FIU Magazine Fall 2013

Magazine FALL 2013 VOLUME 28

Professor tracks the Lost Tribes of Israel

12

New technology monitors Miami’s bridges

14

Scientists break the blood-brain barrier

42

New football coach working to rebuild

Sky’s the limit A carpet of crushed blue glass is just one eye-catcher in the new Sky Lounge, a much-anticipated oasis in the once-neglected courtyard of Deuxieme Maison (DM), the second oldest academic building on campus. Space age-looking 36-foot-long hanging planters dotted with air ferns and modernist seating draw students eager for a break between classes. The striking design—overseen by architecture Professor Roberto Rovira—grew out of public meetings in which students, faculty and local architects discussed ways to revitalize the underutilized area.

Photo by Doug Hungerford

16

18

22 38

46 52

Joining Policy and academy

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Frank Mora is the new head of the Latin American and Caribbean Center.

A “COLLEGE-GOING CULTURE Blooms”

FIU’s partnership with a high school in Liberty City has spurred a record number of graduating seniors to go to college.

On the COVER Special Section: The Lost Tribe

FIU Professor Tudor Parfitt journeys to Papua New Guinea to continue his research on The Lost Tribes of Israel

CAMPUS LIVING UPGRADED

Forget what you think you know about college dormitories and step inside the modern cool world of Parkview Residence Hall.

Find Your Fellow Panthers

FIU graduates are everywhere— and getting together near you!

OUT OF THE DEPTHS

An alumna writes of her darkest days and how she managed to survive in the face of physical, financial and emotional adversity.

FALL 2013

| 1

magazine.fiu.edu Online-only stories, videos and photos

B.R.E.W. FIU is on a mission to invigorate the local bar scene and educate South Florida on the chemistry of craft beer.

global learning Classes encourage students to think and act as citizens of a world much larger than their own.

6 Questions for the Social Activist Producer/journalist Rochelle Oliver ’07 sounds off on racial stereotyping and the role of social media in combating the problem.

Chic Campus Living Take a tour of the new Parkview Hall, a state-ofthe-art living space that students once could only dream of.

In His Own Words Take a peek at biology student Keysel Pelaez’s sketch-filled journal, a chronicle of his interactions with the Gogodala people of Papua New Guinea.

Whenever you see the play button, visit magazine.fiu.edu to get more with our online videos and photo galleries •

Find out how the FIU Alumni Association is contributing to the university’s future through student scholarships.

•

View the technology behind Miami-Dade’s first “smart” highway bridge.

•

Watch a mini-documentary on Professor Tudor Parfitt’s recent research trip to Papua New Guinea.

•

Discover an alumni chapter and get involved.

•

Browse a gallery of FIU’s past homecoming kings and queens.

Be featured on Facebook! Send us a photo of yourself reading FIU Magazine - at home, at work or on vacation - and we will share it on our Facebook page! Email photos to magazine@fiu.edu.

FIU Magazine Editorial Advisory Board

FIU President

Mark B. Rosenberg

Lourdes Balepogi ’00 President of Luly B

from the Editor An exciting movement has begun at FIU that will redefine the university’s next horizon.

In August, deans and leaders from every college and school at FIU gathered for an unprecedented half-day workshop led by University Advancement.

The purpose was to begin defining the future and setting priorities for the university.

I participated in the workshop as a facilitator, working with College of Education Dean Delia Garcia. We talked about what makes our College of Education unique – the emphasis on education as social justice and a focus on the needs of diverse communities – as well as what makes the college a community asset.

We envisioned the college’s future as the leading education program that serves a multicultural student population and acts as a solution center so every child has the best possible education. Then, we identified the work needed to realize that vision.

Around the room dozens of similar conversations were taking place. What are our strengths and possibilities? Where do we want to go? What will it take to get there?

The exercise is a first step in a comprehensive self-evaluation leading up to the university’s $750 million capital campaign. Stay tuned as you will be hearing much more about the campaign in the months to come.

The timing of this movement could not be better as FIU looks to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2015. The 50-year anniversary is an important benchmark for FIU, a moment when we will celebrate our remarkable progress and look forward to the next horizon. FIU Magazine wants your stories as we prepare for our 50th anniversary. Share them by visiting go.fiu.edu/memories.

Until next time,

Deborah O’Neil MA ’09 P.S. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook: facebook.com/FIUMagazine

FIU Board of Trustees

Fred Blevens Professor and Honors College Fellow School of Journalism and Mass Communication Heather Bermudez ’06, MS ’12 Marketing Manager South Beach Wine & Food Festival Gisela Casines ’73 Associate Dean College of Arts and Sciences Paul Dodson Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

Albert Maury ’96, ’02 (Chair) Michael M. Adler (Vice chair) Sukrit Agrawal Cesar L. Alvarez Jose J. Armas Jorge L. Arrizurieta Robert T. Barlick, Jr. Marcelo Claure Mayi de la Vega ’81 Gerald C. Grant Jr. ’78, MBA ’89 C. Delano Gray Claudia Puig Liane Sippin

Amy Ellis Assistant Director of PR and Marketing Office of Engagement

FIU MAGAZINE Division of External Relations

Stephen Fain Professor Emeritus College of Education

Sandra B. Gonzalez-Levy Senior Vice President

Lazaro Gonzalez Marketing and Branding Strategist Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management

Vice President

Susan Jay Director of Development College of Engineering and Computing Nicole Kaufman Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations Division of University Advancement Andra Parrish Liwag Campaign Communications Director University Advancement Juan Lopes Coordinator The Honors College

Terry Witherell Karen Cochrane

Director News and Communications

Deborah O’Neil MA ’09 Editor

Alexandra Pecharich Managing Editor

Aileen Solá-Trautmann Art Director

Doug Garland ’10

Senior Multimedia Producer

Angeline Evans

Digital Media Manager

Larry Lunsford Vice President for Student Affairs University Ombudsman Maureen Pelham Director of Clinical Trials Division of Research

Writers

Eric Barton Amy Ellis James Hellegard Robyn Nissim

Rafael Paz, Esq. Associate General Counsel

Magazine Intern

Mary Sudasassi Director of Public Relations Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences

Photographers

Duane Wiles Executive Director Alumni Association Mark Williams Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management Stempel College of Public Health

Silvia Rodriguez

Robert Caplin Douglas Hungerford Tim Long Eduardo Merille ’97, MBA ’00 Josh Ritchie Kristen Rubio ’11

Emmett Young Assistant Director Marketing & Communications Frost Art Museum

Copyright 2013, Florida International University. FIU Magazine is published by the Florida International University Division of External Relations and distributed free of charge to alumni, faculty and friends of the university. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. To reach us, call 305-348-7235.

Alumni Office: Write to Office of Alumni Relations at MMC MARC 510, Miami, FL 33199 or call 305-348-3334 or toll free at 800-FIU-ALUM. Visit fiualumni.com.

Change of Address: Please send updated address information to FIU Office of Alumni Relations, MARC 510, Miami, FL, 33199 or by email to alumni@fiu.edu.

Letters to the Editor: FIU Magazine welcomes letters to the editor regarding magazine content. Send your letters via e-mail to alumni@fiu.edu, by fax to 305-348-3247 or mail to FIU Magazine, Division of External Relations, MMC PC 515, Miami, FL, 33199.

Letters may be edited for length and clarity. All letters should include the writer’s full name and daytime phone number.

Alumni, please include your degree and year of graduation.

13200_10/13 FIU Magazine is printed on 30% PCW recycled paper that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council

FIU MAGAZINE FALL 2013 | 3

Ninth-graders do the honors at the opening of a public high school at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus. President Mark B. Rosenberg, center, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, left, in blue tie, joined the community to celebrate MAST@FIU, a magnet school in the tradition of the highly respected Maritime and Science Technology Academy on Key Biscayne.

Photo by Kristen M. Rubio ’11

President’s Corner Mark B. Rosenberg

Orlando Roche ’88 is regional president of Sabadell Bank,

Our Wall of Wind (WOW) moves the needle, literally. Watch our

headquartered in Miami near FIU’s downtown Brickell facility. He

Worlds Ahead YouTube video (go.fiu.edu/wowchallenge) on our

serves on the board of directors of the FIU Foundation, which has

summer Wall of Wind Challenge. We asked high school teams to

a special mandate: to help FIU raise a record $750 million to build a

test their flat-roof designs at our WOW research center at the FIU

more robust and student-centered university that serves as a solution

Engineering Center. The winner: a team from nearby Coral Park High

center for the community.

School. One of their team leaders, Mario Aranaga, started this fall as a

At a planning meeting early this summer for members of the Foundation board, we split into groups to discuss what FIU means,

freshman in our College of Engineering and Computing.

As the summer edged into a new school year, we moved the needle

personally, to each of us. As I listened to our thoughtful volunteers talk

again with a groundbreaking partnership that represents a first for both

about their connections to our institution, Orlando put into words the

the university and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Together we

essential dynamic that drives those of us who believe in the power of

opened a public high school on FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus that will

this university. He said, “If you want to move the needle in Miami, you

link to dual enrollment programs and make possible qualified students’

have got to be with FIU!”

seamless transition to FIU. This high school initiative is known as

Move the needle? Yes, that’s what we do at FIU! Let me share with you some examples from this summer.

We moved the needle in our partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools when we admitted a record 27 eligible students from Miami Northwestern High School. More importantly for Northwestern

MAST@FIU, a magnet school in the tradition of the highly respected Maritime and Science Technology Academy on Key Biscayne, and is part of the university’s larger efforts to improve and expand state-ofthe-art STEM education within the community.

Orlando Roche has given us a gift through the use of this frame—

High, it saw a record number of students going on to post-secondary

“move the needle.” It adds to our ethos of applying research and

study, in part because the JP Morgan Chase partnership that FIU

creative energies to solve community problems. It adds to the notion

established at the school, the Education Effect, has helped build a

that we can and must have impact in whatever we do. So as we

college-going culture.

marshal our energies and our forces for this new academic year, we

We moved the needle this summer with our first-ever internship

give thanks for the unbelievable opportunity to educate and empower

program in Macao—providing state-of-the-art internship experiences

our students so they too can move the needle in ways that build the

in one of the world’s most exotic travel destinations. Eight pioneering

community—locally and globally!

students, giddy with excitement, spent six weeks adding to their skill sets in hospitality management at some of the world’s best hotels in one of Asia’s most dynamic resorts. All I could think about when I met them there was how this unique, practical exposure would set up the Macao 8 (as they were known) for excellent job opportunities in the future.

4 | FALL 2013

Be WorldsAhead

On The Prowl

FIU student hopes to relocate to

Mars

Physics major/astronomy minor Patrick Ford has applied to the Mars One project, a plan to establish a permanent settlement on the planet in 2023. And while the odds might seem overwhelming, Ford’s application video (go.fiu.edu/patrickford), based on viewer popularity, jumped nearly to the top of the first 78,000 submitted. (More than 200,000 have applied to date.) “I believe there is an explorer in all of us, but only some are willing to take risks,” Ford says. “Going out into space and pushing the boundaries of what humans know would be the greatest thing I could hope to do with my life.” Ford, who dons a spacesuit costume once a month to teach local first-graders about the solar system and interplanetary exploration, hopes to become a NASA astronaut if the Mars job falls through.

Treasures: The serene “Sofia” The five-foot-high bronze “Sofia” beautifully reflects the artistic influences most strongly felt by Costa Rican Jorge Jimenez Deredia (b. 1954). In his early 20s the artist undertook a serious study of the Italian masters, first with an introduction to marble work in Carrara followed by several years of instruction at the As FIU prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding—with a year of festivities and commemorations in 2015—FIU Magazine invites you to share your stories and photos. Go to fiu.edu/memories to tell us in which course you met your spouse, where on campus you hung out with friends, the name of the professor who changed your life and anything else that left an impression on you as a student. We’d love to hear from you.

university in Florence. This exposure deepened his interest in the Renaissance period, and yet he remained committed to his Costa Rican origins, often crafting pieces modeled after the monumental granite spheres produced by the pre-Columbian Boruca civilization. In 1999 Deredia made history as the first Latin American sculptor to have work shown in St. Peter’s Basilica. “Sofia” belongs to the Frost Art Museum’s permanent collection and can be found in front of the Reagan House at MMC as part of the FIU sculpture park.

FALL 2013

| 5

On The Prowl

In praise of a founder: Paul Gallagher (1944-2013) Whether or not they ever met him, all alumni and students owe a debt of gratitude to Paul D. Gallagher. His passing in July, at age 68, reminded admirers of the legacy he built during a 36year career devoted to a place he loved.

Gallagher arrived here in 1971, the year before FIU opened its doors, and in a string of vice presidencies—he ably filled whatever role was needed of him—contributed to every major initiative. He helped transition a young school into a focused research-oriented institution.

He successfully led FIU’s first major capital campaign and put his distinctive touch on every construction project undertaken on campus. He worked toward the creation of both the College of Law and the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. He was a major force in the addition of residence halls to the university and played a leading role in the steps that culminated in the transition to Division I intercollegiate sports and the creation of the FIU football program—the last one his biggest source of pride.

Even after officially retiring in 2007, he continued to offer advice to many at FIU who sought it, and he quickly returned to help develop the Center for Leadership, where he took responsibility for mentoring local school principals.

“Few at FIU have done as much to develop the institution as Paul,” President Mark B. Rosenberg said of his longtime friend. “His love for life and for FIU impacted most of our 200,000 alumni, faculty and staff.”

Gallagher is survived by his wife Jo, a retired faculty member of the College of Education, and daughter Jennifer Rau.

Tree of Life

When faculty in the College of Art + Architecture (CARTA) recognized that a neglected patch of Miami’s economically fragile Liberty City neighborhood needed sprucing up, they alighted on the idea of a mural and reached out to area residents for inspiration. One little boy’s suggestion of a tree blossomed into a beautiful symbol of hope. FIU community members spent the day helping residents create the mural. CARTA advisory board member Judge Raphael Steinhardt, defrayed the cost of materials for the project. Visitors are encouraged at Northwest 64th Street and 15th Ave.

Watch the Tree of Life “grow” go.fiu.edu/treeoflife

6 | FALL SUMMER 20132013

CARTA administrator Charlene Eberly and visual arts Professor Jacek Kolasinski

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _____________

6

Questions for the School Principal

By Alexandra Pecharich | Photo by Doug Garland ’10

Sharon M. López ’06 is principal of Coconut Grove Elementary School in Miami. She took some time with FIU Magazine to discuss some of the trending issues in K-12 education today.

1. What are the biggest challenges educators face?

Teachers face many challenges, including teaching students at different ability levels in the same classroom, effectively implementing the curriculum mandates of their respective states’ department of education and helping students manage their own individual challenges—which affect performance at school—as a result of their social and economic conditions at home.

2. Have teachers’ jobs gotten progressively harder or easier?

The job of a teacher has gotten harder over the years. The increased emphasis on progress monitoring and accountability has created a more intense teaching environment. In addition, educators have to deal with stakeholders’ increased involvement in decisions regarding classroom and school-based improvements. The concept of teacher autonomy is outdated.

3. How do you feel about teacher merit pay?

Basing teachers’ raises on student performance only intensifies teacher anxiety. While money matters to teachers, working conditions are more important. Teachers want to work in supportive environments where they have latitude for creativity and where colleagues collaborate, rather than compete, with one another. There are better ways to improve teacher effectiveness, including class size reduction, better salaries and teacher training.

4. Do you believe that we have put too much emphasis on standardized testing?

No. Standardized tests measure student knowledge. Teaching a curriculum aligned to state standards and using test data as feedback to restructure and reteach lessons increases the acquisition of knowledge. Standardized tests focus on important basic skills that all students need to master including reading comprehension, mathematics, science and writing.

5. How can parents best help their students succeed in school?

Be involved in your children’s education from the first day of prekindergarten until graduation from high school. Parents can help children succeed by reading with them, assisting with homework assignments and talking with their children’s teachers.

6. Should parents purchase electronic devices and online programs to promote learning?

Human interaction may have just as powerful an effect on learning as technology. Whether a child uses an electronic learning aid or a computer program or sits down to read a book, a parent should have a conversation with the child to discuss what he or she is learning.

FIU MAGAZINE FALL 2013 | 7

Classical hip hop

Underwater Sea Lab

Biological Weapons

Lifesaving butterflies

Religion and Genetic Identity

R e i ma gine Pos s i ble Eyeglasses that read to you Forensic explosive detection

God Particle art Re-domesticated wild plants

Taiko drumming

tedxfiu.com This independent TEDx event is operated under license from TED by the FIU Division of External Relations.

Left: Mary Brickell Right: Carmen Petsoules holding a photo of Brickell

Library collection links two Miami legends The death this year of Miami historian Carmen Petsoules reminded the FIU community that the civic activist and tenacious researcher several years ago made a priceless donation to the university. The Mary Brickell Collection comprises architectural plans, estate and property records, leases, photographs and other material related to the woman whom many consider an underappreciated founder of Miami and one who wielded more power than often recognized. Petsoules made it her mission to champion the overlooked Brickell, who bucked early-20th-century convention by taking on the traditional male roles of landowner and developer while promoting business and tourism and supporting the rights of the public.

Perhaps influenced by her idol, Petsoules over the years worked to save Miami’s historic banyan trees from the chainsaw and stop local officials’ talk of altering the pedestrian-friendly nature of the neighborhood Brickell herself designed. Said FIU Libraries Special Collections Head Althea Silvera of the determined Petsoules, whom she befriended, “We used to tease that she was channeling Mary Brickell.”

13TH ANNUAL

CHARITY GALA

SAVE THE DATE Saturday, March 8, 2014 •

JW Marriott Marquis

FIUalumni.com/torch2014

To reserve a table or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Paulina Muñoz at 305-348-4486 or Munozpau@fiu.edu.

La voz del presidente Obama Knowing barely a word of English when she arrived in South Florida from her native Bogota, Colombia, 16 years ago, Katherine Vargas ’04 could not have imagined she would one day work for the White House. As director of Hispanic media, Vargas speaks to myriad news outlets—and thus to millions of Latinos—on behalf of the Obama administration.

This summer Vargas was named one of “The 25 Most Influential Washington Women Under 35” by National Journal.

With a degree in international relations from the FIU College of Arts & Sciences under her belt, Vargas worked at the National Immigration Law Center and, most recently, served as director of communication for the National Immigration Forum before landing on Pennsylvania Avenue this year.

“To be working at the White House every day,” she says, “I still kind of pinch myself, because it speaks volumes about the opportunity this country offers.” n Photo by Richard Bloom

10 | FALL 2013

On The Prowl

Photo by James Snyder

Travels: Istanbul Two FIU students—alumni currently working toward master’s degrees in the School of International and Public Affairs—recently joined 54 peers from around the world for a conference designed to promote peace and tolerance through greater knowledge of different cultures and religions. The first International Summer University for Intercultural Leadership in Istanbul, Turkey, offered a two-week program of lectures, workshops and cultural and social activities. FIU was one of 16 universities, and just one of two in the United States, invited to partner with the Turkish foundation that organized the event, and President Mark Rosenberg spoke at the opening ceremony. Says Claudia Balzan ’12 of her experience: “It is especially important for young people to participate in intercultural dialogues because we are the leaders of the future. This kind of activity allows students to break barriers and misconceptions about the ‘other.’”

Humans “trap” animals into making bad choices Why would a Cuban tree frog swallow a Christmas light? Maybe the frog mistook the light for a nutritious luminescent insect.

In Australia, male jewel beetles have been documented trying to mate with improperly discarded beer bottles that resembled the gleaming brown exterior of the female of the species.

Both are examples of a phenomenon researchers call “evolutionary traps.” FIU

Graduate students Giovanni Bruna, left, and Claudia Balzan

Earth and Environment Professor Jennifer Schopf Rehage ’95 has co-authored a paper in the scientific journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution on how seemingly subtle

Wolfsonian-FIU expands with

environmental changes caused by humans–

founder’s newest gift. The visionary

the so-called traps—have led to potentially

who donated The Wolfsonian museum on Miami Beach so that FIU could transform it into an internationally regarded repository

life threatening behaviors in animals. Rehage and her colleagues at Bard College, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the University of California-Davis offer

and research center has followed up with

recommendations on how to better manage

another gift. Mitchell Wolfson Jr.

natural resources and improve wildlife

has bestowed an additional

conservation efforts to eliminate them.

25,000 objects and three floors of an office building in downtown Miami.

FIU MAGAZINE FALL 2013 | 11

Miami’s Smart Bridge Learn more about smart bridge technology magazine.fiu.edu

FIU is the driver behind a project that monitors the structural soundness of the Dolphin-Palmetto interchange

By James Hellegaard | Photo by Doug Garland ’10

It’s the busiest interchange in a city where

director of engineering and deputy executive

they’re apparent to the human eye. That

nearly everybody drives. More than 200,000

director at the Miami-Dade Expressway

can mean the difference between a terrible

vehicles a day cross the flyover where the

Authority (MDX), he, together with the Florida

disaster and a minor retrofit.

Dolphin Expressway intersects the Palmetto

Department of Transportation (FDOT),

Expressway in Miami.

manages several major transportation

So on a Friday morning in January, Miami

projects in South Florida, including the

motorists driving eastbound on the Dolphin

trailers hurtling over the concrete and asphalt

makeover now happening at the Dolphin

Expressway to the Palmetto Expressway

take their toll on the roads and bridges.

Expressway and Palmetto Interchange, which

North began traveling over one of the first

So do South Florida’s extreme heat and

features the first multi-section bridges in

“smart bridges” in South Florida and one of

torrential, pounding rains.

South Florida.

just a handful in the state of Florida.

All those cars, buses and semi-tractor

Over time, the elements can cause bridges

So when engineers at Florida International

MDX co-funded the project with the FDOT.

It’s part of a trend around the country

to shrink and even become deformed. For

University approached MDX last year with

where billions of local, state and federal

years, those charged with inspecting them

the idea of installing sensors to monitor the

government dollars—with the help of civic

have relied only on what their eyes could

health of one of the four segmental bridges,

planners and researchers—are being spent

see as they try to maintain the roadways and

Lurigados was intrigued. The network of

to build roads and bridges that are more

ensure the safety of motorists.

sensors, placed at critical points, can deliver

intelligent. The latest advances in sensors,

That’s not good enough anymore.

data about how the bridge behaves under

wireless communications and computers

Engineers need to know what’s going on

heavy traffic, high temperatures and other

speaking to one another via the Internet

inside those bridges before the signs show

conditions.

power this smart infrastructure.

up on the outside.

Alfred Lurigados ’96 knows this. As 12 | FALL 2013

The sensors can also identify serious problems—hidden cracks, erosion—before

“This is the first time that anybody’s ever done this with segmental bridges in Florida.

Left: Masters students Shuo “Eric” Zhang, left, and Brandon Mintz ’97 in the belly of the bridge.

We will have data come out of bridges,” said Lurigados, who earned his bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering. “It is, in essence, a smart bridge.”

Unlike traditional bridges that are made of very large sections, segmental bridges are built in short sections, one piece at a time.

The bridges are made of concrete that’s either cast in place at its final location—as was the case with the flyover in Miami—or precast and transported to the final location

Ninety-six sensors have been installed in critical locations over six segments of the bridge that links Miami-Dade’s Dolphin and Palmetto highways.

for placement. explained. “Some of the pre-stressing force

construction site to install and change

professor of civil and environmental

in the bridge is lost and the bridge could

batteries in the bridge girders. The system,

engineering and a researcher with

potentially sag. History has shown us that

including the sensors and data logger, was

the Lehman Center for Transportation

improperly designed bridges have ended in

initially powered by batteries and is now

Research at FIU’s College of Engineering &

disastrous collapse.”

powered by electricity inside the bridge.

Late last year, Nakin Suksawang, a

Computing, along with two graduate and

While construction codes try to predict this

“It was good to learn how to install these

two undergraduate students, installed 96

type of behavior, Suksawang said, a lot of

instruments in actual structures,” Mintz said.

stainless steel embedded sensors in critical

code is written based on small-scale testing

“The sensors can make the bridges safer

locations over six segments of the bridge

using cylinders often only six or 12 inches in

by supplying data so that decisions can be

prior to the concrete being poured.

length. Questions remain over how well such

made about maintenance and how to spend

testing can tell a bridge’s future, particularly

money on different aspects of the structure

given the variation in properties of concrete.

itself over time.”

“As the concrete shrinks or creeps it will push in on the sensors here on the end to compress it,” explained Brandon Mintz ’97,

“Making concrete is like cooking,”

A recent report found that more than

a Ph.D. candidate in civil and environmental

Suksawang explained. “The variation of these

11 percent of the 600,000 bridges in the

engineering at FIU, who helped install the

properties makes it harder for engineering to

United States are structurally deficient,

sensors. “And it will get conducted through

come up with a formula that can precisely

and in 10 years one in four bridges will

the cable and it will measure the change in

predict behavior.”

be 65 years or older. Trying to identify

strain in the concrete itself.”

The segmental bridge uses large segments of concrete that are placed together and

A research study of this kind has never

structural problems in a bridge through

been conducted in South Florida, an area

visual inspection is a practice plagued by

known for high temperatures.

inconsistency and expense.

compressed. Unlike steel, concrete suffers

“This data that will come out of these

long-term changes, including creeping and

sensors would definitely help us and future

instrumentation in the bridge and monitor

shrinkage. Creep is the slow movement or

design and construction engineers learn

it,” said Suksawang. He believes the data

permanent deformity of the concrete that

from what’s happening over time with these

collected will help engineers design better

happens as a result of prolonged exposure to

bridges,” explained Lurigados.

bridges and assist them in the evaluation of

high levels of stress, particularly heat. Even

The project also allowed FIU students

pre-stressed concrete shrinks over time,

to use the newest in civil engineering

which can lead to cracking.

technology. The students prepared and

“The best thing to do is to actually put

existing bridges. The term engineers use is structural health monitoring.

“It’s like we’re monitoring the pulse of the

installed all the sensors themselves at the

bridge,” he said. “The system provides early

water it tends to shrink, and it’s the

casting yard under Suksawang’s supervision.

warning and information that could prevent

same thing with concrete,” Suksawang

The students also traveled to the bridge

catastrophic failure.” n

“It’s like a sponge. As a sponge loses

FALL 2013 | 13

14 | FALL 2013

The HIV virus can “hide� inside the brain in places that are difficult to target with current therapies

Illustration by Leigh Wells

By Robyn Nissim

Scientists are targeting deadly viruses with a revolutionary new technique

Nearly all of the virus is destroyed by the drug.

A magnet is positioned at the head. It emits a low-energy DC magnetic field into the body to draw the MENs from the injection site to the brain. Then, an AC magnetic field induces a highly localized electric field through the magnetoelectricity of MENs. This new electric field triggers the release of the drug and guides it to the target.

FALL 2013 | 15

F

Medication, such as AZTTP, is attached to tiny magneto-electric nanoparticles, known as MENs, and injected in to the body.

possibly even cancer.

The MENs are then drawn back down the bloodstream by magnetic energy and removed from the body.

epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, meningitis, chronic pain and

neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,

has the potential to help other patients who suffer from

experiments, this method of delivering life-saving therapy

drug AZTTP to specific targets in the brain. Currently in lab

electric nanoparticles, that delivers and directs the anti-HIV

developed a revolutionary new technique, using magneto-

But FIU professors Madhavan Nair and Sakhrat Khizroev have

patients’ health.

such as HIV/AIDS, can hide in the brain and continue to harm

from reaching the brain. This means that certain viruses,

to the brain, the blood-brain barrier keeps most medicines

natural filter that allows very few substances to pass through

and doctors who work with neurological diseases. A

or years, the blood-brain barrier has stumped scientists

I

Joining Policy An d Ac a d emy I New Latin American and Caribbean Center director straddles policy world and academia

By Deborah O’Neil MA ’09 | Photo by Doug Garland ’10

I

A

fter the January 2012 Haiti

collaboration with international partners. So

earthquake, President Barack Obama

he worked closely with the U.N. Mission in

promised the world, “These people

Haiti led by Brazil and other Latin American

of Miami, was a professor at the National War

will not be forsaken.” The Department of

governments. “We coordinated in a way that

College prior to joining the Pentagon. At FIU

Defense led the way in fulfilling that promise

helped save lives,” he said.

he has already contacted LACC’s 150 alumni,

for the U.S. government.

Behind the scenes was Miami-born

Out of that experience and his work

as one of the top study centers on the region.

Mora, who earned a Ph.D. at the University

writing: “You are a key stakeholder in the future

in response to the Chilean earthquake

success of the center so I will be reaching out

political scientist Frank Mora. As the deputy

of 2010, Mora helped develop a disaster

to you for your ideas and insights.”

assistant secretary of defense for the Western

response plan to coordinate military

Hemisphere, Mora was the link between

assistance at an international level. That

the Pentagon and the many national and

plan was approved by the Conference

international agencies involved in responding

of Defense Ministers of the Americas in

to the disaster. The president’s words echoed

October 2012, a first in Latin America.

in his head through the confusion.

“These were very long hours sleeping in

Now, Mora is bringing his solution-oriented skill set to FIU as the new director of the

Editor Deborah O’Neil, who earned a master’s degree from LACC, sat down with Mora to talk about his vision for the center.

Tell us about your ideas for the future of LACC. There’s enormous intellectual capital here

my office getting calls from the White House.

Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC)

that can be marshaled and leveraged in an

‘What are you doing? Why is it going so

founded by FIU’s President Mark Rosenberg

effective way toward enhancing the profile

slow?’” he said. “It was very tense.”

in 1979. LACC is part of a Miami consortium

of FIU, of LACC and of its faculty. We have

that has been designated a National

to continue to support faculty and students,

government had fallen, and he knew that

Resource Center for Latin America by the

bolster the master’s program, support research

any success would have to come through

U.S. Department of Education, recognizing it

of faculty, and do academic, theoretical work.

Mora saw the suffering in Haiti. The

16 | FALL 2013

The other piece is policy innovation. How are we contributing to the debate of solving the complex issues of today? I come to that through my own experience as an academic and also someone who was in the policy world and realized it’s not an either-or, policy or theory. They are mutually reinforcing.

What are the big issues in Latin America that we at FIU could help address?

Infrastructure is huge. Cyber security.

They need technical assistance. Energy and the environment, you can’t get more hot topic than that. Another area is access to public health, community medical care.

What was your role in the Department of Defense?

My job was to advise the undersecretary and secretary on all policy issues in Latin America. I was the senior Pentagon official in charge of Latin America. I went to nearly

Frank Mora, right, with his old boss, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta

How does Central America factor these days in terms of U.S. interests?

When I was coming in, I felt Central America

always very intrigued and wanted analytical answers to the questions raised in my family.

As a political scientist, I’m interested in the

every country in my nearly four years on the

would be the center of gravity for us and

complexity, the instability of Latin America,

job. President Obama’s approach is one that

it was. It had become the under-governed

the coups, the revolutionary movements,

I share: We are going to be committed to

quadrant between North and South America.

the protests. What explains turmoil? I just

partnering and collaborating. We wanted to

As a result of institutional weakness, Central

absolutely love traveling in the region…the

find practical solutions to complex problems,

America has become very attractive for cartels

people, the geography, the diversity. At the

which is the way I’m approaching this job.

and drug trafficking. It is the most violent

end of the day, I felt like I spoke the language

region in the world, more so than Afghanistan

and I don’t mean Spanish. I understood

and Iraq. Honduras has the highest homicide

things at a kind of genetic level and that has

rate in the world. We spent a lot of time and

served me well.

What big trends are you paying attention to in Latin America these days?

Integration has a bad history in Latin America and what I am noticing is this split between the Pacific and the Atlantic countries. The Pacific countries have the Pacific Alliance. Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico belong to the Pacific Alliance, a group focused on economics and open markets, a pragmatic approach to solving problems. On the Atlantic side, there’s a more ideological and political discourse and anachronistic way

resources on a plan called the Central America Regional Security Initiative, an interagency effort to support the Central Americans in their fight against transnational criminal organizations. The president made this a priority in Latin America.

How do you see the role of LACC in Miami?

I want LACC to be the center of gravity for

of approaching problems. The United States

all academic and policy discussions about

has free trade agreements with every single

Latin America and the Caribbean, not just in

country facing the Pacific except Ecuador.

Miami, but the entire country.

Countries on the Pacific side have free trade agreements with each other for the most part.

On the Atlantic side we have no free trade agreements with Venezuela on down. So we’ll see how far this split grows.

We all have a story about why we study a certain place. Why did you choose to focus on Latin America?

At home with my parents, the conversation was always about Cuba and politics. I was

Now let’s have a little fun.

Who’s got the best food in Latin America?

Peru. The seafood is out of this world.

Maduros o tostones?

Tostones. Much prefer tostones.

Favorite city in Latin America?

I just absolutely love Rio. Do you salsa?

Of course, I’m Cuban.

Any Defense Department secrets you can share?

Probably not.

Oh, come on.

Nothing that you could print. n FALL 2013 | 17

Making strides partnership with Miami Northwestern High pays off big for students

By Amy Ellis | Photos by Doug Garland ’10

W

ith stock reports flashing on two big screens behind him and a room full of high school students in front of him, Nicholas Lopez, then an FIU senior, seemed part financial wizard, part game show host.

One minute he was asking his students to make a decision on a financial strategy or stock

pick. The next, he was quizzing them on the state of the federal budget deficit.

“Does anyone know what we mean when we talk about the budget deficit?’’ he queried.

“It means you’re spending more than you take in,’’ called out one student.

“That’s right,’’ Lopez said. “And that’s important whether it’s your family spending too much or it’s spending at the national level.”

Lopez, who majored in finance and economics, taught the basic financial literacy course to students from Miami Northwestern Senior High School during spring semester. Recently graduated from FIU, he saw his role as helping the teens understand how economics on a broad scale affects them in real-life, everyday ways.

Taught at the College of Business’ State Farm Financial Literacy Lab, the course is just one small piece of a broad partnership between FIU, Miami Northwestern and Miami-Dade County 18 | FALL 2013

Public Schools called the Education Effect.

The goals of the project—a first for FIU - are far-reaching and ambitious. To create a college-going culture at a school

And FIU President Mark Rosenberg said

When Miami Northwestern graduates like

he hopes the university can launch a similar

Rene Maurice or Shaquilla Thomas, both

initiative at another struggling school.

now in their second year at FIU, come back

“If our public schools are going to be

to visit, Aristide said it’s as if rock stars have arrived on campus.

with a proud tradition of athletic prowess

improved, we have to take responsibility. It’s

but an academic record as one of Miami-

going to happen one student, one school

Dade County’s persistently low-performing

and one family at a time,’’ he said. “Their

can do it, I can do it,’’’ he said. “This is a

schools. To improve graduation rates at

success is critical to our success. The better

real live person, their classmate, from their

Liberty City’s landmark high school—a place

the public schools are, the better we are.’’

neighborhood and they’re going to college.

once described in a high-profile national study as a “drop-out factory.” And to increase parent and community involvement in an area plagued with poverty and crime.

A Model Partnership

Funded by a $1 million investment from

The milestones reached so far are impressive.

The Miami Northwestern graduation rate

It’s the beginning of something for them to see that.’’

“Over the last few years, the school

jumped 12 percent in one year - from 64

has dramatically changed,’’ agrees Angie

percent in 2011 to 76 percent in 2012. This

Fleuraissaint, who graduated in 2012 and

year, it hit nearly 80 percent.

entered FIU with a $26,000 scholarship.

A record 190 students from this year’s graduating class—more than half—were

the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, the

accepted into colleges, universities and

Education Effect is entering its third year

the military. Graduates earned a combined

and has already demonstrated the kind of

total of nearly $6 million in scholarships and

success that has school officials calling it a

grants, another record.

model for Miami-Dade County.

“The kids look at them and say, ‘If they

For the second year in a row, the school

“You hear people talking about college more. The school really prepared us.’’

Educational Transformation

Based on what’s called a “university-

received a B grade—up from its past D/F

assisted community school” model

who oversees the district’s persistently low

rating. And the percentage of students

pioneered at the University of

performing schools through the Education

earning a 3.0 grade point average or higher

Pennsylvania, the Education Effect is a

Transformation Office, said he would like to

has doubled—from 15 percent to 30 percent.

multi-layered approach to transforming

Assistant Superintendent Pablo Ortiz,

see the partnership replicated.

“With the assistance of FIU, Miami Northwestern has built a culture where students are seeing that there is a world after high school,’’ he said. “It has helped support the college-going culture we want to instill in all of our high schools.’’

student education. It’s designed to marshal

New Academic Culture

Important though they are, statistics only

tell part of the story.

The real change, says Principal Wallace Aristide, is in the kids’ attitudes.

the resources and intellectual capital of a major public research university to tackle the most pressing issues at a struggling school—and the neighborhood that surrounds it.

“We are the portal of access to a better

JP Morgan describes the Education

“They have bought in 100 percent,’’ said

Effect as a “best in class” initiative for

Aristide, who became principal in 2011, the

Becerra-Fernandez, vice president of FIU’s

the foundation.

year the partnership with FIU began. “They

Office of Engagement, which was created

believe in it and they believe in themselves.

in 2010 to oversee community partnerships

The change has been phenomenal.’’

like the Education Effect. “Our currency is

“We believe a partnership like this demonstrates the power that private and public resources working together can have in providing more opportunities for the future leaders in every community,” said

Most notably, the conversations are different, Aristide said.

“I see kids now and they’re telling

future through education,” said Irma

our intellectual assets and that’s what we are sharing with Miami Northwestern and the entire community.’’

Guillermo Castillo, market leader for Chase

me about their grades, their scores,’’

in South Florida. “Helping youth attain

he said. “There’s a buzz and it’s about

Maria Lovett, director of the partnership and

their full academic potential is the best

academics. Before that wasn’t even part

a clinical assistant professor in the College

investment in stronger communities.”

of the equation.’’

of Education.

There are benefits for FIU as well, said

Continues FALL 2013 | 19

“There’s a buzz and it’s about academics. Before that wasn’t even part of the equation.”

— Principal Wallace Aristide

Continued “It’s a mutually beneficial model,’’ Lovett said. “FIU faculty and students can contribute to the needs at the school but also participate in research and service learning. It’s an incredible opportunity for FIU to be advocates and part of the conversation of educational transformation.’’

The main focus of the partnership is academics, but the project takes a holistic approach to improving student learning.

Environmental factors, such as student health and safety, parental involvement, community engagement and teacher

A College Experience

Broadening their horizons includes time

spent on the FIU campus. All students get to experience college firsthand at least once through Panther for a Day, when they visit the FIU campus.

“Most of these kids have never been on a college campus,’’ said Corey Morris, who teaches the Freshman Experience class at Northwestern and takes students on field trips to FIU. “They were in awe. Some of them told me it was the highlight of their year.’’

Beyond mere exposure to FIU, the grant

“We encourage them to write about things they want to change in their community or their school,’’ she said.

Richard Williams is an advanced placement and dual enrollment English teacher at Miami Northwestern. He knows, at the beginning of the year, his students might not like him very much. The expectations are going to be high, he tells them.

“I want them to be able to compete,’’ he said. “And not just in academics. I want them to be better writers, better thinkers and, subsequently, better citizens.’’

“I could have the next great Spielberg

from JP Morgan supports a wide variety of

in here,’’ said Williams, who uses popular

initiatives, such as the expansion of dual

movies to illustrate concepts like symbolism

creation of several new initiatives, including

enrollment classes, which allow high school

and character development.

the Health Effect, designed to eventually

students to earn college credit, and service

offer basic preventive medicine and other

learning programs, which combine classroom

class send him text messages analyzing the

health care to students and their families at

instruction with service to the community,

literary elements of movies they’ve seen.

the school clinic.

both for students at Miami Northwestern and

preparation are just as vital.

In fact, the partnership has led to the

“The social, emotional and health components are all interrelated,’’ said Tyra

for FIU students.

Tania Lopez, an FIU alumna who teaches

By the end of the semester, many in the

“To see that light bulb go off is what it’s all about,’’ he said.

For Brandon Johnson, 17, Williams’ class

Tate, a “trust” counselor at the school. “If

“Writing as Social Action’’ at FIU, designed

we do a better job at dealing with all these

a curriculum that includes mentoring writing

issues—mental health, physical screenings,

students at Miami Northwestern. The FIU

the end, everybody in our class improved

health education—students will become

students hone their writing skills by teaching.

as a writer and a speaker,’’ said Johnson.

better consumers and take better measures

The Northwestern students learn how to

“He treated us like college students. You

to care for themselves in the future. It’s

craft an argument, to see writing as a tool for

had to be prepared and really put your all

about broadening their horizons.’’

social action.

into it.’’

20 | FALL 2013

was the hardest class—and the best class.

“It was daunting in the beginning but in

For Johnson, the hard work paid off.

He has been accepted into FIU’s Honors College on a 50 percent scholarship. He is the first in his family to go to college.

Same for Mark Kelly, 18, who initially chose to go to Miami Northwestern because of its athletic reputation. He, too, entered FIU this past summer with a partial scholarship.

“Academics wasn’t a priority for me;

program but her mom was concerned about the school’s reputation for violence.

“She went there years ago and just figured nothing had changed,’’ Thomas said. “There was no discipline, a lot of violence, kids just sneaking out of school all the time.’’

But Thomas’ experience exceeded her expectations. She took all the advanced placement and dual enrollment courses she

“I’ve experienced so much in this first year at FIU and grown so much. I want to give back. I want to be that mentor that others were for me.”

— FIU Student Shaquila Thomas

basketball was,’’ said Kelly, who wants

could and ended up with a full scholarship

to go into business and finance. “But

to FIU in Fall 2012. She was among the first

“I’ve experienced so much in this first

Northwestern raised the bar. You have to be

class of students to attend the FIU Golden

year at FIU and grown so much,’’ she said.

a student first, then an athlete.’’

Scholars program, a six-week summer

“I love going back and sharing that with

“bridge” program to help incoming freshmen

other students. I want to give back. I want to

Students Mentoring Students

make the transition to college life.

be that mentor that others were for me.’’

of 2012 and now a sophomore at FIU,

City to talk to kids at Miami Northwestern

Shaquilla Thomas, Northwestern Class

Now, Thomas is a facilitator for Panther

That’s the kind of outlook that gives

Camp, a three-day retreat for new students

Principal Aristide hope for the future of

at FIU. She often goes back to Liberty

Northwestern.

“We know there is still a lot of work to

went to Northwestern in spite of her

about college life. And she told her story on

be done but we are headed in the right

mother’s objections. She wanted to attend

stage to thousands of new FIU students at

direction,’’ he said. “Our students see that

the school’s well-known medical magnet

Freshman Convocation in August.

there is a whole world out there for them.” n

Northwestern High grad and current FIU student Shaquila Thomas shares her motivational story at FIU Freshman Convocation.

FALL 2013 | 21

Special Section: Papua New Guinea

the lost

By Deborah O’Neil | Photo by Tim Long

T

he ancestors came by canoe from the Holy Land of Yabisaba. We know it as Jerusalem. There were two boats, long and sturdy, hand carved from ancient

trees. The red one carried the Segala clan and the yellow, the Paiya clan. The travelers spoke the language of Israel. They paddled in search of the far-off islands of Papua New Guinea, guided by the wisdom of an oracle called the Fire Source. The islands themselves, seven in all, had floated nearly 8,000 miles from the Middle East, destined to become home to the tribe those clans formed, God’s chosen people, the Gogodala. A Lost Tribe of Israel in the lush wilderness of a South Pacific Eden.

This is the story the Gogodala tell of their origins and this is the story that animates their vision of the future.

Now, they believe, God is calling them home. Home to Israel. But they do not believe they can make it home alone. They yearn for scientific validation of the stories passed down through the generations. It is this desire, this urgent need, that drew them to Tudor Parfitt, an FIU Religious Studies professor who has been called “the British Indiana Jones.”

Continues

22 | FALL 2013

{

About this project

Professor Tudor Parfitt joined FIU’s College of Arts & Sciences in September 2012 from the University of London’s prestigious Go along on a trip to School of Oriental and African Studies. He is a Distinguished Papua New Guinea magazine.fiu.edu Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs and President Navon Professor of Sephardi and Mizrahi Studies in the Department of Religious Studies. Soon after his arrival, he started planning a research expedition to Papua New Guinea and decided to take along four FIU students. The students were selected through an interview process. Their trips were funded with support from the College of Arts & Sciences, its School of International and Public Affairs, the Department of Religious Studies, The Honors College, the Office of Global Learning for Global Citizenship, the Office of Business Services, the Division of Advancement and the President Navon Chair of Sephardi and Mizrahi Studies. Also accompanying Parfitt were FIU Magazine Editor Deborah O’Neil and External Relations filmmaker Tim Long.

FALL 2013 | 23

Special Section: Papua New Guinea

See the delegation’s arrival in Papua New Guinea magazine.fiu.edu

FIU Religious Studies Professor Tudor Parfitt on his way to Kimama Village in Papua New Guinea.

Photo by Tiim Long

24 | FALL 2013

A huge crowd of Gogodala gathered to welcome Professor Tudor Parfitt to Balimo.

Tribal leaders declared the day of his arrival a holiday, closing schools and businesses so everyone could attend the welcome ceremony. Photo by Tim Long

Continued For three decades, Parfitt has studied

and two rabbis from New York. But it wasn’t

This kind of extraordinary image pursued us

the global Israelite movement, becoming

the VIP reception they received on March 10

throughout the whole trip.”

the world’s leading authority on the Lost

that told him everything would be different this

Tribes. He has communed with mediums and

time, nor was it the way the delegation’s bags

disappeared into isolated villages. He is a

were whisked away or the way they were all

searcher for cities of legend, and a discoverer

escorted through the airport without having to

point. The delegation’s real destination was

of missing relics, none more precious than

wait at customs or immigration. It was what

Balimo, a village so isolated that it can only

the artifact that sealed his lasting fame:

waited for him outside the airport.

be reached by plane or boat. Two days after

Africa’s lost Ark of the Covenant.

Port Moresby was merely a jumping off

A large crowd of Gogodala men, women

the delegation’s arrival, Parfitt and his travel

and children had massed there, just to catch

companions boarded a a Papua National Air

never-ending search for truth in science and

a glimpse of the famous professor as he was

Defence cargo plane that took them to the

myth, history and oracles, the sacred and the

being ushered to an idling car.

island nation’s remote Western Province.

Parfitt’s research is, in many ways, a

profane. That quest took the British Indiana

This was not quite the same Gogodala

Balimo, the ancestral home of the

Jones to Papua New Guinea for the third time

tribe he’d encountered during his last visit a

Gogodala, sits on a ridge of the Fly River

in March 2013 to further unravel the mystery

decade earlier. Many carried Israeli flags and

floodplain. A lagoon provides the Gogodala’s

of the Gogodala’s evolving identity. FIU

donned blue and white prayer shawls. They

bounty and its recreation, as well as the

Magazine went with him.

sang Hebrew hymns and called out to him,

setting of its sacred story. There’s spotty

“Shalom! Shalom!” Gone were the traditional

electricity, and no televisions, no Internet and

Gogodala grass skirts, bare breasts and

no phones except for the occasional cellular

conical hats of Parfitt’s memories. Women

seen in the hands of a Gogodala visiting from

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea’s seaside

were covered up in long dresses. Men

the capital. The appearance of technology

capital. Government officials, religious

wore yarmulkes and T-shirts inscribed with

is recent, and the people remain largely

leaders, television news crews.

Jeremiah 31:17: There is hope for your future.

separated from the rest of the world.

They crowded onto the airport tarmac in

It didn’t take long for Tudor Parfitt to realize that this trip would be different from his first two visits to the island.

He brought a delegation with him– his wife Olivia, four FIU students, two FIU journalists

Your children will return home. I, the Lord, have spoken.

The day of Parfitt’s arrival, hundreds of Gogodala sat waiting in the melting afternoon

“It was really pretty surreal,” Parfitt said.

heat as the military plane touched down on

“Their idea was to project something to do

a grass airstrip. Tribal leaders had declared

with ‘Israeliness’ and it was very successful.

the day a holiday. Schools and businesses Continues FALL 2013 | 25

Special Section: Papua New Guinea

Continued in Balimo closed so everyone could attend

with a garland of colorful yarns as they

when something he spotted in the audience

the official welcome ceremony. Gogodala

approached the temple.

captured his attention: a group of black

from other islands traveled for days to reach Balimo in time.

Parfitt was prepared to be feted. On his last visit, a local couple had proudly

Amid the swirl, Parfitt’s eyes fixed on a huge

Africans wearing yarmulkes. Later, they

banner. It read: Welcome to Gogodala

introduced themselves as the Lemba people

Tribe DNA Declaration Program.

of South Africa and Zimbabwe, and told him

A decade ago, Parfitt conducted DNA tests

they were Jewish.

introduced him to their first-born son. They’d

at the Gogodala’s request. They had wanted

named him Tudor.

him to prove they are Jewish. The results were

book about the famed Jews of Ethiopia,

The previous year, Parfitt had written a

completely neutral, at the most, inconclusive.

the Falashas or Beta Israel, who had been

of religious leaders were there to greet him.

He’d expected the tribal elders to be angry.

granted aliyah, or repatriation, to Israel

The flags of Papua New Guinea and Israel

However, they seemed undeterred.

in 1977. Now the Lemba were claiming a

Now tribal elders, the mayor and a host

flapped in the sun. Women sang and children danced. They tossed flower petals along a grassy path leading to an open-air temple

Inconclusive, after all, is not a “No.” Now, they were asking again, and this time, everyone was there to hear his answer.

similar Jewish heritage.

“There was absolutely no reason to believe there were any Jews in black Africa outside

draped in flowers. Signs and symbols of

of Ethiopia,” Parfitt said. “My face must have

Judaism were everywhere — the blue and

betrayed my intense suspicion of everything

white, the yarmulkes. The tribes people cried

The path that led to this moment was a

out “Shalom!” in sing-song voices. Each

long one that began back in 1986. Parfitt

member of the FIU delegation was wreathed

was lecturing at a conference in South Africa

26 | FALL 2013

they said. I didn’t believe a word of it.”

Nonetheless, the ever-curious, Oxfordeducated scholar accepted an invitation to

The Lost Tribes of Israel Around the World

According to the Bible, there were 12 Tribes of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin and Joseph. They divided Hear Tudor discuss the into two kingdoms, with 10 tribes in the north and two in the south. In the 8th global Israelite movement century, Assyrian invaders conquered Israel and exiled the 10 northern tribes. The magazine.fiu.edu southern tribes of Benjamin and Judah remained and most Jews today are believed to be their descendants. What happened to the other 10 tribes remains one of history’s enduring questions.

Some suggest that the tribes dispersed and were absorbed into other populations, raising the possibility that their descendants are scattered around the world. This map depicts places in the world where various groups have claimed to be a Lost Tribe of Israel. visit the Lemba’s village. Once Parfitt was able

the Indian Ocean. He’d reached the end. “I

abandoned desert city of Sena, where Jews

to observe their customs and rituals, he started

came to the conclusion that I didn’t know

may have fled Muslim oppression in 1000 A.D.

believing that there might just be some basis

any more really than I had known at the

He discovered that the names of nearby tribes

for their claims of Jewish ancestry. Following a

beginning,” he said. “I’d failed to discover

were identical to the clan names of the Lemba.

hunch, he returned to Africa for six months to

where they were from.”

Parfitt decided to compare the genetic profiles

Yet the journey was not over; it was merely

of the Lemba and tribes near Sena.

they took in ancient times. He was searching

on hold. This, as it turns out, is a pattern that

What he found was astonishing.

for a lost ancient city the Lemba called Sena,

would repeat itself throughout his career.

“There was, in fact, a very significant

walk the Israel-to-Africa route the Lembas said

the spot where the tribe had supposedly

overlap,” he said. “It could definitely be said

crossed from the Middle East to Africa.

the Lemba did indeed come from the Middle

As he walked, he wondered: “Is it possible

Years passed and Parfitt moved on to other

East. Their tradition about Sena was genuine.”

Further genetic work carried out by Parfitt

that Jews got to black Africa without the

projects. But one day, while doing research in

world knowing anything about it?”

Yemen, he happened to tell a Muslim mukhtar

and geneticists established that Lemba

about his failed search for Sena. Parfitt clearly

priests carried what became known as the

the world he’d left behind. The long walk left

recalls the Yemeni official’s response: “He

“Moses Gene,” which implied they were

him bruised and exhausted. It was one of the

clapped his hands and said, ‘Oh that’s very

descendants of the ancient Jewish priestly

happiest times of his life.

easy. I know exactly where Sena is and it may

caste, the Cohanim.

On his journey, he lost most contact with

Only the sea could stop him. One day, he found himself in Zanzibar staring into

have some connection to your tribe.’”

The next day, Parfitt was led to the

The impossible outcome made international news. Yet Parfitt was only beginning. Soon Continues FALL 2013 | 27

Special Section: Papua New Guinea

A Vibrant Tradition Echoes of the ancients resonate in the intricately carved wooden masks and fearsome See more scenes of deities shaped by Gogodala Gogodala culture magazine.fiu.edu artisans. Their traditions have been passed down through generations, linking today’s Gogodala craftsmen to their forefathers. Woodworking is so highly prized that the male carvers hold a special place of prominence in tribal culture. They hew animals that represent different clans, canoes and oars, musical instruments and decorative plaques. Each piece is painted in the vivid colors of the tribe: red, yellow, white and black. The Gogodala women artisans tend toward the practical, weaving sturdy baskets and other items used in day-to-day life from palm fronds. Shells of all shapes and sizes are used to create earrings and big, bold necklaces. The women also have a distinct style of one-needle knitting that they use to create hats, blankets and handbags called “bilum.” And they tint them as brightly as the statues carved by their male counterparts.

Photo by Tim Long

28 | FALL 2013

Continued he was searching for a holy object called the

They opened the door. And there it was.

Ngoma. According to Lemba legend, it had

Not on a mountain. Not in a cave. The

been carried from the Middle East to Africa.

sacred religious artifact of an ancient people

sign, up a long hilly path to a seat at center

It sounded to Parfitt like the Lost Ark of the

sat uncatalogued, covered in dust and

stage before a large, excited crowd. They

Convenant, the chest that Christians and

mouse droppings.

wanted to thank him. But they also wanted to

Jews believe held the stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

Parfitt’s remarkable search is documented

Testing later dated the Ngoma to 1300 A.D.,

somehow turn the uncertain questions about

supporting Parfitt’s theory that it is one of the

their genetics into a definitive statement

ancient replicas of the Ark of the Covenant

about their origins and identity.

in his book, The Lost Ark of the Convenant,

made by people of the time. According to

and in the History Channel documentary,

Lemba tradition, the original Ngoma had burst

celebrate in a small way our tribal DNA

Quest for the Lost Ark.

into flames and blown up. The one that he

declaration of Gogodala Jewish identity,”

“We have gathered to witness and

found is said to have been built on the old and

Tobit Wagga Wakasa, a tribal religious leader

1947 when a German missionary found it in

it is possible that a small nugget of the original

said. “Our one and only focus today onward

a cave on the banks of the Limpopo River,

may be in the base. Scientists have been

is nothing else but the tribe’s aliyah back to

photographed it and placed it in a museum

unable to test the artifact further because

our homeland, Israel… We have suffered long

in in Bulawayo in what was then Rhodesia,

once again it disappeared from the Hrare

enough in the hands of foreigners in a foreign

now Zimbabwe. It then went missing. Years

museum. At any rate, Parfitt says, no one has

country as one of Israel’s Lost Tribes.”

before, the spiritual head of the Lemba,

been allowed to see it for several years, and

Professor M.E.R. Mathivha, had asked Parfitt

rumors abound that President Robert Mugabe

to find their ancestral Sena. He now asked

has stolen it.

The Ngoma had not been seen since

Parfitt to find the lost Ark. “I spoke to hundreds of old Lemba men who would say, ‘Oh yes, follow this path and go to

“It is the closest thing to the Ark of the Covenant that has ever been discovered,” Parfitt said. “It is full of secrets.”

When Parfitt took the microphone, the crowd hushed and leaned in.

The question hung in the air: “Are we Jewish?”

Parfitt couldn’t tell them exactly what they wanted to hear. But he could tell them what

this mountain and take the second path on the

he saw: a people, like others he has studied,

right and you will find it in a cave there,’” he

like many more in remote places all around the

said. “I was doing this for a long time.”

A hat full of hair introduced Parfitt to the

world, finding their way to Judaism and Israel.

Gogodala. A tribesman handed it to him in a

“I can see that Israel plays a major role in

Once again, as in his search for Sena, he

hotel lobby in Sydney, where he was giving a

the way you live your lives and the way that

was at an impasse. And once again, it was

lecture at a university.

you experience life,” he said. “It is tangible. It

He followed the clues. And he got nowhere.

a chance encounter that set him on the right

Gogodala tribal leaders had read about

path. This time in South Africa when a railway

Parfitt’s work with the Lemba. They wanted

worker happened to sit on a nearby barstool.

him to do the same for them and brought

Parfitt had been consumed by the search for

human hair samples to Australia for genetic

is here. It is real. This is real.”

Still, they waited for more.

Then the professor made a declaration of sorts: “You are the Gogodala Israelites!”

the Ngoma and was depressed that he might

testing. They hoped DNA tests would prove

never find it. “We had a couple of whiskeys

they were Jewish. Parfitt was intrigued

identity. But, for the crowd, it was a moment

and I started telling this man about the Ngoma

enough to accept an invitation to visit

of triumph. The men cheered. The children

and how it had been completely lost.”

Papua New Guinea. On his second trip, he

bounced up and down. The women wept.

The man told Parfitt that he’d been tasked with transporting historic artifacts from

gathered samples for genetic testing.

Even though those DNA tests would prove

Bulawayo to Harare, some 225 miles north,

inconclusive, the Gogodala invested great

during Zimbabwe’s civil war. Perhaps the

hopes in Parfitt’s third trip to Papua New

Ngoma had been moved?

Guinea in March 2013.

A few days later, Parfitt went to the Harare

in the store room, you can.’”

They were Israelites now. The professor told them so.

The celebration sparked by Parfitt’s words lasted for days. Each member of the FIU

Museum of Human Sciences “I was told, ‘Nothing like that here but if you want to look

It was not an official sanctioning of Jewish

team received a Gogodala name as a way On his first day in Balimo, tribal leaders ushered him under the huge DNA Declaration

of welcoming them to the tribe. Graduate student Sabrina Diz became Maewato, Continues FALL 2013 | 29

Special Section: Papua New Guinea

Continued or fish. Undergraduate Keysel Pelaez was

they want to go to Israel and why. He

community want to take us out from Balimo

Waliya, or eagle. The Gogodala gave Parfitt

answered endless questions about genetic

and go to Israel, it may take 40 years.”

the name Bogela, the man-god who is

testing – what it can do and what it cannot.

When that time comes, tribal leader Tony

In candid conversations with Parfitt, some

Waisa told Parfitt, life will be better for the

Parfitt was eager to see how the Gogodala

tribal leaders admitted they were unclear about

Gogodala. “The word says once you are in

and the village itself had changed in 10 years.

the nature of Messianic Christianity – the belief

Israel, you will be comfortable. And maybe

considered the ancestral father of the tribe.

in a second coming of Jeshua – that they have

the blessings that we don’t see here in terms

based economy and no obvious means of

been practicing. Some seemed surprised that

of education, in terms of other things, maybe

earning money. The pulp of the sago palm

Messianism isn’t the religion of Israel.

our children will excel.”

They remain hunter-gatherers with a barter-

is still the staple of their diet. Within living

Missionaries established a foothold in the

memory, cannibalism was practiced by the

Gogodala region starting in the 1930s and by

tribes living around the lagoon.

the 1950s their influence was predominant.

During one of his trips to Papua New

But attitudes have changed.

Those leading the Israelite movement assert

Guinea, Parfitt set off on a quest. His visit

The Gogodala are a people in the midst

that Christian missionaries destroyed their

had been consumed by the riddle of the

of a profound identity shift. The influence of

ancient Jewish practices and stamped out

Gogodala’s identity, but for Parfitt there is

evangelic Christian missionaries is palpable,

Gogodala traditions. “Torah is what we knew,”

always another mystery to solve.

even as the Gogodala paint the Star of David

tribal historian Digali Pasiya told Parfitt one

on their doors. Some Gogodala identify strongly

afternoon. “We trace our customs in the Torah

Gogodala Fire Source, the oracle that the

with the Judaizing movement; others do not.

and our ancestors practiced them but when

tribespeople say radiated supernatural light to

Still others are uncertain what any of it means.

the missionaries came, they had to stop some

lead the ancestors from Yabisaba to Balimo.

At the same time, the tribe is reclaiming its

of these things.”

He sought a holy relic – the fabled

Parfitt had learned of the Fire Source from

pre-Christian traditional culture of woodcarving,

The tribal historians said the Gogodala

dance, ancestral deities and ceremonies, which

observed Shabbat until just a few decades

when she fell into possession during an

had been discouraged by missionaries.

ago. Women, they say, were always

ecstatic religious ceremony. She beckoned

a Gogodala spirit medium named Bibiato

separated from the rest of the family during

the professor to follow her into the swamp.

and chatting. Watch him in the field and you

their menstrual cycles. Men were always

With the spirits speaking through her, she said

see that the real work of an Indiana Jones is

circumcised. Families adhered to kosher

she could lead him to the place where the

in the quiet labor of paying attention to details

food preparation. They trace the Gogodala

ancient canoes and the oracle have remained

others miss.

language to Hebrew.

hidden for centuries.

For much of his visit, Parfitt was listening

He talked with the high school principal

The story of Moses leading the Israelites

and the wood carving artists, with women

to the Promised Land resonates deeply in

bouncing babies on their hips and members

the Gogodala community. “History will repeat

of the women’s Prayer Warriors group. He

itself,” Pasiya said. “If Moses led the Israelites

asked about their religious practices and

out of Egypt and stayed in the desert for 30

beliefs, the stories they’d heard as children,

years, and if our leaders in the Messianic

their artwork and traditional culture, whether

30 | FALL 2013

“In her trance, she led us through reeds and water up to our necks,” Parfitt recalled.

Swarms of mosquitos pierced his skin. But he found nothing.

Not this time, anyway. n

A Call to the Heavens In each Gogodala community, a small group of devout woman known as “Prayer Warriors” wield tremendous power. Inspired by Evangelical Christians, Prayer Warriors come together to pray on behalf of the tribe.

The Prayer Warriors of the capital, Port Moresby, believe their prayers led the tribe to FIU Professor Tudor Parfitt.

The women’s prayers are soulful and ecstatic, a combination of English and Gogodala language, spoken softly at first and then rising as their chants meld into a sublime symphony of faith. While the FIU delegation was visiting, a hurricane was approaching the Western Province, bringing strong gusts and rain to Balimo for an entire day. The Prayer Warriors of Balimo gathered for an all-night prayer session. The hurricane stayed away.

In this photo, the Prayer Warriors of Kimama conduct a healing ceremony.

Photo by Tim Long

Opposite page: The men of the Kimama Gododala tribe perform their traditional war canoe ceremony. Photo by Deborah O’Neil

FALL 2013 | 31

Journey A Life Changing

In their own words, four students share their experiences in Papua New Guinea

By Deborah O’Neil

T

hey were a scene in motion, the four of them pinballing

each of the four is wise in the ways of making travel meaningful.

through airports and slogging into the muddy backwaters

They knew when to just listen and observe and when to ask

of Papua New Guinea. The ex-lineman with Hegel’s

questions. They brought an unusual openness to new experiences.

Phenomenology of Spirit sticking out of his back pocket. The

None of the four students had ever traveled so far or to a place

Dominican from Hialeah with an ascot, a ‘fro and a ukulele. The loud,

that felt so utterly foreign. Few people have. They learned something

street-smart activist with wild black curls. The philosophical one with

about the wider world, but they also learned something about

the boyish good looks carrying all the cameras.

themselves. Of course, that’s precisely why the professor wanted to

The four FIU students had never met until they signed up to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Papua New Guinea alongside one of academia’s most esteemed anthropologists, Tudor Parfitt. It could

bring students on the journey.

What follows is a snapshot of each student’s journey told in their own words, taken from their journals and interviews.

have gone very badly—as anyone who has traveled with strangers

Four unique perspectives.

knows. On this trip, though, the mix was just right. It helped that

One life-altering trip.

32 | FALL 2013

FIU filmmaker Tim Long, undergraduates Keysel Pelaez (standing) and Kyle Deker (back seat) grab a ride into the center of Balimo. Photos by Deborah O’Neil.

Special Section: Papua New Guinea

The Teacher Kyle Decker ’13, a former football player, grew up in Port St. Lucie, Fla., one of seven children. His intimidating 270-pound frame belies a welcoming spirit. Invited by Papuan men to join a rough–and–tumble rugby tournament, he responded: “It would be an honor. Please be gentle.”

When Decker was 12, his mother was convicted of drug–related charges, hurling his young life into a tailspin. His parents divorced and his father went into real estate. The market crash of 2008 brought more hardship. “We ended up losing everything,” Decker said. “There were times when there was no food in the fridge and Dad would say, ‘We can go to the store after I get paid.’”

Through the years, Decker had attended services at the charismatic church where his father and sister both played music. The exuberance of the services clashed with his introverted nature. “The most outgoing is the most holy,” he said. “I had to force myself to be something I wasn’t.”

At the age of 20, he found a style of Christianity that felt right. He embraced the Presbyterian Church. Its teachings, as well as his own unshakable faith, redefined him. At FIU, he majored in religious studies, studying Hebrew and pre-Nicene Christianity. He’s planning to get a graduate degree in counseling and, one day, earn a Ph.D. so he can teach at a university.

Along with Hegel, Decker carried a Bible to Papua New Guinea. On the island nation, Parfitt surprised Decker by asking him to teach Hebrew to the villagers. Decker jumped right in, leading a room full of tribal elders, women and children through the Debbie Friedman alphabet song.

“Dr. Parfitt told me I did a great job and I have a knack for teaching, which is validating,” he said. “I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life.”

In Kyle’s Words

Faith: The

Gogodala made me examine my Christian faith.

I had heard people describe the Christianity here as a veneer. But if Christianity is merely a veneer, I have to wonder about the depth of my own. Do I live the life that these people live? Could I even live the life that these people live with their Christianity, their love for Yeshua and the way that they live their lives?

The Gogodala have complex spiritual lives. Judaism is incorporated, along with Christianity. But they see no conflict at all.

Their faith seems to be so ingrained in every aspect of their lives. It really almost puts me to shame.

Acceptance:

Two men in the village, Kingston and Isaac, took me under their wings. We just sat and talked.

We hung out. We were joking around, going back and forth, taking pictures. And, you know, just really living life together as if I’d been in the village my whole life.

It was really cool to see that kind of acceptance: Like, you are an outsider, but we accept you. We’re not scared of you. We’re not even impressed.

You’re just a guy like we are.

We want to talk to you and get to know you. We want to be your friends. n Watch Kyle Decker play rugby Papuan Style magazine.fiu.edu

FALL 2013 | 33

The Anthropologist Undergraduate biology major Keysel Pelaez made a discovery about his career path in Papua New Guinea. Professor Tudor Parfitt Flip through Keysel’s travel journal magazine.fiu.edu

describes him as “a natural–born anthropologist,” adding, “Not many people are.” Pelaez likes the idea.

More than once, Pelaez, who is Dominican, was asked if he is Papuan. He immersed himself in the everyday lives of the villagers, practicing the language and joining them in daily activities. He spent

Photo by Tim Long

much of his time learning about traditional herbal remedies.

The highlight of the trip for him was being invited to join the men of one village in a traditional canoe ceremony. He slipped right into the 25-man canoe in his double-breasted jacket and ascot, chanting warrior cries and stomping his feet.

“I’m surprised by how open they are,” Pelaez said of the tribesmen. “In so many homogenous societies, they are closed.

They are definitely teaching me. I wish there were more people i n the U.S. living as genuinely as they are.”

Pelaez was raised in Hialeah by a single mother. The afro, he says, just sort of happened. And the throwback outfits he prefers are, for sure, a statement of his individuality.

“People look at me and even stare at me,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me at all. They’ve broken a wall that most push to break Photo by Deborah O’Neil

themselves.”

In Keysel’s Words

Travel:

So, let’s start with the day we skipped. It was somewhat peculiar.

We flew over the international dateline and the day was gone, swallowed up. A day we would never experience again.

At the customs line in Sydney, a young officer, a 20-something woman with good intentions, eyed my banjo strings. While frisking my ukulele, she and another customs officer asked me to play them a song or two. I, of course, obliged. They had been confused, thinking perhaps that I was some sort of famous person. My modest performance, nothing more than some standard banjo picking, cleared up any confusion.

34 | FALL 2013

Friendship:

I was looking for roots and flowers and tree bark. A man spotted me and invited me to his house. There was no furniture inside. Just a big carpet where everyone sat, looking very comfortable and discussing, goodness knows what.

Beauty:

One night I was really missing home. I had been in Papua New Guinea for a week.

I walked deeper and deeper into the bush as the night grew darker and darker.

I started writing in my journal.

Then I looked up. I saw the last of the sunlight trickling over the horizon.

And I realized, “My God, this place is really beautiful. There is beauty that is unimaginable.”

I got up and started walking back, and two or three cars passed by and each offered me a ride, but I wanted to walk.

A thought was in my head: I’m

The man who led me there knew some English. And he translated for me.

The people started opening their wallets and reaching inside. They tossed me roots and all these little flowers and dried pieces of fruit they had collected and were using as medicine.

They’d gotten them from the going to miss this place. bush, maybe with a lot of work.

And even though we’d just met, they were giving these things to me.

n

The Activist Sabrina Diz MA ’13 wanted to get one thing clear before anything was printed about her: “Don’t you dare write that I’m bisexual. I’m pansexual. It’s more inclusive. I don’t believe in a binary system of gender.”

“Breaking down walls” is her mantra. She

say something stupid, I am going to call you on

Association gift bags with spare hygiene items

it. I don’t care who you are.”

she rustled up from fellow travelers, along

Diz earned her street smarts on the streets.

One day, her father just left. For a while, she and her mother and sister crashed with relatives and friends and at a homeless shelter.

When Diz was 22, her older sister went to jail on drug charges and Diz took custody of

is an activist both in spirit and occupation.

her two nieces, then ages 8 and 12. Diz just

Diz, who completed her master’s in religious

escorted the youngest off to college.

studies this spring, is most comfortable in

Within one afternoon of arriving in the

with blankets and pillows she’d carried off airplanes. She arranged for the female rabbi on the trip, Bonnie Sussman, an AIDS educator, to give a talk on HIV/AIDS prevention. Hundreds of women gathered at the clinic, and as the day went on, more and more men appeared, lingering in the background to listen in.

When a woman told Diz that a prostitute

gay communities where assumptions of

Papua New Guinea village, Diz had organized

from outside the tribe was responsible for the

heterosexuality vanish. She doesn’t fit in with

a daylong visit to the village women’s clinic,

spread of AIDS in the village, Diz stopped her.

polite society’s expectations, and that’s just

a ramshackle space with spotty electricity

“We don’t want to blame only women, and we

fine with her. “I’m loud. I’m outspoken. If you

and no running water. She filled FIU Alumni

don’t want to blame only outsiders.”

Photos by Deborah O’Neil

In Sabrina’s Words

Port Moresby:

Photos by Deborah O’Neil

When we got to the capital in Papua New Guinea, we stayed with a Gogodala woman named Mama Dede. On her street, garbage rots in the tropical heat. The neighbors walk past in bare feet or sandals. They are poor. Everyone was excited to see us when we arrived at Mama Dede’s house, a clean, simple apartment inside a compound closed off by high fences topped with razor wire.

We talked and talked: Papua New Guinea politics, food. Yuda and Genna cooked for us, peeling vegetables and scraping coconuts.

I sat on the floor, alongside Keysel. Kyle and Pablo took places on the couch, near the men.

The women were definitely in charge in this house.

They insisted the men serve themselves first, but not because they were the patriarchs. It was more like the women were their caretakers.

In the morning, the women sang in beautiful harmony. This was their way of letting everyone know that breakfast was ready.

It was the most gorgeous alarm bell I’ve ever heard.

Clinic:

As soon as I got to Balimo I wanted to visit the prenatal clinic. I have a first-world perspective of what a clinic should look like. And this wasn’t it.

The clinic looked more like a trailer. There was no running water. There must have been some electrical power because a fan was running, but there was no lighting or plumbing.

The villagers come here when they have the sniffles or need vaccinations and nutrition information. It’s also where they get pap smears, pregnancy tests and HIV screenings.

A hospital had just been completed the week we arrived, but before then, this clinic—which is run by women—was the only place the villagers had. The setting was humble, but I was impressed.

n

Special Section: Papua New Guinea

FALL 2013 | 35

The Philosopher Last year, Honors College student Pablo Currea was invited to help develop a new course with his mentor, Professor J.C. Espinosa.

They wanted to teach students from all majors about the creation and development of ideas. “You have these different disciplines and you think of them as circles,” Currea explains. “They all meet at a certain point and the class is what’s at the middle of the circles.”

An explanation of the class morphed into a meditation on Oliver Sacks, the famed neuroscientist and author.

This is what conversations are like with Currea. Ideas and psychology.

Peeling back layers. References to philosophers and writers you might not know. His airplane reading on the trip to Papua New Guinea was Kafka.

He’s the baby of a Colombian family, born and raised in Miami. He makes videos for the Honors College and independent films in his free time. During the trip to Papua New Guinea, Currea served as the second cameraman for the External Relations documentary crew. Reflecting on the trip, he was reminded of Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel.

“We are all the same, but geography and resources create cultural differences,” he said.

Filming for a documentary was a life-changing experience, he said. He wants to earn a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience, but he also wants to make films. How that will work itself out, he’s not yet sure.

“I see myself as an artist trying to reconcile my passion for the mind with my desire to express myself,” he said.

Photo by Tim Long

In Pablo’s Words

Filming: There is good and bad to being behind the camera.

The good is that I can honestly say I remember everything that I have filmed because I have to make a conscious decision as to what I am going to film versus what I am not going to film.

In Papua New Guinea, I was looking at a lagoon. Before this trip, I would never have been able to tell the difference between a lake and a lagoon.

But once you see it, you get it. It is a beautiful experience.

That is what I had: a very consciously beautiful experience.

36 | FALL 2013

Balimo : On the third day,

we took a military plane to the Gogodala village of Balimo. We landed in a huge field with nothing around except hundreds of hundreds of people to greet us.

Winding down the muddy red clay path that connects the village of Balimo to the airfield, I found it hard to imagine that the the tribespeople were cannibals only a generation earlier.

They wore yarmulkes and said, “Shalom,” calling out warmly to us as we rode past in a truck bed.

When we arrived in Balimo, we could already hear the music of the welcoming ceremony a quarter mile away as we settled into our rooms.

Drums. An electric bass. Keyboards.

They danced and sang in the Gogodala language, one of over 800 languages native to the island. But the rabbis who traveled with us could still make out some of the words because the Gogodala flecked their songs with Hebrew: Yeshua, Yahweh, Shalom, Kadesh and Adonai.

Family: I loved my

experience here and it’s because of the people. Most of the women here treated me like I was their son.

They even called me their son and called Sabrina my sister and Kyle my brother. It is like everybody is family. This is an experience I never thought I would have.

n

Special Section: Papua New Guinea

Documenting the Expedition

Reflections from a filmmaker on shooting a documentary in Papua New Guinea

By Tim Long | Photo by Deborah O’Neil

T

wo days until we leave and I’m tearing apart my garage trying to find my old

hook up to and recharge my camera batteries.

I’m so jet-lagged by the time we land in

first to jump out so I could turn around with my camera and hit “record.” I never knew

inverter. It’s about the size of a pack of

PNG, the whole arrival is just a blur. I’m certain

where we were headed or what was going to

cigarettes and I haven’t seen the damn thing

I filmed it; I’ve got the footage on my memory

happen when we got there.

in almost five years; since Hurricane Wilma

cards to prove it. But, later that night in my

knocked out the power and I had to use it to

hotel room, I was so out of it that I fried one of

pointed my camera at the professor, at the

run my laptop and modem.

my camera battery chargers in the wall outlet.

Gogodala, at the jungle. I ran some more.

That was it. I was done. I fell back on the bed

I tried to remind myself: Hold the shot,

and went to sleep in my clothes.

count to ten, move on to the next shot.

In less than 48 hours I’ll be on a plane (six planes, actually) to the other side of the world.

I work in FIU’s Division of External Relations

The next day, I repacked my bags for

So, I jumped, I ran, I stopped, I pivoted. I

Be steady. Remember to capture different

making videos. I’m going to be the director

shooting. The cameras and tripods came out,

angles. Where’s the emotion? Capture what’s

of photography for a small documentary film

the weather covers, knapsacks for the sound

happening and then the reaction to what’s

crew (that would be me and a student to

equipment, all the other various and necessary

happening. By the way, what is happening?

whom I’m giving one of my cameras) heading

accessories. And for the next 10 days, we

into the jungle of Papua New Guinea for the

lugged this stuff onto the planes, pickup

semblance of order to the blizzard of fast-

next 12 days. The plan is to meet up with a

trucks and boats that brought us deeper into

moving, chaotic experiences, to transform

village of former headhunters who are claiming

the jungle.

an idea—a tribal people’s shifting cultural

to be one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. There

Turns out, we did have power for at least

The hard part was trying to bring some

identity—into a set of visual images that could

will be 10 of us traveling together, led by FIU

part of most days in the village, so my main

eventually—back home, far from here—be

religious studies professor Tudor Parfitt.

problem was solved. But filming was like

edited into a story.

The professor has been to PNG, as we are

nothing I’d ever done before. We were in

The moment it seemed to be getting a

all now calling it, twice before. But it’s been

pursuit of a story that revealed itself slowly,

little easier, it was over. On the long plane

10 years since his last trip. He’s being a bit

first in the huge events staged for our benefit

rides home, I began to feel like I’d just rafted

sketchy on the details of our itinerary and

and then, as the blur of the unfamiliar faded

the rapids of a big, white-water river. And,

accommodations and whether it’s going to

a bit and I learned to look more carefully at

like running a river, you simply hoped you

cost us $10,000 or nothing to fly from the

the life unfolding around me, in the elusive

could recall what you did and remember

capital Port Moresby out to the ancestral

moments of beauty I witnessed in the lives of

what you saw later on. Because, at the

home of the Gogodala, the tribe we’re filming.

the tribal people who were our hosts.

time, all you can do is react. Oh, yeah, and

That’s why I’m going nuts trying to find my

Nothing was planned. Our plane would

make sure the camera’s on and you’ve got

inverter. I figure, worse comes to worse,

land, or truck would stop, or we’d beach the

your hand on the focus ring. Above all,

someone’s got to have a car battery I can

boat we were being carried in, and I’d be the

remember: Hold the shot. n FALL 2013 | 37

Campus Chic

By Eric Barton | Photo by Doug Garland ’10

38 | FALL 2013

Forget what you know about campus housing.

The new Parkview Hall feels more like a home.

Nico Rose took a tour recently of FIU’s new Parkview Hall, and he was looking for things most of us wouldn’t notice. He analyzed the usability of the common rooms. He assessed the flow of the lobby.

Take a tour of Parkview Hall go.fiu.edu/parkview

He took in bathroom placement, bed size and light switch locations.

Rose can’t help it. He’s a 23-year-old grad student studying higher

education administration. Someday, he wants to manage residence halls and oversee their construction. His expert take on Parkview?

“It is absolutely amazing,” he said. “I was definitely wowed walking up to it. The aesthetics of the outside, it’s impressive. But once I went inside, I was completely shocked.” continues

FALL 2013 | 39

Students Bianca Pino, left, and Litong Chen

A glass bridge connects the east and west halls. The bridge is decorated with couches and chairs and tables. At the south end of the west hall is the largest of the gathering areas, a community lounge with two-story windows that have a view of the stadium with striking white beams running outside the glass.

The student suites are meant to set themselves apart from old-style campus housing, said John Tallon, assistant director of facilities. Here, four rooms share a kitchen and living area. They boast something offered in few residence halls: That’s exactly the impression FIU

His company is known for high-end and

single-student rooms. And best of all, each

administrators were hoping for when Parkview

high-profile projects like Marlins Stadium

bedroom has a full-sized bed.

opened this fall. The idea was not only to

and the opulent SoHo Beach House tower

build FIU’s best residence hall but to build the

on Miami Beach.

state’s finest on-campus housing, says Larry W. Lunsford, vice president for Student Affairs.

The university spent upwards of $55 million

Moss was a commuter student back in

“This is the thing students are most excited about,” Tallon said recently during a tour, pointing at one of the beds.

the early ‘90s. There was no football team,

With the plank flooring, a desk, and

and few students lived on campus. He sees

large window, the room makes the

on the 620-bed facility and adjacent 290-car

now what he’s building and wishes he was a

space seem more like an apartment than

parking garage. Instead of the cinder-block-

student today.

campus housing.

walled buildings some associate with on-

“This is a personal job for me. It’s your alma

The design focused on ease of living,

campus housing, FIU wanted a showpiece.

mater that you love. It’s my whole life coming

with touches like separate AC units that

Parkview is meant to make a statement: This

full circle,” said Moss, who’s also on the board

can be adjusted within individual suites,

former commuter school now has an active

of the FIU Foundation and employs dozens

and motion sensor lights everywhere

on-campus lifestyle.

of FIU graduates at his company. “Let me put

except for bedrooms.

“There are all kinds of studies that show students who live on campus are more likely

it this way, I wish I was one of those kids in there. I would move in there right now.”

For Rose, his favorite feature is that the design considers what students will do with

to graduate,” Lunsford says. “Being a young

Parkview occupies a former parking lot

institution, we’re trying to develop an affinity

across from the football stadium and next

where it can be loud, are meant for group

with our graduates.”

to the campus nature preserve. Rooms to

activities, while study halls are tucked away

the south have a view of the stadium, and

from the noise.

Parkview is a symbol of change at FIU, said Lynn Hendricks, interim executive

windows facing west look down into the

director for housing and residential life.

wilds of the preserve.

Known once as a commuter school, FIU

The design is no doubt striking, with a

the space. Common areas off the elevators,

Rose, who grew up in Cooper City, is among the students employed by the new building. He is Parkview’s assistant

now boasts eight residence halls with 3,454

largely open level highlighted by exposed

residential life coordinator, helping to

beds. The school has added 1,400 beds

pillars and floor-to-ceiling glass lobbies.

supervise the undergrad staff. He already

since 2003. Now nearly 10 percent of FIU

Upstairs, there are large common areas

has begun thinking about how to use those

undergrads live on campus, creating a more

scattered throughout the floors where

common spaces.

traditional college experience, which was

students can gather at bar-height tables or

limited at FIU just a decade ago.

spread out on couches. Terrazzo floors in

personal wellness, scholarships, civic

the lobbies give a modern look, and wood-

engagements, all kinds of things,” he says.

own. Chad Moss ’94, senior vice president

plank-style flooring was included in all of the

“It’s going to be a whole new level of on-

of Moss & Associates, oversaw the project.

student suites and bedrooms.

campus housing.” n

To build Parkview, FIU turned to one of its

40 | FALL 2013

“We’re going to have programs on

S n a p sho t s i n E x ce l l e n ce fro m U . S . C e n t ur y B a n k A re n a

World. Class. Coach.

Congratulations to Assistant Athletic Director Rita Buck-Crockett, FIU’s sand volleyball head coach who recently also became head coach for indoor volleyball. The two-time Olympian and member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame brings with her a wealth of international playing and coaching experience and the determination to develop two championship teams. We look forward to supporting Coach Buck-Crockett as she propels her players to new heights.

Florida International University and

Partners in Education

Go behind the scenes of the Ron Turner photo shoot. go.fiu.edu/turner

ready to rebuild In his first season at FIU, Coach Ron Turner is primed to handle anything

By Alexandra Pecharich Photo by Josh Ritchie

42 | FALL 2013

B

ack in his first year as offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, in 1993, Ron Turner publicly took heat

So this is what FIU got in January when Turner accepted a position only two others have held before him: a coach whose 2001 Big

Turner and his family. “I think it’s because he taught us all that.”

And while he works to instill

from plenty of folks but none worse than from

Ten Championship-winning leadership at the

accountability in his players, Turner has

one local sports-radio jockey. During a tough

University of Illinois has been called the greatest

made that quality a central goal of his own

season for the franchise, the guy threw dirt

turnaround in college football. And, at the same

life, both in and out of football. A family

by the shovelful, but Turner didn’t bat an eye

time, a coach who—like coaches everywhere—

man with four grown children and a baby

–something that confounded the mudslinger.

has suffered his ups and downs.

granddaughter—he’s been married three

“Why do you come on [the air] with me

Back at the college level for the first time in

decades—Turner took every opportunity

every time I ask you when you know that

eight years, Turner is doing the kind of heavy

to spend time with and support his

I’m blasting you?” the host wondered aloud

lifting that outsiders rarely think about and

youngsters during their formative years

during one show, Turner recalls. “I said,

certainly never see.

despite the rigors of a coaching career. The

Honestly, I come on because you don’t know

“I’ve got my work to do, and part of it has

example contrasts sharply with his own

what you’re talking about. You’ve never been

to do with getting the guys to understand

upbringing as the youngest of five children

to our facility. You’ve never sat down and

that if they’re not taking care of business

abandoned by their father and raised by

talked to me about my philosophy. You have

in the classroom, they’re not going to get

a single mother. Turner speculates that

no idea what you’re talking about.

on the field,” he says about the specter of

his mom pushed the boys into sports in

poor academic performances that could

hopes of their finding a father figure in their

good on offense,” Turner continued, “and

jeopardize some players’ eligibility to suit up

coaches. He says that experience might

you’re going to be saying a lot of good things

on Saturdays.

be why he and brother Norv, offensive

“A year from now, we’re going to be really

about me, and then you’re still not going to know what you’re talking about.”

“Obviously my job here is to win games and that’s very, very important to me, to win

coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, took to coaching professionally.

And how did that go over?

a championship and establish a very good

“He cracked up,” Turner remembers. “He

program here,” he says. “But,” he tells his

In what is clearly a rebuilding year—30

said, ‘I love that answer,’ and from that point

players, “more important than that is where

seniors graduated after last season,

on he was like my buddy, and he quit ripping

you’re going to be when you’re 30 years old.”

among them 19 starters—Turner and

me. And, sure enough, the next year, we were

Kurt Kittner, the record-setting University

company have the added pressure of

good on offense, and two years later we were

of Illinois quarterback who drove home the

taking the Panthers into their first season

really good on offense.”

victories during the program’s championship

with Conference USA. The coach views

year, took Turner’s drill to heart back then

playing in the new league, with its tougher

setting straight the occasional bubba, Ron

and agrees that Coach nailed the balancing

competition and opportunities for greater

Turner refuses to take the naysayers too

act scenario. “If you can’t focus off the field,

exposure, as a positive for FIU football—a

seriously. FIU’s new football head coach has

you’re probably not going to be focused on

belief shared by Executive Director of

learned during 36 years in college and the

the field,” Kittner says.

Sports and Entertainment Pete Garcia.

Here’s the point: While he’s not beyond

NFL to get his reality check from those in the huddle.

“Listen to the people that matter,” he says.

With a short-lived pro career behind him and

At FIU, challenges on the field abound.

Says Garcia of what he’s seen so far of

now an executive at a financial firm, Kittner

the Turner era: “His wealth of knowledge

appreciates that Turner showed as much

and the experience and the quality of the

“That’s the people you work with every day,

interest in his completing a demanding degree

staff he’s put together jump out.”

people involved in the program, the people

program as in his completing passes. And he

One thing that won’t be a problem for

that know what you’re doing.”

gives the man credit for instilling in players the

Turner is finding the silver lining in a season

discipline and mental toughness to get the job

not likely to go down in the record books.

done on game day.

Instead, he will concentrate on the positives

Not bad advice from someone who has found himself in the hot seat from time to time—the lot of pretty much every coach of every team that’s ever had fans.

“We won because we were accountable to each other,” says Kittner, who remains close to

of what should be a learning period on which to build for 2014. n FALL 2013 | 43

FIU 2013-’14 Alumni Association Board Executive Committee

from the Alumni Association President

Gonzalo Acevedo ’91, MBA ’10 President Frank Javier Peña ’99 Vice President

Dear Friends and FIU Alumni:

Elizabeth Cross ’89 Secretary Sharon Fine ’99, MSF ’11 Treasurer Eduardo Hondal ’88, MS ’00 Parliamentarian Joaquín “Jack” F. González ’97 Past President

Officers Gabriel Albelo ’93 Juan Carlos Alexander ’04 Gus Alfonso ’02, MSF ’08 Nestor Caballero ’95, MS ’97 Tony E Crapp Jr. ’95 Isabel C. Díaz ’01 Anastasia Garcia ’89 Maria D. Garcia ’05, JD ’08 Jorge F. Hernández ’95 Michael A. Hernández ’04, MPA ’11 Samuel C. Jackson MPA ’90 Miguel Larrea ’96 Jaime N. Machado ’01, MBA ’10 Michael P. Maher ’97 Gabriela Martin-Brown ’96 Ana L. Martínez MAcc ’92 Alberto Padrón ’98, MBA ’09 Pedro Pavón ’04 Enrique Piñeiro ’03 Aslynn Rivera-Tigera ’98 Colleen Christina Robb ’00, ’03 Alicia M. Robles de la Lama ’98 Ralph Rosado ’96, MA ’03 Benjamin Sardinas ’01 A. Celina Saucedo ’99, MPA ’11 Sergio Arturo Tigera ’01 Erick Valderrama ’95 _________________________________ Duane Wiles Executive Director Alumni Association

I can’t believe it has been a year since I was sworn in as president of the FIU Alumni Association. Then again, any involvement with our dynamic university tends to make time pass quickly. From the campus to the community, FIU continually—and rapidly—stretches to meet the needs of those it serves.

I took the reins of the Alumni Association Board with high hopes and a commitment to several strategic goals. Foremost, our board was charged with growing our membership base. We also focused on making our events and programs more relevant to members. Lastly, we sought to expand and diversify the board itself. While I can’t say it was easy—and certainly it took the efforts of many people—we undoubtedly met these challenges and even exceeded them. And isn’t that what we do here at FIU? We go beyond what’s expected by taking every opportunity and doing something great with it!

Here’s a recap of achievements as they pertain to the goals mentioned above: • This past year the board helped increase membership by 5 percent, to 20,400.

• We set a record attendance—nearly 600—at the sold-out annual Torch Awards Gala. And the annual Fishing Tournament raised more than ever before—$27,000—in support of student scholarships.

• We welcomed eight new board members representing different industries, each of these individuals charged with helping us promote awareness of the association and its work in support of FIU. They are Juan Carlos Alexander ’04 Vice President, Camrose Trading Nestor Caballero ’95, MS ’97 Managing Partner, Alberni Caballero & Company Gabriela Martin-Brown ’96 Founder and CEO, I KNOW SCIENCE Aslynn Rivera-Tigera ’98 Territory Manager, Cardiology Division Arbor Pharmaceuticals

Sergio Arturo Tigera ’01 Sales Support Manager, Latin America Global Mining Caterpillar Erick Valderrama ’95 Director of GenCon Operations Florida Munilla Construction Management

Colleen Christina Robb ’00, ’03 Assistant Professor, Keller Graduate School of Management, DeVry University I remain honored to serve as the FIU Alumni Association president and look forward to another productive year. See you all at the Homecoming game, Oct. 12.

Gonzalo A. Acevedo ’91, MBA ’10

44 | FALL 2013

Benjamin Sardinas ’01 Managing Director HealthCare Acquisitions Group

Sneak peek of your alumni center Graduates of FIU will one day have their own home away from home in which to gather for football tailgate parties, homecoming reunions and networking events. Slated to rise near the 107th Ave. and 16th Street entrance to Modesto A. Maidique Campus, the planned 30,000-square-foot alumni center, a rendering of which is shown here, will feature a ballroom and several conference rooms in addition to a 7,000-square foot courtyard. Projected to cost $15 million to construct, the proposed building has already attracted nearly $5 million in contributions, the bulk coming from blue-and-gold couples Marcia L. Martinez-Strait MS ’77 and Richard W. Strait ’76 and Angela M. Martinez and Raul A. Chavez ’80. Additional donations from other alumni will help move along the project, says Bill Draughon, associate vice president for Advancement, who is leading the initiative and adds, “This will be the place to engage the Panther community and welcome back alumni looking to reconnect with their alma mater.”

Alumni couple Marcia L. Martinez-Strait MS

graduates, among them football tailgate parties,

“It’s all about engaging people. We want to

’77 and her husband Richard W. Strait ’76 would

homecoming reunions and social and business

provide opportunities and a place for alumni to

like every graduate of FIU to feel as welcome as

gatherings.

engage with FIU,” said Bill Draughon, associate

they do upon returning to campus.

The pair wouldn’t dare miss a Silver Pride

“When you leave the university, you’re not a student anymore. You are in a different level, so

Reunion or a Homecoming game, and they

you need a separate place,” Richard Strait said.

regularly join fellow Panthers for Alumni

He is hoping that the center will become just that.

vice president for Advancement, who is leading the initiative.

But for the center to become a reality—its estimated cost is $15 million, an amount that

Association-sponsored travel such as cruises to

Nearly $5 million has been raised for the

Australia and New Zealand, Scandinavia and the

center with donations from the Straits and

will need to come together and lend their

Mediterranean.

another FIU blue-and-gold couple, Angela

support.

“The university offers so many things—theater,

M. Martinez and Raul A. Chavez ’80. The first

must be reached to start construction—alumni

“Getting it up is the biggest challenge,” said

recitals, musical events, lectures, just the

donation toward the center came in 2008, when

Angela Martinez, an honorary Panther who has

ambience. You can learn and continue to grow

Betty Perry ’74, the widow of FIU’s founding

come to love the university through her alumnus

professionally, socially and culturally,” Martinez-

president, Charles Perry, led an unofficial

husband. “We want to encourage others to get

Strait said.

donations campaign in support of the center’s

involved by donating.”

It was the prospect of getting other alumni as

construction. She challenged alumni to match

President Mark Rosenberg believes the facility

involved with the university that inspired the Straits

her $10,000 gift at the seventh annual Torch

will help make the alumni community even

to make a grand donation in support of a project

Awards, and alumni responded that very night

stronger.

that will enrich the alumni experience for all.

with $90,000.

The alumni center, slated to rise near the 107th

As FIU alumni continue to make a global

Ave. and 16th Street entrance to Modesto A.

impact on communities around the world, the

Maidique Campus, will become a home away

center will be a place built by alumni, for alumni,

from home for all alumni visiting the university.

celebrating their achievements and building a

The center will be used to host various events for

relationship with the current FIU family.

“The alumni center will showcase our

To makeand a contribution in support graduates encourage current studentsof to the alumni center, go to fiualumni.com or stay involved after they graduate,” he said. “It will contact Bill Draughon at 305-348-3961 show the community that FIU is the place to be, or Draughon@fiu.edu. no matter at which stage in life or in your career you may be.” n FALL 2013 | 45

Find your chapter!

As FIU graduates go far and wide to make a mark on the world, so have FIU Alumni Association chapters cropped up around the United States and beyond. Chapters offer both professional-development and social activities for alumni, among them networking events, game-day watch parties and community service opportunities.

Scan the map to find the chapter closest to you. Contact individual leaders or, when available, check Facebook pages to learn about upcoming happenings and ways to get involved. (And for information about chapters based on degree or common interest, go to fiualumni.com/chapters.)

Photos by Eduardo Merille ’97, MBA ’00

World’s Ahead Tour Create new memories with your Panther network as you join FIU alumni, prospective students and community leaders at some of the hottest and most unique venues in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.

Come indulge in irresistible music, mouthwatering food, a Miami-chic atmosphere and everything else that made your years at FIU and in Miami unforgettable, all to remind you of what being “Worlds Ahead” truly means.

Get your tickets today.

Los Angeles

New York

January 24, 2014

April 4, 2014

fiualumni.com/WAT

46 | FALL 2013

Arizona Roger Beguiristain ’79 roger.beguiristain1@wellsfargoadvisors.com C FIU Alumni AZ Atlanta Trevin Perez ’06 trevinperez@gmail.com C FIU Alumni Association Atlanta Chapter Bahamas Amanda Wood amawood@fiu.edu

Houston Amanda Wood amawood@fiu.edu Jamaica Gerald Wight ’98 gerald.wight@bcwholdings.com C FIU Alumni Association Jamaica Chapter Las Vegas Amanda Wood amawood@fiu.edu

Boston Amanda Wood amawood@fiu.edu

Los Angeles Justin Low ’02, MBA ’04 justinrlow@gmail.com C FIU Alumni Los Angeles

Broward Celina Saucedo ’99, MPA ’11 celinasaucedo@att.net C FIU Broward Alumni

New York Cedric Bess ’99 clb6@hotmail.com Facebook: FIU Greater NY

Carolinas Juan Carlos Alvarado ’03 jcalvarado@allstate.com C FIU Alumni Carolinas Group

Palm Beach Demar Metcalfe ’07 demar.metcalfe@fpl.com C FIU Palm Beach

Chicago Jeffrey Polster ’94 zinpatico@aol.com C FIU Chicago Alumni Chapter

Puerto Rico Amanda Wood amawood@fiu.edu

China Lin Gao Glin001@fiu.edu Dallas Luis Blandon ’02 lblan028@fiu.edu C Dallas Chapter - FIU Alumni Organization

San Francisco Shalini “Sarena” Bahad ’10 sarenabahad@gmail.com C San Francisco Bay Area FIU Alumni Chapter Seattle Amanda Wood amawood@fiu.edu Tallahassee Bill Wilson ’06 wwilson01@gmail.com C FIU Tallahassee Alumni & Friends Chapter Tampa Ryan Blank ’07 rblan008@gmail.com C Tampa Bay FIU Alumni Trinidad and Tobago Ryan Jagessar ryanjagessar@gmail.com Washington, D.C. Silvia Tergas ’08 stergas@gmail.com C FIU in DC

FALL 2013 | 47

Class Notes 1970s Albert Lorenzo ’74, president of QBA Consulting, Steven Berwick ’74, principal at Kaufman, Rossin & Co., and Frank Gonzalez ’90, principal at Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, have been appointed to the FIU Foundation board.

Claire Raley ’78 was named senior vice president and community development officer by BankUnited in Miami Lakes.

1980s Yvonne Debesa ’82 received a 2013 Sapoznik Insurance Alumni Achievement Award, which recognizes South Florida leaders and entrepreneurs who grew up in the community and are alumni of local high schools. Debesa is senior vice president and chief operative officer for Sunstate Bank.

Kenneth Christopher MPA ’83 was appointed associate vice president for academic affairs at Park University in Parkville, Mo., where he previously was associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and associate professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice Administration. Prior to moving to Missouri in 2006, Christopher taught at Lynn University and St. Thomas University in South Florida and served as chief of security for the Port of Miami and a captain with the Miami-Dade, Police Department.

Pablo E Garcia ’85 is a proud Panther papa who, with his family, recently saw son Alex Garcia off to FIU for his freshman year.

Dad holds football season tickets this year as the younger Garcia is on the team.

Alberto Peraza ’87, president and chief operating officer of Mercantil Commercebank, was featured in the “The Achiever,” a profile that appeared in the issue of July 4 issue of Miami Today.

Julio C. Jaramillo ’88 is the first vice president of the Florida Bar Foundation, a statewide charitable organization that provides leadership and funding for justice in Florida. He is a fellow of the foundation and previously served as a board member. Jaramillo is a founder of the Colombian American Bar Association. He has worked pro bono for the Dade County Bar Association’s “Put Something Back” program.

48 | FALL 2013

Lissette Campos ’89 is director of community affairs for WFTS-TV in Tampa-St. Petersburg. She recently attended the National Association of Broadcaster’s Service to America Awards Ceremony to accept the 2013 “Service to Community” Award on behalf of her station, which was honored for its annual domestic violence awareness campaign. She cites her FIU journalism professors as influential in her success.

Ernie Diaz ’89 was named regional president of TD Bank in Florida. Miami Today featured him as “Miami’s Achiever” in its May 9 issue.

1990s Helene Ballmann Dudley ’90 received the Lillian Carter Award from former President Jimmy Carter on May 15 in Atlanta. The award honors outstanding senior volunteers who have kept alive President John F. Kennedy’s dream of international service.

Christine Allen ’91 recently retired from the Miami-Dade County Public School System after 30 years of service. She will now teach religious education at Indian River State College as a staff member for Intervarsity Campus Ministry. As an elementary school teacher, Allen was elected Teacher of the Year three times and won Florida State Educator of the Year once. She’s been recognized in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers publication twice in the last decade.

Janet Bond Brill MS ’92, a noted nutritionist, launched her third book, Blood Pressure DOWN, from Three Rivers Press, in May. The book is a compendium of multiple evidence-based lifestyle techniques proven to reduce blood pressure.

Kevin Brown ’93 was promoted from senior manager to principal at EY, a professional services organization. Brown has more than four years of experience serving various industries. As a principal, he will continue his commitment to quality client service and building a better working world on a daily basis.

Pano Karatassos ’93 announced the planned opening of Lobster Bar Sea Grill in Ft. Lauderdale. The restaurant will be the 17th for the Atlanta-based Buckhead Life Restaurant Group run by the Karatassos family and its third in Florida, where fans rave about Chops Lobster Bar and City Fish Market in Boca Raton.

Tamara Hanson ’96, writing under the pen name Ciara Knight, has published five novels in two-and-a-half years.

Most recently, she released Escapement, the first book of the Neumarian Chronicles, which is an Amazon bestseller in the science fiction, fantasy and young adult categories. Her debut novel, The Curse of Gremdon, was released to great acclaim and secured several distinctions as did Book I: Rise From Darkness, a young adult novel in her Battle for Souls series. Hanson balances book signings, blogging and social media while raising three boys.

Frances Arber Yurkevich ’96 and husband Michael Yurkevich welcomed baby boy Gavin Markus on January 26.

Cesar Gonzalez ’97, chief of staff to Florida Congressman Mario DiazBalart, was cited as one of “5 Staffers to Watch in Immigration Reform” in National Journal.

Angie Puentes-Leon ’98

and husband Jesse Leon ’03 welcomed a baby boy to the family. Agustin was born on February 25 and joins his big sister Grace, age 4. Dad Jesse, a sales account director at Discovery Networks Latin America, is juggling fatherhood with training for his second Ironman next year. He finished the Ironman Arizona 2012 triathlon with a time of 14 hours, 28 minutes and 40 seconds.

Kamala Wright ’98 is the owner of Edit Your Image Massages, a mobile massage company. Wright also works full-time for the Miami-Dade Police Department in the Fiscal Administration Bureau.

John Fiumecaldo ’99 is a senior paralegal with the Defender Association of Philadelphia and also represents first-time offenders in an accelerated rehabilitation program. Prior to moving to Philadelphia 11 years ago, he was a paralegal and investigator in the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office.

2002

Then and now: Theater alumni recently reprised their roles in a campus revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross, about four desperate real estate agents who will do

Charles B. Sachs ’99 was named principal

anything to sell undesirable

and wealth manager by Private Wealth Counsel. He was most recently a principal of Evensky & Katz Wealth Management.

properties. Left to right:

Ivan Lopez ’03, Jose Llorens ’03, Richard Waugh ’07 and Daniel Gutierrez ’06.

2000s Alexander Binelo ’03 was named a

2013

fellow of the Miami Foundation, a program that focuses on building individual’s knowledge, networks and abilities to increase their community engagement and impact. He is currently a director at Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC.

Carla Rosell ’03 and Jessica Mercado were married on June 27 in the Manhattan city clerk’s office.

The two are currently doctoral candidates in the Department of English at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Juan M. Burgos ’04 was promoted this year to supervisory contract specialist with the United States Coast Guard in Miami.

Previously he was a contract specialist with the U.S. National Park Service in Homestead.

Silka M. Gonzalez ’05, president and founder of Enterprise Risk Management, was featured in an article titled “Enterprise Risk Management: Taking on the hackers” in the Miami Herald.

Lorena Monde ’06 is the cofounder of Truly Yours, a bath and beauty products line that uses special oils to help balance the chakras, or body’s energy sources. Monde will be traveling to her husband’s hometown in India this December for their Marathi-style traditional Indian wedding ceremony.

Xiuramys Rodriguez ’06 received a 10-Year Service Award from Big Brothers/Big Sisters earlier this year. She marvels that the “little sister” she met and mentored since the age of seven is today a lovely 17-year-old.

Alumni Association Lifetime Member

Jason Tarazi ’06 was promoted earlier this year from principal recruiter, commercial banking, to recruiting manager, commercial banking, for Capitol One in Washington, D.C.

Jason Auricchio ’07

and Cristina DeVito ’07 were married in July. He is a managing associate/financial advisor with Mass MutualDBS Financial, and she is an occupational therapist at Miami’s Alfano Center.

Sarah Bryan Reynoso ’07

and Francisco Reynoso ’07 were married in June 2013 after meeting while completing their undergraduate physics degrees at FIU. She recently received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and works with Intel. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in medical physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and currently performs research at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, as part of his doctoral dissertation project.

Lindsay Rosenthal ’07 won the Ms. Foundation for Women 2013-2014 fellowship and started working in the foundation’s advocacy and policy department in September. Rosenthal identifies the best strategies for increasing access to health care services for girls currently in, or transitioning from, the juvenile justice and foster care systems. In 2010 Rosenthal earned a master’s degree in humanities from the University of Chicago. She has advocated on behalf of youth and, especially, girls in a number of positions and served as an intern for the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Natalie Ogando ’09 is the new director of 20|20 Research’s focus-group facility in Miami. She has been with the company for six years and oversees operations and manages recruitment for a sister facility.

A research company that supports the technology and field service needs of market researchers, 20|20 Research has pioneered a number of online and facilitybased qualitative research techniques.

FALL 2013 | 49

Lily de Calle ’10 launched a bilingual advertising agency. LD Creative provides advertising services, including graphic design, copywriting and social media management for small to medium-sized businesses in South Florida. “We’re very excited to take advertising in Miami to the next level and to help local businesses make their mark,” says de Calle, who is the creative director.

Javier Hernandez ’13 recently became FIU’s Federal Relations intern in Washington D.C. He previously interned at the Americans for Immigrant Justice, a Miami-based nonprofit organization that protects and promotes the human rights of immigrants.

Kim Yantis ’10 is an exhibit specialist

passed away on November 15, 2012, at the age of 95. After earning her degree in criminal justice from FIU, she went on to earn a master’s degree and, at the age of 75, a Ph.D. in education. She began her professional career as a civil servant, taking assignments in Bermuda and Honolulu. She accepted the position of education officer at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska and eventually retired from Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, where she served for 32 years.

at the Deering Estate at Cutler, which falls within the Miami-Dade Parks and Opens Spaces Department. She is in charge of annual exhibitions and arts programming, curating at least two historic and contemporary exhibits per year and runs the artist-in-residence program and works to create partnerships with arts organizations and local schools. Previously, she was an adjunct instructor at Miami Dade College.

Pamela Ferratjans ’11 was named business banking development officer by TotalBank. She previously was a licensed banker at JP Morgan.

Rebecca Burton ’12 was called one of the “new, young and up-and-coming science, health and environmental writers and reporters” by industry trade publication Scientific American in its online SA Incubator. Burton, who was active in the South Florida News Service and later participated in the Scripps Semester in Washington, is currently pursuing a master’s in science/health communications at the University of Florida.

In memoriam Elizabeth “Betty” J. Boyd-Beu ’74

Barbara G. Heiman ’74 passed away on July 30 at the age of 83. A psychologist, she founded and ran Introductions Inc., one of the first matchmaking businesses. A true techie until the end, Bobbie remained sharp, knowledgeable, fiercely independent and, according to her family, “feisty.” She was a go-getter who always was eager to lend a helping hand and reveled in her grandchildren.

for the Hillsborough County School System.

Her family stated that she was very proud to have received a degree as a “senior” student and grateful to FIU for the opportunity.

Jeanne Kates ’82, MA ’84 passed away on July 8. Prior to enrolling at FIU, she and her husband built a successful agriculture business in south Miami-Dade County and raised two sons. With a pair of degrees from FIU, she took a position in the Department of Political Science, where she taught courses in international relations and comparative politics and, notably, took charge of FIU’s Model United Nations program. For years she trained team after team in the art of negotiation and compromise, and honed students’ skills in both oral and written communication. From her earliest days leading FIU’s contingent to the New York competition, the delegation annually distinguished itself and won awards. Her former colleagues attribute the program’s continuing success to her legacy and the foundation she built. Kates was recognized by the university with a medallion at the spring 2005 commencement, soon after which she retired.

O’byne Hedgecock Rexrode ’83 passed away on January 8 at the age of 82.

She graduated from the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in her 50s, after which she returned to her native Tampa and became a food service manager

CONNECT. ENJOY. CONNECT.GIVE GIVE BACK. BACK. ENJOY.

Membership dues help scholarships andand alumni Membership duescreate help create scholarships alumni programming, turn help a stronger FIUand and programming, which which in turninhelp buildbuild a stronger FIU ultimately increases the value of your degree. ultimately increases the value of your degree.

#FIUalumni #FIUalumni

Plus, members enjoy more than 100,000 discounts from our Plus, members enjoy more than 100,000 discounts from our Panther Perk Partners, a free subscription to our Pantheraward-winning Perk Partners, a free subscription to our FIU Magazine, and more. award-winning FIU Magazine, and more.

facebook.com/FIUalumni facebook.com/FIUalumni

Don't forget to visit our website, FIUalumni.com, and follow us Don't forget FIUalumni.com, onlinetosovisit youour can website, learn about exclusive eventsand and follow special us You can also stay in touch with us by texting FIUALUMNI online sooffers. you can learn about exclusive events and special to 313131. offers. You can also stay in touch with us by texting FIUALUMNI

FIUalumni.com/linkedin

to 313131.

We hope you join the FIU Alumni Association today!

@FIUalumni

@FIUalumni

@FIUalumni

@FIUalumni

FIUalumni.com/linkedin

FIUalumni.com/join

FIUalumni.com/join

New Alumni Association Lifetime Members (As of January) Armando R. Acha ’11 Doel Acosta Kathleen A. Ashby ’94 Edward A. Baro ’97 Miguel A. Cabrera ’88 Yolanda Caldas ’12 Suzanne Cardonne ’08 Julissa A. Castellanos ’93 Patricia E. Chen ’95 Gina L. Chevannes ’12 Kyle S. Conroy ’12 Grettel L. Cousins ’94 Sarah D’Antoni Errol E. Davis ’04 Maria I. de Andrade ’88 Fernando Delcampo Andres A. Diaz ’04 Francois A. Domond ’93 Alejandro Duart Maria V. Elkind ’08 Cristine Figueroa ’07 Liza Fleming Joel Frewa ’12 Ignacio B. Garcia de Osuna ’76 Nelly Garcia-Osuna

Marco Gatica Marco A. Gomez ’06 Paola Gomez-Perez Juan C. Gonzalez ’85 Kathie K. Graham ’93 Mark D. Greenwald ’95 John E. Hardin ’88 Dennis Hendricks Abelardo Hernandez ’81 Ela M. Hernandez ’06 Camille S. Heron ’12 Paul E. Ireland ’13 Dwayne M. Isaac ’97 Pedro A. Izaguirre ’77 Andrea D. Jay ’10 Ali Karbasi ’12 Gary E. Lann ’94 Donna L. Levengood ’93 Alejandro L. Lima ’92 Margaret Lukic ’93 Hilda C. Martinez ’11 Andy C. Mccright ’01 Natalie L. Merola Martha N. Montoya ’95 Zavier Moreno ’12

Patrick M. O’Connell ’92 Rosa M. Oses-Prealoni ’90 Babatunde M. Oshokoya ’87 Anthony J. Palacios ’09 Jessy L. Palma ’04 Matthew R. Pandos ’86 Andra O. Parrish Liwag Genna Patullo Vanessa M. Peeck Orlando L. Perez ’97 Alicia Pruna ’87 Melvin Raines ’05 Elizabeth M. Ray ’12 Barbara M. Rios ’13 Fernando J. Rodriguez ’07 Denise A. Salabie ’12 Theresa G. Schreiber ’10 Sanja Shank ’91 Raghavaperumal Sreenivasan ’95 Diego Suarez Barry A. Taylor Aslynn M. Tigera ’98 Shani A. Virtue ’00 Steven Watnik ’13

Support FIU’s Future. Leave a Legacy.

Make a philanthropic investment that will benefit generations to come and secure your legacy through a planned gift to FIU. Learn about the many ways that you can make a difference, provide for the future and save taxes. Call us at the FIU Planned Giving Office at 305-348-6298 and visit us at

.

SPRING 2013 | 51

“The unbreakable will of the human spirit”

Navigating an unrelenting string of tragedies imbues an alumna with uncommon wisdom In her memoir, “Girl with the Crooked Smile: Stuck in a Moment,” excerpted here, Darah Zeledon MA ’00 takes readers on an intense and moving journey that begins with her diagnosis of a brain tumor. At the time pregnant with the fourth of her five children and living in Latin America, she undergoes surgery that steals the hearing in one ear and leaves her face deformed. But those concerns quickly take a backseat to dealing with the hardships that follow: a brother’s suicide, an armed robbery, a gruesome accident and a business collapse that leaves her family penniless. Zeledon confronts reality with courage as she fights to keep her sanity and, along the way, finds the strength to share her newfound insight.

By Darah Zeledon Over a period of six difficult years, I had become a chameleon, a true master at adapting to the fluctuations of fate. A realist

disappeared from our everyday life. A

Despite this existential tug of war that

semblance of routine and stability filled the

assaults my soul, each day I strive to channel

void of gratuitous chaos.

a smorgasbord of emotions, destructive

The familiar cries of my loyal companions—

tendencies and impulses in a positive

who never lost hope, I embarked each day

anxiety and desperation—slowly died down.

direction. Because if nothing else, I’ve learned

on a personal journey to start fresh, as if

I found solace in writing. I preferred this form

that problems are disguised opportunities for

yesterday’s bad luck never existed.

of communication above all others, perhaps

personal growth.

All the suffering, stress and losses have made me into the person I am today. During

due to my sensory impairments and inability

My overriding goal is this: discover what I

to multitask.

am made of so I can strive to be the woman

this metamorphosis, I

I want to see reflected in my

became a warrior as I

children’s eyes. They and

traveled a labyrinth of

“All the suffering, stress and

my loving husband keep

instability and insecurity.

losses have made me the

me on task. My life force

When my life began

person I am today. I became a

to unfold like a soap

warrior as I traveled a labyrinth

opera, there were only

of instability and insecurity.”

two choices: adapt

— Darah Zeledon

and plough through, or shrivel up and perish.

accountable to them.

My story is just one of many that are testament to the unbreakable will of the human spirit. For so

I chose the former. My family looked to me to be strong, to hold it

is driven by a hunger to be

many of us, the struggles Throughout it all, I grew in character and

of the heart never end. We must trust in the

together. So I dove into a parallel reality and

depth. I learned to handle crisis like a full-

process, for growth and character are born

fancied myself a soldier. By evoking my rich

fledged grownup.

from pain and suffering. There are no ways

childhood imagination and assuming the

And despite this newfound adulthood,

mindset of a combatant, I pushed on through

I discovered that even in the aftermath

years of darkness.

of radical life-changing experiences, a

around this, no shortcuts. An easy life will not yield the same results.

When trouble strikes, all we can do is stay

Now, life was better. Our existence no

residual part of my former self still lingered.

the course and wait out the storm. Persevere.

longer was defined solely by a struggle to

Somehow I would have to embrace it all and

We have to find comfort in, or in spite of, the

survive; conflicts that previously had zapped

integrate the old, carefree dabbler with the

uncertainty, and accept that many of life’s

all our energies and time now almost entirely

new, war-torn me.

questions are unanswerable.

52 | FALL 2013

VIP:

Very Important Panther

Cedric L. Bess ’99 • Guest Relations Supervisor, New York Yankees • President, FIU Alumni Association Greater New York Chapter • Bachelor of Science in Communication (Public Relations), School of Journalism and Mass Communication • Lifetime Member, FIU Alumni Association Q: How did your interest in public relations develop?

A: Once I realized that becoming a professional baseball player was not in the cards for me, I had to figure out a Plan B. After taking an intro communications course as an elective, the proverbial light bulb clicked on for me. I love telling a good story; I enjoy public speaking; I enjoy helping and making a difference in the lives of others. What that course really taught me was I could do all of those things, and more, working in public relations.

Q: Do you have a philosophy that guides your work today?

A: After being laid off from a corporate communications job during the economic downturn in 2008, I changed the status on my online profile to “Every day I’m hustling!” Nearly five years later, that status update hasn’t changed. As a professional, you must make every effort to work harder and smarter than everyone else in the game because if you don’t, there’s always someone looking to take your spot. If it means being the first to arrive and the last one to leave, or volunteering to take on new projects or leadership roles, then that’s exactly what I’ll do to demonstrate my value to the organization.

Q: As guest relations supervisor at Yankee Stadium, what’s your advice for working with the public?

A: The key thing is to always listen carefully and greet everyone with a smile. If you don’t listen carefully to the needs of your guests or colleagues, you run the risk of making the situation worse. Effective communication, both verbal and non-verbal, is the key to resolving almost every issue.

Q: You are president of the FIU Alumni Association’s New York chapter. Why is that important to you?

A: When I moved to New York in 2002, I didn’t have a social network outside of the office. It would’ve made my transition so much smoother if I had had fellow FIU alumni to lean on. This is the mission of FIUNYC: to connect alumni and provide unique opportunities for networking and professional development. It’s about recreating that FIU family atmosphere here in New York.

Q: What do you do when you’re not working?

A: If I’m not working a baseball game, I’m either watching one or playing one. My goal is to visit all of the other 29 major league ballparks—only 17 to go! Or you might find me at a local hotspot brushing up on my salsa moves. I guess you can take the boy out of Miami, but you can’t take Miami out of the boy!

Photo by Robert Caplin FALL 2013 | 53

FIU founding President Charles E. Perry, right, and Vice President Donald McDowell survey the vandalism of their state-issued car in October, 1969. The headache proved to be no more than a small bump on the road as they drove toward their goal of opening South Florida’s public university less than three years later.

Get the full story at go.fiu.edu/historyphoto