A Passion for Science - Columbia College - Columbia University

Columbia CollEgE Today CLASS NOTES
great fun and great singing even
though it premiered in Naples in
1817. (And of course to digress, I
believe neil anderson and gregg
winn live in Naples, Fla.) I looked
around for bill henrich, who used
to be seen there once in a while.
Bill, when are you going to be
there again?
paul de bary skipped a Columbia
basketball game for the Met a
few weeks ago, but I saw him at the
Columbia-Penn basketball game
with his dad, Ted de Bary ’41, ’53
GSAS, the John Mitchell Mason
Professor Emeritus, provost emeritus
and Special Service Professor in
East Asian Language and Culture,
as the Lions mauled the Quakers for
a great win. buzz Zucker was there,
too, and told me he had seen three
great plays recently.
Buzz, you should write a piece
for the Class Notes about the last
100 plays you have seen on- and
Off-Broadway in the last year or so.
I received a great letter from Jay
Mitchell, and so here it is, titled,
“Much Ado About Me.” Jay writes:
“OK, OK, so you got roger
berkley to say nice things about
me (he called me ‘one of the funniest
people’ he’s ever known) in
a recent CCT column to flush me
out. Consider me flushed.
“After many years as a consultant
to the radio industry, my wife,
Sharon, and I moved to lovely Fairfield,
Iowa, in the mid-’80s, part of
the grand, ongoing experiment on
the effects of large groups practicing
the transcendental meditation
program. After a couple of years
there, we were offered the opportunity
to purchase the local radio
stations for cheap, whereupon I
became an owner for the first time.
Success ensued, and we built a tiny
group by adding an AM and FM in
nearby Ottumwa.
“At about the same time, we
decided that we’d had enough
of Midwest weather, exacerbated
by a particularly nasty ice storm
wherein Sharon slid into one of the
deep roadside trenches for which
Iowa is famous. She did not suffer
any damage, and the car only
slight damage, but it stiffened our
resolve to get out of there.
“After a lengthy nationwide site
study, we decided upon Orange
County, Calif., as our new home. We
moved there a year or so after the
big Y2K non-event, but I still spent
nearly all my time in Iowa keeping
the radio stations afloat. We sold the
stations, more or less advantageously,
in 2008, whereupon I embarked
on the life of the semi-retired, only
without the income part.
“Now I am operating several
endeavors simultaneously: a
newsletter for broadcasters, a
consulting practice, a radio station
web development business, an ap-
preciation marketing business and
most recently, Daily Radio Deals,
a Groupon-ish website marketed
through radio advertising.
“In the ‘life happens’ department,
about three years ago I was
diagnosed with a neurological
disorder that affects the right side
of my body and makes physical
movement a little more challenging.
It hasn’t gotten in my way too
much, although it takes me a bit
longer to do certain things; I simply
allow for it and life goes on.
“Sharon and I celebrated our
43rd wedding anniversary in November.
We have managed successfully
to avoid children all these
years, but we are devoted to our
‘kid,’ a 5-lb. Maltese named Issa.
“There is a tiny coterie of alumni
with whom I keep in touch sporadically:
Roger, who is now my best
friend in the whole world because
of his unexpected compliment, and
derek Vanderlinde, who recently
shed his old life and embarked on
a new one as a business consultant.
Maybe if I call him ‘one of the funniest
people I have ever known,’
you’ll hear from him, too.”
Jay, great to hear from you. I have
been to Iowa, when my brother
was a professor at the University of
Iowa. Orange County does sound
warmer, for sure.
I decided to break with my tradition
of avoiding politics. bob brandt,
my wonderful roommate one summer
and a great fellow, wrote a letter
to a Spectator reporter who seemed
to treat lightly the behavior of some
students towards an Iraq War veteran
who had lost a leg and now
is a Columbia student. Bob copied
President Lee C. Bollinger:
“Dear Mr. Roth [the Spec reporter],
“I spent seven years on Morningside
Heights, first as a Columbia
College student (’68), and then
as a Columbia Law School student
(’71). I was on campus during the
tumultuous Spring of 1968 and
when ROTC was booted off campus.
I read your recent article and
want you to know that Columbia
has a serious public relations
problem that it needs to address.
Columbia is a great institution, and
great institutions should stand for
and protect freedom of expression
and freedom of choice, including
a student’s choice to enroll in an
ROTC program on campus. It
tarnishes the school’s reputation
for ROTC not to be allowed on
campus and creates an impression
that the school is controlled by a
liberal elite hostile to the military,
which I hope is not the case. The
fact that no senior University official,
at least to my knowledge, has
spoken out publicly to denounce
the disgraceful behavior of the
students who heckled the student
war veteran at the ROTC hearing
MAY/JUNE 2011
59
is very troubling. It doesn’t really
matter which news outlets covered
the story. Those same news outlets
would cover with equal prominence
a statement made by Lee
Bollinger denouncing the behavior,
but sadly none has been forthcoming.”
Bob, in a separate note to me,
added:
“I really don’t know Bollinger at
all, even though we were classmates
at Columbia Law, but I was very
disappointed with how he handled
the Iranian leader’s visit, and at his
failure thus far to denounce the conduct
of the students who heckled
the soldier. I agree about ROTC. Its
return to campus is way past due.
Alexander Hamilton [Class of 1778]
distinguished himself as an officer
during the Revolutionary War. He
would be appalled at how disrespectful
the University has been
toward our military. I know how
hard you’ve worked for Columbia,
and you must have some influence
at our alma mater. I hope that you
use it, and feel free to mention my
displeasure. I’ve supported the University
financially every year since
1971, in part due to my pride as an
alumnus. Sadly, my pride turned to
shame this week.”
Bob, I have no influence at the
University, but I, too, was disgusted
by the reporting about the student
treatment of the veteran and have
heard from others who were as
well. At the same time, Columbia,
which received approximately
35,000 applications for the Class of
2015, is getting a diverse group of
students, and I believe is politically
more diverse as well. The Admissions
Office is doing a great job.
Columbia admissions data for the
College and Engineering may well
be second only to Harvard, though
I suspect for the College alone our
admit stats may be the best in the
Ivies.
reid feldman, in Paris with his
law firm Kramer Levin Natfalis
& Frankel, is handling multiple
European deals and litigation, with
short breaks in Méribel, where the
snow has been great this year. He
has mastered the art of BlackBerry
uphill, powder downhill.
Reid, Have you seen bill Mcdavid
in Paris? And Bill, have you
called Reid?
I received a wondrous, long note
from david shapiro (editing it may
be beyond my skills). He is writing,
teaching, doing poetry readings and
so much more with his art.
David, I have some of your art.
Maybe it is time to frame it if Jasper
Johns is framing it now.
bill Joseph wrote: “I recently
returned from visiting a granddaughter
and grandson in Portland,
Ore. Earlier, I visited three
other granddaughters in Scotts-
dale. I’m working hard advocating
at the state and federal level for the
arts, public radio and television,
social service, and educational
organizations. Most recently, I’ve
been trying to raise public funds
for a $300 million capital project at
the Cleveland Museum of Art and
the construction of a cultural center
for Case Western Reserve University
as well as for the construction
of new buildings for the Museum
of Contemporary Art Cleveland
and The Cleveland Institute of
Art. I recently received the ORT
America Cleveland Region Man of
the Year award, ‘… for his many
accomplishments and his dedication
to non-profit advocacy with
the Jewish Community and the
community at large.’ ”
Congratulations, Bill. I look
forward to seeing you.
I am probably going to be in hot
water for publishing the first paragraph
I received from Jon Kotch.
Jon wrote: “You know, Art, your
daughter, [Hannah ’06], was the star
of the department [at UNC’s renowned
school of public health] this
past week. She delivered a dynamite
seminar on health services for LGBT.
The room was packed. She has really
done so much since she has been
here, taken advantage of every opportunity
to advance her education
and making a lasting contribution
to the department at the same time.
You should be proud. And you
probably already know that Shoshana
Goldberg [’08], daughter of
ira goldberg, is in our department
as well, one year behind Hannah.
More classmates should send their
offspring if they don’t mind.”
I am quite proud of Hannah’s
deep interest in maternal health and
children and public health issues
across the planet.
Jon also noted, “On a recent week-
end, we were at our vacation home
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