue The pattern is established in this, Hall, Columbia University. and having been immediately and recently discovered during an ar- his first question: “Since graduating “ ‘Nothing in biology makes publicly rejected, the response chaeological excavation in Magdala from Columbia, I still have all my sense except in the light of evolu- followed swiftly. On August 6, the on the Galilee Sea. This first-century hair, I have lost some of my hair, I tion.’ ” —Theodosius Dobzhansky. B-29 Enola Gay released a uranium synagogue from the Second Temple have lost most of my hair, I am not “Not a whole lot to add for the bomb over the city. The result was period contains the oldest-known bald, I just have a very wide part.” last six months. I officially retired devastating: bodies incinerated engraving in stone of a menorah. Now this is more than just a in August, but still am active in and scarred; countless lives lost, As part of his work, Karl will lead a humorous confection. It is an science. After a bit of soul search- maimed, forever changed; a city Society of Biblical Literature tour of acknowledgment that time in its ing, I decided to be one of those leveled and in ruin. Hiroshima, Syria and southeast Turkey. passage may not have dealt kindly old professors who does not leave it was estimated, would be unin- In the ’60s, the Chiffons’ “Sweet with our once luxuriant manes but just fades away, so I am redou- habitable for 70 years. With these Talkin’Guy” hit the top of the charts, (and by extrapolation, with some bling my scientific efforts. I have imbedded images, Bill stepped into and its tight harmony and catchy of our vital organs) and seeks to several papers in the pipeline, am a new and astonishing reality. tune were heard on every jukebox elicit what percentage of our num- planning a couple of grant propos- “I stepped off the ‘Shinkasen’ and radio station where disc jockeys ber make the best of things by tak- als and will travel in the next few bullet train and viewed a flourish- played top 10 hits. Doug Morris, ing refuge and finding comfort in months to both the East and West ing city filled with high-rise office who co-wrote the music and lyrics, denial. Furthermore, it is a quintes- coasts as well as to India to speak buildings, schools, parks, street launched his stellar career as a song- sential Columbia question, as it has and give papers.” cars, bridges, businesses, restau- writer and producer of hit records. its roots in classical philosophy. It Reunion speaker David Rosand rants, traffic, ferry boats and mu- He proceeded to found his own echoes the sorites paradoxes that is to be honored on Wednesday, seums. This was my new reality. record label which, in 1978, was arise where an indeterminate reso- March 3, with a John Jay Award August 6, 1945 is history. acquired by Atlantic Records. Two lution results from the lack of clear for distinguished professional “At the Peace Park, a Japanese years later, he was named president boundaries in cases of incremental achievement. woman approached and asked of Atlantic. Doug went on to be change. Eubulides of Miletus, the Gil Wright has completed the whether she could tell the story of appointed president and COO of fourth-century B.C. philosopher, monumental task of identifing the attained prominence (for a time) people in the class photo taken on for the construction of seven para- the steps of Low Library during Karl Donfried ’60 was awarded an annual Mellon doxes, one of which, The Bald Man the reunion. Obviously not all of us paradox, or falakros, is recorded were present for the picture. I will Foundation Emeritus Fellowship. this way: A man with a full head include in the group picture, via of hair is not bald. The removal of Photshop, the picture of anyone a single hair will not make him so. who wishes to send me a picture her mother, a survivor of August 6. Warner Music, and in 1995, chair- Nor will the removal of two hairs of himself. If I have your e-mail I said ‘yes.’ For 25 minutes, she told man and CEO of Universal Music or three, etc., etc., and so forth. Yet address, I will send a copy of the the story of her mother and showed Group which, under his direction, the continuation of this process modified picture along with the me photos and drawings related evolved from a record company into must eventually result in baldness. identifications. Since it is agreed to that historic day. There was no the largest multifaceted music enter- But where do you draw the line? that no one has changed the way animosity in her voice. After she fin- tainment company in the world. Now, almost three millennia after we looked since 1959, the picture ished, I visited the Peace Museum, On January 30, the evening Eubulides propounded the falak- should be a good test of your which is visited by approximately preceding the annual Grammy ros, one of our classmates submits memory. Send me a picture and eight million Japanese a year. Some Awards, the Recording Academy’s that the paradox can be resolved something for Class Notes. of the exhibits are emotionally dif- Pre-Grammy Gala honored Doug not by drawing a line but by end- ficult to view — shredded clothing, by presenting him the President’s lessly widening the part. photos of survivors and the city’s Merit Award, in recognition of Nathan Gross writes that he REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 destruction, and stories by survi- his singular contributions to the much enjoyed the survey, applaud- Alumni Office Contacts vors. From the time of its defeat, industry. The academy president, ing its raising of useful questions. Alumni Affairs Kimberly Peterson Japan changed historically. The em- in presenting the award, gave this He offers “a minor observation” [email protected] peror abdicated his absolute power salute to Doug: “We are humbled about Question 18, concerning the 212-851-7872 and today is merely a figurehead. to honor another music industry net worth of our families at the Development Paul Staller With that change, a new view of life great in Doug Morris, who has had time we attended Columbia, sug- [email protected] emanated from the people, bringing a profound impact on the music gesting that the choice of responses 212-851-7494 their creativity and industry into the business throughout his dynamic probably is not compatible with forefront of the world.” and rich career. With his creative economic realities of the 1950s or Bill’s photographs are mesmeriz- vision and digital strategies, he the socio-economic roots of a broad ing: Hiroshima illuminated at night, continues to explore and shape spectrum of the class. Whereas the rivaling the brilliance and night- innovative new ways to bring response options begin with “less Robert A. Machleder scapes of Paris and New York. great artists and their music to fans than $1 million,” followed by a 69-37 Fleet St. The people of Japan began re- around the globe while being a set of calibrated options between Forest Hills, NY 11375 building Hiroshima into a major staunch advocate of artists’ rights.” $1 million and $20 million, and [email protected] metropolis in the mid-’50s, and the Congratulations, Doug. concludes with, “in excess of $20 city was reborn as a “peace memo- The class survey was distributed million,” Nathan proposes a lad- Bill Tanenbaum reports on a three- rial city” dedicated to the sanctity in November. Within weeks, 77 der of possibilities that ascend week summer visit to Japan, the of human life, personal dignity and responses had been received by the from a starting point of “under second he’s made in four years. the opportunity to live in tranquil- Alumni Office, where the results are $10,000.” Nathan comments that This trip took him to Tokyo, Nikko, ity. Today’s Hiroshima stands as a being tabulated. By now, that num- “in the Spectator crowd [Nathan Kamakura, Miyajima, Hiroshima, striking tribute to human resiliency ber undoubtedly is much larger. having been managing editor on Himeji, Kitakyushu and Beppu. and determination. A few comments regarding the the managing board our senior “My day in Hiroshima,” Bill writes, Two years retired as the Elizabeth survey: As the surveys were and year], no one had parents earning, “became the most vivid one of the A. Woodson Professor Emeritus are being returned anonymously, I’d guess, more than $25,000, and entire trip.” of Religion and Biblical Literature only two (the last being my own) that was a lot of money in those

march/april 2010 45 class notes columbia college today days for a family of four living truth test that they had not. So ev- Michael Hausig passing of three classmates in the modestly in a rented apartment on ery negative answer to the test can 61 19418 Encino Summit past few months: Dan Blanchard the Lower East Side or in Brooklyn be taken at face value as true, and San Antonio, TX 78259 died on May 25, 2009, in Oklahoma or the Bronx. I’d guess that very the surveys of those so answering 61 City; Kenneth Fuld passed away [email protected] few classmates who had attended can be disregarded. The problem on August 19, 2009, in New York public high schools in the city went with the truth test arises where This is a second reminder for our City; and Barry Seigel passed home to parents who were not the respondent has not answered 50th reunion, which will take place away in Port Washington, N.Y., on shopkeepers, professionals with the survey honestly but responds Wednesday, June 1–Sunday, June 5, November 9, 2009. relatively modest incomes and to the truth test that he has. His 2011. A committee is planning the local practices (dentists, doctors), statement, of course, is false; yet at event with the help of the Alumni civil servants ... .” the same time it is true for being Office. Anyone interested in helping John Freidin Not to put too fine a point on it, consistent with the fact that all his should contact either Tony Adler 62 1020 Town Line Rd. but I would supplement Nathan’s responses to the survey are false. ([email protected]) Charlotte, VT 05445 observation by noting that our par- However he answers the truth or Burtt Ehrlich (burtt@ bloomberg. 62 [email protected] ents had lived through the Great test, his response is both true and com) with their ideas. Depression and rationing of com- false. Surely his survey responses Don Miller was inducted into Retired or not, Crawford Kilian modities during WWII, were in should be disregarded; but then Mercer County Hall of Fame along continues to be extremely produc- their 40s when we entered college, all the survey responses to which with 10 others on January 23 at its tive. Retirement, he writes from probably still a handspring away respondents asserted they had an- banquet at The Radisson Hotel, Vancouver, is not for the faint of from the apex of their careers. Dad swered the questions honestly are near West Middlesex, Pa. The event heart. “It’s busier than college was probably the sole breadwin- placed in doubt and might have marks the 63rd annual year of oper- teaching ever was. In the last ner, as women in the workforce to be disregarded unless we can ation for the oldest local hall of fame year, I’ve published two books: were fewer in number and at the distinguish the identical responses in the world. Since its formation, the second edition of Go Do Some bottom of the pay scale. And it of those who were honest from 463 athletic greats or contributors Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of would be decades before our na- those who were not. There being to sports in Mercer County have British Columbia, and the fourth tion began minting battalions of no evidence extrinsic to the survey been enshrined. This year’s class edition of Writing for the Web.” His millionaires, many of them not out responses themselves to evaluate included a range of former stand- most recent book was published of their 20s. the responses, and there being no outs encompassing football, men’s this fall: Sell Your Nonfiction Book, I was intrigued by the final sur- way to assign a consistent truth and women’s basketball, wrestling, which emphasizes using the Web vey question: “Have you answered value to the question, there is no track, cross country and golf. at all stages of writing, marketing these questions honestly?” For way to tell. Lanny Frattare, former voice of and promoting a book. In addi- those who will be tabulating the Faced with this conundrum, the the Pittsburgh Pirates and longtime tion, Crawford continues to be a survey responses, this “truth test” survey tabulators are constrained friend of the Hall of Fame, served part-time contributing editor at The poses an unintended dilemma (or to decide whether to accept as true, as master of ceremonies. Former Tyee, a Vancouver online maga- was it intended after all?). or reject as potentially tainted, all Pittsburgh Steelers star Edmund zine. In this role, he is involved in Logicians and philosophers of the responses they’ve received. Nelson, a team announcer, was one everything from writing articles to have wrestled with this and similar The solution is simple. The of the speakers. The inductees were editing and maintaining a long list questions since antiquity. Socrates tabulators are best advised to dis- presented special awards on Janu- of British Columbia blogs. posed the paradox as follows: miss this commentary as if it had ary 22 at a private icebreaker with Despite all this activity, Crawford “This sentence is false.” Being self- not been written, to proceed with hall directors at The Radisson. For and his wife, Alice, have squeezed referential, the statement is both their task of sketching a portrait the first time, former inductees were in trips to Ottawa to visit their true and false. If it is true that “the of the Class of ’60 from all the invited to meet the new inductees. daughter and son-in-law, to the cen- sentence is false,” then the asser- received responses, and to urge Don’s team completed an unbeat­ tral coast of British Columbia and tion of falsity is also false because members of the class to fill this en season in the most competitive most recently to the Yukon, where what it says about the condition of correspondent’s e-mailbox with high school football class in Pennsyl- the fall colors were astounding. the sentence is, in fact, true, where- matters relevant to their lives and vania, and then Don was a lineman Crawford is in touch with Michael as consistency requires that the as- personal interests so that he has at Columbia. Butler and Christopher Trumbo sertion itself should be false (which not the time, nor space, nor an George Gehrman has signed an ’64, and recently “ran into” Michael is to say, the sentence would read: excuse, to engage in such flights of agreement to work under contract Shapiro and Richard Beeson ’59 “This sentence is true.”). Stay with sophistry in the future. for the State Department with the (aka Richard Johnson) on Facebook. me, as this will become even more With this subtle hint, I urge you Nonproliferation and Disarma- Everyone, says Crawford, seems to opaque as you read on; and now all to write and help me fill this col- ment Fund Program Office, helping be thriving. Hope that’s true of ev- Eubulides makes a reappearance. umn with interesting and pertinent with contracting efforts. He will be eryone in the Class of ’62. The most famous of the seven information, and I bid you good located at the main State Depart- John Boatner is equally produc- paradoxes for which Eubulides health in this, the year of our 50th. ment building not far from Alex tive, churning out CDs and DVDs is credited is the Liar Paradox, Speaking of Alumni Reunion Liebowitz, who is also at the State constantly. His older son, John, or pseudomenon. “A man says Weekend, it is right around the cor- Department. Jr., is a social worker in New York he is lying. Is what he says true ner, Thursday, June 3-Sunday, June George and his wife, Sharon, City, and his younger son, William, or false?” In the case of the class 6. Bob Berne will host a reception were in Florida in January and is successfully involved in the food survey, a respondent says that he at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Cen- visited with Pete Giovine and Bob service business in Memphis. Wil- has not answered the questions ter on Thursday night after a picnic Johnson ’63. liam also sings his dad’s composi- honestly (heavens forefend). If he and various tours. On Friday, there On November 30, The National tions in concert and on recordings. has not answered the questions will be several lectures, a class Arts Club hosted a “Mad for Plaid” A pretty sweet family scenario, I’d honestly, and responds that he has lunch and a Bridge Panel with evening inspired by the book, say. Last June 14, a choir at Saint not, his answer to the truth test members of the class of 2010. The Tartan: Romancing the Plaid, co- Francis of Assisi Catholic Church (being truthful) is not consistent day will conclude with a cocktail authored by Doria de La Chapelle in Cordova, Tenn., performed with his confession of falsity; thus, reception featuring Nathan Gross (wife of Phillipe de La Chapelle) John’s Mass for Unison Voices and the response to the truth test be- at the piano. Saturday night will be and Jeffery Banks. At the half cos- Easter Cantata for an Unbeliever. The ing both true and false at the same our big dinner in Low Library, fol- tume party, half informal fashion DVD of this concert is available at time, the test, it might be argued, lowed by a champagne toast and show, both authors discussed their www.johnboatnermusic.com. is negated and of no value. But, dancing under the stars on Low book and how plaid has become Larry William (larry.wm@gmail. no, the test actually proves use- Steps. Your classmates truly hope the most celebrated pattern in the com) seems equally busy. For the ful in this instance. Those who you can make it to this wonderful world. A portion of the proceeds past several years, Larry has been responded to the survey honestly event to catch up with old friends was donated to the NAC Façade a member of the Board of Directors would not be inclined to change and make new ones. Restoration Fund. of the Fistula Foundation, a charity that pattern by responding to the I received notification on the that raises awareness of, and fund-

march/april 2010 46 columbia college today class notes

ing for, obstetric fistula repair, pre- Roger Staubach would have been (Mass.) Daily News. Titled “Inside/ eldest, works in the real estate divi- vention and educational programs a better choice. Bill’s daughter, Outside,” the column focuses on the sion of the Schubert Organization. worldwide. Recently, the documen- Maggie, is a member of the Class environment and the outdoors of And Samantha, adopted from an tary film A Walk to Beautiful, which of 2013. His son, Jim ’04, ’08 SIPA, the North Quabbin Region, where orphanage in Guangzhou, China, is the Fistula Foundation sponsored was a member of the football team. Allen has lived since 1973, but he pursing her A.A. at Sussex County to increase awareness about this Phil Lebovitz recently completed writes about anything he wants. Community College. problem, was featured on NOVA, a term as president of the Ameri- Dick Schwartz checks in: Dick recently founded a men- and subsequently won an Emmy. can College of Psychoanalysts, an “Through the years, I have been toring company in Connecticut. You may learn more about fistula at honorary organization for psycho- in touch with many Columbians, He is developing projects for www.fistulafoundation.org, where analysts who also are psychiatrists and kudos to you who have in- entrepreneurs in the media, health you can also see photos Larry has and who have demonstrated out- spired me. Particularly, I want to care and illustrative arts areas. taken while working on this initia- standing achievement during their thank Stan Lupkin, who helped “I love getting involved in the tive in Africa. He does lots of pho- careers. Phil presented a paper on me through a nasty divorce. It everyday ops of each client. At tography, traveling and activities “Houses as Self-Portraits: Architects was your advice, Stan, that led heart, I am a salesman with lots with his grandchildren. Recently, Who Design Their Own Homes” to me to a New York Bar Association of enthusiasm. In addition to ba- they took a pack trip on mules and a conference on creativity. He prac- program that guided me through sic Web design, we do blogging, horses to a remote part of the Sierra tices full-time and supervises psy- stormy waters. Mike Charney Twittering, create Facebook pages Mountains north of Yosemite in choanalytic and psychiatric trainees. and I got back in touch when I and use YouTube to penetrate California. At home, Larry cooks, Bernie Patten writes that some relocated to the West Coast in the the ‘cloud’ for our clients. These reads, gardens and is completing a years ago, Ethel ’63 Barnard, his late ’60s. We often played tennis tough economic times create memoir of his 329 days as an Army wife of 45 years, took a course near his peninsula home, where his many opportunities for those doctor in Vietnam. at Rice on how to construct a gracious wife and boys entertained with savvy and guts to incubate, Dr. Frank Grady (M.D. and hurricane-proof home. After Ethel me. Paul Alter, thanks to you and nurture and bring projects to frui- Ph.D.) lives in Lake Jackson, Texas, completed the class, she and Bernie your lovely wife for having us over tion. And that’s what we do best. and is moderately active. He says hired the architect who taught the to your place on Park Avenue and One of our clients is Mort Walker, he has little to report, but “if you class to supervise the construction for the opportunity to rub elbows the cartoonist and creator of really need it, my eldest son is in of a home for them on the Galves- again (after our Arizona hotel Beetle Bailey, who is read in more his second year of eye residency ton coast. Last September, the great days) with John Modell, Richard than 1,800 daily newspapers. in New York (having graduated storm Ike briefly visited them. Ike Kobrin and Armand Bartos, who We’re developing his Best of Times from law school), my second and destroyed the home to their right inspired me to play Bay Area ten- Magazine here in Fairfield County third sons both graduated from and the one to their left, the one in nis and especially doubles with with the intention of bringing on law school this year (the third at 21) back of them and the beach in front some U.S. Open champs. Finally, board associate publishers in as and my daughter is in college, pre- of them, but their home was un- I’d like to thank Jerry Speyer and many as 100 American, Canadian veterinary. My wife, Donna, and I scathed. They call it Callie’s Cove, his charming lady, Katherine and Scandinavian cities. See us at travel often. We were in Turkey in after their first granddaughter, and Farley, for entertaining us regally www.thebestoftimes.us.” January 2009, then Mexico City in it is indeed hurricane-proof. As a at their home. What a pleasure to Dick would love to hear from March, England in May and Ireland reward, Bernie and Ethel let the give a bear hug to Sandy Green- you at [email protected]. in July. I’m trying to run a full-time architect and his family stay in the berg, who looks great and is as Please write to tell us what is ophthalmology practice with no home for a week. upbeat as ever.” happening in your world. intention of retiring but looking On the book scene, Bernie’s lat- December 2009 was the 20th an- forward to my son joining me.” est, The Logic of Alice: Clear Thinking niversary of the passing of Dick’s Bob Glassman, a professor of in Wonderland, was published after older brother, Dr. Gabe Schwartz Paul Neshamkin psychology at Lake Forest College a two-year delay by Prometheus. ’62 P&S (via Princeton), who died 1015 Washington St., Apt. 50 and specialist in neuroscience, mod- His only commercially successful from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Gabe 63 Hoboken, NJ 07030 estly writes that he recently did a book, Truth, Knowledge, or Just Plain wrote more than 100 research 63 [email protected] couple of posters for the annual fall Bull: How To Tell the Difference: A papers on immunology, internal meeting of the Society for Neurosci- Handbook of Practical Logic and Clear medicine and renal physiology. He The small e-mail discussion list ence in Chicago. In fact, he has done Thinking, has been translated into left his mark on all who knew him that has grown from the attendees at least 20 and has written countless Chinese and Korean and, Bernie — soft-spoken, a pool shark and of our various class lunches had professional papers, especially in assures us, is helping correct this nicknamed “the Chaz” at Princ- a flurry of communication after the field of working memory, about country’s balance of payment eton’s Hillel! “At his funeral in I recently wished them a Happy which I assume we all have a grow- deficit. Tap dancing, Bernie writes, Chicago,” Dick writes, “I was sur- New Year (which I now extend ing interest! You may reach Bob at “continues to be my passion and prised to learn of Gabe’s gridiron belatedly to all of you). I had asked [email protected]. recently, due to the death of the genius and the reverence in which for news or resolutions, and among Daniel Fife has become a grand- other male dancer in the group the Chicago Bears team held him. the exchange of greetings from father. (death cancels all appointments), I They called him ‘Dr. Gabe.’ Using more than 20 of your classmates, Once again, the extraordinary have become the best male tapper Apple Computer technology, he I received the following: Joe Ap- talents and character of Bill Camp- in the Silver Star Tappers. We have had been able to signal Mike Ditka plebaum resolved “to stay in close bell have been widely recognized. been featured on CNN several of their opponents’ plays. During touch with my friends and col- In an article, “From Morningside times, but I haven’t seen the show Gabe’s bout with ALS in the mid- leagues.” Harvey Schneier wrote Heights to Silicon Valley,” The New because I don’t watch TV. Tap ’80s, Iron Mike rolled up the best that one of his resolutions was “to York Times of September 6 wrote dancing is an art form so deep, no win-loss record of any coach of his work less hard so I can attend the that Bill, chairman of Intuit (and one masters it, but we keep trying. era!” class luncheons regularly. Now chairman of the Board of Trustees “This has been a good year for Through Facebook, Dick has that my twins (son at Quinnipiac, at Columbia) and a guru to other collecting trophies at music festi- been in touch with Charlie Mor- daughter at George Washington) corporations, has become a shin- vals. So far, I have received five, row, George Graff, Marty Erdheim, are one semester away from finish- ing beacon for the possibilities including a first place at the Jazz Alan Harris, Bob Kaminsky, Bob ing college, I’ll have less financial of life after shoulder pads. The Festival for my version of ‘Blues Dobrish, Dave Saland, Mike incentive to keep working this hard. National Football Foundation and in the Night.’ The secret is simple: Stone and John Freidin. “It’s What’s retirement like, guys?” College Football Hall of Fame has Play from the heart. The judges great sharing our life experiences, Which prompts me to ask all of named what is popularly known are just too bored with technically milestones and photos,” Dick says. you, “What’s your retirement like?” as the academic Heisman in Bill’s correct but essentially soulless per- His daughter, Maya, recently Not that I think I’ll ever be able to honor. The annual scholar-athlete formances.” graduated from Brooklyn College, retire, but this seems like a good prize will be renamed the William Allen Young, who enjoys retire- is pursing a master’s in education time to warn your working class- Campbell Award. In Bill’s typically ment, writes a weekly column for at Hunter College and talks about mates of what’s in store. Please send modest way, he told the Times that his former employer, the Athol getting a Ph.D. Daniela, Dick’s me a note and let us all know how

march/april 2010 47 class notes columbia college today retirement is treating you. what you are up to, how you’re applicants. “I very much enjoy Switzerland and Bosnia (before David Alpern writes, “In the doing and what’s next. working with these talented young working for USAID). last week of ’09, a contractor began people,” Barry writes, “and I know “One of the areas I work in is excavating for expansion and re- that the admissions officers have a intellectual property rights. At the modeling of the little ranch house Norman Olch job I don’t envy.” beginning of November, I spoke at a in Sag Harbor on Long Island that 233 Broadway Jonathan Cole, the John Mitch- conference of the World Intellectual I bought more than 30 years ago. 64 New York, NY 10279 ell Mason Professor of the Univer- Property Organization, where I was Lots of memorabilia tossed out, but 64 sity, Provost Emeritus and Dean pleased to see Geoffrey Onyeama [email protected] a great new home coming for me Emeritus of Faculties, has written ’77. Geoffrey recently was promoted and the Mrs.” A new year is underway, and I am The Great American University: Its to deputy director general, Sector Bill Goebel shared that he happy to report that the informal Rise to Preeminence, Its Indispens- for Development, one of WIPO’s “received a nice, handwritten note class lunches at the Columbia able National Role, Why It Must be new senior management team of from coach Joe Jones thanking me Club in Manhattan on the second Protected. seven. for my support to the Columbia Thursday of the month continue. Send news. Your classmates “I try to keep up with classmates basketball team. I am not a major Mark Zucker spent his sabbatical want to hear from you. (Brian Fix is one) as well as friends contributor, but I really appreci- from LSU (Baton Rouge, La.) in New from other classes. It will be nice to ated the gesture from him, along York City. Mark teaches art history; see familiar faces at our 45th reunion. REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 with a New Year’s greeting card his specialty is the Renaissance. For I was told the other day about a re- Alumni Office Contacts from the athletics director. It is many years he has taught a summer union at Dartmouth where, after the Alumni Affairs Stella Miele-Zanedis great to see that Columbia, at least session in Innsbruck, Austria. first five minutes, an announcement [email protected] regarding the Athletics Depart- Harvey Weiss lives in Short Hills, was made that from that time on, 212-851-7846 ment, is attempting to reach out to N.J., where he is an independent no discussion was to be allowed on Development Heather Hunte its alumni. It is a welcome change computer consultant. He has three illnesses, grandchildren and travel. [email protected] that I hope continues.” Henry grown sons and three grandchildren. I promise to have other matters to 212-851-7957 Black seconded this sentiment, and Marty Isserlis has gone south discuss (although I must admit that writes, “I, too, am pleased that the from New York with his wife, Judy, Leonard B. Pack if anyone asks, I will tell them that Athletics Department reached out for a month of sunshine in Naples, 65 924 West End Ave. my first grandchild, Adam Michael, and sent personal notes and cards Fla. New York, NY 10025 was born last December 18). at Christmastime and that there is Alan Tobias arrived at a recent 65 “I can be reached at caschwartz [email protected] some tangible evidence that we are lunch and reported that he is study- [email protected].” improving across the board.” ing Moshe Isserlis, one of Marty’s Like the newly popular vampires, Steve Steinig also wrote. He Lee Lowenfishwrites, “My rabbinical ancestors. my thirst (in my case the news) is begins with a warning about the first book, The Imperfect Diamond: Columbia’s plans to expand never slaked. One gambit I have risks of making any contact with a History of Baseball’s Labor Wars, north of 125th Street suffered a been using lately is to ask 1965ers your hungry class correspondent: comes out in a third updated edi- setback when an appellate court whether they have been in contact “I called Leonard recently on an tion in the spring from University ruled 3–2 that the State of New with classmates. Richard Kagan, a unrelated matter, and the next thing of Nebraska Press. On January 22, York could not use the state’s emi- professor in the history department I knew, I had promised him an I received an award from the New nent domain authority to condemn at The Johns Hopkins University e-mail suitable for publication in York Pro Baseball Scouts Hot Stove private land in order to turn the in Baltimore, sent the following: “I Class Notes. Leonard, thank you for League for meritorious service land over to the University. A fur- have not seen, spoken to or been in your dedication and persistence to to the national pastime. Really hon- ther appeal by the state is expected. contact with classmates for many bringing us news of one another for ored by that.” Steve Case, a University trustee, years. Odd. I guess that my major so many years. Phil Satow’s daughter, Julie ’96, was on hand at lunch to explain news is the publication, in October, “Family being the biggest source was married last May. Her hus- (and bemoan) the ruling. of my most recent book, Clio and of pleasure and meaning in my life, band, Stuart, is the editor-in-chief After retiring from a law practice the Crown: The Politics of History in I’ll start there. We have four grand- and a principal at The Real Deal, a a few years ago, Danny Schechter Medieval and Early Modern Spain. children and get to see them often successful real estate publication. gave up his Manhattan apartment This semester, I have been a visit- — two in Baltimore (3 and 6) and Frank Sypher’s latest book, a to live in Dutchess County, N.Y. ing professor at the University of two in Chappaqua, N.Y. (7 and 11). bicentennial history of St. James’ While it is cold in the winter, Danny Barcelona. I am writing from Bar- My wife, Renee ’67 Barnard, spends Church, New York, is in produc- extols the “joys of a warm fire- celona but am scheduled, weather most of her time doing genealogy tion, for publication in the spring: place.” Danny’s son, Matthew ’93, permitting, to return to Baltimore (primarily as a volunteer but also St. James’ Church in the City of New joined us for lunch in January. tomorrow. I expect to again be in professionally) and the time that’s York, 1810–2010. Steve Rodner’s law firm has Spain during the fall semester, but left over as a leader in our syna- Recent Class of ’63 lunches have relocated closer to the Columbia in Madrid rather than Barcelona.” gogue community and in the local been well-attended. At the Decem­- Club in Manhattan. He plans to at- Richard’s e-mail address is library system; dinner time is allot- ber lunch, a particularly happy tend the class lunch more often. [email protected]. ted to me. If you knew Renee when group of 10 of us toasted the holi- Fred Kantor is a regular at the Charlie Schwartz sent the fol- we were dating at Columbia, you days and exchanged news. On class lunch. lowing: “In the 45th year since our would recognize her still because a more sobering note, Dan Perl My wife, Jacqueline, and I had graduation, I thought it was time she’s barely changed during the 42 updated the group on his recent dinner at a Turkish restaurant in to send you a note about me, and years we’ve been married. work on traumatic brain injury in Manhattan with Ivan Weissman about meeting a fellow alumnus “I returned to full-time work in the NFL. and his wife, Jane, and Gil Kahn (albeit from the Class of ’77). 2006, after five part-time years, as These are usually interesting and his wife, Bernice. I’ve learned “I am with the United States New York Life’s chief actuary. Eigh- and fun get-togethers. During the a lot about Turkey in the last few Agency for International Develop- teen months later, as scheduled, I past year, we’ve averaged more years from Beril Lapson, who often ment (USAID) in Washington, officially retired but immediately re- than eight classmates in attendance travels there on business and then D.C., where I have been for the last turned to part-time as a consultant. at these monthly events. I hope regales us with tales at the class 10 years and where I am senior Currently, I’m in the office two days that even more of you will try to lunch. commercial law reform adviser. a week. My 45th anniversary work- make the next Class of ’63 lunch, Barry Bley writes that since My work involves designing and ing for New York Life coincides scheduled for Thursday, March his retirement he has been active implementing projects for reform of with our 45th reunion this June, 11 (and then on Thursday, April with the Alumni Representative commercial laws and institutions in which accounts for the flexibility 8). Check our Web site at www. Committee, interviewing high developing countries worldwide. I’ve had in tailoring my hours to cc63ers.com for details and to re- school seniors in the Denver area This has taken me to Eastern my desires. Last winter, I took the view pictures of past gatherings to who have applied for admission to Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, the three-session Mini-Core Course see if you can spot an old friend. the College. In the past two years, Middle East and the Caribbean, and offered to alumni in New York City. In the meantime, let us know he has interviewed more than 80 I have lived and worked in Israel, We read Oedipus the King, Augus-

march/april 2010 48 columbia college today class notes

Joseph Goldstein ’65: A Radically Examined Mind

B y Jo s h u a Su m m e r s ’97

n the more than four de- ness meditation” when speak- Anagarika Munindra, a quirky cades since graduating ing of Theravadan Buddhism’s iconoclast, an anti-guru of sorts, from Columbia College, approach to the cultivation of who possessed both exhaus- Joseph Goldstein ’65 insight into the nature of phe- tive scholastic knowledge and a Ihas played a significant role nomena and the nature of the deep wisdom gained from nine in transmitting the practice mind. years of intensive meditation of mindfulness meditation to In 1975, with colleagues and study in Burma. Goldstein the West through his career Sharon Salzberg and Jack Korn- worked closely with Munindra as teacher, institution builder field, Goldstein co-founded the over the span of seven years, and author of numerous books Insight Meditation Society in with long periods in silent medi-­ on Buddhism, including The Barre, Mass. As the first large tation. Following this concen- Experience of Insight: A Natural residential center in the United trated period of practice, Gold- Unfolding (1976), One Dharma: States to offer seven-day to stein was poised as one of the The Emerging Western Bud- three-month retreats in mind- few Westerners at the time dhism (2002) and A Heart Full fulness meditation, IMS annu- who possessed such a depth of of Peace (2007). ally attracts 2,700 retreatants meditation training. Although mindfulness is at from more than 80 countries. In 1974, Ram Das — another the heart of almost all Buddhist And while some people might Joseph Goldstein ’65 answers prominent figure in the nascent meditation, it has now spread question the relevance of questions during a mindfulness world of East-meets-West spir­ in this country as a secular prac- spending even seven days in meditation retreat at the Insight ituality­ — invited Goldstein to tice that trains the mind in meditation, Goldstein speaks Meditation Society in Barre, Mass. teach meditation during a sum­ moment to moment, non- resolutely to its benefit: “The PHOTO: Elizabeth Vigeon mer course at Naropa Institute, judgmental awareness. Advo­ practice here [at IMS] revolves in Boulder, Colo. Ultimately, this cates say this training leads to around what the Dalai Lama Graduating early, in January experience proved to be the wa- various benefits, such as stress calls the art of happiness. It’s 1965, Goldstein embarked on tershed moment in Gold­stein’s reduction, clarity of mind and a about understanding ourselves one of the first Peace Corps career from which he began more compassionate connection — our minds and our emotions mis­sions to Thailand, where he teaching grassroots retreats both with the world around us. — deeply enough so that we taught English at the King’s in the United States and world- “Joseph has had a seminal know for ourselves the causes School in Bangkok. It was during wide, a period of work that cul- influence on the mainstream- of genuine happiness in our this time that he encountered minated in the founding of IMS. ing of mindfulness in the world. lives and the causes that per- Buddhist practice and philoso­ -­ Goldstein’s work has influ- Over the past 35-plus years, petuate suffering and greed. phy. The King’s School was enced everything from Buddhist- thousands of people have sat This training in mindfulness close to the well-known Marble informed psychotherapy to retreats with him in the United gives people a direct experi- Temple, where a British and an mindfulness-based stress States and around the world ence of this, rather than simply Indian monk hosted weekly dis- reduction programs to cutting and have had their lives trans- an intellectual understanding. cussions on Buddhism. Goldstein edge research on meditation formed by his extremely clear, And what’s really key to the recalls arriving at these meetings and neuroscience. Columbia’s kind and insightful teaching work we do is the understand- “with my Spinoza in hand” and preeminent Tibetan Buddhist and his love for the Dharma or ing that our minds can be a relentless volley of questions. scholar, the Jey Tsong Khapa the teachings of the Buddha,” trained.” In the midst of a lively debate, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Bud- wrote Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder The origins of Goldstein’s one of the beleaguered monks dhist Studies in the Department of The Center for Mindfulness interest in meditation can be politely suggested Goldstein of Religion Robert Thurman af- in Medicine, Health Care, and traced to his years at Columbia actually “try meditation.” And so firms, “Joseph has been a great Society at the University of and to the years immediately he did, and from his first attempt, teacher for many, many people, Massachusetts Medical Center, thereafter. Although his extra­ Goldstein remembers how he helping them enormously. His in an e-mail. “In his quiet, unas- curricular interests at Columbia was “continuously amazed at the recent book, One Dharma, has suming and transparent way, were ordinary — he rowed systematic methodology for turn- been influential in reducing di- he exemplifies the power of crew, played saxophone and ing the attention inward to look visiveness and sectarianism in non-doing and being ... nothing co-founded the Columbia Ski at the mind itself — rather than the extremely diverse American is forced, yet nothing impor- Club with Robert Jastrow ’44 always turning outward to look Buddhist community. The Insight tant left undone. I sat my first — his major in philosophy cul­ at the world.” Meditation Society has been insight, or vipassana, retreat tivated his ontological interest. After the Peace Corps, follow-­ an important force in American with him in 1974 and continue Goldstein still feels the influence ing a brief stint of work back culture, and it is well positioned to consider him one of my from the Core Curriculum, his home in the Catskills and feeling to carry on its work for gen- teachers, and a good friend.” course in 20th-century literature the need for a teacher’s guid­ erations. All in all, Joseph is an The word “vipassana” means with Lionel Trilling ’25, and his ance, Goldstein ventured East American Buddhist ‘Venerable.’ ” “insight” in Pali, the original lan- classes on Eastern religion and again, this time to India. In Bodh guage of the Buddha. Vipassana Western philosophy, especially Gaya, the town of the Buddha’s Joshua Summers ’97 is strat- is often used as shorthand for the metaphysics of Descartes enlightenment, Goldstein met egist at Sati Solutions, a mind- “insight meditation” or “mindful- and Spinoza. his first meditation teacher, fulness-based strategy firm.

march/april 2010 49 class notes columbia college today tine and Montaigne. Part two is film editing of Ray but couldn’t Stan Adelman, Dan Carlinsky being offered this winter, featuring repeat by winning another Oscar, ’65 and Steve Bachenheimer ’68E King Lear, Virginia Wolff and Toni as he did for Star Wars. Brooks — took them on their first inter- Morrison. Christia Mercer, the pro- has kept his sense of humor (but national hike, from Lubec, Maine, fessor, artfully weaves in touches of not his waistline) and is living a across to Campobello Island, New CC and Art Hum as well, putting comfortable, semi-retired existence Brunswick, and back. the literature in a broader cultural near the Pacific, where he surfs Diane and I welcomed Sadie, our context. Class made me feel young regularly. third grandchild. All of our children, again, tackling the issues presented “I did my Southern California spouses and grandchildren, 11 in by these texts, and I’m looking thing recently and made an ap- all, made it home for Christmas. forward to the continuation. I hope pointment with a dermatologist Please do write. As a member of to see you all on campus in a few who was highly recommended the cleverest class, you must be up months at reunion!” by my new internist. Dr. Herbert to something … I second Steve’s hope to see you Hochman, former lightweight oars- all at our 45th reunion Thursday, man on the 1963 freshman team, June 3–Sunday, June 6. As stated in walks into the office and more than Arthur Spector my last column, planning for our 40 years of separation disappeared. 271 Central Park West class’ 45th Alumni Reunion Week- There is something about old old 68 New York, NY 10024 end continues to accelerate. The friends. Is it being 65 that makes us 68 [email protected] current thinking includes a cocktail Even at a Vermont Mozart festival, nostalgic, or am I just getting more reception hosted by Michael Cook alumni were showing their school sentimental as I age? Happy belated New Year. I hope on Thursday, June 3; a Chelsea art pride. Pictured (clockwise from “Looking forward to seeing you all were warm somewhere, as gallery crawl led by A.G. Rosen on top left) are David Blanchard ’67, other classmates soon.” it seems that anywhere you went, Friday afternoon, June 4, followed Gerry Botha ’67, Robert Chapla ’68 Jim’s e-mail address is jmatison it was cold. I thought of Miami by a private tour and cocktail and Bruce Chattman ’67. @aol.com. Beach for the weekend … So much party reception at the Bloomberg PHOTO: EVE PRANIS After a decade in magazine writ- for that idea. headquarters; an on-campus class ing and editing, Stephen Steiner, I recently had my regular, once- luncheon on Saturday, June 5; and former editor of CCT and sports in-a-while lunch with Paul de Bary, a cocktail reception and dinner for (subletting an apartment from a editor of Spectator, has spent the past and we were talking about Ivy our class that evening. couple of professors who are spend-­ 28 years in public relations at Jewish League basketball. The Columbia If you have news about yourself ing a year abroad) and are looking organizations, the last eight as PR team seems to have lots of potential, that you would like to share before forward to finding a more perma- director of the Orthodox Union (the but injuries may slow this team’s the reunion, CCT’s publication nent home next summer. There is Union of Orthodox Jewish Congre- progress. Football was great this schedule requires that it be submit- something strange about going to gations of America). During that year in many ways. For those of ted by early March for publication the Dodge Fitness Center as an time, he has had one wife (Joy), two you who haven’t seen a game in a in the May/June issue. Get your older alumnus, realizing that many children (Andrea and David) and while, I predict this coming year’s news to me as soon as you see this of the sweating throngs could be three cats. Steve has lived in Briar- team should be very good. column! my grandchildren (yes, where did wood, Queens, for 29 years. He can I received a wonderful e-mail the years go?). I have a daughter be contacted at [email protected]. Christmas card from Mas Taketo- (25) who lives in New York and Just in time before a major snow- mo and heard from Reid Feldman. Stuart Berkman who created a successful Web site storm shrouded the entire North- I wonder when Reid will next be in 66 Rua Mello Franco, 580 catering to New Yorkers and tour- east on the eve of the winter solstice, from Paris. And Ken Tomecki (and Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro ists who want to explore cultural, Josh Gutman and his wife, Eva, his wife, Eileen) sent a card from 66 25960-531 Brasil scenic, entertaining and novel plac- managed to get out of Boston to fly the “tundra of Cleveland.” Dr. [email protected] es outside of Manhattan but who south — way south — to Rio de Tomecki, the vice-chairman of his don’t have a car to get around. Janeiro. They had three lovely days department, seemed to be in grand “Returning to New York City after Every destination on www.off here (we ordered good weather for humor at the reunion. I wonder two decades of exile in Los Angeles manhattan.com is accessible by them) and also spent an evening how he does in cold weather. has been better than I could have public transportation. Smart idea with your correspondent and his So there were many other cards imagined,” wrote Jim Matison late and actually quite useful for any- wife, Gilda. We were delighted to and calls, and I should stop. This last year. He continues, “My wife, one who is not afraid of stepping renew acquaintances and hope to is not a “send me a card at holiday 5-year-old daughter and I moved off the island to the outer bor- see them again. From Rio, Josh and time” note. to California for business purposes oughs and beyond. Eva went on to Iguaçu Falls and Greg Winn left me a cheerful in 1989. I left believing we would “I recently was hired as the ex- then to Buenos Aires. message. I called back with no be back in New York at the end ecutive director of a not-for-profit Josh can be reached at joshua. luck but will try again. He said of my five-year contract with a that for nearly 120 years has been [email protected]. he was retiring, but that is hard Fortune 500 company, but life got providing educational and social Our congratulations to Leeam to believe. in the way. We made great friends services to hundreds of young Lowin, whose daughter, Rebekah, The end of 2009 was a chal- in Los Angeles, but the pull of fam- children in impoverished areas of has been accepted to the Class of lenge for me, as my mom, almost ily, old friends and the life in New Brooklyn. If anyone wants to do 2014 via early decision. She is a 94, passed away. She always was York was increasingly difficult to some good for kids in need, vol- senior at Greenwich Academy in an inspiration and had a photo- resist. Last December, my wife and unteer or simply write a check to Connecticut. graphic memory. She left Malden I drove our two hybrids in tandem the Brooklyn Kindergarten Society H.S. to go to Portia Law School across the country, stopping in a (www.bksny.org). when she was 17 and had to wait dozen second-tier tourist spots (e.g., “The Columbia campus is chang-­ Albert Zonana a year to take the bar because she Biosphere 2 (Arizona), Carlsbad ing slowly, but the old brick paths 67 425 Arundel Rd. was too young when she gradu- Caverns (New Mexico), the Clinton and the wonderful century-old Goleta, CA 93117 ated. I am sure many of us have Presidential Library and Museum buildings still look great. And the 67 had parents pass on, and moms [email protected] (Arkansas), The Hermitage (Ten- amount of stimulating cultural are surely special. nessee), etc.) and using only $225 in activities available every day and Mark Schlesinger has retired after Bo Oryshkevich continues to gasoline (gas prices had dropped night are fantastic. many years in higher education help young folks from Ukraine fortuitously), averaging more than “I miss seeing Paul Hirsch and administration at UMass. He has come to America to go to college. I 50 miles per gallon. We arrived in Ron Brookshire, who have lived in lots of plans, including visits to old marvel at his persistence and his de- New York on Christmas Eve, feel- Los Angeles since the 1970s. Paul friends and getting out on his kay- votion to this cause. His efforts are ing we had finally arrived home. was nominated a year ago for an ak. The annual renewal of FOGW sending students to the finest col- “We live on Claremont Avenue Academy Award for his brilliant (Four Old Guys Walking) — Mark, leges and universities in America.

march/april 2010 50 columbia college today class notes

Keep up the fabulous work! doorstep. This happened twice dur- to “Weber’s very pretty wife and As much as I love news about Susan and Bob Carlson con- ing the current column cycle. First, gifted daughters,” which naturally classmates just appearing in other tinue to send the most amazing The New York Times Book Review for prompted me to contact Nick for media, I really appreciate those pictures from Sitka, Alaska. Bob, November 15 carried a review of some personal news. Nick replied: occasions when a classmate reads thanks for them. I wonder if the Paul Auster’s 15th novel, Invisible. “My wife Katharine’s fifth novel, a column, is stopped by one of my whole class should receive them, It is as good a review as an author True Confections, was published in pitiful prayers for news and actual- and how we could to that. The could wish; the reviewer — herself January; daughter Lucy is working ly contacts me. That happened after pigeons out my window can’t vie a novelist — revealed at the outset in fashion-related P.R. in New November/December appeared. with your eagles. that she was “not a fan of Auster’s York; and daughter Charlotte is From Mike Schnipper: “This sum- Bob Levine was in town from last few books” but finished her studying psychoanalysis and train- mer, Ann and Roger Walaszek (my California, as was Phil Mandelker summary of the book with these en- ing to be a psychotherapist in Lon- freshman floormate and law school from Israel, during my mom’s last viable words: “It is the finest novel don.” When I asked Nick which roommate) got together with my days, so I couldn’t see them, but I Paul Auster has ever written.” (I am professors have had an influence wife, Ida, and me on Cape Cod, hope they will call again. sure Paul must be pleased. I know on his career, he authorized me to after about 35 years. Roger has a I received this note from Chris I enjoy being told six times a year copy the following tribute from his terrific memory and reminded me Friedrichs — we all need to visit that “This is the best CCT column new book: of many things I had forgotten (like him in British Columbia. He wrote: you have ever written.”). Despite “When I was a senior at Colum- carrying his law school books from “I was pleased to get the latest copy the book’s title, Paul has hardly ­bia College in 1968–69, I took a 122nd Street to the Law School for of CCT. And I am very pleased that been invisible. He is well-known in semester-long course in the Blooms- the several months his leg was in a alumni outside the United States literary circles around the world, he bury group, which was then far less cast). Roger looks exactly as he did can continue to receive paper copies gives readings and lectures, and he well-known than it has since be- in law school, only the mop of hair of CCT if they prefer [www.college. is among our classmates having a come. Naturally, we read Woolf and is gray.” columbia.edu/cct/subscribe]. Wikipedia posting devoted to him Forster and Strachey and others, Steve Steindel also contacted me “I am still at the University of alone (where one is told that “[i] and discussed a large cast of char- after reading November/December, British Columbia. It is neither Brit- n the 2008 Russian film Плюс один acters and their work. At the end largely to graciously comment on ish nor Columbia, but it’s a fine (Plus One), the main character is of the term, when we sat down for the news item about me that the col- university, and I enjoy my job in the process of translating one our three-hour exam with our blue umn included. Knowing it was time as much as ever. My wife and of Auster’s books.”). Paul is no books in front of us, we expected for Steve to share some news, I asked I became grandparents for the stranger to films, having screenplay the usual two or three mimeo- him to do so. Steve writes: “It might second time in May 2009. We now and director credits, and he also has graphed pages with a combination be of interest to classmates that our have a granddaughter (3) and a written song lyrics. What he hasn’t of short multiple-choice questions 40th anniversary Alumni Reunion baby grandson in Brooklyn. I teach, written is a CCT item about himself, and complex essay topics. Instead, Weekend on campus had the entire my wife teaches, our daughter is a but he gets a pass, since news about the brilliant young professor, Steindel clan together in Pittsburgh teacher (in Brooklyn) and our older him repeatedly shows up anyway. Michael Rosenthal, went to the for a gala weekend and tribute son is a teacher (in Vancouver). Then, on December 27, 2009, it blackboard, picked up a piece of dinner marking the conclusion of 23 But our younger son has rebelled would have been hard to overlook chalk, and wrote, in large letters, years in the pulpit of Congregation against the family tradition. After the news of Nick Weber’s latest ‘What is Bloomsbury?’ He than Beth Shalom. In all, 33 years and 90 getting his B.A., he set his sights book, The Bauhaus Group: Six Mas- faced the dozen or so students and percent of my congregational rabbin- on a culinary career and is now a ters in Modernism. The Book Review said, ‘That’s the exam question. You ate was in the city of Heinz, Warhol, restaurant cook!” section carried a mostly favorable have three hours.’ I have never got- Lemieux and Crosby. My wife, Lisa, I wonder if Chris has views on review from John Simon (whose ten over the brilliance of Professor and I have relocated to Boston to Spectator today. I check its Web site career has produced more criticism Rosenthal and his directive. There be within walking distance of our once in a while (www.spectator. than praise for a variety of works), was no right or wrong answer; three young grandchildren, born to com). Chris, can you update me on and the Arts & Leisure Section ran what counted was our understand- our two oldest daughters. Sara ’99 where your Spectator team is now? an article by Nick himself, “Deadly ing of the underlying passions is married to Andrew Dauber ’99, I bet you know. Style: Bauhaus’s Nazi Connection.” and goals of an artistic movement and they came as newlyweds for I bumped into Ira McCown Nick’s book, as suggested by the led by very different individuals. his HMS career. Andrew received recently. He was, as always, charm- title, is a group biography, covering Forty years later, I remain extremely his M.D. in 2004, and Sara earned ing, and is spending time — I think architects Walter Gropius and Lud- grateful to a teacher who encour- her M.B.A. from HBS in 2005. They I have this right — in Los Angeles. wig Mies van der Rohe; painters aged us to see the broad picture made us grandparents with the birth He lives on the Upper West Side, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and while also knowing each genius for of Boaz in 2007. Shiri graduated from and it looks like he can row faster Josef Albers; and weaver and textile who he or she was. My goal in this Penn in ’01 and received her M.B.A. than Tom Sanford. designer Anni Albers, Josef’s wife. book has been to capture the true from Yale in ’09. She is married to One final note: I continue — at a The Bauhaus — as stated in the spirit of the Bauhaus while, I hope, Josh Friedman ’06 JTS, and they high-end gym to which I belong — review — “was meant to reconcile evoking the marvelous personalities presented us with grandson No. 2, to see Seth Weinstein, who refuses beauty, simplicity, unity and mass of the people I consider its stars.” Niv, in August 2008. All of us now to age. He seems to be in grand production.” Nick’s article discusses Nick told me that he sent a copy live within a mile of one another in humor, some of the time. And he new information about “how pal- of the book to Professor Rosenthal Brookline, and it is a blessing beyond likes to bike in Central Park even pably” the Bauhaus influence lived and “had an extremely nice letter words to have granddaughter when it is quite cold. on in the Third Reich (when most from him.” Nick added: “That way Jordana, born in August 2009, in the So all the best to you and your scholars had thought the school of thinking remains the essence mix. If only daughter Sivya ’04 GW families for a special and wonder- ended in 1933 “when its remain- of our education at CC. We were and her husband, Keith Leventhal ful 2010, hopefully full of good ing faculty members shut it down taught not simply to memorize ’03 Maryland, weren’t so far away health and peace. rather than work with the Nazis”). facts, but to consider the real value in Pasco, Wash., where he does TV Nick is the director of the Josef and meaning of art and literature, sports every evening on CBS affiliate and Anni Albers Foundation [edi­ and to appreciate the originality WKPR in the Tri-Cities. Our young- Michael Oberman tor’s note: See the alumni profile and bravery of creative pioneers. est, son Avi ’08 Haifa University and 69 Kramer Levin Naftalis & in March/April 2008: www. I am forever grateful.” (Note to Duquesne, is the only branch of the Frankel college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/ Columbia College Fund executive family still in Pittsburgh, serving as 69 1177 Ave. of the Americas mar_apr08] and the author of 13 director: Here is some great lan- youth director at Beth Shalom and New York, NY 10036 previous books, among them The guage for the fund solicitation.) guiding the fortunes of his successful moberman@ Clarks of Cooperstown; Balthus: A For those who are counting, so rock band, Vindell. kramerlevin.com Biography; Patron Saints: Five Rebels far this column has referred to 34 “I am happily doing 30 hours a Who Opened America to a New Art, books, and it didn’t even mention week as a chaplain intern in the I just love it when news about 1928–1943 and The Art of Babar. Paul’s translations and other books Clinical Pastoral Education pro- classmates literally arrives at my The book review made reference beyond the novels. gram of Brigham and Women’s

march/april 2010 51 class notes columbia college today

Hospital, an easy 15-minute walk I hope that many of you will there are so many interconnected and your classmates, and they look up the avenue and halfway to return to campus for this important interests, but it’s doable. The rac- forward to seeing you. Fenway Park. I have time not only reunion, and I urge all who can ing industry supports 40,000 jobs for family but also for pleasure to make a special contribution to directly or indirectly, and a lot of reading, sports on TV and walking. the College in recognition of this those jobs are upstate, where there Paul S. Appelbaum While I have yet to take up com- milestone. are 500 farms that raise horses. We 39 Claremont Ave., #24 petitive bicycling or cross-country have to convince people it’s not 72 New York, NY 10027 skiing, I have to believe I’m hap- business as usual anymore. In the 72 [email protected] pier and healthier than when Lisa Jim Shaw old days there was enough money, and I moved here in May. Oh yeah, 71 139 North 22nd St. people would line up and go to Clearly we’ve reached that point in the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, Philadelphia, PA 19103 legislature and come up with a our lives when reminiscences of too. And one of these days, I’ll be 71 solution. That’s over.” things past come more easily than [email protected] taking Boaz ice skating.” John Borek: “Columbia B.A.s they once did. Scott Atran, for Finally, my other favorite source A short column, but a lot to think can do anything. Of this I am example, is a presidential scholar of news is word from the Admis- about. finally convinced. After careers as in sociology at the John Jay College sions Office that the Class of 1969 From an interview by Aaron El- a bookseller, a stockbroker and a of Criminal Justice of CUNY, visit- legacy group has grown. Congrat- stein in Crain’s New York Business, community activist, I now am the ing professor of psychology and ulations to Bill Bonvillian, whose December 14: “Turnaround expert director of artist development at public policy at the University of son, Marcus, was accepted early Meyer Sandy Frucher faces one the MuCCC Theater (Multi-Use Michigan and research director in admission to the Class of 2014. As of his toughest projects in trying Community Cultural Center) in anthropology at the National Cen- reported in November/December, to revive New York City Off-Track Rochester, N.Y. ter for Scientific Research in France. Bill is director of MIT’s Washington Betting Corp., which operates “The premise is affordable the- Scott sent a memory (truncated office and co-author of the book 66 betting parlors and filed for ater both in terms of ticket prices here for space reasons) from his Structuring an Energy Technology bankruptcy earlier this month. and theater company overhead. time as an anthropology doctoral Revolution. He brings a wealth of experience, As a result, we have hosted 17 student at Columbia about Claude So, classmates, unless you know having served as the state’s chief theater/performance companies Lévi-Strauss, arguably the world’s you will be written about in news- labor negotiator, chief executive since we opened last March and most famous and influential an- papers, now would be the right of the Battery Park City Author- have presented works as varied thropologist, who died last October moment to e-mail me your news ity, and CEO of the Philadelphia as Edge, a one-woman show about 30 at 100. and/or views. Stock Exchange before selling the the last hours of Sylvia Plath, and Scott had been working for institution last year to Nasdaq, Closer, the celebrated British sex Margaret Mead since he was an where he’s a vice chairman. As drama by Patrick Marber. Teen undergrad and wanted to organize REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 chairman of the NYC OTB, he’s poetry slams, a dance troupe, a a discussion with scholars whose Alumni Office Contacts working for free. night of performance art and my ideas he’d admired. Mead sent him Alumni Affairs Stella Miele-Zanedis “How did a gambling business own odd concept art pieces fill out to invite a small group of notables, [email protected] ever get into such financial trouble? our schedule. We won the Theater including Chomsky, Piaget, Monod 212-851-7846 “Everyone likes to joke, ‘How Association of New York Award and Lévi-Strauss. Tracking down Development Heather Hunte can a bookie operation lose money?’ for Community Service in this, our Lévi-Strauss in Paris, Scott found [email protected] Well, the bookie didn’t lose money. first, year. that Mead’s name opened the door 212-851-7957 But this operation has been distrib- “Decades ago, a math professor, for him, and Lévi-Strauss accepted Leo G. Kailas uting its money to city and state not at Columbia, asked me why I his invitation. “At the discussion, Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt governments and the racing indus- majored in English literature since which took place over the course of 70 885 Third Ave., 20th Fl. try for 40 years, so it’s never had I already spoke English. I look at a few days at the Abbaye de Royau- 70 New York, NY 10022 the capital it needed to improve the my eccentric work record and my mont outside Paris, Lévi-Strauss sat [email protected] business because it was at the end happy life and answer him, ‘This is patiently and said nothing as others of the food chain. So what you’re why.’ Thank you, Columbia.” spoke their piece or pontificated, or This is my first column as class left with is a static bricks-and- Lambert Chee: “My wife of 37 pleaded and shouted their opposi- correspondent for the Class of mortar business model with parlors years, Sandra, passed away un- tions. But his doodles of cats and ’70. I take over duties that were declining in appearance, amenities expectedly on December 13 from other real and fantastical animals carried out with absolute distinc- and technology. complications of acute leukemia. were stunning, and those he left tion by my friend Peter Stevens. behind were the objects of a fierce I confess to having mostly fond competition among some of the memories of my undergraduate conference’s participants, including years, even though we all lived John Borek ’71 is director of artist development at myself. On the way to our last lunch, through the “Revolution.” I will the Multi-Use Community Cultural Center in Chomsky, who had dominated this be contacting as many of you as I conference of Nobel-prize winning can in order to solicit submissions Rochester, N.Y. biologists and world-famous math- for this column. ematicians, philosophers, psycholo- Please note that our 40th Alumni gists and anthropologists as I have Reunion Weekend will take place “Why even bother trying to We met in 1969, while we were never seen anyone do before or Thursday, June 3–Sunday, June 6. rescue the OTB business? both at Columbia — she was at after, walked up to Lévi-Strauss and The events kick off on Thursday “It’s a good question, and my Teachers College. We were married said in a shy sort of way: ‘Perhaps with a with a tour of the High Line answer is that this business, even in 1972 in Honolulu. Our children, you remember me when I sat in on and a cocktail party at the Gaslight in its current state, is still providing Allison, Ken and Emilyn, survive your class at Harvard with Roman G2 Lounge. Our distinguished $100 million a year to the city, state her. Allison has put together a Jakobson?’ Lévi-Strauss looked at classmate Dr. Mark Pruzansky will and racing industry. I would add Web site, http://remembersandra. Chomsky and said: ‘I’m sorry, but host the Friday night class reception that there’s no such thing as a free blogspot.com, which includes a no.’ Those were the only words he at his Park Avenue apartment. The shutdown: We have $200 million video of the slideshow which was would utter in the conference room. Saturday activities will include lec- in pension and benefit obligations shown at the memorial service “In an interview the following tures, courses, a wine tasting and a to employees that have built up on December 22.” (Look for the year, Lévi-Strauss was asked what class dinner. At dinner on Saturday, over the years, and those pen- December 22 entry and then click recent intellectual developments we will honor the basketball team sion benefits are constitutionally the arrow to play it.) he considered to be important. He that won the Ivy championship in guaranteed. Start thinking about our 40th said that what had transpired at 1968; two of the stars of that team, “How are you going to change reunion, scheduled for Thursday, Royaumont was the most signifi- you may remember, were Jim Mc- how the OTB works? June 2–Sunday, June 5, 2011. You cant intellectual event he had thus Millian and Heyward Dotson ’76L. “It will be difficult because look forward to seeing Columbia far encountered in the second half

march/april 2010 52 columbia college today class notes

of the 20th century. He also implied market crashed and my wife came winds off Riverside Drive and been directing the choirs and the that his time was in the past: ‘I home with big news. ‘I got a job of- opted to attend a California col- instrumental ensembles at the Mai- imagine myself in the New World fer in Basel.’ ‘Ah, basil!’ The smell lege, which shall go unnamed here. son des Métallos (a cultural center with Columbus for the first time,’ of pesto wafted through my mind. My second child also has stated under the auspices of the Mairie de he mused, ‘a symphony of sounds, ‘Not the herb, the city on the Rhine his strong preference for studying Paris): Malian and Arabic music (I of colors, of smells, of desires and River.’ It was an offer she couldn’t in the Golden State, but I still hold formed a choir in Sana’a, Yemen, of hopes. Then I imagine myself on refuse. She tests experimental hope that my youngest will attend and did a project with young the moon with the astronauts, and drugs to treat kids with cancer. I my alma mater. Columbia may musicians from Ramallah), jazz, all I see is gray, dust and barren look after our kids, Genevieve (9) have to wait a while, though: he’s Turkish music, writing projects, rap rocks, and the earth I long for is far and Lincoln (7). In Swiss German, only 6. All the same, I’m planning with children in deprived school out of reach.’ ” they call a stay-at-home dad like to attend the 40th reunion. It will districts, Medieval cycles, etc.” Alan Sheiner brings us up to me a hausmann. There are other be my first time back since gradua- Berry is married to Claire date on his life since graduation and pejorative words for guys like us: tion — although I skipped the cer- Caillard, a harpsichordist and reflects on the Columbia experi- wimps, wusses … .” When he emony in ’72; it was too ‘establish- choir director, and they have three ence. “I attended the NYU College can slip away from his household ment’ for my taste. I still have my children: two musicians and an of Dentistry and ‘did Columbia duties, Jonathan works on his new diploma, written in Latin, which I actress. “Because I spent only one proud’ by graduating first in my book, Confessions of a Hausmann. will get around to framing one of school year on campus and have class every year and picking up a In civilian life, William Paul these days. The one thing that Co- not returned to the United States for bunch of prizes and honors through Diefenbach is a neurosurgeon at lumbia taught me, and for which such a long time, I have lost track the years. I completed a general St. Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa. I will always be grateful, was how of friends, and this I regret. But I practice residency at Einstein, fol- But he’s also a colonel in the Army to think — how to analyze and would like to take this occasion to lowed by residency and fellowship Reserve, and this past fall Paul was how to mount an argument and saluer d’anciens amis que je n’ai pas in prosthodontics and maxillofacial on active duty in the Medical Corps a counterargument. That and, of vus depuis longtemps!: Bill Hudgins, prosthetics at Memorial Sloan- on a 90-day Boots on the Ground course, the Core Curriculum. I still James Arden, David Lehman ’70, Kettering Cancer Center. Since then, rotation, operating at the Air Force get by on my recollections of the Peter Frank and Peter Grossman.” I have essentially been in private Theater Hospital in Balad, 50 miles Kant, Montaigne and Ortega I read Speaking of Bill Hudgins, for practice with faculty appointments from Baghdad. The medical team at for Contemporary Civilization. I the past three years, he and his at Mount Sinai and a short stint the hospital provided trauma care just wish every university in the wife, Wilda Dodson, have been running a graduate pros program to injured soldiers and stabilized country offered the same courses.” foster parents to a changing cast a few years ago. I married Dale, a them so that they could be air Beresford (Berry) Hayward fills of abused and neglected horses. Finch College grad, right after finals evacuated to Landstuhl, Germany, in the years since he left Morning- Rescued by Volunteer Equine my first year at NYU. Dale and I before returning to the United side Heights: “I finished my last Advocates, the equines are usu- were happily married for 36 years; States. Four years earlier, Paul had two years of undergrad work here ally malnourished and extremely she passed away in December 2008. served at Landstuhl. The team also in Paris, returning only briefly to underweight. At Bill and Wilda’s I still live in the house we built in provided care to detainees and Iraqi New York in 1973 to collect my microfarm in Gallatin, Tenn., they New Canaan, Conn., with our min- soldiers, police and civilians. Most diploma. I haven’t been back to the have rest, pasture, hay, a creek and iature poodle, Roxanne, whom we injuries occurred from improvised States since then — no reason for nutritious grain feeds as well as adopted in Paris in 2000. After Dale explosive devices and gunshot me to go into the details, but that’s love. Though a town kid, Bill has died, I switched from using my wounds. To put his Iraq experience what happened! Nevertheless, my taken avidly to rising at dawn to rowing erg (Concept 2) to serious into perspective, the base where Columbia years stick with me: the feed and water the horses as well cycling and spend most of my spare Paul served is nicknamed “Mor- wonderful courses with Arthur as the two donkeys he and his time with my cycling club — even taritaville” because it endures one Danto, Pearl Bell and Leon Roudiez, wife adopted and named Edgar riding in subzero temps or riding to three mortar attacks weekly. “We and a graduate seminar with and Rice Burros. Bill also has been indoors at a triathlon training center were protected by predator drones Donald Frame on Montaigne that chairman of the town’s Beer Permit in Westport — or with the Colum- flying overhead and naval C-RAM reinforced all of the things I was Board, which he says Columbia bia Club in Fairfield County, where structures, which fire 4,000 rounds looking for intellectually and artisti- helped prepare him for. I am on the executive committee. of explosives at incoming mortar. cally. Columbia allowed me two “Other than that, I have been When attacks occurred, we had to years independent study in Paris, living a quiet life. I have come to take cover in a protected area and and most of my professors from Barry Etra value the subtleties of the CC edu- put on our ‘battle rattle,’ which is that period became close friends.” 1256 Edmund Park Dr. NE cation. Things come up when least protective body armor. The hardest Berry became interested in and 73 Atlanta, GA 30306 expected that illuminate a thought part of being there was living in translated the work of the great 73 [email protected] process and appreciation possibly a war zone region, knowing that French psychoanalysts before im- secondary to the student body/ there are bad guys on the other side mersing himself in jazz and impro- Good news first: Julia Jarrett, Core Curriculum combo. I was at of the ‘wire’ who want to kill you. vised music in the early ’80s. “One daughter of Mark Jarrett, was an Low Rotunda a couple of months Basically, I was an old man serving night, at a jazz club, the Riverbop early admission to the Class of 2014. ago for an Alumni Association in a war being fought by young (in 1972), when I was playing some After many years in the North- dinner, and that episode with Mark people. I have a lot of respect and really wild free-jazz, which in- east, Henry Weisman has moved Rudd [’69] during freshman week admiration for what they are doing. cluded a long recorder solo, some to El Paso, Texas, where he is the came flooding back as we were They are putting their lives on the musicians from the early music director of the psychiatric residency entering the dinner — our class line to help the Iraqis gain security movement asked me to go with program and the Psychiatric Con- gave Dean [Carl] Hovde [’50] a of their country so we can leave. All them the next day to meet Antoine sultation Liaison Service at Texas standing ovation after he rebutted I did was fix broken soldiers.” Geoffroy-Dechaume, the musicolo- Tech. The Paul L. Foster School of Rudd quite well.” Alex Abella writes, “I’ve been gist and harpsichordist. Well, that Medicine is brand new, and the For a memoir of a different sort, in California since the 1970s, work- transformed my life. We had ahead med school is the only one on the check out Jonathan Freedman’s Web ing as a journalist, novelist and of us a 30-year relationship of play- U.S./Mexico border. Henry writes site and blog: http://confessions translator. My last book, Soldiers ing and practicing together until that “the work combines two areas ofahausmann.tumblr.com. When of Reason: The RAND Corporation his death at 96. My work with him (the medical-psychiatric interface last heard from, Jonathan was and the Rise of the American Empire, led to my forming my own vocal and teaching psychiatry) that I have pursuing his career as a writer and was favorably reviewed in The New group and instrumental ensemble loved and developed during the journalist in San Diego, with the York Times and The Washington Post. with which I recorded some 20 past three decades or so.” 1987 Pulitzer Prize for editorial I live in the Los Angeles area with CDs devoted to medieval, renais- Angelo Falcon, through his writing gleaming on his shelf. But my California-born wife and three sance, baroque and traditional work with the National Institute for life takes odd turns: “Then the children. My 18-year-old daughter, European repertories for Erato, Latino Policy, has been promoting newspaper business tanked, the alas, has decided not to brave the BNL and Milan records. the participation of Latinos in the housing bubble popped, the stock snows of New York and the frigid “For the last six years, I have 2010 census. Last year was the 27th

march/april 2010 53 class notes columbia college today anniversary of the NiLP, which An- And get this: The 21 drinking mate: Andy Tron. From the bio classmates can find out where your gelo co-founded with Jose Sanchez age has led to major changes in information, I see that he lives in path has led. (Jose teaches at LIU–Brooklyn). general. There are now fines and Bedford Hills, N.Y., and owns Some other high points of 2009 for requirements of community service what is listed as “andytron Light- REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 the NiLP were participation in the for alcohol use in the dorms, com- ing & stage management.” I hope Alumni Office Contacts campaign to get Sonia Sotomayor ing back to the dorms intoxicated to get you more on Andy in a Alumni Affairs Kimberly Peterson elected to the Supreme Court as or going to the hospital due to alco- future column. [email protected] well as the censure of Lou Dobbs hol. The Class of ’74 would never Moving to the West Coast, we 212-851-7872 from CNN “for his inflammatory have survived these Puritan times! learn that two classmates have Development Sam Boyer anti-immigrant rants.” (Just thinking of it makes me want shared time toiling in various parts [email protected] Don Jensen married the former to reach for a Singapore Sling.) of Chevron in various parts of Cali- 212-851-7452 Nataliya Khyzhniak on December Almost all of the news in this fornia — with one big difference. 12 in Washington, D.C. Nataliya is column comes from the two coasts. Louis Klonsky (in Bakersfield, Randy Nichols the Washington, D.C., correspon- Hope to receive more from the Calif.) started working at the en- 75 734 S. Linwood Ave. dent for the BBC Ukrainian Ser- midlands and from classmates ergy concern in 1978 and continues Baltimore, MD 21224 vice. Barry Kelner was best man. abroad. I also have to admit that as a geophysicist “drilling for oil — 75 [email protected] Don is resident fellow at the Center Facebook postings have helped the evil empire, I suppose.” Mark for Transatlantic Relations at Johns to locate news on a number of Goldstein started working for Before I start reporting on other Hopkins, where he specializes classmates who have slipped off Chevron in 1979 and retired from items, I want to pass on some good in the politics and economics of the radar. (If you want to get in his position as a project manager news of my own. I recently closed the former Soviet Union. He’s a contact with classmates, try putting in 2008. He now lives in Oakland, on a new home in the Canton area consultant to various federal agen- “Columbia College 1974” in to the Calif., and spends his time reading, of Baltimore (see new address cies and has a weekly blog on the friend finder. At least 15 percent hiking, investing and traveling. above). It’s beautiful and will be Voice of America Web site (www. of the class is on Facebook. Seems Both have logged more than 30 a great party house. Those of you voa.gov) where he debates current nerdy at first — until you make years at the same company — an in the Baltimore/Washington/ foreign issues with his partner in contact with a long-lost friend.) achievement in these times of job- Wilmington/Philadelphia area Moscow. In his spare time, Don is a As usual at this time of year, hopping. should expect to get invitations to baseball historian, now working on the column starts with congratula- After leaving the College, John Columbia (or other) events at my his fourth book (on the New York tions for the children of classmates Chen studied economics at the new home in the near future! Giants of the 1880s). He and his who have gained admission to the East Bay campus of California After 19 years of service to New wife live in Alexandria, Va. College. This year, the sole child State University and continued his York’s Metropolitan Transporta- And, finally, the bad news; we admitted “early decision” was education at the London School tion Authority, Gary Dellaverson regret the passing of John Eckel on Leigh Colvin, daughter of Geoff of Economics. John lives in San has retired and is done fighting the November 13. John founded Co- Colvin. Leigh will be joining her Mateo, Calif., and is a consultant at good fight to keep MTA solvent. pano Energy in 1992 and was most brothers, Jeremy ’08 and Andrew Global InvestTech Solutions. After practicing for 16 years at recently its chairman and CEO. Horne, Bistrow & Dulberg, Mi- He was a great supporter of many chael Dulberg joined the Phoenix nonprofit and philanthropic orga- Vic Fortuno ’74 has been named the interim presi- law firm of Burch & Cracchiolo nizations. He will be missed sorely. in 2000 as a shareholder. Before [Editor’s note: See Obituaries.] dent of the Legal Services Corp. in Washington, D.C. moving to Arizona, he served as Keep ’em comin’, troupe. No an assistant district attorney in News Too Small is our stock in the Manhattan District Attorney’s trade. Hasta. ’10, as members of the Columbia Close to the West Coast we find Office, where he tried more than College family. Welcome, Leigh! Dr. Christopher Puca living in 40 felony cases. Since 1984, Mike’s A Twitter alert (or “tweet”) Tucson and working for the Casas practice has concentrated on Fred Bremer came in announcing that Vic For- Adobes Physicians group. Despite construction law and commercial 532 W. 111th St. tuno has been named the interim a busy schedule, Chris does litigation, focusing primarily on 74 New York, NY 10025 president of Legal Services Corp. in advocacy for those needing pain helping clients resolve disputes 74 Washington, D.C. (while he “gets” management. that typically arise out of construc- [email protected] to also continue his current posi- An update to the recent note tion projects. He has represented “The War on Fun: Barnard Cracks tions as general counsel and v.p. of about the intimate dinner party (18 the gamut within the construction Down on Party Scene.” The recent legal affairs of the organization). people) that Dr. Steve DeCherney industry, from property owners to Spectator headline caught my eye, Coincidentally, Legal Services was had with HRH, the Duke of Edin- design professionals, contractors, not least of all because I don’t recall created by Congress in 1974 with burgh, Prince Phillip, at Bucking- subcontractors and material sup- the great BHR (the Brooks, Hewitt the backing of President Nixon. It ham Palace. Steve wrote, “I forgot pliers, obtaining a jury verdict of and Reid dorms at Barnard) “party offers legal representation for more to tell you a funny anecdote. The more than $3 million in a business scene.” (Perhaps the garbage cans than one million poor people and Prince asked me where I received tort case arising out of a street of sangria caused the brain cells gives legal advice to an additional my education, to which I proudly improvement project and defend- with these memories to die.) Read- five million in all 50 states. replied ‘Columbia College, along ing numerous multi-million-dollar ing the article made me realize I had been looking for Brad with other degrees.’ The prince construction claims. Mike is AV how different life has become on Higgins for the past year. Knowing hesitated a moment, smiled, and rated by Martindale-Hubbell, our campus and at most colleges that he was a Bush appointee (as as- said, ‘Ah, yes — Kings College in which is its highest rating for legal across the nation. sistant secretary of state) following New York.’ I am not making this ability and ethical standards. He No longer can you just flash a his role as CFO of the Coalition Pro- up. I guess the Empire lives on … .” has lectured to the State Bar of Columbia/Barnard ID and get into visional Authority in Iraq, a career There you have it. Classmates Arizona and various construction the dorms. Now the Barnard or change was inevitable as of January who have stayed at the same industry groups on construction Columbia hosts must come down 2009. Brad now is a managing part- company for three decades, those law issues. and sign in their guests. At Barnard ner of the venture capital company switching responsibilities at the Mike and his wife, Marcy, suites, residents are limited to two SOSventures. The firm is based in same organization and those recently celebrated their 30th guests per person (which means Ireland, and Brad has established a starting a new career. Some show wedding anniversary. Their older only 12 guests for a suite of six stateside office in Stamford, Conn. up on Facebook, while others are son, Adam, graduated from Penn residents). Columbia allows five Its investing is focused on new spending “face time” with a prince. in 2008 and is in his second year guests per resident. I guess we will companies in the areas of energy Many different paths are being with Teach for America teaching have to add to our list of “back and the environment. followed, and this column tries to social studies at William Penn H.S. in my day” tales how we used to Trolling the list of CC ’74 names report them all. Take a moment in Philadelphia and has been ac- “party-hardy” in a serious way! on Facebook, I saw a long-lost class- to send a letter or e-mail so your cepted at Georgetown Law School

march/april 2010 54 columbia college today class notes

to begin this fall. Younger son, donor’s matching pool. Anyone ried to Gratia Pelliciotti ’80 Barnard; infrastructure projects in Southeast David, is a broadcast journalism who was a John Jay donor in the d) most pleased to be the father of Asia with focus on hydro-electric major at the University of South- last 10 years but who didn’t make two daughters, Olivia and Averyl.” and coal-fired power plants, min- ern California, Class of 2012. a John Jay-level gift in fiscal year After 21 years in the reinsurance ing projects and resort hotels. Vien- Father C. John McCloskey III 2008–2009 can renew his John Jay business, George spent the last eight tiane, however, is not a ‘city that sent holiday greetings on the Feast gift at or above his last John Jay providing catastrophe modeling never sleeps.’ The place could use of the Holy Innocents (December gift and have it matched dollar for services to the insurance industry. some NYC jazz clubs.” 28). He continues his writing and dollar from the donor’s matching Olivia is a first-year student in Sounding a reflective note, Scott pastoral work from his home in pool. Current $1,000–$2,500 level history at Victoria College at the Morgan sent this update, which Chicago. donors who increase to the Fellow University of Toronto, and Averyl also resists summary: “Life has Father Moses (né Michael level ($3,500–$4,999) will have their is a sophomore at Glen Ridge H.S. taken some unusual turns since Worchester) also sent holiday gifts matched dollar for dollar from near home in Essex County, N.J., college graduation. I thought I greetings, with the reminder that the donor’s matching pool. And juggling field hockey, drama club would pursue my talent for imita- he and his monastery were gearing Sponsor-level donors ($5,000) who and rowing with lofty academic as- tion, and you might recall some of up for Christmas according to the raise their gifts to the Benefactor pirations. Gratia, now active in real my guest spots on WKCR portray- Julian calendar on January 7. On level ($10,000) will have their gifts estate after a career in municipal ing Bob Dylan, Boris Karloff and December 25, they celebrated one matched dollar for dollar from the finance interrupted by child rear- Totie Fields. But my best impres- of the feasts of St. Herman. donor’s matching pool. ing, is the women’s captain of the sion was Karl-Ludwig Selig, and The American Institute of Certi- One of the Reunion Gift Com- rowing club Nereid and assembled no one south of 114th Street had fied Public Accountants Business mittee members may have called a crew of eight women averaging heard of him. After my solo album, Valuation section awarded Robert you already. If not, or if you have 40 years of age for Boston’s Head of Did Someone Say Samba?, failed F. Reilly, a managing director at not yet made your gift, or you the Charles for the fourth consecu- to sell, and much soul searching, Willamette Management Associ- would like to make an additional tive year. George also rowed in his I went to law school, made law ates, a leading national independent gift to participate in the challenge, umpteenth Head of the Charles review and now am a satisfied trial financial valuation and financial please go to www.college.colum with his doubles partner from lawyer. I am not married and have advisory firm, its Volunteer of the bia.edu/giveonline. Germany. “Speaking of rowing,” no children that I admit to (in this Year Award. The announcement Not entirely related to reunion was made during the 2009 AICPA is the CC75 Network. We see more National Business Valuation Confer- classmates there every month and ence in San Francisco in November. will continue to use it to commu- Michael (Bornstein) Oren ’77 is Israel’s ambassador During the week between nicate in the years to come. If you to the United States and recently spoke at the 92nd Christmas and New Year’s, I got a have joined the network, please holiday call from my good buddy stop back and see what’s new. If Street Y in NYC. Bob Schneider. After giving best you have not joined, you’re miss- wishes from him and his wife, ing out. You can return or join by Regina, Bob passed some news. pointing your browser to columbia he says, “I am thrilled by the his- country).” Scott goes on to mention Of the 2,500 freshmen at Penn, 50 [email protected]. Several classmates toric accomplishment of the men’s a few classmates. “I recently went are selected for interviews and 12 report renewing friendships with heavyweight crew in taking back with Dr. Ray Basri and his wife are selected for the position of peer long-lost classmates because of the Child’s Cup (the oldest rowing to hear Michael (Bornstein) Oren tutor in the Penn Writing/English seeing them on the network. Who cup in collegiate U.S. competition) speak at the 92nd Street Y. If you Composition Program. As a proud would you like to hear from or from Princeton after 46 years and didn’t hear, Mike was appointed father, he’s happy to report that his contact? He may be there! their outstanding performance dur- earlier this year as Israel’s Ambas- daughter, Meg, was selected. ing the last two seasons. I am ever sador to the United States.” Yes, it is time for another reunion. hopeful for the football squad and From another source, I have Plan to meet your classmates, their Clyde Moneyhun witnessed their final game of the learned that Geoffrey Onyeama families and Columbians from 76 Program in Writing and ’09 season, a well-executed victory has become Deputy Director other years and schools on campus Rhetoric over Brown, with fellow former oar General, Sector for Development, Thursday, June 3–Sunday, June 6. 76 Serra Mall 450, Bldg. 460, Allan Cox ’78. I was saddened to of the World Intellectual Property We’ve planned an exciting program Rm 223 learn of Carl Hovde ’50’s death, the Organization, one of WIPO’s new of tours, seminars, parties and Stanford University passing of yet another figure who senior management team of seven. dinners. You’ve heard some already Stanford, CA 94305 brought renaissance to Columbia. From Tampa, Ed Izzo reports (Dead Head or not, we’re in for a [email protected] I am, of course, gratified Columbia that he is a married father of four treat!) and will be receiving registra- continues to build on its outstand- and a cardiac surgeon. He is presi- tion packets soon. Please do plan to Bill Minutaglio is a professor of ing academic legacy and am ever dent of the Florida Society of Tho- join us. And, whether you can at- journalism at the University of fond in my memories of Morning- racic and Cardiovascular Surgery, tend reunion or not, know that one Texas and a prolific author, most side. In lumine tuo ... .” and in that capacity persuaded Bill of your classmates will be calling notably of First Son: George Bush And I end with a couple legacy Minutaglio ’76 to be a guest speaker you to ask for a contribution to our and the Bush Family Dynasty, a admits: Elizabeth Berg, daughter at the annual convention. “We’ve anniversary gift to the Columbia biography of George W. Bush. of Howard Berg, and Gideon Wolf, been friends since college,” Ed says, College Fund. When you get that Bill is married to Holly Williams son of Edward Wolf. Welcome to “and we have tremendously fond call, please be generous. Every dol- ’80 Barnard, a professor of dance the Class of 2014. memories of our Columbia days, lar counts in supporting the young at UT. Ed Izzo ’77 reports that as very few involving academics.” men and women who will build president of the Florida Society of Although Bart Holland has kept all of our futures as the leaders of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Sur- David Gorman us posted over the years on such tomorrow and the next generation. gery, he persuaded Bill to deliver 111 Regal Dr. things as books he has published, I Your Reunion Committee is the keynote at the society’s annual 77 DeKalb, IL 60115 was gratified to receive a big-pic- working hard to plan a great re- meeting. “We’ve been friends since 77 ture update from him. An associate [email protected] union, as well as raise a substantial college, and it was terrific to spend professor of biostatistics and epi- class gift. You should have received time with them this summer. We Our far-flung correspondents: demiology at New Jersey Medical information on the matching have tremendously fond memories T. Walter Heiser provided this School, where he directs the school’s challenge issued by one of our of our Columbia days, very few information (quoted verbatim): epidemiological consulting service classmates: Any classmate who involving academics.” “Have now completed two years and his department’s teaching has never made a John Jay-level George Freimarck reports that working for the DFDL Mekong program, Bart has been married for gift ($1,500 or more) and makes he is: “a) still employed; b) still Law Group based in Vientiane, going on 25 years to Jean Donahue, one this year will have his gift making the house, car and now, col- Laos. Rather cutting-edge work whom he still thinks is “gorgeous matched dollar for dollar from the lege, payments; c) still happily mar- in development and financing of and brilliant.” Daughter Alicia is a

march/april 2010 55 class notes columbia college today senior at the Bronx H.S. of Science sion to the Class of 2014 — Anas- Eric Goldstein’s son, Aryeh, is s.v.p. of Northwestern Mutual and son Charlie is a junior at Regis tasia Barnes from Manhasset H.S. will be in the Class of 2014 as well. Life. (His daughter, Margaret, was H.S. in New York City. on Long Island, Joanna Kelly from Eric is a partner in the litigation recently admitted early decision Tower Hill School in Delaware and department at Paul Weiss in New to the Class of 2014, as were the Andrew Seife from White Plains York City. He specializes in securi- offspring of Theodore Johnson, Matthew Nemerson H.S. in Westchester, N.Y. ties law, white collar crimes, cor- Sami Mnaymneh, Orlando Ortiz 35 Huntington St. Robert C. Klapper: My thoughts porate investigation and complex and Allan Taffet.) Scott resides in 78 New Haven, CT 06511 for this column were going to be commercial disputes. Eric is active Cincinnati and is s.v.p. of business 78 about how silly all the worry about in many community and legal as- development of global fabric care [email protected] Y2K was, and I cannot believe that sociations throughout New York. for Procter & Gamble. Clay resides This column should not be empty. was 10 years ago! Holy prostate, Mark Schnitzer checked in from in Boston and is president and CEO Please send me your news for a Batman! Seattle, where he is the general of Jones and Bartlett Learning. And future issue. As the look and feel of the Uni- manager of MSN Money for Mi- Lou resides in New Canaan, Conn., versity administration continues crosoft. He has served in a number and is s.v.p. of Ehrlich Green & Co. to change (unfortunately, not the of leadership positions with XBRL Also on the late-breaking Robert Klapper football team), I would like you all International and XBRL US since birthday front, Kevin Fay reports 79 8737 Beverly Blvd., Ste 303 to know the name of the one ad- 1999. Mark led the development of that he helped celebrate Ed Klees’ Los Angeles, CA 90048 ministrator who has been there for Model Ware systems for Morgan 50th in Charlottesville, Va., with 79 so many years, is my main contact Stanley and was the founder of Ed, Bob Spoer and Jonathan Dahl [email protected] person and to whom I truly enjoy Free EDGAR, which he sold to ’80. Kevin has managed to tamp Joe Ferullo is a v.p. for program- speaking each year. It turns out EDGAR in 1998. down his famed zest for life: “My ming and development at CBS he is in the Alumni Office and has The Reunion Committee is wife is teaching a class at the UVA Television Distribution, which multiple roles. All the donations working hard to create a memora- Nursing School (great credential, produces syndicated television I have made through the years ble event for our 30th. We all need lousy pay). Kids are healthy and programs such as Entertainment have always been with him, and to consider attending the event, still talking to me. One of our dogs Tonight, Judge Judy, Rachael Ray and I believe he truly understands the especially the class dinner on Sat- has cancer — real bummer. I am others. Joe has been involved in the important place the alumni serve urday night. In addition, there will one step ahead of my creditors and creation and production of a new in the overall university. The presi- be a gallery tour, a tour of the High losing hair rapidly.” syndicated show for CBS, Swift dents at the school have come and Line park, dancing on Low Plaza, Erik Jacobs gets the last word Justice with Nancy Grace, starring gone, and so have the many deans, Camp Columbia for kids 3–12 and on our birthday year: “As part of the outspoken CNN personality. It but he has always been there for other events to keep the party go- my demi-centennial celebration, debuts in September. Joe also blogs me. His name is Jim McMenamin. ing all weekend. We look forward I’m letting all my slacks and suit for the National Catholic Reporter I am not trying to solicit money in to seeing you there! pants out and having my double- (http://ncronline.org), a biweekly this column, but if you feel, like breasted jackets converted to publication that focuses on social many of you have told me, that single-breasted. Oh, and heli-skiing justice issues. They pretty much you are not being heard, this is the Jeff Pundyk was still scheduled for January.” let him write about whatever he guy whom I have felt so comfort- 81 20 E. 35th St., Apt. 8D Erik and his wife, Laura Eberstein wants, however. Joe’s blog topics able with all these years. God bless New York, NY 10016 Jacobs ’88, recently celebrated 15 include his hatred of his Black- you, Jim, and thanks for all that 81 years of marriage — to each other. [email protected] Berry, various attempts to teach his you do. Barry Waldman manages to link 16-year-old daughter to drive and Our Columbia education may my name with the term “gaping the pleasingly familiar Bronx ac- have prepared us for many things yaw,” something I usually hear only REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 cent of the newest Supreme Court to come, but golf and procreation from my wife. Barry writes: “Jeff, I Alumni Office Contacts justice, Sonia Sotomayor. would rank fairly low on the list. relate the following to fill the gap- Alumni Affairs Stella Miele-Zanedis Tom Costigan (Falls Church, And yet … and yet, four of our ing yaw that might otherwise exist [email protected] Va.) is a system configuration ana- own have managed to earn actual beneath your name in the Class 212-851-7846 lyst with Online Resources Corp. money — 500 bucks among them Notes section, and not because I Development Sam Boyer (Chantilly, Va.), a leading provider — through a clever and apparently have any delusions of adequacy. I [email protected] of online banking, bill payment legal combination of these two was named Outstanding Adjunct 212-851-7452 and credit management software sets of talents. Bob Haskins, Sean Faculty Member at the College of systems. If your bank is not using Michael C. Brown D’Arcy, Lou Casali and Clayton Charleston, where I teach P.R. and ORCC on the back end for these London Terrace Towers Jones rose above our humble be- marketing courses to unsuspecting services, change your bank now! 80 410 W. 24th St., Apt. 18F ginnings to win the “low gross” upper-classmembers, and Non- David Edward Bauer has “work- 80 New York, NY 10011 (whatever that is) at the Frank Profit Marketer of the Year (from ed as an attorney for the State of [email protected] McGuire Golf Tournament at the the American Marketing Associa- Maine for more than 20 years and Ardsley (N.Y.) Country Club last tion) despite my work for United lives in Portland. I’m an avid It has been a long, cold winter here September. The foursome also won Way in Charleston, S.C. I also was contradancer, enjoy playing the in New York City, and we are look- the 50/50 raffle for the house, as voted ‘Most Likely To Get Hit Over dia-tonic button accordion and ing forward to some nice spring they were featured as the bet of the the Head with a Le Creuset Pot recently became active in the 9-11 weather. The basketball team has day. The question everyone bet on Cover’ by my wife, although I’m Truth Movement after waking up put on an impressive season with was how many children the four of dubious of that honor because I’ve to the fact that the official story coach Joe Jones leading our boys, them had sired. (The answer: 19. So seen her try to lift those things.” concerning the events of 9-11 is a and baseball started its season at a I’m guessing that “low gross” does Jon Elsen joins the exodus from monstrous fraud. tournament in Las Vegas. All in all, not relate to their collective sperm traditional journalism. He has “My oldest son (’08 Wesleyan) is lots to look forward to as we lead count.) These are, of course, some taken a position at The Abernathy an actor/waiter in New York City, up to Alumni Reunion Weekend, of the same characters in the picture MacGregor Group, where he will my second son is a freshman at Thursday, June 3–Sunday, June 6. accompanying this column: Marc advise executives on their com- the New England Conservatory of Dr. Josh Stolow sent a nice Mazur, Sean D’Arcy, Scott Gresky, munications strategies. For the last Music in Boston and my daughter note on the acceptance of his son, Clay Jones and Lou Casali are pic- five years, Jon had been an editor is a freshman at Portland H.S. I can Joshua, to the Class of 2014. Josh tured at a recent surprise 50th birth- at The New York Times, where he be found on Facebook and would runs the Center for Arthritis and day party for Clay in Boston. Squint worked with his friend and former be happy to hear from classmates.” Rheumatic Disease in San Antonio, your eyes (a lot) and they could be Spectator colleague, Jim Schachter Congratulations to Edward S. Texas, which provides complete 18-year-old freshmen. Marc resides ’80, and John Leland. Before that, Barnes, Michael P. Kelly and Alan and comprehensive care. He is in Pelham, N.Y., and is chairman of he was business editor at The New Seife, whose daughters and son married to a classical musician, Elsworthy Capital Management. York Post after having worked at a have been accepted early admis- and they have four children. Sean resides in Bronxville, N.Y., and variety of newspapers as a reporter

march/april 2010 56 columbia college today class notes

and editor since college. Jon and health. It is now nearly 28 years his wife, Ellen, live in Rye, N.Y., since graduation, and it recently with their children, Maggie (9), dawned on me that our 30th re- Benjamin (7) and Rebecca (4). union coincides with the end of Jay Lee reports from the sidelines the Mayan Calendar in 2012. I say of Columbia’s Dick Savitt Tennis this by way of warning, because Center: “We are real proud of the that leaves but two years to make CU tennis team for winning back a contribution to this column! It the Ivy championship. One of our appears that you were collectively twins (both juniors at the College), overcome by l-tryptophan poison- Alex, is bragging about his Ivy ing during a mass turkey-eating championship ring but is still binge during the holidays. I will refusing to show me. Our youngest, overlook it just this one time. Courtney, also is doing well on her I have some good news to report. high school varsity tennis team, Our esteemed classmates Gabriel with only one loss in three seasons.” Dugue, Edward Lopez and Victor Manny Tirado writes in with Lopez-Balboa all have managed some nice news: “I’m certainly to keep their talented progeny on thrilled to say that my marriage on the straight and narrow path to October 3 was the highlight of my Columbia College next fall. Andrew Clayton Jones ’81’s 50th birthday party included a big surprise when year. My best man was Ricardo Dugue, Douglas Lopez and An- four classmates made the trip to Boston to join him. Celebrating half Salaman, and the judge who of- drew Lopez-Balboa have all been a century were (left to right) Marc Mazur ’81, Sean D’Arcy ’81, Scott ficiated the wedding was Sheila admitted and declared their intent Gresky ’81, Jones and Lou Casali ’81. Abdus-Salaam ’74 Barnard, ’77L. to attend the College as members of PHOTO: Courtesy of Clayton Jones ’81 My lovely wife, Christine (maiden the Class of 2014. Fantastic! I can’t name Rickoff), is a 1983 NYU grad. help but remember Victor’s humor- The wedding was performed at the ous comment made during a brief vember 17 New York Times article, entry to the race as part of Team beautiful NYS Appellate Division speech at our 25th reunion where “Many Doctors to Stay Course on McGraw.” First Department courthouse in he stated, “I would first like to Breast Exams for Now.” It stated, The New York Times reported that Manhattan, where Justice Abdus- acknowledge that none of us would “Dr. Deborah Gahr, a gynecologist The Washington Post is to close three Salaam is one of the justices who get in here today.” in private practice in New York, U.S. bureaus. It notes, “The Post’s ex- serves on that bench.” In other news (note the journal- said the guidelines would make ecutive editor, Marcus W. Brauchli, I received very sad news: istic turn-of-phrase), our highly the estimated 10 to 15 percent of issued a memo to The Post’s staff James Eddinger passed away on accomplished valedictorian and women who resist having mam- Tuesday outlining the plan. He cited Christmas Eve after a brief illness. über-pundit George Stephanopo- mograms more confident in their ‘limited resources and increased James’ wife, Pam, writes: “James ulos was named co-anchor of Good decision. ‘In a sense that’s good,’ competitive pressure’ for the move. held fond memories of his days Morning America in December. Dr. Gahr said, ‘nothing is black and He said the paper’s ‘commitment to at Columbia. He and I met on Aside from graduating summa cum white in medicine.’ ” national news of interest to our read- campus as undergrads (I went to laude from the College, attending Congratulations to Michael ers is undiminished.’ ” Barnard); we married shortly after Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship, Pucker. His daughter, Abigail (Wal- George Bogdan wrote a letter graduation and had been together serving as the senior adviser to ter Payton H.S.), has been admitted to the editor, published in Crain’s’ close to three decades.” James, 50, President Clinton for policy and early decision to the Class of 2014. November 23 issue as follows: of Camarillo, Calif., was born in strategy, writing the New York Times Congratulations to my dear “Is Goldman Sachs’ $500 million Seoul, Korea, and spent much of No. 1 bestseller, All Too Human: A friends Marc Ripp ’80, ’83L and Shari small business initiative a sincere his youth in Maryland and Penn- Political Education, being named Ripp. Their daughter, Elena, was effort or a PR ploy? It can be help- sylvania. His life’s work included chief Washington correspondent for admitted early decision to The Fu ful at the margin if it can provide architecture, fine arts photography ABC News, anchoring This Week Foundation School of Engineering equity financing on a long-term and fiction writing. James also is for ABC News, twice winning the and Applied Science Class of 2014. basis, along with some advice. survived by a son, Nicholas. USC Annenberg School of Journal- She will join her sister, Brandi ’12. But not based upon the principles And, finally, as you read this col- ism’s Walter Cronkite Award for Marc’s father also graduated from used by venture capitalists. Most umn, Brian Krisberg will be step- Excellence in Television Political CC (Joseph ’48). Marc remains a promising small businesses will ping up to the podium on March Journalism, marrying actress Alex- tireless supporter of the College, con- never go public and float shares 3 to collect his John Jay Award for andra Wentworth and having two ducting countless alumni interviews. on an exchange, nor should they distinguished professional achieve- daughters, he really hasn’t been up Kevin Chapman: “In case you contemplate doing so. VCs only ment from the College. Through to very much … are looking for a good cause to want the potential billion-dollar the years, Brian, a partner at Sidley Congratulations to Frank Lopez- which you can make a tax-deduct- company that gives them a chance Austin, has volunteered countless Balboa and Tracy V. Maitland, who ible donation, the Tug McGraw to cash out big. If Goldman partner hours in many roles for the Col- both will be honored by the College Foundation is great, supporting Warren Buffett can create an entity lege. Among Brian’s fellow John on March 3 with a John Jay Award brain cancer research and support that will hold shares long-term and Jay recipients is Julia Stiles ’05, who for distinguished professional for patients with brain injuries and just collect dividends, then that is may not have served the College as achievement. Watch for a follow-up illnesses. The foundation honors really helpful. Few bankers like long as Brian but is surely prettier article in the May/June issue with the late great New York Mets and doing small business lending, and than he. photos from the black-tie gala. Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, who I’m not sure if you can do anything As always, send updates and died in 2004 from brain cancer. about that. But if micro-lenders other unlikely pairings — real or And, by coincidence, my wife, Sha- can lend $100 per business to poor imagined — to jpundyk@yahoo. Roy Pomerantz ron ’83 Barnard, is raising funds women in Bangladesh and make a com. Babyking/Petking for the Tug McGraw Foundation profit, then certainly a micro-equity 83 182-20 Liberty Ave. in connection with her goal of run- program can work in the U.S.” 83 Jamaica, NY 11412 ning the New York City Marathon George also writes: “Last Sep- Andrew Weisman [email protected] in November. The link to her fund- tember, I sold my house in Green- 710 Lawrence Ave. raising page is www.active.com/ point, Brooklyn. It took a year, 82 Westfield, NJ 07090 I was honored that Professor Karl- donate/teammcgrawnyc2010/ but the final price was palatable. I 82 Ludwig Selig joined my family in tmnycm10SChapma if you would moved to Elmhurst in Queens.” [email protected] celebrating my son David’s fifth like to donate $5 or $10 (every little David Hershey-Webb has Greetings, gentlemen. I trust the birthday. bit helps) to help her reach her been with the tenant law firm of New Year so far finds you in good My wife was quoted in the No- goal so that she gets an automatic Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben,

march/april 2010 57 class notes columbia college today

Donoghue & Joseph for eight years, “There is still a lot of work to freestyle events. In 1981, he was has become a well-known figure in the last two as a partner. Along with do to finish the CD in time for my the EISL champion in the 1650 volunteer activities in the Astoria/ his law partner William Gribben 50th birthday. We are looking to freestyle; in 1982, he added the 500 Long Island City area. As chairman and associate Ronald Languedoc, add pedal steel to several tracks free championship to another 1650 of the board of the Long Island David wrote an amicus curiae brief and a horn section to two or three freestyle victory, and in 1983, he City YMCA, he has played a submitted on behalf of two tenant songs. One song cries out for a accomplished a rare triple win, tak- principal role in raising the funds groups, New York State Tenants mariachi band and another will ing home the laurels in the 200, 500 to build a new 30,000-square-foot and Neighbors Coalition and Met sound complete with a gospel and 1500 freestyles. A month later, facility for the youth of Long Island Council, in the Court of Appeals choir. Finishing the CD is going to on March 23, 1983, the boy from City. Tony and his wife, Janice Rae, case Roberts v. Tishman Speyer. cost money, and that is where you Bayside won the NCAA champi- whom he married in 1987, live in The court’s recent decision was a come in. I am hoping that you will onship in the 1650 freestyle in an Monroe Township, N.J., with their big victory for tenants, finding that consider investing in my music NCAA, American and world-re- two sons, Christian Michael (13) thousands of apartments at Stuyve- career and helping me to complete cord time of 14:46.29. An All-Amer- and Anthony Michael, Jr. (10). In sant Town and Peter Cooper Village this creative project. Please contact ican and All-Ivy League standout, his spare time, Tony is a devoted had been unlawfully removed David Hershey-Webb, New CD he won seven EISL champion- yachtsman. Incidentally, his induc- from rent regulation. The decision Project, 1700 York Ave., #10J, New ships and set EISL records in the tion to the Columbia Athletics Hall is expected to lead to reregula- York, NY 10128. Thanks for your 500, 1000 and 1650-yard freestyle of Fame marks his third entrance tion of thousands of apartments support. And check me out at races. Nearly 25 years later, he still into such an organization. In throughout the city and substantial myspace.com/davidhersheywebb.” holds the 1000-yard mark. Twice, 2003, he was inducted into both overcharge awards for tenants. I had the pleasure of sitting next in 1982 and 1984, he was the high the Metropolitan Swimming Hall David and his wife, Amy to Dean Kavita Sharma of the Center point-scorer at the EISL Champion- of Fame and the New York City Hershey-Webb (née Schwartz, ’84 for Career Education at the Alex- ships. Co-captain of his 1983 team, Public Schools Athletic League Tufts), celebrated their 10th anniver- ander Hamilton Award Dinner. Corbisiero set Columbia records in Hall of Fame.” sary in Paris in October. David and Interestingly, she said there are four different events and still holds Tony is in contact with Andy Amy’s daughter, Lilly, turned 10 in many, many job opportunities for pool records at six league aquatic Gershon, Lester Brofman and November. She had the lead (male!) seniors. Her biggest challenge is venues — Columbia, Cornell, many of his swimming teammates. role of Conrad in P.S. 158’s Janu- making students realize the many Dartmouth, Yale, Army and Navy. Tony’s brother, Richard ’80, was a ary production of Bye Bye Birdie. job offerings still available. Sharma His name appears so many times CC class president. David’s second CD is expected to noted that many students are ap- on the pool record board at the I love hearing about classmates be released next June, in time for plying to grad school, taking time Naval Academy, they should make like Tony, who are successful entre- his 50th birthday. “I am writing off to travel or not even looking him an admiral. A four-time AAU preneurs, job creators, risk takers because I know you love music, for jobs because they are falsely All-American, Corbisiero set the and the backbone of our economy. and I want to invite you to be part discouraged by the soft job market. American record in the 800 free- Please send e-mails! of something very special. Thirteen Since my companies continue style (7:58.50) in July 1982 while at- years ago, I released my first CD, to grow, we are in the process of tending Columbia, and was ranked Blue Heart. It was a collection of posting several job listings on the in the top 15 in the world in the Dennis Klainberg original songs that did not fit neatly CC online recruiting system (at no 1500 freestyle as an undergrad. He Berklay Cargo Worldwide into any one genre. The songs were cost!). Anyone interested in listing was a member of the U.S. National 84 JFK Intl. Airport country, folk, blues, rock, swing. employment opportunities at CC Team from 1982-1984. His ability 84 Box 300665 You can still see a video for one of should contact me. to swim several different distances Jamaica, NY 11430 the songs, ‘Never Been A Cowboy,’ I also had a chance to spend was just one of the reasons why he [email protected] on YouTube (just search ‘Hershey- time at the dinner with Michael was widely regarded as one of the Webb’). Blue Heart was made Schmidtberger ’82, Doug Wolf ’88, top swimmers in the nation during Welcome to the world, Jack Alan, possible by my good friends Paul Mark Amsterdam ’66, Gerald Sher- his time at Columbia. A recipient born to Mark Stuart Gill, a writer Lindemulder (aka Paul Trudeau, a win ’55, David Filosa ’82 and James of the prestigious Van Am Prize in Maine, and his wife, and Stella great singer-songwriter) and Debbie McMenamin (director of principal Medallion for his service and dedi- Wrae, to Adam Belanoff, a TV Edison (another great singer). gifts and senior adviser to the dean). cation to the University, Corbisiero writer/producer in Los Angeles, “Well, the last 10 years of work­ing and his wife. as a lawyer and being a husband Having met Jack et famille sev- and dad (raising a singing daughter) eral months ago, yours truly — an haven’t left me much time to write or Matthew Cooper ’84 is senior adviser to the Con- honorary member of the ’84 Los record. But last summer, I went back gressional bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Angeles chapter of the Columbia into the studio and recorded nine College Legacy Committee (which songs for what will be my second Commission. includes L.A. denizens Michael CD. (At this rate I should be able put Ackerman, Carr D’Angelo and out another two or three CDs before Peter Lunenfeld) — was looking I join that jukebox in the sky.) I am so On October 12, Fortune Magazine graduated in 1983 with a degree in forward to meeting Stella and her excited about these recordings. Paul published the article “Which Ivy English and entered the sports- mishpocha. Trudeau arranged the session, sang Performed Best.” Four Ivy League wear business. By 1991, he had Speaking about the left coast, harmonies and played guitar. Paul endowments (June ’08–June ’09) risen to v.p. of sales for the Arena/ Jim Weinstein and his family, and has recorded with Meredith Brooks were featured with results as fol- Le Coq Sportif brand and Adidas his sister, Ilene Weinstein Leder- and recently toured with Melissa lows: Harvard (-27 percent), Yale subsidiary. The following year, man ’87, and her family spent Etheridge. On bass and harmo- (-25 percent), Penn (-16 percent) however, he joined the business his part of Christmas Eve at the San nies, I was joined this time by John and Columbia (-16 percent). grandfather, Richard Corbisiero, Francisco home of Larry Kane and Troy, a veteran recording artist and I had the great pleasure of receiv- Sr., had founded in 1951, a catering his family, where the Weinstein performer who has worked with ing a telephone call from legendary facility in Astoria, Queens, named and Lederman kids met Santa! the Pousette-Dart Band, Joe Cocker, Columbia swimmer Tony Corbisi- Riccardo’s. After working under an Taking a page from Jim (who Jonathan Edwards and Troy, Mat- ero. Tony was inducted into the uncle for several years, Tony Cor- once served as an elected official of tacks, Brown, among others. Rodger Columbia University Athletics Hall bisiero purchased the business in West Orange, N.J.), Phil Donahue Carter (currently touring with Rick of Fame in 2006. His sports prowess 1997. He has renovated Riccardo’s recently was elected a Tredyffrin Springfield) played drums and is summarized on the Go Columbia into a state-of-the-art, full-service Township Supervisor in Pennsyl- provided the first-rate studio, Dog Lions Web site (www.gocolumbia banquet facility and was recog- vania. Phil, his wife and their five House Studios. Grammy Award lions.com): nized by the New York Restaurant children have lived in this area for winner Neil Citron engineered. “From 1981–1983, Corbisiero Association, which named him its more than 17 years. He is a com- Again, the songs are varied, a range won Eastern Intercollegiate Swim- ‘Caterer of the Year’ for 2003–04. munity volunteer who has worked of country, rock, blues. ming League titles in four different Active in community affairs, he with groups such as the Valley

march/april 2010 58 columbia college today class notes

Forge Civic Association and the Boy years, I have been regional presi- digital business - Latin America financial crisis. Its job is to unearth Scouts. In his own words, “James dent and director of retail banking and U.S. Latin for Sony BMG. what really happened and report to D. Weinstein, financial and politi- for Five Star Bank, a $2 billion bank Roland Matthews is chair of Congress and the President by the cal wizard, inspired me to run. Of headquartered in Warsaw, N.Y.” the Department of Obstetrics end of 2010. I’ve been brought on course, being a slow learner, it only Jim Satloff spent the winter and Gynecology at Morehouse to help with investigations and to took about 24 years for me to get break in Asia, visiting Tokyo, Kyoto School of Medicine in Atlanta. help write the report. It’s an exciting around to it. We could really blow and Shanghai with his wife, two His subspecialty is gynecologic opportunity. I covered the financial this race out of proportion with sons and mother-in-law (!). Asia oncology. Roland enjoys teaching crisis as the Washington Editor of national implications in that it was was fascinating, and Dustin, Jim’s and being a mentor, and is father Condé Nast Portfolio, and I watched a grassroots Republican sweep in a high-school junior, wrote an article to sons Remi (13) and Omari (11). that magazine fold in large measure really off-year election cycle.” outlining the notion that China In the words of his wife, Audrey because of the crisis.” Before taking Another L.A. TV guy, Peregrine is as different from Japan as they Jacobs ’86 Barnard, “Roland and the job at the commission, Matt was Hopkins Beckman, checks in: “As both are from the United States. I met at the Caribbean Students writing for The Atlantic and talking a freelance TV editor and producer, The article should appear in the Association meeting in 1982. We pointsmemo.com, where he was I’ve had a remarkably steady gig at Collegiate School (NYC) Journal of often reflect on the importance of editor-at-large. Matt, a central figure Original Productions in Burbank for Chinese class students. Jim also college for us. Our closest friends in the CIA leak case, hopes to avoid the last two years. Latest hit is 1000 reports how proud he was to see are Columbia grads. We think of the limelight. “I’m here to serve,” he Ways to Die for Spike.” As the son his sons (including Theo, 13) speak Jacques Augustin often.” said. “After it’s done, I can go back of Richard Beckman ’53, husband of Mandarin and make themselves As do I. to the world of bylines.” Elizabeth Leicester ’87 and father understood. Jim, too, has taken When Adam Belanoff and Remember old friends fondly, of Julian (10) and Eleanor (16), Pere-­ Mandarin for many years, although Stephen Gee resurrected the Varsity make new ones, enjoy your life and grine does Columbia proud by his sons’ abilities now eclipse his Show during our tenure, no one be sure to check in now and again. volunteering to conduct interviews own. The ski company in which could have imagined how wildly Roar, Lion, Roar. of candidates for admission. Jim is a majority owner reports that successful it would be, and has With regard to one early decision it is 100 percent sold out this year, been, on campus ... and on the REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 candidate cum acceptee, “The kid which is, as he reports, “a high-class world stage! Now, for a limited Alumni Office Contacts who was admitted is spectacularly problem,” which could be remedied run of anywhere from four to eight Alumni Affairs Kimberly Peterson qualified, I must say, and since his by more working capital — anyone years, it’s playing way, way, way [email protected] admission, he’s been asking advice interested in being a part owner off Broadway, featuring a pride of 212-851-7872 on dorms. Offered a choice of John of a ski company? His company’s Columbia-bred extroverts charged Development Kimberly Rogers Jay or Carman, I told him that site is www.libertyskis.com. For with leading the nation, and pro- [email protected] although freshman year in Carman full disclosure, he has made use of viding yet another installment to 212-851-7492 is a trial, the best friendships seem your class correspondent’s customs Barnard’s weekly Zooprax “Reel” to come from there. Seems like a expertise. Politics. Jon White good discussion to have online Max Rosen, president and foun­ Barack Obama ’83 stars as “The 16 South Ct. sometime — how important is your der of Indigo Productions, an NYC President” and Eric Holder ’73, 85 Port Washington, NY 11050 first dorm? Maybe I should start a video production company, had an ’76L is the “Attorney General,” 85 [email protected] Facebook page for the Class of ’84. exciting year. For one project, Max supported by Julius “I’m mad as I’d like to include Barnard ’84 as and his company shot interviews hell, and I’m not going to take it As of this publication, fewer than well since I have many friends from with 50 corporate executives in anymore!” Genachowski ’85 taking 100 days remain until our 25th there.” eight countries around the world aim as the chairman of the Federal reunion! We are aiming for a re- The Third Coast? Imagine that ... simultaneously — quite a logistical Communications Commission cord turnout for our class, as well and Tom Dyja did! He sold a book challenge. For fun, Max produced (with a little help from his svengali as class fund records in both par- proposal to Penguin Press called a comedy “viral video” that was in the Office of Strategic Planning ticipation (25 percent) and total “The Third Coast,” a cultural his- launched on YouTube and has so think tank, Steve Waldman (re- unrestricted dollars ($250,000). tory of post-war Chicago, when far been seen by more than 20 mil- ported last issue)). Standing in the We have had several challenge a fascinating cast of characters — lion people worldwide. The video, wings and ready for his close up grants to assist us, and I am people like Hugh Hefner, Sun Ra, which grew out of a video work- is the galvanized David Cavicke, pleased to report that we are well Richard Daley, Mike Nichols and shop that Max and his company who serves as the Republican chief on the way. As of this writing, Elaine May, Nelson Algren, Bau- presented at NYU last the summer, of staff to the Committee on Energy we are close to reaching three- haus veterans Mies van der Rohe received press coverage from CNN, and Commerce. quarters of our gift-giving goal. I and Moholy-Nagy, Muddy Waters NBC, Forbes and The Chicago Tribune, Keeping us posted is George have spoken to many classmates, and Howlin’ Wolf, Saul Alinsky, among others. Yahoo also voted it Stephanopoulos ’82 as host of This so let me thank you again for Mahalia Jackson, and Ray Kroc for the No. 1 comedy video of the year, Week (returning to New York for your most generous support to starters — created the template for as well as the No. 2 “viral video” of Good Morning America later this date. For those of you who have modern American culture. With the year. You can find it on YouTube year) and Marcus Brauchli ’83, not yet contributed in this spe- luck, it’ll be in stores in 2012.” by searching for the “JK Divorce who does a mean Perry White as cial reunion year, we appreciate Think you’re having a good Entrance Dance.” Indigo’s Web site editor of The Washington Post. whatever you can add. day? I didn’t have any other news is www.indigoprod.com. But perhaps most noteworthy of The Reunion Committee has con- for this column, so I sent out my During Art Basel Miami, the all is when a member of the fourth tinued to expand, up to 19 members last ditch effort e-blast plea, aka a Columbia Alumni Association held estate crosses over, as in the case at last count. Thanks again to the “Hail Mary,” and it was caught by a special tour of a “satellite show” of Matthew Cooper, starring in entire committee: Kevin Kelly, none other than football great John and dinner party for more than 100 this his sketch/remake/homage of Heather Paxton, Tom Scotti, Amr Witkowski! “My wife, Cathy, and I Columbians living in South Florida “Who’s Minding the Mint.” Aly, Steve Quackenbush, Adam are coming up to our 20th wedding and visiting from afar. Attorney Matt is a veteran journalist who Fischer, Colin Redhead, Leslie anniversary and live in Orchard Bernardo Burstein, a native of Mi- has worked at Time, Newsweek, The McCarthy, Brian Cousin, Paul Park, N.Y. (home of the Buffalo ami Beach, attended at the behest New Republic and other places of Bongiorno, Michael Cho, David Bills), with our children, Alec (AJ) of yours truly, Dennis Klainberg, ill repute. Having moonlighted at Zapolsky, Rich Froehlich, Brian (17), Kyle (16) and Christie (11). AJ owner of www.ShipMyArt.com, various comic venues (The Improv, Margolis, Joe Titlebaum, Daniel and Kyle are three-sport athletes at international freight forwarder for The House, The Senate), he explains Savin, John Phelan and Mike Orchard Park H.S., and Christie is Scope, Pulse, Nada, Art Miami and his new gig: “In December, I took Reilly. Just drop a line to me or the involved in many different sports/ more than 200 art galleries from a position as senior adviser to the Alumni Office if you would like to activities. I worked for Fleet Bank, around the world. Also dropping Financial Crisis Inquiry Commis- join us. FleetBoston and Bank of America in on the way to yet another sion. This is a bipartisan, inde- You will be getting the complete for 14 years before we moved to recording industry event was dear pendent commission established schedule of events from the Alumni Orchard Park. For the last four friend Seth Schachner ’85, v.p., by Congress to investigate the Office later this month. In the mean-

march/april 2010 59 class notes columbia college today time, I wanted to note some of the he was responsible for the due of Philadelphia. He is a principal of Everett Weinberger highlights: diligence and collateral monitoring KieranTimberlake, an internation- 86 50 W. 70th St., Apt. 3B Thursday evening cocktails in functions of a high-risk commer- ally recognized architecture firm New York, NY 10023 the New York Times tower, followed cial loan portfolio. Before Fleet, noted for commitment to research, 86 [email protected] by the opportunity to attend sev- his experience included five years innovation and invention. His eral theatre/arts events. with Morse Shoe as the manager of firm received the national AIA’s Jack Merrick continues his good Friday tours and lectures, high- financial and merchandising plan- firm award in 2008. Rich’s current work in promoting colorectal lighted by a family-friendly dinner ning and three years with Laura projects include the new Center health. He writes: “As you may at V&T and then cocktails with our Ashley as the director of inventory City Building for the University of remember, in 2007 I became an Barnard and Engineering classmates. control. North Carolina at Charlotte, under unlikely poster boy for colorectal Saturday Dean’s Day lectures, Adam Weisman and his wife, construction; a housing prototype health when seven of my bravest activities for the kids, reunions of Rebecca Taylor, can report the birth for Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foun- buddies and I celebrated my 43rd various interest groups across the of yet another child “with a strange dation in New Orleans; a master birthday with colonoscopies and a classes (WKCR, Spectator, music name selected perversely by his plan to improve the Kimmel Center raging awards banquet at Trader groups, etc.), followed by our class parents to heighten his chances for the Performing Arts in Phila- Vics. And who could have predict- dinner at the Italian Academy and of being the first American to win delphia; the redesign of Dilworth ed the resulting media storm trig- dancing on Low Plaza. Paris-Roubaix. Lucien Austin Peter Plaza, also in Philadelphia; and the gered by our unusual ‘Scopefest?’ We would love to see as many was born on August 6, which recently submitted competition I’d be thrilled if you’d consider of you as possible! Please let me makes him CC ’31 for those of you entry for the new United States joining me for my 46th birthday know if you are coming so I can keeping score at home. He joins his Embassy in London. Past projects and a new round of colonoscopies include this in my next column (as sister, Isabelle, and brother, Bastien, include the Melvin J. and Claire on or about Friday, March 26, here well as any updates). Hopefully, already in progress.” Levine Hall at Penn, Atwater in Los Angeles. Besides the fawn- the updates we will get at reunion Pace Cooper lives in Tennessee Commons at Middlebury College, ing media that can’t get enough of should fill this column for many with his wife, Aileen ’85 Barnard, the F. Otto Haas Stage at the Arden my large intestine, I’m considering months. and their six kids, including two Theatre Company and the Philadel- inviting high profile celebrities and Eric Kanter lives in Short Hills, sets of twins (boys 14 and girls phia Theatre Company’s Suzanne putting them on a brown carpet. N.J., is married to Melissa and has 5). He sent me a fabulous picture. Roberts Theatre. We’ll see, but rest assured, the after three daughters, Hannah, Emily Pace is the CEO of Cooper Hotels, Rich and his wife, Susan, have party will be delightful. So please and Rachel. He is the managing a third-generation, family-owned two sons (7 and 9) and live in an save the date, which happens to be partner of Retina Vitreous Consul- company that operates and man- 1860s-era townhouse in Center at the tail end of Colorectal Cancer tants in Livingston and Morristown, ages more than 20 hotels through- City Philadelphia. Awareness Month. Let’s not allow N.J. Eric is involved in venture capi- out the Eastern United States. After working on Wall Street for any other beautifully alive 40- tal investment in medical device Cooper Hotels was named Hilton a couple of years after graduation, somethings to fall prey to this and pharmaceutical companies in Hotels Corp.’s Developer of the Serge Ozerov earned an M.B.A. completely catchable killer called the ophthalmic industry. He plays Year last year. in 1989 from the Business School. colon cancer. And by all means, competitive squash when not run- Kevin Kelly is assistant com- “The last 25 years have been great, do not let yourself or your loved ning around to watch each of his missioner of NYC Business Express and I often attribute this in part to ones be caught off guard!” You can kids’ soccer games. at the NYC Department of Small the excellent undergraduate and check out Jack’s efforts at www. Tom Scotti is the president and Business Services. SBS is one of the graduate education I received in scopefest.org. principal in the Appraisal and Bloomberg administration’s eco- Morningside Heights. At business Congrats to Scot Glasberg on Valuation Division of Gordon nomic development agencies. NYC school I was recruited by Ford Mo- his ele ction as v.p. of finance for Brothers Group. Located in Boston, Business Express (www.nyc.gov/ tor Co. After putting in five years the American Society of Plastic Tom oversees daily operations BusinessExpress) is a one-stop, in Michigan, I had the opportunity Surgeons, the largest plastic surgery for the appraisal group. In addi- online tool containing information to ‘see the world,’ with my work group in the world. He’s also tion, Tom calls on his extensive a business needs to start, operate assignments taking me to Mexico, president-elect of the New York Re- industry experience in asset-based and expand in NYC. It also enables the United Kingdom, Brazil and gional Society of Plastic Surgeons. lending and collateral monitor- businesses to apply online for Russia, where I met and married Scot lives in Manhattan with his ing to maintain and expand client licenses, permits and certifications, Ludmila. We live in Moscow with wife, Alisa, and children, Alex (9) relationships. something that was impossible be- our sons, Anthony and Maximil- and Evan (3). Prior to joining Gordon Brothers fore 2009. Kevin has been with SBS ian. I am CEO of DeltaCredit Bank, Mark Gibson e-mailed an up- Group, Tom was a managing direc- for six years. He also is an adjunct where I have worked for 6 ½ years. date of his recent move. “After 15 tor of Fleet Retail Finance, where professor at SIPA, where he teaches DeltaCredit Bank is part of the years in Los Angeles, I have finally Capstone workshops to second- French financial services group made the move back east and now year SIPA students each spring. Société Générale. reside in very snowy and very cold Amr Aly is a partner in the Intel- “It is not likely that I will be able Kent, Conn. My wife, Aija, and our What’s Your Story? lectual Property group of Kilpatrick to make it to the reunion, so I am daughters, Gwendolyn, Catherine Let your classmates know Stockton’s New York office. Amr’s sending my congratulations to and Anneken, are making the ad- about your family, work, practice focuses on intellectual everybody for this important mile- justment to small-town living with travels or other news. property litigation with emphasis stone and wish everybody much gusto, and I am seeing if life as a on patent matters. His experience happiness and success.” screenwriter 3,000 miles away from Send us your Class Notes! spans several disciplines, includ- I am pleased to announce that the action can actually work. Hope E-MAIL to the address at ing pharmaceutical, biotechnology, three members of our class are to see lots more of my ’86 friends the top of your column, or to banking, Internet and chemical about to have their “legacies” join and am eager to get to as many [email protected]. fields. the Class of 2014. David Avigan’s crew events and races as possible Several folks have given their son, Zachary, and Len Genova’s this season.” MAIL to the address at the first update in 25 years … glad that son, Jerome, are the first two. As top of your column. reunion has inspired new submis- to the third, I can enthusiastically sions. Gary Klein is back living announce that I have added the Sarah A. Kass FAX to Class Notes Editor on the Upper West Side, just 10 “P’14” moniker to my Columbia 87 PO Box 300808 at 212-851-1950. blocks south of campus, with his credentials; our eldest son, Isaac, Brooklyn, NY 11230 wife, Courtney, and their daughter, will be entering the College this 87 Class Notes received by [email protected] March 10 will be eligible Madelyn (4). fall, a truly special moment for all for publication in the Rich Maimon earned a master’s of us in the White family. I could A hearty congratulations to Jane of architecture from Princeton, not be happier, and I look forward Brennan, daughter of Doug Bren- May/June CCT. worked for several architecture firms to navigating the freshman dorms nan, who has been accepted early and moved back to his hometown again. decision to the Class of 2014. Doug

march/april 2010 60 columbia college today class notes

is the first of our classmates — but singer-songwriter chugs along Claire, is a competitive gymnast, Europe in 2009 and riding almost I’m sure not the last — to make down here at a mellow, Mommy- enmeshed in the rat race of middle 200 new roller coasters over the Columbia a family tradition. friendly pace, despite the atrocious school applications, and Jessica’s course of the year. We have an Demetria Gallegos reports that economy. Although I still am work- twins, Nate and Sophia, are in first even bigger 2010 planned.” after 15 years in Colorado, she has ing on bringing my own band to grade, where she reports that Nate I hope everyone has great plans suddenly moved back to New York New York City, I had a Manhattan spends all day cooking up trouble for 2010. Enjoy the spring. to start a new job as community debut in another project, a free/ and Sophia chases after boys. editor of The Wall Street Journal. experimental jazz collective called Sheryl Hoke Love and Thomas Her husband and four daughters KREation, at the Shrine in Harlem Love will celebrate their 20th an- Emily Miles Terry are staying in Colorado through and at ABC No Rio on the Lower niversary in June. They live with 45 Clarence St. the end of the school year, and East Side. I’m excited to enter the their sons, Kevin (10) and Brian 89 Brookline, MA 02446 then looking to relocate as well. NYC music scene semi-covertly (7), in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where 89 [email protected] Demetria said, “I am so thankful and without the leadership pres- Sheryl is an intellectual property right now that I have our freshman sure, for now. attorney at Jones Day, and Tom I recently heard from Brian Domi- orientation guidance to fall back “Meanwhile, my husband, Kevin is an associate professor at Case trovic, who helped me remember on: ‘Even streets run east’ has kept Donovan ’87E, and I are happily Western Reserve and chair of the a part of my time at Columbia I me from getting lost in the city exhausted chasing after our sports- Health Policy section of the Ameri- hadn’t thought of in, well, too long. more than once.” obsessed son, Miles (6), and coming can Statistical Association. Tom is Brian recently wrote Econoclasts: The Eli Kavon had a busy 2009, up with various flimsy reasons why active in theater, recently as The Rebels Who Sparked the Supply-Side starting with his marriage to Mayira we shouldn’t a) get a puppy and b) Beadle in Sweeney Todd and The Revolution and Restored American Hirsch of Chicago on March 1 let Miles start drum lessons. I have Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Prosperity, which features the work in Weston, Fla. He then earned a the feeling we’ll be cratering on Technicolor Dreamcoat. of Professor Robert Mundell, whose master’s in Jewish studies from both matters before he reaches 8.” I also had the pleasure of hear- classes I attended in Hamilton. Spertus Institute in Chicago. Eli ing from several other classmates, Professor Mundell, who received also has been writing essays for who sent brief updates. Robert the Nobel Prize for Economics in The Jerusalem Post and the Zionist Abha Jain Sinha Monaco writes, “I was on the 1999, introduced foreign trade, journal, Midstream, which have been 88 9633 Eagle Ridge Drive wrestling team at Columbia. I capital movements and currency translated into Spanish, Italian and Bethesda, MD 20817 went to medical school and now swings into formal economic analy- French. 88 am director of sports medicine at sis. As an undergraduate, I hardly [email protected] Last year also was a year of Rutgers in New Brunswick. I am appreciated Professor Mundell’s nuptials for Melanie Hahn Roche, Happy belated New Year, all! I married, have two kids and live in greatness, but fortunately I can read who married James Roche in hope everyone enjoyed the holi- Hunterdon County, N.J.” Sharon about his work in Brian’s book. October in Sedona, Ariz. Melanie is days and weathered the cold. Our Koren shared, “I married Matthew Brian wrote to me, “The biggest an energy healer in private practice big excitement was my daughter Cohen after graduation. Mat- mistake I made at Columbia (aside and serves on the faculty at the receiving an acceptance from col- thew is an infertility specialist at from tolerating 1 Carman as dorm Barbara Brennan School of Heal- lege; I remember my excitement North Shore Hospital, and I teach space) was not taking economics ing, a four-year college of energy when I heard from Columbia! We medieval studies at Hebrew Union professor Robert Mundell, now a healing. She has taught at the are now back to routine life, at least College. We have three daughters: Nobelist and University Professor. school’s two campuses, in Miami as routine as life can be in a home Atara (17), Talia (13) and Tamar So I guess I had to half make up and Tokyo, and has offered work- with two teenagers. However, life (10). We live in Riverdale, N.Y.” for it by writing a book where he’s shops worldwide. Her husband sounds anything but routine for Susan Dixon McCammon lives the central hero. The book is a his- runs his own business as a market- Aaron Stern, who works for the in Galveston, Texas, where she is tory, based on primary sources, of ing consultant to small business U.S. Agency for International De- on the faculty of the medical school the genesis and implementation of entrepreneurs and teaches online velopment in the Philippines. He and practices head and neck surgi- supply-side economics, aka Rea- marketing with Ali Brown. ganomics. Supply-side economics is Shona Chakravartty, making her the most consequential revolution debut in Class Notes, announces Andy Cheng ’89 was appointed a judge of the San in economic policy since the New that she and her husband, Andy Deal, first hatched as it was from Tepper, gave birth to a son, Kavi Francisco Superior Court. the mind of enfant terrible Mundell Selvon, on June 3 in New York. in the ’50s and put into practice in Shona works for a small family the ’70s and ’80s. Professor Mundell foundation, the Hill Snowdon relates, “Just like CNN reported, cal oncology. Her husband, Tom, came to Columbia in 1974 and is Foundation, and Andy works at a typhoon in September caused a and bulldog, C-pap, weathered still there.” Vanity Fair. They live in Queens lot of damage. We ended up with Hurricane Ike, and Susan and Tom Brian’s book’s release was well- and see some classmates frequent- a meter of nasty flood water in our are rebuilding their house on the timed, as it is a history of how the ly. Shona reports, “So far, parent- house and had to move out. Our island. United States has dealt with eco- hood has been pretty smooth, family did not experience any inju- Finally, I was delighted to hear nomic crises. He has been widely albeit tiring!” ries, though Ying, my wife, had to from my freshman year John Jay interviewed. Brian’s conclusion: Garth Stein’s novel, The Art of brave flood waters up to her chest floormate Martin Lewison, who “The policy mix as best articulated Racing in the Rain, has spent more to get back to her mother, who was sounds like he is having a blast! by Mundell of stable money and tax than half a year and counting on in the house at the time. He writes, “For the last year I’ve cuts is the only thing that has work- The New York Times Trade Paperback “My latest tasks at the U.S. been teaching accounting and ed in response to economic crises Bestseller List. Garth reports that Agency for International Develop- finance at Hotelschool The Hague, since 1913.” In addition to The Wall the novel has been translated into ment have focused on the Mayon an 80-year-old college of hotel and Street Journal and Investor’s Daily, 28 languages and is being made volcano here. It was spewing lava hospitality administration in The you can find Brian’s writing on his into a movie with Patrick Dempsey. for about two weeks, amazing to Netherlands. I had studied Dutch blog, www.econonoclasts.net. In more literary news, Keith watch at night. I have worked on as a hobby for years, and this has Of our last reunion, Brian writes, Thomson’s new novel, Once a Spy, major storms, a volcano and major been a great way to nail down my “Had a grrreat time, palling around is being published by Doubleday. population displacements due to Dutch, get back into academia and with Pete Siegel, Barbara (Rosen- Keith said to check www.onceaspy. armed conflict since we arrived gain invaluable international work thal) Bagley, Nathan Neb-eker ’88, com for news about events, includ- in March 2008. The resiliency of experience. I’m also studying the Duchesne Drew, Gene Lee, Leslie ing readings around the country people here truly impresses me.” relationship between hotels and Feld, Marci Lobel-Esrig ... Ah, col- and links for what he calls “spy I touched base with Jessica the theme park industry. My wife, lege days.” gizmos and related services.” Miller, who is a litigation partner Cheryl, and I have done a lot of Andy Cheng was appointed a Sandy Asirvatham wrote, “My at Skadden Arps in Washington, field research, visiting more than judge of the San Francisco Superior modest career as a pianist and D.C., and has three kids. Her oldest, 50 parks in the United States and Court last September by Governor

march/april 2010 61 class notes columbia college today

Arnold Schwarzenegger. Andy is much too spirited to not attend 2000. I helped publish a book last world’s largest video game retailer. earned a law degree from Yale, our reunions in droves.” So, please, year, Ophthalmic Surgical Procedures, I’m lucky in that even though the clerked for a federal district court drove on out this June and recon- Second Edition, with Dr. Peter Hersh company is based in the Dallas judge and worked in the private nect with long-lost buddies or catch and Dr. Bruce Zagelbaum. We are area (nothing against the big D!), it sector for three years. He then up in person with all your Facebook homeschooling our kids, which is allowed me to stay in Los Angeles spent six years as a deputy city friends. Whatever you do, don’t the biggest adventure of all and the and open a satellite corporate office attorney in San Francisco and six stay home. The reunion crew has most difficult, though enjoyable. there. My team and I are respon- years as an assistant United States been working hard to plan events We spend our time among Boston, sible for helping move GameStop attorney for the Northern District for every age group, meaning your New York City and Miami. We’d into the digital future via strategic of California. Andy is as an adjunct kids are welcome! love to get back in touch with initiatives and acquisitions of professor at University of Califor- From Thursday, June 3–Sunday, friends. Before going to Miami for digitally-focused companies and nia Hastings College of Law. He June 6, we’ll have the chance to maternity leave, we saw Lorraine businesses in the games space and his wife, Yvonne, have three prove that we can still party like Chen and Todd Idson (previously globally. And on a related note, my children, Sam (12), Joshua (10) and sophomores. Our reunion will be a professor of economics at Colum- wife Jen’s company recently was Annie (7). Asked how he ended up packed with events that take full bia). She has a wonderful boy, acquired by Apple, so we’re look- settling in SF, Andy wrote, “I went advantage of what NYC and Co- Hayden, and they are doing well. ing forward to a fun 2010.” to SF on a lark but ended up meet- lumbia have to offer. There will be Jose Ramirez ’90 also is doing well, Andrew Stone is a gastroenter- ing my wife on a plane 17 years cultural happenings as well as class- married to our good friend Dr. Pearl ologist in private practice in south- ago. She’s a Bay Area native, so my specific cocktail hours and dinners. Wong. They have four children, and eastern Massachusetts. He lives fate was sealed.” Andy sees close The festivities will culminate with he is the head of the pediatric ER in Providence, R.I., with his wife, friends Greg White and his wife, a class dinner, wine tasting, cham- department at a children’s hospital Mindy, son, Ben (5) and daughter, Vera (née Chen) White ’90, every pagne toast and dancing on Low in Orlando.” Lila (2). Andrew keeps in touch other year. Greg is a busy executive Plaza on Saturday night. Andrew McFarland is one of with Darren Finestone, Chris An- in his family’s business, White Cof- the founders of Houston-based tollino, Peter Cole, Daryl Colden, fee Corp. Greg and Vera have two Hometta, a collaborative of design- Joel Barron, Michael Cohen and children, Sophie and Julian. Margie Kim ers, architects, builders, writers and Steve Weinstein. To welcome in the new year, my c/o CCT editors who have banded together Hopefully, they and everyone husband, Dave Terry ’90, and I and 91 Columbia Alumni Center to rethink and improve the way else will join us at our 20th reunion our three kids visited Jody Collens 91 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 residential architecture is designed. next year. Until next time…Cheers! Fidler, her husband, Phil, and her New York, NY 10025 You can visit the Web site at www. family in their new digs in Chevy margiekimkim@ hometta.com. Andrew earned a Chase, Md. The Fidlers showed hotmail.com master’s of architecture from the Jeremy Feinberg us a wonderful time, including University of Texas at Austin in 315 E. 65th St., #3F reminiscing in front of a roaring Greetings, everyone! I was in NYC 1995. He and his wife, Gretchen, 92 New York, NY 10021 fire, a lobster dinner, poker games during Thanksgiving week and got have a small design firm, d>mcf. 92 [email protected] and the secret recipe for the best to see Annmarie Giarratano Della Christine Vardaros wrote in: brisket either side of the Mason Pietra and Jodi Williams Bienen- “Last year, I married Belgian Jonas Hi everybody. Dixon line. feld and their families. Annie and Bruffaerts and moved permanently I was all set to write to you that Jodi had recently completed the to Belgium. I am a professional cy- this was one of those columns Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. They clist and writer/journalist/colum- where the mailbag ran nearly dry. REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 walked 39 miles in two days, start- nist. I have picked up a few more But, almost “at the buzzer,” I got Alumni Office Contacts ing at Chelsea Piers, past Colum- writing clients, such as U.S.-based a beautiful “assist” from my CCT Alumni Affairs Stella Miele-Zanedis bia, and over the Brooklyn Bridge Cyclocross Magazine, U.S.-based neighbor, the Class of 1991 cor- [email protected] and back. They had an amazing VegNews Magazine, Belgium-based respondent, Margie Kim. Even I 212-851-7846 experience! Unfortunately, I didn’t Ladies Cycling Magazine and the could make the “layup” from there. Development Rachel Towers get to see Julie Levy, who was Australia-based cyclingnews.com Can you tell it’s basketball season? [email protected] traveling, or Beth Shubin Stein, Web site. In my limited spare time, (Thanks, Margie!) 212-851-7833 who was working and taking care I am a spokesperson for In Defense Let me start with some news I Rachel Cowan Jacobs of her new baby, Brady. of Animals (I promote a vegan diet received directly. There’s no greater 90 313 Lexington Dr. Sandra Lora Cremers sent in for health). My last appearance for treat to an alumni magazine col- Silver Spring, MD 20901 this update: “I’m one of those them was at Veggie Pride Parade in umnist reporting on others’ news 90 Columbians who is sort of stuck in NYC last May.” [Editor’s note: See than to be able to share the good [email protected] between the Class Notes columns: the January/February cover story news of one’s college roommate. Several columns ago, I reported on I’m CC ’91 but was supposed to for more on Christine: www.college. To that end, congratulations to Jeremy Simon, who is on the faculty be CC ’92. So, I usually read both columbia.edu/cct/jan_feb10.] Alex Oberweger and his wife, at P&S. His news is of two addi- Caroline, on the birth of Natalie tions: a Ph.D. in philosophy from Tania on December 7. Alex is the NYU and a second daughter, Han- associate athletics director for stra- nah Elizabeth, born last February. Chris Petrovic ’91 is s.v.p. and general manager tegic communications at Columbia In December, Laura Shaw Frank of the newly created Digital Ventures division of and told me he hopes to see plenty proudly celebrated the bat mitzvah of our classmates at Columbia of her oldest child, Ateret, among GameStop. sporting events this year. a multitude of family and friends Margie’s e-mail forwarded a (the usual suspects included). communication from Dr. Sandra I look forward to seeing every- columns. As a quick update, I did I received this update from Lora Cremers, who started with one (OK, almost everyone) in a few medical school at Dartmouth and Chris Petrovic: “Early last year, I our class but finished with the months at our 20th reunion. Can then Brown. I did my residency in left my post as v.p., digital media, Class of 1991. Sandra understand- you believe it? I can. In fact, I ophthalmology at New York Eye for Playboy after more than three ably keeps up with both CC ’91 distinctly remember attending our and Ear. I got married to a wonder- memorable years there and took and CC ’92, and was kind enough 10th reunion (for those of you not so ful man, Jan-Hein Cremerson, on a much needed mini-sabbatical to to forward news of several of our good at math, it was held in 2000) January 2, 1999. He did his Ph.D. spend time with the family and classmates. and noticing the paltry showing of in physics at Harvard and now watch my daughter, Remy, turn 1 According to Sandra, Alessandra the Class of 1980 (who were attend- manages a hedge fund in NYC. this past April. In August, I took a Cazzaniga Soares lives in Worces- ing their 20th reunion). I thought We recently had our fifth child, job as s.v.p. and general manager ter, Mass., with her husband, David to myself at the time, “Well, that our first girl. I’ve been on staff at of the newly created Digital Ven- ’91E, who earned a master’s in will never be us. The Class of 1990 the Harvard Medical School since tures division of GameStop, the engineering, and their six children.

march/april 2010 62 columbia college today class notes

According to Sandra, “they are a great turnout, and attendees Sergio LaPorta has become the helping with reunion are Jamie busy but very happy.” included Dave Shimkin; Addison Haig and Isabel Berberian endowed Bennett, Franklin Chiu, Maria Sandra also reported that Maria Golladay; Joe Saba and his wife, chair in Armenian Studies at Calif- Celis, Amanda Kahn-Kirby, Mike Master, who is the godmother of Jen Fettner Saba ’93 Barnard; Joan ornia State University, Fresno. He Stanton and Jason Rosen. Contact Sandra’s first son, decided to go to Campion ’92; Axuve Espinosa ’93E arrived at Fresno State in fall 2009 Adlar at adlar-garcia@kellogg. medical school after being a lawyer and Eric Zukerman ’94. Neil said after teaching at the Hebrew Uni- northwestern.edu. for years. Maria completed her he’s already received a number of versity of Jerusalem. This couldn’t be a Class Notes schooling at Cornell and is now RSVPs for next year’s 40th birth- The Forward, one of the premier column without baby news. doing her residency in psychiatry. day celebration (are we really all publications of the North Ameri- Christine Senft Callahan, wife Sandra added that Patrick Lan- on the verge of 40?). can Jewish community, has named of Fletch Callahan, sent an e-mail non ’91, a lawyer, lives in Aventura, about the birth of their son, Fletch- Fla., with his wife, Valerie, and er Maximilian, born on November three children. Sara Niego ’93 is the program psychiatrist for the 16 in New York. He weighed 7 lbs., Finally, Sandra wrote that Ruben 1 oz. and measured 20 in. long. The Hernandez lives in Miami, where eating disorders program at the Institute of Living Callahans live in the city, where he is married with two children and Fletch is a bond salesman at Bar- working in finance, and that Mike at Hartford Hospital. clays Capital. Christine is a 1995 Tarbutton lives near Manhattan graduate of Columbia; she received with his wife, Joan, and their three her master’s from the Institute of children. Finally, I heard from Rachel Shawn Landres one of the 50 most Human Nutrition and is the direc- Thank you again, Margie and Mintz during the holidays. She was influential leaders in American tor of digital media for the Visiting Sandra, for providing news on so on her way to India for a five-week Jewish life. Shawn is co-founder Nurse Service of New York. many of our classmates. trip as part of her M.B.A. studies and CEO of Los Angeles-based Giles Giovinazzi and his wife, Although I am sorry that I don’t at NYU’s Stern School of Business. Jumpstart, a nonprofit incubator, Jolynn Shoemaker, welcomed their have more to report this time, you Rachel took a winter course in catalyst, think tank and advocate first child, Kathryn (“Kate”) Mari- do know how to fix that. Touch global business at the Indian School for sustainable Jewish innovation. bel, on October 5 in Alexandria, Va. base. Let me know how you’re do- of Business in Hyderabad, and she Forward called him “an essential A lieutenant in the U.S. Navy ing and what you’d like to share. I was looking forward to traveling thinker in explaining the new Jew- Reserve, Giles returned to his job can take care of the rest. the country while there. Rachel is ish spirituality and culture.” on Capitol Hill in January after a getting her M.B.A. part-time and And finally, Mary Killackey year on active duty, including nine spends her days working in the writes with happy news of the birth months serving as an intelligence Betsy Gomperz Office of the Auditor General in of her son, William (Will) John De- officer in Afghanistan. In July, he 41 Day St. the New York City Department of Cell, on November 16. He arrived a was promoted to staff director of 93 Newton, MA 02466 Education. few weeks early, but both mom and the House Aviation Subcommit- 93 baby are doing well in New Orleans. tee. Giles, Jolynn and Kate live on [email protected] Thanks for all the news. I look Huntsman Lake in Springfield, Va. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday Leyla Kokmen forward to more updates! season (though by the time you 440 Thomas Ave. S. read this column, it will be spring- 94 Minneapolis, MN 55405 Ana S. Salper REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 time). 94 24 Monroe Place, Apt. MA [email protected] Alumni Office Contacts I ran into Sara Niego at my hus- 96 Brooklyn, NY 11201 Alumni Affairs Kimberly Peterson band Mike’s high school reunion Amit Bose writes about his excit- 96 [email protected] [email protected] over Thanksgiving. Mike and Sara ing new Presidential appointment 212-851-7872 grew up together and were prom as director of congressional affairs Greetings, classmates. Development Rachel Towers dates (talk about a small world!). for the Federal Railroad Adminis- Gabriella “Biella” Coleman [email protected] It was great to catch up with her, tration at the U.S. Department of is in her third year as an assistant 212-851-7833 especially since I had not seen her Transportation. He’ll be working professor in the Department of Me- since our fifth reunion. Sara gradu- for FRA Administrator Joe Szabo Janet Lorin dia, Culture, and Communication ated from P&S in 2001 and is a psy- and with DOT Secretary Ray La- 127 W. 96th St., #2GH at NYU. A few years after majoring chiatrist in private practice in West Hood. Before joining FRA, Amit 95 New York, NY 10025 in religious studies at Columbia, Hartford, Conn. She also is the was New Jersey Senator Robert 95 Biella got a Ph.D. in anthropology [email protected] program psychiatrist for the eating Menendez’s senior policy adviser from the University of Chicago. disorders program at the Institute on transportation and infrastruc- I hope you will attend our 15-year She notes that at Chicago, she did of Living at Hartford Hospital. ture issues. Alumni Reunion Weekend on She and her husband, Petr Protiva, In other professional news, Tim Thursday, June 3–Sunday, June 6. live nearby in Avon with their McCutcheon has been named CEO Adlar García, reunion chair, said sons, Eli and Leon. Sara is in touch of Ovoca Gold, an international the program is all set and advises Help Us Go Green with Liz Hale ’93 Barnard and gold exploration company based in you to watch for information in the f you prefer reading CCT J.M. Liggio ’93 Barnard. Liz lives Russia. Tim has been a director of mail. The event will be packed with in Cambridge, Mass., where she Ovoca since January 2009 and has activities for the whole family. There Ionline, you can help us go teaches graduate and undergradu- lived and worked in Russia and the will be dinners, cocktail parties, green and save money by ate literacy and writing classes at Commonwealth of Independent lectures, dancing on the Low Plaza opting out of the print ver- Emmanuel College. She also is a States since 1994. Prior to working and Camp Columbia for kids. sion. Please send an e-mail literacy consultant for the Boston for Ovoca, Tim worked in multiple Join the Columbia College Class Public Schools. Last year was a big financial institutions such as Bear of 1995 Facebook group to view with your name, class year year for Liz, as she published her Stearns, Aton Capital and Pioneer the current schedule and see who and address, so we can lo- first book, Crafting Writers, K-6, Investments as an award-winning is coming to reunion. Raymond cate you in the database, to that teaches the art of writing, and metals and mining sector analyst Chan is reunion gift chair. The [email protected], subject recently got engaged. J.M. lives in and as an investment banker. Tim class set a goal of $150,000. We line “Opt-out.” You may be Virginia Beach, Va., and she and was one of the first analysts in Rus- already have more than $75,000 in her husband, Cret Wilson, recently sia to write about its gold mining gifts and pledges, and we encour- reinstated at any time, and welcomed a daughter. sector, and he has advised numer- age classmates to make gifts soon we will continue to notify Shortly before Christmas, Neil ous international gold mining com- to reach the goal. you by e-mail when each Turitz celebrated his birthday panies on mergers and acquisitions, Daniel Petroski will be supply- issue is posted online. with his annual “bacchanal” business development and Russian ing our class dinner with wine from bash in New York City. He had business practices. his Massican Winery. Other alumni

march/april 2010 63 class notes columbia college today

Maya Gupta ’99 Aids Victims of Domestic Violence, Human and Animal

B y Na t h a l i e Al o n s o ’08

he New York City sub- versity of Georgia in 2003 and shelters where they might oth- “I was always aware of Ma- way may seem like 2006, respectively. Her disser- erwise be euthanized and plac- ya’s love for animals. She spoke an unlikely place to tation, inspired by her subter- ing them in foster homes until passionately about the causes discover one’s calling, ranean epiphany, explored the a permanent adopter is found. in which she was interested,” Tyet Maya Gupta ’99 first pon- links between intimate partner As a graduate student, she also says Stone, a professor at the dered the connection between violence and animal abuse. helped rehabilitate and retrain a Florida International College domestic violence and animal “One of the take-home mes- pair of former racetrack horses of Law in Miami. “I loved that cruelty — the crux of her career sages was that there do seem to become event horses. we could talk about shopping and research — while riding the to be subtypes in cruelty to ani- “It was really a rewarding and music like typical college 1 line as a College senior. mals in the same way we think pursuit because these animals students one minute, but also “I was idly looking at the there are subtypes in patterns of were getting a second chance,” discuss human nature or art the posters at the top of the car next.” when my eyes lit on an ad It was precisely that balance for a domestic violence crisis that Gupta sought when she hotline. It asked about a num- decided to attend the College, ber of warning signs of domes- drawn in part by the Core Cur- tic violence, including if your riculum, which she credits in partner had ever threatened or retrospect for allowing her to hurt your pet. That was kind of explore the interests that have my ‘light bulb’ moment,” ex- shaped her career. plains Gupta, who since 2007 She explains, “The Major has been president of Ahimsa Cultures requirement was fan- House (www.ahimsahouse. tastic. Studying ancient Indian org), an Atlanta-based nonprof- texts and Jainism really fit right it dedicated to helping victims in with my developing interest of domestic violence and their in non-violence and violence pets reach safety. prevention, sort of linking the Gupta oversees the organi- Maya Gupta ’99, shown here with her cat Biskie, fostered kittens in philosophical with the applied.” zation’s three main programs, her off-campus apartment during her senior year at the College. Location also played a role which include a 24-hour hotline PHOTO: George Carless in Gupta’s decision. “Growing for Georgia residents, an emer- up in a fairly small town in the gency safe house network to domestic violence,” says Gupta explains Gupta, who still keeps Midwest, I really wanted to be hold animal victims until they of her research. “Some people’s the horses, Luther and Norman­ at the center of everything, not can be reunited with their aggression is triggered mostly dy, as well as a pony named just for the active off-campus owners and outreach aimed at by perceived rejection while oth- Dennis the Menace. She also life that New York offers, but raising awareness about the ers fit a different subtype of the shares her home with four cats: also for the career enrichment ways in which pets are often more typical, callous, unemo- Biskie, Sterling, Fred and Chitlin’. opportunities it affords,” says implicated in domestic violence. tional aggressive person.” Gupta became involved in Gupta. According to Gupta, pet owners Gupta went on to serve as animal rescue during her senior She never could have pre- often are hesitant to escape co-chair of the organizing com-­ year in the College, when she dicted however, that years later violent situations if they cannot mittee that developed the Amer- fostered cats in her off-campus one of her fondest recollections take their pets with them to a ican Psychological Association’s apartment. During her time of the Big Apple would be of an shelter. Section on Animal-Human Inter­ at Columbia, she also was a experience she had while com- “Nationwide, fewer than one action in 2007 and is now chair- member of the cheerleading muting. in eight domestic violence shel­ elect of the section’s governing squad and the sorority Alpha “I have, among other things, ters allow animals, so it’s a real board. Chi Omega, whose national the 1 train to thank for helping problem,” she says. “A lot of “It is the first time that the cause is working to end do- me get started on this path,” time the abuser will retaliate work of psychologists in the mestic violence. As a senior, the says Gupta. “That always stands against the pet if the human area of animal-human interac- West Lafayette, Ind., native also out as a good memory of Col­ victim escapes, or will use the tions has been officially recog- escaped Morningside Heights um­bia and of how New York pet to coerce the human victim nized by the APA,” says Gupta, several times a week by ventur- helped me get where I am now.” into returning.” who will begin her term as ing to Brentwood, Long Island, It is difficult to imagine a more chair in 2011. to ride horses at Knoll Farm. Nathalie Alonso ’08, from fitting role for Gupta, who ma- Gupta also is the founder of Kerri Bauchner Stone ’97, Queens, is an editorial produc- jored in psychology and French the Magi-Cat Adoption Network one of Gupta’s sorority sisters er of and contributing writer to in the College and earned a in Athens, Ga., a no-kill rescue and a fellow cheerleader, re- LasMayores.com, Major League master’s and doctorate in clini- group she started in 2000 with calls her friend’s enthusiasm Baseball’s official Spanish lan- cal psychology from the Uni- the goal of extricating cats from for the endeavors she pursued. guage Web site.

march/april 2010 64 columbia college today class notes

her research “among free software Sandra P. Angulo Chen geeks and hackers.” 98 10209 Day Ave. New York Times Washington Silver Spring, MD 20910 correspondent Jodi Kantor has 98 [email protected] secured a seven-figure book deal with Little, Brown to write a vol- A December article in The News- ume on the Obamas. Jodi’s book Press of Fort Myers, Fla., profiled the will draw on the three years of company Impact Education, which reporting she has done since giving was founded and is run by CEO up the editorship of the Times’ Arts Adam Hall. The business-section & Leisure section in 2005. During piece praised Adam’s education President Obama’s campaign, Jodi company, which provides online produced a number of biographi- instructional software for students cal stories about the President and K–college. Adam, who reportedly his inner circle, including one on founded Impact Education 10 years his time at the head of the Harvard ago after a stint as an investment Law Review, one on his career as a banker at J.P. Morgan Chase, counts law professor, one on his basket- among his loyal clients a diverse ball playing and one on how his roster of public schools, commu- friends were bracing themselves nity colleges, prisons and special- for his presidency. The book deal education programs throughout the comes on the heels of Jodi’s New country. Congratulations, Adam, on York Times Magazine cover story your company, which is obviously on the Obamas’ marriage, which meeting a real need. argued that “the Obamas mix In baby news, I accidentally left M. Austin Ripley ’01 married Oliver Eslinger at her parents’ house in politics and romance in a way that off a belated birth announcement Rhode Island. Joining the party were (left to right) Maren Maier ’01, Aimee no first couple quite have before.” in my January/February column. Silverman Horowitz ’01, the bride, Myvonwynn Hopton ’01, Maggie Ro- Congratulations on this wonderful Elana Sinensky Blumenthal wrote mao Mintzberg ’01, Ellen Shofner Bolotin ’01 and Michael Bolotin ’01. accomplishment, Jodi! in last fall to announce that she and That’s it for this issue. Please her husband, Adam, welcomed send in more news. You know the their first child, Jonah Isaac, on battered middle section of the coun- age where almost everyone arrived drill. I leave you with this thought: October 25, 2008. Jonah weighed 7 try, Esther Chak, now a reluctant coupled up, so despite our best “I tore myself away from the lbs., 1 oz. and was 20.5 in. Colum- Chicagoan, sent me one heck of an efforts to re-create The West End safe comfort of certainties through bians in attendance at Jonah’s bris update but failed to mention that circa 1997, there were no scandal- my love for the truth; and truth at the Jewish Center on the Upper she saw Avatar in 3D with Jenn ous hook-ups to report. Also, James rewarded me.” West Side included Max Strongin, Kaufman, who moved back there Boyle was unable to attend. —Simone de Beauvoir Sarah Green Spatz ’00, Eleanor Assa last year with her husband, William, “Slaten has spent the majority Bertrand ’98 Barnard and Polly and dog, Anderson. In light of the of his time since 2004 consulting Blitzer Wolkstein, who, along with following A+ Class Notes contribu- along the Gulf Coast, fighting in- Sarah Katz her husband, Mark, are Jonah’s tion, I will forgive this oversight. surance companies on behalf of his 97 1935 Parrish St. godparents. Elana is on hiatus from On top of being a super-talented clients to get their hurricane claims Philadelphia, PA 19130 the practice of matrimonial and graphic designer who picked up paid. The first couple years were 97 family law while she raises her now an M.F.A. from RISD like it was an mainly in smaller towns and cities, [email protected] 20-plus-lb. toddler. hors d’oeuvre, Esther writes newsy where he lived like a local, swilling Darrell Cohn, Avani Patel and e-mails like a bandit. Witness: copious amounts of domestic beer, Brian O’Dwyer ’97E have gotten “Kevin Aptowicz ’99E and Katie cheering SEC football and dating together with other Columbians to Lauren Becker Ayer ’99 Nursing now have two cocktail waitresses. breathe new life into the Chicago 19 Devalan St., Apt. 3N sons, Cian and Lucas, and Katie “Fortunately, he met his wife, Columbia Alumni Club (www. 99 Brooklyn, NY 11231 recently won her first trial. Kevin Lara, in early 2007 in New Orleans, chicagocolumbiaclub.com). Darrell 99 is up for tenure review at West where she now is finishing her fi- [email protected] is the treasurer and Webmaster, Chester University near Philly. They nal year at Tulane Medical School. Brian is the secretary and Avani is Hello, and welcome to my third both do research at Penn as well. Their first kiss was at the med one of the directors. They’ve had column. So far I have received one David Meshoulam ’00 and his wife, school prom (I wish I were mak- many successful events, including piece of actual Class Notes mail! Becca, now have two daughters, ing this up), and they have been an Epicurean Circle series, where It’s from my mom in Kansas City, Ella and Hannah. David is finishing together ever since. The two are Chicagoland alumni get together to and it reads, “Hi Lauren, Diane his coursework for a Ph.D. in the currently crisscrossing the country eat dinner at different restaurants. and another former co-worker took history of science at Madison and is for Lara’s emergency medicine So far they’ve had German and me to see Farragut North on Sun- going to start his dissertation soon. residency interviews and will learn Ethiopian cuisine. Darrell lives in day. Noticed that the playwright is Kamryn Eddy recently married in March where they will spend Lakeview near Wrigley Field with a ’99 CC alumnus and M.F.A. Co- Cathryn (Freid), whom she met at the next three to four years.” his wife, Leah Kahn, and is hoping lumbia grad, so here’s the program University of Chicago, now living Class Notes are troubling in that for a Cubs World Series victory. in case you are interested for your in Boston. Bryan Carlson married people seem to think that the only Oren Lerman finished his resi- Class Notes column. Diane says Amy Wilk on New Year’s.” newsworthy items are those about dency training in plastic surgery this may be made into a movie — After some gentle prodding from work, marriage, advanced degrees, at NYU Medical Center last June. per her Google search. Love you, Sahil Godiwala and Jay Cosel, good parenthood and other adult kinds He now is pursuing sub-specialty Mom.” Via phone, my mom also old Slaten Bickford has stepped of things. I, for one, don’t have a fellowship training for one year revealed that she and her former into the fray and tries to account for baby or a house. I’m not married. in reconstructive microsurgery at co-workers really enjoyed Beau himself as follows: “Slaten Bickford And I don’t have a job — I live in a the Hospital of the University of Willimon’s play and were not sur- and Lara Yanovsky were married sublet and have been fairly Pennsylvania. prised at all to learn he’s from Saint October 17 in New Orleans. In unencumbered by stuff like My own joyous news is that on Louis, since KC is forever in awe of attendance were Sahil Godiwala, responsibilities and ambitions December 30 I gave birth to a son, that classy town. [Editor’s note: See Ian Kell, Chris Harriss, Jay Cosel, — so it’s nice to get a low-key, Micah Amir. My husband, David, the alumni profile of Willimon in Nihal Godiwala ’02, Blaine Bell non–life-changing update like this, and I are thrilled beyond words May/June: www.college.columbia. ’96, Ommeed Sathe ’00 and Jamie from Kristina Kaufman: “Susan with the newest addition to our edu/cct/may_jun09.] Vandenberge (née Ballantyne) ’00 Harlan, Ania Wajnberg and I went family. Also reporting from the weather- Barnard. Sadly, we have reached the to Nick Anderer’s new restaurant,

march/april 2010 65 class notes columbia college today

less, it was a nice way to kick off courses. The last course — a tradi- adorable son, Isaac (14 months). the teens. tional Croatian soup — was served That being said, the Nayfacks That’s all for now; many thanks well after 2 a.m. The happy couple are thrilled about this move and to all those who wrote in! And resides on the Upper West Side. promise to visit. please, everyone, be sure to keep Make sure you mark your Enjoy the spring, and stay in me posted on all the things you’re calendars for our 10th (you read touch! doing, not doing or maybe even that right) reunion, Thursday, June avoiding. 3–Sunday, June 6. The Reunion Committee has been working hard Sonia Dandona to put together a fantastic program Hirdaramani REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 02 of private tours, cocktail hours, 2 Rolling Dr. Alumni Office Contacts dinners and other Columbia and 02 Old Westbury, NY 11568 Alumni Affairs Mia Gonsalves Wright NYC events. There will also be a [email protected] [email protected] class dinner and wine tasting Sat- 212-851-7977 Anna Martinez ’02 (center) mar- urday night, followed by dancing I am hoping 2010 is filled with lots Development Eleanor L. Coufos ’03 ried Gamal Kader (left) at the and champagne on Low Plaza. of updates from our classmates. [email protected] Masjid al-Nur in Denver in Octo- The rights for Helena Andrews’ 212-851-7483 ber. Tizoc Brenes ’02 (right) flew first book, Bitch is the New Black: in from Los Angeles to serve as Prisca Bae Jonathan Gordin … And No One Wears It Better than Martinez’s best man. 00 344 W. 17th St., Apt. 3B 01 3030 N. Beachwood Dr. Me, which will be published by New York, NY 10011 Los Angeles, CA 90068 HarperCollins in June, have been 00 01 optioned by Fox Searchlight Pic- [email protected] [email protected] Maialino. It’s the latest Danny tures. The movie will be produced Meyer restaurant in the Gramercy Dan Hoffman lives in Huntington At the close of my last column, by Grey’s Anatomy creator/execu- Park Hotel. Nick is the executive Woods, Mich., with his partner, I promised I’d provide details tive producer Shonda Rhimes, and chef and doing well, but tired. He Ariel, and their children, Michael about Nancy Perla’s “star-stud- Helena will write the screenplay. works 7 a.m.–1 a.m. every day. The and Shiloh (both 3). Dan has about ded” wedding in Arizona to Matt More information is forthcoming restaurant serves breakfast, lunch a year left of his dermatology Michaelis, and I like to deliver on www.bitchisthenewblack.com. and dinner. Google it for more info. residency at Henry Ford Hospital on my promises. The stars were, Nick Schifrin is ABC News’ It’s a big deal!” (N.B.: Mike “epicu- and is on the job hunt. He and his of course, all the Columbia and Pakistan-based reporter. He covers rean” Erman hasn’t yet weighed in family miss New York a lot — he Barnard alumni in attendance, Pakistan and Afghanistan for all on Maialino, but I will be sure to let lived there from 1995 when he including John Balzano, Andrea ABC News broadcasts, including you know when he does.) Kristina started at Columbia until 2008. Cherkerzian, Joyce Chou, Dina World News with Diane Sawyer, Good continues, “Not sure if this is inter- He notes, however, with the kids, Epstein, Billy Kingsland, Annie Morning America and other affili- esting enough, but Sara (Wilson) life in Manhattan is probably not Lainer, Patricia Marinoff ’02, Dr. ated networks. Frajnd is moving back to Israel in their future. Dan reports that Sarah Palestrant ’02, Joe Rezek, Sydney Rose Cicchillo and her with her husband, Amos, and their Michelle Lokitz ’96 was one of his Jamie Rubin ’01 Barnard, Chelsea husband gave birth to a daughter daughter, Ella (2), but first they are dermatology attending physicians Scott ’01 Barnard, Victoria Spodek at the beginning of the year. Cris- traveling in South America (Brazil at Henry Ford until she moved to (née Vinarsky) ’01 Barnard, Me- tina Pippa’s first child, Francesca and Argentina) for five weeks. North Carolina in August with her lissa Tominac ’02, Brandon Von Perry Price, was born in August. They [recently] had a goodbye husband and two children. Tobel ’02, Susan Wilsey (née Cristina teaches playwriting at Buf- party that I, Ania and Jenn Alzona Columbia tennis sensation Salil Pereira) and myself. It was an falo State College and is an artist in went to.” Seshadri lives on the Upper West incredibly festive affair held at the residence in the Arts in Healthcare That’s beyond “interesting Side with his wife, Jennifer, and Arizona Biltmore, and I was hon- Program at the Center for the Arts. enough,” Kristina — it’s the kind their daughter, Mia Sullivan Ses- ored to help celebrate with Nancy Her play, Cell Cycle, is set to be of material that makes Columbia hadri (1). Mia apparently already and Matt. produced at Russell Sage College College Today a must-read. As is this owns a tennis racket, which is of Jorge Herrera wrote in with an this spring. interjection from Sarah: “You forgot great concern to Jennifer! Congrats update: “On July 10, my wife and Kyla Pavlina writes, “My hus- the part about our dog, Henry Benz, to my fellow JJ12 floormate Salil! I welcomed a daughter, Alejandra band and I had a gorgeous son on who has dual citizenship!” Omosede Idehen and Grigor Gloria, into the world. She and her January 29, 2009. His name is Beck- Many thanks to Kristina for her Licul were married in a gorgeous, big brother are doing well, except ett Pavlina Hayden, and he will be tireless efforts and to Sara for giv- mountaintop ceremony in Lovran, I am just dying for some sleep. I taller than me before he is 5. LOL. ing us the full scoop. Croatia, in September. Several practice law, specializing in busi- He is tall like his father, an absolute Finally, since Ruth Altchek ’00 friends flew in from all over the ness and personal injury litigation. dream and the most fun job I have asked to be mentioned in the ’99 world for the wedding, including I was honored this year to be ap- ever had!” column, I’m pleased to tell you myself. Other guests included pointed as the legal adviser to the Anna Baltzer continues her San Antonio Hispanic Chamber work as a lecturer and organizer of Commerce, which is the oldest for Palestinian human rights and Cristina Pippa ’02’s play Cell Cycle will be produced Hispanic Chamber in the country. is touring internationally with her Between my family, work and book, Witness in Palestine: A Jewish at Russell Sage College this spring. the several boards I serve on, my American Woman in the Occupied life is pretty hectic, but I wouldn’t Territories. She recently appeared have it any other way. My best to on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart that I saw her at a really delight- Erica Easley; Alicia Dooley and everyone.” alongside Palestinian political ful and slightly ritzy dinner party her husband, Danny Rappaport; My wife, Jamie, and I are disap- leader Dr. Mustafa Barghouti on New Year’s Eve. John Bennett Rana Yates and her husband, Ivar pointed that Michelle Nayfack to talk about her book and joint was there, as were Andrew Den- Draganja ’03L; Ben Giesmann and (née Braun) and her family are Jewish and Palestinian nonviolent nington ’01, Matt Poindexter ’01, his wife, Yuliya Smyk; Louis-Simon moving from Los Angeles to the resistance to the Israeli occupation. Kitty Greenwald ’00 Barnard and Ferland ’06 Business and Tami Bay Area in June. Michelle is finish- View the interview and more at various people who attended other Chuang ’06 Business. The festivities ing her Ph.D. in urban education www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com. colleges. Late in the evening/early lasted all weekend and involved at USC. Her husband, Aaron, will Andy Cheung and his wife, in the decade, Konrad Fiedler pasta, truffles and exploring Grigor’s be starting a three-year fellowship Karen, recently celebrated their one- arrived in high-flying California hometown, Opatija. The photogenic at Stanford in developmental and year wedding anniversary, as well as style. Konrad likes to make mourn- wedding lasted for 12 hours and behavioral pediatrics. All of us, their one-year anniversary of living ful pronouncements about our was the first wedding I’ve attended including our daughter, Julian, in the Netherlands. Please e-mail extended adolescence, but regard- where guests danced between will miss Michelle, Aaron and their him at andrew.k.cheung@gmail.

march/april 2010 66 columbia college today class notes

com. He is building the company he Stories, will be the featured perfor- co-founded, www.sensobi.com. mance of this year’s festival of the Theater of the American South in Wilson, N.C. The show will run Michael Novielli for three weeks in May. Jonathan World City Apartments Schwartz writes, “I’m an editor on 03 Attention Michael J. Modern Family (a film editor, not 03 Novielli, A608 an editor of text). Our first season Block 10, No 6. Jinhui Road, has seen great reviews, high ratings Chaoyang District numbers and best-series nomina- Beijing, 100020, People’s tions from the Writers Guild, Screen Republic of China Actors Guild and the Golden [email protected] Globes. Everybody, please tune in to ABC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m.” Spring is in the air again, and the Robyn Schwartz writes, “Dan change in seasons coincides with Hammerman ’02 and I are staying changes in the lives of our class- in Italy another year (we’ll be here mates. Alan Lue started a master’s at least through September; after in financial engineering at UCLA- that, who knows?). I keep busy Anderson in January. The program through a variety of remote non- offers a multidisciplinary degree profit consulting gigs and our blog with a focus on applying quantita- (http://martelloetrofiewife.blog- tive methods to financial services. spot.com). We try to travel as Dan’s Lauren Lewis writes, “Since gradu- vacation time permits and were Jacob Danziger ’04 and Phoebe (Day Connell) Danziger ’05 were married ation, I have dreamed of being an thrilled to ring in the New Year on on June 14, 2008, at Bear Flag Farm in Winters, Calif. Celebrating with entrepreneur in the retail industry. the Champs Elysees in Paris.” them were (left to right) Sandy Naylor ’03, Julia Shannon ’03, Scott Tift After years of living abroad (To- Adeline Yao writes, “I finished ’03, the bride, the groom, Melanie Micir ’03, Simon Fischer-Baum ’03 kyo, London and Dubai) studying my government scholarship bond and Greg Ferguson ’03. Not in attendance was the couple’s daughter, fashion on the side with a full-time at the end of 2009 and am taking Hazel, who was born on May 15, 2009. career in finance, I am launching an a sabbatical from my job to figure online retailer, Glassworks Studios out what I want to do next. I am (www.glassworks-studios.com). It spending six months in Tokyo, (Erik Moss), Columbia Hot Bagels character of the Western Canon: as is a stylish boutique for professional from February to July, working (Stephanie Peng) and frozen marga- physically superior as Nietzsche’s women with an international mind- at an art gallery and wandering ritas and a burger at The West End superman, as fascinatingly engaged set. Working toward launch has around the city.” on a hot summer day (Loraine Wu). as Kerouac’s Dean Moriarty, as kept me busy, but it has been a great Daniel Shamah writes, “In Sep- radically self-reliant as Thoreau ride so far and hopefully will con- tember, I finished a clerkship for the at Walden and as beautiful and tinue to be so for years to come.” bankruptcy court in the Southern Angela Georgopoulos poised as Michelangelo’s David. Eric Siskind moved to Manhas- District of New York, where I 200 Water St., Apt. 1711 To Garland, every edifice was a set, N.Y., last summer and started witnessed history with the Leh- 04 New York, NY 10038 challenge to be surmounted, every residency in general surgery at man Brothers, GM and Chrysler 04 discussion a life lesson, every day [email protected] North Shore-Long Island Jewish bankruptcies. I recently returned a potential adventure. Calmly and Health System after graduating to private practice at O’Melveny Hello fellow alumni! lovingly, he dragged both friends from Albert Einstein College & Myers in the city, where I’ve I hope you are all well. For and family into this heightened and of Medicine. He also married been practicing bankruptcy law. those of you who do not know (or invigorating world. Through him Lauren Goldfarb ’07 Barnard. Danielle Shamah (née Schieber) ’03 remember) me, allow me to intro- our perspectives shifted, our hori- Stephanie Peng is in her second Barnard and I also had our second duce myself: My name is Angela. I zons expanded and our compasses year of residency for plastic and child and first daughter, Marlena studied biochemistry and Spanish, righted.” reconstructive surgery. She went Lilly, just before Thanksgiving.” and my favorite Columbia memory to medical school at the Univer- Lisa Pettersson writes, “I live in is an amalgamation of the countless REUNION JUNE 3–JUNE 6 sity of Chicago and completed her New York and recently launched hours spent on the steps talking Alumni Office Contacts with friends or “studying” (read: Alumni Affairs Mia Gonsalves talking with friends). Currently, [email protected] I am at Ricochet Public Relations 212-851-7977 Lisa Pettersson ’03 recently launched the New York- working in the healthcare division Development Amanda Kessler and loving every minute of it. I am based nonprofit Scandinavian American Theater [email protected] excited to become your Class Notes 212-851-7883 Company. reporter and have to thank my good friend Miklos Vasarhelyi for Peter Kang doing such a commendable job for 05 205 15th St., Apt. 5 westward journey by ending up Scandinavian American Theater the past five years. He has left some Brooklyn, NY 11215 in Seattle. Stephanie has been at Company (www.satcnyc.org), a pretty large shoes to fill, but I am 05 [email protected] the University of Washington for nonprofit with a mission to bring determined to try. Please don’t be two years and will be there for a innovative productions of Scan- shy. Send me any and all updates! A new year is in full swing. How total of four. dinavian plays to the New York On a somber note, it is with has 2010 been for you so far? Some Alexander Michaels graduated stage. I founded it together with six a very heavy heart that I report updates from our classmates: from the Law School in 2008 and other Scandinavian New Yorkers the passing of Garland English Elizabeth Segran is travel- clerks for the Honorable Robert S. (including two other Columbians of ’04E in January. He was a second ing a great deal as she writes her Smith on the New York Court of the graduate film and theatre direct- lieutenant in the Army and served doctoral dissertation. She has been Appeals. Matt Pellow writes, “Matt ing programs). Our first show is a one tour of duty in Iraq, where he dividing her time evenly between Pellow and Sarah Kummerfeld modern staging of Strindberg’s Miss commanded a platoon. He died the United Kingdom, the United were married on September 6 in Julie, at Scandinavia House in June.” in a rock-climbing accident in States and India as she does re- Sydney, Australia. Matt is a Ph.D. I asked classmates to reminisce Hawaii,where he was stationed. search, writes articles, participates student in inorganic chemistry at about what they miss most about Mischa Byruck writes, “Through in conferences and generally plows Stanford.” Peter Neofotis’s Concord, campus, and they shared the follow- the eyes of his classmates at Co- through her dissertation. Last sum- Virginia: A Southern Town in Eleven ing: Football Sundays at AmCafe lumbia, Garland was the archetypal mer, Elizabeth collaborated with

march/april 2010 67 class notes columbia college today

postsecondary education at Teach- and Series A investments in early David D. Chait ers College in May. I’m also taking stage technology businesses in the 07 41 W. 24th St., Apt. 3R advantage of the extended first-time United States, United Kingdom, New York, NY 10010 homeowner’s tax credit. By June, I’ll Israel and India. Emily Tang 07 [email protected] be a homeowner. It’s a daunting yet moved to Baltimore. Monica exciting process. I’ve been watching Betancourt is in her second year I hope that everyone had an enjoy- a lot of HGTV. During the holiday at the University of Chicago Law able winter (and stayed warm!). season, I met up with Charlotte School. Last summer, she worked Many of our classmates have been Jacobs, Kyle Carraro, Joyce Liu, at the Gilbert & Tobin Centre of extremely busy. Here are some Tara Coleman ’05 Barnard, Nick Public Law at The University exciting updates. Burke ’07 and Emil Diaz ’09E. I’m of New South Wales in Sydney, Susan Cheng made her TV de- looking forward to what this new Australia, on constitutional law but representing Cornell University year brings.” and human rights issues. Teddy Cooperative Extension-NYC on the Congratulations to Julia Stiles, Diefenbach lives in Los Angeles PBS special Go Greener, a show that who will be honored by the College and is studying game design for talks about how being sustainable on March 3 with a John Jay Award his M.F.A. in interactive media at can help you save money and for distinguished professional USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. strengthen your local communities. achievement. Watch for a follow-up Justin Ifill writes, “Recently, for Paul Chuffo ’95 co-created and co- Rebecca Sendor-Israel ’05 married article in the May/June issue with Homecoming, Justin helped put produced the show and is working David Sendor-Israel (second from photos from the black-tie gala. together the Black Alumni Council on the companion DVD and book. left) in Boston in May. Joining the And lastly, Melanie Lee writes: Homecoming event, which had its The show is scheduled to air nation- couple were Rebecca’s brothers, “I’m newly engaged to our class most successful turnout in recent wide in March. Sharon Chin sat in Sam Israel ’11 (left) and Nafi Israel correspondent. After more than history. Ifill Events is going strong the studio audience and watched ’07 (right). four years together, Peter Kang and is here for your event needs.” as her four-year college roommate PHOTO: CARYN COHEN proposed to me in front of my entire A warm congratulations to all hosted the show. Congratulations, family! We are planning a summer those who recently tied the knot. Susan! 2011 wedding.” Joe Winters married Angela Christian Capasso writes, “Faisal a colleague from UC Berkeley to It already has been five years Suber of Jacksonville, Fla., on Saidi and I founded Shenanigans translate a series of ancient Tamil since the gates at Morningside December 19. Mike McAndrew, for Charity, a nonprofit organization poems about love and a river. opened and released us into the Wade Fletcher ’05, Alex Ehrhart now operating under the umbrella These poems, which have never world. Now it’s time to party like and Shay Murphy were grooms- of Jerone Hsu’s 501c3, Prime Pro- been translated into English, will it’s 2000 again. Alumni Reunion men. Other CU alums who at- duce. Faisal, Rob Cohan’07E and be published by Penguin Classics Weekend will be held Thursday, tended were Matt Kaplan, Brooks I have been guest bartending in 2011. June 3–Sunday, June 6. There will Hansen ’05, Brandon Bowser, throughout the city with Andrew Andy Rios writes: “I am in Dallas be tons of events all weekend, cul- Colby Blitz ’06E, Arun Ramachan- O’Connor manning the DJ booth helping to grow a clothing manufac- minating with the Saturday wine dran ’06E and Jeff Coles. at each venue. All proceeds go to turer into a nationally recognizable tasting, class dinner and dancing David Ribner, also a grooms- the selected charity of the evening; brand. Always looking for good on the steps of Low Plaza. So man, writes, “Evan Marlin married a recent beneficiary was the South people, so if anyone is interested, come on up (or down, or over the Aviva Androphy on New Year’s Bronx United, a youth soccer orga- send me a note.” ocean) to celebrate. Eve in East Meadow, N.Y. At- nization. We have had a multitude Alex Rolfe is moving to Dublin tending the wedding were many of Columbia alumni come out to this year to trade energy. He would Columbians, including Sarah support these causes. Anyone else love to hear from people who are Michelle Oh Marlin Swartz ’98, Jessica Levi Rib- who is interested in upcoming there. 17 John St., Apt. 2D ner ’06 Barnard, Joshua Berliner, events can e-mail us at Shenanigans Jenn Handorf began production 06 New York, NY 10038 Benjamin Silver, Dov Sebrow [email protected].” on her first feature film, Isle of Dogs, 06 ’07, Yonatan Brafman ’07, Ariela Jimmy Vielkind-Neun shares, [email protected] in February. Rosenberg Brafman ’09, Montgom- “Starting in January I returned to Eliana Meirowitz Nelson writes: Jose Montero recently was promot- ery Wilensky ’06E, Barry Wohl ’06E, the Albany Times Union, writing “Life is great! On November 8, I ed to director of market research at Kristen Loveland, Julia Ribner ’14 about state politics and govern- married Lev Nelson in Brookline, Bloomingdales and is studying to Barnard and Dr. Hillel Ribner ’67.” ment from the Capitol. It’s an Mass. We moved together from take the GMAT this spring. Andrew Elizabeth Ruddle and Ross exciting time — major elections Morningside Heights 1½ years ago Liebowitz is facing the snow, ice Gabrielson were married on this year as well as the lingering and have a happy life in Brookline. I and cold of Syracuse, N.Y., bravely September 5 near her home in challenges of an all-Democrat work at Boston University Medical as he works toward his master’s Carversville, Pa. A reception fol- government — and I’m delighted Campus at the Institutional Review in public administration. He spent lowed at the Water Works Restau- to be writing about it for the paper Board while also pursuing a mas- his brief winter break reconnecting rant and Lounge in Philadelphia. I grew up reading. I’ll still be blog- ter’s in public health at BU part- with friends and family, and wel- It was an amazing day, made all ging like I was for The Observer, time. Lev is studying to be a rabbi comed in 2010 with his sophomore the more memorable by the 16 and you can follow the dysfunc- at Hebrew College. He’s a proud year roommate, Matthew Disney Columbia alumni in attendance. tion at blogs.timesunion.com/ alumnus of Brown, but we seem to ’06E, and his significant other, Danny Concepcion was the best capitol. I’m also now a regular like each other anyway.” Christina Sardinas ’06 Barnard. An- man. Nick Jennings ’06E, Tyler contributor (on-air, despite the Eliana also noted that about 30 drew looks forward to joining the Boyd and Paasha Mahdavi were fact that my face was designed for Columbians were present at the blogosphere soon with a non-parti- groomsmen. “It was a fantastic newspapers) to New York NOW, wedding, including Steve Melzer, san journal dedicated to analysis of day and a great start to our new which airs weekly on public televi- James Bondarchuk, Rachel Grant public affairs and hopefully work- life together,” Ross writes. “Our sion stations around the state.” Meyer and Suzanne Schneider. ing for the federal government or in honeymoon on the Greek Isles Matt Reuter, now in his third Phil Sandick writes: “My girl- a government consulting role by the also was pretty amazing.” year of medical school at George- friend and I will be in Botswana summer. Please reconnect with him Jennifer Jae-Yeon Kim is engag- town, writes, “The hours have from the time this issue hits press at [email protected]. ed to Nathan (Sangyoon) Park ’07L been long, but the rewards make until the start of law school in the Mike Brown will be leaving and will be married at St. Paul’s them more than worthwhile — fall. (Some may remember that I the investment arm of Virgin Chapel in June. Siham Sobhan is during one of my on-call nights lived there for 2 ½ years.) If anyone Group (Richard Branson Invest- engaged to be married this June last month, I delivered a baby at plans to hit the World Cup, drop ments) to join AOL Ventures. He and is completing a master’s in tra- 2:30 a.m. Also, I enjoyed seeing a me a line.” will primarily be responsible for ditional Chinese acupuncture and whole bunch of my ’07 classmates Jeannelle Folkes: “I’ll finish building out the venture fund and herbology in San Diego, Calif. at Homecoming in October and my M.A. program in higher and platform as well as making seed Congratulations to all! have been having fun in D.C. dur-

march/april 2010 68 columbia college today class notes

Jake and Marty LaSalle ’07 Juggle Pins and Possibilities

B y Go r d o n Ch e n o w e t h Sa u e r ’11 Ar t s

atching them companies we contacted. It’s nity and even the value of art.” I went to Oxford. When I came during a perfor- one of the best circuses in Marty says, “What I do now back, I had already decided I mance of what America, and it has a really is in a lot of ways different was going to start performing they call “athletic nice energy to it,” says Marty. from the Columbia experience, after I graduated.” Wartistry,” identical twins Jake David Donner Chait ’07, a because you’re just in a totally Jake condensed the pre- LaSalle ’07 and Marty LaSalle first-year dormmate of Marty’s, different world. What Columbia med curriculum, essentially ’07 appear as different as apples recently attended a perfor- does, what the objective of completing it by the end of his and, well, apples. Fitting, since mance. He says, “Going to the liberal arts education re- sophomore year. This led him to at 9 their juggling career was the Big Apple Circus with five ally is, is it gets you to think a course of study concentrat- sparked by apples in an apple Columbia friends was an amaz- on your own. It gives you the ing in anthropology. He says, orchard. “I remember seeing ing experience. Despite years confidence and the ability to “I feel like I have a great base the apples and thinking, ‘Oh, it’d of friendship with Marty of knowledge because of be cool to juggle those apples.’ and Jake and an intense what I was able to study And I don’t remember not being knowledge of their tech- at Columbia. My studies able to do it. I started juggling nique, this was the first weren’t super-specialized. them, and I taught my brother,” time I’d seen them per- I was all over the place, in says Jake. form. Their act was unbe- a good way though.” Born less than a minute lievable, and their talent is Now, with the end of apart (Marty is older) in Kennett unmatched.” their contract with the Big Square, Pa., the brothers, cur- So when it comes to Apple Circus approaching, rently performing with the Big performing, what about Jake and Marty intend to Apple Circus, showed an early the twin factor? “I think, go their separate ways propensity for performance: The without a doubt, being professionally. Jake begins two began formal gymnastics twins helps us stay in medical school in the fall, training at 8. Flashing forward sync while performing,” most likely at Columbia. 10 years — a decade including says Jake. “A body has its “I am not quite done with summer performances for the innate internal rhythm, New York yet,” he says. Holland America Cruise Line off and there’s a fluidity that “I definitely want to do the coast of Alaska; first place at Marty and I have that is some form of surgery. I the 2001 International Juggling innate. Of course, practic- bounce back and forth Association Champion­ships in ing together since we between most types, but Madison, Wis.; and a perfor- were kids has helped.” I like the intensity of an mance in the fall 2002 interna- Marty says, “There is a operating room and the tional Cirque de Demain Circus natural advantage to be- tangibility of it.” Arts Festival in Paris — Jake and ing twins, but most of the Marty is planning a ca- Marty arrived at the College to seamless qualities in our reer in the entertainment begin their academic tenure. performance don’t come industry — ultimately, he They chose Columbia because from that as much as they thinks, on the production they wanted to be in a big city, come from just practicing side — and considering one that would, as Marty says, a lot.” business school for next “allow us to continue working It was at the College year. “I’d really like to head a little bit, even though we’d be that they began to fully the creative development full-time students.” contextualize their perfor- of big entertainment proj- “We visited the campus mances. Jake says, “Hav- Jake LaSalle ’07 and Marty LaSalle ’07 say ects,” he says. “Not neces- and both fell in love with the ing the opportunity the seamless qualities in their performances sarily be the creative voice, space up there. It was good to to engage proactively with come somewhat from being twins but also but sort of manage creative be around the energy of New actual texts, historical texts from “just practicing a lot.” talent.” Marty’s perfor- York, and to be able to have in Contemporary Civiliza- PHOTO: Maike Schulz/Big Apple Circus mance days, however, may some exposure to creative tion, not be over just yet. He’s communities,” Jake says. was really eye-opening. I was think about your problems. I considering performing solo for a But despite the academic able to situate what we do, think I’m more confident in the couple more years, as a general- rigors of the College, the two how I live and what we do on creative process as a result of ist — someone who performs kept practicing — not as often stage within a historical and being at Columbia.” various acrobatic feats on circus as they had in high school, cultural context. Columbia re- Marty studied international apparatus. but enough to enter the Big ally encouraged me to think economics, completing his Apple Circus following gradu- more about what I was doing junior year abroad at Lady Mar- Gordon Chenoweth Sauer ation. “We decided at the Col- for the circus community as a garet Hall at Oxford. “My college ’11 Arts is a freelance writer, lege that we wanted to keep whole and by corollary, what experience was divided in two,” instructor in Columbia’s Uni- performing, so the Big Apple the circus community was con- he says. “The first two years I versity Writing Program and Circus was one of the first tributing to the artistic commu- was a normal student, and then M.F.A. in fiction candidate.

march/april 2010 69 class notes columbia college today

You Gregory. It is a tribute to the a research Fulbright he started legends of tap. I live in Washington in September. Max Friedman Heights and teach dance and per- recently visited him there. Glover form around the city when I’m not Wright is at the Law School and on tour. Living the life of a dancer, lives in Prospect Heights with constantly hustling!” Nick, Morgan and Nathalie Celcis After a year in “the real world” ’09 Barnard, a researcher at Co- (aka retail), Kirsten Andersen lumbia Medical Center. started her first semester of gradu- Stephanie Russell-Kraft spent ate school at the University of Vir- last summer in Ankara, Turkey, ginia in the fall. She is working on a on a State Department Critical Ph.D. in English literature, focusing Language Scholarship. She then on Victorian and Modernist novels. avoided the real world by visiting The faculty and students at Virginia family in Germany before mak- are amazing, and Kirsten is happy ing her way back to New York to to be back in school. Boyfriend Matt look for a job. For a few months, Steiner ’08E is enrolled in the Ph.D. Stephanie worked in catering and program at Virginia’s School of as a server at Bubba Gump Shrimp Engineering and Applied Science. Company (in the heart of Times Square!) but shortly thereafter she found a steady office gig as a Alidad Damooei “strategic writer” for Send Word John Schneider ’07 and Stephanie Pahler ’06 Barnard had an outdoor c/o CCT Now, an on-demand emergency wedding in August in her hometown of Solvang, Calif. Partying with 09 Columbia Alumni Center notification company. She writes the happy couple were (left to right) Jose Pelaez ’07E; Kevin Meek ’07; 09 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 papers, case studies and (soon) a Jacqui Yunits ’05 Barnard; Schneider’s mother, Regina Mullahy ’75 Bar- New York, NY 10025 blog for the software company, and nard; the bride; the groom; Schneider’s father, Robert Schneider ’75; [email protected] is starting to enjoy being the lone Cecelia Baum ’07 and Ashraf Fawzy ’07E. liberal artist among businesspeople PHOTO: COLLEEN ROSENTHAL As winter wears on and we ap- and engineers. Stephanie lives proach warmer days, members of in an apartment on the LES with the Class of 2009 who live in colder Amanda Karl and is really excited ing the precious little time when at any time with updates. Happy regions are beginning to get excited to see direct sunlight again. I’m not busy at the hospital. I’m spring! for the spring. Others like me, who Rickie Siegel lives in Hamburg, now in my surgery rotation.” Tao migrated to warmer pastures, are Germany, and works for ITDP Tan and David Chait are in their starting to get nostalgic for that Europe (Institute for Transporta- first year at the Business School, Neda Navab feeling you have on the first warm tion and Development Policy). where they are the University 53 Saratoga Dr. spring day when you can take off She recently ended a three-month Senators from CBS. 08 Jericho, NY 11753 your coat and sit on the steps. In stint at the Regional Planning As- Riddhi Dasgupta writes, “I am 08 California, you just don’t get that sociation of Greater Stuttgart, a [email protected] splitting my time working for the feeling since it is always warm. As placement she earned through the Texas public defender (for capital Hi, Class of ’08. Below are some the weather brightens up, our class- Transatlantic Renewable Energy cases) and on my doctoral research updates from our classmates. mates continue to have all sorts of Fellowship. On the weekends, (international trade law). We are After graduation, Catherine exciting adventures. Rickie took advantage of her fan- excitedly planning a March-long Taylor moved home to Perth, We start off with life updates tastic central location in Europe to tour of Italy to check out some art Australia. In January 2009, she from the Rockaway Beach Eight, visit cities such as Vienna, Munich, and sculptures. Bernini’s Ecstasy of was joined in Perth by her boy- whose human pyramid was fea- Paris, Berlin and Copenhagen. She Saint Theresa and Michelangelo’s friend, Jordan P. Davis. Shortly tured in the September/October writes about innovative planning The Last Judgment top the list.” thereafter, Jordan proposed, and issue. Priya Murthy recently issues around Europe in her blog, Eric Bondarsky shares, “I recently the happy couple were married returned from researching hydro- Europlanning (www.europlanning. had two of my college roommates, on January 2, 2010. Rachel Welt, thermal vents at the University of blogspot.com). Jeffrey Feder ’07E and Matthew Stephanie Rosales, Stephanie Bremen/Max Planck Institute for Sumaiya Ahmed now takes the Marine Microbiology and farm- 1 train one more stop, up to 125th ing in France with Rahul D’Sa. Street, where she is a paralegal Sumaiya Ahmed ’09 is a paralegal at African Services Shira Burton is a paralegal at an at African Services Committee, a employment/class action firm, social services organization that fo- Committee. Giskan Solotaroff Anderson and cuses on providing French-speak- Stewart. She lives with Ashraya ing African immigrants with HIV Gupta, Joanna Smolenski and care and advocacy. The firm takes Kondub, over to my apartment in Shieh, Alyssa Gates ’09, Court- Ben Reininga in Clinton Hill. on all kinds of cases, including Queens for the Sabbath. We then ney Wong ’09 Barnard and Kyle Morgan Whitcomb ’09E is an engi- housing, public benefits, asylum met up with our other roommate, Jurado ’09 joined Jordan and Cate neer at Sam Schwartz Engineering and domestic violence. Sumaiya Daniel M. Friedman ’08E, for pizza in Perth to celebrate the wedding, in Manhattan. Katie Reedy recent- lives in Astoria and loves it! on Saturday night. A fun time full with Kyle serving as one of Jor- ly received her top-secret govern- Yelena Shuster has been master- of reminiscing about our days in dan’s groomsmen. ment security clearance, but (alas) ing the art of unemployment since college was had by all!” Olivia Gorvy moved to San does not yet have a start date for graduating. When not fulfilling David Greenhouse lives in Cam- Francisco in January to work for Foreign Service Officer training. every parent’s dream of having a bridge, U.K., with Emily Jordan ’09 Facebook and live with Melody Andrew Lyubarsky is living in jobless English major for a daughter, and recently started a new job with Quintana. “While I’ve loved my Philadelphia until he leaves in she blogs at ivyleagueandunem IBM as an information technology time in NYC, I’m excited to explore March for his teaching Fulbright ployed.com. To survive and ensure consultant. David and Emily also the West Coast,” says Olivia. in Argentina. He recently returned sufficient caloric intake, she lives recently traveled to Istanbul and Maud Arnold was on the cover from volunteering at the Mexican off free cheese samples at Westside highly recommend the “beautiful of the December 2009 issue of border in Nogales, Ariz. Nick Market. I must say that the blog historic buildings” and “excellent Dance Spirit Magazine. “It’s the tap Kelly is a political assistant to provides an interesting and real food.” dance issue! Check it out at www. State Assemblymen Daniel Squad- perspective into the consequences Thank you again for all of the dancespirit.com. I am going on ron and Brian Kavanagh. Benny of the recession that many of submissions. Feel free to e-mail me a tour with a show called Thank Shaffer is in Kunming, China, on our peers face.

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march/april 2010 71 columbia college today

A l u m n i Co r n e r Tales from a Lapsed Slacker How I learned to stop whining and love reading (again)

B y Ni c k Ke l l y ’09

hough it may not get as much press as its Spanish coun- I began with newspapers. These only required brief bouts of terpart, The Running of the Seniors has to be as much attention, and could be abandoned, guilt-free, at any moment. fun to watch — if only for its sheer absurdity. The scene But soon I found myself reading them front to back. Newspa- T is the Steps, not a Pamplona street, but the drama is es- pers then gave way to full blown magazines. And though I still sentially the same: senior runs to print out his or her thesis (late); regarded them with a distrustful eye, I gradually started to be- senior, chased by a fear of failure, awkwardly runs with armful of come interested in opening books again — and even reading a theses past the incredulous faces of his peers; senior, upon turn- few. My friends from Columbia felt the same way. In a summer ing in his masterpiece, blacks out. when vampire movies and TV shows were seemingly every- Handing over my thesis should where, my friends and I joked have been a time for celebration. about our vampiric needs for But as I lay down on Low Steps reading, as if it were some blood- after turning it in, exhausted, I felt like substance we needed for our none of that sense of completion mental health. and relief that usually accompa- More than a habit, reading had nied the end of a class. I hadn’t become a daily necessity. That may even asked for my own copy. You sound unremarkable: Most Colum- would think that I would want to bia grads probably attest to a deep say to my classmates, “Hey, you love of reading. But I was never may have had fun senior year, but one of those who really loved read- I made this!” But I never wanted to ing. I enjoyed it, sure, but I never see the thing again. And my books threw myself into novels between fared no better: I stuffed them into semesters. It was at Columbia that duffel bags and threw them into the I became a reader, even if I didn’t Butler Library book return without realize it until after the fact. a second thought. Over the course I remember freshman year, of that year I had come to dread walking across campus and try- reading them, and thus had come ing to explain to a prospective to dread reading in general. student what made Columbia What had happened to me? unique. Every other time I pur- How had I completely lost my taste ported to impart some general- for reading? And most importantly, Nick Kelly ’09 finds much to read in the main branch of the ized knowledge about this school I found myself asking over the last Brooklyn Public Library. to willing (or unwilling) listeners, couple months of school, would it PHOTO: Nora Schaffer ’09 Barnard I was later proved wrong. But that ever come back? time I think I got it right. “Colum- Take some time off, people told me — you’ll want to go back to bia forces you to learn how to read endlessly,” I said, exasperated school eventually. After all, they said, “You’ve been in school for at trying to read half of Robert Caro’s epic The Power Broker the 20 years!” But I was stubborn. Looking down at another 10-page night before. “Your teacher assigns you hundreds of pages, and writing assignment later in spring semester, I was pretty confident you just deal with it.” that I’d rather be in a coal mine than pull another all-nighter. I was I never imagined the lasting effects of those classes. By con- convinced that I was off reading for a long while; that I would join fronting us with impossible reading lists, our professors were the real world and have real experiences and meet real people, far turning us into readers for life. My error, while I was in school, from the cobwebs and stultifying bubble of academia. was to mistake my mental exhaustion — so understandable in I thought all these things, and then I got a white-collar job. retrospect — for lasting apathy. On the contrary: Though I had As my days became an endless parade of phone calls and been briefly turned against reading, Columbia also had made my e-mails, I started to feel mentally vacant. Not because my job need for it inescapable. Whatever we vampires may say, we’ll al- wasn’t interesting, but rather because, like most jobs liberal arts ways be back for more. majors get out of college, it just doesn’t involve a lot of reading. I also felt myself slipping into the typical yuppie cycle of never- Nick Kelly ’09 majored in political science and is a political assistant for ending happy hours. And so I drifted back toward reading again State Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh. — slowly, cautiously. My former sworn enemy wouldn’t make it He lives in Brooklyn with Glover Wright ’09, Morgan Whitcomb ’09E back into my life without a fight. and Nathalie Celcis ’09 Barnard.

march/april 2010 72 Thanks Again (We Hope!) Alumni Reunion Weekend Jo!vodfsubjo!ujnft-!qfpqmf!jowftu!jo!xibu!nbuufst!nptu/!XpoÖu!zpv!kpjo!uif!9ebkcX_W9ebb[][ ! uipvtboet!pg!bmvnoj-!qbsfout-!boe!gsjfoet!xip!dipptf!Dpmvncjb!Dpmmfhf@

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Come Celebrate Alumni Reunion Weekend 2010 — the reunion that everyone is looking forward to!

In addition to class-specific events throughout the weekend, you can join all Columbians celebrating their reunions on Friday at the “Back on Campus” sessions, including Core 1945 Curriculum mini-courses, engineering lectures, tours of the Morningside campus and its libraries and more. There even will be unique opportunities to engage deeply with the 1950 city’s arts community with theater, ballet, music and gallery options.

1955 Columbians will be dispersed throughout the Heights and greater Gotham all weekend 1960 long, but Saturday is everyone’s day on campus. This year’s Saturday programming will invite all alumni back to celebrate and learn together from some of Columbia’s 1965 best-known faculty in a series of public lectures, at the Decades BBQs and affinity receptions. The night wraps up with the reunion classes’ tri-college wine tasting on 1970 Low Plaza, followed by our biggest line-up of class dinners ever and a final tri-college gathering for champagne, dancing and good times on Low Plaza. 1975 ! Zpvs!hjgut!bmmpx!uif!Dpmmfhf!up!lffq!epjoh!npsf!gps!tuvefoutÒ! 1980 uispvhi!gjobodjbm!bje-!uif!Dpsf!Dvssjdvmvn-!tvnnfs!joufsotijqt-!Dates and Registration Information ! 1985 sftjefoujbm!mjgf-!bewjtjoh-!boe!dbsffs!tfswjdft/! Thursday, June 3–Sunday, June 6, 2010 1990 REGISTER TODAY! For more information or to register online, 1995 COLUMBIA please visit http://reunion.college.columbia.edu. COLLEGE FUND 2000 If you register before Monday, May 3, you’ll receive a 10% discount on all events, Nblf!uif!dipjdf!upebz/!Wjtju!!dpmmfhf/dpmvncjb/fev0hjwfpomjof! excluding South Pacific, West Side Story, Next to Normal, American Ballet Theatre 2005 Ps!dbmm!323/962/8599!ps!upmm.gsff!2.977.333.6977 and New York Philharmonic tickets. 9ebkcX_W9ebb[][ CCT10_8.25x10_v2.indd 1 1/27/10 4:23:03 PM Columbia College Today Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage Columbia University PAID Permit No. 724 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 Burl. VT 05401 New York, NY 10025

Change service requested Going Green

The Columbia College Fund Annual Report for 2008–2009 is now online.

Leadership comes easy to Columbia College alumni. So it’s no surprise that we are leading the way on campus environmental initiatives: The Columbia Alumni Center is the campus’ first LEED-certified building. Columbia College Today is printed on FSC-certified paper and may be read online. The Columbia College Fund Annual Report has gone green with an online-only format.

http://fund.college.columbia.edu/annualreport

Thanks to our alumni, parents and friends, we raised a record $14.6 million for the Annual Fund last year. Go to the Annual Report to learn more about College priorities, to hear from donors about why they give and to view complete donor rolls.