OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE MAGAZINE VOLUME 34, NUMBER 1 WINTER 2012

DEPARTMENTS

2 CORRESPONDENCE As President Veitch sees it, Occidental’s relationship with Los Angeles is an asset that few liberal arts colleges can match. Also: more Swan stories, education depart- ment questions, and magazine mea culpas.

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4 FROM THE QUAD Eric Kleinsasser ’12 had a season for the record books as an Oxy senior, but the cross country standout recalls the minutiae of teamwork first and foremost. Also: film- maker Eva Sweeney ’08 gives voice to the disabled, ”NCIS” returns to the scene of the crime, and Ernesto Galarza ’27’s memoir Barrio Boy revisits the Oxy bookshelf.

30 TIGERWIRE Class notes for odd years, and farewells to trustee emeritus Chuck Miller and Honor System champion Bob Leisy ’49. 8

FEATURES

8 WHAT CAN YOU DO … … with a liberal arts degree? Just about anything you can imagine—from opening a Malaysian eatery to scoring a pair of World Series rings.

20 SECOND OPINION Diagnosed with cancer of the blood cells, chemistry professor Tetsuo Otsuki prepared to die. Then Dr. Len Farol ’94 made it his mission to 56 save his mentor.

56 APPRECIATION 26 THE OCCIDENTAL MODEL Following a 38-year career with the United Can the liberal arts flourish at Taiwan’s vocation-minded National Nations, George Sherry became the primary Chengchi University? Oxy professor of politics Tsung Chi—a Chengchi liaison between Oxy students and the world. alumnus—gives it the old college try.

Cover photo by Kevin Burke. Patrick McCredie ’09 and Peter Ringold ’09 photo (page 8) by Joel Levin. “NCIS” (page 6) and Oxy Wear photos by Marc Campos. George Sherry photo (page 56) by Fifth Avenue Digital. CORRESPONDENCE

From Jonathan Veitch To Know Occidental Is to Understand Los Angeles

FOR ALMOST 125 YEARS, OCCIDENTAL Gebhard, A Guide to Architecture in Southern has been an integral part of the fabric of California (now in its fifth edition). Los Angeles. In 1887, when “The Occidental This is a tradition of engagement that University of Los Angeles, California” was continues today with the service of politics Photo by Marc Campos incorporated (the term “university “ was qui- professor Regina Freer, who in 2006 was etly dropped five years later), Los Angeles appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Amy Lyford’s course, Art in Los Angeles, had a population of roughly 50,000 in a the City Planning Commission. A scholar of 1945-80, learned this fall. world where most people lived in the coun- race and politics, demographic change, and They found that artist Anne Gauldlin ’73 try. Today, the majority of people live in urban politics, Regina—currently the com- had two installations in the exhibit on femi- urban areas, including the more than 330 mission’s vice chair—has quietly rendered nist art at the Otis College of Arts and cities—Los Angeles among them—that have distinguished service to the city. The work of Design—part of Pacific Standard Time, the more than 1 million residents. As cities Bob Gottlieb and his colleagues at the Urban series of collaborative exhibitions chronicling become central to modern life, Occidental’s & Environmental Policy Institute has been the post-WWII art movement in Los Angeles. relationship with Los Angeles becomes an enormously influential in helping the city We also intend to be an active leader in the asset that few other liberal arts colleges can redefine the Los Angeles River and to rethink cultural life of the city. On January 24, for match. That’s why our recent efforts to high- food and transportation policy, among other example, Occidental and Zócalo will present light that relationship are so important, and issues. More than a reflection of Occidental’s a panel discussion titled “Is This the Golden why we plan to deepen and diversify this deeply rooted commitment to the public Age of Television?” at the Museum of Con- area of historic strength. good, this kind of involvement with the city temporary Art. A panel that includes TV pro- From the beginning, Los Angeles has and region offers our students unique access ducer James Andrew Miller ’79 and adjunct helped shape Occidental, and vice versa. As to one of the world’s great urban laboratories. history and American studies assistant pro- early as 1903, students were exploring the Los Angeles is a place where national and fessor Thad Russell will explore why so city under the auspices of the Los Angeles international trends are born. UEPI’s farm- many people complain about the state of TV Institute of Social Study. In 1938, when land to-school program, which today is a national today, while at the same time praising such use planning in Southern California was in phenomenon, is an outstanding example of critically acclaimed shows as “Mad Men.” its adolescence, President Remsen Bird was this kind of local trendsetting. Even as its influence is felt globally, Los appointed a member of the city’s Planning Oxy’s engagement with the city is not Angeles is not an easy city to know or under- Commission. Shortly thereafter, future Presi- limited to politics and environmental policy. stand. What more attractive prospect could a dent Arthur G. Coons ’20—then head of the As one of the world’s great cultural engines, college want? Our task is to foster a program newly formed Pacific Southwest Academy— Los Angeles offers one-of-a-kind opportuni- of robust civic engagement and multiple appointed an academy committee that pro- ties for courses in art, literature, and film opportunities for students and faculty to duced a visionary call for bold new brand of that take advantage of the city’s rich invento- learn in, and from, the city. I firmly believe, regional planning, Los Angeles: Preface to a ry of museums, galleries, and libraries. Occi- as did Dr. Coons, that without this kind of Master Plan. (Other contributors to this now- dental shares the Billington Professor of U.S. involvement, Oxy cannot be its true self. classic 1941 volume included Dr. Coons and History with the Huntington Library, has Oxy economist John Parke Young ’17.) forged academic partnerships with the Autry It was the same kind of vision that National Center, and recruited Los Angeles Coons Professor of the History of Ideas Times architecture critic Christopher Haw - Emeritus Robert Winter brought to the study thorne and Los Angeles Unified school board of Los Angeles architecture, as evidenced in member Steve Zimmer to teach. This can lead the seminal 1965 work he wrote with David to serendipitous discoveries, as students in Jonathan Veitch, President

2 Occidental Magazine Letters as a surprise, and the education department had plenty of time to prepare a strong report Secrets of Swan and provide the visiting committee with a I enjoyed reading “Evolution of Swan” (Sum- very positive experience. A continuing theme Volume 34, Number 1, Winter 2012 mer 2011), and I now regret that I didn’t fol- in the evaluation is the lack of communica- low up and send in my memories about Swan tion and collaboration within the department. OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE Hall when you asked for them. The department is small, and communication Jonathan Veitch President As a freshman in 1964, I was chosen to would seem to be easy—if the department be in the College Honors program. One of the members wished that to be the case. Jorge Gonzalez Vice President for Academic Affairs perks was to get a key to a room in the center The cost of a year at Occidental is in and Dean of the College of Swan that was only available to the 20 or excess of $50,000; the students in the educa- Barbara Avery so people in the program. To my knowledge, tion department and the credentialing pro- Vice President for Student Affairs I was the only person who ever went in gram have a right to expect their teachers to and Dean of Students there. There were some bookshelves holding do better than the accreditation report Carl A. Botterud ’79 outdated encyclopedias or something, some shows. The Occidental program was evalu- Executive Director of Alumni Relations chairs and tables, and I recall a red carpet. It ated in nine separate areas; Oxy did not meet Vince Cuseo was cool and kind of elegant. I spent a lot of six of those criteria, met with reservations Vice President of Admission and Financial Aid time up there looking out the windows as one, and fully passed only two. Lakshmi Dastur-Johnson ’88 college life passed me by below. I lived at At one time Occidental had an outstand- Vice President for home with my family, so the room in Swan ing education department. What happened? Institutional Advancement (Interim) became my headquarters for studying and Maybe Oxy should do as is done in many Jim Tranquada daydreaming on campus. I wish I’d had the athletic programs: If the program is not Director of Communications courage to try living in there. I don’t think being successful, remove the coaches (in this anyone would have caught me. case, the education department staff) and EDITORIAL STAFF At that time, the Alumni Office was start anew, or simply drop the program. As a Dick Anderson located on the top floor of Swan. I worked high school teacher and counselor, I did not Editor one hour a day in the Alumni Office for all hesitate to recommend Occidental to my best Samantha B. Bonar ’90 Rhea R. Borja four years of my college career, under Mrs. students. Were I still working at this time, I Contributing Writers McMenamin, Mrs. Rice, and Mrs. Love—all would have to think twice to make that rec- Marc Campos mothers of boys I had gone to high school ommendation, particularly if the student was Contributing Photographer with, two of whom also attended Oxy. That looking to pursue teaching as a career. Gail (Schulman) Ginell ’79 job and another in the library gave me the A side note: I lived in Swan Hall for two Class Notes Editor only spending money I ever had at that time, years—an experience that provided a life- Claudia SanSoucie a magnificent $20 a week, I think, and with time of memories. Today’s students have no Design that I managed to buy a bowl of soup in the idea of what they are missing. Diversified Litho Services Cooler for 25 cents a day and pay for my GENE BADSTUBNER ’61 Printing books. I remember the pigeons cooing and Ventura rustling in the attic. I used to skip up and OCCIDENTAL MAGAZINE down the stairs past Dr. Winter’s office to the Department of Corrections Published quarterly by Occidental College only place on campus that welcomed me. In “Tigers Under the Tree” (Fall 2011), the Los Angeles CA 90041-3314 The Alumni Office moved to the new first name of Vapur Anti-Bottle co-creator Main number: 323-259-2500 www.oxy.edu administration building under the presi- Brent Reinke ’84 was misspelled. dent’s office when I was a senior, and it was In “Evolution of Swan” (Summer 2011), To contact Occidental Magazine never as nice as it had been up in Swan. ASOC’s first female president was misidenti- By phone: 323-259-2679

MARTHA CARRIGER GIFFEN ’68 fied. Eileen Baughman ’45 lived in histori- By fax: 323-341-4967 Altadena cally all-male Swan during spring 1945. By email: [email protected] By mail: Occidental College And in the November 2011 newsletter Office of Communications F-36 A Failing Grade Oxy125: A Tradition of Giving, the maiden 1600 Campus Road Regarding “Back to School” (Fall 2011): I name of Ann (Hoffmann) Hinchliffe ’57 was Los Angeles CA 90041-3314 have read the accreditation report and found misspelled. All letters should include the author’s name, it to be very disturbing. The article mentions The Occidental Magazine staff regrets address, and daytime telephone number. that a number of findings are being contest- the errors. We welcome your feedback and Letters selected for publication may be edited ed. Having been in education for more than corrections—and we pledge, on the memory for length, content, and style. 40 years and experienced many accredita- of Laurence De Rycke, to do better in 2012. Printed on recycled paper tions, I know these evaluations do not come —DICK ANDERSON ([email protected])

Winter 2012 3 “It isn’t anywhere near the same having an individual award without FROM THE QUAD getting the team victory as well,” says Kleinsasser. He found able support this year from an Oxy cross country squad that boasted three freshman standouts: Colin Smith of Las Vegas; Cole Williams of San Francisco; and Louis Jochems of Albuquerque, N.M. (For full sports coverage, visit Litt le www.oxyathletics.com.) Fe ats

Eric Kleinsasser ’12 had a season for the record books as an Oxy senior, but the cross country standout relishes the teamwork and training that got him there

BY MICHAEL WELLS PHOTO BY MIKE ROEMER

e’ll have one of the most Multi Dual at Prado Park on October 15, and fruition for grad school,” Kleinsasser says— exceptional careers of any the SCIAC Championship at Pomona-Pitzer although he’s not certain what those plans Occidental athlete to look on October 29. are just yet. “I don’t want to make specific back on someday, but that For Kleinsasser, a geology major from goals and not have them attained.” won’t be what men’s cross Glendale, the little moments filled in the Inside the classroom, he’s working on a Hcountry star Eric Kleinsasser ’12 remembers gaps on a great season—“so many that I geochemistry research project that he hopes most about his record-setting collegiate run - couldn’t begin to name them all,” he says. will change the chemical weathering process ning career and his final season. It won’t be easy to replace Kleinsasser in by which minerals leak chemicals into the “I’ll always look to the big competitions, the Tigers lineup, but Bartlett (named West ocean, positively impacting the climate. After because those are memorable by nature,” says Region coach of the year by the U.S. Track & Kleinsasser receives his diploma in May, he Kleinsasser, who—in leading the Tigers to Field and Cross Country Coaches Associa - plans to go to graduate school and eventually their first NCAA West Regional crown since tion) has three freshmen who appear up to earn a Ph.D in geochemistry. “If I can apply 1992—became the only man to win four the challenge after their own exceptional my technique effectively, I’ll keep expanding consecutive SCIAC individual champion - sea sons. Cole Williams was the fifth fresh - my studies,” he says. “Research is something ships in the conference’s 96-year history. “But man in the nation to cross the line at the I’ll continue doing, and teaching is some - what I’m going to remember more are all of national race, and Williams, Colin Smith, and thing that I’ve always enjoyed.” the little runs, workouts, and moments with Louis Jochems all earned All-Region honors As for running, he’ll start out slow with the team that really stick out in my mind.” at Pomona-Pitzer for finishing in the top 35. marathons, eventually working his way up to Under fourth-year head coach Rob “Colin and Cole have an interesting ultra-marathons. “I have a tentative life plan, Bartlett, the Oxy men’s squad made the trip dynamic right now, and we’ll see how it and I’m sure it will change. Once I get up over to the NCAA national meet in Oshkosh, Wis., develops over the next three years,” Klein - 40, if I haven’t fallen apart, I’ll give ultra- placing 27th in the nation for Division III. sasser says. “They could be a powerful force marathons [which commonly range from 31 The Tigers won their first SCIAC title since as the two front-runners.” miles to 100 miles] a shot,” Kleinsasser says. 2007, and Kleinsasser won three of the seven It will be one that Kleinsasser will have And if he’s as successful as he’s always races he competed in this season—the UC to watch from the real world, though, as his been, he’ll do just fine. “The trend has been Riverside Invitational at the UC Riverside focus shifts to life after Oxy. “Right now I’m since I started running, the longer the dis - Farm Course on September 17, the SCIAC coming up with plans that I want to come to tance, the more I excel.” O

4 Occidental Magazine

FROM THE QUAD THE INDEX

Newsmakers

I President Jonathan Veitch I Construction has begun on a $6.8-million, 1-megawatt ground- and Chancellor Yingxing Hong mounted solar array, a project whose innovative design takes a of Nanjing University signed an distinctively liberal arts approach to green power with its blending agreement December 8 to pro- of technology and art. When completed this spring, it will be one of mote the exchange of students the largest ground-mounted arrays in Los Angeles, generating about and faculty, as well as teaching 11 percent of the College’s annual electrical usage and an estimated I Greg Howes ’93 was one of and research materials. A dele- savings of $200,000 a year. http://www.oxy.edu/x12108.xml only 94 recipients nationwide gation led by Jorge Gonzalez, of the Presidential Early Career dean of the College and vice I Mark Harmon and his Awards for Scientists and Engi- president for academic affairs, “NCIS” crew have become neers, the U.S. government’s flew to Nanjing the following a fixture on campus. TV’s highest honor bestowed to week to explore a possible No. 1 drama has filmed at scientists and engineers in the collaboration on environmental Oxy three times now, with early stages of their research issues with the support of the various landmarks standing careers. Howes, an assistant Henry Luce Foundation. in for the U.S. Naval Acad- professor of physics and astron- Nanjing is one of three Chinese emy; a science museum in omy at the University of Iowa, cities where Oxy students Washington, D.C.; and the researches kinetic astrophysical curr ently study overseas. U.S. Embassy in Belgravia. plasma turbulence. http://www.oxy.edu/x12004.xml “9021” … who? http://www.oxy.edu/x11821.xml

Getting to Know Eva Sweeney ’08 Sweeney spoke at Oxy on October 5 as part of (Dis)Ability All She’s Asking For Awareness Week. Is a Little Respect

EVA SWEENEY ’08 WAS BORN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY, A condition that bars her from speaking, walking, or using her muscles in conventional ways. Growing up, she got used to people telling her that she couldn’t do much. Luckily, she ignored them, graduating from Oxy with a B.A. in women’s studies/gender studies and working today as a free- lance writer, disability rights activist, and now documentary film- maker. Respect: The Joy of Aides, which explores the relationships between people with disabilities and their aides, will premiere Sweeney, who is a lesbian, gave advice on finding a gay- January 7 at the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles. friendly home-healthcare aide and how to date and express sexu- (Visit www.joyofaides.com for more information.) ality as a disabled person, as well as general tips on interacting Sweeney made the film to help counteract media portrayals with disabled people. They include: “Do ask before you ‘help’ of home-healthcare aides as abusive. “I got fed up with the lack of someone” and “Don’t speak unnecessarily loudly or use a patron- good portrayals of people with disabilities and their aides,” she izing tone of voice.” explains. “There needs to be more balance.” “Eva discussed not only the challenges of dating and being The Los Angeles native, who gets around via electric wheel- sexually active as a person with disabilities, but more importantly, chair and talks by spelling out sentences on a letter board, says she offered practical suggestions on how to navigate these chal- she chose Oxy because the College was enthusiastic and excited lenges,” says Kristi Upson-Saia, assistant professor of religious to have her as a student. She returned to campus October 5 to studies and organizer of (Dis)Ability Awareness Week. “I was give a funny and frank presentation as part of the College’s inau- impressed by her mixture of intelligence, warmth, and sense of gural (Dis)Ability Awareness Week. humor.”—RHEA R. BORJA

“NCIS,” Sweeney, and all page 7 photos by Marc Campos; Howes by Dan Kempf, Impact Photo/Joe Photo

6 Occidental Magazine Bookshelf

I Michael Spieckerman ’15 I Barrio Boy (40th Anniversary Edition), examines a tree split in two by by Ernesto Galarza ’27 (University of the powerful Santa Ana winds Notre Dame Press; $18). In tracing his on December 1, just missing journey from a small Mexican village to this car parked outside Braun the thriving barrio of Sacramento in the Hall. While Oxy lost power for early 20th century, Galarza recounts 24 hours and canceled classes the early experiences of his extraordi- for a day, the campus avoided nary life—from revolution in Mexico major damage. A downed power to segregation in America—that led to line sparked a small grass fire his work as a labor organizer, historian, that led to the early-morning professor, and community activist. He evacuation of several residence was nominated for the Nobel Prize in halls, but quick action by fire- Literature in 1979 and died in 1984. fighters doused the flames. I Performing Sex, by Breanne Fahs ’01 (SUNY Press; $29.95). Conventional wisdom holds that American women Notable/Quotable today are more sexually liberated than ever before, but a number of startling “Be fearless and go for everything. statistics call this perceived victory Try everything.” —Vance Mueller ’86 into question. Interviewing 40 women former running back for the Los Angeles Raiders and football and track and in Performing Sex, Fahs demonstrates field standout at Oxy, telling a student audience that aggressiveness and a that women’s sexual subjectivities— bold sense of hard work could help them find the right career path. Mueller and the ways they continually grapple participated on an all-star panel October 4 co-sponsored by the nascent with shifting definitions of libera- Occidental Sports Business and Law Network and the athletic department. tion—represent provocative spaces for http://www.oxy.edu/x11816.xml critical inquiry and personal discov- ery, ultimately generating novel ways “The pride I feel is tempered by a of imagining and reimagining power, bittersweet feeling about the people who pleasure, and resistance. Fahs is assis- have been left behind.” —Eric Schlosser tant professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University. reporter for The Atlantic, expressing his amazement that Fast Food Nation, I Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: his 2001 exposé of the fast-food industry, is still part of the national debate. Interactions, Identities, and Images, Delivering the annual Dungan Lecture in Thorne Hall on November 17, he added that Americans must create a sustainable national food system for edited by Ana Lucia Araujo (Cambria even low-income communities. http://www.oxy.edu/x11985.xml Press; $25), includes a chapter by asso- ciate professor of history Sharla Fett titled “The Ship of Slavery: Atlantic Video Extra: A Day at the Green Bean, Oxy’s No. 1 Hot Spot Slave Trade Suppression, Liberated Africans, and Black Abolition Politics in Antebellum New York.” I Times of Plums, by Darren Angelo (createspace.com; $14.45). Returning to campus in 1971 following a one-year suspension for leading the takeover of the administration building, college senior Carlo “Yago” Cappogia finds that idealism has been replaced by pragmatism leading up to a climatic

Since October 2009, when five entrepreneurial students transformed the old Green Room in Johnson Student anti-war march in San Francisco. Center into a viable campus space, the Green Bean Coffee Lounge has become a hub of the Oxy community. To Angelo is a pseudonym for the author, watch a day in the life of the Green Bean—16 hours and 15 minutes of activity distilled into an overcaffeinated who finished the first draft of this 1 minute and 45 seconds—point your browser to http://vimeo.com/occidental/greenbean and savor the flavor! novel in 1971 as an undergrad at Oxy.

Winter 2012 7 After four years of critical thinking, interdisciplinary study, and teamwork, Occidental graduates leave Eagle Rock ready to take on the world. But what in the world awaits them?

Just about anything you can imagine.

While preachers and teachers—and, for that matter, doctors and lawyers and even saloon- keepers—were popular vocations in 1887, much of what passes for work in the 21st cen- tury simply didn’t exist when Occidental was founded. While the St. Louis Brown Stockings (charter members of the American League and What can you do with a predecessors to the Cardinals) had been around since 1876, the first comic book was more than 40 years from going to press; farms, not Farm - Ville, dotted the landscape; and Malay sian food was a dish best served hot in Malaysia. For the first two decades of Oxy’s existence, students selected from three courses of study: classical, literary, and scientific. Today, with 31 Liberal majors (and a 32nd on the way), there are prac- tically no boundaries to vocational satisfaction. So that a girl who grows up reading comic books can become a editor in the four-color Arts medium. And a boy who injured both his knees in high school can follow his big-league dreams to St. Louis. And a couple of guys can translate Degree? their study-abroad street cuisine into a thriving Seattle eatery. And if you still want to become a preacher, Oxy can set you on the path to the pul- pit. That’s the beauty of a liberal arts education.

8 Occidental Magazine CCREDIE ’09 PATRICK M HISTORY, POLITICS “It’s been a lot of work, a lot of learning, and a long journey,” but Satay celebrated its one-year anniversary in December.

PETER RINGOLD ’09 DIPLOMACY AND WORLD AFFAIRS “Had I not studied abroad, I most likely would not have gone to Malaysia and been inspired to open the restaurant.”

Photo by Joel Levin See the world, eat Malaysian food, open a restaurant.

A background in history, politics, and diplo- developed a business plan. (Ringold’s Aunt the restaurant,” McCredie says. “Working in macy is not generally considered a prerequi- Maimum, a native Malay and “an amazing student government improved my organiza- site to running a successful restaurant. But, cook,” helped standardize the recipes.) “If tional abilities, taught me how to delegate, two years after graduation, college buddies we could do this in one year’s time, then we and most importantly, enabled me to work Patrick McCredie ’09 (history, politics) and would open up,” McCredie recalls. “If we constructively with different personalities.” Peter Ringold ’09 (DWA) find themselves couldn’t, I would move back to California.” However, they both credit their liberal business partners in a Malaysian street food Since Satay opened in December 2010, arts education specifically with giving them counter-service restaurant called Satay in it has been featured in Seattle Met magazine’s the open-mindedness and flexibility of Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. annual “Best Asian Restaurants” writeup, as thought to pursue their restaurant dream. Ringold says he has always been inter- well as on the Food Network series “Meat “This is not an education that endows one ested in travel and other cultures, so diplo- & Potatoes.” Restaurant critic Bethany Jean with expert knowledge in any given field. macy and world affairs seemed a natural Clement, writing in The Stranger (Seattle’s Rather, what is gained through the liberal major for him. The restaurant business ven- alternate weekly), declared Satay’s peanut arts experience is openness to foreign con- ture largely evolved out of Ringold’s Oxy sauce “hands down the best in town, dark cepts and ideas, versatility of thought, and study-abroad trip to Thailand during his and rich and chunky. … you’re not going to ultimately a quality of mind that can’t be had junior year. McCredie met up with Ringold cook this food yourself, and the charming, elsewhere,” McCredie says. at the end of his program, and the two trav- shambolic Peter and Patrick are happy to “To say Occidental prepared us for the eled from Thailand to Malaysia to India over make it for you.” trials of opening a restaurant would be five weeks. “During our travels we fell in Both say it was what they learned at Oxy absurd—no liberal arts education can achieve love with the street food and began to muse outside of their coursework that has been such a thing,” he adds. “What Oxy did do over whether we could develop a business most helpful in their restaurant business. was far more valuable. This education taught around an authentic street-food concept,” “Had I not studied abroad in Thailand, I us the value of critical thought and the will- recalls McCredie, who came to Occidental most likely would not have gone to Malaysia ingness to pursue what some may deem to be from Hemet. and been inspired to open the restaurant,” ‘improbable dreams.’ We can now say from Following graduation, McCredie moved Ringold says. “My time in ASOC Senate gave experience that those lessons will last us a to Seattle, where Ringold lived, and they me many of the tools I now use when running lifetime.” —SAMANTHA B. BONAR ’90

Winter 2012 9 Shape the future of secondary education in your native L.A.

You could say that David Estrada ’05 was sions for education and policy and put them whole liberal arts concept. If I had chosen a born into education. From 1981 to 1989, to work for the Los Angeles Unified School larger school, I wouldn’t have been able to go Estrada’s father, William D. Estrada, was District. The ability to explore varying inter- in and out of my major the way I was able to assistant dean of students at Oxy, and he ests is part of the liberal arts mantra, and at Occidental.” kept a crib for his infant son in his office, Estrada found that Oxy allowed him to Estrada is currently a senior policy advis- where the junior Estrada “sat in” on many of build his niche. He fondly remembers his er for LAUSD school board member Bennett his father’s meetings. independent study with American studies Kayser, whose District 5 includes many of the Estrada chose Occidental independent- professor Xiao-huang Yin as well as classes city’s northeast neighborhoods, from Silver ly of his parents who were, in fact, surprised with professors Regina Freer, Arthé Anthony, Lake to Highland Park. It’s Estrada’s second when he told them he was serious about and Doug Smith. tour of duty, having worked from 2005 to going there. Estrada didn’t want to go to a “Oxy was a place where I could dabble a 2007 as a policy analyst for former board big university; he was looking for “a homey, lot and create my own emphasis and explore member David Tokofsky before attending small community” and found it at Oxy. And my interests,” Estrada notes. “American USC for his master’s in public policy. Estrada while Estrada isn’t working in a classroom studies was an umbrella major—a nice met Kayser in 2006 and quickly came to or on a campus, he has combined his pas- hybrid that allowed me to experience the respect his activism and admire his back- ground as a teacher in the trenches. As a Photo by Marc Campos child of educators (his mother is a teacher in the Alhambra Unified School District) and someone whose greatest satisfaction is “to be part of an organization that improves the lives of people,” Estrada eagerly accepted DAVID ESTRADA ’05 AMERICAN STUDIES when Kayser offered him a position after a “At my job, I have to be successful campaign for the District 5 seat. able to adapt quickly. It’s something that Oxy “David is clever, caring, and a talented policy prepared me well for— analyst and developer,” Kayser says. to think on my feet.” LAUSD—the country’s second-largest public school system—has wrestled with its reputation, declining enrollment, and budget shortfalls, but Estrada exudes confidence about the district and its future. He says, without a shred of doubt in his voice, that his future children will absolutely attend LAUSD schools. He calls the district “a leader” in terms of looking at cutting-edge models for new schools and adds, “We’re never trying to stop innovation or potential avenues for success. We face many of the same issues as other large districts, like how best to facilitate student achievement and how procedures, policies, and resources can be maximized. We’re aggressive in making sure that we’re accountable so that there isn’t waste and that resources are distributed equitably.” As a liaison with the communities he serves, Estrada’s greatest satisfaction is see- ing resources at work for the benefit of stu- dents. He loves visiting schools where he attended groundbreakings years ago that are now bustling educational communities. “Seeing these edifices of education vibrant and active is very rewarding.” —COLLEEN SHARKEY

10 Occidental Magazine ANA GARAY ’05 RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND SPANISH LITERATURE “Oxy encourages you to look at yourself and see what you can contribute.”

Photo by Marc Campos Give voice to the children on the playgrounds of Inglewood.

In “Looney Tunes” cartoons, it’s cute when audiology, anatomy, physiology to the psy- of Good Death and Glory”). It was Garay’s Tweety Bird utters his signature line, “I tawt I chological aspects of communication, and first time out of the United States, and she taw a puddy tat!” But when a 5-year old says she enjoys her ability to customize her learned not only how to conduct interviews, it? Not so much. By the time a child is 5, he expertise according to each child’s needs. create surveys, and perform other research, should be able to speak clearly in sentences She received her M.A. in communicative dis- but how to adapt to a different culture and of up to eight words, ask and answer ques- orders from Cal State Long Beach last May. language. “Brazil helped me become more of tions, and have a vocabulary of up to 2,000 “You learn about everything, from how an independent thinker and doer,” she says. words. If he has problems with that, that’s a child develops language to how the brain Born in Los Angeles’s Echo Park neigh- when Ana Garay ’05 steps in. works,” Garay says about her field. “And I borhood, Garay grew up in Hollywood and A speech-language pathologist for love the service component—you have a attended junior high and high school in Inglewood Preschools in Los Angeles, she direct impact on someone’s life.” Watts. She learned about the College through helps children who stutter or lisp or who Her ability to assess, analyze, and adapt word of mouth, and she tagged along with a have other speech-development problems was forged at Occidental, where she double- high-school friend on a campus visit. better communicate. She especially likes majored in Spanish literature and religious “I fell in love with the aesthetics of the working with pre-schoolers learning English studies. “I wanted to expose myself to different campus,” Garay says. “Everyone I talked to and Spanish at the same time, so that she ways of thinking,” Garay says of her religious had all these great things to say about Oxy, can not only help improve what a child says studies courses. “It was a great experience.” and it became my first choice.” (“expressive” language), but also what a child Another seminal experience was travel- “This sounds clichéd, but Oxy helps understands (“receptive” language). ing to Brazil on a summer research abroad you find yourself and learn your philosophy Garay says speech language pathology grant to research the Afro-Catholic religious of life,” adds Garay, who spoke about her is a perfect fit for her: The field covers a group Irmandade de Nossa Senhora da Boa career on campus November 8. “That was broad range of knowledge and skills, from Morte e Gloria (“The Sisterhood of Our Lady invaluable.” —RHEA R. BORJA

Winter 2012 11 KYLE SWEENEY ’00 ECONOMICS “My philosophy is based on principles of honesty, hard work, and fairness.” (To which we add: May the best mascot win.)

Photo by Marc Campos Add swagger to Stags football—even if you’re a Tiger at heart.

“I’ve always had a tendency to think about So he went the typical route of someone of coaching football. “I’ve been able to apply plays and think about coaching,” says Kyle trying to coach at the collegiate level, getting my economics degree. I certainly have to Sweeney ’00, who led Claremont-Mudd- his first coaching job as a graduate assistant manage a budget and use a lot of the planning Scripps to a 4-5 mark in his first season as with Illinois Wesleyan College. “At worst, and organization that comes with an econ for the Stags’ head football coach this fall. “Even two years later I was going to have a master’s business degree,” Sweeney says. “Whether back when I was a kid I remember getting degree, and I coached football while I did it it’s the sales part that goes into recruiting or the John Madden playbook that came with with my econ degree to fall back on if I need- the day-to-day operations, I think all of that the video game, and I would mark plays. ed it,” Sweeney says. “At best, I’d fall into applies. It’s just a different product. I’m rep- That’s not exactly typical for an 8-year-old.” something I loved. I did, and stayed with it.” resenting a college as opposed to a major An economics major at Oxy, Sweeney From Illinois Wesleyan, he went to accounting firm.” may have shown signs of coaching genes at a Endicott College, just outside Boston, where Sweeney started all four years as a safety young age, but it was his experience as a stu- he spent five years as an assistant, eventual- for the Tigers, lettered four years on the Oxy dent-athlete that cultivated his lifelong ly working his way into the defensive coor- baseball team, and worked as an RA, all while interest and nudged him into his current dinator role. Then he landed his first head upholding a high grade point average and career—one that finds him back at his old coaching job at MacMurray College in serving as a leader to the campus community. SCIAC stomping grounds, although wearing Jacksonville, Ill., in 2005, where he became Ironically, Sweeney’s route led him to a a different uniform this time. the youngest NCAA Division III coach in place very similar to the one he left in Eagle “During my senior year at Oxy, I had the nation at the time at age 27. Later, he Rock when his professional life started a little some opportunities when some of the busi- spent two years as the University of Chicago’s more than 10 years ago. “It’s funny, because ness recruiters were coming in and I went to defensive coordinator before scoring the it’s a rival. On one hand I know so much a couple of those meetings and lunches,” CMS job last summer. about it and I can tell you the good and the Sweeney recalls. “I looked around and said, His time at Oxy prepared him to be suc- bad,” Sweeney says. “But at the end of the day ‘I have an econ degree, and certainly I can cessful in the evolving and challenging field when I’m talking to a recruit, it’s hard to say use that at some point.’ But coaching—and of economics while giving him dynamic anything bad about Oxy because I had such a staying in football—really appealed to me.” skills to use in his true passion and expertise good experience.”—MICHAEL WELLS

12 Occidental Magazine Parlay your penchant for metrics into a full-time job tending to ZyngaVille.

Like many people, Bradley Ross ’09 messes job with Zynga, which “has always had the around with FarmVille and Mafia Wars at reputation for being a very successful met- work. But unlike most, it’s his job to do so. rics-driven social-gaming company.” “I never really expected to get a job where I A native of Greenwood Village, Colo., would directly be using some of the more Ross pledged Phi Psi fraternity, played advanced, abstract math I learned, but I Ultimate Frisbee, and served as an RA in thought that the methodology and approach Norris and Stewie halls. He also took advan- one learns when studying math would pro- tage of the College’s offerings in sociology, LESANDRE BARLEY ’04 vide more opportunities for me once I fin- Spanish, and physics and studied abroad in RELIGIOUS STUDIES ished school,” says Ross, a product manager Spain. “Oxy really gave me the opportunity to “Oxy is eclectic, and I at San Francisco-based Zynga, maker of the explore who I was and what I wanted to be knew I needed to broaden my horizons. It was also popular Facebook games. doing,” he says. “Being able to try out things close to home, my mother, Always an enthusiastic gamer, Ross gar- both in class and out that I wouldn’t have and her business, Vinyl Ladies—which is now nered an internship at El Segundo-based otherwise tried made my Oxy experience.” my business.” Electronic Arts the summer before his senior Even in a world populated by CityVille, year, working on its mobile/interactive team FrontierVille, and CastleVille (Zynga’s newest as a marketing manager and producer on online metropolis), the liberal arts remain Photo by Marc Campos Scrabble for Facebook. “It was a pretty awe- close to Ross’ heart. “The thought process some experience, since the Facebook gam- and skill set I learned has definitely helped ing platform was relatively new and the user me in the problems and projects I work on Bring new ideas base was growing very rapidly, and the now. My math background has helped a lot and renewed online websites and gaming space are both with opening up opportunities for me, but very metrics-driven,” he says. He continued the other disciplines I’ve studied round me luster to the to work with EA as a senior, going full time in out and prevent me from being bucketed a more products-oriented role after he grad- into being just a numbers guy.” family business. uated. In early 2010, Ross took his current —SAMANTHA BONAR Photo by Jim Block Lesandre Barley ’04 readily acknowledges that her religious studies degree provided little insight into doing leather and vinyl repair, restoration, and re-coloring. But the second-generation owner of Vinyl Ladies— the Running Springs-based business founded by her mother, CC, in 1986—insists that she “got what she came for” at Occidental. Although she found her religious stud- ies classes to be “compelling and enjoyable,” Barley says, “Oxy’s more valuable contribu- tions to my education were things like net- working, articulating myself and my ideas, and the importance of service learning and action within one’s community. All these have directly helped me as a business owner

BRADLEY ROSS ’09 and operator, as well as on a personal and MATHEMATICS spiritual level.” “Oxy gave me a great opportunity to explore Barley admits she felt “rudderless” after several different areas graduating—“no more enlightened about my of study and find what clicked with me.” ideal job description than when I entered Oxy.” Meanwhile, her mother had carved out a niche industry with her vinyl repair business, and she was struggling to find

Winter 2012 13 apprentices. “I saw that the business would eventually fade as she moved closer to Listen, sing, laugh, and pray as retirement, and it seemed like a waste to let a pastor in South America. that happen,” says Barley, who dyed her first panel at age 7. To her surprise, she fell in love with the The daughter of professional musicians, Henken’s family switched churches while business. “The work is creatively demanding Sarah Henken ’02 came to Occidental with she was in high school. She was impressed and mobile, so I’m not tied to a desk in an a song in her soul and faith in her heart. “I and inspired to find a female minister at her artificially lit room,” Barley says. Most of her wanted an education that made me a critical new church, and her subsequent experience work is done on-site at large RV dealerships thinker, a global citizen, and a better writer,” as a youth delegate at the church’s biennial and airports. Her latest project is developing says the native Angeleno. “My time at Oxy General Assembly convinced her that she Rub ’n Restore, Vinyl Ladies’ proprietary helped lay the foundation for the journey could combine her passions for music, lan- dye, with the goal of revolutionizing the that I’m on.” guage, and working with youth by being a coatings industry. She has pioneered new That journey has taken Henken from pastor. In college, Henken worked closely techniques, expanded their clientele base, the San Fernando Valley to South America, with the Rev. Anne Cohen, then Oxy’s direc- built a website, received aerospace training, where she now serves as the Presbyterian tor of religious and spiritual life. “I appreci- and met FAA guidelines to work on aircraft. Church (USA)’s regional liaison for the ated having that space to explore what faith “The ultimate goal, which I don’t think Andean region, with her home base in La means to people’s lives and making that part is unreasonable, is to manufacture and mar- Paz, Bolivia. In her current role, Henken of the conversation on campus.” ket Rub ’n Restore not only to consumers but hopes to keep lines of communication open Henken knew that she should have also to professionals in the aerospace indus- between the U.S. national church and its more life experience before becoming a pas- try,” says Barley, who recently was nominated South American affiliates. She also works to tor. So, equipped with a firm grasp of Latin for a Spirit Award, given to small business support the Andean churches with institu- American culture and fluency in Spanish entrepreneurs in the Inland Empire. It may tional development and mediate problems (thanks in large part to professors Robert not be the spiritual reward she was expecting that they encounter as they are working to Ellis and Adelaida López), she headed to as a religious studies major, but it’s restored grow as organizations. “There’s something South America to participate in her church’s her faith in a job well done. about being in South America that has young adult volunteer program—first in —SAMANTHA BONAR awakened a different part of myself.” Uruguay, and the following year as a super- Photo courtesy Sarah Henken ’02 visor in Argentina. “In Uruguay, I was work- ing mostly with kids at a community center in a marginalized part of town where I was THE REV. SARAH HENKEN ’02 MUSIC living, and it really opened my eyes to life in “I wanted an education that South America.” made me a critical thinker, After completing her master’s of divini- a global citizen, and a better ty at McCormick Theological Seminary in writer. Oxy introduced me to a lot of the complexity that Chicago, Henken became a coordinator for exists in the world.” the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s ministry of accompaniment in Colombia. Violence is a big part of life in some parts of South America, and the idea of the accompaniment program is to protect religious and human rights workers against threats of violence, which are often thwarted by the presence of U.S. citizens or other international workers. “Being present as someone who cannot identify with that, but can listen with love and empathy, can be a powerful act,” Henken says. “To me it is worth going and listening to everything from the most unspeakable violence to the daily struggle to make ends meet and raise children with the best educa- tion and opportunities possible—and singing and praying and finding things to laugh about in the midst of it all.” —COLLEEN SHARKEY

14 Occidental Magazine CMILLAN ’06 DENNIS M ART HISTORY AND THE VISUAL ARTS “My Oxy education gave me the necessary tools to be able to consider a problem from all sides, generate a number of possible solutions, and then pick the best one.”

Photos by Max S. Gerber Cut the “Ultimate Cake Off” competition, for starters.

Dennis McMillan ’06 took his art history “Though I didn’t end up going very far a recommendation from Danica Barnes ’05, and the visual arts major and translated it in the physics program, it was still impor- at a post-production house in Burbank. into a career editing reality shows. Working tant to me that I had the opportunity to try In the editing room, he says, “There are for Discovery Studios as an assistant editor, it before fully focusing on an art major” cen- many times when my creative decisions are he has shaped, trimmed, and finessed a body tered on film, he says. “I knew I wanted to informed by art theory that I was exposed to of work that includes such recent efforts major in film as a way to continue editing, in college. The most important things that as “Bridalplasty” (E!), “Ton of Cash” (VH1), but before beginning the major I didn’t have my education afforded me were problem- “Top Secret Recipe” (CMT), and “Same much of an understanding of the rest of the solving and critical thinking skills. As an Name” (CBS). He earlier had a hand in cut- art world. However, the art courses I took assistant editor, half of my work is creative ting the confectionery trifecta of “Chocolate outside of the film discipline ended up hav- and the other half is technical, and when Wars,” “Ultimate Cake Off,” and “Cake Boss: ing a dramatic impact on my understanding problems arise I need to be able to come up Ultimate Cake Boss.” of art, media, and culture in general, and of with solutions that satisfy both needs. I McMillan entered Oxy with plans to my place within it.” think my Oxy education gave me the neces- major in physics, although he had always After graduating, McMillan was assisted sary tools to be able to consider a problem had an interest in video editing. “It was by associate professor Broderick Fox, who from all sides, generate a number of possible important to me to go to a small college, and helped him apply for the American Cinema solutions, and then pick the best one.” there are surprisingly few colleges that have Editors’ internship program. Although he A veteran of several competition shows, a film program, a physics program, and didn’t end up winning the internship, as a McMillan admits to being “horrible at guess- men’s swimming,” says the Portland, Ore., finalist he was invited to a lecture series with ing who’s going to win any of them. It’s our native. As a swimmer at Oxy, McMillan was current feature and TV editors and assistant job to flip the viewers’ expectations and SCIAC champion in the 200 freestyle in editors, and through that was introduced to create a dramatic arc so that the viewers 2004 and currently holds school records in a network of professionals who helped him won’t be able to guess either.” the 500, 1,000, and 1,650 freestyle. get future jobs. He scored his first job through —SAMANTHA BONAR

Winter 2012 15 MOLLY RUSSELL’05 URBAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY “I love being the facilitator of getting things to people and places that need them. That was definitely influenced by my education.”

Photo by Jim Block Create sustainable health in a clutter-free environment.

What does de-cluttering a home have to do Oxy. I knew that I wanted to be trained to of service and wanted to be a healer—going with urban and environmental policy? For effect positive change in the world, and UEP back to the micro-level,” she says. Molly Russell ’05, it is taking the philosophy really spoke to me as something that was not “What most inspires me about ayurvedic of community change she learned as a UEP only just fundamentally doing that training, medicine is this true deep value of your major and using it on a micro-level. In her Bay but acting upon it. I was seeing people com- health being contingent on your ability to Area business, 100% Organized, Russell says ing out of the major becoming these vibrant, allow health for others,” she says. Both busi- she applies social movement organizing “to active leaders of change.” ness pursuits “have allowed me to take more actual physical organizing of a space. They Another way UEP influenced Russell’s responsibility for my own health and my are interconnected—they can’t be possible business is her emphasis on eco-cycling, a own organization, which in turn helps me without each other. No effective sustainable core component of her service. She provides be more effective in service.” Russell chose change can happen if you’re living in a mess.” a sustainable hauling service for her cus- ayurveda, a traditional form of medicine Russell’s business, she says, allows peo- tomers’ purged items and also networks with practiced in India, because she found it to be ple “the physical space so they can have the community organizations, recycling and “one of the most holistic forms of medicine mental space to do the work that they’re repurposing items. “I love being the facilita- that I’ve come across. It really addresses all really meant to do here in the world.” She tor of getting things to people and places that parts of the person, and I feel like it really has sees the effects of her de-cluttering work on need them,” she says. “That was definitely a potential to create sustainable health.” the lives of all kinds of individuals, from influenced by my education—the deep-root- Reflecting on the vast difference in her “mothers who I help to be more effective ed organizing and community-building that two career paths, Russell says, “The biggest mothers, to executives, to people who are the major really fused into me.” thing that I got from my Oxy education is running their own business.” As much as Russell enjoys helping peo- it allowed me to be a really effective and “When I was looking for a college, Oxy ple organize her lives, she has a larger ambi- responsible thinker. That skill allowed so seemed to be the most authentic to me,” tion. She is currently in her second year of a much and has manifested in so many parts Russell says. “I had this vision of becoming a three-year program to become an ayurvedic and pockets of my life. It has manifested in stronger leader, and I knew that I could do wellness counselor, with the goal of opening some totally different and interesting ways that through an education and experience at her own practice. “I’ve always wanted to be —that’s the beauty.” —SAMANTHA BONAR

16 Occidental Magazine Edit comic books that go “BOOM!”

“I knew that Oxy had a reputation for being a little weird,” Shannon Watters ’07 says. But she also knew it was “somewhere you could become a bigger person—a place that had opportunities for expressing yourself.” Watters got into comic strips at an early age, devouring Calvin and Hobbes, Foxtrot, and Peanuts collections. “My mother and grandmother would buy me Archie Digests,” says the Sedona, Ariz., native, who gravitat- ed toward more indie-minded offerings by the time she reached high school. Long before she applied to college, she adds, “Editing comics is what I wanted to do.” Watters opted for Oxy over Colorado College after visiting Eagle Rock and hearing then-President Ted Mitchell address a room- ful of prospective students. She got a campus job working on the yearbook, editing two editions of La Encina. A survey course on Greek literature taught by assistant professor Damian Stocking was “the best class I’ve ever taken,” she says. “He went through the ety- mology of everything, and broke it down in a way that felt so personal. That changes you.” Mean while, associate professor of English SHANNON WATTERS ’07 ENGLISH AND COMPARATIVE writing Thomas Burkdall “took me under his LITERARY STUDIES wing and let me do my independent study in “There’s a language that you get when you attend a liberal creative writing with an eye toward comics. arts school. There are I can’t imagine my life without Oxy.” discussions that I can have with my Oxy friends that I Soon after graduating, Watters snagged can’t have with anyone else.” a job as a copy editor at Tokyopop, a manga publisher. “I met some incredible people, made some great contacts,” she says. “It taught me a lot.” But in July 2008 Tokyopop laid off about half its staff, including Watters. She interviewed for a job as an assistant editor with BOOM! Studios, a fledgling L.A.- Photo by Marc Campos based comic-book publisher that stepped up to the big leagues after acquiring the Disney Catholics—those nuns take care of you”). series; a licensed book based on the Ice Age license in May 2009. (Although the company Then, a year and a half later, she got a call out characters; and an anthology title based on the surrendered the license to Disney subsidiary of the blue from BOOM! CEO Ross Richie popular Cartoon Network series Adventure Marvel in November, BOOM! has a full slate saying, “We have health insurance now—do Time, that allows her to work with some of of titles in the pipeline, including the first you still want a job?” Watters recalls. “I got her indie-comic idols, such as Dinosaur new Peanuts comic books since 1964.) an email the next day with a job offer.” Comics creator Ryan North. But lacking a full slate of benefits, “it These days, Watters has a full slate of With the benefit of her Oxy degree, “I’m wasn’t the right time,” Watters says. She projects, working with veteran scribe Mark an editor at a top-10 comic book publisher,” wound up instead at Flintridge Sacred Heart Waid on a pair of superhero titles, Irre - Watters says, smiling. “I can live comfortably. I Academy as associate director of communica- deemable and Incorruptible; a comic based on can buy blazers from the Gap. Not too shabby tions (“There’s nothing like working for the Michael Moorcock’s sword-and-sorcery Elric for a B.A. in English.” —DICK ANDERSON

Winter 2012 17 Sport a pair of World Series championship rings (so far).

Hosei Maruyama ’00 never would have for Maruyama finally came when the organi- sonnel,” Maruyama says. “It was almost like landed his dream job in St. Louis were it not zation christened the new Busch Stadium in being a Secret Service agent for a day.” for his best friend and former Oxy roommate, 2006. He was offered a full-time position in Major League baseball teams play 81 Jeffrey Yin ’00. The two met as freshmen in stadium operations, and has since worked home games per regular season. Home-game Erdman Hall and have been close ever since. his way up to systems administrator. He days are long, requiring Maruyama to work In 2003, when Yin and girlfriend C. Ming now deals with myriad assignments from his regular shift and then prepare himself Saelee ’02 relocated to St. Louis to pursue preparing for a presidential first pitch and and his team for the game. A pre-game check master’s degrees in social work at Washington calming inebriated ballpark guests to ush- of the stadium is routine, and then he is University, Yin jokingly asked Maruyama if ering the 2011 World Series trophy around basically on call during the game in case any he wanted to move with them to try to snag St. Louis for appearances. issues of safety, comfort, or security arise. a job with the Cardinals, Rams, or Blues. “Hosei’s job is pretty cool and interest- “Our job is to get everyone in, make sure A kinesiology major, Maruyama taught ing,” says Yin, who married Saelee at Busch they have a good time and head home safely. and coached in the Los Angeles Unified Stadium in 2007. “Some people in California We want to provide our guests a fun, family- School District for three years after gradua- don’t realize there are 49 other states and friendly atmosphere with world-champion - tion, all the while working toward a master’s cool things going on there.” ship customer service so that they come back of sport management through a satellite pro- The Cardinals are to St. Louis what the again and again.” gram of the University of San Francisco. To Lakers are to Los Angeles—dominating the As a student at Oxy, Maruyama built realize his dream of working in the sports National League Central Division and the strong relationships with his professors in industry full-time, a move to the Midwest postseason for much of the past decade. the kinesiology department. “My adviser, seemed like the only feasible thing to do. Maruyama has been behind the scenes Stuart Rugg, was a big influence on me,” he “I couldn’t live in Los Angeles without a orchestrating some major events and witness- says. “He often gave motivational talks on full-time job because I wouldn’t have been ing history in the making. In 2009, President campus, encouraging us to pursue some- able to pay rent,” the Sacramento native Barack Obama ’83 threw out the ceremonial thing that we were passionate about because explains. “I compare it to the hordes of peo- first pitch at the Major League Baseball All- then it wouldn’t feel like work.” Maruyama ple moving to L.A. to pursue an acting Star Game; this past October, First Lady also credits Oxy’s small class size and the career—it doesn’t always work out.” Michelle Obama attended a World Series opportunity for deep, detailed discussions— Two years after landing a part-time job game. “I worked very closely with the Secret hallmarks of a liberal arts education—with with the St. Louis Cardinals, the payoff pitch Service as a part of the stadium security per- preparing him for working with people.

Photo by Scott Rovak Every MLB team hopes to be playing well into October, but the Cardinals have had better success than most (eking into the playoffs on the last day of the 2011 season following the Atlanta Braves’ historic col- lapse). Maruyama serves as a liaison between the Cardinals and MLB in the postseason, ensuring that even the tiniest detail is taken care of in preparation for the Fall Classic. But no amount of work is too much to witness a champagne-spraying party in the locker room after a seven-game battle for the title of World Champions. It’s safe to say that there’s only one Oxy graduate who has earned two World Series championship rings without ever donning a uniform, running the bases, or stepping up to bat. “I am so lucky and blessed to do what HOSEI MARUYAMA ’00 KINESIOLOGY I do for a living,” says Maruyama, who aban- “It’s hard to break into doned any dreams of being a professional major-league sports, athlete after injuring his knees playing high especially in L.A.” school football. “My office is inside a Major League Baseball stadium, and I get to watch a lot of baseball.” —COLLEEN SHARKEY

18 Occidental Magazine COURTNEY HOFFACKER ’02 PSYCHOLOGY “Four years of study at Oxy gave me confidence in general. After I graduated, I felt that I could go into any job.”

Photo by Aaron Bunch Iron out employee issues with the Outback as your office.

Steel-toed boots, safety glasses, sun hat, a and support, among other tasks. “I love help- deal with a lot of different people in my job, blue and canary-yellow long-sleeve shirt, ing people, and human resources is a way to and I have to do a lot of negotiating with and long pants are not the typical look for help people without having to take their trade unions.” a human resources specialist. But an Ann problems home at night,” she says. Her jobs at Oxy also reflect a desire to Taylor suit and sensible shoes just don’t cut Born in Arizona and raised in Louisiana, benefit others. As a hall director and resident it when you work for Rio Tinto Group, the Hoffacker graduated with a B.A. in psychol- adviser, Hoffacker helped develop Braun world’s third-largest mining company. ogy from Occidental. She became enamored Hall’s Living and Learning Commu nity. She Based in the Australian port city of with Australia after taking a six-week tour also worked as a help desk assistant for the Perth, Courtney Hoffacker ’02 helps recruit through Europe—accompanied by a bus full College’s information technology services, and train employees, and provides case of exuberant and friendly Australians and and gave instructional therapy to children management, workforce planning, and other New Zealanders—after college graduation. with autism at the Institute for Applied HR services for 300 staff across 17 sites in With no promising job prospects back Behavioral Analysis in Los Angeles. Those Perth and the Pilbara, a remote section of home, Hoffacker thought, “Why not?” and positions gave her a jump start in the real the Australian Outback. Iron ore is a hot traveled abroad to work. world. “I’m not sure I would’ve had those commodity, and Rio Tinto has the second- Prior to joining Rio Tinto last February, leadership opportunities at a bigger univer- largest iron-ore mine on the planet. she worked as a human resources manager sity. And four years of study at Oxy gave me So Hoffacker hops on a two-hour flight at an island resort on the Great Barrier Reef confidence in general,” she says. “After I every week over a sere landscape of red rock (“the entire island is a national park”) and a graduated, I felt that I could go into any job.” and deep canyons to the Pilbara mine, which regional HR manager for the Laminex Hoffacker’s position involves a lot of fills trains and ships more than half-a-mile Group, a building products company based writing to internal and external audiences, long that transport the ore around the world. in Sydney. “I love it here,” says Hoffacker, so the core writing course that Occidental A recent recipient of a master’s degree in who has called Australia home since 2004. requires of all students has been put to good labor law and relations from the University With her background in psychology, “I use Down Under: “Even my colleagues ask of Sydney Law School, she consults with understand what motivates people and why me to proofread their documents,” she says. mine managers and offers them legal advice and how they behave,” she adds. “I have to —RHEA BORJA

Winter 2012 19 Diagnosed with cancer of the blood cells, chemistry professor Tetsuo Otsuki prepared to die. Then Dr. Len Farol ’94 made it his mission to save his mentor. SECOND OPINION

BY RHEA R. BORJA PHOTOS BY KEVIN BURKE

VEN ON A CAMPUS WITH ITS “I thought I had done everything I could share of colorful characters, Tetsuo do within my capabilities. I had no regrets,” Most days, Otsuki commutes Otsuki stands out. The Bertha Otsuki recalls. “I had lived my life.” to campus from his Pasadena EHarton Orr Professor of Chemistry commutes home on a bicycle he bought more than 20 years ago. LEFT: to campus most days wearing a black Oxy IT’S COMMON AFTER THE WINTER FES- Dr. O poses with the future Dr. football helmet with orange paw prints—a gift TIVITIES to feel exhausted from all the hol- Farol for a photo following from the Class of 2003—and riding an old iday cheer. Otsuki chalked up the malaise Occidental’s Commencement road bike. He bakes chocolate-chip cookies and dull pain he felt in late December 2010 ceremony on May 15, 1994. for his students before every exam. And when to too much merrymaking. He had hosted he has a bit of free time, he sits in a sunny and entertained old friends at his house for a patch of the Academic Quad and knits. few weeks over the winter break. He’d also More than his idiosyncratic habits, taken a recent spill from his bicycle; perhaps Otsuki hates doctors. The picture of though, Otsuki is known for his energy, that was the cause of the pain he felt in his health for virtually all of his life and blessed warmth, and commitment to students. Over ribs and pelvis. with good genes—his mother died at age 99 his 25 years at Occidental, “Dr. O” (a nick- But his symptoms worsened over time. and his father at 83—he rarely had occasion name that dates back to the late 1980s) has Otsuki’s good friend, Carolyn Adams, also to see them. At 69 years old, he had not seen always been happy to answer students’ ques- noticed. He visited her regularly in her office, the inside of a doctor’s office in years, nor tions, mentor them, and help them in whatev- where she works as the executive assistant did he take any medications. er way he can. His office door is always open. to the College dean, and at the start of the day His daily habits bordered on the ascetic. So when Otsuki abruptly took a leave of they often did push-ups and other calisthen- Besides riding his bicycle seven miles each absence in February 2011 and turned over ics together, Otsuki doubling the number of day to and from Occidental, Otsuki ate a low- his teaching load to a colleague, people wor- exercises Adams did. But last January, he fat diet rich in vitamins, eschewed smoking, ried, with good reason. The vibrantly healthy didn’t have the strength to manage even one and slept a restful seven to eight hours a professor had fallen ill—so ill he wasn’t sure push-up. “I told him to go to the doctor,” night. His sole vice, if you could call it that, he would ever recover. she says. was a glass of beer or wine with dinner.

20 Occidental Magazine Otsuki finally saw a doctor in February. rockets, crowding out “good” platelets and 50 years. Indeed, two of Otsuki’s favorite A battery of tests, including liver function ultimately destroying the bone. Eighty per- writers, Soseki Natsume and Tatsuo Hori, and MRI, showed nothing wrong. But one cent of Otsuki’s bone marrow was composed died at age 50. Otsuki felt he had been given test measuring bone density did. Further of abnormal antibodies. The five-year sur- a 19-year bonus. testing, including a bone-marrow biopsy, vival rate for multiple myeloma is about 40 Even as he began chemotherapy to revealed the cause of his pain and exhaustion: percent, according to the Leukemia and combat the disease, he prepared to die. A Otsuki had multiple myeloma, cancer of the Lymphoma Society. Otsuki calmly asked his private man, he told few people of his diag- blood plasma cells, which originate in the doctor how much time he had to live. Three nosis and considered his options. He could bone marrow. Plasma cells help protect the years, he was told, if he didn’t fight back. stop eating. A trained chemist, he could mix body from infection by producing proteins, Otsuki tried to accept the diagnosis with a fatal potion. There were many ways to end or antibodies, that fight foreign substances. equanimity. Though he’s lived in the United life with dignity, he thought. In a healthy person, plasma cells make States for more than 30 years, his belief He did not yet realize that the Oxy com- up 1-2 percent of bone marrow. In a person system is deeply Japanese. In Japan, the span munity and a certain former student would with multiple myeloma, that number sky- of one lifetime is traditionally measured at not let him give up.

Winter 2012 21 LEN FAROL ’94 KNEW EARLY ON that he Fernando Valley community of Chatsworth, “We weren’t the smartest people in our class, wanted to go into the medical field. He a 60-mile daily round trip dictated by the but we made up for it by working hard.” loved science, math, and the nature of scien- court-ordered desegregation of the Los Farol entered Oxy on a full academic tific inquiry and research. His mother died Angeles Unified School District in 1978. scholarship and majored in biochemistry. He of cancer, and one of his brothers had open- Mandatory busing was controversial, and did well in Otsuki’s classes and remembers heart surgery as a child to close an opening Farol recalls white adults holding picket Dr. O as a tough but supportive teacher. The in his heart. signs and yelling as his bus pulled in front of professor was also his adviser, and he helped The son of a school principal and an ele- the school. “They said, ‘We don’t want your Farol get an undergraduate research grant mentary-school teacher, Farol was born the kids,’” Farol says in a matter-of-fact tone. for a marine biology/chemistry project. After youngest of nine children in the Philippine The vitriol did not deter him. Farol took graduation, Otsuki attended Farol’s wedding province of Batangas, a region of gently as many Advanced Placement and honors (to Hanako Yamauchi ’95, another advisee), rolling plains and islands south of Manila. courses as he could at Chatsworth High and they exchanged phone calls and met for His early years were comfortable, and he School, graduating in the top 10 percent of brunch at least once or twice a year. “Len lived surrounded by his extended family. his class. He taught himself how the college- worked very hard, and he stayed in touch That was cut short by the death of his admission process worked by assisting his with me,” Otsuki says. “Many students I mother when Farol was 6. Soon after, his high school guidance counselor, and he coun- don’t see after graduation.” father moved the family to California for a seled his classmates on college academic While at Oxy, Farol volunteered at fresh start. While they settled into a cramped requirements and financial aid. “Len is very Huntington Hospital as a candy striper. two-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles’ driven,” says Chatsworth classmate and friend There he saw his first bone marrow biopsy, a Koreatown, Farol went to school in the San Sam Patel, now a radiologist in the Bay Area. painful procedure in which a very large,

An oncologist and bone marrow transplant specialist at Kaiser Permanente, Farol (shown out- side City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte) and his colleagues are the go-to team in Southern California for blood cancer, the “Super Friends” of hematology.

22 Occidental Magazine Photos courtesy Tetsuo Otsuki hollow needle is inserted with a corkscrew motion into a patient’s bone to extract mar- row. “I almost fainted,” Farol recalls. “I had to sit down because I was lightheaded.” Nonetheless, he decided in his final year at Occidental to go to medical school, graduating with his M.D. from UC Irvine. After a residency in internal medicine at Northwestern University, Farol traveled east, to New York University, as a hematology/ ABOVE: Otsuki’s parents, Ki-ichi and Yoriko Otsuki. ABOVE RIGHT: As a oncology fellow. While at NYU, he was named freshman at Kyoto University in 1961, Otsuki (right) and classmate Akira Hematology Fellow of the Year in 2002 and Tanaka ride a ferry to Hokkaido. BELOW: Six-year-old Otsuki stands in front ABOVE: Otsuki plays with his Oncology Fellow of the Year in 2003. of the Japanese emperor’s tomb in Kyoto in 1948, accompanied by his nieces in 1964. BELOW: On a babysitter, Ai Matsubara (behind him) and two of her friends. The photo, train days after learning he was Another friend from Chatsworth, he recalls, was snapped by an American soldier stationed in Japan. accepted to Kyoto University, Arlene Hoang, credits Farol for helping to Otsuki (in 1961) enjoys his save her mother-in-law, who came down first beer. BOTTOM: Otsuki’s first with leukemia in 2003. He advised that she passport photo, taken in 1977. be given a bone marrow transplant after chemotherapy failed to work. “Her doctor didn’t want her to undergo a transplant because she was already 65, but Len really pushed us,” says Hoang, a lawyer in the San Fernando Valley. “Frankly, she wouldn’t be alive today without that.”

MARCH 10, 2011, started out as a normal Wednesday for Farol. An oncologist and bone marrow transplant specialist at Kaiser Permanente, he was at a meeting at City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, 16 miles east of Eagle Rock, to discuss patient caseloads with several colleagues. Together, they’re the go-to team in Southern California for blood cancer, the “Super Friends” of hematology. In discussing their caseloads, one colleague Otsuki lived in a small, self-contained com- spoke of a patient named Otsuki with multi- munity in Kyoto, 300 miles west of Tokyo. ple myeloma. Startled, Farol asked if Otsuki Food rationing was the norm, but Otsuki was a college professor. His colleague said yes. always had enough to eat since his parents “I was devastated,” Farol recalls. “This had a vegetable garden. want to dissect animals. Geology and meteo- is a horrible disease.” As a kindergartner, he chased after rology didn’t hold his interest. “So left over Farol got on the phone immediately with American soldiers, who were part of the was chemistry,” he says with a smile. his old professor. Later that day, he visited Allied occupation in the years after World As it happens, Otsuki thrived in his Otsuki at his home and brought vitamins War II. They gave him chewing gum, choco- studies and received a bachelor’s degree, and packs of Boost, a nutritional drink. “Len’s late, and even softball bats and balls. “They master’s degree, and Ph.D in chemistry in phone call saved me. He changed my psychol- were nice to kids,” Otsuki says. quick succession, all from Kyoto University. ogy all around,” Otsuki says. “He said, ‘This He studied hard and was accepted into In 1980, he received a national chemistry is treatable. You don’t have to die.’” prestigious Kyoto University as a science research award from Japan’s Society of student. But Otsuki spent much of his first Synthetic Organic Chemistry. But he found AS A 3-YEAR-OLD in wartime Japan in 1945, two years reading Japanese, American, and the Japanese system of research confining Otsuki watched American B-29 bombers fly French novels; hiking in the mountains; and and non-collaborative. Otsuki got a taste of overhead before his parents whisked him relaxing instead of going to class. He didn’t American-style science research as a post- into an underground shelter. Despite living buckle down until he had to declare a major doctoral student at the University of Chicago in the shadow of a devastating war, his in his third year. Physics came easily to him, in the late 1970s, where he met Wayne childhood was happy. The youngest child of but his older brother was already a physicist. Bolen, then a young faculty member at a grade-school principal and a schoolteacher, Biology sounded promising, but he didn’t Southern Illinois University.

Winter 2012 23 With Bolen’s help, Otsuki won a one- much information. Instead of covering the year appointment as a visiting associate pro- blackboard with scribbles, he wrote only the fessor of chemistry and biochemistry at the most important points. He also abandoned university. He moved to Carbondale, Ill., the “sage on the stage” mentality and with his wife and two young daughters. “It encouraged class discussion by asking stu- was very unusual for anyone to immigrate to dents questions. And he encouraged stu- the United States from Japan, as Japan had a dents to see him after class if they wanted very strong educational system,” says Bolen, more help. “You have to make sure they now an emeritus professor at the University understand the concept,” says Otsuki, recip- of Texas, Galveston. “Tetsuo was very brave ient of Occidental’s Graham L. Sterling to come.” Award for excellence in teaching, research, Otsuki went on to teach for two years as and service in 2002. “I have learned a lot an assistant chemistry professor at Penn State from my students on how to teach.” Schuylkill, acquiring the university’s first As a biology major at Oxy, Lisa (Ritter) Otsuki starts most mornings with a cup of tea and Pickard ’91 remembers Otsuki’s organic nuclear magnetic resonance instrument. calisthenics with Carolyn Adams on the third floor— “They were very impressed with him because chemistry class “as one of the most difficult literally—of Arthur G. Coons Administrative Center. of his emphasis on education and research,” classes I’ve ever taken,” she says from her Bolen says—even if Otsuki remembers that home in Austin, Texas. “But Dr. O made it abnormal antibodies. After three months, time a bit differently. He grew up reading and worth it. He is so dedicated to empowering Otsuki’s immunoglobulin (antibody) level writing English, but communicating solely in students. He’s more than a teacher; he’s a had dropped dramatically—a good sign. English was challenging—and teaching in confidant, friend, and mentor.” Still, a bone marrow biopsy showed that English for the first time was “very difficult.” Some years back, another former stu- Otsuki’s bones were still composed of 75 per- Language wasn’t the only barrier. In dent sent Otsuki a photo of the two of them cent myeloma cells. “So we had to attack the Japan, professors lecture for much of class taken at Occidental after his graduation. cancer in a different way,” Farol says. and write a lot of information on the black- “Thanks for all your support and encourage- He and the other doctors prescribed an board, while students copy that information ment during my years at Oxy,” he wrote on aggressive three-tiered system of intravenous in their notebooks and ask few questions. By the back. “I wouldn’t be where I am without and oral chemotherapy: Cytoxan, Velcade, the time he landed at Occidental in 1986, all the help you gave me. and Dexamethasone. Recent studies have Otsuki understood that the Japanese way of “Thanks a million, Len (class ’94)” shown that this mixture gives better results teaching didn’t translate into the Western and fewer side effects, such as numbness and classroom. FAROL WASN’T THE ONLY ONE WHO tingling in fingers and toes, compared with He adapted by focusing on one concept urged Otsuki to fight. Adams was one of the other chemotherapy combinations. and talking about it from different angles few people the professor told of his cancer Otsuki underwent this second treat- instead of overwhelming students with too diagnosis. With his permission, she mar- ment for another two months. Throughout shaled a small army of Oxy faculty, staff, stu- that winter and spring, he was a model dents, and friends (a disparate group that patient. He showed up to his many medical included Nadine Skotheim, Otsuki’s knitting appointments on time. He did not drink teacher and wife of former Oxy President alcohol or caffeine. He remained cheerful Robert A. Skotheim, and alumni such as Lisa and upbeat despite feeling weak and tired. Rutledge ’10, a City of Hope researcher) for The chemo combination worked. A support. The list grew from a handful of peo- bone marrow biopsy in June showed that less ple to more than 50. “Tetsuo is surrounded than 1 percent of Otsuki’s marrow was com- by many good friends who care so much,” posed of “bad” cells. “His marrow was clean,” Adams says. “He is genuinely a nice guy. Farol says. “He was officially in remission.” When I took him to his doctors’ appoint- ments, everybody gravitated to him.” MULTIPLE MYELOMA tends to resurface The support and good wishes were after several years. Survival rates are higher among the weapons needed to combat his for myeloma patients who have undergone multiple myeloma. And Otsuki needed all chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant to the help he could get. Even though he didn’t blast out as much of the cancer as possible. start to feel pain and fatigue until last Farol and Otsuki’s other doctors recom- For many years, prospective students to Occidental January, Farol says Otsuki had likely been mended he do the same. “With chemothera- received admission materials including this photo of living with the cancer for years. py alone, the doses aren’t high enough to do Otsuki (shown in the lab with James Ewing ’01, The professor began several rounds of that,” Farol says. “The transplant allows us center, and Alicia McCarthy ’02), taken in 2000. oral chemotherapy and steroids to kill the to do much more intensified chemotherapy.”

24 Occidental Magazine Otsuki was just under the cut-off age of colleagues, and his daughters, both now professor, who is on medication and is going 70 for such a procedure. But apart from the grown and living on the East Coast (he and through another round of chemotherapy as cancer, he was healthy and thus a relatively his wife divorced in 1997). But he did not a preventive measure. But overall, Otsuki is good candidate. The stem cell transplant was want to see people because he wanted to con- feeling good. He’s back to cycling to and from autologous—meaning he would grow his centrate on healing. Otsuki walked a quarter- campus, baking cookies for students and col- own healthy white cells, which would get mile each day, up and down the hospital leagues, and spends most days in Norris Hall. transplanted back into his body. Despite his halls, pushing his IV bag, to build endurance. About 70,000 people nationwide live fear of hospitals and doctors, Otsuki gave his “He is a very focused person, and he with or are in remission from multiple consent for the transplant. “Since I trusted knew what he needed to do,” Bolen says. “He myeloma. Most, like Otsuki, are men over 65. my student so much, I said, ‘Let’s do it.’” had to focus on his nutrition, his exercise, After 11 months away from the classroom, Preparation for the transplant, as well as his sleep, and his medication. And he really Dr. O will resume teaching chemistry in late the procedure itself, is straightforward, but turned around quickly after the first week.” January. “I want to start teaching again, to exhausting and trying for the patient. Otsuki The continuous outpouring of help and work in the lab. I miss my students,” he says. was injected with a drug called Neupogen good wishes from Farol, Adams, and the Oxy “I want to get back to normal.” O for 10 days to stimulate rapid production of community surprised Otsuki. “Without Len, white cells. An intravenous catheter was without Carolyn, I probably wouldn’t be here A critical need persists for bone marrow donors, inserted into his chest to collect his blood, today,” he says. “I didn’t expect the support especially those of color, between ages 18 and which was sucked through a tube into a cen- from campus. I didn’t expect this happiness.” 60. Farol urges everyone to join the National trifuge to separate and harvest the white Farol remains as busy as ever, caring for Marrow Donor Program’s Be the Match registry cells. A second tube shot the processed blood, patients and conducting stem cell trans- (www.bethematch.org). A simple cheek swab is which still contained red blood cells and plants. He regularly checks on his former all that’s needed to become a prospective donor. platelets, back into Otsuki’s bloodstream. The professor underwent this harvest- ing procedure four times. At least 2 million healthy white cells per kilogram of body weight are needed for a stem cell transplant. “I felt like I was a machine for producing white blood cells,” Otsuki jokes. By early September, Otsuki had pro- duced enough, and the transplant was sched- uled soon after. He checked into the City of Hope cancer center for a 2½-week stay. “Len got me star treatment at City of Hope,” Otsuki says with a smile. “He told everyone that I was his teacher, so they treated me very nicely.” Otsuki underwent a last blast of chemotherapy—Melphalan, a particularly nasty strain whose side effects include nau- sea and temporary baldness—to nuke any lingering cancer cells. Farol then transplant- ed the saved white blood cells back into Otsuki’s bloodstream via a flexible tube inserted into the professor’s stomach. The professor was conscious throughout the pro- cedure. Within a few days, his white-blood cell count started rising, from a low of 200 to eventually 4,000—a normal level. Farol checked on him daily and gave updates on his progress to Adams, who notified Otsuki’s “I feel accomplishment when support group. But besides him, Otsuki I see my former students received few visitors. established and successful It wasn’t for lack of trying by the Oxy in their careers,” Otsuki says. community. Otsuki received dozens of “I’m very proud of Len.” encouraging email messages from friends,

Winter 2012 25

Photos by Ruei-chi Huang The Occidental Model Can the liberal arts flourish at Taiwan’s vocation-minded National Chengchi University? Oxy professor of politics Tsung Chi— a Chengchi alumnus—gives it the old college try

By ANDY FAUGHT Illustration by JAMES STEINBERG

ROFESSOR OF POLITICS TSUNG but he’s very smart and passionate about lib- education is to weigh evidence, to tell the Chi is one tough lunch date. Just eral arts education. I think he’s already mak- differences between fact and fiction. Learning ask Spencer Jemelka ’08, who ing a huge difference. We can’t wait for him the standard of evidence is the first and fore- occasionally catches up with his to come back.” most goal. Also, we want our students to Pmentor in the cafeteria at National Chengchi More than 6,700 miles from his academic discover who they are.” University in Taipei, Taiwan, where Chi is home of the last 20 years, Chi has taken on Until he returned to his native Taiwan working to bring a liberal arts framework to the role of tireless export agent. But he’s not two years ago (the first year a sabbatical to his vocation-based alma mater. trading in everyday commodities. Instead, lay groundwork for his plan), little had “He couldn’t stay seated for more than Chi traffics in liberal arts teaching philoso- changed from the days when Chi attended three minutes because someone from the phies that traditionally have had little stand- Chengchi (Chinese for “politics”) from 1977 Chengchi faculty would have to shake his ing in Far East higher education. He’s hoping to 1981. Students pursued higher learning as hand,” says Jemelka, a diplomacy and world to change all of that—with a huge nod to avenues to careers, not as a means to explore affairs graduate and Taiwan Scholarship what he calls “the Oxy model.” the humanities—a philosophy codified over recipient while at Occidental. “It was like “This is my mission, my dream,” Chi the generations in Asia. That changed a having lunch with a celebrity.” says from Chengchi, where he is taking a decade ago in China, when Beijing University “Tsung’s like the Pied Piper,” adds two-year leave from Occidental to bring a started a small liberal arts program in addition President Jonathan Veitch, who met with new learning template to NCCU—one with to emphasizing general education courses. Chi last May while visiting Asia on Oxy a strong emphasis on a core curriculum and Since Beijing, at least five other Chinese business. “He is somebody who is deeply residential, beyond-the-classroom approach. institutions have developed their own liber- admired in Taiwan. They’re very proud of “I hope what I’m doing right now will be al arts projects, Chi says. Communications him and follow his career in the United influential and of some consequence. Like between Chinese and Taiwanese universities States. He’s soft-spoken and quite modest, Martin Luther King said, the purpose of with respect to liberal arts experiments are

Winter 2012 27 Photo courtesy Tsung Chi “very limited at this time,” he adds, with States to pursue his graduate degrees—first institutions developing their own models. at Northern Illinois University and then at Those models would likely be only nom- Michigan State. “I had no idea about the lib- inally recognizable to most Occidental alumni. eral arts,” Chi says. “Also, liberal arts are not But, like all experiments, Chi acknowledges very popular in Michigan.” Before he earned bringing change is an “inch-by-inch” process his doctorate, Chi also was offered a job at that encounters inherent hurdles: “It’s like try- the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and ing to democratize a country. It’s very diffi- Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. cult.” He nurtures Chengchi’s shallow liberal The choice was clear. “I knew immediately I arts roots with unrestrained fervor, all the wanted Occidental. Like so many of my col- while reflecting on an Occidental vision he leagues, I like teaching more than research.” calls “the best model of undergraduate edu- When Chi visited Oxy, Roger Boesche, cation in the world.” the Arthur G. Coons Distinguished Professor Chi as an undergraduate (right, holding the books) in of the History of Ideas, noted that the young front of Chengchi’s library in a 1979 photo. CHI’S LIBERAL ARTS DREAM had its begin- scholar had a way of making research meth- nings at Arcadia High School, of all places. It ods—long perceived to be dry and onerous— Some of his students even took their affinity was there in 2007 that he was invited to give into something that could be “wildly popular.” online, creating a Facebook page titled “Chi- a presentation on what it takes to be a stu- “He puts on a performance that instructs Unit: The Professor Chi Fan Club.” dent in the social sciences and how it differs and entertains,” Boesche says, acknowledg- As a student at Oxy, Jemelka applied for from the natural sciences. Chi’s son, Martin ing his colleague’s taciturn ways outside the the three-year Taiwan Scholar Scholarship (a 2009 Oxy graduate), had attended the classroom. “He doesn’t really brag about his on the recommendation of Chi. He studied school, and the Chinese Parents Association accomplishments, but as his friend and Mandarin Chinese and political science asked Chi if he would speak to students. department chair, I can brag about them. courses at Chengchi, and now works at an His talk was so well received that Chi They’re enormous. For years, he’s made outdoor education program in Taipei. was invited back the next semester, this time Occidental well known in the Chinese- “Professor Chi carries a lot of weight at to talk about the liberal arts model. “It was American community.” NCCU,” Jemelka adds. “A lot of people are Photo by Ruei-chi Huang on board with what he’s trying to do and are “Students here are really excited about it.” changing their mindsets regarding the meaning CHI’S INITIAL EFFORTS ARE MODEST: of the residential He’s targeting 120 of Chengchi’s 9,797 under- campus,” says Chi. graduate students, with hopes of adding 60 students each ensuing year. Participants are required to live on campus and, much like Oxy students, they’re enrolled in general edu- cation “core” courses that expose them to a wide breadth of ideas and perspectives. Chi is the master (the equivalent of dean) in devel- oping the university’s nascent Residential College of International Development. He acknowledges that, because of the size of Chengchi’s large student body, it would be impossible to implement a wholesale copy of the Occidental ethos. While borrowing heavily from the College’s learning philoso- phy, he’s attempting instead to replicate even better received,” he says. “I’d been “He’s very popular with the students and efforts at UC San Diego, which is also a siz- teaching at Oxy for 16 years already, and this very funny and unassuming,” says Samuel able public university. That institution has a was an important moment to reflect on my Ovenshine ’12, an economics major from renowned residential education program and experiences there with my colleagues and Pittsburgh who took a comparative politics an honors college. His goals are simple on the students. That was the beginning.” class from Chi during his sophomore year. face of it, but students who use residence Chi himself was first exposed to the “He’s a very modest man and has a sort of halls exclusively as a base to eat and sleep are liberal arts when he interviewed at Oxy. presence about him.” According to Boesche, no doubt in for a surprise. After completing compulsory military ser- Chi routinely earns some of the College’s “One of my mottos is that learning is vice in Taiwan, he traveled to the United highest ratings on student evaluation forms. 7/11—from 7 in the morning to 11 at night,”

28 Occidental Magazine Chi’s 118 students are divided into eight groups, or “learning families,” who meet with the professor for “English Chat - room” about twice a week.

Photo by Yu Cheng Liu Chi says. “It used to be that classroom still see the format as peculiarly American, So far as Chi knows, there is one single liberal instruction composed 100 percent of learning he says. And while Chengchi’s current presi- arts college in both Japan and Hong Kong, in Taiwan. But look at Oxy. We have been dent supports the changes, he will leave his and the Hong Kong Chinese University has learning in the Quad, in the dining hall, and post in 2½ years, meaning the liberal arts incorporated liberal arts tenets, while Singa - in the dorms. Students here in Taiwan are ideology will be left to the scrutiny of a new pore, in conjunction with Yale University, changing their mindsets regarding the mean- leader. More immediately, there is no obvi- will launch a liberal arts program in 2013. ing of the residential campus.” ous faculty firebrand to succeed Chi when Chi projects restrained optimism for Chi’s impact on many Chengchi students he returns to Occidental in August. For now, the future of liberal arts at Chengchi and has been immediate. Hung Chun Wang, a Chi’s team consists of himself, two recently points to one factor that could bode well for second-year student at Chengchi, says he hired Ph.Ds, one doctoral candidate as the his efforts. Of the university’s 732 faculty was disappointed by his initial collegiate executive secretary, and two part-time staff members, 561 of them received degrees experience (“It just seemed like a bigger ver- members (one doctoral student and one from overseas—many from U.S. institutions. sion of my high school”), until he attended master’s student). “Even though they didn’t have firsthand one of the 20 informational meetings Chi One prominent supporter is Taiwanese experience with the liberal arts, many of hosted to explain his plan. “He kept talking President Ma Ying-jeou, who met with Chi them have heard about it,” he says. about his dream, and his enthusiasm made and Veitch during the Oxy leader’s visit. “This is a long journey,” Chi adds. his eyes sparkle. I was moved by his ideas and “President Ma is making a big push for “They’re beginning very cautiously, very pru- passion,“ Wang says. “Dr. Chi spends more reform in higher education,” Veitch says. dently. They want to do things incrementally. time discussing the essence of life and edu- “There’s a perception that they’ve got the The professional education has been going cation rather than simply diving into the act medical schools and engineering down. on so long. It’s deeply rooted in the minds of imparting knowledge to his students.” What they look to the United States for is and hearts of Taiwanese university presidents Chi says none of his students have had innovation and invention, and they attribute and professionals. It’s a very different mind- anything negative to say about the format, that to a liberal arts education.” set. They don’t think they can transplant which requires them to take part in “English Another backer, RCID executive secre- something so foreign, so American, back to Chatroom” (in which they present, discuss, tary Ming Chi Wu, has seen firsthand the Taiwan. I think they need time to digest and sometimes debate current affairs in the nimbleness of Chi’s leadership and vision. what is happening right now.” world in English) and attend salons and “When we encounter institutional chal- If all goes as planned, Chi will return for speaker series, among other requirements. A lenges—like regulatory rules and social Chengchi’s centennial in 2027. He will be an recent discussion focused on the impact of norms—Tsung has adapted innovations to older and wiser man of 68, and perhaps an global warming on the tiny South Pacific meet the requirements of the institution even tougher lunch date. The liberal arts, he nation of Tuvalu. Students also must enroll while keeping the novelty and value of the observes, are already seeping into those same in Chi’s “Globalization and Taiwan” course, innovations. He’s great to work with, and he hearts and minds. “It’s kind of irreversible,” which considers global issues from a Tai- inspires me with his confidence.” he says. “I hope.” O wanese perspective. Chi isn’t alone in his aspirations. Since Freelance writer Andy Faught lives in Chi’s efforts at Chengchi are no guarantee 2008, about 15 Taiwanese universities have Fresno. He wrote “Today the World, Tomorrow of success. A large number of faculty members developed various aspects of the liberal arts. Occidental” in the Fall 2011 issue.

Winter 2012 29 APPRECIATION

“As an interpreter from French and Russian into English, he was supreme,” a U.N. colleague wrote of Sherry in 1985—so much so that Soviet politician Second Andrei Vishinsky, “on more than one occasion, refused to speak when George was not there to interpret.” words—of the sentences,” U.N. colleague Act Nicholas Spoove told Mehta. “For instance, if [Soviet ambassador Valerian] Zorin says, Following a 38-year career ‘In the Congo, mercenaries are a hideous manifestation of the age-old, eternal iron heel with the United Nations, of imperialism,’ Sherry is likely to jot down George Sherry became the ‘hideous’ and ‘mercenary.’ But I am really as mystified as you are.’” primary liaison between Sherry’s deep-seeded roots in the United Oxy students and the world Nations doubtless opened doors to Oxy Photo courtesy Occidental College Special Collections where few other undergraduate programs have gone. “Occidental interns not only study EORGE L. SHERRY WAS NEVER Sherry—who died Oc t. 21, 2011, in the daunting complexities of peacekeeping at a loss for words. Words were his Manhattan after a long illness—professed operations—they learn about them literally Gcurrency, after all, and the Poland his gratitude for the honor in his remarks, at the feet of the men and women who may native— a graduate of the City College of then proceeded to “confess that for a brief have been under fire in Rwanda or Angola or New York and fluent in five languages— moment—very brief, but a real moment Congo a few weeks earlier,” Sherry said in joined the United Nations as an editor and nonetheless—I had the feeling that this must 2005. “The same applies to the internship interpreter soon after its founding in 1947. all be the result of a misunderstanding. After supervisors who so often and generously turn In 1960, he was assigned to the U.N. head - all, the core credit for the success of the their offices into high-level tutorials whose quarters staff directing U.N. operations in Occidental-at-the-U.N. program belongs not intellectual quality will yield to no one.” the Congo. The following year, Secretary- to any one person or group of persons. It Concurrent to his Occidental duties, in General Dag Hammarskjöld had him trans - belongs, first and foremost, to the United 1993 Sherry became a consultant at what is ferred to the Office of the Secretary-General, Nations, which has provided the substance now the International Peace Institute. He where for 24 years he was involved with and the source of inspiration for what the also continued to carry out the occasional developing the organization’s peacekeeping Oxy-U.N. program has set out to accomplish assignment for the U.N. Secretary-General, functions and with managing and settling over the last 20 years, even while maintaining notably in July 1993 as head of a technical international disputes in Africa, Asia, Europe, the highest standards of critical objectivity. team assigned to survey peacekeeping in and the Middle East. “And in practical terms,” he continued, Georgia and in December 1993 as envoy to By any measure, his was a full career. “credit belongs to this wonderful academic Russia to follow the electoral process there. Then, in 1985, Sherry came to Occidental as institution, Occidental College, which has With the Oxy-U.N. program having just Stuart Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and so generously provided the vision and the completed its 26th year (the 10th under World Affairs. He established the College’s resources without which our innovative John Hirsch, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. program in 1986 and served as its melding of scholarly and international republic of Sierra Leone), Sherry’s legacy to director for 16 years, enabling some 300 Oxy engagement could scarcely have been so Occidental is secure. Looking to the future students to enhance their understanding of seamlessly translated into reality.” in 2005, Sherry said, “the U.N. must under - global affairs through internships in the U.N. Sherry’s skills as a rapid-fire interpreter go the most sweeping overhaul of its 60-year Secretariat and member state missions as —“his colleagues regarded him as one of the history, recapture the spirit of San Francisco, well as in his own courses on such topics two or three truly superlative interpreters in and forge a new world compact to advance as politics and peacekeeping, U.S. foreign memory,” writer Ved Mehta observed in a the cause of larger freedom. I have no doubt policy, and Middle East diplomacy. At the 1962 profile of Sherry for The New Yorker — that in the months and years ahead the 20th-anniversary celebration of the College’s made him a hot commodity from the instant Occidental faculty and students will contin - U.N. program on Oct. 19, 2005, Occidental he joined the U.N. Interpretation Section in ue to build on this indispensable agenda.” awarded Sherry an honorary doctorate in 1947. “When a speech is being made, Sherry Sherry is survived by his wife, Doris, recognition of his achievements. jots down the key words—the operative and a daughter, Vivien Sherry Greenberg. O

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