Monday, May 31, 2010

Poll: Dudley and Kitzhaber in dead heat - Portland Business Journal

Classmate Chris Dudley, having won the Republican nomination for Governor in Oregon, is now in a pitched battle for the election this November.  For those interested in learning more about Chris’ candidacy, you can visit his website at www.chrisdudley.com.

 

Poll: Dudley and Kitzhaber in dead heat - Portland Business Journal

Family Matters - The Godparent Trap - NYTimes.com

Bruce Feiler – who has a new book, The Council of Dads, is something very much worth checking out – wrote an interesting article in this weekend’s New York Times. An interesting read . . .

Family Matters - The Godparent Trap - NYTimes.com

Abigail Pogrebin: Jews in the White House

I came across this interesting piece by classmate Abigail Pogrebin and thought I would share it.

Abigail Pogrebin: Jews in the White House

Friday, May 28, 2010

A Classmate's New Blog -- The Lunch Tray

I received the following note from classmate Bettina Elias Siegel. Check out her new blog --- http://www.thelunchtray.com/:



Hey Tim:

I just launched a new blog and wanted to share with the class.

First, a little background on me and where I've been for the last (good god) 23 years. I graduated from Harvard Law in 1991, where I cleverly managed to never once cross paths with Barack Obama (but did have the good fortune to meet my husband, Martin Siegel). After graduating, I practiced advertising, intellectual property and regulatory law in New York for about a decade, starting at Skadden, Arps, then moving on to Marvel Comics and then at Unilever United States.

I quit the law ten years ago, just after the birth of our daughter, and we also now have a son (turning eight years old today, as a matter of fact). Then, a few years ago, I started writing - both on my own on-going projects and as a freelancer for national magazines like Parents, SELF, and Reform Judaism. Writing was the only thing I really enjoyed about practicing law and I'm thrilled to be doing it now on a regular basis.

And that leads me to my new blog, The Lunch Tray (www.thelunchtray.com). I've had a longstanding interest in food, nutrition and the health of our nation's children. I was also recently appointed to an advisory committee for public school food services here in Houston, where I now live. There's so much to say about this topic and clearly a lot of interest out there (see, e.g., Jaime Oliver's recent "Food Revolution" series) so I took the plunge this week and launched the site. To my utter amazement I've been getting hundreds of page hits right off the bat and we already have a lively debate going on about issues like whether it's OK to bring birthday cupcakes to school and how to improve the clearly broken school lunch system.

I'd love to have my Yale '87 classmates join in the conversation! Please stop by The Lunch Tray and if you like what you see there, spread the word.

Bettina Elias Siegel, Pierson '87

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Matt Meade and Bert Hazlett Swim at Masters National Championships

A couple of years ago, I was speaking with Bert Hazlett when he told me that he was going to really get in shape. Boy, did he. This past weekend, Bert went to Atlanata to compete in the National Masters Swimming Championships. It turns out that Matt Meade was there, too.

The fact that the two of them qualified for the national championship is impressive enough. But, they also swam very, very well. Matt placed third in the 1,650 (the swimming version of the mile) in a time that looked pretty impressive to me. Bert placed 5th in the 50 free in a time that was close to his best in college. They both swam a number of other races, too. Wow.

Now, the question is whether the Class of 1987 can get enough swimmers back in the pool to have a relay team at next year's meet.

Well done, swimmers!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Advantage Capital Announces Addition of Classmate Jonathan Goldstein

ST. LOUIS, May 5, 2010-Advantage Capital Partners, a leading venture capital and small business finance firm, is proud to announce the addition of a new Managing Director who is a nationally recognized expert in the field of tax incentive investing. In addition, the firm is pleased to note the internal promotions of several outstanding staff members.

New Managing Director Jonathan I. Goldstein will be assisting with the structuring and closing of Advantage Capital's New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transactions and developing the firm's business opportunities in other areas. Mr. Goldstein comes to the firm from McCormack Baron Salazar (MBS), where he served as Senior Vice President. At MBS, he oversaw the Project Finance group, which structures the various commercial, governmental and community funding sources that support each development. Mr. Goldstein was also responsible for overseeing the firm's NMTC practice, including $210 million in allocations from the U.S. Treasury. He is the founder and served as the President of Sunwheel Energy Partners, a spin-off firm specializing in solar energy programs for community partners, including affordable housing, civic and educational institutions. Prior to working at MBS and Sunwheel Energy Partners, Mr. Goldstein helped found Taproot Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, where he sourced and structured investments in technology companies. He began his career as an attorney, clerking for a federal appellate judge and serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the Justice Department. Mr. Goldstein holds a B.A. from Yale University, and he serves as an Adjunct Professor at Washington University School of Law, from which he graduated first in his class. He will be working out of Advantage Capital's St. Louis office.

"Jonathan Goldstein is a nationally recognized expert in New Markets Tax Credit deal structuring and financing," said Advantage Capital Senior Managing Director Scott Zajac. "He will be an incredible addition to our team, and will increase our capacity to make a significant community impact with our investments."

About Advantage Capital Partners

Advantage Capital Partners is a leading venture capital and small business finance firm focused on providing growth capital and other investments supporting state and local economic development efforts. The firm's typical forms of investment include early stage, expansion equity, mezzanine financing, senior and subordinated loans and government-guaranteed lending. With offices and partners in New Orleans, St. Louis, Austin and other U.S. cities, Advantage has raised more than $1.3 billion in institutional capital since 1992 and invested in companies located in geographic areas under served by traditional capital.

Advantage Capital

Yale Day of Service

Many of our classmates took leadership roles with regard to the Yale Day of Service.



One classmate, Darcy Troy Pollock, kicked things off a bit early, with a project she spearheaded on May 2, when Yale alums joined forces with Big Sunday volunteers and P.S. Arts to create an arts fair for the students of Will Rogers Elementary, a Title One public school. Some 100 students enjoyed making sock puppets, painting rocks, creating mobiles, getting their faces painted and much more. It was a big boost for these children, who recently lost a beloved principal, and an incredibly fund day for all! (P.S. Arts ia a non-profit organization dedicated to improving children's lives by restoring arts education to underserved public schools.)

I would love to hear how people got involved on the Yale Day of Service.

Jackie Horne Releases New Book

Classmate Jackie Horne has come out with a new book, entitled "Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows: A Children's Classic at 100", which offersa collection of essays that look at the book in terms of class, gender and nationalitity, as well as its construction of heteronormative masculinity, the very English novel's appeal to Chinese readers, and the meaning of a text in which animals can be human-like pets and servants.

Click here for more information.

ACLU Announces James Esseks As Director Of ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project

The ACLU has announced that classmate James Esseks has been promoted to be the Director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project.  Congratulations James!

Business News :: ACLU Announces James Esseks As Director Of ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project :: Echelon Magazine, a Gay Magazine For LGBT Business Professionals

'I want to imagine the SA of my dreams' - Times LIVE

Classmate Mark Gevisser wrote this very interesting piece recently.  I thought I would pass it on.

 

 

'I want to imagine the SA of my dreams' - Times LIVE

Liddy Manson Launches BeClose.com

Liddy Manson has just launched a new company that I thought everyone should know about. BeClose is a service to help people around our age help our elderly parents

BeClose, was launched in November, 2009, in an effort to take proven technology and put it to use for the millions of boomers who are caring for elderly or disabled family members. The BeClose product is designed on the backbone of a security technology that is up and running in 250,000 US homes. Our system uses discreet, wireless sensors that are designed to monitor activities of daily life and are placed throughout the home. The sensors communicate to a web site which hosts a dashboard showing what’s been going on in the home – bed times, night time wakefulness, meal frequency, comings and goings, bathroom use, etc. In addition, our system can be customized to send alerts to a phone or wireless device should something be out of the ordinary – a missed meal or medicine dosage, an unusually early bedtime or long afternoon nap. The system costs $79 per month and is probably a great solution for many of our classmates who have parents aging alone at home.

The Poacher's Son

I just finished reading Paul Doiron's new novel, The Poacher's Son, which has been very well received. (Click here or here for some reviews.) I really enjoyed Paul's descriptions of the Maine woods, as well as the fast-paced and gripping suspense. I highly recommend Paul's book.

Katharine Beals Speaking at Yale Club of New York About Her New Book

Katharine Beals is having a "Book Talk at the Yale Club of New York" on Wednesday, June 9 at 6:30pm.

Event: Book Talk at the Yale Club of New York
Start Time: Wednesday, June 9 at 6:30pm
End Time: Wednesday, June 9 at 7:30pm
Where: 50 Vanderbilt Avenue

The topic will be Katharine's latest book, "Raising a Left-Brain Child in a Right-Brain World." For more details about the book, visit Katharine's website at http://katharinebeals.com/.

Chris Dudley Wins Oregon Primary

Classmate Chris Dudley won last night's Republican primary in Oregon, so he is the Republican nominee for governor. Click here to read his acceptance speech.

And, you can visit his website to learn more about his campaign or to support Chris' run for governor.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Paul Doiron's "The Poacher's Son" Listed as One of Best Crime Novels of 2010

Paul Doiron's debut novel, The Poacher's Son, is coming out this week -- and it's already receiving rave reviews. It was listed recently as one of Top Ten Crime Novels of 2010. Click here for more information.