The magazine
published by and for
the Rutgers Alumni
Association
FALL 2007
The
Mayhem
Poets
Former Rutgers
students turn poetry
into a viable business
that would make
William Shakespeare
and Bill Gates proud
ALSO INSIDE:
The Gordon Brothers • ‘Renegade Naturalist’ Daniel Botkin • Rutgers Food Network
• Mir Imran • Reunion Weekend 2007 • HDA Awards • Sports Update & More
Contents
MAYHEM POETS
176 Years of Service to Rutgers Alumni
Cover Story
10
Poetry as a Business Venture? These
Alums Are Ready To Pull It Off
Three former Rutgers students are a
giant step closer to their dream in the wake of
winning a national contest for the best small
business idea in America
Features
6
9
13
16
17
20
Rutgers Alumni Association
DAN BOTKIN
Tale of Three Rutgers Brothers
The Gordon brothers distinguished themselves
on campus, in the military, and later on in
their professional careers
President: John Hugelmeyer RC ’72
A ‘Renegade’ Naturalist with Rutgers Roots
President-Elect: Frank Hundley RC ’86
Daniel Botkin has built a distinguished
career around tackling an extraordinary range of
environmental and ecological issues
Vice Presidents: Ralph Zemel ENG ’69
Mel Silverstein RC ’59
Cara Bufanio MGSA ’85
Vice President and Corresponding Secretary:
Rutgers’ Homegrown Food Network
Melissa Daniel DC ’00, GMLR ’01
A group of Rutgers alumni turned restaurant
owners has found the recipe for success
Treasurer: Heather Taylor RC ’89
Director: Keri DeMayo RC ’94, RBS ’06
Medical Technologist Extraordinaire
Alumni Trustees
Mir Imran’s career in medical technology
includes the development of the first
implantable defibrillator
REUNION
Rutgers Reunion 2007
Founded in 1831, the Rutgers Alumni
Association is a service organization maintained
by and for the graduates of Rutgers College, the
Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture, the
School of Education, the Mason Gross School of
the Arts, School of Management and Labor
Relations, and the Graduate School – New
Brunswick. Its purpose is to create a vital, beneficial,
and continuing relationship between university
and alumni. It organizes events such as Reunion
Weekend, publishes 1766 to inform members
about issues that concern them, provides access
to benefits such as life and disability insurance,
develops career seminars for graduates, and
offers opportunities for volunteer service in all
aspects of university life — from participation in
governance committees to mentoring undergraduates. The fourth-oldest organized alumni
group in the United States, the Rutgers Alumni
Association is supported mainly by the dues of
its more than 11,000 members.
Some 2,000 alumni and friends converged
on campus for the three-day-long festivities
MIR IMRAN
Robert Stevenson ENG ’65
Robert Frisch, Jr. RC ’78
George Rears RC ’89
Barbara Pollison-Beck DC ’82
Greg Bender ENG ’68
John Futey RC ’69, CLAW ’72
2007 Hall of Distinguished Alumni
Seven alumni with sparkling backgrounds are
the latest crop of HDA inductees
Editor
Randy Young RC ’68
Department of Alumni Relations Liaison
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3
4
5
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21
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2
Departments
Michael Rutkowski UCNB ’96
On the Banks
Cara Bufanio MGSA ’85
Art Director
1766 is published by the
Rutgers Alumni Association, 7 College Avenue,
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1262
Telephone: 732-932-7474
Rutgers Web site: www.rutgers.edu
RAA Web site: www.RutgersAlumni.org
Except for official announcements, the
Rutgers Alumni Association disclaims all
responsibility for opinions expressed and
statements made in articles or advertisements
published in this magazine.
President’s Message
Kramer Scholarship
Loyal Sons & Daughters
Trustee Report
RAA Happenings
Sports Update
1766 MAGAZINE
RAA HAPPENINGS
Vol. 26, No.2
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On the Banks
BY RANDY YOUNG RC ’68
ant to see the future of your
Rutgers Alumni Association? Then
go to www.rutgersalumni.org.
You’ll get a taste of our new RAA
web site, which went live in early September.
With its clean and attractive look, broad
functionality and easy navigation, we believe
we’ve created a site that will meet the needs
of the association and its more than 11,000
members around the world for years to come.
In a new era of Rutgers pride and school
spirit – fueled by the extraordinary efforts of
our football and basketball teams – we’re
giving alumni one more thing to cheer
about. Our new site positions us among the
top universities in the country that rely on a
powerful web presence to keep alumni
informed, and help build an even stronger
allegiance to their alma mater. With those
goals foremost in mind, we benchmarked
against what we considered the very best
alumni web sites in the course of developing
our own homegrown model.
More than ever, our redesigned web site
L
will keep you up to date on what’s going on
at Rutgers – activities like the Rutgers
Reunion, Alumni Family Day, Homecoming
and Business Card Exchanges that depend
on your active involvement for their success.
You’ll also see stories on what your fellow
alumni and classmates have been up to,
and be able to scan photo albums with some
great pictures of events (which hopefully
you were part of ). Just as importantly,
though, our new site is designed to provide
you with a service. You’ll be able to apply for
a Rutgers credit card, sign up for events,
check college transcripts, locate classmates
you haven’t seen in years, catch up on
Rutgers sports, join the RAA (or renew your
membership), and more.
Our web presence doesn’t mean
we’re phasing out our traditional
communications vehicles. If you’re an RAA
member, you’ll continue to receive 1766, our
flagship publication, as well as RU Aware,
KnightLife (for young alumni), e-mails and
direct mailings. What we’re trying to achieve
is an optimal balance – and that will mean
cross-pollination, wherever possible. For
example, our web site may refer you to 1766
for more information on a specific subject, and
vice versa.
We hope you’ll become regular visitors to
www.rutgersalumni.org, and that the
experience will encourage you to give back to
your school by becoming involved in our
many activities and committees. After all,
you, too, are the future of the Rutgers
Alumni Association. President’s Message
BY JOHN HUGELMEYER RC ’72
ike many of you, I clearly
remember the “old Rutgers.”
There’s the snapshot of Dean
Howard Crosby telling us during
our very first days on campus to “look to
your right and look to your left, because in
four years only one of you will still be here at
graduation.” I’m sure that dire language
disappeared a long time ago, along with
dinks and many of the other old trappings.
Today, Rutgers is at the threshold of
tremendous change, not just in terms of its
structure and curricula, but in its alumni
program. Rutgers University President
Richard L. McCormick has commissioned
a task force to chart a bold new course for
alumni relations, one that reflects the new
realities taking place within our sprawling
university.
This change is occurring amid the
astonishing growth of visibility for Rutgers
thanks to the success of its athletes, both
men and women. Alumni association
membership has swelled, and once hard to
find Rutgers paraphernalia has suddenly
sprouted in department stores across the state.
How will the university reinvent its
relationship with legions of alumni in the
wake of all these changes? This is where the
magic of “old Rutgers” may still be very much
in vogue. Many of us have never really left
Rutgers: we continue to stay connected to
our alma mater and to the many friends and
classmates from our college days. Let’s hope
that whatever future direction the alumni
program at Rutgers takes, it continues to draw
from that wellspring of pride and loyalty.
We know that with the help of a growing
army of dedicated volunteers — people who
loved the old Rutgers but are just as eager to
embrace the new — our alumni association
will remain strong, relevant and connected.
As incoming RAA president, I encourage you
to become part of this change. Come back to
campus, join a committee, get involved. You
really can help shape our future. Contact me
at jhugelmeyer@alumni.rutgers.edu and I’ll
be happy to give you more details. FALL 2007
3
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Kramer Scholarship Winners
BY MIKE RUTKOWSKI UCNB ’96
he Vincent
R.
Kramer
Scholarship is awarded each year
to children and grandchildren
of Rutgers Alumni Association
members. These incoming freshmen must
demonstrate outstanding academic achievement as well as leadership qualities in the
community. The scholarship provides an
award of $1,766 that’s renewable for
four years, contingent upon the student
maintaining a good GPA while enrolled
at Rutgers.
The scholarship honors the memory of
Vincent R. Kramer RC ’41. Vince was a
Loyal Son of the RAA who fought during
World War II as a second lieutenant in the
Marine Corps. He also served in the Korean
War and was awarded the Navy Cross for
heroism. After his retirement from the
military in 1964, Vince served the RAA as its
executive secretary until 1987.
Two students were honored with the
scholarship in 2006:
Alison Eichert
Alison Eichert, a member of the Class
of 2010, has certainly cut her teeth on
Rutgers. Her parents, Bob and Sharon
Eichert, both Rutgers College, Class of ‘78,
took her to football games, Reunion
Weekends and other events where they
played as members of the Rutgers University
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1766 MAGAZINE
Alumni Band. Her father is also an active
volunteer with the RAA.
Over the years, music became an
important part of Alison’s life, as well. A
graduate of J.P. Stevens High School in
Edison, she spent four years in the nationally
recognized, award-winning marching band,
the award-winning jazz band, and a year
in the pep band. A gifted musician who
plays multiple instruments, Alison received
the most valuable player award for her
contributions to the marching band, and the
Zoot Sims Jazz Award for jazz band.
“I started out playing trumpet, but
moved to baritone horn and trombone
during my senior year,” Alison says. “It
elevated me to honors band class and placed
me in the top jazz ensemble.”
In 2003, Alison organized a group of
band classmates to play at the opening
women’s basketball game at the Rutgers
Athletic Center, while the Rutgers Pep Band
was playing at a football game in Annapolis
Maryland.
In addition to her band credits, Alison
maintained a busy schedule of honors classes
in high school. She is a Menlo Park PTA
Scholarship winner and National Honor
Society member. Alison was also a four-year
member of the service-oriented Key Club,
and a peer leader for Hebrew School at
Temple Emanu-El in Edison.
Richard T. Wells, the son of Tina and
the Honorable Richard F. Wells ENG ’70
CLAW ’79, entered Rutgers College Class of
2010 last fall. He follows a family of Rutgers
grads, including grandmother Alice Smith
Brown DC ’32, and uncle David Ives
Brown CCAS ’66. Rich says he believes in
leading by example and giving back to the
community, and his accomplishments so far
are proof positive of that.
While attending high school, he
volunteered with the Civil Air Patrol,
was a member of student council, and acted
as a guidance office monitor at Haddon
Heights High School. He was also appointed
a student representative on New Jersey
Congressman Robert Andrew’s Youth Action
Council, serving as a voice for youth issues
and concerns.
Rich has shown further leadership
Richard Wells stands next to a prototype
lantern he helped secure in town in an effort
to encourage redevelopment and further
borough improvements.
qualities through his volunteer work on
community projects in his home town of
Haddon Heights, including the planting of
100 trees and building a fountain and garden
in the center of town. Performing with his
band, Rich also organized a concert to
benefit the local Drug Alliance Committee.
Rich’s challenging academic schedule
included 14 honors classes. He is the
recipient of the Edward J. Bloustein
Distinguished Scholar Award designating
him among the elite academic achievers in
the state; the American Legion School
Award; the President’s Award for Education
Excellence; the Camden County School
Boards Association Award for Excellence in
Academic and Community Achievement; the
President’s Volunteer Service Award; and
the Prudential Spirit of Community Award.
Rich is also a member of the National
Honor Society; the Garnet and Gold Society;
junior varsity and freshman baseball,
and junior varsity football teams; and jazz
band. He is a Civil Air Patrol Squadron
Honor Cadet. Loyal Sons
and Daughters
The Loyal Son and Daughter Award
recognizes those who have demonstrated
extraordinary service on behalf of the
Rutgers Community. This years inductees
are: front row (l to r) Robert D. Hubbard
ENG ’50; Kenneth R. Johnson ENG ’67;
Franklin J. Kneller RC ’49. RBS ’54;
Richard H. Merritt AG ’54, GSNB ’56, ’61;
Gregory B. Noble RC ’95; Richard H.
Shindell RC ’57; Melvin W. Silverstein RC ’59;
back row (l to r) John L. Archibald RC ’43;
Douglas V. Dolan RC ’78, RBS ’90; Jerome J.
Bruder RC ’67; Melissa J. Daniel DC ’00,
GMLR’01; Alfred A. Edmond Jr. RC ’83;
Anwar Hussain RC ’89.
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Outgoing Trustee Report
BY JOHN A. HENDRICKS RC ’62
hen I last corresponded with you
six years ago, I was doing so in my
capacity as the President of the
RAA. In a way, it seems like
yesterday and in others, it seems so distant.
Much has happened since then and I am
here to report on my experience as an
Alumni Trustee of Rutgers University.
My first year was a transition year. From
spearheading the efforts of the largest alumni
organization at Rutgers, I became one of 59
voting members of the Board of Trustees.
While I was learning on the job, the major
news was the search for a new president to
replace Fran Lawrence.
In year two, the search committee
electrified the Rutgers community by
selecting Dr. Richard L. McCormick, a
person many thought had declined the
position. Besides his outstanding background, Dick was the son of the beloved
professor and historian, Dr Richard P.
McCormick. At the time, few realized how
important this selection would become.
Year three was a turbulent year. The great
debate of the consolidation of Rutgers,
UMDNJ, and NJIT dominated every
agenda of our scheduled meetings and
required additional special meetings as well.
In the end, the Board voted against the
restructuring.Questionable financing and
political interference at the highest levels
of the projected administration of the
combined universities outweighed any
benefits that could have been achieved.
The last three years of my term seemed to
be more involved. Part of this was due to my
increased responsibilities as the chair of
several committees and my membership on
some Governor's committees. Most of this
came from our dynamic President who was
seeking to elevate our standing in the
academic community and to carve out our
leadership position in the State of New
Jersey. Paramount was his initiative to
standardize undergraduate education on the
New Brunswick-Piscataway campuses. After
many lengthy debates across a wide
spectrum, the initiative was approved and is
being implemented this Fall.
In summary, my time as an Alumni
Trustee was very rewarding. One negative
was the constant rise in tuition costs, due
mainly to the insufficient funding by the
State of New Jersey. While some politicians
jumped on the loss of six athletic teams, not
one complained about the hundreds of
classes which were closed and the faculty
positions which were eliminated due to the
extreme budget cuts. On the brighter side,
the Rutgers name was thrust onto the
national spotlight due to the extraordinary
successes of the football team and the
women's basketball stories.
This brings me full circle to my report to
you six years ago. I was so proud of the
Rutgers RAA “family” at that time. As a
Trustee, I experienced the entire University
and feel the same pride in my alma mater.
The success stories at our Newark and
Camden campuses rival those here in Central
Jersey. We have much to cheer about, and I
don't mean only our sports teams. We must
be vigilant and outspoken in our
support for Rutgers as new challenges
emerge, not the least of which are better state
funding and our proper role in any new
consolidation of universities. And since I am
continuing on as a Charter Trustee, you can
be sure that I will give it the old college try.
Go RU! FALL 2007
5
The Remarkable
Gordon Brothers
BY JOYCE ESSIG LC ’05
T
hey are Rutgers’ most
illustrious ‘band of
brothers’ — three siblings who
each attended Rutgers and who
each found a wealth of ways to
distinguish themselves on campus,
in the military, and later on in
their professional careers.
They are the Gordons – Irwin
ENG ’48, GSNB ’51, ’52,
Allen RC ’50, and Larry RC ’54,
GSNB ’56 — and here is a brief
look at their intriguing lives.
Irwin Gordon circa 1944
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1766 MAGAZINE
The Gordon Brothers — from left, Larry, Irwin, and Allen.
Irwin’s Three Degrees
Irwin remembers vividly his early days at
Rutgers, commuting from his childhood
home in Elizabeth, NJ, and taking a
summertime math class with Professor
Brasefield. “As he was handing out blue
books one day for an exam, I remember him
telling us, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll never get
drafted; you’re too dumb,’” Irwin recalls.
Hardly. Along with countless other
students attending classes at the height of
World War II, Irwin was forced to trade in
his books for battle gear. He soon found
himself a member of the 179th Engineer
Combat Battalion, landing in France two
weeks after D-Day. The sudden change in
scenery was mind-boggling. “I didn’t know
enough to be frightened,” he allows.
One of Irwin’s jobs as an engineer and
explosives expert was to clear the roads of
trees the Germans had cut down to slow the
movement of Allied troops. This task was
notoriously dangerous, as Irwin found out
on two occasions when felled trees that were
booby trapped suddenly erupted in
shrapnel, hitting him under the eye and in
the knee. Irwin was
awarded two purple
hearts for the injuries
he sustained
After the conclusion of the war,
Irwin got his life
into gear once again.
He returned to
Rutgers, and graduated
in 1948 with a degree in
Ceramics/Ceramic Engineering.
A month later — on June 26, 1948
— he married Lenore Bateman, whom
he had met at a New Years Eve party.
Realizing the importance of an advanced
degree to his future career, Irwin continued
his studies, obtaining both a Masters and a
Ph.D. from Rutgers. The living conditions
for the newlyweds were nearly as trying as
the course work. They occupied a tiny
apartment with a kerosene heater on the
University Heights campus (now the Busch
campus), prompting Irwin’s father-in-law to
ask one day incredulously, “You’re not living
there, are you?”
Following his extended stay at Rutgers,
Irwin began his professional career with
RCA Labs in Princeton, when television was
starting to grab the imagination of the
American public. Irwin stayed with RCA
for 35 years – the only employer he would
ever have.
He continues to live in Princeton with
Lenore. The Gordons have two children,
Mark and Sara, and five grandchildren.
As the oldest of the Gordon brothers,
Irwin still delights in pointing out the
outstanding example he set for Allen and
Larry: when it came time to pick a college,
Rutgers emerged the clear-cut winner.
Allen Keeps the Rutgers
Flame Alive
Unable to boast of being the youngest or
oldest sibling, Allen found another way to
stand out. “Larry and Irwin both went to
work for the same companies they retired
with,” he explains playfully. “I became the
corporate nomad. I’d go to work for a
company, and when it no longer met my
needs, I’d fire it and get another company.
I’m told I was ahead of my time.”
Allen Gordon, OCS Graduation photo, 1951
That freespiritedness
didn’t prevent
Allen from
holding down
officer-level
positions in
large companies
like Bigelow Sanford (carpets), Cosco (baby
furniture), and Owens Illinois (glass and
plastic packaging products). Indeed, he
retired in 1992 after logging what he
describes as “a good career and a lot of good
memories.”
In more recent years, Allen
became part of the acclaimed
Rutgers Oral History
Archives, in which he
recounted his Korean War
experience as an
enclosure commander
at a prisoner of war camp
with responsibility for over
6,000 prisoners
That memory bank was also amply
enriched by his undergraduate years at
Rutgers. In his freshman year, the
athletically gifted Allen participated in
varsity football (permitted at the time),
swimming and track – making him one of
only three freshmen in the history of the
school to earn three varsity letters in their
first year. Perhaps more importantly, the
swimming carried over to his post-college
years and, up until a year ago when he was
closing in on 80, Allen competed in master’s
and seniors’ swim meets (he specialized in
backstroke) in Florida, where he and his wife
of 56 years, Edna, now spend their winters.
“It’s amazing how many people would
walk up to me at one of these meets when I
Allen at P.O.W. camp #5,
Sang Mu Dai, Korea, 1952-53
was wearing my Rutgers T-shirt,” he recalls,
“and say, ‘Hey, I swam against Rutgers in
’48,’ or whenever. It gives you a really good
feeling.”
Allen kept the Rutgers flame alive in
other ways. In the early 1980s, he served as
the first president of the Rutgers Club of
Chicago, part of the network of regional
Rutgers alumni clubs. He remembers then
Rutgers President Edward J. Bloustein
coming to one of the club’s meetings and
addressing the 12-member group.
Allen and Edna continue to live just
outside Chicago, in Highland Park. They
have three children, and five grandchildren.
In more recent years, Allen became part
of the acclaimed Rutgers Oral History
Archives, in which he recounted his Korean
War experience as an enclosure commander
at a prisoner of war camp with responsibility
for over 6,000 prisoners. The lengthy
recording session was held last November
for both Larry and Allen at Larry’s home in
Princeton. Irwin became part of the Archives
the year before.
“They are a remarkable family,” says
Sandra Stewart Holyoak RC ’97, director
of the Rutgers Oral History Archives, of
the Gordons. “They give credit to Rutgers
for their educations, and they are in turn a
credit to Rutgers.”
Larry’s Basketball Legacy
When he needed help with chemistry,
physics or science while growing up, it’s
not surprising that Lawrence (Larry) would
go to big brother Irwin, who was an
excellent student.
Continued on page 8
FALL 2007
7
Gordon Brothers from page 7
“I’d ask him how to solve a problem,
and he would slowly work it out,” recalls
Larry. “When he was sure I completely
understood the problem, he would tear
the answer sheet up, despite the fact
I’d always yell, ‘Hey, I need that!’ The
lesson Irwin taught me was an important
one: You can’t depend on others to solve
your problems.”
Larry had few problems on the
basketball court in high school. After
breaking scoring records at Thomas
Jefferson High School in Elizabeth, NJ,
and being selected for All-State, he was
offered basketball scholarship by Rutgers,
Princeton and two other schools. He
chose Rutgers, believing that the students
and the campus life in New Brunswick
Larry Gordon, third from left, with his officers at a Quartermaster Unit meeting.
Larry’ founded the
Gordon Family
Scholarship Fund,
which enables geology
students at Rutgers
to put their knowledge
and skills to the test
doing field work
during the summer.
would be much better suited to his taste.
Even at six-feet-two, Larry was a titan
on the college basketball court. After
sitting out his freshman year because of
some confusion over his scholarship, he
went on to score 1,213 points in his
remaining three years, averaging a very
impressive 19 points per game. This feat
earned him admission to the Rutgers
Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994,
and 15th place on the school’s list of
all-time scorers.
On the academic front, Larry was again
influenced by older brother Irwin. He
planned to major in ceramics, but had a
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1766 MAGAZINE
change of heart after his freshman year. “I
realized that ceramics wasn’t for me,” he
says, “and decided to switch to geology,
which I enjoy to this day.”
Larry graduated from Rutgers with a
Bachelor’s degree in Geology/Geological
Science, going on to earn a Master’s
degree in 1956. Even before graduation,
he had a major decision to make. The
Minneapolis Lakers, Washington Capitals
and the New York Knicks all dangled
professional basketball contracts in front
of him. “I considered them,” he recalls,
“but decided I could do better in the
workforce with my degree.”
So, after his six-month active duty tour
in the Army as part of his ROTC
obligation, he accepted a job with Shell
Oil in 1956. Over the course of a 35-year
career as one of Shell’s top exploratory
geologists, he registered 17 different
addresses across the South and Southwest.
He retired in 1991, but kept busy right up
until 2006 as a consultant. In 1983, he
retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a
Lieutenant Colonel, having served as
commander of a unit called up during the
Cuban Missile Crisis.
Larry’s love for geology – and Rutgers –
lives on. He started the Gordon Family
Scholarship Fund which enables
promising geology students at Rutgers to
put their knowledge and skills to the test
doing field work during the summer.
Larry and his second wife Norma Jean
have an extended family of six children
and 12 grandchildren. Their home in
Houston draws the brothers and their
“
They are a
remarkable family...
they give credit to
Rutgers for their
educations, and they
are in turn a
credit to Rutgers.
”
Sandra Stewart Holyoak RC ’97,
director of the Rutgers Oral
History Archives
wives together every three years as they
take turns hosting their own annual
reunion.
What do they do for entertainment at
these gatherings? What else? They turn
up the stereo and listen to Rutgers glee
club songs! Daniel Botkin decided to blaze his own trail...
A ‘Renegade Naturalist’
with Rutgers Roots
D
BY LORI VARGA RC ’04, SCILS ’04 and RANDY YOUNG RC ’68
aniel Botkin GSNB ’68 began
studying global warming nearly 40
years ago – around the time he was
awarded his Ph.D. in Biology and
Plant Ecology from Rutgers. So when this
well-known scientist says he isn’t buying into
all the doomsday forecasts that characterize
the public debate and media coverage of this
red-hot issue, people naturally listen.
“My concern is that we may be moving
from an irrational lack of care about global
warming to an equally irrational panic about
it,” he says. “As a result, we make quick
decisions out of fear, rather than based on
clear thinking and scientific fundamentals.”
That theme — the dominance of
emotion and ideology over scientific rigor
and objectivity — is often trotted out by
Dr. Botkin in talks he gives around
the world, as well as in the books and
numerous papers he has authored. “People
are heavily influenced by the media,” he says
in the course of explaining why he feels
environmental problems are so seldom
viewed in a clear-eyed, rational way.
In this constrained climate, good
observational research and data collection —
essential tools for scientific discovery — are
sadly missing, he maintains, and the search
for the truth often falls victim to emotional,
cultural and mythological bias. Which helps
explain why Dr. Botkin is such an unabashed
fan of Henry David Thoreau. The iconic
author-naturalist understood and respected
the strong emotional and spiritual pull
“
My concern is
that we may be
moving from an
irrational lack of care
about global warming
to an equally irrational
panic about it...
”
Daniel Botkin GSNB’68 is president of the
Center for the Study of the Environment.
nature exerts on people, Botkin explains, but
was still able to separate that dynamic from
his own scientific observation.
In the spirit of Thoreau and the
explorers Lewis and Clark — whom he also
liberally draws upon — Dr. Botkin decided
to blaze his own ecological trails. In 1991, he
founded the Center for the Study of the
Environment (CSE), based in Santa Barbara,
California. This non-profit organization has
since earned a solid reputation for tackling
complex issues with independent, objective
scientific research that spits out results in a
Continued on page 15
Botkin along the Pacific Coast in central California, where he
and a group of UCSB students traveled to see elephant
seals, a species recovering remarkably after nearly being
hunted to extinction.
FALL 2007
9
COVER STORY
into a
oetry
P
Turn
Business Venture?
These Rutgers Grads
Are Ready to Pull it Off
R
BY BRIAN CLOPP RC ’05
The idea seemed intriguing, if
not a bit far-fetched — turn
poetry into a full-time, wagepaying profession, just like
doctors or computer programmers, and give its practitioners a storefront
venue where they could both educate and
perform their works in front of audiences of
all ages. In other words, turn spoken-word
poetry into a viable business proposition that
would make William Shakespeare and Bill
Gates proud.
That’s precisely the idea hatched by a trio
of one-time Rutgers students — Scott
Tarazevits RC ’02, Kyle Sutton LC ’03,
and Mason Granger. And in the wake of
recently being named top winners in
Microsoft’s Ultimate Challenge contest, a
nationwide search for the best small-business
idea in America, they’re on the verge of
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“
We had our
respective majors,
but each of us
loved poetry,
and that became
our focus.
”
— Scott Tarazevits RC ’02
pulling it off. They’re using their prize —
$100,000 in start-up capital, a New York
storefront rent-free for a year, and a suite of
software and services — to get their business
up and running.
“We want poets to be in the workforce so
they can proudly tell people, ‘I’m a full-time
poet,’” exudes Sutton. “At the same time, we
want to make poetry a business model that
can spread to other cities in the U.S. and
around the world, and become a real
resource for the community.”
No one would ever accuse this
enterprising band of bards of thinking small.
But there is good reason to believe they can
pull it off. For one thing, they’ve been
nurturing this scheme ever since their undergraduate days at Rutgers, when they became
good friends during an acting class and
discovered their mutual love for writing.
So they formed a campus group known as
Verbal Mayhem, and provided open mic
poetry nights.
“We had our respective majors, but each
of us loved poetry, and that became our
focus,” explains Tarazevits. It also became a
strategic business tool, so to speak. Working
as struggling waiters at night to defray their
college expenses, they incorporated into their
patter with customers some of the lilting
phrases they had penned by day, angling for
a better tip, perhaps, or a phone number
from a table of good-looking girls.
Meanwhile, the poetry nights they had
organized began to catch fire across campus,
and the three budding artists became more and
more convinced they were on to something
that would have wings beyond Rutgers.
Without the benefit of consultants or focus
groups, they began testing the waters. After
graduation, they morphed into Mayhem Poets
and began performing wherever they could
get a foot in the door – local schools, detention
centers, psychiatric wards, nursing homes,
slam poetry (spoken-word poetry) contests,
and open mics. What they offered was unique
– a riveting performance studded with hip-hop
rhythms, side-splitting social commentary and
soaring theatrics, all designed to showcase the
raw power of spoken word poetry.
“One of the things we love most about
being performance poets is that we can talk
about relevant issues in an entertaining way,
without having to preach or resort to comedy,” explains Sutton. “We can take from any
style – hip hop or theater, say – and act out
a character within a poem. It’s an awesome
form of expression.”
Mason Granger
The Mayhem Poets offer a riveting performance designed to showcase the raw power of spoken word poetry.
“
We can take
from any style – hip
hop or theater... and
act out a character
within a poem. It’s
an awesome form
of expression.
”
— Kyle Sutton LC ’03
Scott Tarazevits
Groundswell Movement
Audiences agree. Mayhem Poets began
catching on, just like they had at Rutgers,
and before long they were performing at bigger and more prestigious venues around the
country: the Capital Center for the Arts in
Concord, New Hampshire; the Sangamon
Auditorium in Springfield, Illinois; the State
Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey; and
the Calgary International Children’s Festival
and Northern Alberta Festival in Canada.
The workshops they put on for schools –
where they attempt to inspire children to
write and perform their own spoken-word
poetry – have also become a big draw, often
booked a year in advance.
Continued on page 12
Kyle Sutton
FALL 2007
11
Mayhem Poets from page 11
“We’re trying to make poetry a form of
self-expression for everyone, children and
adults,” says Granger, another member of
the group. “Poetry has this aura about it
where people feel you have to be wearing a
beret or sipping expresso – but it’s not
really like that. All it takes is a willingness
to express their ideas, and when they do
that they’ll realize that many others share
their feelings.”
Mayhem Poets may soon be getting the
chance to share their passion on a scale they
could have only dreamed about five years
ago. Winning the Microsoft Ultimate
Challenge contest gives them the chance to
launch a venture they’ve called
SLAMCHOPS – a combination spoken
word performance workshop and café that
will operate out of the Bowery Poetry Club
Winning the Microsoft Ultimate Challenge
contest gives them the chance to launch
SLAMCHOPS — a combination spoken
word performance workshop and cafe´
The way the Mayhem Poets won the
Ultimate Challenge speaks volumes
about who they are. They did research in
advance on the judges of the competition,
and wrote a poem on each of them as part
of their unconventional submission.
“That’s why we won,” Sutton admits. “Our
business idea involves the power of words,
and their ability to speak to and move
people. That’s what performance poetry
does. And if you’re moved by something,
you want it to succeed.”
idea with the potential to explode like
comedy clubs did in the 1980s.
“People thought this was a pipe dream,
that there was no way you could turn
poetry into a business,” muses Tarazevits.
“But we always believed we had a product
that would work – that once we got it
out there, it would truly connect with
people.”
Smart money says this trio of
gifted Rutgers alums is on the fast track
to success. Want to
see the
Mayhem Poets
in action?
Kyle, Scott and Mason see teaching and entertainment as the perfect creative mix.
in lower Manhattan (see our sidebar). By
day, SLAMCHOPS will dedicate itself to
bringing its engaging brand of poetry to
students of all ages through carefully
sructured performances and workshops; by
night, it will turn into a café where spoken
word poetry (featuring slam and performance
events) hold center stage.
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Speaking of success, this starry-eyed
group of young poets already has its sights
set on a constellation of venues well beyond
New York. Their vision is to duplicate
SLAMCHOPS in cities across the country.
They see the combination of teaching and
entertainment as the perfect creative mix,
and believe they’re sitting on a bankable
SLAMCHOPS, their national
award-winning venture, is about
to open its doors at the Bowery
Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, New
York (between Houston and
Bleecker Streets). Starting in
October, youth groups and
schools will be able to visit the
site weekdays for workshops and
performances. Twice a month,
Mayhem Poets will hold evening
events for people of all ages.
For more information on
SLAMCHOPS,
call (551) 655-3343,
or visit
mayhempoets@yahoo.com.
Rutgers Homegrown
S
f ood
network
tart with a generous helping of business acumen,
add a dash of Rutgers pride, and leaven with a
strong sense of community responsibility. What you
have is a recipe for success as mastered by a resourceful group of
Rutgers alumni turned restaurant owners who have found the
bustling streets of downtown New Brunswick very much to their taste.
Not to be outdone by chef extraordinaire and TV celebrity Mario Batali
RC ’82, they have formed their own homegrown ‘food network’ that‘s
catering to the hungry stomachs of students, local business people, and no small
number of returning alumni. Here’s a closer look at several of those eateries.
Gaebel’s + Rutgers: Perfect Together
BY OLIVIA GOODMAN RC ’04, SCILS ’04
For Andrew Gaebele LC ’95, it was
clearly a labor of love. When the opportunity
came along to expand his family’s restaurant
business to New Brunswick, he saw the
chance to mix entrepreneurship with his
deep affection for the city and, particularly,
the Rutgers community.
“You can open a restaurant anywhere,”
he allows. “For me, though, it’s always been
about staying close to my roots. I found I
was always coming back to New
Brunswick — to Rutgers football games
and other events — and when I saw this
space I realized it was a great way to stay
connected to Rutgers.”
A former defensive lineman for the
Scarlet Knights, Gaebele takes great pride
in the fact his self-titled restaurant
“Gaebel’s” (he left off the final “e” in the
interests of easier pronunciation) has become
a true local watering hole. Opened in 2000
with his brother, it’s a place where his
former teammates and friends, along with
the cognoscenti — including droves of
professionals and local government workers
who fill the streets of downtown New
Brunswick each day — can gather and
schmooze. From fine dining to an afterhours nightlife that includes a DJ and chic
bar scene, Gaebel’s is part of the city’s
colorful fabric.
“The diversity of our clientele is great –
from college kids to doctors and lawyers,”
he says. “You never know who you’re going
to see on any given day. Last year, O.J.
Simpson and Barry Sanders came in. The
Rutgers kids really enjoyed that, and O.J.
came back the next day.”
Gaebele, who owns three other restaurants
— Ole’ Mexifunk Cocina in Jersey City,
Continued on page 14
FALL 2007
13
Gaebel’s from page 13
Mile Square in Hoboken and Rolf’s in
Warren — began his career as a restaurateur
after graduating from Rutgers with a degree
in sociology. Initially, though, he wasn’t
completely sold on entering the family business. “I thought about getting into banking
after I graduated,” he recalls. “But then a
great opportunity came along for my brother and me to take over one of the restaurants
our dad was going to sell.”
According to Gaebele, the experience he
gained at Rutgers -- from managing a busy
student-athlete’s schedule to handling
demanding coursework -- helped prepare
him for the challenge of running multiple
restaurants. “The lessons from my undergraduate years and the football field really
carried over to my career,” he says. “I learned
there are opportunities at every turn – and
one of the biggest continues to be the
Rutgers network. Rutgers people look out
for each other.” Harvest Moon Brewery Beams Success
BY BRIAN TOBIN RC ’96
For Rutgers alumni Mike Elmes ENG
’95 and Frank Kopf RC ’95, a friendship
launched in college and nurtured during
students and professionals alike, and a vital
part of New Brunswick’s rebirth as a social
and entertainment hub. The restaurant
Harvest Moon is a popular hangout for students and local professionals alike.
their frenetic years on Wall Street is now
paying dividends of a different kind. They
are owners, along with another friend, Neil
Glass, of the Harvest Moon Brewery in
downtown New Brunswick.
Originally opened in 1996 when the city
was beginning to establish a new social
identify, Harvest Moon quickly found its
niche. It became a popular hangout for
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was bought three years ago by Elmes, Kopf
and Glass, and has continued to thrive.
“When we purchased Harvest Moon, we
had two goals in mind,” explains Elmes.
“We wanted to make money, of course,
but we also wanted to give back to the
community.”
The young entrepreneurs have done just
that. Here’s one small, though telling, way:
“
...it’s always been
about staying close to my
roots. I found I was
always coming back to
New Brunswick —
to Rutgers football games
and other events — and
when I saw this space
I realized it was a great
way to stay connected
to Rutgers.
”
— Andrew Gaebele LC ’95
In 2004, they created a special brew in the
name of James D’heron, a fallen New
Brunswick firefighter who died saving the
lives of individuals trapped in a burning
building. The three owners worked with
their brewmaster to create Jimmy D’s
Firehouse Red beer. Fifty cents of every
pint is donated to Jimmy’s favorite charity,
the Art Luf Children’s Burn Camp in
Connecticut. Since it was trotted out twoand-a-half years ago, the special brew has
raised over $32,000.
“We’re really proud of the money we’ve
raised from so many of our customers,”
says Elmes, adding that his partner Frank is
in contact with the D’heron family on
almost a weekly basis.
Harvest Moon has also developed a
strong affinity – no surprise here – for the
Rutgers community. The majority of its
approximately 40 waiters and waitresses are
Rutgers students, many of whom depend
on their brewery jobs (and tips) to help pay
their way through college. “Without
question, our Rutgers employees are the
most reliable we have,” affirms Elmes.
“They’re really hard workers.”
Given the galloping success of the
Rutgers football team, Elmes and his partners need all the reliable help they can get.
That’s particularly true on game days,
when Harvest Moon now finds its business
tripling – the kind of stampede never seen
before in the restaurant’s 11-year history.
Elmes and Kopf know they have done
well to hitch their star to Rutgers. Daniel Botkin from page 9
format ready for policy formulation.
What kinds of issues has Dr. Botkin —
who describes himself as a “renegade
naturalist” on his web site — confronted?
Over the last several decades, he has spread
his expertise across an extraordinary range of
environmental, ecological and biological
fronts. He studied, for example, the effects of
forestry practices on salmon populations at
the behest of the Oregon State Legislature.
He has been instrumental in the conservation
of the California condor, salmon in the Pacific
Northwest, the whooping crane in Texas, and
the ecosystem of Mono Lake, California.
The peripatetic ecologist has also counseled
the World Bank about tropical forests,
biodiversity and sustainability; was the lead
writer on a recently published paper
challenging the assertion that 20 to 30
percent of animal and plant species are at risk
of extinction because of climate changes; and
represents CSE as a commissioner on the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Sites
Committee.
Rounding out his bio is the fact he
is a Professor Emeritus in the Department
of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
at the University of
California-Santa Barbara,
where he has been a faculty
member since 1978.
Not a bad record of
achievement for the former
Rutgers grad student who
still remembers vividly his
days on campus. They
include a great relationship
with his Ph.D. advisor,
Murray Buell, whom
Dr. Botkin describes as a
“very kind and very,
very knowledgeable” plant
ecologist. It was Buell who Botkin in Wisconsin’s Porcupine Mountains, where he taught a
helped him secure the job summer field course at the University of Notre Dame Ecological
Research Center.
as caretaker of the
William L. Hutcheson Memorial Forest. This maintaining the lawns — but lived in a small
magnificent wooded tract — one of the last home surrounded by giant stands of
uncut forests in the mid-Atlantic States with primeval, mixed oak. He hopes he will again
trees as old as 350 years — is administered have the opportunity to impact the
preservation of this proud forest through a
and protected by Rutgers University.
Imagine the excitement of Dr. Botkin new project or study.
To read Dr. Botkin’s own account of his
when he got the chance this past June to
revisit Hutcheson Memorial Forest, where he return to Hutcheson Memorial Forest, visit
not only worked as a grad student — taking our web site at www.rutgersalumni.org. guests on tours of the property and
At the Head of the Food Chain is Greasy Tony’s
Before there was Gaebel’s, Harvest Moon
Brewery, The Frog and the Peach, and a host of
other great New Brunswick eateries, there was
Greasy Tony’s. How could any of us have
survived four harried years at Rutgers without our
late-night hoagie or cheese steak (original price:
25 cents) fix from this fabled food emporium
within easy walking distance of campus.
For 33 years, Greasy Tony’s catered to the
stomachs – and pocketbooks – of Rutgers
students. The mover and shaker behind this sub
shop was Anthony Giorgianni, a graduate of
Trenton High who was convinced by friends to
start a business in New Brunswick that could
minister to the hunger pangs of students. In
1959, he opened Tony’s Campus Steakhouse at
89 French Street, and relocated it to 32 Easton
Avenue a year later.
It’s a measure of this eatery’s repute that it
commanded its own chapter in the book 46
Union Street, (The Untold Story of Rho Upsilon),
written by Bruce Kesselman RC ’73. Here is
Bruce describing how ‘Tony’s’ got its name:
“During [Giorgianni’s] tenure at 32 Easton
Avenue, a few brothers from Rho Upsilon asked
him if there was anything they could get for free
on their sub sandwiches. Tony’s response was,
‘Only grease.’ The undergraduates immediately
asked, ‘You mean at no extra charge?’ to which
Tony replied, ‘No charge. All you want.’ Soon,
everyone on campus started referring to Tony’s
Campus Steakhouse as Greasy Tony’s.”
There you have it. By 1992, Greasy Tony’s
sub shop became a victim of eminent domain
and the expansion plans of the City of New
Brunswick and Rutgers University. But this
hardly caught the resourceful Tony off guard.
Some 15 years earlier, as Bruce recounts in his
book, Tony had an opportunity to sample the
restaurant scene in Tucson, Arizona when his
car broke down while on vacation. While
waiting 10 days for repairs, “Tony stopped at a
number of local dining spots trying to get
a sandwich, pizza or cheese steak that was
up to his high standards,” according to 46
Union Street. “Finding none, he made the
assumption that the University of Arizona
probably had the same type of discriminating,
hungry students as Rutgers, so he opened a
‘Greasy Tony’s’ in Tuscon.”
Today, Tony lives happily in Tempe, Arizona.
And that is truly providential since it provided
Rutgers alumni who attended the Bowl Game
two years ago against Arizona State University
with the chance to relive their undergraduate
epicurean experience by breaking bread at yet
another Greasy Tony’s. FALL 2007
15
The Making of a Medical
Technologist Extraordinaire
I
BY FRANCINE TARDO RC ’96
t’s hard to imagine a summer job
posting on a cluttered bulletin board
on the Rutgers campus turning into
a life-altering experience. But for
Mir Imran ENG ’77, GSNB ’78 that’s what
happened some 30 years ago. It set him on
trajectory that has resulted in a hugely
successful career in medical technology,
including a vital role in developing the first
automated implantable defibrillator, which
has saved thousands of lives over the years.
“I had started out in electrical engineering
and never really thought about getting into
medicine,” said Imran, who was the featured
speaker at the Rutgers College of Engineering
commencement this past spring.
Mir Imran
Imran’s epiphany occurred at the
Matheny School in Peapack, NJ, which
specializes in the care of children and
adults with developmental disabilities. After
responding to the job posting, he was hired by
the school and spent the summer developing
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and crafting by hand communication devices
for children with cerebral palsy. At the time,
there was very little research in this field, and
only limited ways that individuals stricken
with the disease could communicate.
“The summer job was such a positive
experience that I decided to devote my career
to life sciences,” he recalls. “It’s where I saw the
power of technology and innovation, and how
it could be used to solve complex problems
that could help a large number of people.”
Imran was so grateful for the opportunity
the job presented that he declined the $2,000
the Matheny School offered him for his
summertime work, even though he needed
the income at the time. “The experience was
so powerful that I turned the money down,”
he acknowledges. “I was walking away with
so much more.”
Indeed, Imran walked away with a desire
to apply the latest advancements in technology
to the rapidly changing field of medicine.
After earning a Bachelor of Science in
electrical engineering and having taken
graduate engineering coursework, he was
accepted into Rutgers Medical School.
While there, he was introduced to Dr. Michel
Mirowski at Johns Hopkins, who was working
on a small battery powered electrical impulse
generator designed to be implanted in patients
at risk of sudden cardiac death due to
ventricular defibrillation. Imran was excited by
the idea, and joined Dr. Mirowski’s small team.
Though research on the implantable
defibrillator began in 1969, it was the
addition of Imran to the team that provided
the critical spark. “Imran was the young
engineer who was able to turn the benchtop
idea into a working device,” says Wikipedia.
“Using analog tape recordings of patients’
hearbeats, Imran developed algorithms and
hardware that are the foundations of today’s
ICDs (implantable cardioverter-defibrillators)
and the cardiac rhythm management industry.”
In the face of much skepticism by
experts in the field, the device was finally
developed and implanted in the first human
in February 1980 at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
The rest, as they say, is history. The ICD –
and improved versions that were subsequently
introduced – were tremendously successful,
spawning an entire industry and becoming
the global standard of care for treating patients
with cardiac arrhythmia.
A summer job posting on
a Rutgers campus set a
trajectory for a successful
career in medical
technology, including a
vital role in developing the
first automated implantable
defibrillator — which has
saved thousands of lives
over the years.
Today, Imran lives in Menlo Park,
California where he serves as chairman of
InCube Laboratories, Inc., a business
incubator for medical and technology
companies which he founded in 1995, and is
a managing partner of In-Cube Ventures. As
an entrepreneur, he has founded over 20
medical device companies, and holds
approximately 200 U.S. and foreign patents.
Additionally, he founded a security company
which develops equipment for use in airport
security screenings. For his outstanding work
and lifetime achievements, he was honored
in 2005 with the Rutgers Distinguished
Engineering Award.
Ask Imran to gaze into his medical
technology crystal ball, and he sees tissue
engineering as the solution for many
debilitating diseases. As for his own endeavors,
he says he is currently working on developing
an artificial kidney to help patients on dialysis,
and is also studying new ways to cure obesity.
“I think the next 20-30 years are going
to be an amazing period for medicine,” he
asserts. “I have a lot of hope.” W
ith Scarlet pride bubbling over,
more than 2,000 Rutgers alumni
and friends — bigger by far than
last year’s crowd — converged on campus
for Reunion Weekend 2007. Among the
celebrants: Walter Seward RC ’17,
attending his 90th class reunion, and
Oscar Huh RC ’57 who created the name
“Scarlet Knights,” adopted by Rutgers
football in 1955. The three-day-long
festivities kicked off Friday morning with
the Golf Tournament, and continued
Saturday with the traditional parade down
College Avenue. The All-Alumni Luncheon
at Brower Commons followed the parade,
with tours and special events occupying the
afternoon hours. The spotlight shifted in
the evening to class dinners, providing one
more opportunity for old friends to swap
stories, memories and laughs. By the time it
all ended on Sunday morning, plans were
already being hatched by the celebrants for
Rutgers Reunion 2012!
FALL 2007
17
T
An Unforgettable Weekend for the Class of ’57
BY TOM CARPENTER RC ’57, CLASS PRESIDENT
he great turnout by the Class of ’57
for our 50th is a tribute to the hard
work of our Reunion Committee,
chaired by Vince Maggio RC ’57
GSNB ’62; Don Gucker AG ’57 and Dick
Cashion RC ’57. They started contacting
classmates last fall to urge everyone to return to
“The Banks,” and 93 of us did.
We started the weekend with the annual
Golf Tournament. The Class of ’57 team of
Dewey Storms RC ’57, Tom Mallos RC ’57,
Tosh Hsoda RC ’57, and Paul Schaaff RC ’57
won the team low net in the “Senior” age group,
and I had low gross with a 76.
We then proceeded to the W.M. Keck
Center for Collaborative Neuroscience where
our class had been invited for a tour, courtesy
of last year’s endowment by Dick Shindell
RC ’57 of a chair for Spinal Cord Injury
Research, filled by Dr. Wise Young. In the
evening, our class was inducted into the Old
Guard at the Rutgers Old Guard Dinner. As we
paraded down the ramp to our seats, the Glee
Club joined our voices as we sang “Vive Les
Rutgers Sons,” and led the “R - U” cheer — a
first for the Old Guard.
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1766 MAGAZINE
Saturday morning, we brought new life
and energy to the parade. Our class was led
down College Avenue by Tom Bennett RC ’57
dressed in full armor and chainmaile, escorting
his wife Deanna who rode Brian Crockett’s
LC ’82 horse, Princess. It was truly a sight to
behold! Our Class won the Parade Spirit
Award, capped by our singing “Vive Les
Rutgers Sons” at the reviewing stand. The highlight of the All-Alumni Luncheon was Dick
Hill RC ’57 receiving the annual Alumni
Trustee Award for service to the University.
We gathered again in the early evening for
the dedication of the Class of 1957 Pavilion on
Bush Campus. The Pavilion is one of two
projects our Class sponsored through its
fundraising efforts; the other is the restoration
of the seating area in front of Van Nest Hall.
From there it was off to our class dinner at the
Hale Center, which overlooks the football field
— a perfect setting. Tom Romeo RC ’57 and
Dick McKeeby ED ’57 raffled off items Dick
had collected during the year, including a fivegallon milk can and a Scarlet Knight statue.
The gifts had us all rolling in the aisles.
We didn’t let the end of daily events stop
us as we met every night in the lounge at the
Hyatt to continue reminiscing and laughing
into the wee hours. I think Tom Mallos, Dick
Shindell and Bob Bailie ENG ’57, ’61 closed
the bar Saturday night.
I want to acknowledge and thank our
Campaign Contribution Committee headed
by Dick Hill and Harold Kaplan RC ’57.
Their efforts enabled us to raise over $4.7
million, the second highest ever by a 50th year
class. I wish I had enough room to list the
names of everyone who helped make this a
great weekend, but you know who you are, and
I just want to again say, “THANKS.”
Relive this great weekend by visiting our
new web site, set up by Walt Cummins, at
http://rutgers1957.home.att.net. The Complete
Reunion Package
for Rutgers
Class of ’67
W
BY JACK FROST RC ’67
hat a Fabulous Fourtieth! We had
our best turnout ever, with more
than 100 classmates returning for
Reunion Weekend. From Friday’s
Golf Tournament (low score shot by Rick
Sinding RC ’67) to Sunday's brunch, a great
time was had by all. Between these events
were Friday night’s Sixties Gathering,
Saturday's parade down College Avenue, the
luncheon at Brower Commons, and our
Class Dinner at the Zimmerli Art Museum.
Class President Bob Gravani AG ’67
captured the magic well by observing, “Great
turnout, great class spirit and non-stop
conversation made for a very upbeat and
fun-filled weekend. No doubt about it —
our best reunion yet!”
One of the highlights of Saturday
evening's dinner was the announcement
Class Gifts Highlight
2007 Reunion
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
2007 RAA REUNION REPORT
TOTAL GIFTS AND PLEDGES
Class of 1932
Class of 1937
Class of 1942
Class of 1947
Class of 1952
Class of 1957
Class of 1962
Class of 1967
Class of 1972
Class of 1977
Class of 1982
Class of 1987
Class of 1992
Class of 1997
Class of 2002
$ 65,621.38
$ 8,075.00
$ 128,663.53
$ 62,299.62
$ 497,388.97
$ 4,816,145.11
$ 207,221.37
$ 1,113,290.94
$ 187,499.50
$ 240,328.88
$ 445,081.00
$ 106,758.79
$ 73,206.45
$ 42,708.00
$ 22,652.00
by Ron Garutti RC ’67, our Reunion
Campaign Chair, that our class raised over
$1 million in endowed funds for the university,
and over $100,000 for our Class gift to
restore the fence around Old Queens. I’d like
to thank Ron, his team and all the donors
who not only made this gift possible, but also
the establishment of the Class of 1967
Scholarship Fund for an incoming freshman,
beginning this fall.
And finally, here’s a bit of recognition
— and nostalgia — for everyone. Dave
Monfried RC ’67, the “Voice of WRSU”
and esteemed member of our class, came all
the way from Seattle. If you didn't make it
back this year, please mark the second weekend of May 2012 on your calendar. We definitely want to see you for our 45th!
For now, you can revisit our 40th at
http://www.rutgersclubdc.org/photo/2007/
1967Reunion/. Chuck Divine RC ’67, who
has volunteered to serve as our Class webmaster,
has uploaded photos of Reunion Weekend to
the Rutgers Club of DC web site. 2007 Reunion Awards
REUNION PARADE SPIRIT AWARDS
First Place: Class of 1957
Second Place: (Tie) Class of 1962 and 1967
Third Place: Class of 1942
ALUMNI TRUSTEES AWARD
Richard Hill RC ’57
BEST CLASS CORRESPONDENT AWARD
Robert Comstock RC ’57
CLASS OF 1931 AWARD
Anne Milgram RC ’92
Greg Bedard RC ’97, RBS ’03
THE WALTER H. SEWARD CLASS OF 1917
REUNION SPIRIT AWARD
Walter H. Seward RC ’17
Reunion Golf Prizes
SENIORS
Accurate Drive: Norm McQuillin RC ’57
Closest to the Pin: Paul Schaaff RC ’57
Longest Putt: Wayne Fish RC ’57
Low Gross Individual: Leon Carpenter III, RC ’57
Low Net Individual: Robert Marguccio RC ’56, GSED ’62
Low Team Net: Class of 1957
ALMOST SENIORS
Longest Drive: Gene Seitz RC ’70
Closest to the Pin: John Dolin RC ’70, NLAW ’73
Longest Putt: Jim Ulsamer RC ’72
Low Gross Individual: James Morris RC ’76
Low Net Individual: Roy Pera RC ’67
Low Team Net: Class of 1972
PREMATURELY GRAY
Longest Drive: Tim Gibson COOK ’87
Closest to the Pin: Steve Guggenheim RC ’86
Longest Putt: Steve Havran RC ’75
Low Gross Individual: Glen Thomas COOK ’87
Low Net Individual: Joseph Danyo ENG ’79
Low Team Net: Class of 1979
WANNABEES
Longest Drive: Edward Philipp RC ’95
Closest to the Pin: Patrick Gillespie RC ’90
Longest Putt: Scott White RBS ’95
Low Gross Individual: Garry Thomas RC ’92, RBS ’00
Low Net Individual: Patrick Nolan RC ’93
Low Team Net: Class of 1992
MEDAL SCORES
Low Gross Individual: Stephen Havran RC ’75
Low Net Individual: Brian Bevins RC ’78, GSED ’00
Low Team Gross: Class of 1978
FALL 2007
19
A New Class of Distinguished Alumni
Takes Center Stage at Annual Gala
C
BY RANDY YOUNG RC ’68
reated 20 years ago to honor superlative achievements in professional and
civic life, the Hall of Distinguished
Alumni celebrates 241 years of rich
tradition and history at Rutgers. Indeed, past
honorees include Simeon DeWitt QC 1776,
who was appointed George Washington’s chief
geographer in 1780; U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Joseph P. Bradley RC 1836; U.S. Vice
President Garret Augustus Hobart RC 1863;
World War II four-star general Frederick J.
Kroesen RC 1944; and Civil War Pulitzer Prize
winning author Michael Shaara RC 1951.
The seven Rutgers Distinguished Alumni
for 2007 are also highly acclaimed leaders in their
fields, ranging from business and engineering to
nursing and military service They have reached
a level of excellence that has brought honor to
both themselves and the university.
Paying tribute to these latest inductees
were several hundred alumni and guests who
gathered in May at the Hyatt Regency in New
Brunswick for the annual Hall of Distinguished
Alumni black tie gala. With HDA alum Ruth
Ann Burns DC ’67, GSNB ’75 serving as
master of ceremonies, each of the winners
received their plaques, and recounted in brief
remarks how their learning experience at Rutgers
had given wings to their respective careers.
Here are the 2007 entrants to the Rutgers
Hall of Distinguished Alumni:
Jerome Aresty RC ’51 — In 1964, Aresty
joined his brother to form a small ladies
clothing manufacturer. Today, Alfred Dunner
Inc. is one of the leading names in the women’s
sportswear industry, with annual sales of nearly
$100 million. Since retiring from the business
world, Aresty has focused on a number of
philanthropic pursuits, including Rutgers. He
and wife Lorraine have established several
merit-based scholarship programs that help
support more than 60 students. The state-ofthe-art Aresty Amphitheater at Rutgers Stadium
and a visiting scholars program at The Bildner
Center for the Study of Jewish Life are other
examples of their generosity. And in September
2004, the Aresty Research Center was
established on the New Brunswick campus to
support and mentor students.
20
1766 MAGAZINE
Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni Class of 2007 – (first row, l-r) accepting on behalf of Donna
L. Wong CNUR ’70, University of Oklahoma College of Nursing Dean, Dr. Carole Kenner; Ronald W.
Giaconia RC ’58; Jerome Aresty RC ’51; Brigadier General Stanley F. Cherrie RC ’64; (back row)
Irwin M. Lachman ENG ’52; Luke Visconti CC ’82; Robert A. Druskin RC ’69 (not pictured).
Irwin Lachman ENG ’52 — Along with two
other scientists at Corning Glass Works (now
Corning Inc.), Lachman developed the cellular
ceramic substrate, which is the foundation of
the catalytic converters found in virtually every
automobile in the world. For this engineering
and environmental breakthrough, Lachman
and his teammates received the 2003 National
Medal of Technology from President Bush, the
highest honor awarded to American innovators.
They were also inducted into the National
Inventors Hall of Fame in 2002. Lachman,
who received a Ph.D. in ceramic engineering
from Ohio State University in 1955, holds 47
U.S. patents and has authored numerous
technical papers.
Ronald Giaconia RC ’58 — Over the years,
Giaconia has built a sterling reputation for his
work in the insurance industry and the
community. After graduating with an economics
degree, he worked for Prudential before starting
his own group life and health insurance
brokerage agency. He is the retired president of
Giaconia Life Associates, and was one of five
charter members elected into the Hall of Fame
of the Bankers Security Life Insurance Company.
Born and raised in Passaic, Giaconia rejuvenated
the Passaic Boys’ Club as its president in the late
1980s, and in the 1970s was chair of the City of
Passaic Redevelopment Agency. He and his wife
created the Ron and Toni Giaconia Endowed
Scholarship for Rutgers baseball players, and Ron
is also chair of the university’s Board of Trustees
and vice chair of the Board of Governors.
Stanley Cherrie RC ’64 — Cherrie has always
managed to excel, first as a two-sport star
(baseball and football) at Rutgers, and later in
the military where his whirlwind career saw him
rise from second lieutenant to brigadier general.
Years after serving two assignments in Vietnam,
he was the architect of the largest armored
offensive since World War II during Operation
Desert Storm, which proved to be the decisive
battle of the campaign in Iraq. For his
extraordinary service over the years, he has
earned the Distinguished Service Medal, the
Silver Star, the Distinguished Superior Service
Medal, and the Legion of Merit. Cherrie retired
from the U.S. Army in 1998 after 34 years of
serving his country.
Robert Druskin RC ’69 — As chief operating
officer of Citigroup and a member of the
company’s Office of the Chairman, Druskin is
widely recognized as an innovative and talented
Continued on page 21
RAA Happenings
GSNB Award Dinner
The Graduate School-New Brunswick presented its
awards at the fourth Annual Distinguished
Alumni/ae Awards Reception and Dinner on
March 2 to alumni/ae who have made significant
contributions in the Biological Sciences, Humanities,
Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering,
and the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Awards were
also presented for Lifetime Achievement and Early
Career Distinction.
(above, left to right) Sol J. Barer GSNB ’70, ’74. Chief
Executive Officer, Celgene Corporation; William A.
Reiners GSNB ’62, ’64. Professor, University of
Wyoming; Karyn Malinowski CC ’75, GSNB ’80, ’86.
Director, Rutgers Cooperative Extension and Rutgers
Equine Science Center; Jolie A. Cizewski, Acting Dean,
Graduate School New Brunswick; Gail Levin GSNB ’76.
Professor, Baruch College and the Graduate Center of
the City University of New York; Brian Jeffrey Scholl,
GSNB ’98, ’99. Associate Professor, Yale University;
David Brian Abrams GSNB ’78, ’81. Director, Office of
Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, National
Institutes of Health.
More than 860 alumni and friends came out to the
Rutgers Young Alumni Beach Party at Bar Anticipation
in Lake Como. New games, a full buffet, drink specials
and the DJ made the party exciting!
business leader. From the time he joined Smith
Barney in 1991 as chief administrative officer,
through that company’s reorganization as part
of the newly formed Citigroup in 1998, to his
appointment as COO in December 2006,
Druskin has been instrumental to Citigroup’s
rise as a preeminent financial services company.
He has also been a strong supporter of Rutgers.
He and his wife established the Harriett and
Robert Druskin Endowed Scholarship for
students who face financial challenges, and
Robert is also a member of the university’s
Board of Trustees, the President’s Business
Leaders Cabinet, and the Rutgers University
Foundation Board of Overseers.
health. Along with a partner, she developed the
Wong/Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale to
measure a patient’s level of discomfort via a
series of “smiley” and “unhappy” faces coded
from 1-10. That scale is today the international
standard for assessing children’s pain. For her
extraordinary contribution to the health and
welfare of children, Wong became the first
recipient of the Audrey Hepburn/Sigma Theta
Tau International (Honor Society of Nursing)
Award. She is listed in Who’s Who in American
Nursing, has done extensive counseling with
families of terminally ill children, and is coauthor of numerous top-selling texts in pediatric
nursing that are sold in more than 30 countries.
Donna Wong NUR ’70 — Wong is recognized
worldwide as a pioneer in the field of children’s
Luke Visconti CC ’82 — Few people have
focused the public’s attention more on the field
of diversity in the workplace than Lou Visconti.
He is co-founder and partner of DiversityInc
Media, the Newark-based company that has
helped propel diversity from a compliance issue
to a serious business discipline. Founded in
1998, DiversityInc publishes a monthly print
magazine, a daily news web site, and “the
DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity”
list, which showcases excellence in diversity
management. Visconti appears frequently as a
commentator in a variety of media, and as a
guest lecturer to business and nonprofit groups
and corporations discussing the bottom-line
benefits of diversity. In 2006, he formed the
DiversityInc Foundation which supports the
DiversityInc Endowed Academic Scholarship
Fund and the James Ramsey Fund, both at
Rutgers-Newark. FALL 2007
21
SPORTS UPDATE
BY JOHN WOODING RC ’78
The Excitement is Bubbling Over
for Scarlet Knight Football 2007
A
re you ready for some football?
That rallying cry at the start of each
football season has extra meaning for
the Rutgers faithful this year. Without
question, this is one of the most eagerly awaited
football seasons on the banks in many years. With
Heisman Trophy candidate Ray Rice
consecutive bowl appearances, a number 12
national ranking last season, and a Texas Bowl
championship under its belt, the Rutgers football
heads into 2007 as one of the nation's most exciting
teams, and is rated in most pre-season Top 25 polls.
“I think you’re going to see a team that plays
with a lot of passion,” says Rutgers head coach Greg
Schiano about the upcoming season. “We have
kids who love the game. What that means in terms
of wins and losses, nobody knows at this point.
What I do know is that our kids are going to play
hard, and they’re going to play smart.”
The Scarlet Knights return a number of veterans
in 2007, but they must also find replacements for
some key players who graduated. Gone from last
year’s team are All-America fullback Brian Leonard
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1766 MAGAZINE
RC ’07 and All-BIG EAST tight end Clark
Harris, both of whom helped catapult Rutgers
from a team that finished 1-11 in their first year as
Scarlet Knights to one that was 11-2 and ranked for
the final 12 weeks of the 2006 season. Leonard
(St. Louis Rams) and Harris (Green Bay Packers) are
both looking forward to playing in the NFL. Also
gone are inspirational leaders Ramel Meekins, an
All-BIG EAST defensive tackle, and All-BIG EAST
offensive linemen Cam Stephenson UCNB,
SMLR ’07 and Darnell Stapleton UCNB, SMLR
’07 (a Rimington Award finalist at center).
All told, the Scarlet Knights are replacing 10
starters from last season's squad, which tied a singleseason school record with 11 wins. Rutgers also
posted a 5-2 mark in the BIG EAST.
A number of key veterans have returned, led by
Heisman Trophy candidate Ray Rice, the nation’s
second leading rusher. After just two seasons, Rice is
already in third place in Rutgers history with 2,914
career rushing yards. Last season, he gained a BIG
EAST and Rutgers single-season record of 1,794
yards, and enters 2007 needing just 200 yards to tie
Terrell Willis, a 2005 Rutgers Football Hall of Fame
inductee, as the school’s all-time rushing leader.
“Ray is one of the elite players in the country,
and we’re blessed to have him,” Schiano said at the
annual BIG EAST Media Day festivities. “We
know he’s going to have a great year.”
Rice, who finished seventh in the voting for the
2006 Heisman Trophy voting, was named MVP in
Rutgers’ 37-10 win over Kansas State in the Texas
Bowl, rushing for 170 yards on 24 carries and
scoring one TD.
“I pushed myself to the limit last year, and this
year is just one more push,” Rice noted. “I don’t know
what to expect coming into this season, but I can’t
wait to put all the ‘chips’ together and play again.”
Also returning on the offensive side is starting
quarterback Mike Teel, who has a proven record as
a winner. As a starting signal caller in high school
(for the high-powered Don Bosco Prep program)
and at Rutgers, his career won-loss record is 35-3.
In his first season as the Scarlet Knights’ number
one quarterback last year, Teel showed steady
improvement as the season unfolded and ended the
year playing his best ball -- going 45-of-69 for 692
yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions
over the team's final three games.
Teel’s favorite targets include two of last year’s
freshmen sensations, 6-4 Kenny Britt and 5-8
speedster Tim Brown. Britt caught 29 passes and
averaged 15.2 yards per catch, while Brown proved
to be a big-play guy with eight catches for 25.2
yards and three TDs. Also returning will be Tiquan
Underwood, who caught 23 passes in 12 games
“
I think you’re
going to see a
team that plays with
a lot of passion...
We have kids who
love the game
”
— Coach Greg Schiano
before suffering a broken bone in his leg in the
regular season finale at West Virginia.
The Scarlet Knights boasted one of the best
offensive lines in the nation last fall, and are in
good shape again with the return of three starters,
including All-BIG EAST choices Pedro Sosa and
Jeremy Zuttah.
The Scarlet Knights led the BIG EAST in three
defensive categories last year, and the defensive unit
welcomes back First Team All-America defensive
tackle Eric Foster as its leader. Brandon Renkart
totaled 54 tackles — 11.5 yards per loss — and
recovered three fumbles from his outside linebacker
position last season. The defensive backfield is
bolstered by what many believe to be the best safety
tandem in the BIG EAST with All-BIG EAST
selections Courtney Greene and Ron Girault.
Rutgers also returns one of the nation’s elite placekickers, senior Jeremy Ito, who hit on 22 of
29 field goals in 2006 and enters his final season
as Rutgers’ all-time leading career scorer with
280 points. Rutgers Athletes Flex Their Cerebral Muscles
Rutgers student-athletes not only excelled on
the playing fields during 2006-07, but in the
classroom. A total of 326 student-athletes
earned a GPA of 3.0 or better in the fall of
2006, and that number increased to 352 this
past spring. Twenty-three student-athletes
earned a GPA of 4.0 in the fall of 2006, while
26 earned a 4.0 in last spring’s semester.
The most recent Academic Progress Report,
released by the NCAA last spring, shows that six
Rutgers teams scored in the top 20 percent of all
Division I programs in their respective sports.
The most recent APR scores are from data over
a three-year period (2003-06) and are based on
eligibility, retention and graduation of each
scholarship student-athlete. The Rutgers football team’s multi-year APR rate of 971 is well
above the national average of 931, and is
number one among all state universities. The
Rutgers baseball team and men’s cross country
teams were in the top 10 percent nationally,
while the men’s indoor track team, women’s
tennis team and volleyball team joined the
football team by placing in the top 20
percent nationally.
Rutgers’ star fullback Brian Leonard RC ’07
was the 17th recipient of the Draddy Trophy,
which is known in many circles as the
"Academic Heisman.” The Draddy Trophy
recognizes an individual as the best in the
country on the basis of their combined
academic success, football performance and
exemplary community leadership. Todd Frazier Leads Rutgers Baseball
To an Unforgettable Season
In a year that many will remember as the
best ever for Rutgers athletics, it was Todd
Frazier and the Rutgers baseball team that put
an exclamation point on 2006-07.
Frazier, the BIG EAST Player of the Year, was
a consensus First Team All-American and
semifinalist for National Player of the Year.
Frazier enjoyed a spectacular campaign
while leading the Scarlet Knights to a 42-21
record, the BIG EAST regular season and
tournament championships, and a berth in the
NCAA Tournament last spring. Frazier, a
consensus first-team All-America, hit .377 with
22 homers and 65 RBI. He was fourth in the
nation in home runs, and 10th in the country
in slugging percentage (.757). The junior shortstop, who was named first-team All-America by
Baseball America and by American Baseball
Coaches Association (ABCA), capped his magical
season as first-round draft pick of the Cincinnati
Reds and began his professional career this past
summer as a member of the Billings (Montana)
Mustangs of the Pioneer League.
For Frazier, excellence on the diamond has
been paramount since he picked up a bat and
ball. He was a member of the Toms River East
American team that captured the hearts of New
Jersey and the nation when it won the Little
League World Series in 1998. As a high school
player at Toms River South, Frazier hit .521 as a
senior and .443 for his career, and was a
member of two state championship teams.
“I just love to compete, whether it’s
Williamsport, the BIG EAST Championship or
the NCAA tournament,” Frazier says. “You
don’t want to be mediocre. You want to play
your best and see what you’re made of.”
The Scarlet Knights tied their all-time single
season record for victories with 42, including a
20-7 mark in BIG EAST play, good enough
for a tie for the Conference regular season
championship. Rutgers then won the conference
tournament at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn as
Frazier hit .520 with three homers and scored
12 runs to win MVP honors. Frazier was also
the unanimous selection as the BIG EAST’s
Player of the Year in the regular season.
Coach Fred Hill’s Scarlet Knights advanced
to the NCAA Tournament where they won one
game, before falling to eventual NCAA College
World Series champion Oregon State.
Frazier was one of six Scarlet Knights selected
in the Major League Draft at the conclusion of
the season. Right fielder David Williams was a
15th-round selection of the New York Yankees,
while left fielder Ryan Hill was also drafted in
the 15th-round by the San Diego Padres.
Catcher Frank Meade was taken in the 24th
round by the Cincinnati Reds, while second
baseman Mike Bionde was a 35th-round pick
by the Kansas City Royals and first baseman
Tom Edwards was taken in the 41st round by
the Texas Rangers. Fred Hill, who won his 900th career game this
past season, was named the 2007 American
Baseball Coaches Association East Region
Coach of the Year.
Williams was a First Team All-BIG EAST
outfielder this past season.
FALL 2007
23
Non-Profit
Organization
US Postage
PAID
New Brunswick, NJ
Permit No. 863
Rutgers Alumni Association
7 College Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1262
RAA Calendar of Events
SEPTEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER 2007
9/28 10/6
11/7
11/10
Rutgers Theater Company, Reckless,
Philip J. Levin Theater (Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m.;
Sundays at 2 p.m.)
OCTOBER 2007
10/7
10/16
10/18
10/19
10/20
10/28
Young Alumni Wine Tasting
at Unionville Winery, Ringoes
Rutgers Jazz Ensemble,
Nicholas Music Center, 8 p.m. (FREE)
Young Alumni Football Game Tailgate, Busch Dining Hall
Meritorious Service Awards
Red Lion Cafe, Rutgers Student Center, 6 p.m.
Sunshine Boys,
George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick
Celebration of Latin American Dances for Solo
and Two Pianos, Nicholas Music Center, 2 p.m. (FREE)
11/27
11/29
Business Card Exchange, Rutgers Club, 6:30 p.m.
Rutgers Charter Day,
Rutgers 241st Birthday (wear scarlet today)
Speed Networking Night, Busch Campus Center
Multipurpose Room, 6:30 p.m.
Young Alumni Football Game Viewing Party
(vs. Louisville) at Fox & Hound, Edison, NJ
DECEMBER 2007
12/5
Speed Dating, Member Services Committee,
Rutgers Student Center, 6:30 p.m.
12/8
Christmas in Carol and Song,
& 12/9 Rutgers Glee Club and Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir
Kirkpatrick Chapel
12/17 - The Brodsky Center Annual Exhibition,
1/25
Mason Gross Galleries at Civic Square, New Brunswick
2008
FOR DETAILS ON ANY OF
THESE EVENTS, CALL THE RAA
AT 732-932-7474 OR VISIT
www.rutgersalumni.org
1/19
2/7
5/3
5/16-18
Alumni Family Day (TBA)
Rutgers Young Alumni Cooking Class (TBA)
Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner
Reunion Weekend