QUADangles
FALL 2009, VOL. 17, NO. 1
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
ALUMNI MAGAZINE
URI’s Newest Big Thinker David M. Dooley
Join Us!
Demystifying A Series of Public Programs at the University of Rhode Island presented by the URI Honors Program
A land of mystery and paradox, India, depending on whom you ask, is a country of snake charmers or a land full of call centers. The 2009 Honors Colloquium will explore India through a range of topics as large and varied as the country itself.
September 15–December 8, 2009 Tuesday evenings, 7:30 p.m. Chafee Auditorium URI Kingston Campus
Watch events live—or later—via streaming Webcast: uri.edu/hc
Photo credit: iStockphoto: Taj Mahal.
uri.edu/hc
QUADangles FALL 2009, VOL. 17, NO. 1
URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
20 DEPARTMENTS UP FRONT 3 News and views PRESS BOX 8 LOOKING BACK 25 ALUMNI CHAPTERS 26 Upcoming events and contacts CLASS ACTS 32 News from your classmates, photo wrap-ups, and alumni profiles BACK PAGE 40 The Rhode Back to Homecoming by Jeff Ross INSIDE BACK COVER Family Camp Photo Wrap BACK COVER Big Chill Weekend WEB EXTRAS PRIDE IN URI NIGHT MOVE-IN DAY RHODY POSTCARDS AND MORE... URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
COVER PHOTO BY NORA LEWIS CONTENTS: CHRIS LANE; NORA LEWIS; COURTESY GRANT/MISRA; © ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
FEATURES 10
PRESIDENT DAVID M. DOOLEY, OUR NEWEST BIG THINKER By Jhodi Redlich ’81 President Dooley began his new career at URI on July 1
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A UNION OF TWO WORLDS By Marybeth Reilly-McGreen The story began in 1985 when Karen Grant and Tushar Misra, both student workers in the URI library, met and began to date
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PATENTED SOLUTIONS By Todd McLeish and Dave LaVallee ’79, M.P.A. ’87 Recent faculty inventions help keep us healthy, safe, and shopping
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STALKING IRISH MADNESS By Christine Gombar Patrick Tracey received a PEN New England Award for this memoir that explores the roots of schizophrenia in his family
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ALREADY AN OLD SALT AT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY By Todd McLeish Megan O’Brien began conducting biological research in high school; today she is a seasoned molecular biologist
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ADVOCATING FOR SERVICE MEMBERS By Jan Wenzel ’87 During his final year as an undergraduate student, John Powers developed the Veterans Resource Guide: Healing Our Veterans and Families
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UNCOMMON READING: DEMYSTIFYING INDIA By Gigi Edwards Readers comment on the stories of Jhumpa Lahiri, who grew up in the Kingston area as the daughter of a URI librarian
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ALUMNI online
advance.uri.edu/alumni
It’s no secret that the Internet has changed the way we communicate. We’re taking advantage of the latest advances in this technology to stay in touch with alumni and s upporters. ON THE ROAD? DON'T FORGET TO SEND A POSTCARD! Are you traveling for work, study, or service? Then send a Rhody Postcard! The postcards are a fun, new feature of QuadAngles Online. Alumni, students, faculty, and staff are invited to send a greeting to the URI community with a photo or short video---use your cellphone, camera, or video recorder! So far, postcards have been sent from Paris, Beijing, Moldova, South Africa, Shanghai, and a Habitat for Humanity project site in Birmingham, Alabama. Check out samples at uri.edu/quadangles/rhody-postcards-from. Contact Barbara Caron at bcaron@advance.uri.edu or 401.874.5895. Can't wait to hear from you! STAY CONNECTED No matter what your interests or where you live, there are ways to stay connected with your alma mater. Join an alumni chapter in Boston, Chicago, or Baltimore. Get involved with the Women’s Council for Development or the Alumni of Color Coalition. Participate in one of the Alumni Association’s volunteer committees, or re-connect with old classmates and plan a reunion. Go to advance.uri.edu/alumni/getinvolved to find out more. CHECK YOUR CALENDAR From this fall’s Big Thinkers Series events in Boston, Washington D.C., and New York City to the “Demystifying India” Honors Colloquium Series on the Kingston Campus and January’s Big Chill Weekend in Newport, there are great events of interest to alumni for 2009–10. To take a look, go to advance.uri.edu/ alumni/calendar. Bookmark the page and check it often. We’re always adding something new. YES, MEMBERSHIP DOES MATTER More than 65 programs and services are currently provided, managed, promoted, and funded by the University of Rhode Island Alumni Association. When you join the Alumni Association, you not only enjoy membership benefits, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting these programs, services, and student scholarships. Become a member today by going to advance.uri.edu/alumni/membership. TRAVEL TIPS The Alumni Association is sponsoring two exciting travel packages in Spring 2010. How does a two-week trip of a lifetime to Australia and New Zealand sound? Or what about May in Provence? Learn more about these travel opportunities and put yourself in the picture. Go to
advance.uri.edu/alumni/travel. STAY IN TOUCH Sign up for one of our online periodicals or email news lists, and stay in touch with your school! n ONLINE PERIODICALS INADVANCE@URI A biweekly electronic newsletter that contains University news, events, and opportunities of interest to URI alumni and friends. InAdvance@URI is currently emailed to more than 66,000 subscribers on alternate Thursdays. QUAD ANGLES Prefer to read the URI alumni magazine online? Sign up for this online subscription, and we’ll notify you by email when the latest issue is posted at uri.edu/quadangles. n To subscribe to one of our online periodicals, go to advance.uri.edu/esubscriptions. n EMAIL NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS ALUMNI NEWS & EVENTS News and announcements regarding upcoming alumni programs, such as Homecoming, Golf Tournament, chapter events, reunions, cultural events, and member events. RIRAA ONLINE News and announcements about gifts to the Rhode Island Rams Athletic Association (RIRAA), as well as information about athletic events, special ticket offers, priority points, and more. SUPPORTING URI News and announcements about gifts to URI, including gifts to endowment, the Fund for URI, planned giving, building initiatives, and more. n To subscribe to one of our email news lists, go to alumniconnections.com/rhodeisland and click on Member Services. Select Email Preferences to opt in or out of our email news lists. URI is an equal opportunity employer committed to the principles of affirmative action. The ideas and opinions expressed in QUAD ANGLES do not necessarily reflect those of the Alumni Association, the editor, or the University. QUAD ANGLES is published four times a year for alumni and friends of the University of Rhode Island; standard postage paid at Burlington, Vt. QUAD ANGLES is printed at The Lane Press, South Burlington, Vt., and is recyclable.
2 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
QUAD angles QUAD ANGLES is a publication of the University of Rhode Island Alumni Association, Division of University Advancement, 73 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI 02881-2011. Phone: 401-874-2242. Vice President for University Advancement Robert M. Beagle Executive Editor Michele Nota ’87, M.S. ’06 Editorial Committee Paula M. Bodah ’78 Jodi Hawkins Mike Laprey Dave Lavallee ’79, M.P.A. ’87 Liz O'Brien Managing Editor Vida-Wynne Griffin ’67, M.A. ’72 Associate Editors Barbara Caron, Online Edition Jan Wenzel ’87 Art Director Kim Robertson Interim Director of Publications Russell Kolton Director of Communications Linda Acciardo ’77 Contributing Editors Mary Ann Mazzone, Class Acts Nicki Toler, Alumni Online & Chapters Contributing Designers Johnson Ma Bo Pickard Verna Thurber Photographer Nora Lewis Alumni Relations Staff Michelle Fontes-Barros ’96, Assistant Director Kathleen Gianquitti ’71, M.S. ’82, Assistant Director Lisa Harrison ’89, Executive Assistant Sarah Howard ’96, Associate Director Brittany Manseau ’08, Program Assistant Jess Raffaele ’04, M.S. ’09, Program Assistant Kate Serafini ’08, Program Assistant Gina Simonelli ’01, M.S. ’03, Assistant Director Alumni Association Executive Board Donald P. Sullivan ’71, President Joseph M. Confessore ’96, Vice President Susan R. Johnson ’82, Vice President Gary W. Kullberg ’63, Past President Louise H. Thorson, M.B.A. ’85, Treasurer Michele A. Nota ’87, M.S. ’06, Treasurer Councilors-at-Large William M. Dolan III ’81 Carlos M. Ferreira ’89 Allison E. Field ’95 John Finan ’80 Ronald P. Joseph ’67 Kelly J. Nevins ’90, M.S. ’02 Kathleen P. O’Donnell-White ’90 Benjamin W. Tuthill ’04 Andrew W. Wafula ’01 Representatives Arts & Sciences: Jerome H. Kritz ’76 Business Administration: Laurel L. Bowerman ’77, M.B.A. ’84 Continuing Education: Edward Bozzi Jr. ’68 Engineering: Leo Mainelli ’58 Environment & Life Sciences: Wayne K. Durfee ’50 Human Science & Services: John Boulmetis ’71, M.S. ’73 Nursing: Denise A. Coppa ’72, Ph.D. ’02 Pharmacy: Lynn M. Pezzullo ’91 Student Alumni Association: Bobby Randall ’10 Student Senate: David Bedard ’10 URI Foundation: George Graboys, Hon. ’99
UPfront
Dining Award Frosting on the Cake URI took the grand prize in a competition run by the National Association of College and University Food Services, the leading trade group for college food services. We’re not surprised. URI took some of the most popular concepts in casual dining, tossed them together, and created the trendiest, tastiest dining this side of a cruise ship. Our Hope Commons dining center offers students a menu of choices in its 600-seat Mainfare dining hall—everything from a pasta station, a stir fry station, a deli, a burger station, a 48-item salad bar, and much more. The two-year-old, 47,000-square-foot complex built on the site of the old Hope Dining Center also offers a retail operation that features Starbucks coffee, pastries, brick oven pizza, ice cream, special entertainment events, and a convenience store that was named “Best in the Business” by the association in 2008. All that certainly gives students like Kayla Smith from West Warwick some great food for thought.
PHOTOS BY JOE GIBLIN
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 3
Obama Taps URI Climate Change Expert Kate Moran, associate dean of our Graduate School of Oceanography, now sits in an office across the street from the White House. As a senior policy analyst, she provides guidance to President Barack Obama on issues related to oceans, the Arctic, and climate change. Her two-year appointment to the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President began this summer. Moran’s research focuses on marine geotechnics and its application to the study of paleoceanography and seafloor stability. She led an international research expedition to collect core samples from deep beneath the seafloor near the North Pole that revealed a 55 million-year record of climate changes in the Arctic. She also led the first research expedition to find the source of the earthquake that caused the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. A leading voice in communicating the threat the world faces from global climate change, Moran has spoken locally, nationally, and internationally on the subject and has written articles to educate skeptics about the importance of taking immediate action. “I’m passionate about doing something about climate change, and I know that the way the world changes is through policy,” said the oceanographer.
PHOTO BY NORA LEWIS
The URI Boomerang When Todd McLeish was writing his newest book, Basking with Humpbacks: Tracking Threatened Marine Life in New England Waters, he sought dozens of experts on marine biology, oceanography, and related topics for comment. Since he works in URI’s Department of Communications and Marketing, he could have turned to faculty members to answer most of his questions, but he didn’t want to be so parochial. Yet wherever he turned he found the road always led back to URI. “My shark chapter quotes three URI alumni while my bay scallop chapter quotes two; my horseshoe crab chapter features one URI scientist and one alumnus; the chapter on harlequin ducks has quotes from two alumni; several chapters feature scientists from the Sea Grant program, which is based at URI; and in several other chapters I relied on URI faculty and alumni for background information,” says the author. “I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it was nice to learn firsthand how many of the leading marine scientists throughout New England have ties to the University.”
Under the Rhody Hat Hey, is that Leonardo DiCaprio wearing a URI cap? You betcha. We’ve found a few photos on the Web of the Oscar nominated actor/filmmaker wearing the Rhody hat while rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers. He doesn’t have any apparent University connection. Perhaps he got it from the Lakers’ Lamar Odom, who played Rhody hoops before turning pro. Or just maybe he finds URI is a good fit.
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Professor Annie De Groot, who joined our College of the Environment and Life Sciences earlier this year, was awarded a $13 million National Institutes of Health grant to pioneer the development and application of an integrated gene-to-vaccine program targeting emerging infectious diseases. It was the second multi-million dollar NIH grant awarded to URI researchers in recent months, coming on the heels of an $18 million award to our College of Pharmacy in May “This grant is a dream come true,” said De Groot, who is also president of the biotechnology company EpiVax. “The TRIAD grant provides a team of researchers based in Rhode Island with the exciting opportunity to collaborate across disciplines and to teach the next generation of scientists to use tools that are accelerating the development of vaccines and therapeutics.” “While the NIH grant is Professor De Groot’s first award since joining the URI faculty, she has an outstanding track record of earning significant funding in her previous position at Brown University and at EpiVax, now totaling more than $25 million,” said President David M. Dooley. “I am confident
Granted: URI Produces Outstanding Research
that her work will continue to strengthen the research enterprise at the University and will provide exciting opportunities for technology transfer.” For more information about De Groot’s program, visit immunome.org. URI’s College of Pharmacy was awarded a five-year, $18 million grant by NIH’s National Center for Research Resources to continue to build biomedical research capacity in Rhode Island with collaborating researchers at URI, Brown University, Rhode Island College, Providence College, Salve Regina University, and Roger Williams University. The program also reaches out to the Community College of Rhode Island for student training. One of the largest grants in the University’s history, the grant is the third in a series of multi-million dollar awards the agency has given URI for this purpose since 2001 for a total of $42 million. “The new funding will support biomedical and behavioral science research projects of at least 22 faculty from the network institutions,” said Biomedical Sciences Professor Zahir Shaikh, principal investigator and grant program director since its inception.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNIE DE GROOT
Merci Beaucoup, Lt. Heisler The night before D-Day, Lt. Walter “Chris” Heisler, a member of the 507 Parachute Infantry, 82nd Division, ordered his men to jump into the night sky over Normandy, France. The plane, hit by German machine gun fire, scattered the surviving paratroopers over 250 miles. After three days Heisler was captured, interrogated, and sent to OFLAG 64 prison camp in Schubin, Poland. Now 92, the retired education professor was unable to make his annual journey to Normandy. Instead French Consulate Francois Gauthier of Boston came to URI to present the WWII soldier with the French Foreign Legion of Honor medal, France’s highest award for soldiers, 65 years after the invasion. PHOTOS BY MICHAEL SALERNO
PHOTO BY NOEL VASQUEZ/GETTY IMAGES
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PHOTOS BY NORA LEWIS
Megan Anne O’Brien
Elana Viola
Winning Prestigious Scholarships: A URI Tradition “The Honors Program, home of the Office of National Scholarships, is proud to encourage and support students in their pursuit of excellence and to help them win the recognition they deserve,” said Walter von Reinhard, associate director. This year, three URI students (out of 278 nationally) were awarded Goldwater Scholarships, which provide up to $7,500 per year for students studying mathematics, science, and engineering: Megan Anne O’Brien, a marine biology major from Whitefish Bay, Wisc., became interested in the environment while living on the edge of Lake Michigan (see feature story on page 20). Elana Viola of Cranston has the distinction of being awarded two Goldwater Scholarships as an undergraduate. After graduation, the electrical engineering, chemistry, and math major hopes to employ her unique combination of studies to secure the safety of this country by helping to create nanoscale devices to detect chemical, biological, and nuclear materials entering the country. Sarah Decato, a chemistry major from Gardner, Mass., saw how a brain injury could severely impact a life when her older brother slipped into a coma following a car accident: “If we knew more about the brain, we could create better treatments for brain injury, injured soldiers, or anyone with a handicap or any type of brain scar,” says Decato, who researches the synthesis of target-specific, functional near-infrared fluorescent probes. Similar in nature to MRI scans, these probes can
target specific brain tissues responsible for neurological disorders. Joanna Panosky was one of only 80 students nationwide to win a prestigious Udall Scholarship. The geosciences major has worked closely with Paleontologist David Fastovsky to research new methods of reconstructing ancient food webs by looking at fossilized amino acids. Eventually, she would like to combine her fieldwork with her passion to communicate the importance of environmental issues with larger audiences. Kristin Almeida, M.L.S. ’09, packed her bags this fall for Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean off Southern Africa where she will spend 10 months thanks to a 2009-2010 Fulbright grant. With a population of 1.3 million, the island is slightly larger than Rhode Island. Almeida plans to catalog and create a bibliography of children‘s books, analyze their content—text and images— and compare their representations of multiculturalism to American children’s books.“ American children’s literature is predominantly Eurocentric and other cultures are seldom highlighted,” says the scholar. “I discovered there were only 12 Mauritian children’s book in U.S. libraries and they mostly focus on the dodo, a flightless bird indigenous to Maurtitius that became extinct in the mid-to-late 17th century.”
Sarah Decato
Joanna Panosky 6 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
Kristin Almeida
URI Partners with the Smithsonian Millions of visitors to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., each year will learn more about ocean science education thanks to a unique partnership between URI’s Office of Marine Programs, which leads the national Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence Network, and the new Sant Ocean Hall in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The permanent exhibition explores the ancient, diverse, and constantly changing nature of the ocean, the historical connections humans have had with it, and the ways in which we are impacting the ocean today. A new staff member, hired jointly by the national network and the Smithsonian, is working with URI’s Gail Scowcroft, the network’s director, to develop ocean science education programming.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL SALERNO
Doug Bennet
Behind the Greek Success During the past three years, URI fraternities and sororities members have taken the stage to receive numerous programming excellence awards. But behind the scenes, stand a number of dedicated alumni who quietly give their time and talent to support Greek success. The Greek Advisory Committee, the Office of Student Life, the Fraternity Managers Associa-
tion, and the Center for Student Leadership want them to bask in the light. Greek Life annually partnered with Rhody basketball to present an annual Greek Life Alumni Award of Distinction. This past winter, Doug Bennet ’77 received the award. A member of the Interfraternity Alumni Council and a Chi Phi alumnus, Bennet helped develop Chi Phi’s new $2.2 million home,
which now has a flourishing Chi Phi chapter. When a brother was seriously injured last fall, Bennet was by his side. Bill ’68 and Marian Bowers ’66 received the 2008 award in recognition of their 50-plus years of commitment to Greek Life. Bill is an alumnus of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and Marian is an alumna of Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
Honors Colloquium Despite global leadership; contributions to business, arts, and culture; and its historic legacy of nonviolent protest; India and its people remain, for some, a country of snake charmers and call centers. URI Marketing Professors Ruby Roy Dholakia and Nikhilesh Dholakia, and Engineering Professor Arun Shukla, all born and raised in India, aim to enlighten the
public with the 2009 Honors Colloquium, Demystifying India, a series of free public lectures, performances, and exhibits that runs throughout the fall. The program also includes a cricket demonstration and food festival, a film festival, and art and textiles exhibits. “We have found that many people don’t know much about India, the largest democracy in the world, home to many ancient religions, a
new country, but an ancient civilization,” said Ruby Dholakia. Edward Luce, author of In Spite of the Gods, The Strange Rise of Modern India; John Jeffcoat, director of the movie Outsourced; and Jumpha Lahiri, Hon. ‘01, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and many other authorities from India, the United Kingdom, and the U.S., are exploring India’s impact on business, literature, art, apparel, political and social movements and the environment. All programs are free and open to the public. For a full, updated schedule or to listen to podcasts and streaming live and archived video, go to uri.edu/hc/.
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Jennings Earns All-America Honors at 2009 NCAA Championship Foster Recieves Honorable Mention for National Coach of the Year Head Baseball Coach Jim Foster has been recognized by CollegeBaseballInsider.com as an honorable mention selection for the organization’s national Coach of the Year award. A native of Warwick, R.I., Foster has amassed 125 victories in just four years at the helm of the URI program. He has produced five MLB draft picks—including four this past season—and boasts the program’s highest-ever selection as junior Eric Smith was picked 60th overall in the second round of the 2009 draft. Foster also was named the 2009 New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association Division I Coach of the Year in voting conducted among the association’s 17 Division I head coaches.
Senior Jasmine Jennings became the first URI women’s track and field athlete to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championship. The Warwick, R.I., native finished 8th overall in the hammer throw with a performance of 197 feet, 4 inches. Her success at the national championship meet capped an outstanding senior season during which she captured the hammer throw titles at the Penn Relays and Atlantic 10 and New England Championships. She earned an automatic spot in the field of the NCAA Championship by virtue of her second place finish at the NCAA East Regional Championship.
Stevens Named to 2009 Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar List For the second consecutive year, Mark Stevens was named to the Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar list. Stevens graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.48 in finance. On April 27, he received the Elizabeth Holmes Award that is presented annually to the male and female graduating senior who combines exceptional scholastic achievement with outstanding athletic talent. Stevens closed out his URI career by tying for 12th place at the Atlantic 10 Championship as he helped the squad to a fifth-place finish. The Concord, N.H., native posted his top finish of the 2008-09 season on March 22 at the George Washington Invitational as he placed 2nd and helped the squad to the team title.
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Women’s Swimming Honored as a Scholar All-American Team The women’s swimming team was honored by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America as a Scholar All-American team for the 2009 spring semester. Head coach Mick Westkott’s squad compiled a 3.07 grade-point average this past semester. To earn CSCAA Scholar All-American team honors, a swimming team must have a minimum of a 3.00 GPA for the semester.
Rhody Baseball’s Dream Season Defeating nationally-ranked teams such as Miami (no. 8), Oklahoma State (no. 11), and Ohio State (no. 25), will get you votes in the national polls. Amassing a school-record of 37 victories and advancing to the Atlantic 10 championship game by way of downing top-seeded Dayton by seven runs will keep you in the national spotlight. This is what the 2009 Rams accomplished while putting together what is arguably the best season in Rhode Island baseball history. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to secure one of the coveted at-large bids into the 64team NCAA tournament. However, despite seeing their dream come to an abrupt end, what the Rams did this past season was enough to keep people talking. And to win Head Coach Jim Foster recognition as the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association’s Division I Coach of the Year (see story on page 8). Nick Greenwood, Oliver Palmer, Dan Rhault, and Eric Smith were named NEIBA All-Stars. Rhault, the A-10 Player of the Year, also was an ECAC First Team All-Star as well as an honorable mention on the All-Ping! Baseball National Team. Greenwood was an ABCA All-Northeast Region selection and became the first Atlantic 10 baseball player to earn the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Perhaps most impressive was the respect the Rams were shown in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft with a programbest with four studentathletes hearing their names called. Smith became URI’s highest-ever MLB draft pick, the first since 2006, when he was selected 60th overall (second round) by the Arizona Diamondbacks. “It was unreal hearing my name announced,” Smith recalled. “It
obviously was a dream come true—and an honor to be able to represent the URI program like this.” Greenwood was next, going to the San Diego Padres in the 14th round (414th overall) followed by Rhault (Tampa Bay Rays, 799th overall, 26th round), and Luke Demko (San Francisco Giants, 867th overall, 29th round). “URI baseball is a family,” Greenwood explained. “It was nice to be able to share the experience of being drafted with three of my teammates, but the excitement around it all—that’s something that belongs to each and every one of the guys. Everything we accomplished we did together as a team. The pride we all have in this program is impossible to describe.” At press time, Smith was playing for the Missoula Osprey while Greenwood was in the Eugene Emeralds’ rotation and Rhault was on Princeton Rays’ active roster. Demko was with the Newark Bears, a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball that is not affiliated with Major League Baseball.
Nick Greenwood
Luke Demko
Dan Rhault Oliver Palmer UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 9
PRESIDENT DAVID M. DOOLEY, OUR NEWEST BIG THINKER “The goal of the modern university is to prepare students for careers that don’t yet exist, using technologies that have not yet been invented, based on knowledge that hasn’t yet been discovered.”
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There is just something special about coming to work at a place that has the word Hope emblazoned on its seal.
Growing up in rural central California, David Dooley was fascinated by nature; he spent hours exploring the natural environments of the forests, farm lands, and mountains. Not only did he enjoy the science of the physical world, he discovered later that he loved explaining it to others. “What I loved about science is that you could understand things from a logical perspective. You could begin to understand why it looked the way it did and how it came to be that way, and you could explain it to others. Providing those explanations fascinated me, and I made the decision that what I wanted to do, ultimately, was to be a scientist and a teacher and devote my life to education,” said Dooley. This fall, Dooley, 56, brings those lessons learned outdoors, in the classrooms, in the labs, and as an administrator in the boardrooms of higher education to the University of Rhode Island as its 11th president. “The essence of what we want to do at the University of Rhode Island is to create what we call a community of discovery that encompasses undergraduate students, graduate students, and the faculty and staff. We want to infuse the entire enterprise at the University with the thrill of discovery,” he said during an interview this summer. Prior to joining the University, Dooley was the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Montana State. There he played a central role in the development of the college’s vision, values, and core messages. “My leadership philosophy and style emphasize collaboration as the primary mechanism to foster both innovation and mutual accountability,” said Dooley. “I actively encourage and reward decentralized, entrepreneurial approaches to problem solving and program development.” “Members of the entire University community, on and off campus, are excited about President Dooley’s arrival. He brings with him a reputation as a leader who is an effective listener, someone who respects others and their views. His collaborative style means that he reaches out. His decision-making style reflects his scientific background —to collect all the relevant data and do a thorough analysis. While his presidency will lead URI to a greater emphasis on research and the generation of more outside resources, he is also known as someone strongly committed to students. Our student leadership was happy with Dr.
Dooley’s selection. They see him as someone who will engage them academically, and in many other meaningful ways too,” said Vice President for University Advancement Bob Beagle, who led the presidential transition and coordinated the community forums with the new president. Earlier in his career at Montana State University, Dooley led the university’s Chemistry and Biochemistry Department and served as a professor of chemistry and biochemistry. He had been a central figure in attracting research dollars to Montana State, helping to grow that budget to $100 million during his tenure. MSU is now ranked among the top tier research universities as classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. URI, which is ranked in the second tier, aspires to that goal. The new president wants URI to be known as a university with a record of excellence in both undergraduate education and in research and scholarship. To Dooley, the integration of research and undergraduate education is “not a tag-line, not a one-time sound bite.” It is a fundamental value. “How we conceptualize undergraduate education is to think of it as preparing students to participate in and provide solutions for the big problems. The goal of the modern university is to prepare students for careers that don’t yet exist, using technologies that have not yet been invented, based on knowledge that hasn’t yet been discovered,” he said. “In order to ready students for that future, we have to do more than simply engage them in the classroom. “When freshmen arrive we should be able to say—regardless of your major—if you want to be part of the solution to things like the global health crisis, poverty, climate change, or preserving peace and building a sustainable world, here’s how you can get started on that agenda Dooley was pleased with how much of URI’s work in the humanities and the social sciences already interfaces with the sciences and engineering. “The humanities, especially the public humanities and the development of public policy and public awareness, inform us of who we are and where we’re going and how science, technology, and other ingredients may impact our future , said Dooley. He stated that this means actively creating opportunities for students to engage in research and creative work.
David M. Dooley California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Ph.D. in chemistry, 1979 University of California, San Diego, La Jolla B.S. in chemistry, 1974 Professional: President, University of Rhode Island, 2009Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Montana State University, 2001-2009 Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Montana State University, 1999-2001 Head, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, 1993-1999 Department of Chemistry, Amherst College, 1978-1993
Follow President Dooley’s blog, and more: uri.edu/president
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We are looking for every opportunity for undergraduates to be involved in research and creative work. Meet and Greet: After returning to URI in August, President David Dooley hit the road to attend a number of meetings throughout the state. In the top three pictures, he is seen with members of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce including, 3rd picture down, Laureen White Tarricani ’81. In the fourth picture down, he congratulates members of the RIDOT Chapter for winning the Chapter of the Year Award; and in the bottom photo, he greets members of the South County Chamber of Commerce. PHOTOS BY NORA LEWIS
The essence of what we want to do at the University of Rhode Island is to create what we call a community of discovery that encompasses undergraduate students, graduate students, and the faculty and staff. We want to infuse the entire enterprise at the University with the thrill of discovery.
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“In the arts, students need to be given the experiences that enable them to develop their artistic talent, their creativity, to give it expression. We will need to provide them mentorship and direction so that they can develop their creative vision as undergraduates because they’re going to need that when they leave the University,” he said. Actively engaged in teaching and research throughout his academic career, Dooley maintained a laboratory with research funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation while he was provost at Montana State. Both research projects examine the role of metals like copper and iron in biology. In the NIH research, he is investigating a series of copper-containing enzymes and learning how they may relate to disease and health in humans and other organisms. In his NSF-funded research, he is studying a global environmental cycle, called the nitrogen cycle, and the role of copper- and iron-containing enzymes in the cycle. “We want to understand these enzymes and their reactions within organisms and relate them to scientific questions that are important to understanding how the planet works,” he said. At URI he hopes to collaborate with scientists who might be exploring some of the same questions and who involve undergraduate and graduate students as active participants in their research. “What makes a university special as a research university is that research encompasses all of the activities of the institution. We are looking for every opportunity for undergraduates to be involved in research and creative work. I think that’s an essential component of a competitive undergraduate education that will prepare the students to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.” Dooley says that for the University to be successful in all of these endeavors, there needs to be a strong sense of community and commonality with regard to goals and visions. And he knows that those are traits that must be developed. “You’ll never get unanimity on a university campus about anything, except perhaps—perhaps— that the sun does indeed rise in the east and set in the west and a few other basic facts. Outside of that, aiming for unanimity is probably hopeless, but aiming for broad consensus is not.” An avid outdoorsman, Dooley believes students should be encouraged to be active outside of the
classroom and laboratory. “We know very clearly now, scientifically, that the health of the body is very important to your success intellectually, your longevity, and your ability to have the life that you want to lead. We want to provide opportunities for our students to explore and become passionate about physical activities. “I played a lot of intramurals as an undergraduate and enjoyed it. Then when I was at Amherst College, I played on a club rugby team as a faculty member. At 26, I was young enough so that I could still keep up with a bunch of 18-22-year-olds. I was fast, so I could play wing, which meant I didn’t get beat up too much. “We need to facilitate student access to activities like rugby, hockey, lacrosse and all the other club teams that we have at URI,” he said. Though you may not see him on the field now, Dooley says he loves being outdoors climbing, hiking, and walking. He said he also plays golf and looks forward to sailing. “I play golf badly, but I have a great time doing it, and I understand that as the University president, it’ll be incumbent upon me to improve my golf game—and I’ll work on that!” While he laughed when he said his summer reading list didn’t rival The New York Times’ list, the book Density Functional Theory, a Guide For Chemists, topped his list along with books on philosophy and western history. Since starting at URI in July, Dooley has held a variety of meetings with senior leadership and key internal and external groups. His active fall schedule includes speaking engagements and media interviews throughout the state. In August, Dooley traveled to Japan to speak at two scientific meetings. While traveling, he kept in touch with the University community in a new way: his blog, http://presidentdooley.blogspot.com. The first blog by a URI president, the site is accessible from the University’s home page, as well as from the president‘s Web site uri.edu/president. His first blog post on July 28 shared his enthusiasm: “There is just something special about coming to work at a place that has the word Hope emblazoned on its seal.” –By Jhodi Redlich ’81
URI’s New First Lady Though she was raised in Sioux Falls, S.D., the largest city in a four-state area, URI’s new first lady, Lynn Baker-Dooley, is no stranger to New England. Baker-Dooley spent about 15 years in Massachusetts, first as a graduate student at the Andover Newton Seminary in Boston, then as a newlywed married to the young man she had met on a blind date a year before. The young man was David Dooley, who had become one of the youngest new faculty members at Amherst College. Lynn had graduated from Bethel College in Minneapolis with her bachelor’s degree in English and political science and a minor in music. She went to the seminary and graduated from Andover Newton and became a pastor at multiple parishes in western Massachusetts . “It’s a standing joke in my family, especially between my wife and me, that I’ve spent my whole life living with Baptist ministers, with a few years off, when I questioned the entire validity of the Christian faith,” said Dooley, whose father was a Baptist minister who made an influential impact in his life. The Dooleys moved to Montana where she became an interim pastor in Helena for a year-and-a-half, followed by 10 years at First Baptist in Bozeman. The last two years she has served as chaplain for Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. Baker-Dooley sees their move to Rhode Island as a perfect fit. “I’m American Baptist, so it’s a perfect fit. I chose to be an American Baptist when I went to seminary because of religious liberty issues. Now, within the historical context of Roger Williams, I joke that it’s like coming home to the mother ship for me; to be back in an area that was founded on the principles of separation of church and state and religious liberty. These are principles that I believe so passionately about, so to come to Rhode Island, where we have lots of connections, is special for me,” said Baker-Dooley. In Montana, Baker-Dooley said they were very involved with students and the university community. She was active in addressing homeless issues in Montana as part of a chapter of Habitat for Humanity and Family Promise, a program for parents with children who are homeless. She has also worked with battered women’s networks. She feels supporting these important organizations can be a way of doing ministry. “I’ll wait until things settle down here and by then I imagine I’ll be very involved in other ways, professionally, and find opportunities to serve,” said Baker-Dooley. “Sometimes you get the sense that the place has been prepared for you and that you’re walking into a situation that was just providential in every sense of the word. We’ve seen that in our lives before. When it was right, it was right, and when it was wrong, it was very wrong. This feels like the right place for us at this time and we’re excited to be here,” she said. The Dooley’s have two grown children, Christopher and Samantha, and a new dog they’ve named Rhody.
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The pair first married on January 6, 1988, in India and then again on June 11, 1988, in Walpole, Mass. “For the Indian wedding I had a clip-on nose ring, henna decorations on my hands, and I wore a sari. For the American wedding, I had the traditional white bridal gown,”Karen recalled.
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MISRA FAMILY AND ISTOCK
I
The Misras are delighted that their eldest daughter is now part of a place that holds so many wonderful memories for them. “Asha knows her mind, she’s always been in charge of her own destiny,” said Karen, who has just orchestrated the family’s move back to Massachusetts. “A year ago, in April, when her father took her on a tour of URI, she fell in love with the campus. And she also received a Ram Award, a p artial scholarship.” “We’re very happy,” continued Karen. “I enjoyed being at URI, and I think I got a very good education there. And Tushar has done outstandingly with his degrees.” Indeed he has. Tushar is now senior vice president, chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences at the Marlborough, Mass.-based Sepracor, Inc., a research-based pharmaceutical company that specializes in developing medicines for the treatment of respiratory and central nervous system disorders. Karen and Tushar have been back to the University a few times over the years, most recently last summer for Asha’s orientation. “We went back to the library’s circulation desk,” Karen said and laughed. She recounts her memories of that time with a precision that would Twenty-four years later, make Melvil Dewey Karen and Tushar are proud. the parents of five “Our first date was children ages 20 to two. attending a movie on Their second oldest, campus in Edwards Asha, 18, (whose name Hall. We saw The means “hope”) began Adventures of her freshman year at Buckaroo Banzai URI this September. Across the Eighth She is majoring in Dimension. Tushar environmental science, kissed me on our Asha Misra on campus—summer 2009. wildlife biology, and second date. We had conservation. gone to the Showcase to see Agnes of God.” At the campus food co-op, the two “I was in my junior year of high school shared bowls of halwa, a grain-based dish and had no idea where I wanted to go,” with the consistency of Cream of Wheat recalled Asha, who was living with her famfl avored with peanut butter and sugar. On ily in Leesburg, Va., at the time. “My mom nights when they weren’t working the 7-tosuggested URI. I visited and fell in love. The midnight shift at the library, Karen and campus and buildings were gorgeous, and Tushar would meet in the chemical engithe Quad—it seemed historic to me, exactly neering lab where Tushar studied or join what a campus should look like.” friends at the campus’s International CofAsha’s enrollment heralds another milefeehouse. stone in the Misra family’s history with the “In the summer of 1986, Tushar was University; with more than one generation back in India, and I was writing him a letter attending, they have become a URI legacy a day,” Karen recalled. “His mother was tryfamily. n 1985, President Ronald Reagan was coming off a landslide re-election and declaring “Morning in America.” Van Halen was exhorting people to “Jump,” while Prince crooned “When Doves Cry,” and Tina Turner asked, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” Well, everything as it turned out for Karen Grant ’87 and Tushar Misra, M.S. ’86, Ph.D. ’89. That was the year that the pair fell in love. Tushar was a graduate student in chemical engineering while Karen was a junior business major. He was from India; she was from Massachusetts. They had met two years earlier, but the relationship turned romantic when the pair worked together at the circulation desk of the URI Library. Yes, Karen Misra recalled, it was two years from first meeting to first date, enough time for friendship to turn to courtship. But courtship was not without its obstacles. Like the small problem of Tushar’s mother back in India looking in earnest for a suitable bride for her son. Unbeknownst to her, Tushar had already found one. Drama ensued, but fortunately love prevailed.
ing to get him married that summer. She wanted an Indian wife for him. We’d kept our relationship secret for almost a year.” The flood of letters made it impossible for Tushar to keep Karen a secret from his mother any longer. “His mother took it hard,” Karen said. “She wrote letters of her own for a year. I wrote to say I had no intention of taking him away from her.” Back in Kingston, the cross-cultural relationship didn’t seem such a big deal. “Tushar and I never worried that we were from different cultures. We had so many friends from other countries that our relationship seemed normal to us.” When they finally decided to marry, Karen and Tushar agreed to a traditional Hindu ceremony in India followed by a church wedding in the U.S. The pair first married on January 6, 1988, in India and then again on June 11, 1988, in Walpole, Mass. “For the Indian wedding I had a clip-on nose ring, henna decorations on my hands, and I wore a sari. For the American wedding, I had the traditional white bridal gown,” Karen recalled. “We have two formal wedding portraits.” Having two wedding ceremonies was the first of many efforts the couple have made to meld their cultures. The Misra children, for instance, all have Indian first names and American middle names. So there is URI freshman Asha Alice Frances, her older brother Eshan Charles, and her younger siblings Nitesh Lewis, Chaya Lillian Louise, and Kiran Eric. “Kiran’s first name means “ray of light,” which he absolutely is,” remarked his mother. “The four older children’s middle names are all family names. The baby’s middle name was a group decision as we were all rockin’ out at an Eric Clapton concert. We are a laid back, welcoming family that is accepting of people of all different races and beliefs. We have a lot of fun.” Of leaving her family to begin her first year at the University, daughter Asha commented: “It’s bittersweet. I’m excited, but I miss my family. However, it works out perfectly—they’re one hour away, so they can’t just drop in, but they can be here quickly if I need them.” Covert dating could be a challenge, though. n By Marybeth Reilly-McGreen UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 15
Patented Solutions
Recent faculty inventions help keep us healthy, safe, and shopping
Professors Yan Sun and Quing Yang, foreground left to right, with graduate students Jin Ren, left, and Yafei Yang, who is one of the inventors of the patent.
Keeping Online Ratings Honest As online shopping continues to grow in popularity around the globe, shoppers increasingly depend upon consumer-based systems that vendors like Amazon.com and eBay use to rate products and sellers. But those rating systems are easily manipulated, misleading many shoppers and causing them to make purchases they may not have otherwise. To detect the tainted ratings, engineering professors Yan Sun, Steven Kay, and Qing Yang, along with former student Yafei Yang, Ph.D. ‘08, developed several algorithms that can combat collaborative, profit-driven
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manipulations of online rating systems. To demonstrate the value of online rating systems, Sun points to a recent survey that found that consumers are willing to pay at least 20 percent more for services that receive a 5-star rating than for the same service receiving a 4-star rating. And a 2006 study found that many eBay sellers artificially boost their reputations by buying and selling positive ratings. Sun said that systems already exist that can detect obvious efforts to manipulate online ratings, but her algorithms have been designed to detect “smart
attackers” who try to make subtle changes to a product’s rating. The system reduces rating bias by two-thirds. To test their system, the URI team challenged computer scientists and hackers to attack a rating system protected by its detection program, offering a $1,000 cash prize to the person who influenced the ratings the greatest. They then used the 408 attack attempts and interviews with participants to improve the system. By Todd McLeish PHOTO COURTESY OF YAN SUN
Smart Barcode Signals Food Spoilage If you have ever wondered whether the milk in your grocer’s refrigerator might have gone bad or if you left the pre-packaged meats on your kitchen counter too long, then a partnership between two chemistry professors and a food safety company will soon put you at ease. Barcodes created by SIRA Technologies for use on refrigerated food products will incorporate ink that will turn red when conditions indicative of contamination exist. The barcode will then be rendered incapable of transmitting data when scanned at the grocery store. We’ve all heard about people who have been sickened by contaminated food in recent years,” said Chemistry Professor Brett Lucht, who, with colleague William Euler, developed the polymer that is added to the barcode ink to make it change color. “Our partnership with SIRA Technologies
Chemistry Professors William Euler and Brett Lucht.
is creating a smart packaging system that will prevent thousands of people from getting ill.” The researchers began studying thermochromic pigments—those that change color at certain temperatures—a decade ago. The heat-sensitive material they developed generated interest from more than 100 companies that sought to incorporate it
into dozens of different products. A version that does not revert to its original color after changing captured the attention of SIRA Technologies. “If even 10 percent of the packages of chicken and milk and beef sold around the world have the SIRA barcode on them, that could generate millions of dollars for the URI research program,” Lucht said. “Only time will tell.” By Todd McLeish PHOTO BY MICHAEL SALERNO
Pain-free Monitoring of Medication Levels
Pharmacy Professor Fatemeh Akhlaghi and Shripad D. Chitnis.
Pharmacy Professor Fatemeh Akhlaghi has discovered how to use saliva to monitor concentrations of anti-rejection drugs in patients who undergo organ transplants. She said that saliva offers a pain-free way to measure levels of immunosuppressive agents such as cyclosporine and mycophenolic acid, which are essential in preventing organ rejection after transplantation. “Routine concentration measurement for these agents is currently done through blood tests that are usually performed twice a week in a clinic or hospital,” Akhlaghi said. “Our method uses saliva to measure these drug levels. Saliva tests are especially useful for children and the elderly. With the elderly, blood draws can be difficult because of the loss of muscle and connective tissue, making the veins less stable and more prone to bruising.” Frequent testing of medication levels in transplant patients is required because if
the concentration of an immunosuppressive agent is low, the patient risks rejection of the organ, and if the concentrations are high, the patient risks infections and toxicity. Not only is Akhlaghi’s drug monitoring method effective, it also provides more precise measures of the drugs’ effects. And, she said: “Saliva allows non-invasive specimen collection by the patient at home. Patients can just put the sample in the mail.” Obtaining a sample would be as simple as spitting in a cup or taking a swab of the mouth, Akhlaghi said. “Because a transplant patient remains dependent on lifelong therapy with a cocktail of immunosuppressive agents, a non-invasive monitoring procedure is important. It’s all about improving the patient’s quality of life.” By Dave Lavallee’79 M.P.A. ’87 PHOTO BY JOE GIBLIN
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“T
he most important thing for disabled people,” says Patrick Tracey, “whether the disability is physical or mental is to be included, to be stood up for and claimed.” So when the 1981 URI graduate won the prestigious L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award this past spring, he brought along all four of his sisters, including Michelle and Austine, whose schizophrenia was the subject of his book, Stalking Irish Madness: Searching for the Roots of My Family’s Schizophrenia. Tracey’s story is one that’s almost defied telling. Within the space of two years, two of his beautiful sisters rapidly developed the severest form of mental illness. Then his mother died from the stress and sorrow of realizing she’d passed on a family blight. The haunting yet uplifting memoir was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2008 by Slate magazine and was recognized by the National Alliance on Mental Illness with the KEN Award for making “an outstanding contribution to the understanding of mental illness.” Tracey’s memoir received national publicity, including write-ups in USA Today and a lengthy interview on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. A Providence resident since the age of nine, when his family relocated from Boston, Tracey agonized over writing of his sisters who “dropped down the elevator shaft” of schizophrenia in early adulthood. He feared exposing their personal struggles but was compelled on a quest to find a cause for the illness that had plagued his family for generations. He grew up with a grandmother in an institution and an uncle on “the funny farm.” He ultimately found the answer in Ireland’s history of oppression and starvation at the hands of the British. Tracey was an undergraduate at URI majoring in journalism and political science when first his older sister Michelle, and then a few year later Austine, had their breakdowns. “Austine even came to live with me. I spent weeks with her, trying to draw her out of her catatonic shell.” To no avail. She, like Michelle, eventually had to be hospitalized. “The rapid onset that characterizes schizophrenia,” Tracey recalls, “the way it comes out of nowhere in the late teens and early twenties, was a gutwrenching thing to witness—more like seeing my sisters sucked out in a tsunami than wrecked in a hurricane.” The tragedies that befell his family filled Tracey with a despair that drove him away from his north-
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Stalking Irish Madness A memoir in which Patrick Tracey explores the roots of his family’s schizophrenia
PHOTO BY TOM FITZSIMMONS
PHOTO BY NORA LEWIS
Patrick Tracey at the PEN awards held at the Yale Club in New York on May 14, 2009, with his sisters, left to right, Michelle, Seanna, Austine, and Elaine.
eastern roots to pursue his journalism career first in Washington, D.C., and then in 2000, in London. It was there, in an East End pub, that he struck up a conversation with a British doctor who mentioned a genetic clue to the cause of schizophrenia in Ireland. The link was discovered in blood samples taken in County Roscommon—home of Tracey’s famine-starved ancestors. Though the information didn’t offer an immediate cure for his sisters, it fired his imagination. In County Roscommon, from where the “twisted strand of DNA” originated, he found factors that caused madness to strike. In Irish folklore, the myth surrounding schizophrenia is that fairies “steal souls” and replace them with changelings. Says Tracey, “The myth of madness goes back to the notion of the changeling. The schizophrenic was an impostor put in place of the sane person, whose being has been spirited away to the fairy otherworld. This notion of the otherworld is the perfect metaphor for schizophrenia. Its victims seem to be spirited away to another place altogether, a separate reality inhabited by disembodied voices.” Tracey searched haunted caves and faerie mounds, historical records and healing springs. He questioned the reticent Irish, secretive and ashamed of the scourge that had disproportionately afflicted their population. Eventually, he spoke to doctors who’d discovered the gene link, dysbindin, that causes the disease, but sadly, offers no clues to a cure. The gene mutation is the result of what Tracey calls his “three-legged stool” theory of Irish schizophrenia. Famine doubles (and can sometimes even triple) the risk of schizophrenia developing in children; older fathers also can triple it. For centuries, famine was more or less a permanent condition in Ireland. Late age of paternity was due to the English squeezing the Irish off their land. Only the oldest Irish brother could marry when he inherited the right to lease “the pathetically small potato patch.” At this point he might be 50.
After meeting with the country’s foremost genetic researchers, Tracey returned home with a new mission—to tell the true history of a disease previously put down to drink and malfeasance, and to de-stigmatize the hereditary mental illness that’s plagued his family for five generations. “Real tragedy may be the best training ground for a memoirist,” says Tracey. “Madness is a universal concern. It may be the deepest fear for all of us because, more than anything else, we are our minds. We Traceys are a family that has experienced first hand what few feel free to speak of. But I have no shame and believe, fundamentally, that we are only as sick as our secrets. “Maybe the worst thing about this illness, worse than the altered reality and the hearing of voices itself, is the stigma attached.” The “crazy” label compounds the isolation, and the ill often respond with frustration and anger. Since the book’s publication in August 2008, Tracey has been traveling up and down the East coast, holding readings for literary fans, and speaking to the mental health community and the public. Speaking at URI’s Ocean State Writing Conference in June, he moved the audience to tears and quickly sold out his supply of books. The book’s continuing cascade of accolades has vindicated Tracey’s efforts. His two schizophrenic sisters are now stabilized and living in well-run group homes in the Boston area, near Tracey and his two other sisters. Says Tracey, “The whole PEN ceremony was surreal. Not to overuse the adjective, but schizophrenia and the whole idea of hearing disembodied voices is pretty surreal too.” For more information, see stalkingirishmadness.com —By Christina Gombar ’82
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M
egan O’Brien moves through the molecular biology lab with the ease of a seasoned professional, confidently describing the operation of complex machines and demonstrating techniques for extracting DNA and culturing cells. The samples and reagents she works with are invisible to the eye, but the lab in the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences is a rainbow of colors, from O’Brien’s bright blue rubber gloves and orange fingernails—freshly painted the night before during what she called a “girls night in”— to stacks of small yellow, green, and purple boxes containing pipette tips. Her language is equally colorful, an entertaining mix of good-natured ribbing with grad students and scientific terminology sure to confuse most non-scientists. Having just completed her sophomore year studying marine biology, it’s somewhat surprising how easily she fits in with the professors and doctoral students she works side-by-side with all summer. But she isn’t a typical college student. O’Brien started conducting biological research as a high school junior in Milwaukee, collaborating with scientists from the Great Lakes Water Institute for two years on a study of invasive zebra and quagga mussels in Lake Michigan. With a wealth of research experience since then, she expects that her third peer-reviewed research paper will be published before the end of her junior year. She is particularly proud of her selection for two of the nation’s most prestigious scholarships—the Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship from the National Oceanic and
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Already an Old Salt at Molecular Biology
Together with several graduate students, O’Brien is sequencing the mitochondrial genome of a common red alga, Polysiphonia, WEB EXTRA: MEGAN O’BRIEN IN THE LAB and its closely related parasite, Chorecolax. Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the study of science and engineering—neither of which she thinks she would have received were it not for the assistance she received from URI’s National Scholarship Office. Yet she almost didn’t even apply to URI. “My mom and I did a road trip tour of colleges up and down the East Coast, 15 schools in nine days, and URI wasn’t on the list,” she recalled. “But we added it after liking the University of Vermont, and URI turned out to be my favorite campus. It just felt right. Then I got a Centennial Scholarship, and that sealed the deal.” When she arrived on campus, she immediately began applying for research internships, scoring her first one as a summer fellow with a professor at Brown University studying the population genetics of barnacles. Later she connected with Chris Lane, a new professor in the URI Department of Biological Sciences, who studies the genomics of algae. “I started working with him almost on his first day,” O’Brien said. “I had the experience; his research was something I knew I could jump right into, and I knew that I could go in and feel comfortable talking with him about it.” Together with several graduate students, O’Brien is sequencing the mitochondrial genome of a common red alga, Polysiphonia, and its closely related parasite, Chorecolax. “It’s unique that a host and its parasite are so closely related,” explained O’Brien. “When you see differences in the genome between the two, you can understand how the parasite evolved from the host or from NORA LEWIS; CHRIS LANE
a close relative of the host. It’s a good model system that might help us learn about the evolution of parasitism in organisms that cause diseases like malaria.” “Megan is one of the most scientifically advanced undergraduate students I have worked with, particularly realizing that she just completed her sophomore year,” said Lane. “In many ways she has the depth of understanding typical of beginning graduate students and the curiosity that pushes her to answer questions put before her.” When most of her fellow students were catching up on their sleep and steering clear of research and schoolwork during the winter break last year, O’Brien spent Christmas, New Year’s, and every other day of her vacation aboard a research ship off Panama and Costa Rica studying the distribution of zooplankton in an area where oxygen levels are quite low. Working for Oceanography Professor Karen Wishner, she deployed and retrieved nets; collected samples of jellyfish, shrimp, krill and other tiny marine organisms; and analyzed samples under a microscope. “The best part of the whole trip was being stuck on a ship for 30 days with 25 other scientists,” she said. “There were older scientists, new grad students, and everything in between, and it was great to interact with them, hear about their individual projects, and see how my work was part of a much larger project. There’s nothing like eating, sleeping, and working with scientists 24 hours a day.” Although O’Brien may sound like she is consumed by her research, she has actually had a well-rounded experience at URI. In addition to being an active member of
the University’s Outing Club and Irish Step Dancing Club, she competes in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events for the varsity women’s swimming team. She is also a member of the rowing team, which she surprisingly describes as a very similar sport to swimming. “They both require a similar mentality, they involve the full body, and the race pace is really similar,” she said. “Best of all, the seasons are opposite so I can do them both.” When she learned last spring that she had been awarded both the Hollings and Goldwater Scholarships, O’Brien didn’t realize the impact they would have on her future. “You don’t really realize that you’re pretty good until you’re stacked up against the nation’s best, so I didn’t expect to get either scholarship,” admitted O’Brien. “When I found out I got the Goldwater, I couldn’t wait to call my parents. When the Hollings came soon after that, then I knew that my hard work had a real payout.” What she didn’t know was that the orientation session for Hollings Scholarship winners would open a new career direction. “I used to think that I wanted to be a professor, but then I got introduced to NOAA. Now I think I’d like to work in a federal government organization like that. There’s a need to find solutions for lawmakers, coastal managers, citizens, recreational fishers, where there is a direct human benefit from scientific research. The oceans are so vast—they’re less explored than the moon—so there’s plenty of exploration to undertake and issues to take on.” n By Todd McLeish UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 21
“I really wanted to support our nation’s warriors by doing something more than putting a yellow ribbon on my car.” —John Powers ’07
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ADVOCATING for Service Members
FROM THE BATTLEFIELD INTO THE CLASSROOM As a psychology major in his junior year, John Powers ’07, like many 21-year-old college students, was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. That changed when a close childhood friend, a U.S. Marine, came home injured from the war in Afghanistan. Watching his friend struggle with the transition back into civilian life changed Powers’ life forever. “I saw the effect of the deployment and how my friend’s family was impacted,” Powers said. “As a friend and as a civilian, I didn’t understand the military life, the readjustment issues these service members can face. Some return home with traumatic brain injuries or mental health issues and don’t have the right support in place. “I really wanted to support our nation’s warriors by doing something more than putting a yellow ribbon on my car,” he continued. “I am passionate about this work, and I have learned a lot about the people who serve our country. Working with them and advocating for them has made me a better person.” During his final year as an undergraduate student, Powers developed the Veterans Resource Guide: Healing Our Veterans and Families, designed to provide veterans and their families with resources needed to help ease the stress of deployments, as well as the transition to civilian life.
PHOTOS: NORA LEWIS, ISTOCK, AND COURTESY OF GEORGE GEISSER
After graduation, Powers founded peration Vets, a group dedicated to O assisting transitioning service members. He also worked closely with former Dean of Students Fran Cohen and others to form the URI Supports Student Veterans Committee, composed of a broad representation of faculty, staff, and students from URI’s Kingston and Feinstein Providence campuses as well as members from federal, state, and local veterans agencies. The committee has examined a number of issues with the intent of easing veterans’ transition into college by removing enrollment roadblocks and supporting them while they are students at URI. Powers’ work with student veterans at URI led him to co-found Student Veterans of America and to serve as its executive director. The organization is a national coalition of student veteran groups from college campuses across the country. Powers played a key role in the grassroots effort to lobby for the federal Post9/11 GI Bill, which was voted into law and went into effect on August 1. The bill makes it possible for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to earn college degrees. The bill contains the most comprehensive educational benefits since the original 1944 GI Bill. Powers returned to Rhode Island in June and is now working with the URI Supports Student Veterans Committee, which is
directed by Nancy Kelley, assistant dean of the College of Human Science and Services, and Christine Dolan, education specialist, special programs at URI’s Feinstein Providence Campus. Also working with them is Jeff Johnson, academic advisor, Feinstein Continuing College of Education. Powers said the University has made great strides on behalf of student veterans in the last few years. “In the military world, everything is structured and regimented for the service members. Campus life is very different. We want to help veterans readjust, get an education, and gain employment. Beyond that, veterans are used to a strong sense of camaraderie; we want to create that feeling for them on campus. We want them to know they are going to be supported in their transition from military to campus life.” Powers points out that veterans often have leadership and critical decision- making experiences: “Many of our student veterans are going to be the next leaders of our country; they are fantastic job applicants. When I was a 21-year-old student, I didn’t face life and death decisions. Many service members at that age have been in charge of entire units during wartime, having to make sure their troops were prepared. “With service members coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, the need is greater now more than ever to support
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 23
ALUM RECALLS FIRST GI BILL
the men and women as they return to civilian life. More and more of today’s service members are not just on active duty but are reservists and National Guardsmen who have been called upon for multiple tours of duty. “This is our generation of veterans, and I feel it is our responsibility to help them. As Abraham Lincoln pledged to our nation ‘to care for those who have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan,’ I want to ensure this generation of veterans is cared for, and I want to make sure we never forget the sacrifices they have made for our country.” To learn more, visit operationvets.com or email Powers at john.powers@operationvets.com. n By Shane Donaldson ’99
George Geisser ‘48 spent four years as a combat engineer building bridges, often rudimentary ones out of stones, to help liberate Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II. When he came home to Riverside, R.I., in 1946, he enrolled at URI on the first GI Bill. He and his brothers, Raymond Geisser ’48 and Russell Geisser ’51, were three of approximately 7.8 million veterans (out of a veteran population of 15 million) who used the benefit to go to college. The bill paid veterans’ tuition, books, and fees and also provided a monthly stipend. “It was the greatest thing that the government ever did. There’s no question about that,” says Geisser, now 87, a retired civil engineer. During his freshman year, the veteran lived with 20 or so other GIs in one of the Army surplus Quonset huts the University set up to house its exploding student population. He earned 50 cents an hour pulling weeds between the huts. He also joined ROTC as a private first class, retiring 28 years later as a lieutenant colonel. When Geisser was a Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge, he asked Virginia Cregan to a formal. The 1949 home economics graduate became his dancing partner for life. The couple married in 1948 and had six children, four of them URI alums. By Jan Wenzel ’87
A SALUTE TO URI Recognizing URI’s comprehensive efforts on behalf of student veterans, G.I. Jobs Magazine named URI as a Military Friendly School for 2010. The honor ranks the University in the top 15 percent of all colleges, universities, and trade schools nationwide.
22 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES 24
LOOKING back PHOTOS FROM THE GRIST 1972
The Takeover of Taft Hall
In 1992, more than 200 students led by a newlyformed Black Student Leadership Group unhappy with a truncated Malcolm X quote carved into the façade of the URI Library took over Taft Hall. The students claimed the ellipses in the quote: “A good library…I could spend my life reading,” purposely left out: “If I weren’t out here every day fighting the white man.” Former BSLG member Malcolm Anderson ’94, seen above with his family, now an administrative intern for the Prince Georges County (Md.) public schools, recalls those days and the lessons learned.
“We felt the quote was a blatant sign of disrespect. We coordinated a retreat to get away and vent. Our job as a core group included research, maximizing the strengths of group members, and crafting a 14-point plan directed toward the administration. We returned to campus focused and unified.
significance of our demands. Many people who listened to the protest on the radio mentioned they not only respected what we said but appreciated how we said it. Unfortunately some students didn’t graduate as a result of the time and dedication it took for the cause. I wish we had a better way to monitor each other.
“Dr. John McCray, behind Carothers at right (then URI’s vice president for student affairs) came to Taft Hall the night before the protest. When President Carothers met with us the next day, his sincerity shocked me. When you strategize for a movement or a protest, you try to create an “us against them” mentality. It was hard to be angry because of the level of support the two men provided us from day one. They inherited a legacy that wasn’t supportive, so it took leadership to craft a plan that brought us closer and that responded to our concerns.
As I look back, it was like a doctoral thesis where you were being challenged within your organization as well as from the outside. Age has given me a better appreciation for what goes on in the trenches. Theory and historical perspective are fine, but it takes guts to come forward on behalf of others. You must learn the art of negotiating and clearly explaining what you need. You also have to realize who is committed to the cause and who is in it for what they can gain from it.
On the day of the protest we presented Dr. Carothers with our list of demands, which discussed our concerns as students of color as well as the historical
The beauty of what we did was that we questioned what we knew was wrong, but we did it in an organized and respectful way. I truly believe that is what made the BSLG so special. We reached out and pulled everyone along with us.” UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 25
ALUMNIchapters
advance.uri.edu/alumni/events/chapters
FUN WITH ALUMS Chapter events are open to all alumni, family, and friends of the University. Contact your local chapter rep and join the fun!
CALENDAR OF EVENTS Upcoming events November 11 Join The Villages (FL) Chapter for its first official event, held at the Nancy Lopez Legacy Restaurant. 6:15–8:15 p.m. Reservations are limited! For details or to make a reservation, contact Al '59 or Barb H '01 Bateman at acbnaples@aol.com or barbbateman@aol.com. December 5 Celebrate Christmas in Florida with the Southwest Florida at the Boca Royale Country Club at 11:30 a.m. The cost of this event is $27 and includes lunch and a chance to win great URI gear. For information or to register, contact Richard Boldt at 239-417-0375 or rboldt854@aol.com. December 13 Join the Department of Athletics and the Massachusetts Chapter as the Rams' Men’s Basketball team takes on Boston College at Conte Forum. Pre-game reception details TBA. For more information, contact Brittany Manseau at bmanseau@advance.uri. edu or 401-874-4536. January 2 Join the Department of Athletics and the Connecticut Chapter as the Rams Men’s Basketball team takes on Oklahoma State at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Pre-game reception details TBA. For more information, contact Brittany Manseau at bmanseau@advance.uri.edu or 401-874-4536.
March 20 Join the Arizona Rhode Runners for a day at the Oak Creek Country Club in Sedona, AZ. Activities available include golf, hiking, Pink Jeep tours, gallery visits, and a barbeque hosted by Al Izzo '69 and Paula Bodah '78. More information will be available soon. For questions, contact Jess Raffaele at JRaffaele@advance.uri.edu or 401-874-4604. March 27 The Southwest Florida Gators' Annual Steak Out is at the Port Charlotte Beach Complex at 11:00 a.m. The cost of this event is $27 and includes lunch and a chance to win great URI gear. For information or to register, contact Richard Boldt at 239-417-0375 or rboldt854@aol.com.
Events Gone By On May 7, the CCE Alumni Chapter held a Rhody Rush Hour networking event in Woonsocket. On May 14, alumni gathered in Middletown, Conn. to establish the new Connecticut Chapter. The Baltimore/D.C. Alumni Chapter held a Rhody Rush Hour networking event in Baltimore on May 14.
January 5 Event Join the Department of Athletics and the Ohio Chapter as the Rams Men’s Basketball team takes on Akron at Rhodes Arena. Pre-game reception details TBA. For more information, contact Brittany Manseau at bmanseau@advance.uri.edu or 401-874-4536.
Members of the Massachusetts Alumni Chapter gathered on May 27 for a sold-out event at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that featured guest speaker Bob Beagle, vice president for University Advancement.
January 8–10 Don’t miss the sixth annual URI Alumni Ski Weekend at Mt. Snow, Vermont. Take advantage of discounted rooms and lift tickets, and enjoy a welcome dinner on Friday evening sponsored by the Alumni Association. Registration and more information will be available soon.
The Southern California Chapter held a Rhody Rush Hour in Oceanside on May 29.
January 16 Join the Department of Athletics and the New York Metro Chapter as the Rams Men’s Basketball team takes on Fordham University at Rose Hill Gym. Pre-game reception details TBA. Contact Brittany Manseau at bmanseau@advance.uri.edu or 401-874-4536.
The Theta Chi Affinity Chapter held its annual golf tournament and clambake in Jamestown on June 2.
January 23 Join the Department of Athletics and the Ohio Chapter as the Rams Men’s Basketball team takes on Xavier at the Cintas Center. Pre-game reception details TBA. Contact Brittany Manseau at bmanseau@advance.uri.edu or 401-874-4536.
The Rhode Island Chapter hosted a "Nine Innings of Networking" event at Jillian's in Boston prior to a Red Sox game on July 11.
January 30 The Southwest Florida Gators’ January in Florida event will be held at the Royale Palm Yacht Club at 11:30 a.m. The cost of this event is $27 and includes lunch and a chance to win great URI gear. For information or to register, contact Richard Boldt at 239-417-0375 or rboldt854@aol.com. February 25-28 For the 20th consecutive year, Phi Sigma Kappa alumni will gather for their annual ski trip at the Fairbrother Lodge in Lake Placid, NY. For details or to register, contact Ken Gambone at kgambone@barcap.com or 212-526-2093. The trip will benefit the E. Doris Carney Phi Sigma Kappa Scholarship Fund. Deadline to register is December 31.
26 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
The Alumni Association Executive Board hosted its annual open meeting on June 2 at the Alumni Center.
On June 25, members of the Connecticut Chapter attended a URI Big Thinkers event in Stamford featuring Richard Harrington '73.
Sigma Pi Fraternity hosted a dinner on July 11 at the University Club on the Kingston Campus. On July 25, the Massachusetts Chapter hosted a "Welcome Freshmen" event at the Franklin Park Zoo. On July 25, Delta Delta Delta sorority members from the 1970s held a brunch at the Alumni Center. The Baltimore/D.C. Chapter alumni enjoyed an Oriole–Red Sox game and picnic on August 2. August 18, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation Alumni Chapter met with President Dooley. The Chicago Chapter hosted a patio party before taking in the White Sox–Red Sox game on September 5.
LEADERSHIP MATTERS Chapter Leaders from around the country gathered on the Kingston Campus for URI Alumni Leaders Weekend, July31– August 1.
ENJOYING THE VIEW
GOING GLOBAL
Members of the Rhode Island Chapter enjoyed an evening at Newport’s beautiful Castle Hill Inn & Resort on July 23.
The URI International Engineering Program and the Alumni Relations Office held a gathering for alumni in Braunschweig, Germany on June 13. Alumni living in Germany are in the process of starting an alumni chapter there.
AT THE BALLPARK Members of the New Hampshire Chapter got together in Manchester for a Fisher Cats game on June 2.
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 27
LADIES' LUNCH Delta Zeta sorority alumnae (classes of 1950-1970) held a luncheon in Warwick on July 14.
REGIONAL CHAPTERS Arizona Rhode Runners Julie Griffin ’99 Scottsdale, AZ Phone: 480-634-1950 (h) 480-754-6147 (w) Email: Julez99@aol.com
Michael P. Sams ’90, Westborough, MA Phone: 508-665-4299 (w) Email: mpsams@kandSlegal.com
Washington, D.C./ Baltimore
Phi Gamma Delta
Hank Nardone ’90, Laytonsville, MD Phone: 301-803-2910 (w) 301-482-1062 (h) Email: henryjn@us.ibm.com Brooke Bondur ’93, Baltimore, MD Phone: 443-756-3977 (h) 410-527-9328 (w) Email: bbondur@aol.com
Richard Kingsley ‘71, Jamestown, RI 401-874-6693 (w) Email: kingsley@gso.uri.edu
INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS
Phi Mu Delta
If you attended URI as an international student, please contact the Alumni Office and let us know your current address. If you're traveling abroad,feel free to contact one of our alumni to say hello.
FRANCE (PARIS AREA) Alexandra De Matos Nunes '79
Phi Kappa Psi Joe Hart ’85, Kingston, RI Phone: 401-783-4852 Email: jphart@cox.net Web site: www.ribeta.com Jim DeNuccio ‘75, East Greenwich, RI Phone: 401-884-2993 (w) Fax: 401-885-2228 (w)
Phi Sigma Kappa Kenneth Gambone ‘88, New York, NY Phone: 917-701-4631 Email: Kenneth.gambone@ barclayscapital.com
David Diana ’84, Warren, MI Phone: 586-268-0048 Email: dianad@flash.net
1A Rue Jules Vincent 95410 Groslay, France Phone: 011-33-1-39-83-0627 (h) 011-33-1-45-24-92-17 (w)
Minnesota
GREECE 44 Achileos Pal Faleron 17562, Athens, Greece Phone: 011-30-1-981-3559 (h)
Northern
John ’92 & Kristen Turcotte ’95, Saint Louis Park, MN Phone: 952-285-1148 Email: jfturcotte@mindspring.com keturcotte@mindspring.com
Christos Xenophontos ’84, Exeter, RI Email: xenophon@dot.ri.gov Charles St. Martin ’92, Coventry, RI Email: cstm@cox.net; cstmartin@dot.ri.gov
Pat Ludes ’79 & Greg Passant ’78, Pleasanton, CA Phone: 925-227-1878
New Hampshire White Mountain Rams
AFFINITY CHAPTERS
ROTC
Alpha Phi
John Breguet ‘70, Smithfield, RI Phone: 401-232-2097 (h) Email: jbreguet@cox.net Military Instructor Group, Kingston, RI Email: urirotcalumni@cox.net Web site: www.uri-rotc-alum.org
California LA Rams Craig Weiss ‘89, Valley Glen, CA Phone: 661-713-2492 Email: diego.studiocity@gmail.com
Southern Jeff Bolognese ’02, Phone: 760-945-4560 Email: jeff@richmondfinancial.net
Colorado Mile High Rams We are seeking chapter leadership in this area. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Gina Simonelli at 401-874-5808.
Connecticut Tara Blumenstock ’96, Wallingford, CT Phone: 203-294-0246 Email: tarabarbara@hotmail.com Janet Sisson ’87, Middletown, CT Phone: 860-214-7998 sissonj@independentdayschool.org
Florida Southeast Riki Greenbaum ’01, Homestead, FL Phone: 305-978-2023 Email: rhgreenbaum@yahoo.com
Southwest Gators Richard Boldt ’64, Naples, FL Phone: 239-417-0375 Email: rboldt854@aol.com
The Villages Al Bateman ’59, The Villages, FL Email: acbnaples@aol.com
Illinois: Chicago Jimmy De La Zerda ’04, Orland Park Email: jimmydlz401@gmail.com
Louisiana/Mississippi Dee Canada ’62, Slidell, LA Phone: 985-643-8801 (h) Email: delinac@charter.net Phyllis DelFiore ’68, Slidell, LA Phone: 985-847-1609 (h) Email: feliciadf@hotmail.com
Massachusetts
Nicholas G. Chigas ’03, Waltham, MA Phone: 978-505-7161 (h) 781-672-5170 (w) nicholas.g.chigas@smithBarney.com
Michigan
Irene Kesse Theodoropoulou '69
We are seeking chapter leadership in this area. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Gina Simonelli at 401-874-5808.
Laura McMahon Kovacs ’01, Waxhaw, NC Phone: 704-843-6977 Email: lauralaylin@gmail.com
New Jersey
Community Planning
Lauri Pietruszka ’84, West Paterson, NJ Phone: 973-890-1623 (h) Email: lauriann_p@yahoo.com
New York: Metro
Political Science Al Killilea, Kingston, RI Phone: 401-874-2183 (w)
RIDOT
Mike DeLuca ’80, M.C.P. ’88, Narragansett, RI Phone: 401-789-6888 (h) 401-461-1000, ext. 3137 (w)
Schmidt Labor Research Center J. Richard Rose M.S. ’06 Phone: 401-461-2786 (h) Email: rrose@mail.uri.edu
Continuing Education
Sigma Chi
Phone: 917-612-7276 Email: jirlander@paramount-group.com
Joyce Dolbec ’95, Slatersville, RI Phone: 401-766-2209 (h)
North Carolina
Delta Zeta
Mark Trovato ’89, Wakefield, RI Phone: 401-782-0064 (h) Email: mtrovato@riag.state.ri.us Web site: www.rhodysig.com
Janet Irlander ’78, New York, NY
Ed Doughty ’93, Charlotte, NC Phone: 704-995-9300 (h) 704-331-2219 (w) Email: edoughty@carolina.rr.com
Nancy Lundgren ’54, Tiverton, RI Phone: 401-624-6364 (h)
Ohio
E. Gale Eaton ’74, Kingston, RI Phone: 401-874-4651
Tom Noyes ’67, Wooster,OH Phone: 330-345-6516 (h) 330-264-8722 (w) Email: noyes.1@osu.edu Danielle Pray ’88, Walton, KY Phone: 859-485-6790 Email: d@prayzpaws.com Bill ’74 & Betty ’74 Sepe, Hudson, OH Phone: 330-650-6715 Email: OHRhody@hotmail.com
Rhode Island Allison Field ’95, Providence, RI Phone: 401-808-9463 Email: allison@conderi.com
Texas Dallas-Ft. Worth Cortney ’01 and David Nicolato ‘98, Dallas, TX Phone: 214-341-6369 Email: rhodygrad@gmail.com
Texas Rhode Horns Jeffrey A. Ross ’75, Houston Phone: 713-668-3746 (h) 713-791-9521 (w) Email: jross67785@aol.com
28 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
Graduate School of Library and Information Studies Hasbro We are seeking chapter leadership in this area. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Gina Simonelli at 401-874-5808.
Italian Alfred Crudale ’91, West Kingston, RI Phone: 401-783-3081 Email: acwvmhs@rinet35.org Remo Trivelli, Kingston, RI Phone: 401-874-2383 Lucia Vescera ’96, Lincoln, RI Email: lvescera@hotmail.com
Theta Chi John Eastman ’62, North Kingstown, RI Phone: 401-295-1956 (h) Email: joneastman@aol.com Mike Testa ‘63, Jamestown, RI Phone: 401-423-8918 Email: jtown@cox.net
Theta Delta Chi Eric Lalime ’95 Phone: 201-962-2001 (h) 347-739-7345 (cell) Email: eric_lalime@ml.com
URI Difference Equations Association Michael A. Radin ‘01, Rochester, NY Phone: 585-461-4002 (h) 585-475-7681 (w) Email: michael.radin@rit.edu
Lambda Chi Alpha Jeffrey Hill ‘00, Shippensburg, PA Phone: 717-530-0188 Email: firemarshal70@hotmail.com
Lambda Delta Phi Linda F. Desmond ’68, North Andover, MA Phone: 978-687-7443 (h) 978-794-3896 (w) Email: lfdesmond@comcast.net Martha Smith Patnoad ’68, Wyoming, RI Phone: 401-539-2180 Email: mpatnoad@uri.edu
Would you like to START A CHAPTER in your region or for your group? We’d love to hear from you. To learn more, contact Gina Simonelli at gsimonelli@advance.uri.edu or 401-874-5808.
PRIDE IN URI NIGHT AUGUST 20
President Dooley throws the first pitch. See the follow through and more on the web: advance.uri.edu/alumni/ events/pridenight Web Extras: Video, photo gallery
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 29
UnCommon Reading This year, for the first time, URI selected a “Common Reading” book for the incoming freshman class. Generating quite a buzz is uricommonreading.blogspot.com, which Provost Donald DeHayes created to record student, faculty, and staff responses to Interpreter of Maladies, the Pulitzer Prize-winning story collection by Jhumpa Lahiri, Hon. ’01.
“The university was a sanctuary of tolerance and respect, a creative and dynamic place, filled with people of diverse backgrounds who embraced intellectual inquiry and celebrated the life of the mind.” –Jhumpa Lahiri
In comments posted on the blog, readers offer interpretations and defend their favorites. The author herself posted a welcome message explaining her connection to URI: “Although my stories are not autobiographical, two of the stories in Interpreter of Maladies are informed by memories of my upbringing in Kingston in the 1970’s. The narrator in ‘The Third and Final Continent’ is based, in part, on my father, who has been an employee of URI now for 39 years, and that story was my attempt to commemorate, in fiction, his journey to the United States. In general, many of the characters in my books tend to be either students or professors. When people ask me why, I tell them URI is the reason.” Lahiri writes eloquently of displacement and culture shock in her books, including The Namesake (a 2006 film) and Unaccustomed Earth. “I was always aware that [my] family didn’t fully belong in the place
30 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
where we lived,” she says in the welcome message. “But I never doubted that we were a part of URI. The University was a sanctuary of tolerance and respect, a creative and dynamic place, filled with people of diverse backgrounds who embraced intellectual inquiry and celebrated the life of the mind. URI was my playground, the park I roamed in on Sunday afternoons. When we had guests from out of town, my parents proudly showed off the campus, pointing to its lovely buildings and tranquil, open space. I attended nursery school at the Child Development Center on Lower College Road and enjoyed my first ‘meals out’ at the cafeteria in the Memorial Union. I learned to swim in the University pools, went to movies at Edwards Hall, and learned to drive a car in the parking lot of the Fine Arts Center. For many years, I helped my mother sell Indian snacks at the International Food Festival, where rows of tables, arranged on three sides of the ballroom in the Union, were covered with delicacies from all over the world.”
Fittingly, bloggers who mention specific images from Interpreter of Maladies most often focus on food: Ethan Naylor ’13 on “Mrs. Sen’s”: I was first intrigued by the little things: the beach, the frozen lemonade—everybody’s
favorite Del’s lemonade?—and other tidbits … After this I got so much more out of the little things that Mrs. Sen did in the market, trying to find a whole fish that reminded her of home [India], versus the place where this story takes place, Rhode Island, which is MY home. I think that I sympathized most with Mrs. Sen .... In the culture she now found herself in, she was more childish than the 11-year-old boy Eliot.
ELENA SEIBERT; NORA LEWIS; © IPHOTOIMAGES.COM
Demystifying India As one of the speakers featured at URI’s fall 2009 Honors Colloquium, uri.edu/hc, Jhumpa Lahiri will read on November 10 from her latest book of stories, Unaccustomed Earth. Watch live—or later—via streaming Webcast: uri.edu/hc WEB EXTRA: RHODE ISLAND’S INFLUENCE ON JHUMPA LAHIRI
Professor of Marketing Nik Dholakia on “Sexy”: For me the operative metaphor was “Hot Mix.” This is the stash of crunchy Indian snack that Miranda’s Indian coworker keeps in her office, and furtively reaches into during the workday. …In my office drawer at URI, there’s a little plastic container of “Chaat Masala.” This is the Indian blended spice that is sprinkled on a lot of ohso-tasty-but-not-so-good-foryou Indian snacks. I bring this stuff out to sprinkle when my office lunch is lacking that spice kick. …These instances of exotic spice are often essential to understanding a culture such as that of India. …The goal of the URI 2009 colloquium “Demystifying India” is similar to what Jhumpa L ahiri does in her writing—to bring many aspects of India in stark confrontation with the global setting.
Emma Bailey ’13 on “Interpreter of Maladies”: The symbolism in this story was astounding. Mrs. Das, before confiding in Mr. Kapasi, offered the tour guide some of her puffed rice. She hadn’t offered any of it to anyone else in her family… The trail of puffed rice that she accidentally left behind was the guilt and sadness that she hadn’t expressed to anyone for eight years. The monkeys eating away at it depicted the stress itself, just as it had eaten away at her for so long. Rebecca Renna ’13 on “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine”: When Mr. Pirzada hears that India will have to go to war against Pakistan, he accidently ruins the jack-o-lantern. “What resulted was a disproportionately large hole the size of a lemon, so that our jack-o-lantern wore an expression of placid astonishment...” I found this brilliant—have the pumpkin’s facade match that of Mr. Pirzada.
The stories proved provocative as bloggers persuaded one another to take second looks, gained insight into their own lives, and surprised themselves with the intensity of their reading experiences: Kaitlyn Luke ’13: Receiving this book at orientation, I was not excited to jump into it ... But, going to college made me think, maybe I should change my ways because I know my mom isn’t going to pop in my dorm room and push me to no longer procrastinate. So I went outside on my deck, opened up Interpreter of Maladies and just read. I read and ultimately couldn’t put it down. I had a dentist appointment to go to and brought it with me. I brought it to work with me to read it on breaks. I even passed to go out with my friends just because I was so involved with the different characters in each story that I just wanted to keep learning about their
lives, and relating to their situations. Hannah Gardner ’13: [URI Providence Dean] John McCray’s points led me to a greater appreciation for [“A Real Durwan”]. Boori Ma’s story can directly relate to the culture of the United States. There is a specific caste system in America based on the amount of money an individual makes; the higher the salary, the more respected someone is.... Another similarity is the simple fact that crime is typically blamed on people of the lower class. Kristie Saliba ’13: I’m disappointed to read that everyone else didn’t enjoy “A Real Durwan” because it was one of my favorites. … I like this story so much because I believe that everyone should just be themselves, and shouldn’t lie about where they came from. This ties into our experience of entering college because we just need to be who we really are. By Gigi Edwards
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 31
CLASSacts
Read Class Notes Online at advance.uri.edu/quadangles/classnotes Submit Class Notes Online at advance.uri.edu/eservices
Morton Goldman, A&S, of Laguna Hills, Calif., writes: “After our graduation in 1942, my friend Anthony Chiulli ‘42 and I went to work in different divisions of U.S. Rubber in Naugatock, Conn. Shortly thereafter, my training schedule completed, I was transferred to Williamsport, Penn. We have not seen each other for approximately 68 years; however we manage to keep in touch via that modern convenience, the telephone. Tony lives in that cold, wintry state of Massachusetts, while I enjoy residing in warm, sunny Southern California. Incidentally, Tony and Jean Chiulli are the proud parents of nine children. I enjoy the excitement of 18 nieces and nephews. Written with the aid of an electron magnifier.”
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Read Us Online—Now with Expanded Content
Sign up now for the new expanded QUAD ANGLES Online with web only extras. Simply go to advance.uri.edu/ esubscriptions, and choose from our esubscription options. We’ll email you an announcement of each new issue and save the University printing and postage costs. Go to advance.uri. edu/esubscriptions and stay connected. It’s easy!
Sema Broomfield Dwares, HS&S, of Sunrise, Fla., recently celebrated her 80th birthday with a brunch with family and friends. Her family has donated a URI Century Walk brick in her honor.
`56 Donald Alfred D’Amato, A&S, of Warwick, R.I., who pens a weekly column “Then and Now” for The Warwick Beacon, recently released a new book, Warwick Villages of the Past, that features the history of Apponaug, Conimicut, Hills Grove, Pontiac, and Pawtuxet. The book will be Don’s fifteenth, all of which focus on Rhode Island and Warwick history.
`57 Robert A. Newlander, ENG, of Georgetown, Texas, writes: “Been living in Sun City, Texas, for three years and really enjoy the physical aspects of this community. Both my wife and I are very active participants in the many aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Still play golf and tennis and I am amazed how many older people are doing the same thing. Do miss New England, but the kids and grandkids who live in this area take precedence.”
`59 ESERVICES
Your online resource for information exchange.
32 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
STAY
CONNECTED `42
Congratulations RIDOT Alumni Chapter: winner of the 2009 Chapter of the Year Award! Gathered here for the award presentation on August 18 are, left to right, Phil Kydd ’81, assistant director of administrative services at RIDOT; Alumni Association President Donald Sullivan ‘71; Alumni Association Executive Director Michele Nota ’87, M.S. 06; URI President David Dooley; Charles Alves, deputy director/chief of staff at RIDOT; and RIDOT Chapter leaders Christos Xenophontos ’84 and Charles St. Martin ’92. PHOTO BY NORA LEWIS
ALUMNI DIRECTORY
Robert Hunt Rhodes, A&S, of Westminster, Vt., writes: “My cousin Gene Rhodes’ grandaughter graduated from URI on May 17, 2009. Her
name is Kira Rhodes Haining. I attended graduation with the Class of 1959.”
`60 Richard Allen Durst, A&S, of Ithaca, N.Y., professor emeritus of chemistry in Cornell University’s Department of Food Science & Technology and adjunct professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, has been included in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Portrait Gallery honoring distinguished NBS/NIST alumni for outstanding contributions to the work of NBS/NIST. His portrait will be permanently displayed in the gallery, and his biography and photo are included in the presentational booklet NIST Gallery of Distinguished Scientists, Engineers and Administrators. He was cited for his outstanding leadership and contributions to the field of analytical electrochemistry in the areas of pH, ion-selective electrodes and biosensors. In addition, he has been elected president of the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry and will serve in this capacity from 2009 to 2011.
`64 Joseph F. Campoli, HS&S, of Ada, Ohio, writes: “In November the new basketball floor at Ohio Northern University was named after my aunt and my wife, Margaret. Barbara Ann Pine, HS&S, of Guilford, Conn., writes: “I am now an emerita professor at the University of Connecticut since my retirement two years ago. I am looking forward to the next reunion of my Delta Zeta 1960s sisters and am thoroughly enjoying retirement.”
`65 Joyce Kiefl Gunter, CBA, of Orland Park, Ill., writes: “Fred Katzenstein ‘58 was honored on March 15, 2009, for his unending passion, leadership, and devotion to Congregation Beth Shalom and to his community. My husband, Robert, and I were honored to be in attendance at the ceremony in Northbrook, Ill. Congratulations Fred!”
`66 Michael James Bartlett, CELS, of Bow, N.H., writes: “I supervised the
Profile Focus: URI’s Newest Alums
Sean Finneran ’09
The Champ
Mark Dowdell ’09
Continuing a Family Legacy Mark Dowdell always wanted to be an engineer. His father owns an engineering business, and his brother is an engineer. As a graduate of URI’s International Engineering Program, Dowdell enjoys continuing his family’s engineering legacy. “I just think that I have the right mind for engineering,” said Dowdell, who comes from Charlestown, R.I. “And a high percentage of people with engineering degrees get good jobs—they’re always in demand.” Dowdell chose civil engineering because he considers it the most practical of the engineering disciplines: “Everything in the world is civil engineering: The buildings, the roads, everything below the ground—everything is designed by civil engineers.” As part of his education, Dowdell spent five months studying at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany and six months interning at the structural engineering firm Zublin in Stuttgart. “Most of the time I got really interesting jobs to do,” he said. “I worked with a doctor on a book he was writing about prefabricated concrete structures; I worked on the reconstruction of a mall; and I did a lot of design work. My main project was as a plan manager for a skyscraper they were building in Frankfurt.” Dowdell’s biggest challenge came in feeling confident of his German language skills: “It wasn’t as hard as everyone thinks, but it was definitely difficult. The best advice I could give is to just jump into it. Forget that you sound like an idiot when you’re speaking; forget that the Germans are saying to themselves, ‘Oh, man, we’ve got another American.’” Upon his return from Germany, Dowdell became an ambassador for URI’s International Engineering Program, assisting at open houses and spreading the word about the value of the University’s most notable engineering program. Dowdell is now an environmental engineer at Pare Engineering Corp. in Lincoln, R.I., where he is helping the company address water run-off and other environmental issues at the Johnston landfill. —Todd McLeish
Jessie Dyer ’09
The Science of Soil Jessie Dyer arrived at URI with an intense interest in soil. It’s a topic that led her to an internship in Hawaii, a research project in Costa Rica, and a gathering of environmental scholars in Arizona. It was largely due to her understanding of soil science that she was recognized at Commencement with the President’s Award for Student Excellence in Environmental Science. A resident of Narragansett, Dyer began to learn about soil science through a high school Envirothon. “There are all sorts of morphological parameters to soil like texture, structure, and color, which tells you everything you need to know,” she said. “The color of soil tells you about its mineralogy, its structure, its wetness class, and the amount of organic matter it contains.” As part of the University’s soil judging team, she competed against soil science students from other universities and helped URI place second at the regional competition and seventh at the nationals in 2009. In a soil judging competition, students climb into a pit six-feet deep to collect soil samples for characterization and analysis. In 2008, Dyer was awarded a Udall Scholarship, the most prestigious national scholarship for environmental science, and was invited with other winners to a conference in Arizona that she described as “a pretty inspirational experience.” Last summer she worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Kauai, Hawaii, as a conservation planner, conducting wildlife habitat restoration projects and working with farmers. As a sophomore she participatedin a three-week research project in Costa Rica assessing the diversity of mammals in shade-grown coffee plantations compared to those found in traditional coffee plantations. “We learned about working as a team, living in challenging conditions, and how to construct an experiment,” Dyer explained. “In the end, though, I left the wildlife scene and returned to soils. I didn’t like the biting and urination and bleeding that goes along with mammal research.”
Sean Finneran smiled as he shared the name he earned during his final semester at URI: The Champ. Finneran, an accounting major from North Kingstown, earned the moniker after his performance in the Capsim Challenge, a business simulation game developed by Capsim Management Simulations in which either individuals or teams develop management strategies. In April, Finneran competed against 942 teams from around the globe and was one of six finalists. In the finals—which consisted of eight rounds completed over a three-day stretch—Finneran finished as the top U.S. player and also ranked third in the world. He beat an entry from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School for top U.S. honors. Finneran got involved in the Capsim Challenge through a class with Professor Robert Comerford. After performing well in the class setting, Finneran decided to enter the worldwide challenge through the Capsim Web site. For the competition, he set up shop in the 24-hour room at the URI Library. “I was nervous for the first few rounds, and for good reason,” Finneran said. “You are playing against the best other five teams in the world.” In the days leading up to the contest, Comerford spent time with Finneran developing and tweaking strategy. The individual attention made a strong impression on the student. At 28, Finneran has been taking college courses for more than 10 years. He started at CCRI, transferred to Rhode Island College, and returned to CCRI before coming to URI. Throughout his college years, Finneran worked as a kitchen supervisor at Gregg’s Restaurant and Pub in North Kingstown. “It has all been part of the human experience,” Finneran said. “You grow and evolve and you kind of find your way in society. That’s what I was doing for a while. “Graduation is really special for me because I’ve been in school for 10 years. There was a time I did not think I was going to graduate from college.” —Shane Donaldson ’99
—Todd McLeish
PHOTOS BY NORA LEWIS
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 33
Please Send Us Your Seasonal Address Are you part of the annual fall migration to warmer climates? Or do you fly away to some place cooler for the summer months? In either case, please send us your seasonal address so that we can stay in touch. The Alumni Association sponsors events all over the country that are open to you wherever you go. This is your chance to join a regional Alumni Chapter and meet fellow URI graduates who either live near your second home or travel there for the season as you do. Please send us your seasonal address and the dates that you are in residence there. It’s simple—just call 401.874.2242 or email mamazzone@advance.uri.edu. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office for New England until I retired last May after 37 years with the service. I got bored in retirement and just took a job as CEO of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire.”
`68 Kenneth J. Weber, CBA, of Carlsbad, Calif., is vice president and CEO of ResortCom International in San Diego.
`69 Stanley R. Light, A&S, of Springfield, Mass., writes: “My daughter Elizabeth A. Light graduated with honors from the Marvelwood School in Kent, Conn. She has chosen to attend the University of Rhode Island in the fall, majoring in theatre. She follows in the footsteps of her parents, Attorney Stanley R. Light and her mom, Bonnie G. Soloveitzik Light ‘70.”
circulation supervisor for the Sacramento Public Library. Expecting birth of child in January 2010!”
`72 Lisa Lofland Gould, A&S, of Winston Salem, N.C., received the 2009 Distinguished Naturalist Award in April from the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, an organization she helped found. For more information visit projo.com/outdoors/ environmentaljournal/Environmental_Journal_3_05-03-09_ CTE7L5T_v6.24a92fd.html
`73 Glenford J. Shibley, A&S, of Coventry, R.I., writes: “After serving 29 years at the R.I. Municipal Police Training Academy as training coordinator (eight years) and assistant director (21 years), I retired. I was elected to the Coventry Town Council in November 2008.”
`71
`74
Leda Boisvert Michaud, A&S, of Pawtucket, R.I., writes: “I retired on October 31, 2009, as a receptionist in claims development at the Social Security Administration in Attleboro, Mass.” John V. Powell, M.L.S., of Sacramento, Calif., writes: “I am the
Morton White, CBA, of Cranston, R.I., published A Face Made For Radio: My 25 Years in Radio. The book costs $24.95 and can be bought at Whitehouse Productions, 577 Park Avenue, Cranston, RI 02910.
`76 Patricia A. Thompson, CBA, of North Kingstown, R.I., is a tax partner at Piccerelli, Gilstein & Company.
an independent, co-educational boarding and day school in Manja, Jordan. Tom will join the faculty of Ethics, Philosophy, and Religion and teach two sections of world religions and possibly a section on ethics.
`77
`82
Valerie McNeil Meade, HS&S, of Wakefield, R.I., writes: “I retired in 2007 and returned home to Rhode Island.” Janice Shallin, CBA, of Newport Beach, Calif., has retired as vice president of Pacific Wine Partners.
Harold M. Horvat, CBA, of Cranston, R.I., is chief operating officer of Mansfield Bank. He oversees all operations, retail banking, and marketing functions in addition to his responsibilities for all lending activities.
`78
`84
Michael D. Fascitelli, ENG, of New York, N.Y., was promoted to CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, the thirdlargest U.S. real estate investment trust by market value.
Brian G. Kerr, PHM, of North Attleboro, Mass., retired with the rank of captain from the U. S. Navy on November 1, 2008, after more than 27 years of service. He and his wife, Cindy, have purchased a home in North Attleboro. Both are working at Children’s Hospital, Boston.
`79 Eric E. Anderson, CBA, of Clifton Park, N.Y., is sales manager for Amica Insurance in Albany, N.Y. Bonnie S. Michaels, A&S, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., is chief of staff for a Miami-Dade County commissioner.
`80 David M. Sklarski, CBA, of Portsmouth, R.I., is president and CEO of Sterngold Dental, LLC, in Attleboro, Mass.
`81 Charles F. Levy, CBA, of Paramus, N.J., is vice president and controller of the international investments business unit at Prudential Financial, Inc., in Newark, N.J. Donald J. Vasta, CBA, of Stamford, Conn., is tax counsel at General Electric Company in Stamford. Thomas A. Verde, A&S, of Pawcatuck, Conn., received his M.A. in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary. He will teach at King’s Acdemy,
Reunite with Your Friends and Classmates When was the last time you made plans to get together with your URI friends? Has it been too long? NOW is the time to start planning for a 2010 class or affinity reunion. You will need volunteers from your class or group who are willing to help plan, promote, and attend the reunion gathering. The Alumni Relations Office will help you plan and promote your event with a listing on the Alumni Web site and in QUAD ANGLES, with electronic notices, and with the printing and mailing of your reunion invitations. If you are interested in working on an event for your class or affinity group and would like to find out more about getting started, please visit the Alumni Web site at advance.uri.edu/alumni/reunions or call the Alumni Relations Office at 401.874.2242. 34 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
And don’t forget to join us at Homecoming on Oct. 17 in Rhodyvile,our tent village!
`85 Steven M. Botwick, CBA, of East Greenwich, R.I., was named a member of MetLife Auto & Home’s Advanced Property and Casualty Council in recognition of outstanding sales achievement. Brenda D. Farrell, A&S, of North Kingstown, R.I., has been promoted to vice president, public affairs for Webster Bank. She is responsible for media relations, community affairs, and corporate sponsorships in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.
`86 Gisela C. Voss, CBA, of Newton, Mass., writes: “Mom of three. Crazy with a teenager (16) and a toddler (3) in the household at the same time. A 12-year-old in the middle makes the trio. Still designing toys for a living; own my own product development studio, Doodle Do. Happily married to Dan Kesnan, super dad, super guy.”
`87 John V. Priore, A&S, of Alpharetta, Ga., is president and CEO of Priority Payment Systems. The company was established in 2005 with several senior exeuctives who have more than 100 years of combined industry experience. The comapany’s goal is to provide lower costs and exceptional service to its bank card processing customers. The company has an outstanding record performance that currently places it in the top 70 of all credit card processors in the country.
`88 Robert J. Tamburro, CBA, of Cumberland, R.I., is director of information solutions for the Raytheon Company in Portsmouth, R.I.
Move-In Day 2009 Moving In: URI President David M. Dooley and his wife, Lynn Baker-Dooley, must enjoy moving day. Having successfully moved themselves and their dog, Rhody into the freshly renovated president’s house on Upper College Road in August, on Saturday, September 5, the pair bustled down to URI’s residence halls to help the University’s entering freshmen get settled. As President Dooley wrote on his blog the night before move-in: “Obviously, it’s my first academic year at the University of Rhode Island, so I will always have a unique connection to the Class of 2013 as we begin our first year together.” On the next blog, the president noted that he and Lynn found their first interaction with members of URI’s entering class and their families rewarding and encouraging: “During move-in weekend, Lynn and I met many parents and students from outside the state who were attracted by the quality and value of a URI education.” PHOTOS BY NORA LEWIS Here are a few facts about URI’s student body for Fall 2009: Undergraduate students: 12,395 Graduate students: 3,000 Freshmen: 3,129 States represented: 55 Countries represented: 64 Student to faculty ratio:14 to 1 Number of majors offered: 80
Web Extras: Video, photo gallery
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 35
`90 Juliana E. Chapman, A&S, of Norwalk, Conn., published her second book, Reef Rescue, in January ‘09. Ride along with 13-year-old eco-warrior Julie Leeds and her futuristic car, Jett, as they race to the Florida Keys to help save the endangered coral reefs.
`95 James D. Beardsworth, A&S, of North Kingstown, R.I., has been named director of public relations and marketing at Kent Hospital. Frank A. Marini, A&S, of Lincoln, R.I., writes: “I am the vice president of sales at Collette Vacations based in Pawtucket, R.I. I recently travelled to South Africa on a goodwill mission with three other URI alumni who work at Colette Vacations: Derek Moscarelli ‘92, Collette tour manager; Sue Speakman Rovinski ‘98, Collette graphic designer; and my brother Jim Marini ‘97, Collette district sales manager. The group of URI graduates was part of a larger group of Collette employees and travel agents from across the U.S. and Canada who travelled to South Africa in May on a tour that included visits to sites being supported by The Collette Foundation. The Foundation, now in it’s third year, helps improve the quality of life of children in countries that Collette visits such as Peru, Cambodia, Costa Rica, and Africa.
John G. Mohan, A&S, of North Kingstown, R.I., has joined Washington Trust as assistant vice president, mortgage lending officer. He is located in the Bank’s Oaklawn Avenue branch office in Cranston. He is responsible for originating residential mortgages, home equity loans, and lines of credit. He works closely with a network of real estate, financial, and building professionals throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Southeastern Connecticut. John has more than 15 years of mortgage lending experience. He has a B.A. in communication studies from URI and is a member of the Alumni Association. He is also a member of the LaSalle Academy Alumni Association. He and his wife, Christine, and daughter Bridget live in North Kingstown.
`00
WEDDINGS
Erica L. Martineau, A&S, of Warwick, R.I., is assistant vice president at the Cowesett branch of Citizen’s Bank.
Brenda Farrell ‘85 to Michael Greene, on June 14, 2009.
`02
Christine E. Whitmarsh ‘96 to Michael Monpas, on July 4, 2009.
`03
Jessica R. Hiatt ‘03 to Andrew D. Greene ’04, on August 16, 2008.
`99
Jessica Maguire-Marge, A&S, of Mooresville, N.C., obtained her M.S.S.W. from the University of Texas in 2005 and is now employed in private practice as a therapist for Miracles Inc. Counseling and Healing Center.
Jordan W. Melei ‘04 to Katrina V. Calhoun, on June 21, 2008.
`05
BIRTHS
Kathleen A. Regan, HS&S, of Orlando, Fla., is currently a guest service manager at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. She has been with the Walt Disney Company since 2005.
John L. ‘00 and Jennifer Hood Beiermann ‘94, a son, Andrew John, on September 15, 2008.
David A. Blazejewski, CBA, of Anchorage accepted a position with the Alaska Railroad in 2007 and has been serving as director terminal operations for the past two years with responsibility for all train and intermodal operations in the greater Anchorage area. After eight years working for two Fortune 200 companies (Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific) it was time for a change to a smaller, more customer focused operation. He welcomes inquiries from URI students and alumni interested in a career in the rail industry.
James M. Ladouceur, ENG, of Cranston, R.I., writes: “My wife, Robyn, and I are living in Cranston with our two children, Ethan (12) and Eden (8). My wife operates a licensed home daycare (Robyn’s Nest Home Daycare) out of our home. I have worked at Toray Plastics (America), Inc., for over eight years and was recently promoted to process engineer III. I continue to enjoy cycling and beer in my free time (not at the same time!)”
Alvin B. Buffington ‘96 to Patricia M. Shawcross, on April 25, 2009.
Scott M. Rotondo ‘98 to Diane M. Vadnais, on August 3, 2008. Marisa Lee Vincent ‘98 to Luke Jackson, on July 27, 2008. Katherine H. Schoppel ‘99 to Stephen Lenz, on December 28, 2008. Kevin B. Duckworth ‘00 to Marissa Everly, on May 10, 2008. Michael J. Marinello ‘01 to Elaine F. Wozny, on September 6, 2008.
Steven A. Young ‘04 to Kelley B. Najarian, on July 18, 2008. Alexandra C. Arnold ‘07 to Justin P. Curran, on December 27, 2009.
Brandon J. ‘96 and Patricia Sherwood Muccino ‘95, a son, Dex, on May 13, 2009.
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36 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
Somravanh Litthisack ’09
A Non-Traditional Student Somravanh Litthisack didn’t have the usual college experience. She didn’t live on campus, pledge a sorority, or participate in extracurricular activities. “I was pregnant at 17 but still determined to go to college, and URI was the best option for me,” said Litthisack, 28, who grew up in Providence and Cranston. “I took all my classes at the Providence Campus because it was an easier commute, and I wasn’t away from my son as much.” She enrolled full time for two years beginning in 2000, then took off two years to have another child and later completed her degree part-time majoring in human development and family studies. “I was a parent at such a young age that I had to grow up fast,” Litthisack said. “I’m a people person, and now I want to get involved to help others and show them how to get everything from housing to food to clothing.”
Profile Focus: URI’s Newest Alums
While taking care of her sons and holding down a wide variety of part-time jobs, Litthisack made sure that community service was a key component of her education. A poverty class introduced her to homeless shelters and soup kitchens, where she spent many hours as a volunteer. “The classes that provide these experiences outside of class were especially helpful and meaningful to me,” she said. “They never had to push me to visit these agencies. It gave me a chance to give back to the community and provided a sense of selflessness.” As a volunteer at Asa Messer Elementary School in Providence, Litthisack served as a mentor to students, working with them in groups on math and other subjects. During her final semester at URI, Litthisack interned at Prevent Child Abuse of Rhode Island. She helped in developing the Strengthening Families of Rhode Island initiative to teach childcare center workers and parental involvement groups to recognize signs of child abuse. —Todd McLeish
Martha Ofeibea-Tenkorang ’09
Aspiring Nursing Professor As a teenager, Martha Ofeibea-Tenkorang, a nursing graduate, moved with her father and sister from Ghana to Pawtucket to rejoin her mother, who had emigrated to Rhode Island 10 years previously to continue her nursing career. While Ofeibea-Tenkorang’s mother and older sister, Joanna, are both nurses and her younger sister, Nana, is a URI pre-med student, her desire to become a nurse stems more from the time she spent caring for her elderly grandmother and from her belief that it would be a valuable subject to teach. Throughout her URI nursing education, Ofeibea-Tenkorang held internships at Rhode Island Hospital, The Memorial Hospital, Roger Williams Hospital, and The Miriam Hospital, while also participating in clinical rotations to learn about psychiatric nursing, maternity nursing, and general medical-surgical nursing.
Ofeibea-Tenkorang was particularly moved by the time she spent working in the Intensive Care Unit at Memorial and Miriam hospitals: “The most difficult time is when you know a patient is going to die and the family has to decide whether to let them go,” said Ofeibea-Tenkorang, who received several scholarships at URI and was inducted into the Onyx Honor Society and the Golden Key Honor Society for her academic achievements. Her time in the ICU also helped Ofeibea-Tenkorang decide what nursing specialty to pursue: “I shadowed a nurse-anesthetist in the OR one day and talked to him about his job. It’s a very technical job, which I thought would be a good fit for me. It requires an extra two years of training, but first I need to gain some experience in the ICU before going back to school.” After becoming a nurse-anesthetist, Ofeibea-Tenkorang hopes to become a nursing professor, first here in the United States and perhaps eventually in Ghana: “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to become a teacher,” she said. “Maybe someday I’ll go back to Ghana to teach nursing there.” —Todd McLeish
Valerie Sahakian ‘09
The Youngest Graduate Valerie Sahakian of Smithfield, R.I., took her first college courses when she was just 11 years old. On May 17, as a mature 18-year old, she received a B.S. in math. She was the year’s youngest graduate. Sahakian had been enrolled in public and private schools through sixth grade, when her parents began to home school her. Soon after, Rhode Island College biology professor Lloyd Matsumoto introduced her to college coursework to see if she
was ready for it. She was. “For me, it was a drive to learn and a desire for more information and more learning experiences,” Sahakian said. “I wasn’t really satisfied with school before, because I didn’t enjoy it when my curiosity was suppressed.’ She quickly fell in love with math, a subject she had always enjoyed working on at home with her father, an engineer. “Math was something that I always felt comfortable with, something I could always fall back on. It wasn’t always
easy, but it was worth the effort.” When she enrolled full-time at URI in the fall of 2007, she also took an interest in the study of geology. “I’ve always loved earth sciences and nature,” she said. “My brother and I would take off into the woods; things in the natural world fascinate me. It’s interesting to me how everything in nature is all so dynamic and fits together.” In addition to her URI coursework, Sahakian went on backpacking and climbing trips with the University’s Outing Club, participated in an Irish step dancing club, and enjoyed swimming and other forms of dancing. As a tutor at the URI Academic Enhancement Center, she also learned that she enjoyed teaching. She led math study sessions for students needing extra assistance, prepared lesson plans, and guided group problem-solving activities. This fall Sahakian has enrolled in a doctoral program at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, to study geophysics. —Todd McLeish
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 37
Glenn ‘96 and Emily Fried Basser ‘98, a daughter, Alexa Lindsey, on June 11, 2009. Thanasis Diamandis and Roula Benekos ‘96, a daughter, Aria, on March 31, 2009. Melissa A. and Derek S. Coppola ‘97, twins, Layla Therese and Nicholas Alfonso, on April 30, 2008. Robert J. and Kerri Kaletski Lanzieri ‘97, a daughter, Giada Rose, on May 6, 2009. Valerie and James G. Marini ‘97, a son, Nicholas Glasgow, on December 5, 2008.
Are you an alum searching for a job or looking to change your career path? Contact Karen Rubano at URI Alumni Career Services. • Career counseling phone or walk-in consultations regarding career questions, concerns, and objectives • Résumé and cover letter review • Confidential career interest assessment and evaluation • Job search assistance • Career workshops on résumé writing, interviewing, and other career topics • Videotaped mock interviews • Ongoing online communication about job and career fairs • A multitude of online services and resources offered through the Career Services Web site at career.uri.edu and at RhodyNet • Online self-assessment instruments • Networking strategy coaching • Alumni career mentors • Access to our Career Resource Center that can provide you with handouts, print directories, books and magazines, and technical help Karen Rubano Alumni Career Services 228 Roosevelt Hall 90 Lower College Road Kingston, RI 02881 p: 401.874.9404 | f: 401.874.5525 e: krubano@uri.edu
38 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
Lauren A. ‘98 and Jason W. McNeace ‘97, a daughter, Lily Victoria, on April 20, 2009. Roby and Meghan Smith Marshall ‘02, a daughter, Grace Elizabeth, on June 19, 2009. Wesley C. ‘02 and Allison Sherman Sands ‘02, a daughter, Brailey Isabella, on April 4, 2009.
Frank Pritchard ‘49 of Jamestown, R.I., on March 29, 2009. Gilbert Brown ‘50 of Rochester, Minn., on October 31, 2008. Frederic Clarke ‘50 of Jamestown, R.I., on April 23, 2009. Francis Kayatta ‘50 of Greenville, R.I., on May 9, 2009. William Morgan ‘50 of Warwick, R.I., on April 19, 2009. Nancy Jenks Newton ‘50 of Milford, Mass., on June 18, 2009. Norbert Pellerin ‘50 of Livonia, Mich., on September 19, 2008. Joseph Santos ‘50 of Bristol, R.I., on November 21, 2008. Barbara Strong Underhill ‘51 of Warwick, R.I., on May 4, 2009. Ruth Spooner Akroyd ‘53 of Lawrenceville, N.J., on January 30, 2009 Walter Brown ‘53 of Asheville, N.C., on April 1, 2009.
IN MEMORIAM
David Mellor ‘53 of Lutz, Fla., on November 30, 2008.
James DeSista ‘36 of Warwick, R.I., on June 14, 2009.
H. Rodney Stoll ‘54 of West Sayville, N.Y., on May 26, 2009.
Eugenia Fowkes Kubs ‘36 of Saint Petersburg, Fla., on April 2, 2009.
Peter Vieira ‘54 of Sarasota, Fla., on March 14, 2009.
Ruth Pickersgill Toole ‘38 of Laconia, N.H., on April 24, 2009.
William Preston ‘55 of Cumberland, R.I., on April 20, 2009.
William Allen ‘39 of Greenville, R.I., on April 20, 2009.
Norman Cabral ‘56 of Rehoboth, Mass., on June 9, 2009.
Eleanor Birch Glancy ‘40 of Eugene, Ore., on May 18, 2009.
Marilyn Barnes Connor ‘56 of Pembroke, N.H., on April 30, 2009.
Norman Chase ‘41 of Virginia Beach, Va., on November 22, 2008.
Edward Davis ‘58 of Selkirk, N.Y., on April 10, 2009.
Arthur Kelman ‘41 of Fort Lee, N.J., on June 29, 2009.
William Trumble ‘58 of Tamworth, N.H., on May 4, 2009.
Muriel Selby Martland ‘41 of Warwick, R.I., on June 25, 2009.
R. Frank Maroni ‘59 of Narragansett, R.I., on May 2, 2009.
David Smith ‘41 of Hamden, Conn., on March 7, 2009.
Patricia Otto Anderson ‘61 of Barrington, R.I., on June 18, 2009.
Joseph Cappuccio ‘43 of Baltimore, Md., on May 23, 2009.
Howard Brynes ‘61 of Warwick, R.I., on May 9, 2009.
Donald Cohen ‘43 of Winchester, Mass., on October 23, 2008.
Robert Keating ‘61 of Boynton Beach, Fla., on March 31, 2009.
Walter Kudzma ‘43 of Cumberland, R.I., on May 17, 2009.
Raymond Kells ‘62 of Hope Valley, R.I., on March 20, 2009.
Thomas Pelski ‘43 of Cranston, R.I., on February 15, 2009.
Carole Mulvaney Cumps ‘64 of Amherst, Mass., on March 27, 2009.
Lois Brow Finney ‘45 of Erie, Pa., on April 3, 2009. Charles Hersey ‘45 of Rumford, Maine, on April 14, 2009. Grace Irons Pelski ‘45 of Cranston, R.I., on June 23, 2008. Doreen Hannah Daniels ‘49 of Virginia Beach, Va., on June 14, 2009. Norman Harvey ‘49 of Zephyrhills, Fla., on December 21, 2008. Joseph Heffernan ‘49 of Wakefield, R.I., on April 22, 2009.
Dennis Quine ‘64 of Little Rock, Ark., on February 24, 2008. George Hickey ‘70 of East Providence, R.I., on April 9, 2009. Dorothy Jones ‘70 of Newport, N.H., on June 20, 2009. James Paroline ‘70 of Barrington, R.I., on July 10, 2008. Randolph Lowman ‘71 of North Providence, R.I., on May 18, 2009. Rita Farrissey Pappas ‘71 of North Dartmouth, Mass., on June 1, 2009.
Dale Brown ‘72 of Brookfield, Vt., on May 4, 2009. Bruce Soderlund ‘73 of Peyton, Colo., on June 21, 2009. Steven Zelenski ‘73 of Madison, Wis., on April 2, 2009. Monique Allison ‘74 of Virginia Beach, Va., on October 31, 2008. Marjorie Toth ‘74 of Peterborough, N.H., on February 27, 2009. Allan Williams ‘74 of West Hartford, Conn., on June 26, 2009. Maryanne Kunz Larocca ‘75 of Sparta, N.J., on May 19, 2009. Steven Centola ‘78 of Lancaster, Pa., on January 9, 2009. Douglas Ramos ‘80 of Waccabuc, N.Y., on April 3, 2009. John Carr ‘84 of Pawtucket, R.I., on June 21, 2009. Paul Huber ‘87 of Vienna, Va., on June 8, 2009. Kathy Slauta Connors ‘90 of Narragansett, R.I., on April 15, 2009. Carol Mantius Rouleau ‘96 of East Providence, R.I., on November 28, 2008.
IN MEMORIAM FACULTY Thomas A. Gullason, 85, professor emeritus of English, died peacefully on July 15, 2009, at his Kingston home with his loving wife of 54 years, Betty A. Gullason, at his side. He was an authority on Stephen Crane and published six books and more than 50 scholarly articles. He was a book reviewer for The Boston Herald and a member of the editorial committee of the journal Studies in Short Fiction. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In 1963, he was URI’s Honors Day Lecturer. An Army veteran of World War II who was honorably discharged at the rank of technician 4th grade radio operator, he served in the Philippines with the Assault Signal-Company 6 and received the Victory Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Theatre Campaign Ribbon, the American Theatre Campaign Ribbon, and the Philippines Liberation Ribbon. Besides his wife, he is survived by a son, Edward Thomas Gullason, and two granddaughters. Memorial donations may be made to the charity of your choice. Ruth C. Waldman, M.S. ’73, age 68, professor emerita of nursing, of Kenyon, R.I., and La Tierra Tranquilla, Abragrande, Las Terranas, Saman, Dominican Republic, died on July 9, 2009, in the Dominican Republic. She graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts
College of Nursing in 1962, earned her M.S. at URI, and was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Connecticut. She joined the URI faculty in 1974 and was an excellent classroom and clinical teacher. In 1995 she was appointed assistant dean of the College of Nursing; she became the college’s first associate dean in 2002. She retired in 2004. Throughout her nursing career, she received numerous awards: US Air Force Nurse Educator, URI Feinstein Service Learning Fellowship, Outstanding Community Outreach, UMass Distinguished Alumna, and Lifetime Achievement from the Delta Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau. She was the first member of the nursing faculty to receive the URI Diversity Faculty Excellence (Leadership/Service) Award. A highlight of her nursing career was working in rural clinics in the Dominican Republic to develop an international community health experience for nursing students. She was a former board member of South County Hospital and of the Visiting Nurse Services of Washington County. She had been a member of The Chorus of Westerly since 1984 and was a member of Christ Church in Westerly. She is survived by her husband, Michael A. Waldman ’71; a son, Karl Waldman ’85, M.B.A. ’97, and his wife, Katharine; and a daughter, Karin Robison ’86 and her husband, Gary; and five grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to Intercultural Nursing, Inc., 48 Appleton St., Boston, MA, 02116, or The Chorus of Westerly, 119 High Street, Westerly, R.I. 02891. Kenneth L. Simpson, 78, professor emeritus of food science and nutrition, died in Burke, Va., on July 26, 2009. He received his B.S. from the University of California at Davis and then served for two years in the U.S. Army in Germany. He retuned to Davis to earn his Ph.D. in biochemistry and then served a post-doctoral year in Wales before moving to Kingston in 1964. His research on Vitamin A and nutrition took him all over the world, and he made vital contributions to public health in many developing countries. He retired in 1995. He enjoyed all kinds of model building and woodworking and was proud of his extensive brass rubbing collection. He is survived by his wife, Jill, whom he met in England; two daughters, Pamela Winchell and Valerie Criman ’83; a son Andrew; and ten grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association, 455 Toll Gate Road, Warwick, RI 02886.
SHARE YOUR RHODY PRIDE WITH THE NEXT GENERATION! Would you like your child or grandchild to receive information from the URI Admission Office? Simply visit our new and improved URI Web site at uri.edu/admission. On the admission homepage you’ll find a link to a secure online form, Request Information. Encourage your family member to complete the form, and provide us with an email address. We’ll send information about the University, the admission process, and even specific academic programs. Your family member will be invited to online chats and special events—maybe he or she will even look for you on our alumni site! We also invite you to spread the word about URI to prospective students who live in your community. Please contact us if you are interested in helping us by covering college fairs in your area. For more information about becoming an Alumni Admission Representative, contact Ray Kung at 401.874.4903.
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UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 39
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Dr. Jeffrey Ross (center) is a podiatrist in Houston, a marathon runner, and the leader of the Texas Rhode Horns Alumni Chapter.
The Rhode Back to Homecoming It’s October 13, 2007, and I’m standing on Meade Field, trumpet in hand, in line with fellow alumni band members. The day conjures up memories of 1979, my freshman year, when I first stepped onto this field along with 144 other spirited members of That Ram Band. So here I am with about 30 other loyal music aficionados playing “Jungle Boogie” for current Band Director Brian Cardany. What brought us all together for this twominute routine? The football game, the crisp fall New England air, the applause? No, we return for the camaraderie of sharing this brief moment with our fellow band members and for the chance to relive some of our best college memories. In the summer of 1979, right after high school graduation, I arrived on campus for summer band week. Nervousness about embarking on a college career
was stressful enough without the added trepidation of heading up to the Fine Arts Center to try out for That Ram Band, aka “the Best Band in the East.” Senior band members made me feel this was the greatest tryout of my young life, and that I should feel honored to be a part of this new corps d’elite. The music permeating the room was infectious—sounds of our signature intro song, “The Horse,” as well as classics from Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. By fall it all comes together as we hit that first note and begin the fast high step onto the field to the theme of “The Horse.” We hear the crowd go wild; we feel the beat and movement of our entire squad. We’re all in sync and playing our hearts out! This is what it’s supposed to look and sound like: Watching Lee Brown high stepping out there with his drum major
40 QUAD ANGLES FALL 2009 | URI.EDU/QUADANGLES
baton and tall furry hat blowing in the breeze, seeing The Ramettes and flag twirlers prancing along as the announcer screams, “That Ram Band has taken the field!” Today our music may not sound quite as crisp and clear as it did 30-plus years ago, but Brian Cardany gives us a big grin and thumbs up. I’m pumped! My playing is not bad for a 54-year-old who doesn’t pick up the horn as often as he used to. This is a special reunion: No matter what, we’ll always be members of That Ram Band. So if you’re a former band member, take the Rhode back to Kingston and join with fellow band alums to make the music happen. Me, I plan to travel that Rhode for years to come. n By Jeffrey A. Ross ’75
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JEFFERY ROSS.
2009 Alumni Family Camp The weekend activities included: whale watching, classroom experiences (theatre, watercolor monotype, and BioScience), a trip to Yawgoo Water Park, a barbecue, a movie on the Quad, and a day on the bay. We can’t wait for next year.
PHOTO BY NORA LEWIS
View more photos at uri.edu/quadangles
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