Raising the Ritalin Generation - NYTimes.com

Here is a New York Times Op-Ed fromour own Bronwen Hruska.  Please click below for the whole article.

I REMEMBER the moment my son’s teacher told us, “Just a little medication could really turn things around for Will.” We stared at her as if she were speaking Greek.
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“Are you talking about Ritalin?” my husband asked.
Will was in third grade, and his school wanted him to settle down in order to focus on math worksheets and geography lessons and social studies. The children were expected to line up quietly and “transition” between classes without goofing around. This posed a challenge — hence the medication.
“We’ve seen it work wonders,” his teacher said. “Will’s teachers are reprimanding him. If his behavior improves, his teachers will start to praise him. He’ll feel better about himself and about school as a whole.”
Will did not bounce off walls. He wasn’t particularly antsy. He didn’t exhibit any behaviors I’d associated with attention deficit or hyperactivity. He was an 8-year-old boy with normal 8-year-old boy energy — at least that’s what I’d deduced from scrutinizing his friends.
“He doesn’t have attention deficit,” I said. “We’re not going to medicate him.”
The teacher looked horrified. “We would never suggest you do that,” she said, despite doing just that in her previous breath. “We aren’t even allowed by law to suggest that. Just get him evaluated.”
And so it began.

Raising the Ritalin Generation - NYTimes.com

Reunion Gift

You may have heard that our class was extremely generous at Reunion . . . and it was.  Here is where things shook out:  Our class raised an impressive $25 million –the third-largest 25^th Reunion gift in the University’s history!  We also exceeded our Alumni Fund goal, with over $604,000 in current use dollars this fundraising year. 

We should all be proud of this remarkable achievement, as it is a reflection of our shared fondness for Yale and the strength of the friendships forged there.  By making a significant commitment in honor of our 25^th Reunion, we helped to ensure that our alma mater will play a formative role in the lives of students for many years to come. 

Well done!

Mary Elliott: Summer-Loved and Lost

Mary Elliott is a Morsel from the Class of 1988 who married Steve Elliott from our class.  Mary writes a blog from time to time.  Click below for her latest post . . . about friendship and the First Kiss:

Friends we’ve lost: What about the ones we’ve fallen out of touch with, the ones we’ve let go?  This conversation came up on Real Life Survival Guide’s Episode 52:  “Redefining Friendship.”  Some friends were particularly important, inspired us, listened, consoled, brought insight to our lives just when we needed awakening, stole our hearts, broke our hearts.  But they were all friends nevertheless, critical to our growth as people, and it would be nice to go out and grab a drink with each of them—the special ones—to find them again, to tell them, “You mattered.  You’ll always matter.” There’s one I’d like to tell.

My First Kiss happened at a certain Chamber Music Institute I attended that summer between seventh and eighth grade.  I was thirteen and he (let’s call him Jiminy—to get even) was fourteen:  older, smarter, and fine-featured with bird-like yet beautiful bone structure and wavy dark Vidal-Sassoon locks you’d expect in a fine artist.  I took him for a prodigy; Jiminy could already perform the major cello concertos by then:  Saint-Saens, Dvorak, Elgar.  His solo with piano accompaniment in the massive college music hall floored me.  I treasured any glimpse my way from his searching brown eyes, windows into a keen mind that had already scored a perfect 1600 SAT.  He called himself an “agnostic atheist,” whatever that meant.  And even though he was smaller and skinnier than I, he attracted me with his worldliness, quick intellect and humor and his lovely, aristocratic face.  He was better and he knew it, and I could scarcely believe my good luck that he was making out with me on those hard, orange-carpeted stairs in the empty band room.

Mary Elliott: Summer-Loved and Lost | Bruce Barber's Real Life Survival Guide

Radio Show about the Yale Alumni Service Corps trip to Ghana

There was a great radio show about the Yale Alumni Service Corps' Trip to Ghana.  Click here to listen to Kristen Hallett Rzasa's Radio Show.  Here is a picture with Kristen and our own Andrew Burgie:

'The Americans': FX Orders Cold War Spy Series Starring Noah Emmerich

 

Yale Class of 1987’s own Noah Emmerich is heading back to TV in FX's Cold War spy series "The Americans."

"The Americans," starring Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich, hails from Joe Weisberg with Graham Yost, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank attached as executive producers. The pilot, which is scheduled to air in early 2013, will be directed by Gavin O'Connor. Production begins in October.

“For the last two years, I've worked with the incredible people at FX, FTVS, DreamWorks, and my personal television guru Graham Yost on this project," Weisberg said in a statement. "More recently, Gavin O'Connor joined our team, and turned the script we'd been working on for so long into a beautiful pilot. Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, and Max Hernandez were sensational in it, and a joy to be around. To have all of this come to fruition has been indescribably exciting. Really, I'm a writer, and I can't describe it. It's a great privilege and opportunity to get to make this television show. I can't wait to get to work on it."

Click below for details

'The Americans': FX Orders Cold War Spy Series Starring Keri Russell#slide=1357899#slide=1357899

Yale Alumni Service Trip to Ghana

The team from the YASC trip to Ghana is back.  Early reports is that they had a great trip -- big impact in the community they served, personal sense of accomplishment felt by those who went and many new friends made.

Stay tuned for more posts as those who went to Africa share their experiences.

Tennis Anyone?

YaleWomen of Connecticut, New Haven Open at Yale and the Association of Yale Alumni present

YaleWomen:
Scoring the Advantage Point in Leadership
Saturday, August 25, 2012
12 pm noon @ the New Haven Open at Yale
Courtside Club Private Suite

featuring:

Susan Holden '84 CFO of Mother Advertising Advertising for clients that include JC Penney, Burger King, Google

Linda Schupack '83, '92 MBA EVP Marketing of AMC Marketing strategy for the AMC network’s Emmy award-winning programming including Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead

Welcome: Anne Worcester
Tournament Director, New Haven Open
Chief Marketing Officer, Market New Haven

Moderator: Michael Morand '87, '93 M.Div.
Deputy Chief Communications Officer, Yale University

Tickets: 
Adults - $50  
Children (ages 3-13) - $25
Children (2 & under) - Free

Price Includes:

• All-day seating in the enclosed, air-conditioned Courtside Club Private Suite (regularly priced at $91)
• A delicious buffet lunch beginning at 12 pm
• An enlightening panel discussion at 1 pm
• The exciting final matches of the New Haven Open (12:30 pm doubles, 3 pm singles)

Register at: https://ivy.yale.edu/alumni_registration/register/for_event/10703

***Please note: For registrations processed before Friday, August 17th, tickets will be mailed to the address you provide in the online form. Registrations processed after August 17th must be picked up at the NHO Ticket Office Will Call Window. Check the AYA website for more detailed instructions.***

For information about Parking options (including purchasing a Gold Lot parking pass in advance), please visit the AYA website for details and select the appropriate option on the registration form.

Contact: Mindy A. Marks ’00, Director for Shared Interest Groups
or Ilona Emmerth ‘98, Director for Major Cities, with any questions.

www.yalewomen.net ~ www.newhavenopen.com ~ www.aya.yale.edu

YaleNews | A summer of learning about the city while serving the community

Shovels and paintbrushes in hand, 33 students toiled in the sun, planting trees and sprucing up buildings in neighborhoods around New Haven in concert with Yale’s Urban Resources Initiative — and that was even before the students’ real work in the community began this summer as Yale President’s Public Service Fellows (PPSF).

This is the first year that participants have spent a few days undertaking volunteer work as part of the PPFS program. The innovation was introduced by the program’s new director, Karen King, who says that the “service learning opportunity” was a great way for the fellows “to get out and experience New Haven.”

The 2012 President's Public Service Fellows talk about their summers.

Forging student connections with Yale’s hometown is a key mission of the PPFS program, which was established in 1994 by President Richard C. Levin.

Each summer, Yale undergraduate and graduate/professional students work full-time for non-profit groups or municipal agencies in the city for 8 to 11 weeks, tackling special projects or helping with day-to-day operations, depending on the organization’s needs. The groups get much-appreciated help for free (Yale gives the students a stipend to support their summer stay in New Haven), and the students get an opportunity to experience life in the University’s hometown in a way they never could during the academic year.

CLICK BELOW FOR THE WHOLE STORY.

Katherine Romans, a student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, stands with Ed Rodriguez, a community green space leader, in front of a tree they planted. Romans worked with the Urban Resource Initiative. (Photo by Michael Marsland)

Vanessa Williams ’14 of Timothy Dwight College teaches in a lab at Hopkins as part of Breakthrough. (Photo by Karen King)

Stephen Hughes ’13 of Jonathan Edwards College helps students develop their reading skills at Footebridge. (Photo by Karen King)

 

Divinity School student Benae Beamon works with students at the garden at Common Ground high school as part of the New Haven Ecology Project. (Photo by Michael Marsland)

Law School student Sonia Steinway works with the Community and Economic Development Law Clinic. (Photo by Karen King)

Shatavia Wynn, also of the Divinity School, meets with Life Haven Social Workers. (Photo by Karen King)

Graduate School student Tyler Griffith works with youngsters at the Eli Whitney Museum. (Photo by Karen King)

 

 

YaleNews | A summer of learning about the city while serving the community

STAY Session of Being a Lawyer Includes Two Members of the Great Class of 1987

On July 23, thanks to AYA Board member Tim Harkness '87, his law firm--Freshfields--joined forces with STAY to co-sponsor a 2.5 hour gathering of NYC AEA students and alums in a very elegant Freshfields conference room. At the gathering, which was attended by 30 people, an hour was set aside for socializing and the remainder was dedicated to a lively four-person panel to discuss the past, present and future of careers in law.  Panelists included our very own Lynn Oberlander.


It was a fun night and a great thing to do.  You should think about working with STAY, which organizes career-related sessions for current Yale students.

More News from Ghana -- Y87 Has its First Chief!

I have been following Michael Morand's stream of tweets from Ghana.  Great stuff.  They have had a great time and, it appears, a huge impact.  Although we will wait for a little while for a full report.  Here are some pictures that highlight what they did.  Here are the words of the local chief:  "You have demonstrated the commonalities which bind us together as human beings."


Here is a picture of AYA Director Mark Dollhopf and our own Kathy Edersheim being installed as honorary chiefs.  

Some more pictures from Ghana and the thank you celebration of the YASC team:

I hope this inspires some of our classmates to sign up for the next Yale Alumni Service Corps trips.  The next one is in March to Nicaragua.  After that, YASC is going back to Ghana.  So, please stay tuned

Bulldogs Continue Educational Efforts via ELI Africa - Yale Bulldogs

Check out this interesting program . . . for the full story, click on the link below.

Bulldogs Continue Educational Efforts via ELI Africa

Lexy Adams (top) and Jordan Forney and Emily Standish (bottom) are three of more than a dozen Yale varsity student-athletes who have worked for ELI Africa, a program started by former Yale football player Vedant Seeam.

Program Founded by Former Yale Football Player Vedant Seeam ‘11

MAURITIUS - Every summer since 2010, a contingent of Yale students -- many of them varsity athletes -- has traveled to Mauritius, a small island of the coast of Africa with a population of about 1.3 million people. The Bulldogs are drawn there to spend two months working on experiential learning projects, helping the country’s underprivileged children“learn by doing”. The program, Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI) Africa, was started by a former Yale football player.

The man behind ELI Africa is Vedant Seeam’11, a native of Mauritius who was a defensive lineman for the Bulldogs. The organization has had more than a dozen Yale varsity student-athletes work for it in the past three years, helping Seeam realize his vision of developing free, locally relevant educational programs that aid personal development and nurture creativity and self-expression.

Seeam grew up in the farming village of Plaine des Roches. After graduating from high school, he was elected Vice-Chairman of Finance of his district -- becoming the youngest-elected politician in the country. Seeam was also a member of the Mauritian National Team in badminton, but after arriving at Yale in 2006 he saw another sport for the first time: football. He took to it quickly, earning a letter as a sophomore in 2007. His connection to that sport would eventually help bring three other Yale football players to Mauritius to work for ELI Africa.

Bulldogs Continue Educational Efforts via ELI Africa - Yale Bulldogs

50th Anniversary Stiles Reunion

The 50th Anniversary of Ezra Stiles College

Yale’s First-Ever Residential College Reunion

 

 Ezra Stiles College 50th Anniversary Weekend

October 5 - 7, 2012

  Register Now!

• Tour the newly renovated Ezra Stiles College, a masterpiece of American architecture
• Reconnect with your fellow Stilesians & pay homage to the Moose
• Attend a conversation in the Ezra Stiles Dining Hall between President Richard Levin and  Yale Corporation Fellow Byron Auguste and learn about Yale today
• Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Ezra Stiles College in grand fashion at Commons and hear insights from our distinguished Provost, Peter Salovey 
• Don’t miss a diverse offering of faculty /alumni / student panels 
• Enjoy unique performances by current Stiles students
• Light a candle for members of the Stiles community who are no longer with us
• Join Mark Dollhopf, AYA Executive Director, to explore the role of alumni/ae and the future of Ezra Stiles College

We look forward to welcoming you back to Ezra Stiles in October!

Boola Boola,

Stephen Pitti

Master of Ezra Stiles College, ES'91!

My Little List—Guest Post By Joanne Sydney Lessner | Mystery Writing is Murder

Here is a fun blog post by our own Joanne Lessner about mystery writing.  Click below for the whole post.

@joannelessner

“As someday it may happen that a victim must be found, I’ve got a little list.”

--W.S. Gilbert

I’m planning to kill my neighbor.

Lest you fear that I’ve just made you an accessory before the fact, rest assured that no actual blood will be spilled, although I do have a particularly gory end in mind for this guy. He’s one of those of selfish, antagonistic neighbors—apartment-dwellers will recognize the type—who has no consideration for anyone else, yet complains constantly about the rest of us. And so, he must die. Most likely, in book three.

My Little List—Guest Post By Joanne Sydney Lessner | Mystery Writing is Murder

YaleNews | Yale alumni rowers win Olympic gold and silver

 

Taylor Ritzel ’10, a member of the U.S. Women’s Eight team (rowing), is the first Yale affiliate in the 2012 Olympics to win a gold medal.

In the same race on Aug. 2, Ashley Brzozowicz '04 and her fellow Canadian rowers won the silver medal, while the Australian team — which includes Tess Gerrand ’10, came in sixth place

YaleNews | Yale alumni rowers win Olympic gold and silver

2012 AYA Board of Governors Excellence Awards!

Seeking Nominations for the
2012 AYA Board of Governors Excellence Awards!

Dear Yale Alumni Volunteer:

You are the best of Yale, and we know you are working hard to be the best for Yale. Thank you!

Since the implementation of the AYA Strategic Plan in 2007, volunteers everywhere have been reinvigorating traditional programs and engaging alumni in new and innovative ways. Many classes, clubs, SIGs, and G&P schools have engaged in strategic planning themselves, and there are more alumni doing more things than ever before. Whether new “out of the box” ideas or reenergized versions of Yale traditions, these programs and activities are models for excellence and alumni involvement.

For the third year, the AYA Board of Governors seeks to recognize the accomplishments of outstanding alumni groups with their Excellence Awards, to be presented at the Assembly this November 8-10.

You are warmly invited to nominate an alumni organization with which you are familiar. The awards will be vetted by the Volunteer Leadership Committee of the AYA Board using the evaluation criteria described here. There are Excellence Awards given in five major categories, including Classes, Clubs, SIGs, G&P, and overall programming. All of the information and an online nomination form can be found on the AYA website.

If you think the AYA Board should recognize an organization – and the efforts of the volunteers who make it successful – please send in a nomination right away!

The deadline for nominations is Saturday, September 15, 2012 (5:00 pm Eastern). Awards will be announced in October and presented at the AYA Assembly.

We look forward to hearing from you, and thanks for all that you do!

Mark Dollhopf
AYA Executive Director

Yale in Hollywood New York Chapter Theater Outling

Yale in Hollywood New York Chapter Theater Outing

 

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER

August 21^st
7PM
Family Friendly!

PURCHASE TICKETS HEREhttp://www.eventbrite.com/event/4027662848

You are invited to join the New York Chapter of Yale in Hollywood for a dynamic evening at the theatre!  On August 21^st we will attend the Tony Award-winning play PETER AND THE STARCATCHER followed by a talkback with memerbs of the creative and producing teams. Then we’ll mix and mingle over after-theatre drinks (cash bar) and toast  the Yale alumni on the team, writer Rick Elice, director Alex Timbers and producer Catherine Schreiber.

We have a limited number of Orchestra seats for the discounted price of $99 (includes $10 donation to Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids).  Seats are limited and will go fast. This is a family friendly show so bring the kids!

*******

Click here for more information on the show
http://peterandthestarcatcher.com/about/synopsis/

Winner: FIVE TONY AWARDS

"Sensational. The Most exhilarating Broadway storytelling in decades! BEN BRANTLEY NY TIMES

A wildly theatrical, hilarious and innovative retelling of how a miserable orphan came to be The Boy Who Never Grew Up, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER upends the century-old legend of Peter Pan.

Winner of 5 Tony Awards® and based on the best-selling Disney-Hyperion novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is directed by Tony Award® winner Roger Rees (Nicholas Nickleby) and Tony Award® nominee Alex Timbers (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Pee-wee Herman Show) and written by Tony Award® nominee Rick Elice (Jersey Boys). A dozen brilliant actors play more than 100 unforgettable characters using their enormous talent, ingenious stagecraft and the limitless possibilities of imagination.

Don't miss this epic origin story of one of popular culture's most enduring and beloved characters and discover the Neverland you never knew.

Digital Mourning | Katie's Take - Yahoo! News.

Katie Couric interviewed our own Bruce Feiler.  Click below to hear the interview.

Digital Mourning | Katie's Take - Yahoo! News#more-id