A Perfect Match

et al.: Short List 0 N 0 U R 5 H 0 R T L I 5 T hen the USA Net aboard at USA," says Barkann. "We've A Perfect work breaks from been friends since the moment we met." play-by-play cover Barkann sees 30-second on-air chats age of the U.S. Open with locals as an entertaining diversion Match Tennis Champion for tennis fans, while celebrity inter ships, the cameras likely cut to either views with the likes of Barbra Streisand, host Jon Frankel '86 in the studio or Jack Nicholson, and Bill Murray help ALumni broadcMter.1 roving reporter Mike Barkann '82 in the characterize the glitz of New York. "Cell crowd. Frankel acts as traffic cop, phones ring, people dress to impress, it's Jon FrankeL and updating scores, presenting highlights, abuzz," he says. At WLVI, Barkann or bringing in the occasional Andre caters to an extremely serious sports Mike Barkann team up Agassi, Pete Sampras, or Michael town, so he looks forward to this sum Chang for a post-match interview. mer stint. "It's the best of both worlds," for the U.S. Open Barkann is the man in the stands, giving he says. "If I never go anywhere else, I'll viewers a sense of the color and energy be happy." of the New York City event through Frankel, on the other hand, is a die interviews and commentaries. hard New Yorker, attending the U.S. Open nearly every year since he was a boy. He is well aware of the difference between the British sophistication of a Wimbledon tennis match a nd the flash of the sport in America. "It's brash and it's loud," he says of the Open. "When you've won, and have overcome the smell, the noise, and the crowd, you've really won." Frankel may not have the sweet seats Barkann enjoys, but happily settles for the challenge and excitement of being event host. "I feed off adrenaline doing the program live," he say s. Player inter views allow him to dissect how a com petitor's mind works on the court, a curiosity that stems in part from his per sonal interest in the game. Active and athletic (he claims to have fared pretty well in a pickup set with tennis great John McEnroe), Frankel was originally hired to do outdoor adventure pieces for the Today show - ice-climbing, scuba diving, snowboarding-but executives quickly recognized his ability to cover broader subject matter and his assign ments now run the gamut. Frankel may be following in the foot Jon Frankel, left, and Mike Barkann provide coverage of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships for the USA Net steps of fe llow alumnus Bob Costas '74, work. While Frankel hosts the studio broadcasts, Barkann roams the stands for interviews and stories. who made the successful transition from sportscaster to nationally recognized Both men excel at taking on roles that broadcaster. "If anyone can do it, Jon are different from their regular broad can," says Barkann. "He's got the look casting jobs- Frankel as a correspon (Frankel was one of People magazine's dent on the Today show, and Barkann as "50 Most Beautiful People" in 1995), sports director for WLVI-TV in Boston. the voice, the connections, and, most These two broadcasting majors graduat importantly, the work ethic." ed four years apart, but knew of one Frankel is equally impressed by another through the grapevine of their Barkann's abilities. "Mike is truly one of fraternity, D elta Upsilon. "I was thrilled the nicest, funniest, brightest guys I when I found out Jon was coming know," he says. -SCOTT LAJOIE 10 Published by SURFACE, 1997 SYRA C USE UN IVER S ITY MAGA Z INE 1 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 13, Iss. 4 [1997], Art. 6 Why Spy? Ira WinkLer '84 sst... wanna find out a major cor > From it.:~ origin.:~ 111 year.J ago in Pporation's confidential strategic a Georgia drugstore, Coca-Cola has evolved plan for the coming year? Ira into one of the most recognized trademarks Winkler can show you how. In fact, in the world. As the company's official Winkler is so good at ferreting out com archivist, Philip Mooney G'69 helps track the pany secrets that firms hire him to pin soft drink's status with the public and its point their weaknesses and tell them place in popular culture and history. "My how to prevent corporate espionage. job is to capture that nostalgia," says An Internet security strategist for the Mooney, now in his 20th year with the National Computer Security Associa Atlanta-based multinational corporation. tion (NCSA), Winkler uses all means In addition to managing written records of available to secure inside information, the beverage company, Mooney collects var including computer hacking, tons of ious curios of Coca-Cola lore, from old research, and what he ingenuously calls posters and novelty items to advertise "social engineering"-his euphemism for ments and television spots-all crucial to lying. "I merely work situations to my corporate licensing, marketing, and iden own benefit," he says. When Winkler graduated from SU in tity. But his favorite task is maintaining the 1984, he had a degree in psychology and World of Coca-Cola museum in downtown Atlanta, which attracts an interest in intelligence work. While more than one million visitors a year. "We see it as a way to communi working for the National Security cate who we are to our consumers," he says. Agency (NSA), he discovered an apti Mooney admits he never would have believed 20 years ago that tude for computers and an instinct for someday he'd be one of the leading experts on a beverage company. using psychology to convince people to "The only thing I knew about Coca-Cola when I started was that it tell him things. came in bottles and cans," he laughs. -Scott Lajoie He left NSA in 1990 to work for gov ernment contractors like the CIA and U.S. Department of Defense before join ing NCSA in 1996. He describes his cur rent clients as multibillion-dollar firms, mostly Fortune 100 companies, for whom he does vulnerability assessments. "People think industr ial espionage is being committed by genius computer h ackers or super spies like James Bond," he says. "But I usually get my information by much simpler means." Winkler checks doors late at night. He goes through unlocked desks and gets into computers that don't have passwords. He walks past security guards, acting as if he belongs there. "All you need is a clipboard, a sense of authority, and nerve," he says. In many cases, Winkler finds no-cost solutions to multibillion-dollar prob lems. H e emphasizes the importance of getting lower management support for security cha nges. " It's not enough for the CEO to send a memo," he says. "The front-line managers have to test desks and doors and give friendly reminders if they're not locked. Someone has to spell In a book released this spring , Ira Winkler documents his experiences in the world of corporate espionage. ll https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol13/iss4/6 S U MMER 1997 2 et al.: Short List out specific actions and make sure Sage Advice Photog rap herd-a documentary that fol they're carried out." lowed the exploits of a number of maga One of his recent cases focused on the Juo.Jon John.Jton '80 zine photographers. importance of security badges. When a Today Johnston works as a segment newly hired employee questioned some en Judson Johnston began editor on CoaJt to CoaJt, a CBS news mag one without one, she was lambasted W ooking for a job after gradu azine that premiered in January. He got because the person she confronted was a ting from the S.l. Newhouse the job by following a lead from fellow founder of the company. "She went to School of Public Communications, he SU alumnus Steve Kroft '67 of 60 Minuted. Human Resources afraid she'd compro remembered this tip from Professor "I saw him at the Emmys and asked him mised her career," Winkler says. Dan Schuffman: Don't ask someone for for advice, and he suggested CoaJt to CoaJt," "Instead, she found herself called to the a job, ask them for advice. Johnston says. "He was nice enough to president's office and thanked for her Johnston -who had lived all his life give me this referral, not knowing me, action, and the man she'd challenged within a two-mile radius of SU -did but knowing that I was an SU alum. was gently reminded the company had just that, knocking on doors in New "Again, the advice I was given in col grown so much that every officer was York City, asking not for a job but for lege was the very same I followed after not immediately recognizable." tips on the best use for his communica I had won the Emmy, using the award Winkler details his exploits in a book, tions major and music minor. The con as a ticket." -GARY PALLASSINO Corporate &pwnage, released in April and tacts soon paid off with a minimum partially serialized in the magazine Inc. wage job as a messenger at a video pro "When I'm on a job, I usually take some duction house- barely enough to live on one with me so in case a problem comes in the Big Apple, but it was a beginning.

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