Alumni of MRI & ARIC: A PHS Quarterly (1st Edition!!!)
Introduction and Overview
Welcome to the inaugural ‘Alumni of MRI & ARIC’ quarterly! I chose that name because nearly all of
us on this mailing were in PHS during that time when we were a smaller group and could all fit in 1.5
buildings. I believe most of us have a couple of years or more in the department from that unique
period and we all share a common experience that ties us together. Therefore, the goal of this quarterly
is to help those still in PHS and those who were our co-workers from that time stay in touch.
The thought is that four times a year some form of this newsletter will be sent via email with ‘Alumni’
news, announcements, and other relevant information. There may be different formats as the quarterly
is done on a volunteer basis (volunteers are EAGERLY WELCOMED BTW) and each volunteer can
assemble the newsletter as they see fit. Now that the obligatory nuts and bolts have been discussed let’s
get to the HEADLINES!!!
(03/31/2009)
ALUMNI PRODUCTIVE EVEN AFTER WORKING HOURS!!!
“HELLO WORLD!” says Cassandra Lee Verrill
born March 14th 2009 to proud parents Cynthia
Kancler and Donovan Verrill. She weighed 6lbs 2
oz and the family is doing well.
“Hold on, I’m coming!” Another husband and
wife pair that will soon be upping the ante from
spouses to parents is Rahul and Jasma Ghai who
are expecting on May 26th 2009. If you guessed
girl, you are only half right because the
parents2be are willingly double blinded!
‘Hey, what about me’ says Caden Collier Davis
who I imagine everyone on the mailing knows
already. He was born December 7th 2009 to proud
(and finally sleeping) parents Cralen and Karen
Davis.
OTHER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, & ACHIEVEMENTS
For those who may not know, PHS is now a division containing 3 departments: Dept of Biostatistical
Sciences (DBS) headed by someone familiar to us all Mark Espeland, Dept of Social Sciences (DSS)
headed by Doug Easterling, and Dept of Epidemiology (DE) headed by David Goff. PHS is headed by
Greg Burke. The former section of Biostatistics has gone big time, and we are proud to have Mark as
our first Dept head.
Alumnus still fond of time in PHS even after a decade removed. With the help of John Preisser,
DBS was able to hire one of its newest faculty members. John, who has been at UNC-CH for nearly 10
years now, discussed his positive experience in PHS with Sean Simpson a UNC PhD student. That
discussion helped foster an interest in us which ultimately led to him joining the department. Just one
of the many examples of those binding PHS ties.
Welcome back Peggy!!! Margaret (Peggy) James has moved back to NC. Peggy has left the cold of
the north to return back to NC. She lives in Cary and is happy to be back. She is especially happy to be
near people she can contact if she has SAS or stats questions so be on the look out because she might
be contacting you with a question.
Reunion anyone? It has been nearly 4 years since we had a ‘reunion’ and Judy Bahnson has
volunteered to host one toward the latter part of the year if we would like to have one again. There may
be more to come on this in the next edition.
In Alumni achievement news, league bowler Mark Brown recently bowled two perfect 300 games in
the SAME week!!! That gives him a total of SIX perfect games!!! I am sure being associated with
these type of skills in bowling would not even offend the most sensitive Special Olympics
representative.
NOT HERE BUT WHERE?
This is a spot light on places where we find former PHSers. This edition we will row row row to
Rho which is gently down the stream in Chapel Hill. This is the workplace for Alumni members
Cynthia Kancler and Dan Zaccaro. Also it is the workplace for long time seminar attendee Robert
James and Tee Bahnson son of Alumni member Judy Bahnson.
WHO AM I?
See if you can guess the Alumni member based on these clues (answers at the bottom):
I am the reigning and still undefeated PHS brownie champion, and my brownies are always a crowd
favorite. They are enough to make people attend seminar no matter who speaks or on what the topic.
Who am I?
I used to be on the 2nd floor of MRI and though we were not as rowdy as the 3rd floor we were quite
social. I did not generally speak loudly but I did carry a big bat as I was a force on the softball field.
Now you might catch me in some red socks while helping seniors who can no longer drive safely
transition to other forms of transportation. Who am I?
I commute to Winston-Salem from Greensboro and have been doing so for years and years. I am such
a fan of PHS that I granted them my son for a short stint in the ARIC building. BTW I know firsthand
that ARIC was more than just a building. Also, many know me for my fantasy baseball prowess.
Living players or dead man’s league makes no difference; I can manage with the best of them. Who
am I?
LOL FUNNY!
A man was ice fishing one day and after a couple
hours he packed up and headed to his truck. His
fish cooler was spotted by the game warden who
approached him saying, ‘You know it is against
the law to ice fish out of season.’ The man
replied, ‘Oh no officer, in this cooler are my
special pet fish and I was training them. I put
them in the water and then I call them back using
my fishing pole. Let me show you.’ Eager to see
this, the officer followed the man to the hole in
the ice. The man put the fish back in the water and
after a few minutes the officer said, ‘Now call the
fish back.’ The man looked at the officer and
shrewdly quipped, “What fish?!”
Thanks for reading and please forgive any spelling, grammar, or info mistakes. The info
contained is accurate to the best of the writer’s knowledge.
Who Am I Answers: Leora Henkin, Beth Dugan, Greg Evans