Cecilia Peck Mentioned in a Spanish Newspaper

Steve Hughes sends in this note from Spain:

Back on Dec. 28, 2008, El Mundo published an article on a documentary that is being made about the story of an Israeli woman who was raped just seven weeks before she was proclaimed Miss World. And lo and behold, it turned out that the director is Cecilia Peck '80! Granted, Cecilia plays a supporting role in the article, as you might expect, but she and her latest film project are already making waves over her in Spain! Here's the link: http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/cronica/2008/689/1230418814.html

Anne-Marie Slaughter to Lead Policy Planning Staff at State Department

Anne-Marie Slaughter has resigned as dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs to become director of the policy planning staff at the U.S. State Department. Anne-Marie, who also is the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton, will remain a faculty member and take a public service leave from the University.

The policy planning staff provides policy analysis and advice for the secretary of state, and its mission is “to take a longer term, strategic view of global trends and frame recommendations for the secretary of state to advance U.S. interests and American values,” according to the State Department’s website.

Anne-Marie , who will report directly to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will be the first woman director of the policy planning staff in the department’s history. Renowned diplomat and scholar George Kennan, a 1925 Princeton alumnus, created the office in 1947 and was its first director.

The complete Princeton press release can be found here. The State Department page for the Policy Planning staff is here.

John Rogers Goes One-on-One with Michael Jordan

Sports Illustrated last month had an article about John Rogers' one-on-one basketball adventure against Michael Jordan. The article, found here, starts like this:

What would it be worth to you to be able to utter the greatest barroom boast ever? What if the next time the fellas are sitting around playing Can You Top This?, you could blow away their tales of high school homers and once-sorta-dated-a-sorta-model with this bad boy: "I beat Michael Jordan one-on-one."

I first heard rumor of the feat from a friend in Chicago. The details were hazy: It (probably) occurred at MJ’s basketball camp (about) five years ago, when he lost to a camper for the first time -- an old(-ish) guy who threw up a (musta-been) crazy lefty hook to which Jordan (undoubtedly) yelled, Nooooo!

What’s more, my friend said, the whole thing was (purportedly) videotaped.

A call led to a call led to a name, John Rogers Jr. Now 49, Rogers is a Chicago rainmaker: Princeton grad; founder and CEO of Ariel Mutual Finds, the nation’s largest minority-run mutual fund; friendly with Oprah; even friendlier with Barack Obama (who has used Rogers’s conference room for mock debates). Most important, he could afford Jordan’s Senior Flight School, a three-day summer camp in Las Vegas for the 35-and-over-and-affluent crowd that ran 15 grand, or more than twice what it would cost to go to, you know, actual flight school.

Robert Klitzman Quotes in NY Times Ethics Column

Bob Klitzman is quoted in today's New York Times Ethics column. Here is the question and answer involving Bob:

My aging father needs a kidney transplant. A brother and I are willing donors, but I am a perfect blood match while he is only an acceptable match. The hospital says either will do for the next round of testing, but it prefers the perfect blood match. We could flip a coin, a fair way to choose between us, but our dad could get the second-best kidney. Whose needs take precedence? — NAME WITHHELD

Here is a better way to phrase the question: How should we make this decision? The answer is, not by a coin toss but by a more sophisticated method — rock-paper-scissors. Sorry. No. You and your brother, having already settled the ethical crux by agreeing to be donors, should now let the hospital answer the medical question: How to promote the best outcome for a transplant? Hence you, as the better blood match, should undergo this round of tests.

Those tests are only the next step. Before making a final decision, you need more information. Dr. Robert Klitzman, a bioethicist at Columbia University Medical Center, suggests a few things to discuss with the transplant team: “Why does [the] father need a kidney transplant? What is his diagnosis? Does he have a genetically related kidney disease? Do the brothers have wives and children with other serious medical problems?” As Klitzman rightly implies, there can be medical (and nonmedical) implications not just for you, your brother and your father but also for other people you love.

UPDATE: The letter writer was tested — the insurance company will pay for only one person at a time to go through the process — and ruled out as a donor. A third brother, also an ideal blood match, is considering being the next in the family to be tested.

John Rogers Featured in PAW Article About Barack Obama's Campaign

The latest issue of PAW features an article, "Portraits of Purpose," about black leadership in Chicago and its role in Barack Obama's presidential campaign. John Rogers, founder of Ariel Capital Management, figures prominently in the story. It starts,

In 1991, an understated young law school graduate asked John Rogers ’80 for help. He said his name was Barack Obama and he wanted to register African-Americans to vote in Chicago. The Project Vote assignment seemed an unlikely one, neither high-profile nor high-paying, certainly not the gilt-edged job that Obama, president of the Harvard Law Review, could command in the big city. But the mission rang true with Rogers, who became the financial co-chairman of Obama’s effort.

'Prince' Writes About Josh Kornbluth and His Thesis (Finally Almost Done)

The Daily Princetonian has published an article about Josh Kornbluth and his renewed determination to submit a thesis in politics. The article said, "With his adviser's help, Kornbluth advanced through the thesis, even going so far as to complete his thesis in the style he often uses professionally: an extended monologue. "Citizen Josh," a one-man show, is his thesis. It tells the story of its completion and touches on his time at Princeton and his thoughts about democracy. It played in two theaters in the Bay Area for a total of 50 performances this summer."

Engineering School's Website Features Florence Hudson

A story on the Engineering School's website about undergraduates and internships discussed the work of Florence Hudson at IBM. This past summer she was the mentor of mechanical and aerospace engineering major Zhen Xia. The article about the Preparing to Lead Internship program said,

Florence Hudson, the vice president of marketing and strategy for IBM mainframe System z, served as Xia's mentor throughout the summer. A 1980 Princeton graduate with a degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering, Hudson jumped at the chance to share what she has learned throughout her career. Over the course of the summer, she met with Xia regularly to discuss leadership and engage him in real projects.