A Passion for Science - Columbia College - Columbia University

Columbia CollEgE Today CLASS NOTES
showed me a stunning photo of
his wife, Sharon ’83 Barnard, who
competed in the last New York
City Marathon. Kevin beat my son,
David, in chess. My wife praised
Kevin for having the skills necessary
to beat a 6-year-old. David has been
invited to compete in the national
chess tournament in Texas, where
he will receive a ranking competing
against adversaries closer to
his age. My daughter, Rebecca, has
become an accomplished hula hoop
artist and performed her repertoire
of moves for the guests. geoffrey
Mintz has started a hat company
and has made several trips to China
to work on his new line. He and his
wife live in NYC. Many of you may
remember Geoff’s father, Norman
Mintz, a former e.v.p. of Columbia.
My wife’s Hunter H.S. classmate,
Emily Glickman Meyerson ’90, and
her husband, Howard Meyerson
’85, brought their daughters, Hallie
and Julia. Steven Greenfield and
his girlfriend, Melissa, were present.
Steve has attended dozens of
CC basketball games this year and
helped organize the event with me.
Ken Howitt ’76, a friend for more
than 30 years and a Nacom, drove
from New Jersey to be with us. Ken
organized February’s WKCR alumni
dinner. Marcia Sells, associate v.p.,
planning and program development
and initiatives at the School of the
Arts, as well as associate dean of
community outreach, also joined
us. Marcia is the faculty liaison for
the Senior Society of Nacoms. She
was joined by several current senior
Nacoms, including Alex Katz ’11 GS,
the Batab. Sam Rowan ’96 Barnard,
who helped organize the event, is
the managing editor of Real Estate
Finance & Investment and also a Nacom.
steve holtje is publishing in
Culture Clash a response to Anthony
Tommasini’s top 10 list of classical
composers. Steve is a former CC
marching band trombone player and
lives with his wife in Manhattan.
Three former CC marching band
managers showed up: Dan Carlinsky
’65, Frank Mirer ’66 and Peter
Janovsky ’68. nick paone is starting
a band. His bio at White Fleischner
& Fino states: “Mr. Paone joined
White Fleischner & Fino in 2003 and
is a trial attorney with over 20 years
of experience. Mr. Paone focuses on
the preparation and trial or arbitration
of significant cases in New York,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. These
cases run the gamut from medical
and dental malpractice to professional
liability, insurance coverage,
general liability, products, construc-
tion accidents and defects, property
damage, employment, business
disputes, securities litigation, and
insurance agents and brokers errors
and omissions.” Ethan Rouen ’04J,
’11 Business, associate editor of CCT,
and his wife, Kim Martineau ’97J,
also participated in the gathering. I
made sure to invite Ethan, as I am
always running late on my Class
Notes submission (including this
one). Marc Ripp ’80 and his wife,
Dr. Shari Ripp, attended with their
daughters, Brandi ’12 and Elena
’14E. Brandi and Elena are active at
Columbia and represent the third
generation of Ripps at the College.
Mark Simon ’84 and his wife, Melissa,
brought their children, William,
Oliver, Annabel and Colette. Mark
is friendly with andrew barth, and
Mark attended the John Jay Awards
Dinner. Overall, it was an eclectic
gathering of CC graduates and students
spanning many decades.
Wishing you all much health,
prosperity and happiness as many
of us turn 50 this year.
84
dennis Klainberg
Berklay Cargo Worldwide
JFK Intl. Airport
Box 300665
Jamaica, NY 11430
dennis@berklay.com
Welcome back, tom dyja!
Tom wrote, “Given all the coverage
of Charles Portis (True Grit),
you might want to check 1984 back
issues of the alumni magazine, when
Matt cooper did a short piece on
a Portis promotion I’d had a hand
in starting at the Madison Avenue
Bookshop. Portis had stalled a little
after The Dog of the South, and we like
to think all the attention gave him a
boost and got him back on the map.
“I’m working on a cultural history
of postwar Chicago for Penguin
Press, due this fall, covering
everyone from Mies van der Rohe,
Mahalia Jackson, Hugh Hefner
and the Second City to Ray Kroc,
Nelson Algren and Sun Ra. I’ve
spent more time in Butler the last
geoffrey Mintz ’83 started a hat company and has
made several trips to china to work on his new line.
year than I did all through my four
years in college.”
And a great four years they were,
chronicled by such current day
multimedia experts as WKCR’s Jon
abbot and Spec leaders Cooper
and steven waldman (and even
a friend or two from across the
street), which leads me to make the
provocative move of introducing
to our all-male (entering) class the
progress of a Barnard alum!
MAY/JUNE 2011
67
This very special friend, and indeed,
amazing asset to the Columbia
community in those days, was,
and is, Beth Knobel ’84 Barnard.
(She deserves boldface treatment,
but that honor is reserved for College
and Engineering classmates.)
Beth distinguished herself in
many leadership roles, most principally
with Spec, working under
editor-in-chief steve waldman and
alongside co-news editor richard
pollack.
“It was through Spec that I met a
few of my closest friends to this day,
including Jim weinstein, whom I
met when I interviewed him, and
Richard Froehlich ’85. I now sit
on the Spec Board of Trustees and
recently found one of my favorite
photos in the office, a front-page
photo of Jim and the late, great stuart
garcia, who were both College
senators, posing a bit like superheroes.”
Now, as a journalist and professor,
Beth graces us once more, as
the author of Heat and Light: Advice
for the Next Generation of Journalists,
which she co-wrote with the one
and only Mike Wallace.
“Mike and I worked together
twice when I was the Moscow
Bureau Chief for CBS News and
he was still at 60 Minutes, when he
came to Russia to interview Boris
Yeltsin and then Vladimir Putin.
Mike always was incredibly nice
to me, and when I left CBS to teach
journalism at Fordham in 2007, he
accepted my invitation to speak to
students. Mike had such interesting
things to say about journalism
that day that I told him that he
should write a book about how
to be a good reporter ... or that we
should write one together. And we
did! We took all of our best advice,
then added the best advice of a
lot of our friends (including AP
baseball reporter Ron Blum ’83 and
Washington Post executive editor
Marcus Brauchli ’83) and turned
out an easy-to-read guidebook
for young journalists. In writing
the book, I thought a lot about my
college years working on Spec and
kept asking myself what I know
now after 20 years as a journalist
that I wished I’d known then. The
book was published by Three Rivers
Press, part of Random House,
and I think it is a good read for any
aspiring journalist.”
On a personal note, I am most
happy to see Beth and her son now
and then at the local JCC where
we are all members; her son and
mine have even attended the same
camp. Small world indeed!
I can see the letters now: What’s
next, ’84 Engineering alums? Well,
why not? While, like Barnard, they
do have their own magazine, they
also lived, took courses and dined
with us, and they were welcome
to join our 25th reunion dinner.
So, as far as I’m concerned, they’re
welcome to stay in touch in this
column. Let’s hear from craig sultan
’84E, ’90 Business and carolyn
strauss-Meckler ’84E, all great class
leaders, and any of their classmates.
Fire away!
85
Jon white
16 South Ct.
Port Washington, NY 11050
jw@whitecoffee.com
Well, it’s been a quiet month for
updates, so please refill the “update
pipeline” for us.
The Glee Club is joining other
singing groups for another concert
during the upcoming Dean’s Day/
Alumni Reunion Weekend (Thursday,
June 2–Sunday, June 5), so for
any of you who are in or can get
to the New York area, plan accordingly.
There is more info available
on the Glee Club’s Facebook page.
I hope to be on campus for this
and several other Dean’s Day/
reunion activities; let me know if
you are coming so we can catch up
in person.
Congratulations to two more of
our classmates who can add the
“P” moniker to their Columbia
credentials: stephen carty and
Michael romey. Welcome to the
Columbia Class of 2015, Monica
Carty and Morgan Romey! We will
hopefully add to our total “P’15”
count (now up to three) when the
final numbers come out. [Editor’s
note: A list of alumni legacies for
the College and Engineering Class
of 2015 is scheduled for the September/October
issue.] As nearly
35,000 students applied for admission
to the College or Engineering,
acceptance is a terrific accomplishment.
I have been interviewing
prospective students for more than
10 years (a great way to give back
to the College that doesn’t cost a
dime; studentaffairs.columbia.edu/
admissions/alumni/volunteers.php)
and have never seen such a strong
group of potential applicants.
In early February, I had the pleas-
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