Winter 2015–16 Columbia College CCTToday Contents Within the Family features Reinvigorating CCT KELLY CHAN BC’17 olumbia College Today is changing. The CCT staff has And survey results confirm that CCT is connecting with the vast spent much time during the past two years examining majority of you. In two surveys conducted during the past three years, every aspect of the magazine, from content to design to the majority of respondents indicated CCT was their primary source C distribution, trying to ensure that the publication we cre- for news and information about Columbia College. Nearly all said 14 ate for you, our readers, is fresher, more inviting, more contemporary they read all four issues each year, and 60 percent said they spent 30 and more engaging. The new CCT remains a work in progress, but minutes or more with each issue. Class Notes was rated the most com- with this issue we are proud to unveil a new look that you can see pelling section by the most respondents, with articles about alumni The Joy of Looking on every page, from the CCT nameplate on our cover, to new page achievements, student life, history/traditions and the Core Curricu- designs and graphic treatments, to a cleaner look for Class Notes. lum also getting high marks. When asked about print versus online Professor Robert E. Harrist Jr. GSAS’81 This redesign is CCT’s first in nearly two decades. There have been distribution, 90 percent of respondents in our most recent survey said changes and tweaks along the way, to be sure, but never an overhaul. they wanted to receive a print edition of CCT — a number made all delights in the study of art in all its forms. To borrow from The New York Times when it unveiled its redesigned the more remarkable by its coming in response to an electronic survey. magazine, “We have used the hammer and the tongs but perhaps not With that mandate, we set about the work of renewing and rein- By Shira Boss ’93, JRN’97, SIPA’98 the blowtorch; we sought to manufacture a magazine that would be vigorating CCT. In recent issues, you may have noticed increased cover- unusual, surprising and original but not wholly unfamiliar. It would age of students, faculty and academics (especially the Core), and more be a clear descendant of its line.” We are proud of what CCT has done graphic, eye-catching story treatments. That was dipping our toes in the so well through the years in connecting our readers to one another water; with this issue we dive all the way in, with significant changes and to the College, and we wanted to retain the best of the past, throughout the magazine in the design, organization and presentation supplement it with the product of new thinking and new ideas, and of features, news items, columns and departments. We’ve also added present it all in a way that would appeal to readers of all ages. new elements, such as “Heard on Campus,” which chronicles just a few Take our new nameplate, for example. We’re still Columbia College of the amazing speakers who come to campus each quarter, and “Did 20 Today, but we on the staff have always called the magazine by its You Know?,” which highlights a fun and interesting Columbia fact. initials and we want you to feel as friendly with it and as close to it as Recently, we made the difficult decision to change designers, Making Her Mark we do. We were wowed when we saw the acronym approach, and we believing that fresh eyes and a new perspective were needed to help hope you will react the same way. us achieve what we seek. All of us on the CCT team thank and To lay the groundwork for this redesign, we conducted readership acknowledge the hard work and creative efforts of our previous art NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito ’91 surveys to ascertain what you like about the publication and where director, Linda Gates, of Gates Sisters Studio, who has been a part advocates for the underserved. you would like to see improvement, in content as well as in presenta- of the CCT family for more than two decades and done yeoman tion. On a parallel track, we conducted an intensive study of other work throughout that time. Linda and her sisters Kathleen Gates By Jonathan Lemire ’01 alumni magazines, not only from Ivy League schools but also from and Susan Gates became more than trusted colleagues through the colleges and universities throughout the country. We looked beyond years; they were valued friends. academia, too, to publications of other nonprofits such as museums Joining the CCT family as art director is Eson Chan. Eson is an and foundations, and to commercial magazines that have survived, award-winning designer who worked for 10 years with Columbia and in many cases, have thrived in recent years. All of this was done to magazine; his other credits include the alumni magazines of Brandeis help inform rather than dictate our thinking about what we wanted and Northeastern as well as Columbia Medicine and Columbia Nurs- CCT to be, not just in print but also online (an updated CCT website ing. In the last few months Eson has become an integral member 24 will be coming in 2016). And of course we also took a critical look at of our team, participating in our weekly planning meetings, offer- our own magazine, its strengths and weaknesses, what areas we felt ing suggestions and bringing a different perspective to what we do. were working well and where improvement was needed. Eson’s ideas can be seen throughout this issue, with more to come. Dual Identity To be clear, we’re talking about more than packaging. We looked We hope you are as excited as we are with the launch of this new at every element of our magazine with a discerning eye, asking not chapter in CCT’s life. Let us know what you think: [email protected]. Michael Oren ’77, SIPA’78 bridges only how best we could present something but also whether it was still worth presenting or whether the space could be put to better use. the American-Israeli divide. Simply put, are we giving you what you want to read? Publishing a first-class magazine is an expensive and time-consuming effort, but By Eugene L. Meyer ’64 it is worth it when we connect with you, our readers, and when we Alex Sachare ’71 connect you with fellow alumni and with the College. Editor in Chief Cover: Illustration by Peter Strain Contents Letters to the Editor departments alumninews President Hamilton? 34 Message from CCAA President Being both a College grad and a resident of Hamilton County, Ohio, I am Douglas R. Wolf ’88 interested in Alexander Hamilton (Class of 1778). I found an error in the CC Pride was on full display at Homecoming. Fall 2015 “Alumni Corner” by Bob Orkand ’58. He states that, due to his 30 birth in the West Indies, Hamilton was ineligible to be President. That is not 35 Alumni in the News really true. Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution states: “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at 36 Lions the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office Lea Goldman ’98, Dick Wagner ’54, of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall Judah Cohen ’85 not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.” 40 Bookshelf Hamilton truly was a citizen at the time of the adoption of the Constitu- Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for tion, so he would have been eligible (even had he not supplied his long-form Broadway by Michael Riedel ’89 State of Hawaii birth certificate). As an aside, several, including this article’s author, think that instead of 42 Class Notes replacing Hamilton on the $10 bill we should replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. As a College grad I have an affection for Hamilton but I am also 77 Obituaries a graduate of Andrew Jackson H.S., so I shall remain neutral. FRANCIS CATANIA Barry Austern ’63 80 Core Quiz Cincinnati How much do you know about the Core and its history? In his brief essay on Alexander Ham- from Herb Sloan, professor emeritus at Barnard, ilton (Class of 1778) and the $10 bill whose teaching interests are history of the Colo- (“Alumni Corner,” Fall 2015), Bob Ork- nial and Revolutionary periods, and the history 3 Letters to the Editor CCT and ’58 repeats a common error regard- of American law, including the Constitution: CCT Web Extras ing Hamilton and his eligibility to run for “Hamilton was definitely eligible to serve as 5 Message from Dean James J. Valentini President. Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 President under the ‘citizen at the time of the Drawing up a blueprint for Columbia • Homecoming photo album of the U.S. Constitution clearly says: “No adoption of the Constitution’ rule. (You might Person except a natural born Citizen, or a note that all of the presidents before Van Buren College’s future. • Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner photo album Citizen of the United States, at the time were born British subjects and were not natu- • Award-winning articles by Lea Goldman ’98 of the Adoption of this Constitution” is ral-born citizens.) I cannot tell you precisely how 6 Around the Quads eligible for the presidency.