|
| |
Jack Merritt ’39 Compiles Booklet in
Memory of Fuzz Merritt ’25 |
| |
August 1, 2008
Jack Merritt ’39 literally grew up on the Pomona College campus. The son of
legendary Pomona College athlete and football coach Earl “Fuzz” Merritt ’25,
Jack followed in his father’s footsteps in not only attending college at Pomona,
but also by excelling both athletically and academically.
As an athlete, Jack played basketball, captained the football team and was an
all-conference athlete. He was inducted into the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame
in 1959 (one year after his father). Academically, Jack majored in Physics,
graduated Phi Beta Kappa and earned his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. He went on to
teach Physics at Claremont McKenna College for 19 years.
A number of years ago, at the suggestion of family and friends, Jack began
collecting stories about his dad, for whom the football field at Pomona College
is named. He
 heard
from dozens of former players, coaches, family and friends, and with the
assistance of the alumni office, he finished compiling a booklet of these
stories this summer.
Jack has been thrilled that so many people had so many wonderful memories of his
father, and compiling these stories has been a very rewarding project for him
and a wonderful tribute to his dad. These stories can now be read
online, and if you have a story about
Fuzz you would like to contribute, contact Jack via
e-mail.
···························································································································
|
| |
Former Geology Professor John Shelton ‘35’s Photographs Exhibited in San Diego
|
| |
The San Diego Natural History Museum exhibit Aerial Portraits of the American West: Photographs by John Shelton is on view through November 2. Shelton
'35, a La Jolla geologist, photographer and former Pomona College geology professor (1946-1960) passed away on July 24, 2008, at his home.
|
|
John Shelton's "San Andreas Fault, California" |
|
 |
|
|
The 33 aerial photographs in the exhibit offer Shelton’s unique perspective of geologic formations and processes from Alaska to Baja California. The photographs were taken by Shelton over the course of several decades—from the 1940s through the ‘70s. The collection was shot with a military aerial reconnaissance camera, showing immense detail that would be almost impossible to capture today due to pollution’s effects on air clarity.
“I didn't discover geology until my junior year," Shelton said in a recent interview with the
La Jolla Light. As it was too late to change majors, he graduated with a dual degree in math and music. He then went on to Yale for graduate studies in geology and called himself a “student of the earth.” Shelton was a teacher, a pilot and worked for the U.S. Geological Survey.
He began taking photos as a way to demonstrate geology to his
students. From the 1930s through the 1990s, Shelton photographed
evidence of continental drift, plate tectonics and other
principles all over the globe. One
famous photo shows an orange grove that straddled the San
Andreas Fault; its perfectly aligned rows of trees were offset
during an earthquake.
Shelton, considered a key figure in geology, authored Geology Illustrated, which was later named one of the most important 100 books of the last 100 years by
Scientific American. In 1993, Shelton received the American Geological Institute Legendary Geologist Award for “Outstanding Contribution to Public Understanding of Geology.”
For further information regarding the exhibition, visit the San Diego Natural History Museum web site at
www.sdnhm.org or call (619) 232-3821.
···························································································································
|
| |
Hillary Park ’92 in the Running for National Teaching Award |
| |
July 23, 2008
This month Hillary Park ’92, a Spanish teacher at Grossmont High School in El Cajon, California, won the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Teacher Award for the San Diego area, making her one of 12 finalists for the institute’s prestigious National Teacher Award that will be presented at a ceremony in Washington D.C. on October 9. Hers is among a series of awards given annually by the HHF, a national organization dedicated to identifying leaders in the Latino community. Past HHF honorees include baseball player Sammy Sosa and singer Gloria Estefan.
 After graduating from Grossmont High in 1988, Park packed her bags for Pomona, where she was an English literature major and three-sport athlete. “I was definitely challenged in every aspect,” Park says, “with classes, discussions with peers, and expectations from professors and coaches,” Her coursework with Spanish Professor Maria Donapetry and her abroad experience in Sevilla, Spain, further solidified her desire to pursue a Spanish-related profession. After college, she returned to Grossmont, where she has taught Spanish for 14 years.
Park has been praised for her innovative teaching methods, including Spanish-immersion trips to Costa Rica and weekly “charlas” (based on the Oldenborg language tables at Pomona) in which students have lunch with native speakers. “My approach is to engage students in the learning process and require them to be active learners,” Park says. She was nominated for the HHF award by one of her students, Diana Crafts-Pelayo, who won a college scholarship through the Hispanic Heritage Foundation.
Former Grossmont student Tyler Barbour ’09 seconds the endorsement: “Because of Hillary and her A.P Spanish language course, I decided to be an international relations major at Pomona and study abroad,” he says. “She has a passion for Spanish that is contagious.”
For Park, the thrill in teaching stems from seeing progress in her students’ abilities and confidence levels. “I love when they finally begin to speak and construct conversations,” she says. “I try to lead them without showing them the exact path. I want them to make their own discoveries.”
For more information on the HHF and its awards, visit
www.hispanicheritage.org.--Adam Conner-Simons ‘08
···························································································································
|
| |
Philip Armour ’06 to Present “Sideways Effect” Paper at Wine Economics Conference |
| |
July 18, 2008
Philip Armour ’06 is no slouch. A triple-major in economics, mathematics and English literature while at Pomona, he spent the past year working for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and in the coming years will be keeping himself busy with a masters at the London School of Economics and then Harvard Law School. Such impressive accomplishments could make it easy to overlook his intriguing recent project: This August, he will be co-presenting a paper at the second annual American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE) conference in Portland, Oregon.
 The event features economists from all over the country speaking on such enticing topics as eco-friendly “biodynamic wines” and the relationship between price and quality (“Do more expensive wines taste better?”). Armour and his Fed colleague Mark Doms will be presenting their paper examining the evidence behind the supposed “Sideways Effect,” which claims that since the release of the Pinot-glorifying, Merlot-trashing 2004 indie film (co-written by Jim Taylor ’84), Pinot has soared in popularity while Merlot has crashed and burned. Armour confirms the movie’s effect on Pinot Noir but casts doubt on its connection to Merlot. “That downward trend was actually a long time coming,” he says.
For Armour, his passions for wine and economics developed from a very early age. “My mother and father are both passionate about wine,” he says, “so my childhood was filled with tiny pours of great Bordeaux and Burgundies.” Although he had dabbled in studying wine economics at Pomona, he says he never anticipated being able to do such research while working for the Fed this year.
He soon found that fellow economist Doms shared with him a “curiosity about the driving forces in wine marketing and production,” and before long the two delved into some studies and uncovered publishable results. One abstract and introduction later, the pair’s submission was accepted by the AAWE and they were headed for P-town.
Armour is looking forward to the Portland conference both for getting feedback about his work and getting the opportunity to learn more about the field. “Research in wine economics is fascinating and in such a nascent stage that there's a lot of potential for change in the near future,” Armour says. “It's an exciting time to be entering the debate.”--Adam
Conner-Simons '08
···························································································································
|
| |
Darin Leong ’99 Builds His Slack-Key Musical Reputation in Hawaii |
| |
July 18, 2008
A Hawaii native raised on the slack-key strumming and falsetto hum of Hawaii’s music icons, Leong was nominated last month for two Na Hoku Hanohano Awards—Hawaii’s answer to the Grammy’s—placing him alongside some of that genre’s biggest names. “It’s really come full circle,” he says. “Just being in that company was incredible.”
 Leong grabbed nominations for Best Instrumental Album and Most Promising Artist for his second studio album,
Five Years and Many Miles, which was released last September. The disc recounts Leong’s experiences in New York City where he relocated just one week before the September 11 attacks to pursue a law degree at New York University. The title cut, “Five Years,” looks back at the city’s recovery and his personal growth during his time there.
While on the East Coast, Leong joined a tight-knit musical community of Hawaii expatriates, even getting the opportunity to play at Carnegie Hall and Staten Island Stadium. “New York is a totally different place,” he says. “It really helped shape my perception of the world, my perception of music.”
Last year, Leong moved back home to the islands, his album serving as a “calling card and introduction for the people of Hawaii.” And although he did not take home any trophies this year, he has garnered the attention of the local media and the support of key local musicians like singer Robert Cazimero, guitarist Barry Flanagan and ukulele icon Jake Shimabukuro.
Leong specializes in slack-key, a 200-year-old technique invented by Hawaiian musicians “slacking” the strings of their guitars. Leong’s signature sound mixes traditional Hawaiian methods with New York panache and an extensive knowledge of the classical technique picked up while studying music at Pomona College. According to Leong, his time in Claremont was pivotal in shaping his sound and, of course, preparing him for law school. “The exposure was really useful,” he says. “It shaped me as a person and it shaped me musically.”
 While at Pomona, Leong studied under Professor of Music and professional guitarist Jack Sanders. Leong quickly made his mark at that time with his willingness to mix slack key style with more classical musical training. “He had an excellent technique and beautiful musicianship,” Sanders says. “I was thrilled to see that he was nominated for the Na Hoku awards.”
As if managing his blossoming music career weren’t enough, Leong also works as an attorney in Honolulu, specializing in employment and labor law. It’s a bit different from the high-powered law firm he became accustomed to in New York, he says, but it’s an adjustment he’s happy to make.
“I always wanted to move home,” he says, watching the surf from his office window. “It’s the community that I grew up in and it’s the musical community that I wanted to be a part of.”
For more information on Darin Leong's music, visit his Web site at
Hawaiiguitar.com.--Travis Kaya '10
···························································································································
|
| |
Will Leer ’07 in the Running for Summer Olympics |
| |
July 7, 2008
Will Leer ’07 is heading to the upcoming U.S. Olympic track and field trials to attempt to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The trials are taking place July 3 to 7 in Eugene, Oregon, where Leer has been training for the past 10 months. If he finishes among the top three runners, he will qualify for the U.S. team.
 Originally from Minnesota, Leer majored in mathematics and earned a minor in philosophy at Pomona. Predominantly a soccer player in high school, Leer got much more intensely involved in track and field at Pomona,
competing all four years and earning repeated All-American honors. He won the 2006 Division-III indoor national title for the mile, and at the 2007 Division III outdoors nationals,
he became the first male runner to win the 1500-meter and the 5000-meter event on the same day. Last year, he also finished 10th nationally at the USA Track & Field Championships.
Former Pomona-Pitzer track coach Pat Mulcahy praised Leer for his positive attitude and unwavering commitment to the sport. “He’s trying to keep it going and explore what he can do,” Mulcahy says. “He’s probably gone further than he thought he could, but he’s taking it all in stride.”
The first of the trials’ three rounds start July 3, with the second round on July 4 and the final round taking place on July 6.--Adam
Conner-Simons '07
Update: Will Leer '07 placed fourth in the men's 1,500-meter final on
July 6 with a time of 3:41:54. "I'm disappointed I didn't get third, but we're
sending a great team....This meet was very successful for me. It has catapulted
me to a new level as far as my career goes," he said in an interview with
RunnersWorld.com.
Visit
RunnersWorld.com for more quotes and a video interview with Leer.
···························································································································
|
| |
Film by Jennifer Phang ’96 to Show at L.A. Film Festival |
| |
June 26, 2008
 Jennifer Phang ’96 always knew she wanted to be behind the camera. “There’s an excitement to being in a creative headspace and feeling transported to another world,” she says. “There’s this inexplicable, magical quality to it.” As a media studies major at Pomona, she took numerous film classes with professors Brian Stonehill and Alex Juhasz at Pomona and Pitzer, honing her directing and editing skills through countless hours in the production lab.
Now her work is paying off with Half-Life, which recently garnered Phang a $10,000 Gen Art award and has been screened at several prominent movie festivals, including Sundance. The film, which Phang wrote and directed, is having its Los Angeles premiere at the Crest Theatre in Westwood June 29 at 7 p.m. as part of the L.A. Film Fest, and is also playing at Outfest July 19 at the Director’s Guild in Hollywood. (Phang and several cast members will be attending the Westwood showing).
 In Phang’s own words, Half-Life is “a suburban family drama” that focuses on the day-to-day struggles of a single mom and her son and daughter, contrasting their lives against the backdrop of a planet increasingly affected by factors like global warming. “It’s about trying to hold on to a sense of innocence in a world that seems to be crumbling,” explains Phang. The film occasionally employs the unconventional “rotoscoping” technique popularized by director Richard Linklater in
Waking Life, in which live-action scenes are painted over with hand-drawn animation.
Phang has been pleasantly surprised by the largely positive responses that the movie has received. “Getting into Sundance was a dream come true,” she says. “And we’ve had amazing audiences in Seattle, New York, Austin--all over the country.”
Half-Life will be screened at more events over the next few months. “We want to make sure we have festival momentum behind it,” Phang says. She’s hoping for the film to get national distribution by the start of next year.
For more information on the film, visit www.halflifemovie.com.--Adam
Conner-Simons '08
···························································································································
|
| |
M. Frederick Hawthorne '49 Honored With Prestigious
Chemistry Award |
| |
June 23, 2008
M. Frederick Hawthorne ’49 was recently awarded the prestigious Priestly Medal, the highest honor awarded by the American Chemical Society. The annual award is recognition of distinguished service in the field of chemistry.
Hawthorne majored in chemistry at Pomona College and went on to receive his Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry from UCLA in 1953. He’s considered a pioneer in boron chemistry, having created, alongside colleagues, a collection of boranes, carboranes and metallacarboranes, which have been used in a variety of applications, including medical imaging, drug delivery and nanomachines.
Hawthorne is currently the director of the International Institute of Nano and Molecular Medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and he spent 32 years at the helm of the journal
Inorganic Chemistry. He has authored or co-authored more than 500 research papers and 10 patents, and has received international recognition and numerous awards.
According to an interview with
Chemical & Engineering News, Hawthorne says his most important work may soon come to fruition. He couldn’t test his creation of “nontoxic carborane-containing liposomes that selectively target cancer cells for destruction by boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT)” at UCLA, where he had taught since 1969 and was appointed University Professor of Chemistry, the most distinguished faculty title in the UC system, because of the lack of the proper testing equipment. So he left for Missouri where a research neutron beam line was available to his team. He now expects to start BNCT animal trials this fall and human trials within five years and, according to the article, “believes carboranes will eventually be ubiquitous in pharmaceuticals.”
··························································································································· |
| |
Pomona Goddess Statue to Reside in Organic Farm |
| |
May 1, 2008
 The goddess Pomona is taking up residence in the Pomona College Organic Farm. Ronald Lee Fleming ’63 commissioned the new marble statue, sculpted by noted artist Mark Mennin, as a reminder that Pomona isn’t just the neighboring city where the College was founded, but also the Roman goddess of orchards, gardens and fruit.
“I think that when I was a freshman, almost nobody in my class knew that Pomona was the goddess of the orchard,” says Fleming. “So the intent was to help the [students] understand who Pomona is, so we’d be more grounded in the classical connection to the College.”
Fleming had decided to commission a Pomona statue for an American Renaissance water garden he’s building adjacent to Bellevue House, a 1910 Colonial Revival mansion he restored in Newport, Rhode Island. Considering the goddess’s connection to the College, he doubled the order.
“The one for Pomona is carved from Carrara marble, which we actually quarried in Carrara, Italy. [We also] had the rough carving done over there, and then it was shipped back to the artists’ studio in Bethlehem, Connecticut,” says Fleming.
The 76-by-22-by-22-inch statue is anchored to a 28-by-28-inch green granite base, which is attached to a concrete foundation in the Organic Farm. Fleming suggested the location because of its obvious thematic relation to the goddess, but also because of the garden’s personal significance to his family. “My daughter, [Severine Fleming ‘04], worked very hard on that garden when she was an undergraduate. She tilled that land,” says Fleming. “It’s been a place of love and care by the student body.”
 President David Oxtoby finds the location appropriate, as well. “It is particularly fitting that this statue of Pomona, goddess of the orchard, will be placed at the Organic Farm, where our students are engaged in the hands-on process of growing food,” says Oxtoby. “I'm delighted by this thoughtful and generous gift from Ron Fleming, which represents his commitment to bringing art to public places where it will engage the College community.”
Fleming, an urban planner, preservation and public art advocate, and author, heads the Townscape Institute, a nonprofit organization that’s worked with more than 100 communities to conserve and visually enhance towns through “townscape design.” He’s also kept strong ties to Pomona,
which both his parents, plus a few cousins and uncles, attended. He commissioned and donated the Pomona goddess relief and the “Pomona” bronze bas-relief artworks in the Smith Campus Center atrium, and donated funds for James Turrell’s Skyspace. He also contributed the essay “Dusty Sage to Urban Oasis: Reflections on a
Place” to the book
Pomona College: Reflections on a Campus.
··························································································································· |
| |
Clarence Lee '57 Designs 2008 Summer Olympics
Postage Stamp |
| |
April 17, 2008
Clarence Lee ’57 has put his own personal stamp on the 2008 summer Olympics with his design of the United States Postal Service’s commemorative stamp—his third such venture for the USPS.
 Lee, who was an art history major at Pomona, was first approached by the USPS in 1992 to design a Chinese Lunar New Year stamp for the Year of the Rooster. “It was to be just one stamp,” says Lee, “but the financial success of that stamp made the postal service develop all 12 Lunar New Year stamps.” Lee was called on again in 1994 to design a joint issue stamp from the United States and China; the stamp featured a crane, an endangered species in both countries.
The Olympic stamp was a collaboration for Lee, his design company’s staff, illustrator Katie Doka and art director Carl Hermann. “I was directly involved with selection of colors; refinement of the artwork; and selection, size and position of type,” says Lee. “[I] was [also] in close contact with Carl Hermann and the USPS for their comments and final approval.”
Many types of athletes were considered for the central image, but ultimately, “the leaping gymnast worked well in the horizontal shape of the stamp and was positive and uplifting.”
 The stamp has yet to be released but Lee is hazarding a guess that it will coincide with the opening of the Olympics on 08/08/08.
Lee transferred to Yale after his first two years at Pomona, but Pomona remains close to his heart. Renowned local artist and Scripps professor Millard Sheets was an early influence during Lee’s time at Pomona. “I saw some of his calendar watercolors from Pan Am airways and thought I could follow in his success,” recalls Lee. “I tried to fit his art classes into my Pomona courses, but it was not meant to be.” After graduating Yale, Lee worked on the East Coast for a few years, but returned to his home state of Hawaii where he established his own design firm in 1966.
Over the years, Lee has been a recipient of many prestigious awards, including the KOA Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts (2001) and a Living Treasure in Hawai’i award (2000). Lee recently retired after selling his firm to a Japanese corporation.
Lee often returns to Pomona for reunions, including his 50th reunion last year, and he still counts his Pomona roommate Peter Newman ’57 and Peter’s wife Mary ’59 as close friends and traveling partners.
···························································································································
|
| |
Chris Burden '69 Lights Up LACMA With New Sculpture |
| |
February 12, 2008 Stars lined up for photos at the gala opening of the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art's new Broad Contemporary Art Museum on February 10--and the best photo
backdrop (just ask
Tom and Katie) was Urban Lights, a meticulously arranged forest of 202
streetlights from the '20s and '30s, created by Chris Burden '69.
Burden has been collecting and refurbishing streetlights at his
Topanga Canyon studio since 2000. Many of the lamps originate from the streets of Southern
California, giving the monumental artwork a distinct sense of place perfect
for welcoming
visitors to LACMA. Urban Lights is a centerpiece in a new plaza facing
Wilshire Boulevard, and visitors can wind their way through the lights, taking
in the details of the cast-iron lamps.
Famous for his controversial performance art pieces in the 1970s--including
Shoot, in which Burden was shot in the arm by an assistant with a
rifle--Burden's more recent works include Ghost Ship, a self-navigating yacht
that traversed a 330-mile path from Shetland to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England,
and Hell Gate, a 28-foot-long scale model of a bridge that spans a precarious
stretch of the East River in New York.
For more on Burden's Urban Lights project and its origins, visit the
Los
Angeles
Times. For a longer examination of Burden's career, read
The New Yorker's May
2007 profile.
··························································································································· |
| |
Pomona Alumnus Hosts
50-City
Chinese New Year Tour |
| |
January 25, 2008 It's the Year of the Rat, and while Chinese New
Year doesn't occur until February 7, one Pomona
alumnus is already celebrating as the emcee of the
2008 "Chinese New Year Spectacular," a 50-city
international performing arts tour that celebrates
Chinese culture. The show is stopping in at the
Nokia Theater in Los Angeles January 18-20.
Leeshai Lemish '05,
an activist in the Chinese community, majored in Asian Studies with a
minor in Chinese language at Pomona. In 2005, the American
nonprofit Chinese-language television station New
Tang Dynasty Television, which also produces
cultural performances and parades, asked him to
emcee the Los Angeles Dragonboat Festival. His
strong Chinese language skills and flair for comedy have led the Israeli-American Lemish into an
unlikely career as a host of Chinese performing arts
events. His current gig, the Chinese New Year Spectacular,
features songs, dances and epic stories celebrating
Chinese cultural heritage, all of which Lemish
introduces with a co-host.
Lemish was born in Ohio, but grew up in Israel and
came to Pomona after his service in the Israel
Defense Forces. His interest in the Chinese
mediation practice Falun Gong led to his
appreciation of Chinese culture; a few Chinese
language classes his freshman year at Pomona cinched
his choice of a major and minor.
Lemish made international headlines after an arrest
in China in 2001 where he and 35 international
protestors made a stand against the Chinese
Communist Party's treatment of Falun Gong
practitioners. Lemish was beat up, deported and
continues to be banned from China. As he explained
in a recent interview in The Jewish Journal's
Arts in L.A. supplement: "I'm banned from a
country I care very deeply about and have spent lots
of time learning about."
Chinese New Year Spectacular
tour dates
From the archives: Leeshai
Lemish in
The
Student Life
and
Pomona College Magazine
··························································································································· |
|
Leading civil rights attorney John
Payton '73 appointed to head NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
|
| |
John Payton '73, an attorney known for his successful record in some of the most
important and visible civil rights cases in the United States, has been named
Director-Counsel and President of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF).
"This is both a very exciting and a very humbling moment for me. I have always
admired The Legal Defense Fund: it is an historic organization with an important
mission," said Payton. "Racial justice and equality are issues that I deeply
care about, and being at the LDF will allow me to be involved in that fight
every day."
 As
lead counsel for the University of Michigan, Payton argued the affirmative
action admissions case successfully before the trial court, appeals court, and
ultimately before the U.S. Supreme Court. The New York Times described
the case as one that "galvanized affirmative action advocates who produced
sociological studies documenting how a diverse campus enhances the educational
and long-term life experiences for all students."
Payton also has participated in other landmark cases, representing the American
Legacy Foundation in its suit against a large tobacco company and represented
the NAACP in a suit brought by white merchants in Mississippi. He also has
served as Co-Chair of the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights and as President of
the District of Columbia Bar and is a member of the Pomona College Board of
Trustees.
As director of the LDF, Payton said he hopes to raise awareness of the growing
disparities among Americans. "Today, our country has perhaps its highest rate of
wealth and income inequality, which is exacerbated when race is taken into
account. The Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans was a disaster before Katrina.
There are many other Lower Ninth Wards across the country," said Payton.
"John is one of the great civil rights lawyers of his generation and a great
protector of diversity and equal opportunity in America," said Kenneth I.
Chenault, Chairman and CEO, American Express Company, and an LDF Board member.
"His accomplishments make him well-suited to follow in the footsteps of Thurgood
Marshall as Director-Counsel of LDF."
Payton will be LDF's sixth director counsel and president, succeeding Ted Shaw.
Payton has most recently been a partner at the Washington law firm of Wilmer,
Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr. He is a graduate of Pomona College and Harvard
Law School.
··························································································································· |
|
Alumnus' edge-cutting congressional
bill may lead to new dollar bills designed to help the blind.
|
| |
November 30, 2006
Getting an innovative legislative bill through Congress can be as tricky as
trying to get a particularly crumpled dollar bill to feed into a vending
machine: It can take many tries and plenty of time.
 Consider
the case of attorney and Pomona College alumnus Richard Foster '80, who made his first attempt
back in 1979 and just this week discovered his idea may yet get another shot.
Then, Foster was a congressional intern through the Washington, D.C.
semester program (run by Claremont McKenna), still finishing his senior year,
when he came up with an idea designed to help visually-impaired Americans use
paper money by making various bill denominations identifiable by touch.
After evaluating markers ranging from Braille writing to polyethylene drops,
Foster determined it would be more practical and cost-effective to literally cut
corners to differentiate the various bill denominations. Attempts to cheat the
unsighted by snipping off additional corners wouldn't make sense: the $1 bill
would be trimmed on all four corners, the $2 bill on three corners and so on.
 Rep. Pete Stark, the Bay Area Democratic congressman Foster was working for,
liked the idea, and introduced a bill in the House of Representatives. The
21-year-old Foster was hailed in a lengthy Los Angeles Times article
titled "Mr. Foster Goes To
Washington: Persistent Intern Cuts Corners for the Blind." The piece detailed
Foster's quest: testing corner-clipped bills in subway change machines, lobbying
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for a meeting and tour, learning the
bill-printing-process, lining up support from other members of Congress and
advocacy groups for the blind.
But,
like so many bills, this one never got its White House signing ceremony, never
became law. (Even so, Foster credits Stark for giving an intern's idea a shot,
and not just once; the congressman reintroduced the bill in 1981 and 1983 to no
avail.) Foster went on to law school and went on with his life.
His one-semester legislative adventure was just a memory.
Until this week. In response to a lawsuit by the American Council for the Blind,
a U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday ruled that the government must come up
with currency that the visually-impaired can differentiate. Though the
government had argued that such a change would be too expensive and create an
undue burden, Judge James Robertson noted that of the more than 180 nations that
issue paper currency, only the U.S. prints bills that are identical in size and
color in all their denominations. The judge even made mention of Stark's 1979
bill in his
ruling.
And guess what? USA Today
reports that Rep. Stark, still in office, is
dusting off that old bill with plans to reintroduce it next year. Of course,
there are no guarantees, but Foster says, "it’s great to see that something I
worked on in Washington may actually happen, especially because it can benefit
so many people, even if it took 27 years."
Read more about the case
··························································································································· |
|
Tech entrepreneur Grace Stanat '87 uses
text-messaging to help
register thousands of young voters in innovative mobilization effort.
|
| |
If all goes as planned, tech entrepreneur Grace Stanat '87 will be responsible
for helping to bring thousands of young, first-time voters to the polls on Nov.
7.
 He
is leading an innovative voter mobilization effort that uses cell phone
text-messaging to make it easier for young people to register to vote -- and
then reminds them to actually show up at the polls.
As co-director of the the non-profit, non-partisan
Mobile Voter organization, Stanat helped created software that allows cell users to simply text-message the
keyword "voter" to 75444 to get help registering to vote. Users then are asked for
their name and address, and a voter registration card with most of the
information already filled in, following the rules for their state, is sent
to their home.
 Now
get this: The card is tracked through the postal system, and participants
receive a text-message reminder if they don't send it in. And, as Election Day
nears, participants receive messages providing polling place information and
reminding them to vote.
That's impressive on its own, but the real power of the Mobile Voter campaign,
according to Stanat, is that individuals and organizations also can use the
system, choosing their own keyword. This exponentially increases the number of
people who can be reached, and groups ranging from Voto Latino to World
Wrestling Entertainment are taking advantage of this opportunity to engage young
people in civic life.
 The
advantage of this system over other registration efforts, according to Stanat,
is that young people tend to have their cell phones with them at all times, so
they can act immediately to register. "It really is anytime, anywhere," says
Stanat.
Registration deadlines for the Nov. 7 election have now passed by for most states, including California. So
Mobile Voter's focus has shifted to reminding people to show up at the
polls, and assessing the impact of the mobilization campaign. Stanat estimates
that once they sift out duplicates and people who were already registered, the
effort will have registered somewhere in the ballpark of 50,000 new voters, with
as many of 40,000 of those people in their target 18-29 age group.
Stanat graduated from Pomona College with a dual degree in mathematics and fine
arts before heading to Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar. At Oxford, he
earned a Master's in computer science and a second fine arts degree. He later
founded the San Francisco-based web development firm 415 Productions and he
currently lives in the Bay Area.
For the voting project, Stanat teamed up with Ben Rigby, another web development
wizard who was already working to put technology to use to mobilize voters. Today they
are co-executive directors of Mobile Voter, which last year received a $220,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trust
and also has been granted funding from the MacArthur Foundation.
Stanat says he hasn't been deeply involved in politics in the past, but this
project offered the chance to involve thousands of young people, whose voter
turnout is lower than the general population. He notes that by 2015, Generation
Y will account for 37 percent of the electorate. "It's an enormous voting bloc,"
he says. "This felt like a powerful thing to do for the nation."
Looking ahead, Stanat expects a much larger effort for the 2008 presidential
election.
··························································································································· |
|
NCAA names Shelley Keeler '92 most
outstanding student-athlete in Division III tennis in the last 25 years.
|
| |
The NCAA has announced that Pomona College alumna Shelley Keeler '92 has been
named the Division III Tennis Most Outstanding Student-Athlete for her
accomplishments in NCAA championship competition. The honor, which was bestowed
as part of the NCAA's 25th Anniversary of Women's Championships celebration,
takes into account outstanding performances over the past 25 years.
Keeler qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships four years in
a row in both singles and doubles. In singles, Keeler earned All-American all
four years, and capped her collegiate career by winning the singles title in
1992. In doubles, Keeler was again a four-time All-American and won an
unprecedented three straight doubles titles--once with Caryn Cranston (1990) and
twice with Erin Hendricks (1991, 92). In her 1992 senior season, Keeler, a
co-captain, led the Pomona team at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles and helped
the squad win the NCAA team title.
Keeler's exploits earned her the Volvo Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches
Association (ITCA) Senior Player of the Year Award in 1992, and she also earned
the Pomona College Most Valuable Athlete Award in 1991. In 1992 she was named
the Honda Broderick Award Winner for women's tennis.
Married with two daughters, Keeler, now Shelley Keeler Whelan, lives in Mercer
Island, Washington and is a marketing manager. She earned an MBA from the
University of Washington in 1998, and a degree in anthropology from Pomona.
An NCAA panel selected the most outstanding student-athlete in the sport of
Division III tennis. The panel consisted of current and former coaches,
athletics administrators, sports information directors, and coaches association
members, who used historical data and championship results to make their
decision.
-- NCAA
··························································································································· |
|
Susan Barnard '69 named Washington's Teacher of the Year.
|
| |
Susan Barnard '69 has been named the state of Washington's Teacher of the Year.
In making the announcement, state schools superintendent Terry Bergesen said
Barnard’s effectiveness as an educator with heart and skill make her an
outstanding example of the teaching profession.
 For the past 10 years, Barnard has been a language arts and reading teacher at
CHOICE, an alternative school serving the Shelton School District in Mason
County. When not in the classroom, Barnard lends her expertise to the district
as its language arts curriculum leader and literacy team leader.
A small, tight-knit community of 8,500, Shelton is a proud timber town but has
experienced economic struggles with the decline of the forestry industry. Many
of the students enrolled at CHOICE come from homes impacted by poverty; nearly
50 percent have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives.
Bergeson read part of a nominating letter from one of Barnard’s students, Amanda
Anderson: "Sue has helped to open up my abilities and creativity in writing and
comprehension. It is thanks to her and the support of my family that I have
decided to go to college to become an author...This is only my story. I know
that Sue has influenced many lives for the better, and I hope that she will
continue for a very long time."
The Teacher of the Year program is part of a nationwide initiative to recognize
and celebrate exceptional educators. Barnard went on to become one of four
finalists for the national Teacher of the Year award, and in April attended a
ceremony at the White House, where President Bush mentioned her in his remarks.
photo courtesy of Washington Education Association
Read more about Barnard
··························································································································· |
|
Richard (Rip) Rapson '74 to head $2.9
billion national foundation that works to strengthen communities.
|
| |
Richard (Rip) Rapson '74 has been named president and CEO of
The Kresge Foundation, a $2.9 billion
national foundation that seeks to strengthen communities by strengthening
nonprofits.
 Rapson
was most recently president of the McKnight Foundation, a $1.8 billion private
foundation in Minneapolis. He will succeed The Kresge Foundation’s current
president and CEO, John E. Marshall, III, who completes his 27-year leadership
of the
foundation in June 2006.
“It is clear to us that Rip Rapson has the experience—and a demonstrated
enthusiasm—for the work we do at The Kresge Foundation,” says Irene Y. Hirano,
chair of the Foundation’s board of trustees. “His career has included community
development, environmental protection, work with local and national government
and public service,” says Hirano. “We believe these experiences have prepared
Mr. Rapson to lead The Kresge Foundation in strengthening nonprofits and the
communities they
serve across the United States and abroad.”
Based in Troy, Mich., The Kresge Foundation is a national foundation with $2.9
billion in assets. In its core program, the Foundation provides challenge
grants for capital projects, encouraging nonprofit organizations to leverage
their capital campaigns as an opportunity to grow. Its additional grantmaking
initiatives focus on strengthening Detroit, nonprofits in South Africa and
Mexico, community foundations, and historically black colleges. The newest, a
Green Building Initiative, encourages nonprofits to build green.
During his six years leading the McKnight Foundation, Rapson created a strategic
framework for the Foundation’s programming; developed a new program in regional
growth and development; managed annual grant distributions of between $75
million and $92 million; launched an initiative that convened public, civic,
business, and higher education leaders to address regional challenges in
Minneapolis and St. Paul; and guided a comprehensive statewide effort to elevate
the priority of investing in
early childhood development.
Prior to his tenure with McKnight, Rapson served as a Senior Fellow at the
University of Minnesota, as the Deputy Mayor in Minneapolis during the early
1990s, and acted as a liaison between Washington and Minneapolis as a
legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Donald Fraser from the mid- to late-1970s.
Rapson holds a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University Law School in New York,
and a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College. He and his wife, Gail, plan to move
to the Detroit metro area in late spring 2006.
··························································································································· |
|
Optical scientist Karen P. Scott '87 is
honored for her work on International Space Station.
|
| |
The Society of Women Engineers has honored Karen P. Scott '87 with the 2005
Resnik Challenger Award for her leadership and technical contributions in
developing a special glass portal used in scientific research aboard the
International Space Station.
 Scott, a senior
engineering specialist and optical scientist at The Aerospace Corporation in
Houston, has supported a wide range of customers, including NASA Johnson Space
Center's Space Shuttle Program Office. Most recently, as a result of the
Columbia accident, Scott has been involved in developing an on-orbit evaluation
program to examine the thermal protection system of the space shuttle orbiters.
Perhaps Scott's most important achievement is the development of the four-pane
20-inch-diameter International Space Station Destiny Science Window which, when
launched in February 2001, became the highest quality window ever flown on a
crewed space vehicle. She was instrumental in proposing and developing the
window port, leading a team of more than 30 people during the final testing and
calibration. The window's extraordinary clarity provides a platform for remote
sensing Earth science.
Scott also has been extensively involved with the development of the space
station's Window Observational Research Facility a rack system that enables
researchers to mount cameras, sensors, and telescopes behind the research window
with sufficient stability to conduct Earth observing experiments. According to
NASA, space station crews have taken more than 13,000 pictures of our planet.
Studies have found that the images were achieving six-meter resolution, compared
to 10- to 25-meter resolution for higher-altitude commercial imaging satellites.
"Dr. Scott has brought her technical expertise to bear on several challenging
projects and demonstrated unique leadership skills by applying her scientific
knowledge to a variety of issues," says Dr. Sally K. Ride, renowned astronaut
and professor of physics, University of California, San Diego. "Her efforts have
had a significant impact on elements that are now flying in space."
Scott earned her B.A. degree in physics from Pomona College, and her M.S. and
Ph.D. in optical sciences at University of Arizona, Tucson.
The Resnik Challenger Medal was established in 1986 to honor SWE's Dr. Judith
Resnik, NASA mission specialist on the ill-fated Challenger space shuttle flight
of January 26, 1986. It is awarded only as merited for visionary contributions
to space exploration.
··························································································································· |
|
Scott Olivet, Pomona College Class of
'84, is named CEO of famous sunglass company Oakley.
|
| |
Scott Olivet, Pomona College Class of '84, has been named CEO and director of Oakley, the famous maker of sunglasses, ski goggles and other products.
 Effective Oct. 10. Olivet
will succeed Oakley, Inc. founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim
Jannard, who will continue as chairman of the board of directors. Jannard had
decided to return his focus to design and invention.
"We are extremely excited with the appointment of Scott Olivet as the new CEO
and leader of Oakley's unique blend of 'science meets sculpture' philosophy,"
said Jannard in the company's press release. "Scott brings a broad base of
exceptional business acumen including a well-demonstrated record of driving
growth and profitability, strategic intuition, product development and retail
experience that will strengthen and grow the Oakley brand."
Since 2001, Olivet, 43, has served as Nike, Inc.'s Vice President, Nike
Subsidiaries and New Business Development where he led, developed and executed
the company's multi-branding strategy including making three acquisitions. In
Olivet's role as head of Nike's subsidiaries which included Cole Haan, Converse
and Hurley, the CEOs reported directly to him. These businesses grew
collectively to represent $1.7 billion of wholesale revenue for the fiscal year
ending May 31, 2005.
Prior to working at Nike, Mr. Olivet served as the Gap, Inc.'s senior vice
president of real estate, store design, and construction, responsible for the
Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy brands from 1998 to 2001. During this period
he worked to increase the Gap, Inc.'s store count from 2,130 to 3,676. He worked
with Bain & Company, one of the world's leading management consulting firms,
from 1984 to 1998, serving as a partner and head of the firm's worldwide
practice in organizational effectiveness and change management from 1993 to
1998.
Mr. Olivet received his M.B.A. from Stanford University and his B.A. from Pomona
College. He is an avid photographer, a collector of photography and contemporary
art, and a supporter of arts/creativity in education programs.
Based in Orange County, Calif., Oakley had more than $615 million in sales last
year, selling products in more than 100 countries. Best known for its premium
sunglasses, Oakley also sells performance apparel and accessories,
footwear, watches and electronics. The company has about 20 percent of the world
market for sunglasses, according to the Orange County Register.
··························································································································· |
|
Mercedes Fitchett '91 Named One of
the 2005 Ten Outstanding Young Americans by Jaycees.
|
| |
Mercedes Fitchett '91 has been named as one of the 2005 Ten Outstanding Young
Americans by the Jaycees (United States Junior Chamber).
 Fitchett, 36, has centered her career on international civilian service. Born in
Argentina, she arrived in the U.S. at the age of five, speaking Spanish and
growing up in a bicultural world of Peruvian and American influences. She has
also mastered French, some Portuguese, and now, Arabic, for her focus on Iraq.
Upon completion of her Bachelor of Arts at Pomona College and Masters in Foreign
Service at Georgetown University, Ms. Fitchett became a trade negotiator for the
DOC International Trade Administration (ITA). She was the youngest member of the
U.S. trade negotiating team for NAFTA Accession with Chile, worked closely with
U.S. business in securing greater access for U.S. companies to international
markets, and as a Trade Legislative Fellow to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee,
worked on issues such as China’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
In June 2003, Ms. Fitchett was asked to serve on the Iraq Task Force, working
closely with U.S. and Iraqi companies on fostering the new commercial
relationship. When an opportunity arose to serve in Iraq, Ms. Fitchett
volunteered to be the U.S. Commercial Attaché extending her initial 45-day
assignment to six months. In Iraq, Ms. Fitchett helped establish the U.S.
Commercial Service Office that works with U.S. businesses, Iraqi businesses and
Iraqi government officials.
At USTDA, she continues her work on Iraq by funding training and technical
assistance programs, in addition to continuing the foundation development for
the next generation of Iraqi leaders.
Annually since 1938, The United States Jaycees has sought out the ten young men
and women who best exemplify the finest attributes of America’s youthful
achievers. The presentation of the 67th annual black-tie awards ceremony will be
held September 17, 2005, in the Boston, Massachusetts World Trade Center.
Read Fitchett's first-person account
of her time in Iraq.
··························································································································· |
|
John Lucy '71 earns Guggenheim Fellowship
to study the impact of language differences on intellectual development.
|
| |
Lucy '71, a professor at the University of Chicago, has received a 2005
Guggenheim fellowship in the 81st annual competition sponsored by the John Simon
Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The foundation grants funding to fellows based
on “distinguished achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future
accomplishment.”
 This year’s fellowship
winners include 186 artists, scholars and scientists selected from more than
3,000 applicants for awards totaling $7,112,000.
Lucy, the William Benton Professor in Comparative Human Development, Psychology
and the College, will use his fellowship for a project titled “The Impact of
Language Differences on Intellectual Development.”
A leading figure in the study of how language affects thought, Lucy will build
on earlier work with adults and advance an approach to the topic that brings
together theoretical perspectives from American linguistic anthropology, Soviet
historical psychology and contemporary cognitive developmental psychology. The
approach will be illustrated with an extended case study that compares the
development of American English and Yucatec Maya children.
Lucy has done extensive fieldwork in Mexico, where he has studied language,
cognitive development and other areas of interest, including religious ritual.
He is working with his wife, Suzanne Gaskins '72 of Northeastern Illinois University, on the
project examining grammatical categories and cognitive development.
He also has written Language Diversity and Thought: A Reformulation of the
Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis (1992) and Grammatical Categories and
Cognition: A Case Study of the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis (1992).
Lucy joined the Chicago faculty in 1996, and served as master of the Social
Sciences Collegiate Division, deputy dean of the Social Sciences Division and
associate dean in the College between 1999 and 2002. In 2002, he was interim
dean of the Social Sciences Division.
He earned a B.A. in mathematics from Pomona College in 1971, and a Ph.D. from
the University’s Committee on Human Development in 1987. He served on the
faculty of the University of Pennsylvania’s Anthropology Department before
joining the Chicago faculty.
··························································································································· |
|
Kimberly Dodgson Labinger ’80 earns California Teacher of
the Year Award for her classroom creativity.
|
| |
With 18 years of teaching and nine awards already under her belt, Kimberly
Dodgson Labinger ’80 was honored in January as one of the 2005 California
Teachers of the Year. A fourth grade teacher at Thomas A. Edison Elementary
School in Glendale, Labinger was one of five honorees to receive this
prestigious award.
 Started in 1972, the California Teachers of the Year recognizes five exceptional
individuals who best represent California’s 310,000 teachers. Labinger was
chosen by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell for her
commitment to teaching a standard curriculum interlaced with art, music,
history, literature, and dance instruction.
A daughter of medical missionaries, Labinger attended the local schools in
Assam, India, schools that routinely incorporated such activities as cricket,
Thai boxing, dance, and Indian classical music. She became accustomed to a style
of hands-on learning. "Much of the foundation for my philosophy and teaching
style was laid there among the rice paddies, tea gardens, teeming cities, the
great Himalayas and a mission hospital," says Labinger. "My experiences kindled
a passion for teaching that envelops the whole child.”
In her classroom, science experiments become art projects as students create
watercolor renditions from the microscopic view of a butterfly’s wing.
Observations develop into dances as movements of a paramecium or the classroom
walking stick are studied and performed in small groups. Poetry becomes a
wall-hanging of woven ribbon, lessons in California history lead to square
dancing and the successful metamorphosis of a meal worm excites the imagination
and sense of accomplishment for every “parenting” student.
A ceremony held January 18 in Sacramento honored the five award recipients.
Labinger was recognized along with Stanley Murphy of San Diego, Alan Siegel of
Lake County, Ray Williams of Orange County, and Eric Burrows of Santa Barbara
who, coincidentally, is the brother of the late Chris Burrows ’80 and wife
Christina ’80.
Labinger will speak over the course of the next year at a number of conferences,
including an upcoming art conference in San Jose. She hopes to inspire more
flexibility and creativity in the curriculum as she shares her work with other
educators. And, lastly, she gives thanks to her students for simply being
themselves.
- by Erika Gamst '01
··························································································································· |
|
Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, Class of
'69, chosen as next president of Kalamazoo College in Michigan.
|
| |
 Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran '69
has been selected as the next president of Kalamazoo College in Michigan.
She is currently dean and vice president at Salem College, a private liberal
arts college for women in Winston-Salem, N.C., and will begin her duties at
Kalamazoo in July 2005.
"Eileen is a woman of extraordinary intellect, unwavering courage of her
convictions, passionate dedication to her students and her colleagues and
undaunted optimism," said Salem College President Julianne Still Thrift. "In her
10 years at Salem, she has created stability and built high expectations. She
has allowed all of us to dream bigger and to trust our capacity to achieve our
greatest goals. She is a shining star!"
During Wilson-Oyelaran's tenure, the College strengthened its academic component
by
renovating the science laboratories, creating a women in science program,
establishing the Salem College Center for Women Writers and spurring new degrees
in
School of Music and in Salem's graduate teacher education program.
Wilson-Oyelaran earned her B.A. in sociology from Pomona College, an M.A. and
Ph.D. in education from the Claremont Graduate University. She served as
associate professor and chair of the department of education at Winston-Salem
State University. She also taught in the departments of education and psychology
at the University of Ife (now known as Obafemi Awolowo University) in Nigeria
for 14 years and served as acting head of the department of psychology there for
five years.
Her honors and awards include the Kent Fellowship, the Ford Foundation National
Fellowship for graduate study and the Ada Mae Fitts Woman of the Year,
awarded to the most outstanding senior woman by the Pomona College faculty. She
also received the American Council on Education Fellowship, one of the most
prestigious leadership training programs in higher education.
“We are immensely fortunate and very excited to have found such an
extraordinarily
gifted academic leader,” said Donald R. Parfet, chairman of the Kalamazoo
College Board of Trustees.
··························································································································· |
|
Kris Kristofferson, Class of '58, is inducted into the
Country Music
Hall of Fame in nationally televised broadcast from Nashville.
|
| |
 Pomona alumnus Kris
Kristofferson, Class of '58, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on
Nov. 9 during a nationally televised broadcast of the 38th Annual CMA Awards.
At Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, Willie Nelson and Faith Hill paid tribute to
Kristofferson by performing his “For the Good Times” and “Help Me Make It
Through the Night,” respectively. Randy Travis sang “Sunday Morning Coming Down”
before Kristofferson came on stage to sing “Me & Bobby McGee” with Nelson, Hill
and Travis, according to the CMA's Website.
Started in 1961 by the Country Music Association, the Hall of Fame includes 86
individuals and groups. Kristofferson joins superstars ranging from Tammy
Wynette to Merle Haggard.
Kristofferson will be profiled in the next Pomona College Magazine, due
after the holidays.
··························································································································· |
|
Alex Gonzalez '72 chosen to lead
Hispanic college organization.
|
| |
 Alexander Gonzalez
'72, President of California State University, Sacramento, has been elected
chair of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), the
nation’s leading voice for the higher education needs of the country’s largest
ethnic population.
Gonzalez will guide an association that represents more than 390 colleges and
universities which collectively serve more than two-thirds of all U.S. Hispanic
higher education students. HACU’s international membership includes leading
higher education institutions located throughout Latin America and in Spain.
“I am honored to assume this new role for a respected national association with
an international reach,” said Gonzalez after his unanimous election during
HACU’s 18th Annual Conference in Miami in October. “Our membership represents
those colleges and universities at the forefront of every major effort to
address the education needs of our country’s fastest-growing college-age
population. As a nation, we must embrace every opportunity to support these
institutions. They will educate the next generation of innovators and leaders.”
Gonzalez also is a member of Pomona College's Board of Trustees.
As president of Sacramento State, the veteran educator presides over one of the
largest campuses in the massive 23-campus California State University system –
the largest university system in the country.
Shortly after Gonzalez arrived at Sacramento State in 2003, the ambitious
“Destination 2010” initiative he mapped out to rapidly expand the university’s
infrastructure and reach prompted Comstock’s Business Magazine to feature
him in an article with the headline, “Pure Oxygen Arrives at CSUS.”
Before coming to Sacramento, Gonzalez led a period of rapid growth and
successful fundraising campaigns as the acclaimed president of Cal State San
Marcos, from 1997 until 2003. He previously spent 18 years at California’s
Fresno State as a professor, department chair and administrator.
Gonzalez holds a doctorate and master’s degree in psychology from the University
of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor’s degree in history from Pomona
College. He was a Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University,
and also attended Harvard Law School.
··························································································································· |
| |
Ken Dueker '91 has a flare for invention;
he invented a new
kind of road flare. |
| |
 Reserve police
officer Ken Dueker '91 has stepped beyond the traditional call to “protect and
serve” by inventing a new device designed to replace incendiary road flares.
Dueker invented the PowerFlare, an electronic beacon about the size of hockey
puck and strong enough to withstand the weight of fire trucks passing through
flare patterns.
Without smoke and flame, PowerFlare allows users to avoid the risk of smoke
inhalation and accidental burns to their hands, face and bodies. PowerFlare also
eliminates the risk of roadside blazes caused by “fusee” road flares.
And it's good for the environment. Traditional road flares can contain
perchlorate, a chemical -- that can lead to soil and groundwater contamination.
If consumed in large enough quantities, perchlorate is disruptive to the proper
function of the thyroid gland, and can present a risk for pregnant women and
growing children.
Asked about his motivation to create this new safety device, Dueker says he “was
interested in improving safety of first responders who often must work on the
roadways under very trying and dangerous circumstances. Police, firefighters,
and other responders are routinely injured or killed while assisting on the
road.”
Dueker is a reserve officer with the Palo Alto Police Department in the Silicon
Valley. After graduating from Pomona, Dueker earned his doctoral degree in law
from Harvard University, specializing in intellectual property and business
management. He also is a venture capitalist and he founded C Speed Corporation,
a pioneering optical telecom (photonics) hardware company, before starting the
PowerFlare business.
 The first commercial
version of the PowerFlare was released in May of this year, and Dueker says
interest in the product has extended beyond the original traffic safety
applications.
The PowerFlare has a hermetic seal, designed to prevent explosion in the
presence of gasoline or other hazardous materials. As Dueker points out, a
safety light that is waterproof to 300 feet lends itself well to many
recreational activities, including SCUBA diving, boating and other marine
operations. Additionally, PowerFlare is ideal for Search & Rescue operations;
helicopter landing zones; or safety lighting for bicycles, motorcycles, even the
individual hiker. www.PowerFlare.com
-- by Erika Gamst '01
··························································································································· |
| |
|
|
Pomona alumni are granted award to create university class
studying Asian and Latino women in a global context |
| |
Professors Maythee Rojas and Barbara Kim at Cal State Long Beach have been
awarded an Enhancing Educational Effectiveness Award to establish a new class on
campus titled “The Politics of Desire: Asian and Latina Women in a Global
Context.”
The award program provides support to individual faculty members and
collaborative teams for curriculum development to enhance student learning. The
program funds projects related to general education as well as those related to
majors and programs.
“We were pleased and surprised to receive the award,” said Rojas, an assistant
professor in the Women’s Studies Department and expert in Chicana literature.
“Our goal was to establish an interdisciplinary course that represented a joint
collaboration and addressed international issues and I think we’ve succeeded."
The professors are aiming to have the class ready by 2005.
“We hope this new class will address the changing nature of immigration in the
United States,” said Kim, an assistant professor of Asian and Asian American
Studies and expert in Asian-American identity. She noted that Latino and Asian
American populations are among the fastest-growing in the United States.
Rojas earned her bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and her doctorate from
Arizona State University. Kim received her B.A. from Pomona College and her
master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
··························································································································· |
|
|
|
2004 Inspirational Young Alumnus Chosen: David Holmes '97 |
| |
 Of all the places David
Holmes thought life might lead him after graduating from Pomona College in 1997,
the desperate, devastated landscape of post-war Kosovo was not one of them. But
now he couldn't imagine being anywhere else.
Holmes works for the U.S. Department of State as a political officer,
promoting human rights and helping the society to rebuild in the aftermath of a
brutal civil war.
"I didn't know what I wanted to do when I left Pomona, but I have found it,"
says Holmes, who has been named Pomona College's Inspirational Young Alumnus for
2004.
"It is a life lived in a true spirit of adventure," he says. "It's one that
gives me the enviable opportunity to promote the rights of threatened minority
communities, to fight the modern-day trafficking of persons, to help shattered
families and to promote human rights and a path toward progress and peace."
Holmes, a former ASPC president, returned to campus in April to accept his
award and, he hopes, to inspire other Pomona College students to consider a
career in public service, particularly in the Foreign Service.
When a student at Pomona, Holmes had applied for law school and planned to go
into politics, but, he says, he always felt that there were other possibilities
open to him. Today he credits Pomona with giving him the opportunity to study
abroad at Oxford where he learned about his passion for international relations.
"Too many people at Pomona think they have to go to graduate school straight
away and their only options are law, medicine, business. But that's just not
true," says Holmes. "There are so many options out there for serious careers
where they can do what they really want to do without having to compromise who
they are in order to pursue a type of career that they think is okay."
After graduation from Pomona, Holmes worked as a consultant to several
organizations, including the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping
Operations. In 2000, he received a master in management degree in economics and
international politics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and, in
2002, a master in public affairs from Princeton University.
The Inspirational Young Alumni Award was established to honor Pomona College
graduates of the last decade for their dedication, perseverance and consistency
in following their vision of the inscription on the College Gates: "They only
are loyal to this college who departing, bear their added riches in trust for
mankind." Nominations can be made by faculty, staff, students or alumni of the
College, and the winner is chosen by a committee of current students.
To view past award recipients, please go to
http://www.pomona.edu/ADWR/Alumni/association/awards/home.shtml
··························································································································· |
Faye Epps retires after 25 years at Pomona |
| |
 After 25 years of dedicated and devoted service to Pomona College, Faye Epps
retired from her position as Alumni Relations Office Manager at the end of
January.
Faye started her Pomona career in the Foundations and Corporate Relations
Office. Following that position, she moved into the Annual Giving Office, then
to the Alumni Office, where she has been for over 20 years. On January 24, 2004,
the Pomona College Alumni Board recognized Faye as an honorary member of the
Alumni Association, in recognition of her many years at the College.
Many alumni know Faye from her positive and cheery attitude and her hearty laugh
that regularly fills the halls of the Seaver House. Faye will be retiring to
begin full-time ministry with her husband, John. She hopes to become an ordained
minister herself.
Faye will be missed by the many alumni whose lives she has touched over the
years!
··························································································································· |
|
|
|
The Peace Corps Honors Pomona College's Dedication to Global
Service |
| |
Director of the U.S. Peace Corps, Mr. Gaddi Vasquez, spoke at a
special luncheon and ceremony in honor of the College's dedication to global
service through the Peace Corps on March 26. The
ceremony included the planting of a Peace Pole which will remain a permanent
fixture on campus to acknowledge those alumni who have served as Peace Corps
volunteers. The Peace Pole is located just north of the Frary Courtyard.
^ Top
···························································································································· |
|
|
|
California Artist Milford Zornes '34 Highlighted in
New Documentary Video |
| |
At 95, Milford Zornes is one of California's
great water color painters, a maverick and an adventurer. The Claremont,
California resident is the last living founder of the California Water Color
Movement that gained national attention during the 1930's for its bold, daring
style.
Zornes and other young California painters turned the gloomy days of the Great
Depression into a golden era for West Coast art. Painters such as Millard
Sheets, Phil Dike, Emil Kosa, Phil Paradise, Lee Blair and Milford Zornes joined
together to take what they did not know and change the way Americans looked at
art and themselves.
Zornes recalls the excitement, jealousies and competition among his
contemporaries.
This documentary is an amazing opportunity to meet Milford Zornes as he travels
back in time to go behind the scenes to introduce the artists who took up the
challenge to create a new art for a floundering nation.
Zornes is still an incurable globetrotter, whose work captures nearly 80 years
of history, people and places.
MILFORD ZORNES is the first in a series of Artist Documentaries.
TO ORDER: Erickson Zapata Productions, PO Box 381155,Los Angeles, California
90038-1155, PHONE: 1-323-309-7576 VHS:$29.75 retail DVD special order
^ Top
·····························································································································
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick Links |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Explore Pomona's Web |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Find It |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Search |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
