WINTER 2017 | VOLUME 93 | ISSUE 1 News for Alumni & Friends of the University of Redlands L.A. STORY Redlands in the Entertainment Industry OCH TAMALE MAGAZINE VOL. 93, ISSUE 1 WINTER 2017 WILLIAM VASTA President Cover Story Ralph W. Kuncl CONTENTS Chief Communications Officer Wendy Shattuck Editor 16 Mika Elizabeth Ono Interim Managing Editors L.A. story: Redlands in the Jennifer Alvarado Laurie McLaughlin entertainment industry Vice President, Advancement by Mika Elizabeth Ono and Catherine Garcia ’06 Anita West Los Angeles’s world-famous entertainment industry sits just Associate Vice President, Development over 60 miles from the Redlands campus—close and yet a Ray Watts world apart. Director, Alumni and Community Relations Shelli Stockton Interim Director of Advancement Communications Laura Gallardo ’03 Class Notes Editor Michele Nielsen ’99 About the cover: The many U of R alumni in the entertainment industry include (left to right) screenwriter Michael Ajakwe ’87, actor Eric Pierpoint (shown as the Klingon Kortar on Star Trek: Voyager), costume designer Tanya Apuya ’08 and graphic designer Director, Creative Services Haley Keim ’10 (photos by James McEntee, Eric Pierpoint (commission) and William Vasta). Above, Scott Palmason ’04 works as Jennifer Alvarado an actor, singer and improv aficionado. Graphic Designer Juan Garcia Contributors Thomas Bozman ’06 Michelle Dang ’14 Jennifer M. Dobbs ’17 Catherine Garcia ’06 Alex Grummer ’09 Taylor Matousek ’18 James McEntee Coco McKown ’04, ’10 32 Carlos Puma Rachel Roche ’96, ’02 Stephanie Schoppe ’16, ’18 ’A guy with a dream’ William Vasta WILLIAM VASTA by Catherine Garcia ’06 Kathy Talbert Weller ’71 Carl Schroeder ’91, executive chef and proprietor Och Tamale is published by the of Market Restaurant + Bar in Del Mar, Calif. University of Redlands. always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Och Tamale University of Redlands PO Box 3080 34 Redlands, CA 92373-0999 Copyright 2017 ’98 PURCELL SHANNON At the bottom of Phone: 909-748-8070 Email: [email protected] the world Web: OchTamaleMagazine.net by Michele Nielsen ’99 Shannon Purcell’s job takes her to FSC PAPER NOTE the sub-zero climate of Antarctica. One of the powers of New editor joins Och Tamale team “ Mika Elizabeth Ono has joined the University of Redlands as editor of Och Tamale and editorial director theatre is to help us realize WILLIAM VASTA in University Communications. Ono has a broad background in writing, editing and communications, what it is to be human. including most recently at The Scripps ” Research Institute, a La Jolla, Calif. based biomedical research institute with a top-10 graduate program Professor of Theatre Arts Chris Beach in the sciences. Her freelance projects have ranged from writing book reviews for Essence Magazine to co-authoring an award-winning cookbook, Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing and Long Life 16 (DaCapo Press). “I am thrilled to join the University of Redlands and the Och Tamale team,” says Ono. “Every day that I come to work on the gorgeous Redlands campus and meet new people in DEPARTMENTS this vibrant and welcoming community, I can’t believe how lucky I am. 2 “In this magazine, I want to help bring you stories that View from 305 move, inform and inspire you as we explore the wide world of Bulldogs together. Please send me your thoughts— 3 On Campus I welcome comments and suggestions!” 9 Faculty Files WILLIAM VASTA Mika Elizabeth Ono can be reached at [email protected]. 14 Redlands in the Media 12 Letters to the editor 30 Bulldog Athletics Thanks for including the pictures of John Cole ’49, ’51 and Mary Cole ’53 in the fall 2016 Och Tamale. For some reason, 36 Alumni News Mary and I were in a home economics class, I think. I was a music major, so we didn't have much to do with each other; but, there are two things I remember about [John and Mary]: 36 Class Notes First, Mary was making a red and white shirt for John, and she COCO MCKOWN ’04, ’10 was changing the color of thread as the color of the material 39 History mystery changed. Wow! … I think of concentration and/or intention. Maybe “true love.” The endurance of their marriage would indicate the latter. Second, John had a superior mind and a 49 Commitments marvelous speaking voice, and he made a campaign speech Engagements to the student body one morning. I believe he won based on 30 the ideas he expressed and the way he voiced them. Thanks Marriages for all you do keeping up with us OLD people. Warm regards, 49 Baby Bulldogs Sylvia Schutz DeVoss ’51 50 Class Notes Reporters Dear Editors/Writers: Have I changed, or have you? I found the spring 2016 issue 50 to be fascinating on EVERY page! I’ve usually gone to my In Memoriam WILLIAM VASTA class page, ’62, and often not read much else, or just one article here and there. This time, I could hardly put the 52 On Schedule magazine down! Each article was so well and interestingly written. The photos are just so engaging! Love the cover 53 and the story of Team Jasmine. I finally felt that I have a “feel 53 Redlands Dreamer for” my dear old U of R rather than some highly academic bragging, which is how I casually characterize how I used to feel about Och Tamale. I say to whoever is in charge, keep it up and thank you!!! Och Tamale gazolly gazump The “Och Tamale” cheer Betty Carol Smith ’62 Dayump dayadee yahoo Originally called the Psalm of Collegiate Thanksgiving, the "Och Tamale" cheer was written by cheerleader Ink damink dayadee gazink C. Merle Waterman ’20 and classmates Walter J. Dayump, deray, yahoo Send your comments and address changes Richards ’21 and Jack Slutsk ’22. The “Och Tamale” Wing wang trickey trackey poo foo to Och Tamale, University of Redlands, 1200 is recited when the Bulldogs score a touchdown, E. Colton Ave., P.O. Box 3080, Redlands, CA Joozy woozy skizzle wazzle at pep rallies, Homecoming, alumni events or as a 92373-0999, or email [email protected]. greeting to fellow alumni. Wang tang orkey porkey dominorky Redlands! — Rah, Rah, Redlands! Winter 2017 | 1 VIEW FROM 305: THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE A vision beyond fame job was to give violin lessons to 14-year-old orphans. But, thanks to that position, he went on to write 550 concertos, including The Four Seasons. Did he seek merely creative fulfillment, or fame? He achieved both by pursuing only the former. In the cover story of this issue, I am heartened to read about many University of Redlands alumni working in film, television, stage, the concert hall, and emerging media telling of their journeys in pursuit of creative meaning, not fame. Mike Ajakwe Jr. ’87, for one, has followed a love of screenwriting, which he first discovered at Redlands, through twists and turns involving a night job and the birth of a new creative medium—the internet. Echoing some of my sentiments about Hollywood, he advises COCO MCKOWN ’04, ’10 aspiring writers to be in the business for the “right reasons.” As a believer in the power of both liberal arts and professional education, I am not surprised that the University has also played a role in advancing the careers of those on the business side of the industry. Shavonne Wieder ’10 built hen I moved back to the West Coast in Also contrary to newspaper impressions, on her MBA from the Burbank campus, and W 2012, I was initially taken aback by the the entertainment industry can be about much Julie Gladders Henderson ’92 on her Johnston amount of attention the media devoted to the more than the quest for fame. It can represent undergraduate education, to thrive within this entertainment “business.” Serious issues of the opportunity to engage in creative pursuits dynamic sector, which encompasses not only national politics, world news, and social trends and strive for mastery of a chosen artistic marketing and public relations but also legal, received comparatively short shrift next to what discipline. It can be a platform to amplify technical, accounting, and many other types of careers. I perceived as the superficial glitz and gossip one’s voice. The supportive nature of the University of Hollywood. Fame is ephemeral. I have had my own of Redlands community also shines through Yet I came to realize that “Hollywood” is fleeting moments of seeming fame. In my office, I have a picture of myself receiving a check for in these stories. We hear about life-changing complex, important, and not confined to mentoring by music, English, and theatre $1.3 million from Cal Ripken Jr. on the pitcher’s that city an hour west of Redlands. It is a vast faculty. We see enduring friendship and support mound at Oriole Park at Camden Yards the industry that has a serious and much broader among peers, like designers Haley Keim ’10 and night he broke “Iron Man” Lou Gehrig’s record reach and impact than I, or indeed many of Tanya Apuya ’08. And we learn how alumni, for most consecutive games played. The check us, can easily see. Its reach is far beyond the including actor-author Eric Pierpoint ’73 and was for my research lab after our discovery consumer’s experiential perspective of cinema actor-singer-comedian Scott Palmason ’04, related to Lou Gehrig’s disease. You can pick and television. According to the 2015 Otis return to the University to share their talents out Joe DiMaggio and Frank Robinson … and, Report on the Creative Economy, the California and experience with the next generation of in the back, there’s Ralph.