lucent The Alumni Magazine of American International College
Spring 2014 | Volume 7 | Issue 1
Brian Chevalier ’14 Finds Philosophy in the Radish Patch
From the President We are an extraordinarily diverse institution. Our students come to AIC from around the state, the region, the country, and the world. Through our undergraduate majors and minors, our continuing education programs, and our rapidly expanding graduate school, we reach students from all backgrounds and at all stages of their lives. In this issue of Lucent, for example, you can read about current and former students who have found meaning and success via all these different paths. We are justifiably proud of the differences encompassed on our small campus, but I believe there is also something that can be said for the sameness of what we stand for—for what you might call the quintessential AIC experience. The College has changed over the last century, but we have never wavered in our commitment to providing opportunity. Students come to us with ideas about the future they hope to have, and we offer the tools with which they can shape the ideal versions of themselves. Our faculty and academic support staff help students gain knowledge and skills. Our career center helps students locate opportunities. Our growing alumni network helps graduates find jobs and build meaningful careers. What is so inspiring to me is that this AIC experience is continually renewed, continually reinvigorated. We maintain our dedication to providing opportunity while simultaneously evolving into a place that meets the needs of a rapidly changing world. Our degree offerings respond to the needs of the marketplace. Our facilities undergo improvements to support the changing needs of our degree offerings. Graduates of our programs pave the way for the AIC students who follow in their footsteps. It is an inspiring cycle and a delicate balance. Many colleges and universities tout their commitments to both tradition and diversity. At AIC we live that commitment, student by student, semester by semester. Even as we aspire to more, our doors remain wide open. We change in order to stay the same, to ensure that those who seek opportunity will always find it here.
Vince Maniaci, President
lucent EDITORIAL BOARD Joel Anderson Heather Cahill Maureen Fitzgerald Timothy Grader Craig Greenberg Lynn Saunders CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jeremy Church Thomas Friedmann Craig Greenberg Scott Whitney SENIOR WRITER/EDITOR Joel Anderson ART DIRECTOR/ PROJECT MANAGER Lynn Saunders ON THE COVER: Brian Chevalier ’14
inside this issue Spring 2014 | Volume 7 | Issue 1
departments
features
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Campus Update
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26
Off the Record
Find out about the latest developments, on campus and off
The Facilities Department’s Kevin “Moose” Panetta
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Class Notes
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In Memoriam
Check on your fellow alumni and see what they’re up to
What have you been up to? Join AIC’s Alumni Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and follow us on Twitter. Feel free to e-mail us at alumni@aic.edu. Please send any comments or suggestions about this publication to editor@aic.edu. We’d love to hear from you!
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The Fantastic Mr. Box And the things things come in
Built to Last
Schimenti Construction’s AIC connections
14 Zen and the Art of Organic Farming
Brian Chevalier ’14 finds philosophy in the radish patch
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Create, Conserve, Connect Bill Seretta ’69, MA ’71 and the case for sustainability
We’re proud to announce... With this issue of Lucent, we’re proud to announce what we hope will be a recurring feature: A series of videos called Faces of AIC that will bring to life some of the wonderful stories appearing in these pages. Visit www.aic.edu/alumni to watch a short film about Jeff Shinners and Pioneer Packaging, Inc.
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| campus update |
AIC Ranks High in Teacher Education Teaching the Teachers American International College has been ranked number six among colleges in Massachusetts providing teacher education. The rankings were published recently by The College Database, a not-for-profit organization that provides free information about education options both nationally and locally to students, parents, and other interested parties. According to The College Database list, with nearly five hundred education graduates last year, AIC ranked higher in teacher education than any other Western Massachusetts college. Esta Sobey, associate dean of education at AIC, said, “the ranking acknowledges our hard work and commitment to preparing highly effective classroom teachers, reading specialists, and school leaders.” AIC offers education programs in several areas, including early childhood, elementary, moderate disabilities, and ten subjects on the middle/secondary level leading to initial teacher licensure. There is also a new five-year program leading to a bachelor’s degree in an arts and sciences area with a minor in education after four years, and a master of education degree with licensure after the fifth year.
Sobey said the AIC education programs have expanded in recent years not only on the AIC campus but across the state. “We have grown to twelve sites across the commonwealth and in 2012-13, AIC prepared and endorsed 498 candidates for various initial and professional licenses,” she said. AIC external campus program sites include Buzzards Bay, East Bridgewater, Fall River/New Bedford, Greenfield, Lawrence, Marlborough, Medford, Pittsfield, Wakefield, Weymouth, and Worcester. The new list entitled “Top Colleges in Massachusetts: Shaping the Next Generation” highlights the postsecondary institutions in the state that produced the most education graduates during the 2012 school year. The list included only fully accredited, not-for-profit four-year colleges with a minimum of ten graduates from an education or teaching program. “Many colleges and universities have tremendous teacher education programs,” said Doug Jones, founder of The College Database. “But which ones are producing the most young educators today? We wanted to identify the colleges making the largest impact on our students.” n
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WHY do you give In 2013, 1,298 AIC alumni donated money to their alma mater, and private gifts totaled over $1.3 million. Thank you! What extraordinary generosity! So extraordinary, in fact, that it got us wondering…what motivates you to give? We’d love to hear your unique story about why giving back to AIC is a priority for you. Write us a letter or shoot us an email at alumni@aic.edu.
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| campus update |
Simulation and Collaborative Teaching AIC Research Provides Important Contributions Interdisciplinary collaboration may play an important role in the education of future clinicians in the rapidly changing healthcare environment, according to researchers at American International College. The research was presented recently at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Schools of Allied Health held in Orlando, Florida. Cesarina Thompson, PhD, dean of the AIC School of Health Sciences, said a group of thirty-three AIC students were divided into two groups, with one group working on patient care case studies, as is the traditional approach, and the other group taking the same patient, and, through simulation, essentially bringing him to life, allowing students to interact with the case study and evaluate a real patient. “The students in the simulation group were co-taught by a physical therapy professor, Patrick Carley, and a nursing professor, Dina Ditmar MSN ’13. Thus, students benefited from the interprofessional instruction and gaining a broader insight into patient care,” she said. Carley said the study is important because the Affordable Care Act will result in significant changes to the delivery of health care. “One of the main ways the
Affordable Care Act seeks to reduce healthcare costs is by encouraging doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers to form accountable care organization networks to coordinate care better, which are expected to keep costs down while improving patient care outcomes,” he said. According to Ditmar, using structured patient simulation lab experiences in the preparation of physical therapy students, the objective was to measure and compare the correlation between pre- and post-perceived selfassessment ratings of clinical performance measures. Ditmar said it was a great learning experience for everyone involved. “We all feel that this is a very current and exciting topic that warrants more investigation. Regardless of statistical evidence, the growth of the students was very obvious by the end of the four sessions,” she said. While further study is well warranted, Ditmar said, “It is quite clear that patient simulation and interdisciplinary collaborative instruction would provide better learning opportunities and increase critical reasoning and clinical skills.” n
Alums Dodge, Dip, Dive, Duck, and Dodge AIC Alums Win the Young Professionals Cup Dodgeball Tournament
By winning the Young Professionals Cup Dodgeball Tournament, the AIC Alumni team has won entry into the National Dodgeball League 2014 Dodgeball World Championship in Las Vegas on August 7–10.
Back row: Matthew Johnson ’08 Middle L to R: Michael Roach ’11, Sarah Calgreen ’12, Justin Roberts ’11, Travis Poole ’09 Front: Josue Guerra ’14
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| campus update |
Westfield Bank’s Big Board Thank You!
Executive Vice President for Athletics Richard Bedard, Trustee Ronald Abdow, Westfield Bank Vice President Allen Miles, and AIC President Vincent Maniaci
Westfield Bank has long been a partner in improving American International College’s athletic facilities and programming. This fall they helped the College purchase a new state-of-the-art video scoreboard. The scoreboard allows increased opportunities to recognize our student and alumni athletes; promote AIC events and news; and celebrate alumni and supporters. Westfield Bank employees were on hand for the dedication of the new scoreboard during the Yellow Jackets’ victorious football game over Southern Connecticut State University. Westfield Bank Vice President Allen Miles ’84 accepted thanks from AIC Executive Vice President for Athletics Richard Bedard ’86 MBA at halftime. n
Fall Sports Standouts Football and Women’s Soccer Play Late into the Postseason Win or lose, Yellow Jackets Athletics always make the College proud, but every now and then they surpass even the high standards to which we’ve become so accustomed. This past fall, the football team won the NE-10 conference championship outright and earned a berth in the national tournament. The women’s soccer team ended its season with a schoolrecord 18 wins and their first ever NCAA East Region Championship and Final Four appearance. n
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| campus update |
AIC’s New iPad Lab New Teaching Tools for New Times Flat-screen televisions and iPads may be common entertainment tools, but at AIC students will now be using them as learning tools. Thanks in part to a Title III Strengthening Institutions Grant, the AIC Center for Academic Success has a new iPad lab and state of the art tutoring room in the Shea Library. The tutoring room is equipped with a sixty-inch TV screen/monitor and upgraded WiFi. The room also has GoToMeeting software installed so that nontraditional and commuter students can attend live tutoring sessions from off campus. The iPad lab has eighteen iPads. In addition, there is an Apple TV with a flat screen monitor in front of the workstation area. There are two mobile iPads available for instructors or staff members to lead their discussions and workshops. Susan L. Petrucelli, director of developmental education for AIC’s Center for Academic Success, said the new technology can potentially reach every single student in need of academic help, regardless of their location.
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“Although the iPad is traditionally a mobile device, for our purposes through the Title III grant, we are
using this facility to demonstrate to students and faculty that technology is an important tool to transform education,” Petrucelli said. “Through the variety of applications and courses available through the Apple Store, students can receive additional support in their courses. For example, an application called Popplet helps developmental writers brainstorm ideas and organize writing through movable charts and graphs. Another application called Animated Anatomy and Physiology has the ability to provide 3D-narrated information sessions. “The iPads are learning tools to motivate students,” Petrucelli said. “The iPad learning lab has the potential to improve skill building in reading, math, and writing. It also can increase students’ academic self-efficacy and help support their metacognitive skill development.” n
Sustainable Stats The AIC Dining Commons is an eco-friendly place. Here’s how they do it:
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Divert all used fryer and cooking oil for recycling and re-purposing. Last year over 5000 lbs. of oil was recycled. All takeout containers for the salads and parfait containers are made from compostable material, mainly utilizing plastic made from corn and potatoes. Plates used for catering are made from 100% tree-free and compostable material. Purchase local and sustainable products when available. Spring 2014 | 5
photo by Shann Treadwell
With this issue of Lucent, we’re proud to announce what we hope will be a recurring feature: A series of videos called Faces of AIC that will bring to life some of the wonderful stories appearing in these pages. Visit www.aic.edu/alumni to watch a short film about Jeff Shinners and Pioneer Packaging, Inc.
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Mr. Box and the Things Things Come In by Thomas Friedmann
Jeff Shinners ’70 is the reason your food stays fresh and delicious, but he’s also the reason that you might have to use a chainsaw to open your new pair of headphones. Shinners is the president and CEO of Pioneer Packaging, Inc., a company specializing in paperboard boxes and plastic enclosures for a wide variety of products. A host of local companies, including Hasbro, Lenox, and Friendly’s, sell their products in Pioneer Packaging containers, as do brands such as Bacardi, Hannaford, and Sherwin Williams. Hundreds of clients are served by Pioneer Packaging across the United States, Europe, and Mexico. Pioneer Packaging might be in your home right now. Look around—the chances are good that you have something that began its life in their facility in Chicopee, Massachusetts. You could start in the kitchen, where items like your favorite cereal, cookies, veggie burgers, and countless other goods are sealed in paperboard boxes and plastic trays. In the bathroom, the bandages, tissues, and medicine that you use sit in lightweight cartons. Even in the garage, tools and other fasteners are stored and protected in the clear plastic casing that is so familiar to us. Spring 2014 | 7
You might say that Shinners was raised on paper and plastic. In the 1950s, he was just a tyke hanging around on the production floor at Pioneer Packaging. “I’ve probably spent the majority of my life in this building,” Shinners said, smiling. “And I have to tell you, it’s been fun. It gets into you.” Jeff Shinners’ father, Gordon Shinners, founded Pioneer Packaging in 1946, to provide quality packaging with a quick turnaround, but not at the cost of his employees. “My dad loved people, and he loved the people in his company,” Shinners recalled of his father, adding, “They were important to him, and they’re important to me.” As years went by, watching the company evolve, Shinners began to get “ink in the blood,” and decided he would continue the company his father had worked hard to build. While his father was teaching him the ropes of the business, Shinners recognized that to be an asset to the company, he would need to invest in more education. With a full-time job at Pioneer Packaging, and the responsibilities of his own family to tend to, Shinners went the extra mile and started attending night school at American International College. “It’s difficult to go back to school after you’re out. But once you’re there you realize you can do it, and honestly, it’s essential,” he said. The skills that Shinners acquired in the evening hours he applied to his daytime work. “It was very valuable. The instructors had a business acumen that I needed to have.” After he graduated in 1970 with his bachelor’s in business administration, Shinners became active in the AIC Springfield Alumni Chapter, serving as president for a time. Thinking (About the) Outside (of ) the Box So who cares about a box? Packaging is a means to an end, and the end is the product that we’ve bought. But we actually do care about it, studies say. It’s said that, on average, consumers take about three seconds to decide to buy a product, and many factors affect our choice. Millions of dollars are spent trying to figure out what colors, graphics, and information cause us to drop something in the shopping basket. Even after the 8 | Lucent
“pitch” that entices us to buy, packaging has many more jobs to do for us consumers. It must keep a product clean, fresh, free from damage, describe what it is for, and relay important health information. Packaging is part of a modern promise that a product will be exactly what we expect, every time we buy it. To deliver on this promise requires designers to consider the unique properties that each product possesses. Take, for example, the challenge of a cupcake. Cupcakes are prima donnas, you might say—they’re delicate, they need a wide swath of personal space, and each one has a coveted crown of frosting that must make it to the customer undisturbed. That is what people love and expect about cupcakes, and also what makes them difficult to package. So how do you protect and transport a dozen fragile things that don’t like to touch? The answer is: the clamshell. A “clamshell” is a molded plastic container that has a top half and a bottom half that close together to surround an object, creating a transparent box of armor. Often clamshells are used as carryout containers from restaurants, but those are usually just one simple rectangle. How do you make a container, you know, cupcake shape? First, a Pioneer Packaging engineer selects a rigid, food-safe plastic. Next, sheets of the plastic are fed into a thermoforming machine, which heats the plastic and draws it around a custom-designed form (in this case, the form would look like the bottom of a muffin tin). This creates a series of hollow pockets in which each cupcake will sit securely. From the same piece of plastic, the cover is created with plenty of headspace to prevent it from touching down on the lofty frosting. Pioneer Packaging sends these finished clamshells out to the cupcake manufacturer to be packed in a food-handling facility. After the cupcakes are added, the box presses shut. Now the boxes can be stacked and moved without risk of damage. From the truck, to the shelf, to the home of the consumer, the cupcakes remain pristinely formed, and the customer is happy. Mission Accupcake.
waste created in the manufacturing process to produce our folding cartons and plastics is 100% recycled. We sell the waste back to be recycled and repurchase it.”
But for as much as customers love fresh food, they despise the dreaded plastic bubble packaging that surrounds so many tools, gadgets, and technology. Pioneer Packaging makes some of those too, but don’t blame them, they’re saving you money in the end. Shinners explained that although some plastic packages can be hard to open by design, this is usually to prevent theft. “It happens all the time, unfortunately, and it’s an expensive problem. We take a lot of pride in being able to help prevent our customers’ products from being stolen.” Ultimately, when products are shoplifted, this is a loss for the producing company, and that can mean higher prices at checkout. Other times the purpose of the thick shell is to act as a safety precaution, such as in a package of saw blades. Boxes Don’t Grow on Trees, but They’re Made of Them Shinners spends most of his career making things that he knows you’ll probably throw away, and he’s fine with that; but he does hope you’ll recycle them. For as much as Shinners believes that packaging should be attractive and modern, he also believes it is essential to be environmentally conscious. Indeed, paperboard does boast some remarkably green statistics. To begin with, paper is the most reused, and most recycled packaging on the market. On the consumer side, 65% of the paper and paperboard products bought by American consumers in 2011 were recycled, according to the EPA. When it comes back from consumers, over 80% of recovered paper in the world is used again for cartons and paperboard. These high reuse and recycling rates trump plastic and other materials by a long shot, which is why Shinners tries to steer people to use paperboard over plastic, whenever possible. “We have to keep this stuff out of the landfills. We’re focused on it, and we’re doing a good job.” Furthering this commitment to sustainability, Shinners described how Pioneer Packaging also recycles heavily within their company. “All of the boxboard and plastic
Sustaining a Family Legacy Pioneer Packaging is proud to be a family-run business that has passed through three generations. Just as Gordon Shinners mentored Jeff, Jeff is passing his years of knowledge on to his daughter, Jill Shinners, who serves as vice president of sales and marketing. In Gordon’s day, the company grossed half a million dollars; today Pioneer Packaging has skyrocketed to a $12 million business, with plans to double profits in the next five years. But it’s not just a family affair; Shinners considers all sixty-four of his employees to be critical parts of this success. “We can’t make a good product without our people,” Shinners said. “We like to think that everyone here is part of our family, and most of the people who have been here have been here for many, many years.” Jeff Shinners’ generosity extends beyond Pioneer Packaging and into the Springfield community. Tragically, Shinners’ daughter Roxanne passed away while she was studying to be a nurse at AIC. To honor her memory, Shinners and Roxanne’s mother, Gloria, instituted an ongoing scholarship, extended to AIC nursing students with a grade point average of “B” or above. “Students today need a lot of financial help in order to go to college,” Shinners said. “They represent our future and our country.” This valuable fund helps nursing students like Roxanne to achieve their goals of graduating from AIC, and in many cases, to be the first person in their families to attend college—a difficult and worthwhile accomplishment. After nearly 68 years in packaging, the Shinners family have accomplished an admirable business model: creating a quality product in America, using sustainable materials, with a talented, respected team. Thanks to them, our cupcakes are fresh, our paintbrushes are unfrayed, and we never lose a game piece. At a time when many companies attempt to appear “green,” Pioneer Packaging relies on recycled materials as a part of their production. So the next time you buy one of Jeff Shinners’ packages, toss it right in the recycling bin. He promises not to be upset; after all, you’ll be helping his business, and helping do right by the earth. n Spring 2014 | 9
photos courtesy of Schimenti Construction Schimenti Construction’s rehab of the REI flagship store in Manhattan.
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Schimenti Construction’s AIC Connections by Jeremy Church
Spring 2014 | 11
If
you’ve been to a Gap, Bed Bath & Beyond, or Kohl’s in the greater New York City area, odds are pretty good that Schimenti Construction Company (SCC) built the store. Matt Schimenti ’87 is president of the Connecticutand New York-based company that builds small-box stores, big-box stores, and flagship stores for some of the country’s most well known retail businesses. The story of SCC seems at first glance to be a familiar American story: humble beginnings to great success. But when the story starts with skyscrapers designed by Schimenti’s grandfather, Michael, a prominent Manhattan architect during the 1960s construction boom, and continues through SCC’s expansion into a retail construction giant that has built stores from Manhattan to New Hampshire, as far west as Chicago and south to Maryland, the story is perhaps more accurately described as success building on success. Schimenti’s father, Donald, apprenticed with Schimenti’s grandfather, Michael, and discovered he was more interested in actual construction than architecture, so he became a general contractor and founded AMD Construction in 1971. Matt, the third-generation Schimenti, learned from both men, working summers for his grandfather in the architecture field and for his father in construction. When he graduated from AIC in 1987 with a business degree, like many graduates he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. “I didn’t know I wanted to be in the construction business. When it came up, it was actually the last game of my senior year,” says Schimenti, who played hockey at AIC. “I was beginning to deal with the job placement center, considering what my options were going to be after college, and my father had come up to visit. We had dinner before my last home game, I think it was Abdow’s on State Street, right by the campus, and he said to me, ‘I’ve really never asked you for anything but I’d like to ask you to try working in the office for a year.’ A couple months later I graduated, came home, and went to work for my dad.”
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"I just love what I do every day." He started as an estimator tasked with pricing and bidding jobs. He learned every aspect of the business and, through the company’s work with retailers, started to envision a new direction for the company. “I looked at my father’s business like it was this incredible springboard and empty canvas of opportunity that I could learn from and craft into my own thing, and he gave me a tremendous amount of rope. Little by little, I built up my contacts and career and eventually we rebranded with the name Schimenti Construction as a tribute to my family and my father. The business has, thankfully, grown in size. But I don’t know that that’s the most important thing other than I just love what I do every day.” Building Connections When Schimenti charted the new course for the business, he called an old teammate. SCC Executive Vice President Joe Rotondo ’85 and Schimenti overlapped at AIC for two years. Rotondo, from Randolph, Massachusetts, and the first member of his family to attend college, also played hockey at AIC. Schimenti knew that the team concept, hard work, and accountability both experienced at AIC would be essential for the new direction he was taking the business. But first he had to convince his old friend to come on board. Rotondo, a marketing major, got a job in West Springfield after graduation through an AIC contact. Schimenti recalls that for many years he tried to coax Rotondo into the construction business. Eventually he succeeded; like the offer Schimenti accepted from his father, Rotondo said he’d give it a shot. “He started asking me. He said, ‘I’ve got this construction company. I know you’re in sales and
marketing, I need a guy to do that.’ He didn’t even know what I did, he just knew he needed someone who was personable and who could go out and try to get some business. I was in the food business at the time, living in Connecticut, and I said, ‘Tell you what I’ll do, I’ll give you two years of my life and if I don’t like it, we’ll shake hands, I’ll go back to the food business because I had a great career there, and we’ll still be friends.’” After two years they sat down and both decided things were working out quite well. “We were doing about $20 million in sales at the time and today we do $160 million, roughly. It’s been a good run,” Rotondo says. Building Projects SCC has made a name for itself because of its expertise, professionalism, and flexibility in fulfilling a wide range of customer needs, from urban rehabs to building in the suburbs. Among the most challenging urban rehab projects was SCC’s restoring and reconstructing of the historic Puck Building in Manhattan, built in the late 1800s, into a flagship store for the outdoor retailer REI in 2011. The trick with that project, and many urban rehab projects, is to restore the character and aesthetic of the original building while reconstructing it for modern use. One example of this two-pronged approach in the REI flagship was refitting original chandeliers with energy-efficient lighting. SCC has been asked to incorporate green elements into many of its buildings. The company has Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified project managers who work with clients that want LEED status for their buildings. As such, SCC has constructed many LEED-certified buildings, most notably for Kohl’s, a retailer that has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency for its commitment to green initiatives. Rotondo explains that when green design in construction became hot, SCC learned quickly. “Now it’s standard operating procedure. If they want LEED points, we go through it effortlessly. It’s something that we do as a part of the construction services. We do this for our clients, but really our clients are dictating where it’s going.” Building Relationships Like the Schimenti lineage, the AIC lineage connected with the company has continued to a new generation.
Business Development Manager Tom Fenton, President Matt Schimenti, and Executive Vice President Joe Rotondo at the 2014 alumni hockey game.
Business Development Manager Tom Fenton ’09 came on in 2011. Fenton also played hockey at AIC. In talking with him, Schimenti realized that Fenton would be a good fit for the company. What is that fit? Well, for these former athletes, it all comes back to teamwork. Fenton explains: “Playing a sport on any team gives you great skills that relate to many different working environments.... Working in the construction industry is the ultimate team environment.” Schimenti and Rotondo add that the team concept, and playing for AIC’s hockey coach Gary Wright instilled in them the core principles they are guided by at SCC. With that foundation, the rest essentially takes care of itself. “AIC just meshed with me,” notes Schimenti. “Having those principles of character and accountability I think is what helped me tremendously once I got out of college.... I took responsibility for my actions and if I wanted something I went after it and did it right.” When Schimenti, Rotondo, and Fenton talk about AIC, they talk about closeness and the focused attention students get on campus. They talk about an accounting professor coming to hockey games. They talk about the late Dolores McClelland, an administrative assistant who went out of her way to prep students before they met with the dean. They talk about the many relationships they forged while on campus. They talk about lifelong friendships. These latter two themes ring out the loudest, and given Schimenti’s approach to his life and career, it makes perfect sense. “You talk about the success of the company and I think the fundamental, true point of that—and this goes back to my father but also streamlines through AIC—is that it’s all about relationships.” n Spring 2014 | 13
ZenOrgani and the Art of c Farming Brian Chevalier ’14 Finds Philosophy in the Radish Patch
photo by Lynn Saunders
By Scott Whitney
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Spring 2014 | 15
With a one-way ticket in hand, Brian Chevalier boarded a plane bound for Ireland. His first stop would be a horse farm north of Dublin; after that, plans were uncertain.
That’s true, but not a very useful beginning to our story.. Having walked away from the prestigious Berklee College of Music several years prior, Brian Chevalier spent most days in his cramped Boston apartment, playing and recording the music he never could in the confines of his former school’s theory and technique.
Again — true, but not the right place to start..
There’s the time Chevalier spent busking on the streets of Germany, the “hell bus” to Budapest, and even the kitchen where he served as a short order cook. All true episodes in an eclectic life—but perhaps the best place to meet Brian Chevalier is where he is most at home: among the long rows of his one-and-a-half acre organic farm, lost in the ceaseless task of tending to his crops. To say that Chevalier—now in his late thirties—is a Renaissance man is to state the obvious, but what lies at the heart of everything he does is best illuminated in this setting. Bearded and with warm eyes, Chevalier comes most alive when describing his work. On weeding: “When you’re at a task like that by yourself, one that’s really tedious, and you’re looking down a row and thinking, ‘I’m never going to finish,’ there’s a meditative quality that lets you move toward acceptance,” he explains. “You decide that you’re doing this now, what’s right in front of you, and you’re not going to worry about the next row. Just this one. That’s rewarding.” He nods and falls silent. “And then there are moments when you go totally stir crazy,” he adds. 16 | Lucent
Idealistic and practical; erudite and down to earth; Chevalier embraces the complexity of his internal self with enviable ease. His is a worldview cultivated over years of passions and disappointments, false starts and success stories. On Foreign Soil Shortly after leaving Berklee in his early twenties, the Springfield native tagged along with his aunt to a Northeast Organic Farming (NOFA) conference held at Hampshire College. Like many twenty-somethings, Chevalier struggled to find a suitable life path and discovered both intellectual and philosophical focus in what he heard. “I went to a few of the talks and listened to people talk about soil and movable greenhouses...and I was enraptured,” he recalls. He immediately began researching food science and sustainable farming, topics that would remain central themes in his life for the next fifteen years. What Chevalier heard at that conference eventually put him on a plane to Ireland, where he began more than a year of traveling from farm to farm across Europe, volunteering his labor in exchange for room, board, and experience. “I worked at three farms
in Ireland, two in Spain, three in France, and I spent a week in Morocco,” he recalls. “Farming in Europe cemented the fact that I really wanted to do this. I was outside and working hard with my body; it just felt like honest work in a way that work had never felt before.” It wasn’t just the physicality of agriculture that captivated Chevalier; he found the often-communal nature of the work to be a good fit for his personality. “If you’re crawling to pick out weeds with three other people and the bed is a thousand feet long, you’re not going to finish that in eight hours,” he explains. “So you’re going to be with these people for a long time. The stuff you end up learning about each other, and what you’re willing to tolerate in doing work like that is incredible. The work may be tedious, but because of the communal sense, it doesn’t feel like it.” After returning to the States, Chevalier stayed committed to farming organically, seeing the practice as integral to healthy living. “For one, it’s a healthier way to work. I’m not handling man-made chemicals,” he says. “But also, a lot of these chemicals used on vegetables are systemic, so they get into the bloodstream of the vegetable. You can’t just wash that off.” Furthermore, Chevalier cites studies that have revealed high levels of pesticides and insecticides in the urine of those whose water supply has been tainted by agricultural runoff.
focused on providing produce for a Springfield health-food store. Currently, he is the farm’s only steward, a responsibility that he juggles with his fulltime job working with mentally ill clients for a local nonprofit agency. As he recounted the many tasks and responsibilities required of running a farm, I wondered aloud how he could possibly manage it all with the constraints of full-time employment. “Well,” he said matter-of-factly, “I have a tractor.” A more expansive answer goes like this: At the end of each work day, Chevalier travels from his office in Holyoke to his farm in Wilbraham and takes advantage of the remaining sunlight to maintain his crops. He then makes strategic use of his two days off. “You just get out there and do it,” he says with a shrug. Of course, a tight schedule requires that he leave little to chance, so he uses the off-season to plan his seed buys and hone his plan for the upcoming grow season. “If you have systems in place, and you know what the steps are, you don’t have to think in the field as much. The idea is to not waste time standing around and thinking,” he explains. “That’s not to say you can just go and be a ‘dumb farmer’—in fact, there’s no such thing—but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you’re out there.”
But despite his graciousness, Chevalier holds a strong belief that organic farming is a key to a life anchored in health and political justice. “At the same time that I was learning how to eat healthy as a vegetarian when I was younger, I was also learning about food justice, and it really all came together,” he said. “I guess my mind was corrupted by those hippies at the NOFA conference,” he said, smiling wryly.
“What We’ve Got Here Is a Failure to Communicate” As a current undergraduate student at American International College, it’s not agriculture that brought Chevalier back to the classroom. Despite his commitment to organic farming and his comfort in the field, agriculture rarely comes up when he discusses future plans. Among his many interests, Chevalier has chosen the social sciences as his primary academic focus, particularly with regard to interpersonal relationships. “I’d like to eventually do research in communication… and miscommunication, which happens in our daily lives with our most important relationships, but also at the global level,” he explains. “Why does a hardcore Republican have such a hard time talking to a hardcore Democrat and vice-versa? What are they both missing? I’d like to explore that.”
The Moonlight Farmer After working at area farms for several years, Chevalier founded Wicked Organic Farm in Wilbraham, Mass., a venture that he’s continued for three seasons strong. Wicked Organic has offered individual farm shares in the past, but during the most recent season, Chevalier
And to bring two seemingly disparate elements of his life together, Chevalier describes the connection between his current work with mentally ill adults and his interest in social psychology. “Every day, I work with people who are trying to do the best as they know how. Many of my clients grew up in environments where
However, in typically level-headed fashion, Chevalier balances his ideals with the realities of contemporary life. “If I’m going to someone’s house for dinner, I’d never ask them where they got their vegetables,” he says. “If they’re nice enough to cook me a meal, I’m not going to question it.”
Spring 2014 | 17
they were never heard or where they felt invalidated,” he says. “My job is to be make sure that they get heard, to open up a line of communication that may offer another way of doing things.” To illustrate how the skills of his current job could apply macrocosmically, Chevalier explains to me a concept known as the fundamental attribution error. “It’s this fascinating concept in psychology where you attribute the other person’s faults to a character flaw, but you attribute your own faults to the situation. So if you and I get into an argument and you say, ‘You’re yelling at me,’ my response might be, ‘But I’m only yelling because you’re being an idiot,’” he says. “I’m basically saying that it’s your character flaw and I’m just reacting to it.” He leans in as he explains the theory, gently patting the table between us as he explains a better way. This is Chevalier the teacher. As he speaks, I think to myself, “I do this. All the time.” I stop taking notes. “I need to stop doing this,” I think, lost in introspection. And then I am reminded that this is an interview, not a therapy session. I pick up my pen. Meanwhile, Chevalier has gone back to his tea, entirely disinterested in whether I understand the concept, agree with it, or believe that it could be useful for me. And this impulse is at the core of his work—in his clients’
18 | Lucent
lives, in the classroom, in the field. Do good in the world and worry little what happens afterward. “What I didn’t understand as a teenager is to just let the end result come. In whatever you’re doing, you can still have an idea of where you want to get to, but bring your focus back to what you’re doing in the moment.” For Chevalier, this approach is key to progress, be it personal growth, social research, or a move to sustainable farming strategies. “All of the literature about social change is focused on doing what you can today and let the future work itself out,” he says. “You can’t worry about it or you’ll burn out. You’ll be ineffective.” As he speaks, I am brought back to the image of Chevalier weeding a seemingly interminable row of crops, one mound at a time, one moment at a time, thinking little of the next chore. After we shake hands and say our goodbyes, I sit for a few moments as my car warms up, replaying our conversation in my head. Unaware of being watched, Chevalier comes into view, striding down the sidewalk and passing a busker playing in the cold. He stops and listens for a moment, pulls his jacket tight. Reaching into his pocket, Chevalier pulls out a bill and drops it into the musician’s guitar case. He quickly walks on, moving down the street toward the next thing. Of course he does. n
Seine River Cruise Paris & Highlights of Normandy
departs July 25, 2014
Starting at $3699 visit www.aic.edu/alumni/calendar or email alumni@aic.edu for more information
Spring 2014 | 19
create, conse Bill Seretta ’69, MA ’71 and the Case for Sustainability
photo by Lynn Saunders
by Joel Anderson
erve, connect “I mean…how much kale can you eat in a week?”
When Bill Seretta asks you a rhetorical question, be advised that you should pull up a chair, listen carefully, and get ready to start thinking about things—the world, your waste, your water, your kale consumption, and the interconnectedness of all these things—in a way that will challenge you, provoke you, and, ultimately, inspire you. And get ready for that first question to give rise to even more questions.
1
Questions like: •
Did you know that human waste could be converted into consumable electricity? 1 • Did you know that in the early 1970s, AIC ran a “secret” program and accepted into its freshman class six juvenile “offenders” who’d never graduated high school? 2 • Did you know that in order to get to protect a river, you might first have to convince people that it’s clean enough to make it worth protecting? 3 • Has an heiress to the L.L. Bean fortune ever called you a communist? 4 • Did you ever follow through on your dream of opening a fine-dining restaurant? 5 Seretta is likely the only man on the planet who can answer yes to all these questions. And he’s not done adding to the list—not even close. But anyway, back to the kale...
It’s true. And it’s happening at Brunswick Landing: Maine’s Center for Innovation (the former home of the Brunswick Naval Air Station), the site of Seretta’s new Sustainability Lab. One of the ways the new business and technology center aims to be sustainable is by generating electricity using what’s called an anaerobic digester. Organic waste (including, yes, fecal waste) gets dumped into a giant underground tank where it gives off methane, which then powers a turbine, supplying electricity to the old base’s electrical grid. generational. Land isn’t. Once you lose the land, it’s gone forever. So we started proposing that farmland be put into a trust.” Protecting land was clearly important, but many people, some with considerable money and political heft, fought back against what they perceived as government meddling with private property. They (including the L.L. Bean descendent) put up roadblocks wherever they could. But the CHES was in it for the long term. “Now, of course, there are land trusts everywhere,” says Seretta. “It’s interesting to look back over a thirty- or forty-year period and say, ‘Gosh, we were right.’”
Seriously, back to the kale... People like Seretta have done such a good job getting the word out about the importance of locally grown food that there’s now almost a surplus of it. Farmers markets and CSAs are everywhere, and Seretta makes the point that, on one hand, if a hundred local farmers are growing kale, that’s a great thing, but if they can’t sell the kale because people aren’t familiar with it or don’t know how to cook it, that’s a serious problem. This is when he pops the big green question: How Also true. Seretta was studying for his master’s at the time, and much kale can you eat in a week? his mentor, Professor Art Bertrand, a lifelong friend and mentor “Because,” he says, “if you’ve never to Seretta, helped him set up the program. “We took six kids who had kale before, good luck trying never completed high school, who all had been locked up somewhere to get your kid to eat kale! On the in the state…and put them in AIC as students. Now these were kids with no other hand, if you can get a school high school diploma. They basically finished tenth grade, but they were very system to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to bright kids. Only Art, myself, Dean Brennan and one of the trustees knew try a bunch of new ways of eating about it. It was all funded by the state. It was cheaper to put them in college kale, and we want you kids to pick than to keep them locked up. Overall, they did very well.” the best one out of the five—guess what? They’ll eat kale! Not because Mom and Dad said to do it, but because the kids voted on it and got to make the choice.” He goes on to explain As Seretta explains it, “Back then, people understood that the practice of sustainability itself needs sustaining. that there was a problem with farming in Maine, but Protecting the land is one step. Getting people to farm they saw it as, ‘Oh man, we have to save the farmer.’ locally is another step. But, “If you don’t do all the But saving the farmer wasn’t the problem. Farmers are things it takes to make small agriculture grow, you’ll hit Seretta is talking about kale because he’s a long-time advocate of small-scale, sustainable agriculture, and his belief in it was part of the reason he started, in 1976, the Center for Human Ecology Studies (CHES)—an educational/activist venture that gave college students from all over the Northeast course credit in exchange for their collaboration on projects protecting Maine’s water and land, especially its farmland.
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That sounds strange, but it’s true, at least in Maine in the 1970s. Seretta and his team at the Center for Human Ecology Studies helped upgrade the Royal River from a “C” to a “B” classification under the Federal Clean Water Act, helping inovke stricter protections.
a wall. The wall is distribution, marketing, and changing consumers’ behavior.” The more you talk to Seretta the more you get a sense for how he approaches complex issues…and how one problem can get a solution that itself ends up becoming yet another problem to be solved. And maybe that’s the best way to describe what sustainability really is— perpetual commitment to finding solutions that make a better future more possible.
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Can we all agree that regardless of your particular political persuasion, calling someone a communist is not a great way to start a discussion about complex issues?
How the future gets better Another way to think about the concept of sustainability is to imagine an ideal future as a system that loses as little energy as possible. That’s why we recycle, for example—to keep the energy that it took to produce and manufacture and transport, say, a plastic bottle, in the system. If you bury the bottle in a landfill, you lose a lot of energy. And because there’s not a limitless supply of raw materials in the world with which to make plastic bottles, burying things in a landfill is, in the long term, an unsustainable practice. Seretta’s newest project, modeled on the success he had with the CHES, is called the Sustainability Lab, an applied-educational venture whose mission is to “advance sustainable practices by exploring the convergence of human activity, technology, and the natural environment against the backdrop of exponential population growth, global climate change, and an increasing disparity between the rich and the poor.”
That’s a mouthful. And if it sounds like it might be too much for one man to bite off, don’t pity Seretta. He’s got enough mental horsepower to get anywhere he wants to go. But in order to understand why the Sustainablity Lab is a project he’s intent on seeing through to completion, it helps to understand the events and experiences that have led him to this point in his life. For Seretta, sustainability isn’t necessarily just about conservation or renewable energy or clean water, it’s ultimately about how these things affect living, breathing human beings. In other words: it’s not about politics, it’s about people. And Seretta cares a lot about people. The past is personal When he was a student at AIC, Seretta worked in the summers for various agencies that helped troubled youth. But he was frustrated with the overall system in which he felt the people who needed the most help weren’t getting it. He was also alarmed that youth were so frequently incarcerated when a different approach would likely have been more beneficial. “I was really ticked off that we locked up people,” Seretta says. When Seretta graduated in 1969 after studying psychology and anthropology, he knew that he wanted to put into practice the theories he learned about in the classroom. He knew he wanted to find a way to keep young people—many of whom came from horrible home situations—in the system (in schools and the labor force) instead of in jail cells. So for the first several years of his post-AIC career, he took a variety of positions doing anything he could to help. First, he was the director of Group Homes, Inc., a nonprofit organization in Springfield. He moved on from that position to co-found, along with Art Bertrand, the Center for Human Development, an organization focused on helping communities become safer and healthier.
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In the early 1980s Seretta and his wife, Lyn Baird, started Camp Hammond, a finedining restaurant in Yarmouth, Maine. It eventually became a well-regarded, high-end catering and event center. Spring 2014 | 23
From there, Seretta went to work for the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation in Boston, where he was tasked with identifying and funding programs that could help improve Massachusetts’ criminal justice system. “We became the most radical foundation in the state,” says Seretta. “We were doing things nobody else was doing. In Pittsfield, for example, we funded a program that was run by the UMass School of Education, where I was also in the doctoral program. We worked with the sheriff and the Berkshire County Jail. We admitted the sheriff
“
What we once saw as problems have now become opportunities.
”
to a doctoral program. Some of the administrators and guards were admitted to master’s programs. That was step one. Step two was getting five master’s students from the education department at UMass Amherst admitted as prisoners for one year—actual prisoners with no rights. Their job was to organize inmates into an educational program.” Even though the foundation was doing its best to address serious problems, Seretta felt that throwing money at jails and prisons was, in a way, addressing problems too late. He wanted to do work that helped people, communities, and the world before things went haywire. So, in 1976, he went to Maine to start the CHES, where, until 1982, he worked with students from Hampshire College, Cornell University, Dickinson College, College of the Atlantic, Unity College, and UMass Amherst. At the CHES his students could apply their knowledge and worldviews in real, practical ways that could tangibly improve the future. During his tenure with CHES, Seretta also began to work with the National Center for Service Learning, 24 | Lucent
a project of the federal government that trained high-school faculty members how to help students engage in hands-on community-minded projects. When funding for the program eventually dried up (a result of the changing political and economic landscape in the early 1980s), Seretta decided it was time for a change. Since then, he’s switched gears a little, owning and coowning several enterprises, employing anywhere from 18–50 people at a time. It turns out that the suite of skills he accrued while pursing the projects he was passionate about had real value in the marketplace. He’s kept busy consulting for other people and pursuing ventures he thought could be both interesting and profitable. He’s been hired as a strategic planner by banks, real estate firms, museums, colleges and universities (including AIC, where he helped implement the campus’ computing network). He owned an Apple computer dealership for several years. He ran “boot camps” that trained people how to use Novell software. He got deeply involved in emerging Internet technology, helping businesses and governments implement tech-savvy solutions that simplified people’s lives.6 He opened a restaurant. Making the old new again (and again) Now he’s ready to take another crack at sustainability. The Sustainability Lab will be up and running, Seretta hopes, in the next year. He’s getting the Lab’s physical space in shape at the old naval base, he’s developing relationships with organizations and businesses that are deeply committed to advancing the cause of sustainable living, and he’s working with colleges and universities to build a student experience that will be meaningful academically and practically. In addition to the handful of colleges he’s already negotiating with (including, Hampshire, Sterling, Marlboro, Green Mountain, Babson, the University of New England, and Unity), he also plans on working with students from his alma mater, a prospect AIC’s provost, Dr. Todd G. Fritch, is understandably excited about. “The Sustainability Lab offers a great opportunity for students to get hands-on experiences with meaningful projects that will enhance the learning they have already done in the classroom,” says Fritch. “We are excited about what AIC students can learn at the Lab and how they can meaningfully apply that knowledge to making
The recently decommissioned Brunswick Naval Air Station, site of the new Sustainability Lab.
the world a better and more sustainable place.” While the Lab will be modeled on the work Seretta did with the CHES, he’s adapted his approach to suit a totally new generation of college students. For example, the programs may be shorter to better fit into today’s students’ already overly busy lives and course loads. And one of the Lab’s programs, the Boot Camp for Young Social Entrepreneurs, will actively address this new generation’s desire to make a difference in the world while also making a profit.
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One of the products he helped develop is called Virtual Town Hall, web software that allows towns and cities to have helpful, easyto-navigate online presences. “We made sense out of city hall,” Seretta says. “Town halls were complicated places. But when you put something online it can’t be complicated, so we simplified it.” Currently, in Massachusetts one in three towns uses Virtual Town Hall.
“The number of students interested in creating a business when they graduate is huge,” says Seretta. “And the vast majority wants to do something that has social impact, especially in the areas of water, waste, food, housing, and energy. So what if we could create a program that nurtured that and brought that along?” He goes on to explain that such business-minded students, in general, used to not have much interest in issues like sustainability. He’s happy that stereotype is changing. “What we once saw as problems have now become opportunities. Part of what I envision the Lab doing is then turning these opportunities into jobs that generate enough income to support themselves.” It’s adaptations like these that make Seretta’s second go-round with the Sustainability Lab old but new. The same but better. It has evolved from its first iteration to help future sustainers, be, well, more sustainable. It all makes a perfect kind of sense: Seretta knows that even programs that promote sustainability have to themselves be sustained. And as his prolific past makes evident, he’s clearly the right man for the job. n Spring 2014 | 25
the (nick)
Name
Kevin Panetta and his AIC family By Joel Anderson
When you think of all the people on a college campus who directly impact the quality of life of current students, several types of people probably come to mind: Professors? Absolutely. RAs and campus life staff? That’s a no-brainer. Coaches? No doubt.
26 | Lucent
| off the record | But at AIC, you can also throw in the staff of our facilities crew, especially one Kevin “Moose” Panetta. While Panetta’s primary responsibility is getting AIC in shape for various events and gatherings (he calls himself “the setup man”), you could say that his true calling is making AIC students—especially those from far away—feel at home. How does a man called “Moose” do that? Well, with nicknames, of course. Panetta works all over campus, but his real element is wherever the students are, especially in the Schwartz Campus Center. There he can be overheard joking with students, asking them if they’re studying enough, and, of course, calling them by the nicknames he’s lovingly bestowed upon them. Off the top of his head, he can rattle off a handful of nicknames he’s used recently: Slow-Mo; Allie Oop; Anthony Downstairs; Johnny B. Goode; Johnny Smiles; Johnny Lynnway; Cali (for just about anyone from the Golden State); Donny Dean (for Donny Backx ’14, a football player who’s always on the Dean’s List and who was named to the 2013 Northeast-10 Fall Academic All-Conference team); Hawaiian Tropic (for Blair Havron, a senior from Hawaii); and Golden Eagle. This last moniker belongs to Nathan Burrage ’14. How did he get his Moose-approved nickname? “Well, I went to Central High School right down the road,” explains Burrage. “Our mascot was the Golden Eagle. Ever since Moose found that out, he doesn’t call me anything else.”
As for why students are as fond of Panetta as he is of them, Burrage has an explanation for that, too. “It has to be his charisma,” Burrage says. “He’s always smiling. He’s always happy to see people. Every time he sees you he takes the time to say ‘Hi.’ There’s so much excitement and happiness in him. It’s impossible to not like him.” And what does Panetta get out of all his interactions with AIC students? “I just love the kids,” he says. “They keep me young. I also love working with everybody here on the facilities crew. They’re all my second family.” Away from AIC, Panetta is every bit the family man you’d expect him to be. The Springfield native is beamingly proud of his wife of thirty-three years, Cheryl, their children, and especially their granddaughter, Aubri. What you might not guess about the man who got his nickname in honor of Bill “Moose” Skowron, a first baseman for the New York Yankees in the 1950s, is that in addition to the work he does at AIC, he also owns his own business: “Kevin’s,” a hair salon where for almost thirty-five years he’s catered to the needs of a regular clientele. This last bit of information might surprise some, but when you think about it, his easy way with people and conversation is a skill all the best stylists and barbers have down to a science. n
Dropper
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| class notes | Dear Alumni, We received multiple responses to our request for the story behind the photo from the Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Lucent. By all accounts the photo was taken at the Zeta Chi Fraternity House in the early 50s. George Martel ’51 let us know he is in the second row. Richard Bozzuto ’52 shared that he was in the back row. Carl “Rusty” Johnson ’54 wasn’t in the photo but joined the following year.
Heather Cahill Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement
Tell us about this photo!
Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Professor of Psychology Greg Schmutte recognized Nicole Santos ’00, DEEP ’10, and Ravella Gericke Vance ’97 in this photo.
Correction
In the last issue, Dick Pervonga ’54 named several former members of The Garret Players in a photo. Joe Lieberman ’51 wrote: “Looking long and hard at the photo I do not recognize myself at all. The others named, with the exception of John Gaffney, are noted as graduating in ’50 whereas the article refers to the mid ’50’s. I believe this photo was from the late ’40’s, and I could be wrong. Anyway it is a good feeling to be remembered after all these years.” Mary Stewart Barkhuff ’52 wrote, “I was the second in the left in the front row. George LeRoy ’52 was behind me…. Those were fun days.” 28 |person Lucent
| class notes |
1930s
The Class of 1937 Scholarship was awarded to Brandon Fagerheim, a junior economics major from Calgary, Canada. The Class of 1938 Scholarship was awarded to Aidan Farrell, a sophomore criminal justice major from Mansfield, MA. The Class of 1939 Scholarship was awarded to Catherine Towsley, a senior nursing major from Chicopee, MA.
1940s
The Class of 1940 Scholarship was awarded to Martine Turgeon, a senior psychology major from Monson, MA. The 1941–45 reunion will take place June 7 at AIC. Look for your invitation in the mail, or call Heather Caisse at 413.205.3004.
1950s
Glendora Buell Folsom ’50
was presented the Clara Lemloch Award for a woman who is still an activist in her 80s or 90s. Glendora fought many battles on behalf of Public Access Television. She is still an activist today on behalf of a plant-based diet and against cruelty to animals. Martin Badoian ’54 MS was honored by Canton High School for his more than 54 years of teaching math. The mathematics wing at the school was named for him.
In November 2013, Garry Brown ’54 celebrated 40 years of writing
his column “Hitting to All Fields” for the Springfield Republican newspaper. Brown was also part of the seven-man inaugural class of the Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame.
Mike Bailey ’73 is serving as a guest instructor at Bosse Sports Club in Sudbury, MA during the winter. He is a PGA instructor at Stow Acres Country Club in Stow, MA during the season.
1960s
Clem Morrison ’73 and Bill Urquhart ’73 met to watch
Leone Casey Scanlon ’61
retired as Director of the Writing Center, Clark University in Worcester, MA in 1999. The Class of 1964 Scholarship was awarded to Sydney Tepley, a sophomore biology major from Racine, WI. Terry Rhicard ’64 was inducted into the Springfield (MA) Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame for his outstanding baseball career at Technical High School.
The Bonnie Sharp Scholarship was awarded to Bryan Falconer, a sophomore nursing student from Windsor Locks, CT. Walter Klein ’69 retired from produce sales at wholesale grocer Bozzuto’s Inc. (CT).
1970s
Eddie Williams ’70 retired after 40+ years as a clinical psychologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. At retirement he was the psychology executive (chief of psychology service) at the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, IL.
The Class of 1972 Scholarship was awarded to Kurt Rustic, a junior nursing major from Enfield, CT.
the AIC men’s hockey team defeat Niagara University 6-2 in Buffalo, NY. They spoke to Coach Gary Wright after the game and shared some of their favorite hockey memories.
Dr. Reginald Wells ’74 has a
few different titles, apart from his regular duties as Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Human Resources at the Social Security Administration; he also serves on the Chief Human Capital Officers Council. As the last remaining federallyemployed member of the original council started in 2003, he continues to play a critical role in shaping workplace and workforce initiatives across the federal government.
Paul Nicolai ’75 served as one
of five judges at the Western Massachusetts Business Expo’s Pitch Contest and Demo Day. At the event, teams had two minutes to impress the judges with an elevator pitch for their company or product.
1980s
John Mateyko ’81 is in his 13th
year as head basketball coach at St. Joseph College in Long Island, NY. He is the all-time winningest coach in school history.
Spring 2014 | 29
| class notes | Bermuda’s Governor George Fergusson appointed Victoria Pearman ’87 as the country’s next Ombudsman. She has been practicing law for more than 20 years and has also served as a senator and Junior Education Minister. Cambridge Trust Company announced the appointment of Les Hartwell ’88 as assistant vice president, business development officer. Hartwell has 25 years of experience in the banking industry. Tess Ahlberg ’89 was recently
featured at the Annual Fall Open Studios Art Show and Sale of the Artists at Indian Orchard Mills (MA). While manager of The East Village, an art café in Easthampton, she helped design the interior walls and decor. She creates fairy houses made of birch bark, does makeyour-own fairy house kits for kids, and hosts fairy house workshops. She also makes porcelain fairies, fabric art dolls, recycled art, and broken treasure art cigar boxes.
1990s
Matt Adeletti ’91 is the new
2000s
Beth Gottung ’00 is director of
athletic advancement and head field hockey coach at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Her team has just completed one of their most successful seasons in school history. Anthony Sabonis ’00 is the new
assistant principal at the Gateway Regional School District junior and senior high schools. He earned a master’s of education in organizational management at Endicott College. His prior teaching experience includes three years at St. Mary High School and seven years at Franklin County Technical School, teaching business education courses at both schools. Nicky Vallieres ’01 was inducted
into the Berkshire County High School Girls Basketball Hall of Fame. She was Hoosac Valley’s alltime girls leading scorer and went on to play at AIC.
acquisition manager for Pitkin County (CO) Open Space and Trails after spending 12 years in Boulder County as a paralegal for its Parks and Open Space Department.
Therapy in Lincoln, RI.
Roseann Capanna-Hodge ’98 CAGS, DEEP ’99, lives in
Kris ’07 AA and Uwe Porth ’10 MEd have moved to Florida from
Michael Letourneau ’07, ’09 MPT has joined Elite Physical
Summa Cum Laude. She now resides in Charlotte, N.C. and practices with the Banfield Pet Hospital.
2010s
Eileen P. Drumm ’11 MS is
the new president of the Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce.
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts honored 10 teachers with the seventh annual RMHC Local Hero Awards. Among the recipients were Mary Madru ’11 MEd from North Middle School in Westfield, MA. The Columbus (GA) Cottonmouths hockey team signed Nielsson Arcibal ’12 and Steve Mele ’13. Forward Steve Mele is now on loan from the Cottonmouths to the South Carolina Stingrays. Ronald Tetreault ’12 was inducted into the Massachusetts Wrestling Hall of Fame. He wrestled for AIC for 3 years and was a national qualifier NCAA DII. He is currently an assistant wrestling coach at AIC.
Longtime Minnechaug Regional High School history teacher William J. Metzger ’13 MEd
is the new vice principal at Southwick-Tolland (MA) Regional High School.
Brookfield, CT with her husband and two sons. She is an educational psychologist and board certified neurofeedback practitioner.
Agawam, MA. Kris says they are “not missing the awful weather or shoveling the white stuff !”
Adam Pleskach ’13 was signed
Jeanette Johnathan ’09
Catherine Bodley ’99 CPA has
graduated from Tuskegee University in May 2013, earning the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine,
Ben Meisner ’13 is the new
joined with Brian Dillon to form Dillon & Associates LLC, Certified
30 | Lucent
Public Accountants. Dillon & Associates, LLC will provide a broad range of accounting and tax services, including tax preparation and planning for individuals, small businesses, and corporations.
by the Tulsa Oilers hockey team as a forward.
goaltender for the Fort Wayne (IN) Komets hockey team. He was previously with the Utah Grizzlies.
| class notes |
37th Annual
AIC Alumni Bob Chipman Memorial Golf Tournament Friday, May 16, 2014 10:00 a.m. Shotgun Start Oak Ridge Golf Club Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Spring 2014 | 31
| in memoriam | 1940s
1960s
James Hogan ’40 Stephen Johnson ’40 Barbara Callahan ’42 Harold Mackler ’44 Edward Pepyne ’48 Carl Baumann ’49 Jerome Norton ’49 Murad Tarpinian ’49
1950s
Joseph Knapik ’62 Paul Adornato ’63 Richard Bellini ’63 Rose O’Neill ’65 Ellen Occhiuti ’65 Edward O’Connor ’67 Bernard Lavoie ’68 Joseph O’Neil ’68 Paul Rovelli ’69
John Bills ’50 Mark Feinberg ’50 Harold Rubin ’50 Albert George ’51 John Doyle ’52 Charles Hagan ’52 Joseph Napolitan ’52 Raymond LaFramboise ’53 Bruce Harvey ’54 Barbara Katz ’56 Roland Laprade ’56 Irene Laszczyk ’58 Robert Branflick ’59 Robert Holbrook ’59
1970s
Jere Pastreck ’70 Virginia Thompson ’70 Irene Mozden ’72 Samuel Tilery ’73 Joseph Perry ’74 Tobey Katz ’76 Paul Kittredge ’76 Natalie Jones ’79 Edward Miller ’79
A Lasting
Legacy
1980s
Marilyn Bartz ’80 Errol Weisberg ’81 Joseph Blanchard ’89
1990s
Jane Fitzpatrick ’94 Charles Villee ’94 Helen Fuller ’96 Craig Epstein ’97 Andrew Pastuszak ’99
Faculty
Theodore B. Belsky Arthur Bertrand ’56 Aloo Jhabvala “Ava” Driver Joan Pennington ’75
“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” Benjamin Franklin
Joseph J. Napolitan ’52 (1929–2013) was a world renowned political consultant; a US Army Veteran; an AIC Trustee; author; and family man. He was also a man who thought ahead. After working for years to improve his community, Joe opened his first political consulting office in Springfield, MA in 1956 and served on many local boards, including AIC’s, where he established the Joseph Napolitan Associates Scholarship to assist AIC students with financial need. Since 1981 his scholarship has helped dozens of students achieve their dream of a college education. Joe’s generosity insures his name will live on at AIC and that future students will have access to an excellent education.
If you would like to create your own legacy at American International College, please contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at alumni@aic.edu or 413.205.3972. 32 | Lucent
presents
by
A
Lorraine Hansberry
A Raisin In The Sun is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, INC.
April
April
April
7:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.
25 26 27 Griswold Theatre
Free admission, donations appreciated. Visit www.aic.edu/theater for more information.
American International College
American International College 1000 State Street Springfield, Massachusetts 01109 www.aic.edu
A
Join Us
President’s Cup Golf Outing June 12, 2014
Crestview Country Club For more information call or email Heather Caisse.
413.205.3555
heather.caisse@aic.edu