Enjoying baseball, fighting a war


Photo by Bill Wippert, reprinted with permission from the Buffalo News

By Lou Michel

With hopes of a professional baseball career, Donald Collins ’40 could not have imagined that World War II would fulfill his dream of big-time baseball. A star athlete at Colgate, he had signed contracts with the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Yankees to play on their farm teams. But when word got back to Baseball Commissioner Kenasaw Mountain Landis that Collins had signed with two teams, Collins was banned from professional baseball.    
    So, he found work at a Newark, N.J., department store, and when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Collins went to bat for his country. A German literature major, he initially served in naval intelligence, interrogating German prisoners and suspected spies because he possessed a working knowledge of the language. But Collins longed for the more dramatic elements of war and soon managed to get himself transferred to the Pacific Theater, where he served as skipper of a PT boat.
    While stationed at Kaneohe Naval Base in Hawaii, he noticed a group of fellows throwing a baseball around and paused to watch. Longingly. “The team manager came up to me and asked if I played ball,” Collins recalled. “I said I played in college. He told me [to] get a uniform.”
    By this time, Collins started to recognize some of the players on the field: the famous Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese, New York Giants first baseman Johnny Mize, and Vern “Lefty” Olsen, a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.
    “You want me to play with them?” Collins said, feeling as if he were getting in over his head. “The manager said to me, ‘What do you have to lose?’ I said, ‘Nothing.’” So there he was, playing with some of the best in the world on one of the Navy’s four teams that provided entertainment for service members on the Hawaiian Islands.
    Collins roomed with Mize and Brooklyn Dodger Hugh Casey. Playing five or six days a week, Collins went up against other baseball teams from the different branches of the military. “I played against Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Joe DiMaggio. It was very strange, but I got used to it after a couple weeks.”
    In between games, Collins often risked his life carrying out search-and-rescue missions commanding his PT boat. In one instance, “my crew got 18 guys out of the sea that would have died if we hadn’t gotten to them,” he said.
    After he was discharged, he learned that the ban from professional baseball had been for only a couple of weeks, a mere slap on the wrist. He had walked away from the Cincinnati Reds because they had refused to give him details on his pay and where he would be playing. When the Yankees caught wind, they were more forthcoming and signed him. And that’s how he got into a jam in the first place.
    In civilian life, Collins decided he was too old for the demands of baseball. As it turns out, he succeeded in life, settling in Buffalo by the early 1950s, working for major corporations, and then starting his own investment company.
    A lifelong sports fan, he said he often reflects on his time among the giants of baseball in what can best be described as his own personal field of dreams.

— This article has been adapted and reprinted with permission from the Buffalo News.


From Francophile to ‘Franklinphile’

Just as Christopher Lowell MA’67 has molded his authentic colonial shoes to his feet, so, too, has he eased into his role as Benjamin Franklin. He now wears both with comfort. For the past eight years, Lowell has been performing as Ben Franklin and can tell an audience more about “the first American” than they ever knew. (For example, did you know that Franklin was an avid swimmer who invented swim fins?)
    Long before Benjamin Franklin “swept into my life and changed it,” Lowell said, he had unknowingly been following this founding father’s path (with some stops along the way). After earning his master’s in 18th-century French literature at Colgate, Lowell taught French in Philadelphia, where Franklin started his legacy. Adding his prior theater involvement to his teaching expertise, Lowell then launched a 28-year career as a drama and French teacher at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado. In 1992, he was awarded a Fulbright teaching fellowship in the city of Brest, France, near the town of Auray, where Franklin first touched French soil in December 1776. (Brest was also an important place in Franklin’s day because it was a major port of departure for French ships transporting supplies for George Washington’s armies.)
    But it wasn’t until he was back in Colorado, teaching theater at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, that Lowell became better acquainted with Franklin. A theatrical agent had contacted the theater teacher and asked him to coach two of her clients who were portraying John and Abigail Adams. The arrangement worked out so well that it sparked an idea for both Lowell and the agent. Soon, Lowell was devouring biographies on Franklin and delving into the various aspects of the man who was everything from a printer to an inventor to an abolitionist. “I wanted to be able to answer questions, in character, with historical authenticity,” Lowell explained.
    Because Franklin was a noted polymath, the actor has been able to take his character in a number of directions. Whether he’s presenting at a national medical convention, Paris’s celebration of the birthday of the Marquis de Lafayette (where Lowell performed in French), or a grade school, Lowell adapts his monologue accordingly. “Ben has contributed enormously to many different areas, so I can appear before very different kinds of audiences,” he said.
    Lowell emphasizes that he’s not simply donning a costume, but that his goal is to make people feel like they are actually talking to Benjamin Franklin. From the spirit gum that affixes his wig, right down to those colonial leather shoes that took two years to break in, Lowell takes great care in portraying a true-to-life character. “I hope to be doing this for quite a while,” he said. “People really respond to [Ben], and I get energized by that.” One might say he’s electric.  
    For more on Lowell, visit www.benfranklinlive.com.

— Aleta Mayne


A criminal ‘act’

Barry Spodak ’71 may look like a hardened criminal in this picture, but the psychotherapist just plays one in his interactive behavioral simulations.

Barry Spodak ’71 says he’s been handcuffed more than anyone in America. A psychotherapist who specializes in threat assessment, Spodak teaches the FBI, Secret Service, Marshal Service, and Capitol Police how to interview mentally ill people who are perceived as dangerous. In “interactive behavioral simulations,” he portrays characters based on both his clinical experience and case files from protective agencies.
    “While new agents with police backgrounds are very good at interrogating criminals, they haven’t really had any training on how to interview mentally ill people,” Spodak explained. “We give them didactic courses and interviewing skills and then use simulations — which we stop at critical junctures to help them understand what they could do differently and how to think about the potential for dangerousness in these people.”
    The demand for Spodak’s work has mushroomed since he first set out in the 1970s as a clinical specialist at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., which was then the federal psychiatric hospital. He’d already been working with the FBI on hostage management when the Secret Service contacted him about training agents for interviewing mentally ill people who threatened the president’s life. In 1981, when John Hinckley attempted to assassinate Ronald Regan, the training was put on the fast track. (Coincidentally, Hinckley was sent to St. Elizabeth’s, and Spodak was assigned to his initial treatment team.)
    Spodak then teamed up with Robert Fein, a psychologist who was studying people who had attempted to, or succeeded in, assassinating public figures. Fein found that in virtually every case, in the “path to violence” — the time from the initial planning to carrying out the act — perpetrators exhibited similar behaviors. These findings laid the groundwork for behavioral threat assessment, a model that Spodak and his colleagues have incorporated into their seminars, which help professionals identify behaviors indicating that someone is “on a path to violence, and then strategize how to get them off that path.”     
    In the wake of the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech shootings, Fein furthered his research into school violence and developed the Safe School Initiative. He and Spodak have been hired by schools nationwide to train administrators and help them establish a threat assessment team to manage students who have exhibited troubling behavior. Spodak even came to Colgate to guide the university in setting up its own threat assessment team.  
    News outlets from NPR to CNN have invited Spodak to shed light on public acts of violence; he most recently spoke to 60 Minutes about Jared Loughner’s shooting attack in Tuscon, Ariz., last January. And in an online Washington Post video called “Threat Theater,” Spodak demonstrated some of the characters he plays in the simulations, such as a man with sociopathic personality disorder who wants to set off a bomb near a Supreme Court judge.
    Spodak noted that “the way we train comes directly from my theater experience at Colgate,” explaining that they worked from an improvisational model when he performed as a student with the Colgate Ensemble Theater.
    Spodak might soon be on television in another capacity. The Washington Post video sparked some interest from Hollywood, and Spodak’s been in discussions about the possibility of a TV series based on his work.

— Aleta Mayne


A musical mentor



Watching the fifth-graders jam on their keyboards at Mariposa School of Global Education in Agoura, Calif., one might be reminded of the movie School of Rock. And when they describe their teacher, Paul Astin ’83, as “inspiring,” Robin Williams’s character in Dead Poets Society comes to mind.  
    At the beginning of this academic year, Astin added the title of assistant principal to his teaching role. He also moved up to sixth grade with his students, following the Waldorf School–inspired model that Mariposa adopted, which includes remaining with the same students for consecutive years. Like the private Waldorf school system based on Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy on education, the public school where Astin teaches embraces interdisciplinary learning — placing an emphasis on art, music, and nature.
    Astin has been bringing music into the classroom since he was awarded a grant from the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation in 1998 and was given 20 electric keyboards for his classroom in a Los Angeles school. In 2001, he won the prestigious BRAVO Award from the LA County Performing Arts Center for his school-based music program.  For the classically trained pianist who spent 10 years as a professional jazz musician, integrating keyboards into his teaching was a way to get his “musical fix.” Astin had to leave those keyboards behind when he left his first school in 2001, but it was so “unsatisfying” to have no music in his classroom that, after a year, he bought used instruments to assemble his own keyboard lab.
    By having his students compose songs together, Astin teaches them the basis of learning: “awareness, attention, self-discipline, cooperation, creativity, and intuition,” he explained. Those skills then transfer when they collaborate on academic projects. For example, one assignment will be to set up a historical timeline together on an outdoor field. Then, they’ll use that timeline to learn equivalent fractions in math: if fire was discovered a year ago, when were the pyramids built? (Answer: two days ago.) Those analogous fractions also illustrate another lesson that Astin emphasizes: “One of the ways I teach kids is by framing human development in a much longer timeline than just [starting with] the Egyptian pyramids. We lived for nearly three million years as nomadic tribe people immersed in nature, and have only been sedentary agriculturalists for less than one percent of that time. I want students to consider that.”
    His prehistoric studies major at Colgate fueled Astin’s fascination with human development as well as indigenous culture. He believes that key takeaways from tribal cultures  — such as nature appreciation, egalitarianism, and mentorship — should be used in the classroom, especially as children move into adolescence. Like tribal cultures in which children transition from childhood to adulthood with significant adult support, Astin has developed a strong relationship with his students in the hopes of preventing them from engaging in dangerous behavior as they become teenagers. “The research says that when kids feel connected to adults at their school, that’s protective against every health risk behavior that kids engage in,” he said.
    Using these ideals, Astin’s next charge is expanding the school past fifth grade to develop a middle school program for Mariposa, beginning with his sixth-graders this year. He’s writing a book on his findings and using it as the backbone of the curriculum. “We have to change the way we address the middle school years, to reframe the conversation around what kids need,” Astin said. “Beyond teachers and standards, they also need connections, challenges, and guides. Within that context, children begin to discover who they are and what their gifts are.”

— Aleta Mayne


Tightening cultural ties

Is it socially acceptable to kiss in a public park? The answer to that question depends on in which country you live. Michele Gelfand ’89 and her international research colleagues asked 7,000 people in 33 nations to rate the appropriateness of behaviors in certain situations. They then gave those countries a score on a scale of “tightest” (increased order and constraint) to “loosest” (more permissiveness and latitude). She hopes that the study, recently published in Science magazine, will help foster understanding between countries.

(photo courtesy of START/ University of Maryland)

    “People can be very ethnocentric in judging other cultures,” said Gelfand, a cross-cultural psychologist at the University of Maryland, College Park. “They see differences but don’t quite understand why they arise, and that itself fuels some cross-cultural conflict.”
    Having grown up in what she described as a “sheltered Long Island context,” exploring global cultural differences is probably the last career Gelfand pictured for herself. But, she said, her study abroad trip to London as a junior and later working on a kibbutz in Israel shifted her frame of mind. Her subsequent decision to enroll in Professor Caroline Keating’s Cross-Cultural Human Development class put her on the path to join this small, but meaningful, field. Now, as a psychology professor, part of Gelfand’s mission is training graduate students in cross-cultural research, to promote growth in the field.
    She’s been working on the “tight versus loose” study since 2000, with a grant from the National Science Foundation. Before conducting surveys abroad, Gelfand and her colleagues formed hypotheses based on such factors as population density, history of warfare, diversity, resource scarcity, disease, natural disasters, and psychological attributes of people in different countries. Of the countries studied, Pakistan had the highest tightness score, followed by Malaysia and India; the nations ranking as the “loosest” were Ukraine, Estonia, and Hungary. There were some surprises: Israel — which has a lot of threats — ranked as a loose culture, and Norway received a high tightness score. (As might be expected, the United States’ score was on the looser side of the average.)  
    In addition to taking a closer look at the reasons behind those unexpected findings, Gelfand and her colleagues are extending the study in a number of ways; one direction is looking at regional variations in culture, including ranking the U.S. states.     
    The data from the tight/loose study are also informing her work on negotiation and culture in the Middle East. With a $4.2 million grant from the Department of Defense, Gelfand and a team of scientists are collecting data on how people negotiate and what motivates revenge and forgiveness. “The Department of Defense hasn’t funded a lot of cross-cultural research, but they’ve started realizing that, in order to operate effectively in other countries, you really have to understand cultural differences,” Gelfand said.
    That goes for others, too: tourists, military personnel, and even businessmen like her husband, Todd Betke ’89, who is an international private equity lawyer.
    “When you begin to understand why cultures have evolved the way they have,” Gelfand explained, “then you can have more cross-cultural understanding about those differences, and it helps you become less judgmental.” The implications of this have far-reaching possibilities — way beyond what a “sheltered” girl from Long Island could imagine.
    For more information on Gelfand’s research, visit www.bsos.umd.edu/psyc/gelfand.

— Aleta Mayne


Maroon'd...
in Zurich, Switzerland



Michelle Bridenbaker ’98 lives in Zurich, Switzerland, with her partner, Mario Gstrein. She is the functional team leader for Pfizer’s European Medical Information Service. Between working and studying for her master’s in toxicology, she’s been taking advantage of Switzerland’s beautiful weather and hiking trails. Here are her favorite spots:

Best bird’s-eye view… At more than 2,800 feet above sea level, the Uetliberg mountain can be a fantastic hiking, biking, or rail trip. At the top, you will have the best view (which is especially amazing in autumn) of the city of Zurich, Lake Zurich, and the Alps.

Penguins on parade… The Zurich Zoo is fun for many reasons, starting with your options for getting there. You can hike or bike there on various trails, or you can take the Rigiblick (funicular railway) past the steepest inclines and then either hike the trails or walk through the streets, where you’ll see some amazing architecture. Once there, you will instantly feel immersed in the wildlife — if you get there early enough, you can join the penguin “parade” when they’re let out for a walk around the zoo.
 
Trains, boats, and toboggans… The 45-minute train ride to Lucerne is a spectacular way to take in this historic city. A boat tour is a “must do” and a great way to soak in the region; my favorite stop is Weggis, situated on the lake at the base of Mount Rigi, with lots of hiking/walking. A trip on the Rigi-Bahn up to the top of Mount Rigi showcases the beautiful views of Lake Lucerne and the Alps. Mount Rigi also has seasonal sporting activities, from hiking to tobogganing to skiing.

Refuel… Niederdorf (a section of Old Town) is hopping with inexpensive shopping, restaurants, and nightlife. The Niederdorfstrasse is dotted with international cuisine. But, if you want a traditional Swiss meal with well-crafted food and architecture, stop at a zunfthaus (guild house) along the Limmat River. To escape the city center and experience a delicious “hot-stone steak,” take a 20-minute tram ride to Rolli’s Steakhouse in Oerlikon.

Fabulous fountains… Zurich has more than 1,200 natural water fountains throughout the city, the towns, and on the hiking trails. Many of the fountains are magnificent works of art, and all of them are fully functional, so you can rehydrate as you enjoy the fantastic views and enjoy the history.

Zurich zzzs… Old Town is home to some of the finest hotels in Europe, but also offers hostels, B&Bs, and apartments. Less-expensive accommodations are near the ETH Zurich (university), close to public transportation and hiking/biking routes. If you fancy camping, pitch a tent near Lake Zurich.

Have tips for people who might be maroon’d in your town? Write to us at scene@colgate.edu and put Maroon’d in the subject line.


In the know: How to love your retirement

As president and founder of the Odyssey Group, Barbara Hessekiel Waxman ’84 helps her clients answer the fundamental question, “What’s next?” She is a professionally trained gerontologist-coach with a passion for working with people for whom the primary tasks of middle adulthood have been completed. Last December, the second edition of her book, How to Love Your Retirement: The Guide to the Best of Your Life (Hundreds of Heads Books), was published.

(photo by Irene Young)

Living to the ripe old age of 80, 90, or 100 has become something we are learning to plan for financially — life expectancy has increased dramatically in the past century. But what of planning for the content of those years? What does the longevity revolution mean for retirement as we know it? This stage in life used to be a time of leisure, but because today’s 75-year-olds are as robust as yesterday’s 50-year-olds, retirement — I like to call it “protirement” — has been redefined. Retirement today represents a shift from work as the primary anchor in one’s daily schedule, to one based on a portfolio of activities combining to make a rich, fulfilling life. Fulfillment won’t necessarily be measured in dollars earned — it is likely to be measured in a deeply held and meaningful way. These five tips for moving beyond midlife careers may just help make this phase the most satisfying of your life.

1. Embrace aging. Acknowledge the powerful realization that aging is not just something we must accept, but that it is, in fact, a good thing. Did you know that happiness increases with age and peaks in our 50s? Our society calls out for the wisdom, experience, and time that today’s retirees have to offer. Think about what you are passionate about, and either find the right opportunity for work or volunteerism — or create it yourself.

2. Live life in stages, not ages. There is a myth that learning is for the young, that romance is for the youthful, and that aging is a steady downhill trend. This is old-school thinking. Our lives today are lived in cycles that come and go according to our interests and abilities moreso than being related to chronological rules. Don’t live your life chronologically; live it according to what feels like your next best step.

3. Re-pot yourself.   We are constantly growing. When endings turn into beginnings, it’s time to step back and re-pot. Sometimes that means taking a day to think about consciously changing how you live or where you work. Other times, re-potting calls for a more outrageous change, like moving to Tuscany for a year — that’s my plan! When our kids have all left home, my husband, Scott ’81, and I will take a well-deserved “gap year” in Tuscany.

4. Create a strong foundation.   As a coach, I have the privilege of working with people as they literally design their lives. One of the first activities we do is an energy assessment of the physical, emotional, purposeful, and intellectual aspects of one’s life. Knowing what is present when you are functioning at your full capacity is one thing; actually living in sync with that self-knowledge is quite another.  A good way to assess whether you are living to your fullest potential is to take a preliminary self-audit. E-mail me (Barbara@theodysseygroup.net) and I’ll send you an energy quiz.

5. Bolster your brain health. Research has shown that our brains remain capable of making new connections throughout life. Working out your brain is as important of an activity as working out in the gym. Learn a new language or skill; pick up that old instrument; expose yourself to new thinking. Try it, and you’ll find yourself less apt to complain about “senior moments.”

What do you know? If you’re an expert in your field or avocation and would like to share your sage advice, e-mail scene@colgate.edu or write to the Colgate Scene, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346.


Just the ticket

Entrepreneur Nick Kokonas ’90 has cooked beside pre-eminent American chef Grant Achatz — not in the pair’s two Chicago restaurants, but for fun in Kokonas’s own kitchen. “It looks like we’re doing the same thing when the pans are next to each other,” Kokonas mused. “My wife [Dagmara ’91] is a really great cook; I’m a good cook. But Grant’s just comes out better.”

(photo by Lara Kastner)

    It was a rare admission of deficiency in an hour-long interview. Kokonas is a confident fellow. He should be — nearly everything he touches turns to gold. The molecular-gastronomy haven Alinea, which he and Achatz opened in 2005, was Gourmet’s 2006 Best Restaurant in America and is one of only two Chicago restaurants to earn three Michelin stars.
    In opening their second restaurant, Next, last spring, Kokonas abandoned the traditional reservation system. Instead, diners buy tickets to tables. Portfolio.com said that the web-based sales program Kokonas helped design could be the biggest innovation in the restaurant industry since take-out. And now, at least a few companies are vying to buy his software, he said.
    His entrepreneurial success started early. After graduating from Colgate (he majored in philosophy), Kokonas deferred acceptance into the University of Pennsylvania’s law school to start his own business selling posters to college students. “I could literally make more in one week” doing that, Kokonas said, “than in a month working at an investment bank.”
    A year later, Kokonas began a lucrative career as a derivatives trader on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In 1997, he invested in an early web company, Funbrain.com. At each step, even though he had no idea what he ultimately wanted to do with his life, Kokonas said, he completely threw himself into everything he did.
    Take food: a picky eater as a child, he didn’t appreciate fine food and wine until he met his wife’s family; he recalls eating caribou carpaccio while on vacation with them in Colorado as one instance of broadening his palate. He realized he wanted to start his own restaurant after eating the creations of a young Achatz at Trio in Evanston, Ill., where Achatz was head chef at the time. Kokonas pitched him the idea of working together.
    With its ticketing system (lauded by the likes of Fast Company and Businessweek), the Next experience sets the stage for a show featuring the cuisine. The set multi-course menu, themed around a specific place and time period, changes every three months. The first, Paris 1906, reimagined early 20th-century French gastronome Auguste Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire with a nine-course performance that included pressed duck and truffle-topped egg custard. The second menu, which began in July, took diners to Thailand.
    Some in the industry were skeptical that his ticketing concept would work, but “I’d been saying for four years we should sell tickets to Alinea,” Kokonas said. Although Alinea is often sold out three months in advance, no-shows still leave empty tables during prime slots.
With only 18 tables, “if two tables of four don’t show up, 10 percent of our revenue that night is gone,” said the former derivatives trader, “so everything ends up looking like a decaying option.”
    One of the game-changing features is dynamic pricing: charging less for the 9:45 p.m. Wednesday slot than for the 7:30 p.m. Friday slot. It’s meant to “incentivize people” to take the less desirable times, Kokonas explained.
    Most of Next’s more than 15,000 Facebook fans have never even seen the ticket system’s main page; the seats sell out too quickly. For example, for the first weekend of the Thai menu, Kokonas released 80 tables. The next day, he announced the stats on Facebook: 7,400 users logged in with 450,601 page views — and every table was reserved in just under two seconds.
    So what’s next? “I still have no idea what I want to do with my life,” he admitted. But whatever it is, he’s probably going to do it well.

— Ruthie Kott ’05 is a writer and editor for the University of Chicago Magazine


A voice for kids


Photo by Perry Reichanadter, reprinted with permission from Indiana Lawyer

As social media issues like cyberbullying and “sexting” become increasing concerns, Andrea Smith ’04 is working to educate parents and kids about how to stay safe. Smith is an attorney with Kids’ Voice of Indiana, a nonprofit agency in Indianapolis that advocates for children and their families by providing legal services and education throughout the state. She’s developed handouts and spoken on the topic of social media at various community events.
    “We’re trying to let kids know that there are a lot of reasons why they shouldn’t do this — social and emotional issues, but also legal issues,” Smith said of the trend of young people sending sexual pictures and text messages via cell phone. Giving parents practical tips and tools (like those listed below) is another way Smith is trying to tackle the issue. “A lot of it boils down to encouraging parents to be involved in their kids’ lives,” she said. For example, know who your children’s friends are on social networking sites. “It’s always a red flag if a 12-year-old has 800 friends on MySpace,” Smith said. “Not a lot of 12-year-olds know 800 people.”
    Recently recognized as an “Up and Coming Lawyer” by Indiana Lawyer magazine, Smith has also been working on a Spanish-language legal outreach program in which she helps members of the Spanish-speaking community understand laws relating to children and families.
    In another initiative, she has co-authored the Kinship Caregiver Handbook for those who care for a child but are not the biological parent. Smith is currently adapting the handbook for social service professionals, in order to help them better serve kinship care providers.  
    “Kids are the most vulnerable and needy population, so it’s great to be able to help them and protect them,” she said.
    Smith contributes to her community in her free time as well. As part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training, she raises money for research and competes in endurance events — like running the Indianapolis marathon in 2009 and 2010 and the Chicago marathon this fall.

Cell phone smarts for parents
1. First, take a step back and re-evaluate whether your child really needs a cell phone, or if it’s mainly a toy. If your child requires a cell phone, question whether it has to have camera capabilities.
2. Learn about different parental controls available on cell phones in case an issue arises.
3. Have your children charge their cell phones in the kitchen at night, rather than in their bedrooms.
4. Tell your children that if they receive an inappropriate text message or picture, they should delete it right away and never forward it to anyone else.
5. If someone sends your child an inappropriate message, consider taking precautions like blocking that person from contacting your child in the future.

— Aleta Mayne


The Swagger life



As the founder of the fashion and music blog Swagger, Sian-Pierre Regis ’06 (a.k.a. SP) has put a new spin on his sociology and anthropology major. Somewhat of an anthropologist of the city streets, SP interviews young trendsetters in New York City for his blog (swaggernewyork.com), which features short profiles, video clips, and music news. A fashion and music aficionado, SP spent time at Black Entertainment Television (BET) before moving to Paris, where he founded Swagger, later bringing it to New York.

Sitting down with SP:

The Swagger name: I was walking around Harlem one day in late 2008 and saw a graffiti tag on the side of a wall that said “swagger.” It was before anybody used the word. To me, it was a spark, and I knew that was what I was going to call the site. Swagger is not a material thing — it’s a vibe that one gives off.

A blend of fashion and music: I love music and I love fashion. There’s definitely a link between the two — what you listen to influences how you express yourself, which is how you identify who you are with other people.

The Swagger message: The larger message of Swagger is to just be yourself. Part of why we’ve been successful in the industry is because we are kind of like the ‘anti-fashion.’ We’re not a place that relies on trends to establish our cool — we rely on confidence. The idea being, Swagger is self-confidence and self-worth; it’s loving who you are and expressing yourself to as many people as possible.

Short bites: Our feature videos are under a minute long because we’re fighting against our generation’s lack of keeping interest. It’s a challenge, in a way. I would love to produce longer-form videos, but I know I would be doing a disservice to the brand if I put up a five-minute video to explain who these people are. What’s great is that you can watch a video that’s a minute long but get a taste for who this person is, and if you vibe with them, then there’s a link to their blog or their Tumblr. Swagger becomes the jumping-off point for learning about multiple interests out there.

Dream job: Growing up, all I wanted to do was be an MTV veejay. I’ve made that clear to everybody I’ve met in my life. Unfortunately, they don’t have veejays anymore, so now, if I could do anything, I’d want to be the next Ryan Seacrest — he has so many ideas and creates so many shows, not to mention being the face of a few of them.

What’s next? Ideally, I’d like Swagger to be in Tokyo, London, and L.A., as well as New York and Paris. I currently write for MTV’s website ACT (act.mtv.com), covering topics about social justice and social responsibility, sustainability, the environment, LGBTQ issues — lots of pro-social stories.

Making an impression: I get to work with the coolest, smartest young people. The fact that I get to give a platform to young people is really special. With our generation, we not only care about social responsibility, but we have a whole new perspective on race and class — there are so many things that we see differently.  

— Monica Dutia ’13


Cleaning up the Gulf Coast



It’s 5:30 a.m. on Dauphin Island, Ala. Peter Engebretson ’08 wakes up to the sunrise and an abundance of palm trees. While driving to work, he passes picturesque houses and scenic views of the beach. A few miles offshore into the distance, the burnoff from natural gas rigs periodically sets the sky ablaze, a reminder that this bucolic setting is more than a vacation destination.
    As a contract worker for O’Brien’s, one of many response companies hired by BP to manage the Gulf Coast cleanup after last year’s oil spill, Engebretson has been overseeing up to 14 miles of beach and 150 workers since June of 2010. As he explained it: “I’m running the operations that are trying to get the oil off the beach and restore the fishing and bird habitat” of Dauphin Island, which is located south of Mobile.
    Engebretson landed on the Gulf Coast after receiving a phone call from a friend about the opportunity. He had gained a bit of knowledge about the oil industry in his work as a paralegal in Connecticut. Yet, “I was thrust into the field,” he said of his new responsibilities, which included driving along the beach to take note of oil impact, ensuring that crews had the necessary supplies, and relaying orders from supervisors. “I was thinking on my feet and learning as much as I could, as quickly as I could. I’d come off the beach, make reports and presentations for operations, as well as find the most efficient way for vehicles to come into the area.”
    Bethany Jackson, Engebretson’s supervisor, said that he “has a genuine interest in helping the environment and helping get this situation straight.” This past March, Engebretson was promoted to Deputy Division Supervisor for Mobile County. He now spends half of his day on the beach overseeing about 40 workers, and the other half at the office. In addition to ordering supplies — such as personal protective equipment (boots, gloves, sunglasses), tools, water, ice, and fuel — from the headquarters in Louisiana, he works to ensure compliance with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, laws such as the Endangered Species Act, and historical preservation and U.S. Coast Guard regulations.
    Engebretson said that his most memorable experience was quickly removing equipment on West Point Island before Tropical Storm Bonnie hit. “That was a whirlwind of planning and problem solving, all with massive thunderheads on the horizon slowly inching toward us,” he said. “We had eight boats strapped up to each side of a barge — an impressively slow, huge ship that is primarily used to off-load passengers but can also provide safe harbor during inclement weather. We had two excavators pushing against the beach and the tugboat pulling the barge away. The whole ride back involved about 30 response vessels going full speed to avoid the incoming storm. I felt like I was at the head of a high-speed armada.”
    Engebretson noted that he has seen significant improvements on the island since his arrival. Having shifted from emergency response to a maintenance-monitoring mode, the Dauphin Island team is still looking out for potential large impacts on the beaches, while collecting the sparse amounts of remaining oil.
    “Large-impact spills entail a sizable amount of oil, something bigger than a pancake,” he explained. “We haven’t seen any of these in over a year, but just pieces about the size of a quarter that wash ashore occasionally.”
    Despite his hectic schedule, Engebretson finds ways to enjoy his free time with water sports and a close group of coworkers from all over the country who have become friends. “It feels like a family,” Engebretson said. “It’s a core group of people living and working here. We’ve grown together on the response.”

— Monica Dutia ’13