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CLASS NOTES
Jim Shaw My interviewees this issue are all doing double-duty (not counting as husbands and fathers). Mark Davies is executive director of the New York City Conflict of Interests Board. The Board enforces the City's ethics law for all city officials and employees (300,000 of them), with the purpose of improving integrity in City government by preventing ethical violations from occurring. But he is also an adjunct professor of law at Fordham, teaching New York civil procedure and so forth. He and Linda will celebrate their 25th anniversary in May 2001, and have three kids, two already in college. Jeff Fowley is an assistant regional counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency, dealing with "resource conservation and recovery," which Jeff tells me I can more directly think of as dealing with hazardous waste. He, too, is an adjunct professor, having taught environmental law at Northeastern Law School and dealing with legal regulations to engineering students at the Tufts graduate school of civil and environmental engineering. He and wife, Leslie Claycomb, have a daughter, Katherine, a high school sophomore. Steve Zimmerman is managing director of Standard and Poor's San Francisco office, it's office for the Western United States. As of this writing his office was dealing with rating the bonds that California would be issuing to solve the state's energy crisis. The bonds are necessary to raise the capital to pay for electricity, as the state's largest electricity providers are essentially bankrupt. He and his wife, Sue, have two kids. And baritone Steve will be singing in the chorus of the San Francisco Opera's October 2001 production of Wagner's Meistersingers and the lead in the San Francisco Lyric Opera's summer 2001 production of Verdi's La Traviata. Ethically speaking, my own singing could only be described as hazardous waste. This is the last issue before reunion, May 31-June 3. If you are planning to come, great, see you there. If you haven't yet given it serious consideration, please do.
Paul S. Appelbaum I write having just returned from a trip to Tucson, where we took the opportunity to visit Columbia's Biosphere 2, about 20 minutes north of the city. Once a futuristic site for the development of technology to enable the creation of colonies in outer space, the Biosphere is now a unique laboratory for the exploration of the effects of climate change on life here on earth. The tour took us past Columbia flags flapping in the breeze and the nostalgia-inducing Lion's Den snack bar and into the structure, which is the largest greenhouse on earth capable of being completely closed off from the surrounding environment. This was a fascinating opportunity to reflect on the complexity of our ecosystem, and the damage we humans can cause by mucking around with it. If you find yourself in the area, it is definitely worth an afternoon. Now on to the news. Rafael Pastor co-founded Sonenshine Pastor & Co. in 1999. The NYC-based group engages in private equity investing and providing advice on strategy, mergers and acquisitions to companies in media, communications and related technology fields. George W. may have gone to some other Ivy League school, but we have no shortage of presidents of our own. Last July, Michael J. Shereff became the president of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. In his day job, he is clinical professor in the department of orthopaedic surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina. Michael received his M.D. from the University of Health Sciences, Chicago Medical School. Doug Weiner was just elected president of the American Society for Environmental History. And on a similar note, I am pleased to say that I am president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association. Having previously served the 38,000-member APA as secretary and vice-president, I am delighted to have this opportunity to work on behalf of our patients and our profession. Finally, let me encourage those of you who haven't been interviewing applicants for Columbia to join those of us who have. If our region is typical - and I suspect it is - with applications continuing to soar, the need for interviewers is intense. It's a fun way to stay in touch with Columbia and the younger generation. You can volunteer for next year's Alumni Representative Committee by going to: www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/arc/.
Barry Etra
Fred Bremer "I give up and I think it's time for the rest of the class to come out of hiding. The statute of limitations has expired." So began the e-mail from Michael Fixel. Coming clean, Michael tells of traveling through Europe and Asia after graduation, then spending a couple of years in India before winding up in Boulder, Colo., doing carpentry and studying poetry with Allen Ginsberg '48, among others. He is now an "environmentally conscious designer-builder and developer" in Jacksonville, Fla.-and still finds time to write poetry. Married to Ava for 17 years and with two "great daughters" (Leia and Juliet), he wants "ex-Weathermen and sympathizers to contact me at mklfxl@aol.com." Another e-mail arrived in response to something in my last column. Bob Kraft wrote: "I saw the note about Ed Kornreich's daughter being admitted early decision, and I wondered why I hadn't written when my son, Michael, was admitted early." He then told more of his life since graduation: He went to Yale Medical School and now has his own plastic surgery practice in Forest Hills, Queens. This year is a triple-header for Bob and his wife, Ruth. They will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, Michael's high school graduation, and the Bar Mitzvah of their younger son, David. Congratulations to all! And congratulations to our two classmates featured in the "Bookshelf" column in the last CCT. I was proud to note that their two books were a full quarter of the eight featured books written by alumni of the last 30 years! In case you missed it, they were The Irish Play on New York Stage: 1874 -1966 by John Harrington and The Heroes of Kasht: An Armenian Epic edited and translated by James Russell. In a virtual remake of Northern Exposure, Queens-born doctor Steve Blumenthal moved his pediatrics practice from New York to Portland, Maine a few years back. Now we learn that he has taken the grand adventure one step further. In March, Steve, his wife, Holly, and their four children went off for three weeks to Zimbabwe. With two dozen others from Portland, the group's goal was to build a medical clinic. More details to follow. It is with great sadness that I report the death of Elliott Beale. For years, Elliott had been involved in the family real estate management business in Milton, Mass. Elliott had been an active alumnus and a good friend to many in the class. Elliott-you will be sorely missed. I am putting together an e-mail directory of classmates. To have your name and e-mail address listed, you must send me a new e-mail, at the e-mail address above, requesting that your name be added to the list. If you have the e-mail addresses of other classmates, send them along. I will contact them for permission to include them on the list. After a suitable time, I will e-mail out the list to those who have contributed. You have to give to get!
Randy Nichols Joe Cervone has been trying for the longest time to track down a buddy, Manuel Sanchez. Joe thinks that Manuel joined the Marine Corps straight out of college, maybe in an ROTC program. If anyone knows Manuel's whereabouts, please send them to Joe at Joec1953@aol.com. Awhile back, I received an interesting e-mail from Lola11987l. The subject line said, "Answer to 'Is Alan Fixelle still in Queens County,'" and the message simply said "No, he is in DeKalb County, Georgia. I know cause he's my dad." I've written to Lola asking for more information on her and her dad. Bert Mrozik had lunch with Andy Sustiel in the Ironbound section of Newark, N.J. Andy lives in Short Hills with his wife and children and practices on East 56th Street. Bert also has heard from Henry Winters, who is a tax attorney for Ford outside Detroit. I owe a public apology to Regina Schneider, wife of Bob Schneider. In the December 2000 Notes, I wrote that Bob and his wife, Rebecca, had settled son, James, in at Penn in nearby Philadelphia. Bob and Regina were their gracious selves and sent me a humorous e-mail about the jokes of bigamy the column caused. Sorry, Regina! James is still at Penn, and the whole family (dad Bob, mom Regina, brother John, and sister Meg) were down to visit James recently. Schneiders, please call for dinner when you are next in the area! I owe you! Brad Tupi has been an elected township commissioner in Upper St. Clair since 1997, but recently declared that he will not be a candidate for reelection. He says it is time to focus on his law practice (environmental law, construction litigation and general litigation) and put two kids through college. Nick is 16 and Steph is 14. Brad has been in pretty regular contact with classmate Derf Vondy. Derf and Brad were neighbors on 10 Carman way back in '71-'72. After a career in journalism, Derf went to law school and now practices with his wife, Kay Adrian, as Adrian & Vondy, in Winchester, Va. Brad also writes that another two classmates, Andy Aranda and George Guttlein, are lawyers practicing together in New York City. George once thought his John Jay dorm room would be irresistible to women if he painted the walls dark blue, the ceiling black, and installed a black light. Brad encourages us to call him to hear exaggerated tales of his prowess! Bob Wazevich is settled in Cleveland where he is a senior sales trader for the investment firm of McDonald and Co. He and wife, Marikate Collins Wazevich, have four children: Kathleen, 6, Robert and Alexander, 3, and Margaret, 21 months. Bob writes, "Life is hectic, but rewarding." I sure know what Bob means. My current project involves developing the software and communication tools to connect a number of separate, stand-alone computer systems to form a 'seamless interface' for connected learning. It is certainly a challenge! Trying to coordinate the activities of the separate companies, with different cultures and processes, also has been fun. I got away for a week to travel to Miami and the Florida Keys, and things did not completely fall apart in my absence. Now, I just have to see how long I can make that vacation glow last. Until next time, keep the cards, letters and e-mails coming!
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