Bruce McBarnette Organizing Event at Kennedy Center in DC

Bruce McBarnette is organizing a class trip to the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage in Washington, DC to see the jazz group called Project Natale on Dec. 27, 2011 at 6 pm. The performance is free and after it is over the group will go to the Kennedy Center Cafe for refreshments. The group will meet at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage at 5:45 pm. Feel free to bring friends. If you plan to come, RSVP to Bruce at bruce@mcbarnette.com.

Eve Beglarian to Hold 3 RiverProject Concerts in NYC in January

Eve Beglarian has several updates on her ongoing RiverProject, which began with her kayak and bike journey down the Mississippi River in 2009.

On January 21, 27 and 28, she will be performing at the Henry Street Settlement's Abrons Arts Center on Grand Street in New York. Each of the three evenings will feature BRIM, her duo with Mary Rowell, along with different guest artists on each of the three evenings, including Newspeak, loadbang, and Guidonian Hand, among others. There will be repertoire unique to each show, along with some pieces that will be performed in wildly different arrangements each night. According to the Henry Street website,

The three concerts comprise a mini-festival of music from the RiverProject, with some overlapping repertoire in varied arrangements each night, and some repertoire unique to each concert. Everywhere there are echoes of the folk, blues, jazz, and funk that have grown up in the regions touched by the river. The music also reflects a range of texts and influences that arose from meeting and talking with an array of individuals along the river, which make a unique statement about modern day America.

Along with these performances, BRIM has released the first of what will be a series of recordings of River Project music. A limited edition of 250 signed CDs, it's a four-song EP that can be purchased on Eve's website, here, only while supplies last.

Greg Mankiw Thinks About Students Who Walked Out on His Econ Class at Harvard

Professor Greg Mankiw considers and discusses his views on the students who walked out on his Economics 10 class at Harvard recently, one of those Occupy Wall Street things. In a piece in the Sunday New York Times, he writes,

My first reaction was nostalgia. I went to college in the late 1970s, when the memory of the Vietnam War was still fresh and student activism was more common. Today’s college students tend to be more focused on polishing their résumés than on campaigning for social reform. I applaud the protesters for thinking beyond their own parochial concerns and trying to make society a better place for everyone.

But my second reaction was sadness at how poorly informed the Harvard protesters seemed to be. As with much of the Occupy movement across the country, their complaints seemed to me to be a grab bag of anti-establishment platitudes without much hard-headed analysis or clear policy prescriptions. Ironically, the topic of the lecture that the protesters chose to boycott was economic inequality, including a discussion of recent trends and their causes.

Andrew Weissmann Named General Counsel of the FBI

Andrew Weissmann, who led the federal government's investigation of Enron, is leaving the private sector to become the general counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Andrew had been chairman of the white-collar and investigations practice at the law firm of Jenner & Block.

Sharon Keld Featured in Hamptons Newspaper

Freshly returned from Armenia, Sharon Keld was featured in "The Southampton Press," complete with a photo. Reading the full article, titled "Southampton Woman Returns from Three Peace Corps Stints," requires a premium membership in the publication.

Erica Lehrer Publishes Poetry Book, "Dancing With Ataxia"

Class secretary Erica Lehrer has published a book of poetry, "Dancing With Ataxia," and launched the book with a party on October 6 at Houston's McMurtrey Gallery. The debut continued on October 5 when some of Erica's poems were read at the Houston Poetry Fest by classmate Christine Van Deusen.

The book's title refers to Multiple System Atrophy, a rare neurodegenerative disease grouped with other neurological conditions under the general category of ataxia. Erica was diagnosed with the disease last year.

Part of the profitss of the book, which is available through Amazon, will be donated to Princeton's interdisciplinary Neuroscience Institute, whose building and research labs will be completed in spring 2003.

Erica's website notes,

In October 2010, after years of troubling symptoms, Erica Lehrer was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy, a rare, as yet incurable and untreatable neurodegenerative disease. Despite her efforts with regard to physical and vocal therapy, she progressed from an unsteady gait while using a cane to full reliance on using a walker within a year. As for talking, speaking clearly was a thing of the past, and, if possible, she found this even more devastating than her mobility issues.

In the past couple of years, she has transitioned from a person who enjoyed skiing, jogging, dancing, singing, playing the flute and engaging in lengthy conversations effortlessly with myriad folks (she was a lawyer and journalist) to one who could no longer do these things. She considers herself fortunate that poetry came into her life concurrently with the onset of her illness, as it keeps her engaged with language, allows her to express and share her experience and observations with an economy of means and provides her with a supportive community of poets and poetry lovers. While her illness has reduced her level of activity, poetry has allowed her a concentrated way to expand her universe and make new connections.

Daily Princetonian Profiles Brig. General Mark Milley

In an article aptly titled, "The Guy You Want in the Foxhole," The Daily Princetonian profiled classmate Mark Milley today. Describing Milley's career, the article notes,

Milley is the University’s highest ranked alumnus in the armed forces, an honor previously held by Gen. David Petraeus GS ’87. Petraeus succeeded Gen. Stanley McChrystal as Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan in 2010 before retiring from the army this past August to take up his new role as director of the CIA.

A two-star general, Milley is also the new commander of the famed 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum in Northern New York — and despite having thought about leaving the armed forces over the past three decades, he only keeps advancing.

Steve Sashihara Discusses His New Book with Consulting Magazine

Steve Sashihara talked about his new book, The Optimization Edge: Reinventing Decision Making to Maximize All Your Company’s Assets, in the new issue of Consulting Magazine. Steve, the president and CEO of Princeton Consultants (nice name, Steve!) argues that downsizing is no way to grow a company. Instead, the smart firms have figured out a better way to make business decisions. In the book and his practice, he shows clients how to squeeze every ounce of value from their company, even under the perfect storm conditions of the last few years. The two-page spread starts like this:

Consulting: I know Princeton Consultants has always had a heavy focus on optimization, but why did you decide to write the book?

Sashihara: We’ve been focused on optimization as a small boutique firm for 30 years now. Optimization was traditionally always a nice-to-do, a nice-to-have for very high-end companies, but we now believe it is becoming a categorical imperative. People know a lot about analytics, but don’t realize that optimization is at the very high end of the analytics spectrum. I was trying to explain it to clients, and I realized that no real definition of optimization existed out there. So, I figured I’d write the book.

Robert Klitzman Reflects on "The Uses and Misuses of 9/11"

Robert Klitzman, whose sister was killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, reflects on the 10th anniversary of the attacks in The Nation. He writes,

Ten years ago today, my sister died at the World Trade Center. That day, the world changed – as did my life, and that of my family.

Every year since, on the anniversary of that day, my family and I debate whether to go to ground zero, whether to read the names of the deceased before the world’s news cameras.

For the first two anniversaries of her death, we went to the site of the attack. Then we stopped. It was too painful, opening up too many wounds. We have commemorated her in other ways -- going to her the grave where we buried, in a baby coffin, the two bones that of hers that had been found. We revisited the house on Long Island where we all grew up.

Anne-Marie Slaughter Reflects on 9/11 in PAW Essay

Anne-Marie Slaughter ’80, the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, contributed an essay titled "It's About the People in the September 14 issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly. She writes in part,

A month after I arrived in Princeton, Shirley Tilghman inaugurated the 9/11 Memorial Garden between East Pyne and Chancellor Green. One of the names on the circle of flagstones commemorating the 13 Princetonians who lost their lives that day was my classmate Bob Deraney ’80; another was Josh Rosenthal *81, a Woodrow Wilson School graduate alum whom I had met in New York through close Princeton friends. Those memorial stones were taken from different paths across the Princeton campus, a powerful image of the many ways in which all our lives intersected at Princeton and beyond. That was so much of the horror of 9/11: Behind the headlines of an event that launched two wars and elevated global terrorist networks to a threat previously posed only by other states were the heart-wrenching details of the husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, siblings, and friends lost. Al-Qaida attacked symbols of American financial, military, and political might, but ended about 3,000 individual lives and darkened tens of thousands more.

Robert Kasdin Serving on Board of 9/11 Memorial Group

Bob Kasdin is serving as a member of the board of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The museum's website describes the project in detail, and lists the name and memorial location of classmate Bob Deraney, who was killed on 9-11 at the World Trade Center. The museum says,

Robert Kasdin was appointed Senior Executive Vice President of Columbia University in March 2002 and assumed his responsibilities as of September 1, 2002. Prior to joining Columbia University, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the University of Michigan. Before joining the University of Michigan, he was the Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer for The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and from 1988-1992 he was the Vice President and General Counsel for Princeton University Investment Company.

Peter Elkind's New Fortune Article Details Intrigue at Pfizer

Peter Elkind has co-authored his latest blockbuster investigative article in Fortune magazine, "Inside Pfizer's Palace Coup." It's a real page-turner. Peter and co-author Jennifer Reingold write:

In the end, the story of Jeff Kindler's time at Pfizer provides a window into the challenges facing a mammoth company in an essential industry -- and the people who aspire to govern it. Pfizer is an enterprise with the noble calling of easing pain and curing disease. Yet its leaders spent much of their time in the tawdry business of turf wars and political scheming.

Bob Bradley's Next Move After Coaching U.S. Soccer Team

Bob Bradley has been let go as coach of the U.S. soccer team. But according to this article, "Bob Bradley Should Have Interesting Options," we'll no doubt be seeing Bob back in the news before long. The article states,

A day later and the office is cleared out for Bob Bradley. The sweats should be all packed up and all mementos are tucked away in some box. Time for Bradley to move on.

But just where will Bradley land when he feels the time is right? Last time around when the USSF let go their national team manager, it didn't take Bruce Arena long to find a job. Same should be said for Bradley. He'll have plenty of options in Major League Soccer and possibly overseas.

Sharon Keld's Peace Corps Report from Armenia

As Sharon Keld concludes her latest Peace Corps assignment in Armenia, she has written her thoughts on the experience for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. foreign aid agency. Sharon writes:

The event that touched me most was a small event honoring Hamazasp
Gabrielyan, the 1,000th borrower under under an activity designed to expand the
accessibility to credit for rural Armenians. With this small loan of
approximately $8,000, Hamazasp will build a new cooling facility that will allow
him to extend his selling season and increase his income. As I listened to his
story, I felt a deep sense of pride and gratitude.

Kathy Button Bell Talks to the NY Times On Management

Kathy Button Bell, the Chief Marketing Officer of Emerson, did a Q&A with the New York Times "Corner Office" column. In it, she discusses lessons from Princeton sports and other influences on her management and leadership style. Here's an excerpt:

Q. When you think back over your leadership and management style, how would you say it’s evolved? What are you doing more of, less of?

A. I am much more patient — a hundred times more patient than I was. I also prioritize much better, which comes out of patience. I think patience, by far, teaches you what to do. The mistake people make is they try to do everything. Dave Farr, our C.E.O., says that if you have a to-do list of 10 things, rip it and do three. Just do three.

I’m really better at putting my time and attention on the business issues that matter the most. I always say that one does what one likes to do. If you really think about it, you should like the things that are the biggest things.

Jonathan Fredman Publishes Article in ABA's National Security Law Report

Jonathan Fredman published an article entitled "Covert Action Policy and Procedure" in the July-October 2009 issue of National Security Law Report, published by the American Bar Association. Jonathan, a lawyer, wrote:

Covert action is often viewed in a fundamentally different manner from more mainstream exercises of national power. Neither a military nor a law enforcement activity, covert action is cloaked in an aura of secrecy that endows any discussion with the allure of things concealed. But in many ways the similarities are stronger than the differences: all encompass both persuasive and coercive methods; all prefer to rely upon cooperation much more than compulsion; and all are designed to provide the American people with the means to preserve their liberty as well as the security upon which that liberty depends.

Ann-Marie Slaughter Interviewed on Role of Development in U.S. Foreign Policy

Anne-Marie Slaughter, professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton, was interviewed recently at the Council on Foreign Relations as part of a series on "Women and Development." She also addressed current events in the Middle East. The interview and a synopsis of its content can be found here. The article says,

During our interview, I could not help asking Slaughter about U.S. policy in the Middle East. She has been a vocal advocate of intervention in Libya to bolster those trying to oust Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi. As she put it in our interview, “Our goal across the Middle East has to be to stand for peaceful change, the right of citizens to demand basic services from their governments.” However, she added that the U.S. role should be to support citizens who are battling oppressive regimes, not to take on the fight itself. “We have to help people as we can,” she said, “but it’s their fight. It’s the Libyans who have to ultimately change their government.” Turning to Syria, Slaughter called the situation there “heartbreaking” and said, “it looks like this government might get away with the same kind of brutality that we saw 20 years ago.” Nonetheless, she argued that the United States is not in a position to use force.

Robert Klitzman Writes NY Times Op-Ed About Bin Laden's Death

Robert Klitzman wrote an op-ed piece that appeared in the New York Times on May 3, two days after the killings of Osama bin Laden by Navy Seals. Robert's sister Karen was killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2011. In the essay, titled, "My Sister, My Grief," he writes,

Bin Laden’s death was cathartic — his terrorist attacks traumatized all of us — but in large part it is only a symbolic victory. Al Qaeda may even have more cells and members than it did 10 years ago, though no one knows. Certainly, Islamic extremists are vowing to avenge his death. “An eye for an eye” perpetuates a never-ending cycle of destruction. Dangers continue.

Steve Hughes Works on Award-Winning Animated Film in Spain, "The Missing Lynx"

Steve Hughes sends along this report on his work on an award-winning film, "The Missing Lynx," in Spain:

I collaborated closely with the director and co-scriptwriter of The Missing Lynx, Manuel Sicilia. As a fellow Andalusian, Antonio Banderas was happy to get involved in the production and promotion of the film, although he didn't do any of the voices in the film, since none really suited him. It's a fun film with great detail about Andalusian wildlife, with an ecological message.

Anyway, I adapted the script into English, cast the original English voices, directed the recordings and revoicings, and voice-acted in the film. Despite being the child of the Spanish production company Kandor Graphics, located in Granada, the original version – the one recorded first to animate the mouths in high-quality animation – was recorded in Madrid but in English because the English-speaking markets are the biggest and most lucrative. We recorded all the voices with only 7 very versatile actors. I recorded Gus the chameleon, Newmann the evil white hunter, Diogenes the vulture, all the wolves, and the henchmen-soldiers, among others. They liked my interpretation of Newmann – the lone American among all British voices – so much that they asked me to repeat the part when the film was dubbed into Spanish, again with an American accent.

Anyway, last year The Missing Lynx was nominated for the Goya award, Spain's equivalent of the Oscars, for Best Animated Feature Film and won. Although it did get onto the big screen on numerous European countries apparently, The Missing Lynx was never released in theaters in the US, unfortunately, although it was released on DVD. The DVD was reviewed in Variety in October, 2009, and one of my proudest moments as a voice artist came when I read the reviewer's comment that Newmann was "voiced with delicious richness by Hughes". Working way over here in Spain, it meant a lot to get a pat on the back from a Variety reviewer.

Josh Kornbluth finds Warhol, and Judaism

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has published an article about Josh Kornbluth's latest one-man show, titled, “Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?” In it, Josh discusses his new interest in Jewish topics, and his upcoming bar mitzvah in Israel. The article begins,

Josh Kornbluth didn’t find his Jewish identity the typical way.

It was pop artist Andy Warhol who sparked the process that brought the successful San Francisco Bay Area performer, now 52, to discover Torah, synagogue -- and, in a few months, a bar mitzvah in Israel.

“I was raised orthodox – orthodox communist!” Kornbluth said as he sat down with JTA over a plate of bacon and eggs to discuss his newfound appreciation of his Jewish roots. “Zionism was the enemy in our house.”

Douglas McGrath Lights Up HBO with Documentary on Jerry Weintraub

Douglas McGrath has written and directed a feature-length documentary, "His Way," that just debuted on HBO. It details the colorful career of film producer and manager Jerry Weintraub. Doug found quite a story to tell in the person of Weintraub, a legendary Hollywood figure and tale-spinner. In its positive review of the documentary, The Hollywood Reporter says,

McGrath amuses himself by cutting back and forth between Weintraub and his wife of 45 years, singer Jane Morgan, telling the same story, alternating between the two from line to line in telling a story that has resided for so long in the couple’s repertoire. The story about Weintraub’s mother finally accepting his non-Jewish wife into the family is classic.

Eve Beglarian's Music and Stories Featured in Oregon Performance

Eve Beglarian will be appearing at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland, Ore., on Friday, April 8 to perform music and tell stories from her epic 2009 journey down the length of the Mississippi River. For more information an an interview with Eve, click here.

This YouTube video also discusses the project and shows photos and music inspired by the trip.

Honorary Classmate Michael Graves's Target Project

Architect-designer Michael Graves H'80 discussed his 15 years of work designing products for Target Stores, in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/garden/31qna.html

The article notes,

And although he has been paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair since 2003, the 76-year-old architect shows no signs of stopping. His most recent products for Target, cleaning tools and kitchen accessories, reached stores last week.

Princeton Alumni Weekly: Not your mother's Princeton

Arlene Pedovich and Daughter Rebecca Kaufman '11 were featured in a PAW article on alumnae mothers and daughters.

Princeton Alumni Weekly: Not your mother's Princeton

Laura McPhee Photos Featured in Exhibit of Mountain Art

Several photographs by Laura McPhee are featured in an exhibit called "Alpine Desire" running at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York through May 8. More examples of Laura's work can be found at her website, http://www.lauramcphee.com/

Ann-Marie Slaughter Examines the Libya Situation

Ann-Marie Slaughter, who recently left the State Department to return to Princeton, wrote this opinion piece, "Fiddling While Libya Burns," in the New York Times critiquing the US response to the revolt in Libya and calling for a no-fly zone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/opinion/14slaughter.html

Port o' Call Sharon Keld: Armenia Ho!

Sharon Keld has started her new posting with the Peace Corps in Armenia. She is writing about the experience in her new blog, armeniadreamin.blogspot.com

Meanwhile, a photo of Sharon and other volunteers being sworn in appeared on the home page of the Peace Corps. It shows Armenia's first group of Peace Corps Response Volunteers. Volunteers Brian Kremer and Sharon Keld (RPCVs, Morocco), and Jeanne and Gordon Korstange (RPCVs, India) were sworn in last week. Jeanne and Gordon will be working with the Ministry of Education and Sharon and Brian will work with Homeland Handicrafts, a non-governmental organization, as marketing consultants.

Honorary Classmate Michael Graves Featured in NY Times Article

The paintings of honorary classmate Michael Graves will be appearing in a show at Rider University Art Gallery. The New York Times ran a big illustrated story about Graves, an architect, and the show. The story begins,

SCRATCH most architecture wonks, and at some point they’ve studied the house that Michael Graves began creating for himself here in 1969. A 1920s furniture storehouse remade to evoke a Tuscan villa, it sits as solidly in the canon as it rests in the Italianate grounds he laid out around this laboratory for the classically inflected ideas, forms and design vocabulary that helped make his name. It has been widely covered, visited and debated. Every room, niche and cranny, which helped give shape to the movement that became postmodernism, has been photographed.

Princeton Alumni Weekly: Goodbye, corporate life!

Sharon Keld published an essay in the December 8, 2010 Princeton Alumni Weekly about her adventures in the Peace Corps, what comes next after her time in the corporate world.

Princeton Alumni Weekly: Goodbye, corporate life!