In Its Next Life a Song Cycle Is a Musical - NYTimes.com

Read about classmate Adam Guettel in this recent New York Times article.

“SATURN RETURNS” is the 1998 song cycle that helped cement Adam Guettel’s reputation as one of musical theater’s most daringly rhapsodic composers. A repurposed version opens Wednesday under its original title, “Myths and Hymns.” Like any composer Mr. Guettel won’t know until opening night whether the producers — in this case the Prospect Theater Company — have pulled it off. Unlike most composers he really won’t have the faintest idea until then. “I’m seeing it for the first time that night,” he said.

In Its Next Life a Song Cycle Is a Musical - NYTimes.com

Everything you need to know about Reunion

Reunion is about two months away!  See you in New Haven.  Here are the links you need:

To register, click here.

To see who else has signed up, click here.

To see the PSAs your Reunion team has put together:

    Click here for Do's and Don'ts
    Click here for Remembering People's Names
    Click here for Looking Fabulous at Reunion
    Click here for Pictures from our Time at Yale

Finally, you can purchase Reunion-logoed apparel by clicking here.

Reunion Apparel

With reunion right around the corner, we have put together a great line up of Reunion Apparel.  T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, etc.  Pick what you like and order it right on line.

http://www.yalebulldogblue.com/classof87/

There will be give aways at the Reunion, too, but we wanted to give people as much choice as possible.

YaleNews | Morse College to welcome new master: Amy E. Hungerford

 

Amy E. Hungerford, professor of English and American studies and the current acting master of Calhoun College, has been named the next master of Morse College for a period of five years, beginning July 1.

President Richard C. Levin and Yale College Dean Mary Miller announced the appointment on March 27 in a joint letter to the Morse College community.

Joining Hungerford as associate master in Morse will be her husband, Peter Chemery, associate director of undergraduate admissions.

As a Morsel, I would first like to congratulate Master Hungerford on her appointment to lead the premiere Yale residential college.  I do have one question, however: where is the lipstick?  It is not in the official picture of Morse that went with her announcement.  We need to bring the lipstick back!

YaleNews | Morse College to welcome new master: Amy E. Hungerford

Yale School of Music : Yale Cellos

Thought this was pretty interesting . . .  I had no idea this existed when we were in school.

Formed in 1983, the Grammy-nominated ensemble Yale Cellos has earned international renown for its successful recordings, rich sound, virtuosity, and many additions to the cello ensemble literature. In addition to its annual concerts at Yale, the ensemble has performed twice at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, presenting premieres of works by Ezra Laderman, Dave Brubeck, and Christopher Rouse.

This group has a different repertoire than Low Strung, the other Yale cello group I wrote about  in January.  You can read about Low Strung here.

Yale School of Music : Yale Cellos

Bettina Elias Siegel -- Pink Slime Crusader

Betting has been busy.  Here are some more clips:

Safety Dance

It turns out that one of the biggest parties of the year for Yale undergraduates is called the Safety Dance.  An 80's themed party thrown by Silliman College, the dance takes place in Commons.  Turns out that our bright college years are the stuff of pastiche.  Pretty humorous:

Coffee with the FM - Del Levin-Dr Rabbit’s boss

I was googling Del Levin the other day and came across an article about our classmate.  Click below to check it out.  If you do, you’ll learn that he lives in South Africa, plays guitar and sings, reads contemporary fiction and has run the Soweto marathon. 

Sue Grant-Marshall with Colgate- Palmolive (SA) marketing director Del Levin at The Hyatt Regency , Rosebank, Johannesburg

Coffee with the FM - Del Levin-Dr Rabbit’s boss

Yale Alumni Fellow Elections

Every year, Yale conducts an election among alumni to select an Alumni Fellow to serve on the Yale Corporation.  The election just started and you probably have received an e-mail about it.

I encourage you to participate in the vote.  It is the primary way we, as alumni, can help shape the direction of the University.

On this year's ballot, there are three candidates -- Ellen Gibson McGinnis, Judith Miller and Kevin Ryan.  When you look at their resumes, you will see that they are all beyond qualified.

I know Ellen Gibson McGinnis through work done on the AYA Board of Governers and will be casting my vote for her.  Ellen is intelligent, thoughtful and constructive.  She is a proven leader with a vision of what the Yale alumni experience can be that I find exciting.  I have every confidence that, if elected, Ellen would be a terrific addition to the Corporation.

Please take a moment to review the candidates and vote.  Yale has made it easy to do and I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity.

Our parents

As some of you might have noticed, postings to the blog have been a little slow lately.  Life has a way of getting in the way -- a job, kids, etc.  Most recently, I have had to face for the second time the care of parent.

My dad fell recently. He'll be ok.  No broken bones, thank good goodness.  But, he did a number on himself and required surgery and weeks of rehabilitation and physical therapy.  It's the sort of emergency that impacted the whole family.  We received a call on a Sunday evening that he was in the hospital and by early the next morning, I was on a plane to get to Northern Michigan, where he lives along in rustic cabin on a lake in the woods.

The cabin is picturesque but it is not an ideal place for an older person to live alone.  The cabin (we used to call it the Love Cottage, but that's a different story) is not designed for a person with decreased mobility.

This whole episode has reminded me of some of the lessons we learned when my mother was ill.  Care falls to middle-aged "children" with children and jobs of their own and it can be draining emotionally.  And, the time needed simply to make sure everything is on track can be overwhelming.  Then, there are the costs and the mind-numbing complexity of insurance.

I was wondering if other classmates are dealing with this sort of thing.  Odds are, a number of us have, or currently are, quarterbacking our parents' care.  I would be interested in hearing people's experiences.

The Black Ivy Alumni League Announces its first convention

Thought this was interesting . . .

The 1st Annual Black Ivy Alumni League Convention will be held in Miami, Florida in September of 2012.
The conference will focus on the 4 pillars of - Education, Leadership, Politics and Entrepreneurship.

Welcome to the The Black Ivy Alumni League

YaleNews | The MacMillan Report: Sharing news of the world

 

Each week, the internet show "The MacMillan Report" showcases the innovative work and research of faculty affiliated with The MacMillan Center. The show airs on Wednesdays at noon. The latest episode features Alexander Evans, senior fellow of the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, discussing the relationship between the United States and South Asia. Watch Evans (above) and see other recent episodes of "The MacMillan Report" here.

YaleNews | The MacMillan Report: Sharing news of the world

Yale Alumni Magazine: Yalie of the Week: Bettina Siegel

We have another classmate featured as Yalie of the Week by the Yale Alumni Magazine:

This is a good week to be a vegetarian. For the meat eaters among us, take a peek at the work of Bettina Siegel ’87, a school-lunch blogger who has launched a national campaign against a ground-beef ingredient known, innocuously, as Lean Beef Trimmings and, more nefariously, as pink slime.
Pink slime is “a mixture of beef scraps and connective tissue (formerly used only for pet food and rendering) that is treated with ammonia hydroxide to remove pathogens like salmonella and E coli,” Siegel writes in support of an online petition calling on the US Department of Agriculture to stop using pink slime in school lunch meat. “Due to public outcry, fast food giants like McDonald’s and Burger King have stopped using pink slime in their food. But the federal government continues to allow its use in school food and has just authorized the purchase of ground beef which collectively contains an additional 7 million pounds of pink slime for consumption by our nation’s children.”
In a blog post, she adds: “I oppose pink slime because it comes from a highly pathogenic source, it is a cheap filler which is not ‘ground beef’ as consumers commonly understand that term, because it is thought to be less nutritious than regular beef, and because it is widely used in our food supply without any disclosure to consumers.”
Siegel’s petition, posted on March 6, had gathered nearly 250,000 signatures at this writing. Several supermarket chains announced they would stop selling ground beef with pink slime; the campaign has made national news, including ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, NPR, and various print and online outlets.
The meat industry, which says the product is perfectly safe, calls it LFTB, for Lean Finely Textured Beef. Others call it LBT. Just make sure that the next time you order a BLT, they don’t mix up the initials.

Other Yalies of the Week from our class have been:  Amor Towles, Michael Morand, Chris Dudley, Jay Carney, and Natasha Zupan.  

Yale Alumni Magazine: Yalie of the Week

'Pink Slime' Discontinued at Safeway | Video - ABC News Featuring our Own Bettina Elias Siegel

'Pink Slime' Discontinued at Safeway | Video - ABC News

Click on the link above to see a video featuring our own Bettina Elias Siegel discussing the discontinuance of "pink slime" at Safeway.  The story gives credit to Bettina and her petition campaign for helping getting this issue addressed.  Well done, Bettina!

A Flash Mob -- Yale Sacred Music Style

Yale Day of Service | Yale Day of Service

 Saturday, May 12th, 2012: You are invited to join other Yale alumni and their  families and friends to give one day to make a difference in your community.

Feed the hungry...tutor children...restore a park...read to the blind...build a Habitat home...and so much more.

What do YOU want to do?

Last year, over 3,500 Yale alumni and friends came together to work side-by-side in service all over the world. At more than 245 sites in 40 states and 18 countries, members of the Yale community embodied the University's great tradition of service in giving back. Local communities were changed by the Yale alumni who live and work there.

The tradition of service is rooted in Yale’s past… but perhaps it is more relevant today than ever. There are few traditions as important to Yale alumni as service to others. We know you want to give back, not only to Yale, but also to your community.

So take a look at the many service sites available on this website and register for the one that is of greatest interest to you.  Click here to visit the YDOS website:  Yale Day of Service | Yale Day of Service

STAY - Students and Alumni of Yale

Check out the new AYA initiative – STAY.  It’s a way to share your experiences with current Yale students.

What is STAY?

Students and Alumni of Yale (STAY) brings together Yale undergraduates, graduate and professional school students, and alumni through service, mentorship, and social activities. This central purpose makes us unique among Yale organizations. STAY's mission reaches far beyond New Haven to shared interest/identity groups, Yale College classes, G&P alumni associations, and regional Yale clubs around the world. Alumni provide the wisdom of educational, job, and life experience. Graduate and professional students offer career guidance to college students and energy to alumni. Undergraduates inject fresh perspectives and enthusiasm. STAY offers a unique intersection of these talents and a way for three Yale communities to form long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

STAY - Students and Alumni of Yale

‘Complete assimilation not possible’ - Chang-rae Lee

Check out the latest interview of Chang-rae Lee.  Very thought provoking.

Q. You have said that you are “fascinated by people who find themselves in positions of alienation or some kind of cultural dissonance…people who are thinking about the culture and how they fit or don’t fit into it.” Indeed, in ‘Native Speaker’, your protagonist Henry Park, the son of Korean immigrants, spies on the community from which he hails, a voyeur who ‘translates’ the culture in a sense, for his employers. You moved to the US when you were three and having lived here since, it seems impossible to imagine that you are anything other than wholly American. Do you feel that complete assimilation is ever possible, or are we always tied to the people who look and act and think like us because we share a cultural legacy?
A. I don’t believe complete assimilation is possible, at least not for anyone who has an active, open mind. Every step, every entry into the flows of existence can be seen as a beginning, a commencement of a brand new way of seeing oneself in the world. This is the case for everyone. Of course those of us who grew up on the threshold of cultures perhaps have a more developed sense of this ‘being in a world’ as opposed to simply ‘being’; we are more conscious of the character of the realm, more skeptical of its sway, we have private quarrels with it and ourselves, and all this adds up to, I think, a special form of solitude. We would, like anyone, wish to belong truly and deeply but we know we can’t, not wholly, not ever. It’s when we try to fix our positions vis-à-vis the culture, when we try to deny the unceasing, dynamic nature of the exchange, that tragedies arise, whether it’s in the soul of one person or an entire nation.

‘Complete assimilation not possible’ - Chang-rae Lee

Come to Reunion . . . where everyone is going to look great!

Here is our final installment of reunion-related PSAs.  Watch the video and you'll know that everyone will be looking great at reunion  . . .

At Law School: Clinic upholds immigrants' rights (video)

Read about Michael Wishnie’s work at the Yale Law school . . . or watch the video:

 

Immigration Raids in New Haven -- Upholding Worker and Immigrant Rights from Yale Law School on Vimeo.

A new video produced by the Yale Law School highlights the Worker & Immigrant Rights Clinic and its advocacy for Latino immigrants who were arrested five years ago.

In 2007, following a controversial decision by New Haven's Board of Aldermen to grant municipal identification cards to all residents of New Haven, regardless of immigration status, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a series of raids, arresting dozens of Latino residents.

Students in the clinic represented many of those arrested, filing Freedom of Information requests, federal and state lawsuits, and working on policy intervention in addition to representing those arrested in their immigration cases.

On February 14, 2012, the federal government agreed to settle a civil rights lawsuit that arose from the raids. The settlement will include a payment of $350,000 to 11 of those arrested and immigration relief for the plaintiffs.

In the video, Michael Wishnie, the William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law, and Muneer Ahmad, clinical professor of law, talk about the clinic's involvement representing those arrested and continuing through the settlement.

YaleNews | At Law School: Clinic upholds immigrants' rights (video)

Why does Reunion cost so much?

On Friday, the Association of Yale Alumni (AYA) sent out an e-mail from the Reunion Chairs telling you that Reunion registration was open. On Monday, Yale's Development Office sent out an e-mail from the Reunion Gift Chairs asking you to contribute to our Class gift.

People have already started calling around and emailing and we're already at over xxx classmates scheduled to attend. The buzz is that folks are excited and looking forward to reconnecting. Naturally, people have asked a few important questions -- what will we be doing, how's the food going to be, how many people will be coming, does it need to cost so much? We thought we'd address these here:

Reunions are always action packed -- from lectures throughout the campus with noted professors, to community service opportunities designed for individuals and families, to interesting, relevant panels led by classmates, to meals spent under the tent with friends (old and new), just catching up. You can read all about what is planned here.

• We will have terrific meals. The folks at Yale Dining Services have really kicked things up a notch, or ten. The food we have tasted to put together the menus is terrific. And, there will be something there for everyone.
• There will be a huge tent that will accommodate our huge crowd . . . we plan to have more than 1,000 people come for the weekend! We will have dancing under the tent both Friday and Saturday night and having a gala dinner in Commons on Saturday night.
   
• The price is just slightly higher than last year's 25th reunion and we are offering many more options than last year's reunion, e.g. using refillable water bottles to decrease our plastic waste, offering service opportunities for individuals and families, enhanced menu choices -- just to name a few.  

If you look at all of the diverse programming being offered throughout the weekend, we believe that this will be a special weekend for all who can make it.

That said, we know that the price may make it difficult for some of you to attend. That's why we have FINANCIAL AID! You can contact Janet Capiello at the AYA. She is terrific. She can help those for whom the price is a burden. All financial aid discussions and decisions are strictly confidential and known only to the person asking and to AYA. Please call if you need it.

We've Reached 20,000 Visits

When I first launched our class blog, I had no idea if people were reading.  I would post and sometimes hear back from people.  Usually not, though.  So, I posted away hoping that someone was reading.

That all changed in July 2009 -- the blog got analytics.  Now, we know how many times people view the blog and we have a rough idea of what posts they tend to click on.

Since, July, 2009, we have had people view the blog more than 20,000 times.  In the past three months, we have had more than 1,500 views a month, so we know people are interested in our reunion-related posts -- in fact, the top posts for the last few years are dominated by those related to reunion.  People also seem to like entries with video.

As for the countries in which our readers can be found, the list is interesting.  Most readers, by far, are in the US.  But, we have readers in the UK, Germany, Russia, Canada, France, The Ukraine and China.  We also have a cluster of readers in Slovenia, The Philippines and India.  Hope you can all visit us at reunion.

Another Reunion PSA -- Forgetting Names (Don't worry, we've got you covered)

Are you concerned about going to reunion and not remembering people's names?  Don't be.  We've got you covered:

You can see the other video we've posted (there is one more on the way), by clicking here.

Yale Admission Video

I once heard that we had the most people off the wait list than any other Yale College Class . . . ever.  Don't know if it is true, but it makes for a good story.

Doubt any of us put together a video quite like this:




And here is Conan O'Brien's response:

Reunion Update

Lot's of reunion news:

• The dates:  May 24-27
• Registration is open.  You can register online by clicking here.
• We have some Reunion Public Service Announcements coming your way.  The first one -- a video on Reunion Dos and Don'ts is posted here.  More will be posted in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
• Our class program is shaping up.  Keep checking in here for more details.

We are going green this year . . . so there will be no mass mailing.  Please look for important news via e-mail and please, please, please call/e-mail/reach out to your friends to encourage them to come to reunion.