Chapman Magazine Spring 2015

ON THE COVER: It’s a cross-cultural moment Mel Metcalfe won’t soon forget. As Chapman University documentary film students captured footage of a music class drumming on the cobblestone streets of Trinidad, Cuba, Metcalfe glanced inside a nearby classroom and snapped a photo of a young student for whom digital cameras are a curiosity. Later, the girl beamed when she viewed her image on a tiny screen, recalls Metcalfe, an adjunct faculty member who helped lead the Chapman Interterm travel course. “She immediately called her friends over, and they all got excited,” he says.

In a number of ways, the moment exemplifies the Chapman students’ Cuban experience. During a time when officials in both countries are taking historic steps to restore diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, the visitors got a fresh look at island life. What’s more, the Chapman scholars found that everyday Cubans are just as intrigued by American culture. Learn more about this journey of discovery on page 20.

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On a brilliant day in March, the Bert Williams Mall saw a lot more color than just green. Students celebrated the Hindu tradition of Holi, also known as the “festival of colors.” As they excitedly tossed colored powders and water into the air, students saw their clothes, hair and skin turn an array of hues. The festival provides a moment to play, laugh and celebrate spring.

Photo by Nathan Worden ’13 (MBA ’15)

IN THIS ISSUE UP FRONT

DEPARTMENTS

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President’s Message

10 Chatter

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First Person: From Day One, Kate Westervelt ’09 and Her “Roomies for Life” Establish an Unbreakable Bond

11 Seen & Heard

CHAPMAN NOW 5

The College of Performing Arts and College of Educational Studies Welcome New Deans

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Tonys, Grammys and Emmys: It’s Been a Rewarding Time for Chapman Alumni, Faculty and Trustees

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Opera Chapman Graduates Transition to Professional Success

12 Sarah Anderson ’10 Offers Tips on Preparing the Perfect Pour After She Wins a U.S. Brewers Cup Title

28 Sports: As He Begins His Retirement, Dave Currey Leaves Behind a Championship-Caliber Legacy 34 In Memoriam: Joan Mt. Pleasant Chapman, Joel Moskowitz, Cameron Sinclair

FEATURES 14 Law of the Labs: The Fowler School Brings in Experts to Help Students Become Practice-Ready 16 Reversing the Conversation: A Chapman Conference Will Illuminate Dyslexia’s Challenges and Opportunities 24 Future Pharma: Translational Research Puts Chapman at the Forefront of Industry Advance 32 Four-Part Harmony: The Wimberley Siblings Share a Bluegrass Connection and Grand Ole Dreams

ALUMNI NEWS 38 The Spirit That Launched Rick Eisleben’s Career is Still Evident at Chapman Radio 39 Class Notes

p r e s i d e n t ’s m e s s a g e

first person

Still a Land of Opportunity

THROUGH GLASS HALL WARMLY

No question, the lunches my mom made marked me as a different kind of kid in grade school.

I’d open my Gene Autry lunch box and surreptitiously lift out the sandwich my mom had lovingly packed. The aroma of eggplant parmigiana was a dead giveaway.

By Kate Westervelt ’09

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HE YEAR WAS 2005, AND UP IN ROOM 307 OF GLASS HALL,

I SAT BY THE WINDOW, FEELING THE CALIFORNIA SUN

My parents were born in Italy, but they wanted their four children to be red, white and blue Americans. As much as they tried to conform to the strange language, customs and traditions of their adopted country, they drew the line at food.

But there was also something else about our culture that stood out. Hardly a day went by without my dad telling me, “We left the old country so you kids would have the opportunities we didn’t have.”

During the Great Depression, my dad had to leave high school after only two years because he had the only job in the family.

Maybe that’s why his greatest pleasure was his kids’ educational accomplishments. The happiest day of my dad’s life had to be the day my brother Frank graduated from law school. I will never forget Dad’s look of pride at that moment.

These thoughts were rekindled for me recently when I read the personal essays of the Orange High School students who applied to become Simon STEM scholars, a scholarship made possible by

Board of Trustees OFFICERS David A. Janes, Sr. Chair Wylie A. Aitken Vice Chair David E.I. Pyott Vice Chair Scott Chapman Secretary Zelma M. Allred Assistant Secretary TRUSTEES Donna Ford Attallah ’61 Raj S. Bhathal James P. Burra Michael J. Carver Phillip H. Case Akin Ceylan ’90 Irving M. Chase Hazem H. Chehabi Stephen J. Cloobeck Jerome W. Cwiertnia Zeinab H. Dabbah (JD ’12) Kristina Dodge James Emmi Dale E. Fowler ’58 Barry Goldfarb Stan Harrelson Roger C. Hobbs William K. Hood

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Mark Chapin Johnson ’05 Jennifer L. Keller Parker S. Kennedy Joe E. Kiani Joann Leatherby Charles D. Martin James V. Mazzo Sebastian Paul Musco Frank O’Bryan Harry S. Rinker James B. Roszak The Honorable Loretta Sanchez ’82 Mohindar S. Sandhu James Ronald Sechrist Ronald M. Simon Ronald E. Soderling Emily Crean Vogler Karen R. Wilkinson ’69 David W. Wilson EMERITUS CHAIRS The Honorable George L. Argyros ’59 Doy B. Henley Donald E. Sodaro EMERITUS TRUSTEES Richard Bertea Lynn Hirsch Booth Arlene R. Craig J. Ben Crowell

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Ron and Sandy Simon and other generous people who provide a highly regarded mentoring program in high school as well as full tuition and room and board at Chapman University.

Here’s how Angel Diaz concludes his essay: “My parents saw that there was much more opportunity for their children if they came to America. Leaving Mexico, and all that tied them to it, was not easy. But they made the sacrifices for their children.

I love my parents for many reasons, but I love them most because of this. And I can think of no better way to repay them for their selfsacrifice than to take advantage of the opportunity before me now.”

Even though his parents came from Mexico while mine from Italy, I share similar thoughts with Angel. Our parents left their native countries so that we could have the opportunities they didn’t have.

We live in a great country. Regrettably, we often forget why it’s great. Angel and the other Simon scholars remind us.

Regards,

ON MY PALE SKIN AS I NERVOUSLY AWAITED THE ARRIVAL OF MY SOON-TO-BE ROOMMATES, KARLA AND KELSEY.

With a rush of enthusiasm, in they came, their parents in tow. Karla, her kind nature already apparent, filled the room with a glowing energy. Kelsey, cool as a cucumber, exuded the poise and grace one could only hope for.

I was immediately enamored of their wit and their warmth as they greeted me, an awkward girl from rural New Hampshire who had never so much as seen a palm tree.

Jim Doti

Leslie N. Duryea Robert A. Elliott David C. Henley Jack B. Lindquist Randall R. McCardle ’58 (M.A.’66) Cecilia Presley Barry Rodgers Richard R. Schmid R. David Threshie EX OFFICIO TRUSTEES Donna S. Bianchi James E. Blalock (JD ’09) Reverend LaTaunya Bynum ’76 Reverend Don Dewey James L. Doti Kelsey C. Flewellen ’05 Judith A. Garfi-Partridge Reverend Dayna Kinkade Penni McRoberts ’71 Reverend Felix Villanueva Reverend Denny Williams

Board of Governors OFFICERS Judith A. Garfi-Partridge Chair Melinda M. Masson Executive Vice Chair Thomas E. Malloy Vice Chair

Douglas E. Willits ’72 Secretary GOVERNORS George Adams, Jr. Marilyn Alexander Lula F. Halfacre Andre Lisa Argyros ’07 Margaret Baldwin Deborah Bridges Barbara Brogliatti Brenda Carver Eva Chen Paul A. Cook Ronn C. Cornelius Suzanne Ellingson Kathleen M. Gardarian W. Gregory Geiger Steve Greinke Galen Grillo (EMBA ’13) Rebecca A. Hall ’96 Sinan Kanatsiz ’97 (M.A. ’00) Elim Kay ’09 Scott A. Kisting John L. Kokulis Dennis Kuhl Michael Penn (JD ’04) Betty Mower Potalivo James F. Wilson EMERITUS GOVERNORS Marta S. Bhathal Kathleen A. Bronstein

Gary E. Liebl Jean H. Macino Richard D. Marconi Jerrel T. Richards EX OFFICIO GOVERNORS Sheryl A. Bourgeois James L. Doti

President’s Cabinet Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos George L. Argyros, Jr. ’89, (JD ’01) Julianne Argyros Joyce Brandman Heidi Cortese Sherman Lawrence K. Dodge Onnolee B. Elliott (M.A. ’64) Paul Folino Douglas K. Freeman Marie Gray Frank P. Greinke Gavin S. Herbert Shelley Hoss Steeve Kay General William Lyon The Honorable Milan Panic Lord Swarj Paul James H. Randall The Honorable Ed Royce Susan Samueli Ralph Stern David Stone Alan L. True

BY THE END OF OUR FIRST SEMESTER — SOMEWHERE BETWEEN CAFETERIA TATER TOTS AND ALL-NIGHT GIRL TALK — WE HAD FORGED AN UNBREAKABLE BOND.

Those first weeks of college passed quickly, and by the end of our first semester — somewhere between cafeteria tater tots and all-night girl talk — we had forged an unbreakable bond. We had even recruited a fourth amiga, Gabby, from a few doors down. She was 5-footnothing and 90 pounds, with the biggest heart imaginable and enough brainpower to help us all get through statistics class.

We became inseparable. When junior year rolled around, the four of us moved off campus together, and by the end of senior year we had seen each other through endless studying, countless bad dates and the acquisition of a mix of second-hand furniture that was, by all accounts, as ready for Commencement as we were. During the years that have followed, grad school and careers have taken us in different directions, but we’ve never

been more than a phone call or funny text message apart.

Had you told me on that very first day of college that Karla, Kelsey and Gabby would stand with me on my wedding day nearly a decade later, I probably would have laughed. Who gets that lucky? But they were all there last June, having flown to New Hampshire from across the country to fluff my veil and help me into my dress.

Karla was seven months pregnant with her first child, and she still didn’t miss a beat, even on the dance floor. Two months later she went into labor while my husband and I attended a wedding in Detroit. I whispered to anyone who would listen, “My best friend is in labor, so if I sneak out it’s because her husband is calling with the news!” There I was, in the middle of a proper Catholic wedding, explaining my exit strategy to complete strangers while my husband served as a groomsman.

By the time “You may kiss the bride” was announced, I had slipped out the side door for the seventh time and was profusely shedding tears of baby-boy joy.

What a wonderful day.

Meet the Chapman roomies (shown in June 2014, when they gathered in New Hampshire for Westervelt’s wedding). From left: Kelsey Rae Lawrence, B.A. art ’09, is the Orange County retail specialist at CorePower Yoga as well as a yoga instructor. Her work was recently featured in SHAPE magazine. She posts about fitness on Instagram at @Kayraaae.

Kate Westervelt, B.A. public relations and advertising ’09, is the magazine partner editor for Wayfair.com.

Her work has been featured in Good Housekeeping, Huffington Post Home and Thought Catalog. She and her husband divide their time between Boston and New York City.

Karla Brasch Edmunds, B.A. psychology ’09, is pursuing a Psy.D. degree in clinical psychology at Alliant International University. She is also a full-time mom and part-time psychological assistant in Southern California.

Gabby Bashist, B.A. Spanish ’09, worked on sustainable development projects as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 2010 to 2013. She now works as an organizational development specialist in Irvine and plans to pursue an MBA.

But that’s life, beautiful and intoxicating, propelling the four of us into brand-new chapters. Though separated by miles, we are still every bit as together as we were those first days in Glass Hall.

I have no formula for such enduring friendships beyond one part love and another part admiration, one part past and another part future. No one gets that lucky — but somehow we did. And the only way to do that luck any justice at all is never to take these friendships for granted. To think of them every time the sun hits my face; to let the memories of endless college laughter take me back whenever possible.

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Comments (Posted to stories at chapman.edu/magazine)

❯❯ Upcoming

“State of Inspiration” — Winter 2015 feature on the Hilbert Collection of California Scene and representational art This is great news! It’s a fantastic collection! Many thanks to Mark and Janet Hilbert for their focus and passion in assembling these wonderful pieces, and for their generous donation to Chapman University for the museum. – DIANE FRYE

“Sustainability Hits Home at the Solar Decathlon” — Winter 2015

Jonathan Johnson ‘10

❯❯ Chapman

Congratulations to the many people who are making the Solar Decathlon a unique learning opportunity for Chapman’s students, from President Doti and Chancellor Struppa to the student leaders Ginah Yoo ’16 and Jane Choi ’15 and the excellent Chapman students working on everything from filming a documentary for Team Orange to marketing, communicating and educating the public on this project. Go, Team Orange! – BLUEBERRY792

In many ways, the schools of inner-city New Orleans are a battleground, pitting educators against the overwhelming pull of the streets. In his classroom, award-winning teacher Jonathan Johnson ’10 has worked “to prove the dominant narrative wrong” and demonstrate to his students “how critical it is for them to overcome.” Now Johnson is thinking even bigger, partnering with local business leaders, education innovators and others as he seeks to develop a whole new model of instruction. We step inside the ambitious project that is Rooted School.

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NEW CHAPMAN GOVERNORS “Interterm Travel Courses Broaden Chapman University Students’ Horizons” If I hadn’t gone abroad on the London Theatre Tour for Interterm during my senior year, I never would have made it in the career I am in today (I’m senior writer for the Long Beach Business Journal). That course gave me direction in life, even if I didn’t know it at the time. – GUEST

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NEW DEANS TO LEAD CES, CoPA

in Chapman Magazine

Brenda Carver

Suzanne Ellingson

An inspiring entrepreneur, Carver has built multiple businesses into positions of industry leadership. Currently she is president of STM — Strength Transportation Management, a highly successful trucking company, and she owns two self-storage locations. Her charitable interests include the Orange Public Library Foundation, Rancho Santiago Retreat Center, Taller San Jose and Rotary International. She is married to Chapman Trustee Michael J. Carver.

Their daughter, KaSondra ’12, is a Chapman graduate, and their son, Austin, is a student at Brandman University.

After a 15-year career in commercial equipment leasing, Ellingson joined her family’s business, Brasstech/Newport Brass, a maker of fine faucets and fixtures, as vice president of administration. After the sale of the business in 2003, she has continued to do human resource consulting and has worked with many nonprofits, including Working Wardrobes and Orangewood Mentor Program. As a Chapman governor, she builds on the legacy of her late parents, Phyllis and Ross Escalette, longtime Chapman supporters. Her daughter, Morgan Helmstetter ’13, is a Chapman graduate.

A TRADITION OF COMMUNITY TEACHING HELPS ATTRACT MARGARET GROGAN.

THE “AMAZING” MUSCO CENTER REFLECTS A BRIGHT FUTURE, GIULIO ONGARO SAYS.

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here are several reasons Margaret Grogan, Ph.D., looks forward to becoming the new dean at Chapman University’s College of Educational Studies (CES).

Outstanding students, innovative programs and a faculty engaged in meaningful research are among the features that attracted Grogan, currently a professor of educational leadership and policy in the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University.

But another key factor is the CES tradition of community teaching through activities like the parent education programs of Padres Unidos and literacy events at Librería Martinez de Chapman University.

“That’s very important because we’ve really come to understand that learning takes place in so many different environments,” says Grogan, who formally takes on her new role July 1.

Grogan says such approaches also dovetail with her primary area of research — leadership development as it relates to gender, education and social justice.

“Leadership is about forming relationships and really getting to know Margaret Grogan, Ph.D. the human beings in the organization so that everyone is working together,” she says.

Grogan will replace Don Cardinal, Ph.D., who is stepping down as dean to return to teaching at Chapman and to continue his work as chair of the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, a collaborative effort between Chapman, UC Irvine and several autism agencies.

Grogan received a bachelor of arts degree in ancient history and Japanese language from the University of Queensland.

She taught high school in Australia, and was a teacher and an administrator at the International School of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, where she lived for 17 years.

With a Ph.D. in educational administration from Washington State University, she taught educational leadership and policy at the University of Virginia and at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Previous roles include dean of the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of MissouriColumbia, and president of the University Council for Educational Administration.

She has also authored, co-authored or edited six books, including the Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership (2013).

iulio Ongaro is a scholar of musicology whose doctoral dissertation explored the singing chapel of St. Mark’s Basilica in 16th century Venice. But that doesn’t mean his artistic mind longs to be anywhere other than in the here and now.

“We tend to look at the arts in history as if they were different from the present,” said Ongaro, Ph.D., who in April was named the new dean of the College of Performing Arts (CoPA) at Chapman University.

“In fact, when you do the kind of analysis reflected in my research, which looks at where the arts and “society interact, it’s easier to see the connections that exist in the present.”

The dynamic nature of Chapman’s present is why Ongaro wanted to become the third dean in CoPA’s history.

“The quality of the college makes this opportunity very exciting,” said Ongaro, who since 2009 has been the dean of the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific.

“No one can come to the Giulio Ongaro, Ph.D. Chapman campus and not feel the excitement. I was at USC when it really took off, and there’s a similar buzz.”

Ongaro replaces Dale Merrill, who was recently named dean of strategic planning, outreach and programming for the new Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Center for the Arts, which opens at Chapman in spring 2016. The Center is another example of the dynamism at Chapman, Ongaro noted.

“It’s an amazing facility,” he said. “I like that everyone on campus is looking at how we can leverage it to provide the best educational experience for our students.

It will be a great center of enrichment, which is what Mr. and Mrs. Musco intend.”

When Ongaro formally begins as CoPA dean Aug. 1, he plans to build on a culture of collaboration, he said. “I’ll come with ideas, but no leader can succeed without building a consensus around those ideas and goals.”

One objective already is clear.

“The basic point about any vision has to be excellence,” he said. “With small things and big things, we will work to improve every day.”

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12 TONY NOMINATIONS: KASHANI ’07, LEATHERBY WILL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS

No Slide into Boredom During Her ‘Great Course’

n American in Paris, the musical based on the classic 1951 movie, is one of the most critically acclaimed hits on Broadway this season.

As proof, it recently racked up 12 Tony nominations, tied for the most of any major theatrical production this year. And at least two members of the Chapman community are elated: Chapman alumnus Tim Kashani ’07 and Trustee Joann Leatherby, both producers of the show.

“Joann and I are incredibly proud,” Kashani said.

An American in Paris features timeless songs by George and Ira Gershwin, as well as the storyline from the movie starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.

Kashani and his wife, singer-actress-producer Pamela Kashani, are previous Tony winners. Their production company, Apples and Oranges, took home Best Musical in 2010 for Memphis. They also produced the Tony-winning revival of Hair.

The Tony Awards will be handed out Sunday, June 7, with CBS televising. For information, visit anamericaninparisbroadway.com.

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ere’s good news for all who have sat heavy-eyed in a meeting, fearing they Jennifer Waldeck, Ph.D. might fall victim to death by PowerPoint.

Jennifer Waldeck, Ph.D., associate professor in Chapman University’s Department of Communication Studies, has been tapped by The Great Courses to develop a series on business PODIUM POINTERS presentation skills. And yes, Anxious about public speaking? one of the segments will address Writing about that fear is a those ubiquitous slide shows. good way to manage it, The Great Courses, the leading Professor Waldeck says. She suggests listing everything producer of premium-quality that worries you. video and audio course content, “You’ll see that a lot of them is expanding from its traditional are irrational,” she says. base of humanities content into Then replace the negative business topics, intent on reaching list with a positive one. a new audience, Waldeck says.

Public speaking is often listed “If your fear is boring everyone in the room, say, ‘Hey, I’ve as one of people’s top fears, but spent all this time developing it’s frequently a job requirement. interesting content, I know Among the topics Waldeck has my audience and I’m meeting planned for the series are how them where they are. I can’t to bring the art of storytelling to possibly bore them.’” a business presentation, managing anxiety and crafting a persuasive message for a resistant audience.

“Public speaking has become so important to just about everyone’s career,” she says.

Composers Bradley Bell, Anthony Ferrari and Casey Kasprzyk ’01 celebrate their Emmy victory.

Tuneful Emmy for Kasprzyk ’01

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or Emmy-winning TV producer Casey Kasprzyk ’01, the statuettes and the hidden talents just keep coming. At the recent Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, Kasprzyk won in a first-time category for him: Outstanding Original Song in a Drama.

“It’s pretty surreal,” the Chapman alumnus said, “especially since I’ve never written a song before.”

Kasprzyk and co-composers Bradley Bell and Anthony Ferrari earned the prize for “Hands of Time,” written for the long-running drama The Bold and the Beautiful, which Kasprzyk produces. It was one of eight Emmys won by B&B this year — the most by any daytime show.

The show is the most-watched daytime drama series in the world, seen daily by more than 35 million people in over 100 countries. Kasprzyk started as an intern on the show and has been a producer since 2010.

National Triumph for Guitar Quartet

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hree times Chapman University ensembles have entered the prestigious Brownsville Guitar Festival and Competition in Texas, and three times they have earned championships.

The latest victory was in the quartet division

by Sean Atkinson ’16, Nate Brown ’16, Chris Horney ’15 and Brandon Miranda ’16. A link to video of the quartet is at chapman.edu/magazine.

In 2009, Chapman students won titles in the quartet and duo divisions of the national competition, with the trio winning in 2011.

Associate Professor Jeff Cogan directs the Guitar Studies Program at Chapman.

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Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope both earned lead acting Tony nominations for An American in Paris, which nabbed 12 overall.

Grammy Win a Tribute to Musical Invention

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t was no ordinary musical recording that won Chapman University’s Nick Terry a Grammy Award this February.

Terry, the director of percussion studies in the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music, triumphed as a member of the PARTCH Nick Terry ensemble, which won for Best Classical Compendium for their Harry Partch: Plectra & Percussion Dances. The recording was made with instruments created to play the works of Harry Partch, who invented his own microtonal music.

“Even though (the music) can sound strange, nearly every concert we present ends with a standing ovation,” Terry says.

©Photo by Angela Sterling

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POIGNANT REMEMBRANCE, BUOYANT ENCOUNTERS

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he lunch that follows the awards ceremony for Chapman University’s Holocaust Art and Writing Contest is always a delightful time.

Music fills the large tent on Bert Williams Mall; lunch is hot dogs, fruit, popcorn and ice pops. Hundreds of middle and high school students bustle with excitement. Guests of honor smile for countless photos.

But the smiles are just a fraction of the story. The teens and pre-teens attending have studied the accounts of survivors and worked hard to honor those memories through art, poetry, writing or film. As many survivors attend as are able, eager to connect with a new generation that will carry their hope of “never again” into a future they can only imagine.

“Do no harm,” are the words survivor Jack Pariser uses to conclude his speech during the ceremony that culminates the 2015 contest, which attracts entries from 209 schools in 120 cities, including Kosice, Slovakia, and Shanghai, China. Pariser then asks the audience to repeat the words aloud: “Do no harm.”

Afterward, guests and students pour out of Memorial Hall to visit at lunch tables, pose for photos with survivors and have them sign copies of The Holocaust Chronicle: A History in Word and Pictures. Together they touch the future. And that’s plenty of reason to smile.

Keynote speaker Jack Pariser shares a selfie moment with a young attendee after the annual awards ceremony for Chapman’s Holocaust Art and Writing Contest, presented by the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education.

If All the Sky Tour Hits D.C.

War Letters Going Digital

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f All the Sky Were Paper, the play inspired by Andrew Carroll’s travels hapman University’s massive collection of letters from to find “the most extraordinary war letters ever written,” continues on every war involving U.S. troops is a big step closer to being its own special journey. After March performances at the Kirk Douglas digitized so it can be accessed online by students, historians Theatre in Los Angeles, featuring Annette Bening, Gary Cole, Oscarand others seeking to learn from the poignant writings. winner Common and Chapman University alumni, came May dates A $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Humanities will enable the University to begin digitizing Casting for the May 21-22 performances in Washington some of the 100,000-plus letters and emails by included Jason Hall, Oscar–nominated writer of American Sniper, servicemen and women in Chapman’s Center for and Michael Conner Humphreys, who played young Forrest American War Letters. in the film Forrest Gump and later served in the U.S. Army.

The grant dovetails with the University’s new master’s If All the Sky Were Paper is written by Carroll, a chancellor’s program in war and society that debuts in the fall and fellow at Chapman, and directed by John Benitz, associate the announcement that Jennifer Keene, Ph.D., chair professor of theatre. The play showcases some of the most of the Department of History, has been elected vice moving correspondences from the University’s Center for president of the Society for Military History, an Andrew Carroll American War Letters. international organization of scholars.

Thanks to grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and The lion’s share of the war letters were donated to Chapman Cal Humanities, the play has toured the nation for two years in a series

by Chancellor’s Fellow Andrew Carroll, editor of several New York of readings and performances.

Times bestsellers, including War Letters.

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OPERA CHAPMAN ALUMNI

Enjoy Bravura Success

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o discover what alumni of Opera Chapman have been up to lately, look no further than what some of the critics have been saying. Of tenor Daniel Curran ’08, The New York Times wrote that his performance in the title role in La descente d’Orphée aux enfers with Gotham Chamber was “precise and penetrating, with careful diction and an affecting sense of seriousness.

Mr. Curran ably met the demands of the role.”

Likewise, LA Opera tenor Ben Bliss ’08 earned New York Times approval with his charming portrayal of Pedrillo from Mozart’s comic The Abduction from the Seraglio in A Concert of Comic Operas, produced by the Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School.

And that’s just to start. The voices of Opera Chapman alumni are filling major performance venues around the world. Reports of such achievements truly are music to the ears, says Peter Atherton, DMA, the Lineberger Endowed Chair in Music and director of Opera Chapman at the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music.

“It speaks highly of our program that so many graduates are enjoying success in their careers,” Atherton says. “We’re extremely proud of them and look forward to even more outstanding performances in the future.”

Weston Olson ’04

Rachel Rincione ’02

Katie Dixon ‘10

Ben Bliss ‘08

Daniel Curran ‘08

Erin Gonzalez ‘08

Efrain Solis ‘11 in La Cenerentola

Consider their achievements: Orphée in Cegeste at Pittsburgh Opera, First Jew in Salome at Opera San Antonio, Florencia in Florencia in el Amazonas at Washington National Opera, Tonio in La fille du régiment at Pittsburgh Opera and Will Ladislaw in Middlemarch in Spring with Composers, Inc. This June he will sing the role of Nebuchadnezzar in The Burning Fiery Furnace at Ballet Opera Pantomime in Montreal.

Daniel Curran ’08 as Gilbert Griffiths in An American Tragedy

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Bliss will sing the tenor solos in Haydn’s Creation, with conductor James Conlon, at the Cincinnati May Festival. This summer he will sing Belmonte, the lead tenor in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Des Moines Metro Opera, and the role of Tony in highlights of West Side Story on tour with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic in New York, Vail, Colo., and Santa Barbara.

Curran’s engagements this season included the role of Gilbert Griffiths in An American Tragedy at Glimmerglass Festival, Cassio in Otello and

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

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Lyric coloratura soprano Katie Dixon ’10, hailed by Opera News as “a natural with a sparkling personality and top notes to match,” was recently seen as Johanna in Sweeney Todd with Nevada Opera, and at Avery Fisher Hall in Babes in Toyland with the Little Orchestra Society in New York City.

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Kevin Gino ’14 just completed his first year of graduate studies at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and received a full scholarship to The Music Academy of the West for summer 2015, during which he will sing the tenor solos in the Beethoven Ninth Symphony performances.

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Erin Gonzalez ’08, a studio artist with Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, was a Metropolitan Opera Regional Finalist this year and sang the title role in Cinderella with Pacific Symphony in February.

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Lyric soprano Rachel Rincione ’02 is understudy for the role of the factory girl who intercepts Fantine’s letter in the current Broadway production of Les Misérables.

In addition, she is a swing for the production, which means she covers all eight ladies ensemble

tracks and sometimes plays two or three roles in the same show.

“It’s nuts!” she says.

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Weston Olson ’04 is a swing in Les Miz. Like Rincione, he enjoys bouncing between roles in the Broadway production, in which he is understudy for 12 different ensemble roles and features. “I constantly have to check in with myself onstage and off to make sure I know who I am and what I’m doing,” he says in a recent post on the official Les Miz Tumblr feed.

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Baritone Efrain Solis ’11, a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, portrayed Prince Yamadori in Madame Butterfly, Christian in A Masked Ball and Dandini in Cinderella. This summer and fall he’ll sing in the company’s productions of The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute.

chapman now

Seen Heard &

All during April, visitors to Leatherby Libraries could spin a metal dial, lift a tiny door and pull out a skillfully wordsmithed surprise. The poetic treats were the brainchild of David Krausman (M.A./MFA ’16), who decided to enliven National Poetry Month by filling a gumball machine with lines of verse written by Chapman University students, alumni, professors and others. The poets were eager to contribute lines, Krausman said, and a student creativity grant paid for the machine, which he bought new online.

“I wanted one that would essentially live a life by poetry and poetry alone,” he said. The first load of 350 or so writings was snapped up in less than a day, and volunteers refilled the machine at least three more times during the month. That wide embrace of the project heartens Krausman, a staff member of TAB: The Journal of Poetry and Poetics on campus. “Poetry is thriving at Chapman,” he said, “and maybe this can be another bridge to help increase interest.”

GROUNDS FOR RESEARCH For commercial food producers, better product safety and extra shelf life are cherished goals.

And to those companies, Chapman food science professor Lilian Were can offer a rich cup of ground-roasted possibility. Research by Were, Ph.D., and students Tiffany Hashimoto and Katrina Jully, both M.S. ’15, shows that coffee grounds and a brewed marinade have antioxidant properties prized by the industry. If its promise pans out, coffee could provide a natural, affordable and sustainable alternative to synthetic antioxidants.

“Economically that’s big,” Were said. “There’s a lot of loss in shelf life, and when food oxidizes it loses nutrients, so there’s also a health benefit.

The industry is very interested in our results.”

Starbucks was interested enough to hire student researcher Crystal Lin (M.S. ’14) as a process engineer, and Farmer John has made 400-pound industrial mixers available so current students can prepare samples. “There are so many exciting aspects of this,” Jully said.

Food science professor Lilian Were, center, gets help with her research from graduate students Katrina Jully, left, and Tiffany Hashimoto.

Who hasn’t sent a text that they’d like to take back?

Maci Peterson ’09 has, although not lately. That’s because the Chapman PR and advertising graduate created an app that provides an automatic grace period, protecting texters from future moments of regret. It’s called On Second Thought, and it already has more than 31,000 users just since the Washington, D.C.-based Peterson and her partners launched it Dec. 23. The app’s success landed Peterson on Washington Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list. On Second Thought is free to download, and for a $1.99 monthly subscription fee will grant unlimited recalls. She and her team are working on new features to make it a one-stop destination for messaging services, but for now the app is all about saving users from themselves. Like when a message gets mistakenly changed to something totally inappropriate. “Autocorrect has a vendetta against me,” Peterson says. “But I’m still thankful for it because it keeps us in business.”

Puppies, Seth Casteel ’03 knew. Babies? Not so much. So when he took the plunge with swim teachers, parents and infants to get his newest underwater photos, he noticed something immediately. No matter how fussy the little ones were on the deck of the pool, once their parents eased them into the water, they tended to explore with wide-eyed wonder. “I was shocked to see how much these babies can learn and do,” Casteel said. “They’re little survivors.” Water safety is the inspiration for Underwater Babies, the latest book from the innovative photogapher whose Underwater Dogs and Underwater Puppies both became global bestsellers. “These classes really can save lives,” he said.

Casteel traveled to 18 swim schools in 10 states to get his joyful images. Among those pictured is Miller (shown here), the son of Chapman alumna Erin (Miller) Kraus (DPT ’10), who first knew her son had made the book when she saw Casteel and the hosts flipping through the pages on the Today show. Casteel says that baby Miller and the other infants quickly won his heart, “but more than that, I’m proud of them, their parents and the instructors,” he added.

“They’re all dedicated to keeping these babies safe.”

OH, BABY

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“In a nutshell, no, it isn’t two kids in a basement saying screw the man. It’s a criminal enterprise.”

Ruth Vitale, executive director of the film industry group CreativeFuture, on digital piracy, in Professor Harry Ufland’s spring course Movies About Marriage.

Here’s this 22-year-old guy who signed up when he was 19 out of high school, and he just spent seven months of his life operating a SAW (squad automatic weapon) in Helmand Province, and now he’s back and he’s filling up his Toyota with gas and he’s trying to figure out where he goes from here. If that’s not the American story of our time, what is?

“Every morning this was my mantra: I will find somebody who wants to say yes. It means I have to keep asking, I have to keep knocking. But I will find that person.”

Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies, sharing with students a veritable baker’s dozen challenging moments she encountered on the way to becoming a household name.

“So much of what we all believe in our faith, whatever it is, we hold in common. And it is so beautiful and so broad and so potentially powerful in addressing the ills of society, or the ills of individual people, that we all, in fellowship of such brotherhood and sisterhood, ought to work together more than we do.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, member, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, helping to mark the 10th anniversary of the Fish Interfaith Center.

T. Jefferson Parker, on his literary novel Full Measure, about a Marine returning from Afghanistan, as a guest on Dialogue With Doti.

“Of the 12 sets of questions that the International Atomic Energy Agency has been seeking, Tehran has answered just part of one. …What’s hurting us right now is the rhetoric Iran is using. It’s very bellicose, very threatening.”

Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, speaking in April at a meeting of the Chapman Republicans club.

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WHEN SHE WAS 7, SARAH ANDERSON OFFERED TO MAKE A SECOND POT OF COFFEE FOR A FAMILY GATHERING. EVERYONE HATED IT. NO WONDER — SHE REUSED THE OLD GROUNDS. SO BEGAN THE CAREER OF A CHAMPION.

Photo by Lia Hanson ‘18

Chapman University sociology major during an internship with Kéan Coffee in Newport Beach. She gained a fondness for “cupping” — evaluating coffee on a 100-point scale — especially after seeing how her developing expertise enhanced her customers’ satisfaction.

Meanwhile, her sociology classes provided insights on the definition of success, encouraging her to pursue her dreams.

Now she works on streamlining and replicating her techniques as she trains new Intelligentsia baristas. There’s always room for improvement, she notes.

“I was taught in my sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma, to be a lifelong learner and feel that I’m living up to that every day,” Anderson said.

Gavin and Natalie Halfacre Wilkinson ’08 say they couldn’t have hoped for a better response to their Australian-style coffee bar.

Love at First Sip

S

Story by Melissa Grace Hoon Photos by Troy Nikolic

Pour

The Perfect

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n February, Anderson ’10 showed how far she’s come in her coffee-making prowess, as she earned the title of U.S. Brewers Cup Champion. She defeated 37 other national finalists from around the country in the manual (pour-over) competition before a crowd of 1,300 at the Long Beach Arena. It’s the first time a woman has won the title, and the victory earned Anderson the chance to represent the United States in the World Brewers Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden, in June.

Anderson is a specialty coffee barista at Intelligentsia Coffee, a company that sources, develops, roasts and delivers some of the top coffee in the world. Her dedication to her customers and passion for specialty coffee drives her to seek out the perfect pour at Intelligentsia’s Pasadena location.

Consider these excerpts from Anderson’s complete winning recipe is Intelligentsia’s description of her at chapman.edu/magazine. championship technique: “After steeping the grounds in hot water for five minutes, she decanted through a V60 filter, cleaning up the mouthfeel of the brew and enabling great articulation of flavor. This mitigated the risk of variance in pouring hot water over the grounds, allowing Sarah to focus on her dialogue (with judges), telling the story of a Geisha (coffee) grown at the highest coffee farm in the world. Her water was prepared at our Pasadena location, using its reverse osmosis system.”

“Some girls want a pony,” Anderson said.

“I want a water filtration system.”

Anderson developed her passion for specialty coffee as a 12

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A Better Brew Make sure your coffee is fresh. “The freshness and aromas are what give coffee its unique flavor and terroir,” Sarah Anderson says. Her other tips follow.

Brew with water at 195-200 degrees F. “Water is key! I recommend bottled spring water or a home filtration system to get total dissolved solids to 150 ppm.”

Choose coffee wisely. “I love coffees from Ethiopia, where coffee originates and nature has created some beautiful varieties. The coffee I used in the U.S. Brewers Cup is a Geisha variety, grown at high altitudes on a farm called Takesi.

I also love the Tres Santos from Colombia.”

Grind right before brewing. “Under a minute is best. The goal is to capture all of those wonderful aromas that escape the bean when it’s ground.”

Use a good kitchen scale to measure the grounds. “Scales are more accurate than scoops for the best coffee-to-water ratio – 1:16 is good when using a French press.”

ix years ago, Natalie Halfacre ’08 traveled to Australia to cover a Grand Slam tennis tournament and ended up at the center of an “ain’t love grand” experience. First came Gavin Wilkinson, then Aussie coffee, and both swept her off her feet.

“So much of our days revolved around going to coffee shops,” recalls Natalie, then a production assistant for the Tennis Channel.

“In Australia, coffee is social, part of the culture.”

Now married, Gavin and Natalie Halfacre Wilkinson — no relation to the Wilkinson College Wilkinsons — have brought a slice of that coffee culture to the Chapman University campus in Orange. The Aussie Bean, their full-service mobile coffee bar, is building a following in the heart of Orange County.

Australian coffee has origins in Italy and is espresso-based, Natalie says. It’s medium-roast, from high-quality beans and de-emphasizes sweeteners and flavorings.

“No vanilla lattes,” Natalie says.

“With really good coffee, there’s no need to cover it up with flavors.”

When the two entrepreneurs decided to chase their dream, they knew they wanted to do it fully. So Gavin took a barista course in Melbourne, and Natalie the same in Sydney.

Once they decided to start with a mobile business, they had an immediate first choice of where to park their custom-designed trailer.

“Chapman has a special place in my heart,” says Natalie, a broadcast journalism graduate. “It largely shaped me into the person I am.”

It’s doubly special to work in the shadow of the Attallah Piazza fountain that bears the name of her late father, Marion Halfacre, a passionate Chapman supporter.

“Even today when I took a break, I looked over at the fountain and enjoyed memories of my dad,” she says.

Along with the rich Aussie coffee, the love continues to flow.

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An expert in mergers and acquisitions law, Tom Crane co-developed the lab component of a securities regulations course at the Fowler School of Law. While Professor Susanna Ripken provides the doctrinal, textbook learning, “I teach the ‘in the trenches, street smart,’ part,” Crane says.

hen Fowler School of Law student Katlin Ritchey (JD ’15) landed a plum internship with a corporate legal department last summer, she figured there might be times when she’d get out over her skis. Then the company assigned her to write a private placement memorandum for an upcoming offering of shares, and suddenly it felt as if she might actually crash into the mountain.

She rushed to do research that got her back on solid footing, but not without enduring considerable struggle. “At the start,” she says, “I really didn’t have a clue.”

Now it seems as if the whole thing happened so long ago. In fact, she can even laugh about her difficulty.

“If only I’d had this class before I had that internship,” Richey said of a just-finished spring course in securities regulations, which featured a lab component filled with real-world writing assignments. “It has definitely made me a much more effective researcher and writer.”

Ritchey’s leap forward in honing practical skills is at the heart of an industry-leading Fowler School initiative called the Practice-Ready Program. The effort is made possible by an endowment supported by the Fletcher Jones Foundation, the Dean’s Board of Advisors, leading law firms and individual lawyers. Fowler School officials see these hands-on legal labs as a key next step in providing “every preparation that students need and the profession demands,” said Tom Campbell, JD, Ph.D., dean of the Fowler School.

AT THE FOWLER SCHOOL, LEARNING SPREADS FROM THE TEXTBOOKS TO “THE TRENCHES,” ENSURING THAT STUDENTS’ SKILLS ARE PRACTICE-READY.

By Dennis Arp

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Photo by Nathan Worden ’13 (MBA ’15)

Law

of the Labs

It used to be that when law graduates took positions as first-year associates, they could count on their new firms easing them into the fold. They might spend transitional time in each specialty area of the practice, getting tutored on how their textbook learning applies to actual cases.

“Those days are long gone,” says Daniel Bogart, JD, associate dean for academic affairs at the Fowler School.

Economic realities dictate that new hires be practice-ready from the start.

The Fowler School’s six pro-bono clinics and its externships have long given students a leg up on this readiness, providing real-world experience working actual cases under supervision.

But there are only so many such cases to go around, and even then the experiences tend to be specific, not comprehensive. So to these types of experiential learning the Fowler School has added lab units that complement some of its meatiest, most fundamental courses, such as wills and trusts, land use and immigration law.

Susanna Ripken’s course on securities regulations.

The course’s subject matter “is formidable,” said Ripken, JD, who teamed with Crane to design the lab attachment. “It’s a complex maze of doctrine and policy developed by Congress and the courts and influenced by the securities industry,” she added.

“The lab work helps students dive into this morass in a practical way. It shows what real securities lawyers do and how valuable the role of securities lawyer is.”

In the lab, students perform five discrete writing assignments over the semester, with the difficulty steadily ramping up, from a simple disclosure filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to a draft prospectus.

Students learn to write sharply focused, well-crafted drafts that far outstrip “cutting and pasting some amorphous language they find on the Internet,” Crane said.

The real-world lessons also go beyond writing assignments. During one class this spring, Crane explained

“The goal is not that they be brilliant practitioners by Day One of their careers, but that they have the confidence that they can become accomplished practitioners.”

In the doctrinal classes, students learn about theory, case law and ethics.

With the addition of labs, the students “gain a deeper understanding of the law, learn valuable skills and begin to develop their identities as professionals,” said David H. Gibbs, JD, who is helping to develop the Fowler School’s PracticeReady Program.

Gibbs drove home his point with an analogy: “Very few people want to be operated on by someone who has learned the theory of surgery.”

The labs are taught by working lawyers and jurists who are industry leaders in their fields. Gibbs amassed 30 years of experience as a trial lawyer, mediator and corporate attorney. He also ran a clinic at Suffolk Law School in Boston before coming to Chapman.

Likewise, Tom Crane, JD, was a managing partner at the highly respected firm of Rutan & Tucker, where he was an acknowledged expert in mergers and acquisitions law. Now he teaches the lab component attached to Professor

how to walk a client from the elevator to a conference room.

“You can get to know your client even in that short time,” Crane said.

“This is someone who will be supplying information you need, and it’s also someone who pays your bill. They need to have confidence in you, so they don’t see you as a drone or minion and so you can be effective.”

Confidence is a key takeaway from the labs.

“The goal is not that they be brilliant practitioners by Day One of their careers, but that they have the confidence that they can become accomplished practitioners,” he said.

Crane wishes he’d had the benefit of experiential learning when he was a law student at Georgetown University. It might have helped insulate him from some hard knocks early in his career. Which brings him to his other objective for the students in his learning laboratory.

“No one is leaving this class making the same mistakes I made,” he said.

MILESTONE MOMENT Fireworks punctuated the celebration of the Fowler School of Law’s 20th anniversary on March 28 in Attallah Piazza.

The event attracted 350 guests, including law school namesake Dale E. Fowler ’58 and his wife, Ann. Among the speakers were President Jim Doti, Dean Tom Campbell, Board of Advisors Chairman Wylie Aitken and Dean Emeritus Parham Williams, who shared cherished memories but also looked ahead. “As it enters its third decade, the Fowler School of Law is strong, confident and poised for continued growth in prestige and national influence,” Williams said. “This is a time of new beginnings and dreams without boundaries.”

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Fowler School of Law faculty members who clerked with U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Consecutive years the School has ranked among the top 10 for Best Quality of Life in The Princeton Review’s annual book Best 169 Law Schools.

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Survivors of domestic violence served last year by the Bette and Wylie Aitken Family Violence Clinic, one of six pro-bono community-service clinics at the law school.

Nobel laureates on the Fowler School faculty. Professor Vernon L. Smith, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for economics, recently was also selected to receive the prestigious Julian L. Simon Memorial Award from the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Smith was chosen for his groundbreaking work in experimental economics.

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Afghan attorneys who have received Master’s of Law degrees from the Fowler School and then returned to Afghanistan as leaders of justice reform thanks to Chapman’s participation in a State Department public-private partnership.

55,000,000 Dollars in the transformational gift by Dale E. Fowler ’58 and his wife, Ann – the second-largest gift ever to a U.S. law school.

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Richard Bausch remembers what it was like when he was a child.

R eversing

“I didn’t know what I had and there was no way to find out. There was nothing in place in public school at that time — still isn’t — to help kids like me. I just had to struggle along — and eventually create my own

the Conversation

way of reading and comprehending.”

By Mary Platt

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ausch, now an internationally acclaimed author and distinguished member of Chapman University’s English faculty, didn’t find out until much later that there was a reason why — especially when he tried to read aloud — certain letters of the alphabet made little sense and he couldn’t connect the sounds they were supposed to represent.

And why it took him so long to read each word and sentence, which continually embarrassed him in class. “I learned to compensate, partially, with joke-telling, storytelling and being the class clown,” he says now.

Dyslexia comes with many challenges, but also the potential to spark creativity and success. A Chapman conference will consider the science and the possibilities.

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“You don’t hold your baby and hope she grows up to be dyslexic, but there are some advantages,” says Jamie Montgomery, shown with his daughter Skye ‘17, a Chapman student who was diagnosed at about age 5 and has gained resilience by overcoming obstacles. Montgomery, a business leader and philanthropist, is helping to organize a Dyslexia Summit at Chapman. “We want students to be proud, not stigmatized,” he says.

Dyslexia — not officially diagnosed in Bausch, but which he is certain he has — is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin, as defined by the International Dyslexia Association. It’s characterized by difficulties with word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. Dyslexics may struggle with reading comprehension and thus read less, often limiting their vocabularies and slowing their learning growth.

Despite all those challenges, Bausch overcame his difficulties. He now wields words so adeptly that he’s won innumerable prestigious literary awards, is considered a “master” of the short story, and is the sole editor of the prestigious Norton Anthology of Short Fiction.

Bausch’s daughter, Lila, is also dyslexic.

Bausch and his wife, Lisa Cupolo-Bausch, also a member of the Chapman English faculty, plunged into research on their own to try to help Lila.

“I’ve become something of a dyslexia encyclopedia now, with all the reading I’ve done,” says Lisa (see the Bausches’ story on page 19). “The term ‘learning disability’ just seems wrong. Lila is creative and intelligent — as is Richard. Just because their brains may work in a different way doesn’t mean what they have is a disability. Perhaps it’s a gift.”

A public interdisciplinary conference, the Dyslexia Summit, scheduled for Oct. 23 at Chapman, will explore the science of dyslexia as well as spotlight the fact that many people who’ve been diagnosed with dyslexia have moved past their reading challenges to become some of the most successful creators, entrepreneurs and thought leaders in the world.

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her a disruptive creative streak, which can be harnessed for the good of society. The ideas we will discuss may end up being the foundation for a new ‘Center for Different Learning Abilities’ at Chapman — but in any case they will be stimulus for further conversations.”

Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, Yale University physicians and researchers whose Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity is regarded as a leader in the field of “uncovering and illuminating the strengths of those with dyslexia,” are advocates for bettering the lives of people with dyslexia.

Among the many creative and successful people identified as dyslexic are, clockwise from top, Albert Einstein, Keira Knightley, Winston Churchill, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Branson, Andy Warhol and John Lennon.

developed,” said Struppa, “so that universities will look at dyslexic students as an asset and not simply as a group that needs special accommodation. The summit will focus on the fact that the incidence of extraordinarily successful and creative genius is very high in the dyslexic community.

“The fact that the brain of a dyslexic functions in different ways allows him or 18

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On a recent visit to Chapman, the Drs. Shaywitz met with Chancellor Struppa, Dean Don Cardinal of Chapman’s College of Educational Studies, the Bausches, Montgomery and others for a pre-summit conclave.

“People with dyslexia look normal; they don’t wear a bandage or a cast, so other people don’t have a clue as to what’s going on inside their brain,” said Bennett Shaywitz.

Yet dyslexia is highly prevalent, the Shaywitzes’ research indicates.

“If there were a way to evaluate every child, you’d find that one in five was dyslexic,” said Sally Shaywitz. “At first it was thought to be more prevalent in boys, but we found that the teachers were only identifying the most annoying kids in the class, who tended to be boys. Meanwhile the dyslexic girls were sitting there quietly, so many of them went unidentified.”

The Shaywitzes found that dyslexia is often lumped in with general “reading disabilities” in school special-education programs. California, to cite just one example, doesn’t recognize “dyslexia” as a separate category. The Shaywitzes are out to change that.

“If we carve out dyslexia from ‘special education’ in the schools, what’s left?” asks Bennett Shaywitz. “How do you reorganize that entire bureaucracy? That’s part of what we hope this summit will discuss.”

The Shaywitzes have identified a plethora of creative, successful people who have been very open about the fact that they’re dyslexic.

From Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, Henry Winkler, Wendy Wasserstein, John Irving and many others in the arts and literature, to scientists, engineers, medical doctors, CEOs and more, these leaders are role models for anyone, not just people with dyslexia.

“What we want to show is that you can be dyslexic, identified as a ‘poor reader,’ and still have immense creativity and a very high IQ,” said Sally Shaywitz.

A key reason for excitement about Chapman’s Dyslexia Summit “is that it will talk about how people with dyslexia have overcome the obstacles, and how that has made them stronger, more creative and more resilient,” Sally Shaywitz added.

“We intensely, passionately want people to ‘come out’ and talk about their lives with dyslexia. Because then people will say, “Wow, he’s dyslexic? She’s dyslexic?

They’re so successful — that’s a great group to be part of.”

SEEING DYSLEXIA AS A GIFT

By Lisa Cupolo

“If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.”

JUAN RAMÓN JIMÉNEZ

no one understood her difference; other children made fun of her and she ur 8-year-old daughter Lila will tell you she’s dyslexic, usually felt alone. She came home in tears. I was in tears. Not one person suggested within a short time after meeting her. She’ll ask you if you’re she might be dyslexic. dyslexic too, hoping you’ll say yes. She is almost proud of it.

At the end of first grade the principal told us Lila would do the state Proud because she knows that a lot of famous people she testing in the office so the questions could be read to her. “Where are the admires — like Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg and Keira Knightley — also are other kids taking the test?” I asked. “In the classroom,” I was told. My dyslexic. She’s almost proud because dyslexia is something she struggles daughter couldn’t read the questions. I was devastated. My husband, who with every day. Like many, I thought people with dyslexia flipped their letters raised five other children, was troubled, but imagined it would resolve itself around, and if pushed on the subject I might have said they were slow learners. in time. After all, he was very late to read himself.

I was wrong. Now, I believe dyslexia is a gift.

“Lila must be dyslexic,” I said, finally.

Most dyslexic people possess average to above-average intelligence, and The school shushed me. They said “Don't say the word. It will go on a disproportionate number of entrepreneurs, innovators, artists, Olympic her record for life.” If she’s athletes, scientists and actors dyslexic, I thought, I want are dyslexic. Interestingly, it on her record for life. most of these people were After much struggle for unsuccessful or failed information, our friend, the completely in traditional Pulitzer Prize-winning writer school settings. Dyslexics are Richard Ford, who is also “outside the box” thinkers. dyslexic, suggested we find a My husband, Richard Bausch, school using a multisensory scraped by in high school, yet approach to learning. We he is an award-winning writer enrolled Lila at The Prentice and professor with a robust School in Tustin, for children international reputation. He with dyslexia. The visual and struggled with reading. To this auditory approach has saved day, he reads very slowly, yet her confidence and fueled her he has read War and Peace joy of learning. She’s in third five times. Dyslexia is genetic. grade and still struggles but When Lila was born is now reading at grade level. writer friends from around The school has extensive art, the country sent us gorgeous music and science programs children’s books, enough Lila Bausch, the 8-year-old daughter of Chapman English professors Lisa Richard Cupolo and because dyslexic children are to fill a small library. When Lisa and Cupolo-Bausch, Richard Bausch, struggles struggles with with dyslexia dyslexia every every day. day. But But aa visual visual and and auditory auditory approach has saved her confidence and fueled her joy of learning. often gifted in these areas. she was a toddler we had There is wide scientific tea parties at independent proof that people with dyslexia bookstore cafés and her room have a different neurological makeup, easily identifiable through brain scans had a reading nook. We assumed she’d be an early reader, a passionate reader and simple diagnostic testing. In fact, up to 20 percent of people are dyslexic. like us. She wasn’t.

Yet, there is a universal dogma that if a child reads early she's smart, and In hindsight we did a lot of things wrong. We sent Lila to a private preschool of course this is indeed a marker of intelligence — but only if the child is in Memphis where local academics, doctors and businessmen sent their children. not dyslexic. I wish I'd known this. I want everyone to know it now.

Lila was socially the most popular in the class, but the rigorous academics The hope is that society can get past measuring children’s success were difficult and even in kindergarten when she struggled, she felt stupid. by the grades they get and the potential money they’ll make. Fortunately, When we moved to California three years ago, we thought Montessori would it seems as though a new wave of teaching is emerging that honors all be a better fit for our imaginative, joyful, free-thinking girl. We thought she’d types of learning and thinking, and acknowledges that linear scholarship thrive and her creativity would shine. But at Montessori, in a class of 30 isn’t the only way to process experience. children, Lila used her smarts to hide her difficulty.

Entrepreneur Richard Branson, of the Virgin empire, describes his She had tutors three times a week. Teachers told us to find books that dyslexia as his greatest strength. Being aware of the differences between interested her, as if we hadn’t thought of that. Lila didn't want to read books people, and embracing the diversity, whether it be racial, socio-economic because the letters made no sense to her. It had nothing to do with her or neurological, is the key to a successful pedagogical community. intellect or her phenomenal photographic memory. She hated school because

O

Photo by Mary Platt

he conference — now in the planning stages — will showcase highly successful “outside-the-box” thinkers, including Jack Horner, renowned paleontologist, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and dyslexic; behavioral scientist Fumiko Hoeft, Ph.D., who will present on the “science of dyslexia;” and Intel Reader creator, activist and dyslexic Ben Foss, among many others.

The conference is the brainchild of Chapman’s chancellor, Daniele Struppa, and Jamie Montgomery, managing director at March Capital Partners. Montgomery’s daughter Skye ’17, a Chapman student, is dyslexic.

“What Mr. Montgomery and I want to highlight is the burgeoning new science of dyslexia that is being

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Reconsidering A moment of historic change is a time of cultural exploration for Chapman students and professors.

Stories by Dennis Arp

T

he grandparents of Pablo Cueto ’16 didn’t want him setting foot on Cuban soil — not after the communist revolution swallowed up all that the family had built, forcing them to flee their home and start over from scratch in the United States. Even after half a century, the wounds remain fresh.

But Cueto, a double major in Spanish and strategic and corporate communications at Chapman University, longed to meet the Cuban people and see for himself the homeland of his ancestors.

“The trip opened my eyes to the greatness of the culture and the people,” he said.

During this time of change in the longstanding stalemate between two nations separated by just 90 miles of ocean, Cueto isn’t alone in his fascination.

Two classes full of Chapman students explored Cuba during winter Interterm, visiting just after President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced plans to restore diplomatic relations, opening the door to the first significant easing of U.S. sanctions in more than 50 years.

Though the bulk of the U.S. travel and trade embargo is still in place, the Chapman scholars say that they sensed a heightened optimism among many everyday Cubans, who hope that increased ties with the United States will boost their prospects.

Chapman students in the class Strategic Communications in Communist Cuba tour La Cabana Fortress in Havana harbor.

Chapman University student Pablo Cueto ’16, center, gets a tour of the historic Callejon de Hamel area in Havana, with its shrines to Afro-Cuban culture, from his new friends, two University of Havana students.

And now that change is in the tropical air, the prevailing opinion among those recently returned is that the days of such a tightly controlled command economy in Cuba are winding down.

Cueto, for one, is extremely pleased that he made the journey.

“I didn’t expect that my perspective on the (Cuban) government would change, and it didn’t — it’s still negative,” the student said. “But I couldn’t help but think, ‘This is where I come from.’ The connection became even more important to me.

It gave me hope that an easing of the embargo may improve the lives of the people.”

In Cuba, Cueto and his classmates studied the impact of strategic communications under a communist system. The Wilkinson College class, taught by adjunct faculty member Michael D. Ross and Professor Lisa Sparks, Ph.D., took the visitors to bustling cities and sleepy villages, to schools and health clinics, to the U.S. Interests Section (formerly the U.S. Embassy) in Havana and to meet with Cubans who “really shed light on the realities of Cuba’s history and the oppressive nature of the government,” Sparks said.

You see buildings that are crumbling, but there’s also a deep beauty in the culture, and a positive spirit persists.

Continued on next page ❯❯❯

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i

n their travels, the students crossed paths with members of the other Cuba-bound Chapman class, led by documentary film professor Jeff Swimmer and adjunct faculty colleague Mel Metcalfe.

Their Dodge College students also explored widely, producing short films on subjects such as a thriving Jewish community, changes at the University of Havana, dynamism in the local visual arts scene, and the Cuban version of cocktail tourism.

It was Swimmer’s second consecutive winter Interterm in Cuba, and this time he saw significant changes. Instead of being limited to government hotels and restaurants, class members were able to stay in some private homes and eat in paladares, or family-run eateries, where the service and cuisine were noticeably better, he said.

The general atmosphere in public spaces and attitudes of Cubans on the street were also upgraded from a year ago. “There’s still anxiety about the future, but also an excitement — almost a giddiness,” he said.

“Before it felt like you were going to a place that was near the end of an era politically,” Swimmer added. “This time it felt like you were in the middle of a place in fast-motion political flux.”

Class member Mor Albalak ’15, a double major in political science and TV broadcast journalism with an emphasis in documentary film, said she was struck by the many contrasts of Cuba.

“You see buildings that are crumbling, but there’s also a deep beauty in the culture, and

★★★★★★★ U.S. POLICY CHANGES Obama Administration measures to ease sanctions against Cuba:

•

Allow for increased trade in agriculture and telecommunications.

•

Enable more visits by Americans, although still not as tourists.

•

Raise the amount that Americans can send to relatives in Cuba from $2,000 to $8,000 per year.

•

Permit U.S. companies to issue debit and credit cards for use in Cuba.

•

Allow travelers to bring back up to $400 in goods, including $100 worth of cigars.

a positive spirit persists,” said Albalak, whose film project profiles three visual artists. “There are dark undertones even as you meet people who are so full of light.”

Swimmer’s memory of the trip is also full of jarring juxtapositions. Amid friendly greetings by locals, he and the students went to the Bay of Pigs and toured the Museo Giron, a museum dedicated to the failed CIA-sponsored attempt to overthrow the new communist government in 1961. There they saw captured U.S. weapons and tank parts as well as “cartoonish” propaganda “that has to go through the motions of demonizing the U.S. as the enemy,” Swimmer said. “It’s like it was impossible for the caption writer to write ‘American’ without pairing it with ‘Imperialist.’”

An hour earlier, class members had snorkeled in the clear, warm waters of the very same bay. “In the U.S. imagination, the Bay of Pigs will always be this actual and metaphorical battlefield, but it’s also this beautiful tropical paradise,” Swimmer said.

During their journey, the professor and his students also came to appreciate Cuba’s quirky charms. In the 500-year-old city of Trinidad, where the architecture conjures Old World Spain, Chapman class members stepped into homes that are fancy by Cuban standards. In the master bedroom of one residence, a portrait of Pope Francis graced a wall, while across from it hung a framed photo of the Bee Gees. The bed was draped with a Superman coverlet.

Historic connections, religious identity and kitsch Americana are “all there in one big swirl,” Swimmer said.

That vortex of cultural influences also attracted professors Sparks and Ross and their students in Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences. After on-campus classroom study that covered the history of Cuba and its relations with the U.S., they and their students traveled to the island nation to dive into its many forms of communication, from interpersonal to political to persuasive.

Ross, an entrepreneur with extensive experience in international trade and helping businesses get into new markets, had made five previous trips to the island. Still, he shared his students’ enthusiasm for visiting Cuba “during a time of historical importance.”

“We all understood the significance of this opportunity,” said Sparks, the Foster and Mary McGaw Endowed Professor in Behavioral Sciences at Chapman, where she is also chair of the Department of Communication Studies. “My life changed with my study-abroad experience in college and when I went to the Soviet Union in 1987. I told the students that their lives were going to change with this experience, and I hope that they will be some of the first Chapman ambassadors for the changes that are happening in Cuba.”

Class exercises were designed to investigate how the everyday experiences of Cuban life are evolving and how they remain unchanged. For one project, students each

Everything from the propaganda of government billboards to the conversation of everyday Cubans was studied by students in the strategic communications travel course.

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The surrealist art of Cuban painter Yudit Vidal Faife, second from left, captured the attention of student documentary filmmakers, from left, Emmy Gyori ’15, Mor Albalak ’15 and Monica Petruzzelli ’16. A link to Albalak’s film Titanes del Arte is at chapman.edu/magazine. Enter the password titanes2015.

were handed 20 Cuban pesos — about what a Cuban family has to shop with each week, Ross said — and given 30 minutes to buy groceries in a government store. Then they wrote papers on how they made their choices and what they learned from the experience.

“They found out quickly that the money doesn’t go very far,” Ross said.

The students connected with Cuban children when they handed out baseball equipment that had been donated by a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The effort was spearheaded by graduate student Scott DeLong (leadership development ’15), who played baseball as a college undergrad.

During a rest stop in a village between Havana and Trinidad, the local principal gave the students a tour of the town’s tiny schoolhouse, during which they met a 12-year-old boy who clearly loved to play on the adjacent field, even though his only equipment was sticks and rocks. So DeLong fetched some gear from the bus, and an impromptu game of catch led to a hitting session for the boy, who ended up walking away with two balls, a glove and a bat.

“His face lit up,” DeLong recalled. “That was a great day.”

For the Cuban-American Cueto, the memories are just as vivid. He conversed with Cuban college students and walked the same streets his grandparents had trod more than 50 years before. He toured a building at the University of Havana that was named for his great-great-grandfather.

“I was surprised to learn about the prominence of my family’s history,” he said. “My grandparents didn’t want to talk about that, because they lost everything.”

By the time Cueto returned to California, familial opposition to his trip had eased a bit.

His grandparents and other relatives were pleased to hear that he had asked tough questions of those who sought to gloss over Cuban human-rights transgressions.

“They started to see it like I was speaking for them, in a way,” Cueto said of his grandparents. “And when they looked at the pictures, it was like they were looking at Cuba through my eyes.”

Though Cueto is grateful that he took the class, and he’s eager to see reforms continue for the people of his ancestral homeland, he doesn’t think he’ll want to return to Cuba for another 20 years or so. By then, he hopes, he’ll be able to tour a transformed nation.

“Nothing,” he said, “is going to change overnight.”

TIES THAT BIND AND DIVIDE Historical links and political differences ensure that the question of what to do about Cuba still stirs passions in the United States.

Despite Obama Administration steps to normalize relations, a Republican-controlled Congress isn’t likely to lift the decades-old trade embargo, said James Coyle, Ph.D., director of global education at Chapman.

“As long as the Castro brothers are there, I don’t see any changes in laws,” he said. “Cuba is in a vulnerable position. The last few years it has been kept afloat by Venezuelan oil money, and now with oil at around $60 a barrel, vs. $140, Cuba is in trouble. The government is going to be much more willing to look at alternatives.”

Although some in Congress may see an opportunity to continue applying pressure while the U.S. has Cuba over a barrel, American agricultural interests are also pushing to open a new market. A younger generation of Cuban-Americans is likely to welcome that opening, said Sandra Alvarez, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at Chapman. “(President) Raul Castro already is opening new possibilities in the economy, including opportunities to start small businesses,” said Alvarez, whose research focuses on Latin America. “We’re also seeing an underground economy develop.”

Coyle and Alvarez agree that the most impactful step taken by the Obama Administration is likely to be the one raising remittance levels. Americans now can send as much as $8,000 a year to relatives in Cuba, vs. the previous limit of $2,000.

“It will stimulate the economy and increase wellbeing on the island,” Coyle said.

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Story by Dawn Bonker Photos by Challenge Roddie

GOLDEN POSSIBILITIES

Translational research puts Chapman faculty and students at the forefront of industry advance.

Soliel Doman (M.S. pharmaceutical sciences '16) helps run lab experiments exploring turmeric's potential pharmaceutical uses.

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here’s something stirring at Chapman University’s School of Pharmacy (CUSP) not found at many of its counterpart universities around the country.

It’s the roll-up-your-sleeves brand of research aimed at discovering big and small ways to improve people’s lives and advance the practice of medicine and pharmacy.

It’s a vision that was built into CUSP, from the design of its laboratories to the style of teaching, says Ronald P. Jordan, R.Ph., FAPhA, founding dean. The goal is to prepare pharmacy professionals to play a more integral role in the day-to-day care of patients.

“We’re moving from the sage on the stage to the guide on the side,” Jordan says. “That is different from many schools of pharmacy. Many schools are focused on current practice, but they (aren’t developing) a real research platform.”

As CUSP gears up for its first cohort of graduate students this fall, the school is attracting a roster of founding faculty to the Harry and Diane Rinker Health Science Campus. The faculty members bring translational research with them, offering ample opportunities to involve graduate and undergraduate student researchers.

Pharmacy students will conduct a capstone research project to graduate. Already this year, nearly a dozen undergraduates have worked as research assistants with several pharmacy faculty members.

There’s no better way to foster an enthusiasm for learning and discovery, Jordan says.

“People who are really passionate about making steps toward helping solve diabetes or cancer or Alzheimer’s are very exciting people to talk to,” he says.

“That kind of passion is what I think students respond to and learn from.”

Much of that work is already in motion.

Chicken tikka masala. Curried lentils.

Lamb vindaloo. To Aftab Ahmed, Ph.D., an associate professor at CUSP, they are delicious dishes from his native Pakistan and neighboring India. Abundant in each is golden turmeric, the aromatic spice derived from the root of an evergreen plant of the ginger family.

“It’s an important ingredient in our food.

To me, in my cooking, if I don’t see yellow or red color, I really don’t enjoy it,” Ahmed says with a smile.

But Ahmed’s research into turmeric is focused well beyond the sunny color, which comes from the curcumin in the plant’s root.

He and research graduate student Soliel Doman (M.S. ’16) are drilling deeper into its components to see if what makes turmeric a popular folk remedy might also have applications for the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections as well as cancer.

Specifically, they are studying proteins and peptides — molecules essential to cell function.

Aftab Ahmed, Ph.D., an associate professor at CUSP, studies turmeric, which may have uses for many ailments.

“Do peptides and proteins found in turmeric have an important role or not?

Since there’s been relatively little focus on this, we want to check it out,” he says.

The spice is a widely accepted folk remedy for minor complaints such as mild muscle aches, indigestion and coughs

accompanied by the common cold. Turmeric’s documented antiinflammatory properties are increasingly being studied by cancer researchers, too, so further study into the workings of turmeric could have far-reaching impact, Aftab says. More immediate, though, could be a better understanding of its antibacterial and antifungal properties and

uses, he says.

Meanwhile, enjoy that flavorful turmeric.

(Ahmed suggests stirring in a teaspoon each of turmeric and red pepper into a pot of cooked lentils and sautéed onions.) But don’t attempt self-treatment with large doses.

“In excess, everything is bad,” Ahmed says.

THE INTERNET EPIDEMIC

Jeffery Goad, PharmD, helps lead policy and health education campaigns to improve the public’s understanding of vaccines.

As the first pharmacist to serve as president of the California Immunization Coalition, the creator of a lecture series on influenza and a leading expert on vaccines and travel medicine, Professor Jeffery Goad, PharmD, knows something about battling viruses.

But there’s one stubborn bug out there that’s proving particularly resistant and has healthcare professionals frustrated. Call it the Internet misinformation virus. Goad blames it for feeding mistaken notions that childhood vaccines cause autism and sparking the nation’s related measles outbreak. When these falsehoods get a foothold and go, well, viral, it’s hard to recover.

“The Internet can perpetuate myths faster than anything you’ve ever seen,” says Goad, who chairs the Department of Pharmacy Practice at CUSP. “You don’t get a second chance at a first impression.”

Goad aims to break that pattern. As president of the nonprofit organization Shot by Shot, he led the development of a video series featuring the firsthand accounts of families devastated by vaccine-preventable diseases. With the National Adult Immunization Influenza Summit, he is researching best-practice strategies pharmacists can use to better educate the public about vaccines, which in most states pharmacists are authorized to administer.

Conversations with the “vaccine-hesitant” is one of the main battlefronts, he says.

“The vaccine-hesitant really just got wrong information. And when given the right information, they make the right decision,” he says.

More interactions with pharmacists would advance a variety of routine preventive health care, Goad says. Toward that end, he is also working with the Pharmacy Quality Alliance looking at ways that pharmacies can use their computer systems to prompt discussions with customers about vaccines their insurance might recommend and cover. So someone coming into a community pharmacy for a renewal of hypertension medication could learn they’re covered for the shingles vaccine, get it and be on their way.

“Community pharmacy offers the ability to see people when it’s convenient for them for services that don’t require a diagnosis,” Goad says.

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THE PHARMACIST WILL SEE YOU NOW If there’s one message Lawrence M. Brown, Ph.D., PharmD, hopes to get across to Americans it’s this: talk to your pharmacist.

And not just to refill that allergy medicine, says Brown, the new president of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and associate dean of student and academic affairs at CUSP. Today’s pharmacists are trained and equipped with skills to be active members of the patient healthcare team.

Tapping into that expertise can produce better outcomes, as well as lower some healthcare costs, he says.

“A lot of people just think of a pharmacist as dispensing medications, and they really do so much more,” Brown says.

While president of the national organization, Brown will lead research into consumers’ perceptions of pharmacists to see where the disconnect lies between what they are trained to do — from delivering vaccinations to the management of some commonly diagnosed conditions like asthma and controlled hypertension — and what consumers think they can do.

The eventual goal of the APhA is to expand the role of pharmacists and find ways to compensate them for that work, Brown says. It’s not entirely new territory. Medicare Part D already reimburses pharmacists for a practice called medication therapy management, which uses pharmacists to conduct comprehensive reviews of medications and hold conversations with patients about effectiveness, Brown says.

How might that kind of service play out in a family practice or at a community pharmacy? Examples Lawrence M. Brown, Ph.D., PharmD, associate dean at CUSP, and the new president of the abound. Suppose you’re a 60-yearAmerican Pharmacists Association, looks forward old woman prescribed medication to helping expand the roles pharmacists play to manage moderate but chronic in health care. pain. The trouble is it makes you so sluggish that you start skipping morning walks with friends and other activities important to your health and wellbeing.

Pharmacists know from research that most patients will not revisit a physician to talk about such annoyances. They’ll assume there’s no alternative, or they’ll tweak the dosage on their own, Brown says. Better would be to call the pharmacist, who could work with patient and physician to troubleshoot a safer and healthier solution. Maybe the patient would be satisfied with a different medication that would bring about 60 percent relief without the nuisance of grogginess.

“Those are conversations that often don’t occur in the physician’s office, largely because of time,” Brown says. “But the pharmacist has a little more time to have these conversations.”

Healthcare costs come down, too, Brown says. Numerous studies show a three-to-one return on investment with such programs.

“We’re really getting to the tipping point where pharmacists are being recognized for more than just being able to dispense prescriptions,” Brown says.

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NEW TRICKS FOR OLD DRUGS

The hepatitis C virus is the target of clinical research planned by Jerika Lam, PharmD, clinical assistant professor at CUSP, who hopes to improve treatment outcomes for Latinos infected with the virus.

PERSONALIZED PURSUIT The good news about treating the hepatitis C virus is that several excellent drugs treat it effectively. The bad news — besides the fact that worldwide infection rates are estimated at 180 million — is that the drugs don’t work well for everyone.

Latinos receiving the usual drug therapy for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) do not respond as well or as quickly as do their Asian, Caucasian and African-American counterparts, often requiring extended treatment, says Jerika Lam, PharmD, clinical assistant professor at CUSP. Scientists have found the genetic link responsible for that trait in people of Latino ancestry. The problem wasn’t spotted in early testing of the drugs because Latinos and other ethnic groups are often underrepresented in clinical trials during drug development, Lam says.

As a translational clinical scientist, Lam is preparing to drill down to see what’s afoot in that genome and see if there are clues to better outcomes.

“There’s this genetic polymorphism that has been identified by many scientists, but there hasn’t been any correlation in the clinical aspect. I want to analyze it further at the cellular level so we can at least have some idea why the responses are not consistent,” Lam says.

Lam will compare cell lines drawn from a variety of HCV patients and test their responses to the hepatitis C drugs currently approved for treating the virus. Her hope is that from the existing drugs she can find the combination that will improve outcomes for Latino patients. This phase of the research is supported by a Chapman University Scholarly/Creative Activity (SCA) grant.

The drugs are costly, too, so crafting a personalized treatment plan would be more prudent than a hit-or-miss approach, she says. In the United States, an estimated 5 million to 7 million people are infected, largely from sharing dirty syringes, and those numbers are believed to be underreported, Lam says. HCV medical costs are estimated at $6.5 billion nationally, but the cost of cirrhosis, liver cancer, transplantation and premature death from untreated HCV is even greater, Lam says.

“We could reduce costs, create a personalized regimen and ensure that hepatitis C care for everyone is of high-quality,” she says.

A new prescription drug takes time and money to develop — on average a whopping 14 years and $2 billion, according to the National Institutes of Health. That’s not happy news for ailing people waiting for the next breakthrough that will bring cure or comfort.

So imagine the pleasure of a researcher at CUSP who helped discover that an inexpensive class of drugs used to treat HIV for 30 years could be repurposed to treat a major cause of blindness among seniors. Even better is that the tried and approved drugs are some the researcher worked on decades ago.

“When I started this collaborative work I never thought, ‘Oh, maybe they can use antiHIV drugs for anti-inflammatory purposes,” said Keykavous Parang, Ph.D., PharmD, professor and associate dean of research, graduate studies and global affairs at CUSP. But Parang and other researchers report that the anti-inflammatory feature of those anti-HIV compounds — called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) — could slow or prevent macular degeneration,

a leading cause of vision loss worldwide, and one expected to become a growing problem as baby boomers age. Results of the study, led

by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, professor and vice chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Kentucky, were published recently in Science.

For HIV patients, the NRTIs, often called “nukes,” have the effect of blocking the virus’s ability to make copies of itself in healthy cells through DNA replication. In macular degeneration, the NRTIs work differently.

Through experimentation the scientists found that NRTIs stop an immune response that triggers a chain of proteins to develop — a domino progression that leads to degeneration of the macula. The macula is near the center of the retina and is the part of the eye that provides sharp, central vision.

Parang likened the drug’s mechanism to an interruption in the delivery route of a package sent overseas, with many check-in points along the way to its destination.

“The package has to go through multiple

Keykavous Parang, Ph.D., PharmD, professor and associate dean at CUSP, helped uncover a potential new treatment for dry macular degeneration.

steps,” he says. “But if you block it at one step, that package will not be delivered.”

Further studies need to be done to see how this strategy works in patients, in what form a repurposed version of the drug might be taken and at what stage of the disease it would need to be deployed to be effective, Parang says.

NAILING DOWN STAPH Seventy-two hours.

“We’ve seen that patients who don’t respond and fail therapy don’t That was the turning point for hospital patients admitted with mount as strong an immune response,” Yamaki says. “In fact, it seems particularly fierce bloodstream infections caused by a strain of bacterial like their immune systems down-regulate.” staph infection, the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

A certain amount of down-regulating is normal when the body is Jason Yamaki, Ph.D., PharmD at CUSP, and a fellow researcher found fighting infection, as the immune system performs a delicate dance that the day-three tipping point was when patients either turned between advancing and retreating while not running out of control, toward recovery or deteriorated toward almost certain death.

Yamaki says. But he suspects that something else is causing the fastIn 2013, the scientists published a paper on their findings in Clinical fading immune response in certain patients, possibly Therapeutics Journal. But that was just the beginning of work that even a genetic source. continues today as they turn their attention to that perplexing More study is needed, but these kinds of findings 72-hour junction in the fight against invasive MRSA, a severe infection could lead to new treatment approaches for MRSA that often occurs in people who’ve been hospitalized that take patient genetics into account, Yamaki or are nursing-home residents. says. The potential to save lives is significant.

“We started to wonder what MRSA infections have declined in recent separates these two groups,” Yamaki years, thanks to improved practices says. “And we thought, maybe it’s their in health care and group-home immune response.” settings. But there’s still room for So they turned their attention improvement. In 2012, there to assessing the patients’ immune were an estimated 75,309 cases response, measuring the small of invasive MRSA infection, and proteins produced by the immune some 9,670 deaths, according system while fighting infection. to the Centers for Disease Control They’re still gathering data. But their and Prevention. hunch has resulted in preliminary Says Yamaki: “My goal Ongoing research by Jason Yamaki, Ph.D., PharmD, is aimed at discovering results that are already opening is to have an impact on why some people don’t respond well to treatment for particularly fierce bloodstream infections caused by a strain of bacterial staph. eyes, Yamaki says. patient care.”

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s p o rt s

As he begins his retirement, Dave Currey leaves behind a championship-caliber legacy of athletic leadership.

B

secure Tustin Ranch Golf Club as the Panthers’ home course, as well as gaining a long-term lease with the City of Orange for the baseball team to play at Hart Park and the softball squad to play at El Camino Park.

What’s more, the coaches he has recruited are building their own legacies. Eight have been at Chapman for more than 15 seasons.

“He’s a very easy-access athletic director,” said Mary Cahill, senior women’s athletic administrator and volleyball coach. “When he talks to the athletes in groups, he can relate to them because he’s coached.”

Both Owens and Currey have Division I coaching pedigrees, and their friendship has been a natural fit. In fact, they started sharing morning walks that were about more than just fitness.

“Sometimes those were walks of a thousand questions, and he was always kind enough to respond in a way that allowed me to reflect, or be challenged, by the situation I was dealing with,” Owens said. “How good is that? It was an opportunity to grow as a head coach under his tutelage.”

Throughout his career, trust and respect have been a big part of Currey’s management style.

“He doesn’t micromanage you,” said Terry Boesel, associate director of athletics. “He’ll give you something; if you do it and he trusts you, then he’ll give you a little bit more.”

Those achievements include: Coaches certainly know that Currey • A remarkable partnership with Doti lives and dies Chapman sports right alongthat has spanned a quarter-century. side them and their athletes. Sometimes • A slew of athletic championships, Boesel will stand alongside Currey at a including two national titles, in nerve-wracking football game, then look softball and baseball. over and the athletic director is gone.

• Administrative milestones such Once he found Currey up in his office. as the move to NCAA Division III “He goes, ‘I couldn’t take it anymore; in 1994 and the university gaining I had to get away,’” Boesel said. “His membership in the Southern passion … is just something that resonates California Intercollegiate Athletic down to all of us.”

Conference (SCIAC) in 2011.

In Currey’s office is a case that holds • The development of premier sports his two Rose Bowl rings, which flank facilities, including the Lastinger another that signifies his college degree.

Football coach Bob Owens, left, jokes with Dave Currey.

Athletics Complex, among the best Below the first ring is the word “pride,” in the division. the second “poise,” and the third “perfection.” Together the three But atop all of these triumphs are the relationships that endure and words form a motto Currey has carried with him since his days as a the positive spirit that prevails throughout the Department of Athletics. student-athlete.

“He’s the architect, really,” football coach Bob Owens said of Currey.

“Chapman offers a tremendous sense of pride … and it teaches you “He’s been visionary about his goals for this program and where we great lessons about keeping your poise, about maturing,” Currey said, are today. (Excellence) has to start some place, in somebody’s mind.” “and that takes you into a time of your life that I say is perfection.”

Under Currey, Chapman Athletics has grown to include 20 interAcross eras and athletic divisions, student-athletes are the product collegiate teams, which have amassed 90 playoff appearances during of their environments, Currey believes. The heart he has brought to his tenure. The Panthers now have also earned their first three SCIAC Chapman Athletics sets an example others are eager to follow. championships, in women’s and men’s basketball and in football.

“Chapman’s been my family, my home,” Currey said. “Someone Currey’s 52 years of coaching and administrative experience gave me a chance once as a young assistant at Stanford, and I’ve been permeate Chapman’s athletic programs and venues. He oversaw the able to share that with others in hiring our coaches here. I spent a lot construction of the Lastinger Athletics Complex in 2008, as well as the of time building a staff and building a program that’s reputable, and Gray Rowing Center in Newport Beach in 2003. He and his staff helped that’s very satisfying.”

Photo by Nathan Worden ’13 (MBA ’15)

efore beginning his tenure as director of athletics at Chapman University 25 years ago, Dave Currey coached at the highest levels of college football, at universities such as Stanford, Cincinnati and UCLA. But in joining the team at Chapman, he was leaving behind the demands of recruiting and coaching Division I athletes.

“I came to Chapman to see if I could stay away from football,” Currey said.

Four years later, he got a call from President Jim Doti, who asked, “What do you think about starting a football team?” Currey was ready with an answer.

“You’re crazy,” he told the president, smiling recently as he recalled the moment. “Of course we laughed, and set out to do it.”

Reviving a varsity football program after 62 years is a huge task, but then such deeds characterize the life’s work of the man known across the Chapman campus simply as Coach. In recent days, as Currey looked ahead to a retirement that began at the conclusion of this academic year, those who know him well expressed appreciation for Currey’s accomplishments, friendship and leadership.

FIRST IN HIS FIELD Photo by Jeanine Hill

By Allison Jenney (M.A./MFA ’16)

To honor the man who has left an indelible mark on Athletics at Chapman, the University is establishing the David Currey Endowed Directorship of Athletics. Support for the endowment “will sustain the legacy of a great friend and colleague, while ensuring that athletics are an integral part of a well-rounded Chapman education for years to come,” said Chapman Trustee Parker Kennedy, whose late father, Donald P. Kennedy, is the namesake of the athletic program. More information about the endowment and how to contribute is at chapma.nu/CurreyEndowment.

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Human history flows through American DNA, inspiring a journey of discovery packed with moments of revelation.

By Dawn Bonker

I

couldn’t make this up if I tried. Early this spring I sat in an airport waiting for my flight to Denver, the city where my father was abandoned as an hours-old infant, then discovered by a nurse and eventually adopted by the woman my brothers and I would someday call Nana.

As I awaited departure to the city of my father’s mysterious birth, I checked my email. My eyes widened when I saw the newest missive, a message from 23andMe, a genetic testing service. About six weeks prior I had amused my family by spitting saliva into a vial, dispatching my DNA for analysis and, I hoped, some clues to my father’s ethnic ancestry.

Now my reports were ready. I held my breath in the airport terminal and tapped in the password to my account, ready to open a window into my past and glimpse the genetic stuff of me. My iPad screen filled with a colorful pie chart.

At the center of the chart was a world map, highlighting the place where the biggest batch of my DNA soup originated.

I studied the map. Really? From there? I hadn’t seen that coming at all.

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Professor Michael Macpherson created the programs that help people sift through the swirl of genetic history contained in their DNA. For Americans, identity is “not so simple as what you see in the mirror, necessarily,” he says.

The scientist behind my ancestry locator map, and some 900,000 others created for customers of 23andMe, is Michael Macpherson, Ph.D., a genetic statistician and assistant professor of biological sciences in the Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman University.

Macpherson was among the first research scientists hired by the Silicon Valley testing service to work out the nuts and bolts behind 23andMe’s popular ancestry features. Named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes that comprise each person’s genome, the company offers services that are popular with genealogy buffs eager to locate distant relatives. Macpherson created the programs that generate the colorful maps of customers’ DNA trails around the globe. In addition, he contributed to the design of the company’s ancestry tool used for locating genetically related individuals.

The 23andMe reports occasionally reveal surprises such as unknown siblings and cousins, thanks to customer self-reporting, as documented by staff on the company blog. But the scientists also find revealing information in that massive dataset that offers insights into American identity. And it looks like many of us are fuzzy about much of that, particularly as it relates to African ancestry.

Photo illustration by Nathan Worden ’13 (MBA ’15)

The Color of Identity

with Nordic countries. It could be from either side. Finnish blood In a paper published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, in people who claimed German heritage? It’s not impossible, says the authors reported that those with as much as 28 percent African Shira Klein, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of ancestry are more likely to describe themselves as European American History at Chapman and an expert on European migration patterns. than as African American. People with more than 30 percent African At various times throughout history, Germans migrated back and ancestry tend to identify as African American. forth to Sweden to work in the mines, as did large numbers of Finns, The scientists are keenly aware of the ripple effect their work Klein said. has for questions about Americans’ perceptions of their race and “Perhaps you had a Finnish ancestor and a German ancestor who identity. Macpherson and his colleagues helped research the genetic met in Sweden,” Klein said. genealogy of guests on Finding Your Roots, a PBS program featuring My German ancestors also lived historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. that in Russia for a time, possibly as part explored some of those conversations of German colonies. Many Finns during the series. migrated to Russia in those years, Macpherson and his fellow researchers too, Klein said. So there could have also found footprints of American history been what Macpherson describes and migration patterns in their analysis in genetic statistician language as of that swirling DNA stew, reported and “a breeding event.” displayed in a colorful New York Times “Perhaps” and “could” are the story and slide show. Among their operative words here. Speculation findings was the discovery that Latinos is my game now. in the Southeast showed more African Or was, until that ancestry finder DNA, while their counterparts in the tool Macpherson helped devise Southwest carried more Native American sparked a memory. A member of ancestry. the DNA registry showed up as a Common among all the threads was third cousin. A family surname this a certain lopsidedness that researchers Utah man listed was one I recalled say echoes the legacy of slavery and from my mother’s side of the family. sexual politics on the American frontier.

There had long been a tale of a The African and Native American blood range war in that part of the lines were largely passed down by family tree. It seemed like a women, with paternal lineage more good time to fact-check. likely to come from European males.

From the moment she opened the kit and provided 23andMe with saliva for DNA analysis, staff writer Dawn I dug out marriage Stamped into all those DNA footprints Bonker was eager to get her results, which are displayed certificates, obituaries are signs of our American identity, a in a map and pie chart full of ancestral surprises. and handwritten sometimes surprising reality. family histories. I “It’s not so simple as what you see in read state histories the mirror, necessarily,” Macpherson says. digitized by hardworking librarians.

A few days after receiving Yup. My greatmy report, I was back on great-grandfather was campus in Macpherson’s shot clean off his horse, faculty office at Von Neumann Hall. When I showed the shooter claiming him my personal version of the ancestry pie chart he self-defense. My oldest devised, he leaned forward and grinned. son, a student at Chapman “Oh, wow! Look at that,” he said.

University’s Dale E. Fowler Yes, look at that.

School of Law, researched the trial “You have big chunks of Finnish.” and appeal. It turns out the case helped Indeed. It’s news to me. Tiny blips of Asian and Native set self-defense precedent in the state of Colorado.

American appear, too — perhaps the legacies of my ancestors So, we hail from history-makers — of a sort, anyway. When I mingling with indigenous people of the Arctic or the Americas. shared the story with Macpherson, I joked that I’m grateful to be There’s also a significant chunk of Italian, 11.6 percent to descended from the daughter of my reckless grandpa. Here’s hoping be exact, an amount Macpherson says could indicate an Italian the bad-decision gene that makes a man point a loaded rifle at his great-grandparent. The lineage on my mother’s side is pretty well enemy sticks like glue to that Y chromosome. documented for several generations. No known Italians.

Not to worry, Macpherson says. A great-great-grandparent It’s speculative because females inherit only a portion of their contributes just one-sixteenth of my genome. paternal DNA; the male Y chromosome passes only to sons. So “Plenty of room left over for playing well with others,” he teased. we eagerly await my brother’s DNA report. Still, I thought of my I’ll take that. We all have plenty of room to improve, reinvent, father’s olive complexion and thick black hair. It’s a step closer. I forge new paths, change ways, and make progress and history — texted my brother: “Hitch up the reindeer and go out for pasta.” history of all sorts, no matter where we come from or how we get But Finnish? I am a far cry from the tall, cool blondes I associate here. And isn’t that the real stuff of American DNA? SPRING 2015

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The Wimberley Bluegrass Band features the four Wimberley siblings, all Chapman University juniors. Mark plays guitar, Danielle mandolin, Michael fiddle and James banjo. As for vocals, Michael usually takes the lead, with the rest of the Wimberleys pitching in to bring out the best in each other.

The music’s roots in family values appealed to the Wimberleys, who do everything together and are each other’s best friends — attributes they say come from being home-schooled by their mother, Tina, a registered nurse.

“We grew up thinking that it was normal to be close,” Michael explained. “We each have outside friends, but most of them know all four of us.”

When they’re not busy performing or studying, the siblings enjoy hiking, fishing and traveling.

FOUR-PART

Harmony Story by Cathi Douglas

Photos by Nathan Worden ’13 (MBA ’15)

THE WIMBERLEY

SIBLINGS SHARE A

BLUEGRASS BOND

AND GRAND OLE OPRY-SIZED

DREAMS.

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ichael Wimberley ’16 was so small that he had to stand on an apple box when he and his three siblings first performed at Riley’s Apple Farm in January 2008. They played one song, Rabbit in the Log, during the dinner show at the mile-high outdoor theatre in Oak Glen, Calif. Two of the Wimberleys sang lead and the other two provided backup vocals, although it all pretty much ended up a musical muddle.

“It was awful,” Michael’s brother, Mark ’16 recalled recently with a smile.

“Our musical knowledge was like this big,” added Mark’s twin, James ’16, holding his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart.

But the Wimberleys’ passion for bluegrass already was bushel-basket big, and thanks to daily practice at their home in Santa Ana,

that first year of performance ended with them recording their debut album. The Wimberley Bluegrass Band wasn’t yet bound for glory, but it was building a foundation for musical success.

“They’re a beautiful family, they harmonize well and their technique is great,” said Dennis Riley, a 35-year performer of bluegrass music who gave the Wimberleys that first gig at his family farm, and many more since. “People love them. They just killed at our Gospel Night.”

Siblings Danielle, 21, James and Mark, 19, and youngest brother Michael, 16, now play professionally at numerous California bluegrass festivals, including jamborees in Oak Glen. They also tour the South every summer and have recorded four CDs of traditional bluegrass music.

Bluegrass Museum in Owensboro, Ky. He cited bands like Mumford & Sons as examples.

“Now you see more and more worldwide prominence for this type of music,” Langdon added.

As part of that trend, the Wimberleys have developed a keen knowledge of the bluegrass genre and are considered California bluegrass music experts. They share that knowledge via their weekly show on Chapman Radio, during which they play other musicians’ recordings as well as

After each Wimberley received a different instrument for Christmas in 2006, they taught themselves to play.

“That was the best Christmas ever,” James recalled.

Their fascination with bluegrass began when they discovered the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s recording of Foggy Mountain Breakdown. After each received a different instrument for Christmas in 2006, they taught themselves to play.

“That was the best Christmas ever,” James recalled.

Riley thinks the band’s future is unlimited. “They’re enthusiastic and dedicated to their art,” he said. “They let their music speak for them.” Best of all, he added, they take the necessary time to practice and learn new songs all the time.

Siblings playing bluegrass together is an American folk custom, noted John Lawless, primary author and editor of BluegrassToday.com. The family band is a tradition that began in the ’20s and ’30s, he explained.

They are members of the Chapman Republicans club.

“Music is our life, and all our other interests coordinate with that,” Danielle noted.

“Bluegrass music was our teenage rebellion,” Mark quipped.

In the 2000s, a segment of popular music trended away from an electronic sound and toward natural, more organic back-to-the-roots music emphasizing instrumentation, noted Chris Langdon, promotions director of the International

live numbers of their own. Because the show streams online, listeners log in from around the country, and occasionally even as far away as Dubai.

Distance has never been part of the Wimberley family dynamic.

The four siblings’ academic paths have intertwined and overlapped so that they’re all Chapman juniors this year.

“We didn’t intend it; it just kind of happened,” Danielle said.

“James and Mark were able to finish their last two years of high

school and do their first two years of college at the same time.

Michael accelerated his high school studies, graduated early and took college classes concurrently. When we realized we could do it at the same time, we went for it.”

They intend to graduate together in spring 2016 and pursue bluegrass music full-time.

They selected different majors to develop specific knowledge and expertise that benefits the band.

Danielle is majoring in business, James in mathematics, Mark computer information systems and Michael strategic and corporate communications. Between them they have 10 associate degrees.

When they were ready to transfer from Santiago Canyon College, Chapman was the logical choice. “It’s got a good reputation for community involvement and academics, it is close to home and it’s prestigious,” James said.

The siblings’ ultimate dream is to play the Grand Ole Opry. They’ll be the featured musicians at this year’s TEDxChapmanU in August, and they plan to tour for six weeks this summer in their family RV. The country road is calling, and the Wimberleys are ready to enjoy the journey as a family.

“We love being together, and we love to travel around and make music,” Michael said. “We want to spend the rest of our lives doing this.”

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in memoria m

Recent Releases

JOEL MOSKOWITZ A friend of Chapman University and The Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education for many years, Trustee Joel Moskowitz passed away March 15. He was 75.

JOAN MT. PLEASANT CHAPMAN Co-founder of the Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives in the Leatherby Libraries, Joan Mt. Pleasant Chapman passed away March 18 at her home in Pacific Grove, Calif. She was 83.

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t. Pleasant Chapman was the wife of the late trustee emeritus Stan Chapman, grandson of Chapman University’s namesake, C.C. Chapman. She worked as a school nurse for Napa County Schools and as a consultant for the American Indian Education Office for the California Department of Education from 1983 until her retirement in 1995.

She led numerous workshops for the National Indian Education Association, the Educational Equity Office and the American Indian Youth Conference and dedicated her life to cultural awareness, parent and school partnerships, traditional health beliefs and the education of culturally diverse students, particularly American Indians.

In retirement she remained active in American Indian issues and was instrumental in the founding of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The Frank Mt. Pleasant Library is named in honor of her uncle, a Tuscarora Indian.

“It is fitting that our C. Stanley and Joan Chapman Light Tower illuminates Fish Interfaith Center as well as the sculpture of Stan’s grandfather,” President Jim Doti said. “For those of us who were privileged to know Joan and Stan, its beacon of light will always be a happy reminder of two very warm and caring people.”

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rady Hogan ’92 (MBA ’14), director of alumni engagement, remembered Moskowitz as a passionate and engaged supporter of Chapman who generously contributed his time and entrepreneurial expertise to alumni leadership programs, even offering his home for an alumni retreat.

“For the inaugural Chapman50 retreat, Joel and his lovely bride, Ann, opened their home and hearts to our alumni,” Hogan said. “At this retreat, only a year ago, Joel was clearly not in great health, yet he was so pleased to be among Chapman alumni and sharing stories, while inspiring us all. Joel was a people person, all about human connection and story. That was surprising for some, considering his engineering background, but not to those who spent more than a minute with the man. His legacy will have a special spot in our alma mater’s history.”

Moskowitz was the co-founder and longtime chairman and CEO of Ceradyne, a company based in Costa Mesa that develops, manufactures and markets advanced technical ceramic products, including body armor to protect U.S. troops. Over his tenure at Ceradyne, the company grew dramatically to become the 35th largest public company in Orange County. Ceradyne’s performance in 2004 earned Moskowitz honorable mention as Businessperson of the Year in Orange County Business Journal.

CAMERON SINCLAIR A longtime professor remembered for his leadership skills during a time of change at Chapman University, Professor Emeritus Cameron Sinclair passed away Feb. 13.

He was 84.

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nown as “Cam,” Sinclair was remembered by President Jim Doti as a farsighted leader who set the stage for the University’s growth. Sinclair served as faculty chair during the 1974–75 academic year, and in 1979 was appointed vice president of academic affairs and dean of the college by then-President Buck Smith.

“Cam changed our school; and those of us who were around in those days recognize the Herculean feat that he accomplished,” Doti said.

Sinclair joined Chapman in 1967 and, as was common then, taught in two departments, English and Religious Studies. He returned to the classroom fulltime in 1986 and retired in 1997. Sinclair is survived by his wife, Professor Emerita Jane Sinclair.

IN IT TO WIN: ELECTING MADAM PRESIDENT (Bloomsbury) Lori Cox Han, Ph.D., professor of political science In the latest of her 13 books, the professor says that women seeking the highest office in the land may face fewer barriers than some have suggested. Cox Han posits that Americans are simply waiting for the right candidate at the right political moment to elect a woman president. And — spoiler alert – the time may not be right for Hillary Clinton.

WRITING USEFUL, ACCESSIBLE, AND LEGALLY DEFENSIBLE PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL REPORTS (Wiley) Michael Hass, Ph.D., professor of counseling and school psychology; and Jeanne Anne Carriere, Ph.D., professor, College of Educational Studies This resource offers practical guidance on producing reports that directly respond to referral concerns. The authors provide recommendations and assessment information in a format easily understood by parents, teachers and other professionals.

THE AUTHENTIC DEATH AND CONTENTIOUS AFTERLIFE OF PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID: THE UNTOLD STORY OF PECKINPAH’S LAST WESTERN FILM. (Northwestern UP) Paul Seydor, Ph.D., professor of film The Oscar-nominated film editor examines the five extant versions of Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 Western Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, arguing why not one definitive version exists. In addition, Seydor shows how even with a singular director such as Peckinpah, the collaborative nature of the medium produced a flawed and misunderstood masterpiece.

DOCUMENTARY CASE STUDIES: BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE GREATEST (TRUE) STORIES EVER TOLD (Bloomsbury) Jeff Swimmer, professor of documentary film This book brings to life the sometimes humorous, sometimes excruciating and always inspiring stories behind the making of some of the greatest documentaries of our time. Deploying a personal, intimate and candid approach, Swimmer unlocks the secrets of the craft and business of documentary filmmaking.

THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT FICTION, 8TH EDITION (Norton) Edited by Richard Bausch, professor of English The new edition of this prestigious anthology features 152 works (33 new) and includes an in-depth section on the writing processes of Anton Chekhov, Flannery O’Connor, Alice Munro, William Faulkner and Joyce Carol Oates. In addition, “Writers on Writers” highlights Bausch’s writing tips, challenges, meditations and brief essays from his social media community.

RELATIONAL AND RESPONSIVE: CONTEXTS FOR BECOMING AND BELONGING (Peter Lang) Edited by Suzanne SooHoo, Ph.D., professor, College of Educational Studies; Mere Berryman; Ann Nevin and Therese Ford.

An international team of scholars offers insights within a relational and responsive framework. They propose that within these contexts, a sense of becoming and belonging will more likely to lead to inclusion.

BILLION DOLLAR PAINTER: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF THOMAS KINKADE, PAINTER OF LIGHT (Weinstein Books) G. Eric Kuskey with Bettina Gilois, adjunct professor, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts The authors detail the life of Kinkade, selfdescribed “Painter of Light,” who became one of the most commercially successful visual artists of all time. They also shed their own light on the dramatic fall of Kinkade’s billion-dollar gallery and licensing business.

THE DESERT POEMS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (Spuyten Duyvil Press) Martin Nakell, Ph.D., professor of English This collection of poems evokes the magic of Southern California deserts. The collection is dedicated to Tom Massey, Chapman University professor emeritus, with whom Nakell shared a passion for the desert and with whom he shared treks into this rich landscape.

EXPRESSIONS Daniel de Arakal ’10, adjunct professor of music This self-produced debut album features de Arakal performing 10 songs for classical guitar, including Toru Takemitsu’s arrangements of Over the Rainbow and Londonberry Air – An Irish Folk Song, and de Arakal’s own arrangement of Silvius Leopold Weiss’ sixmovement Sonata No. 25 in F# Minor.

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An old friend suggests a fresh approach, helping author Ryan Gattis ’01 achieve breakout success.

Novel TREATMENT Story by Jessica Fry ’15 Photos by Dennis Arp

Kevin Staniec ’01, left, and Ryan Gattis ’01 met during freshman orientation at Chapman and quickly became creative colleagues. “Anything we were working on we would share," says Staniec, shown here at a Gattis book-signing. “We always fell into that role of critiquing and advising.”

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yan Gattis ’01 had just gotten off the phone with his U.S. literary agent, who told him that she was unable to sell the 900-page novel he had been writing and rewriting for six years. Her voice joined those of other creative colleagues, who advised that it might be time to forgo the writing career that at one time had shown so much promise. “Well, you had your shot,” was a common refrain. “Nice try,” was another.

Gattis might have believed the chorus, if not for friend and artistic confidant Kevin Staniec ’01. The pair began collaborating as freshmen at Chapman University, where Gattis studied creative writing and Staniec film and television production. The two have produced creative material together ever since.

“Our friendship is a lot about challenging each other.”

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“I think our friendship is a lot about challenging each other,” Staniec said, “and trying to constantly make each other better.”

Staniec sat down with Gattis and told him things he needed to hear. Like “You’re a great writer,” and “I want you to write for me.”

“It was a very nice moment,” Gattis recalled recently. “But it was also one that necessitated work.”

Staniec co-founded Black Hill Press in 2013, and invited Gattis to get involved.

Black Hill is a publishing collective that focuses on novellas and exploring what defines creative content today.

“My definition of novella has nothing to do with word count or size or feel of a book, Staniec said. “It’s more about the author, more about whether he or she grabs you by the shirt and quickly pulls you into a story, and just as you’re getting hooked, shoves you out again.”

Gattis wrote two novellas for Black Hill, both set in Los Angeles, and along the way “this other idea” started percolating in his head. “I thought for certain it would be too dark, too violent,” Gattis said. “I ran it by my wife, and she said, ‘Trust me, it’s good.’”

So he sent a chapter to his original agent in London — the one he’d met 14 years ago when he was studying in the U.K and who helped him publish his well-received early novels Roo Kickkick & the Big Bad Blimp and Kung Fu High School.

“She wrote back in a day, saying ‘This is it. You were born to write this. Without a doubt, you have to write this,’” Gattis said.

Those writings became All Involved, a fictional account of the Los Angeles riots of

1992, told from the perspective of 17 firstperson narrators. The novel was released in the U.S. in April by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, and in the U.K. by Picador.

All Involved is generating so much buzz that it will be translated into 11 languages.

After enduring what he calls “in many ways, the worst period of my life,” triggered by “that failure of an overwritten book,” Gattis now stands on the brink of breakout success, with media interviews and a book tour spreading out before him. Even literary legend Joyce Carol Oates sent a tweet promoting the book.

“It’s turning out to be much bigger than I expected,” said Gattis, who has taken time off from his faculty role at Chapman.

At a recent reading and book-signing at Skylight Books in Hollywood, the author was quick to credit Staniec for helping him regain his literary footing. All Involved is really a series of 20,000-word novellas separated into the six days of the L.A. riots.

Gattis’ aim was to capture something truly authentic, to write the climate of the time

exactly as it was, and in so doing to portray the hidden L.A. Gattis put in two years of research before writing a word of what the novel is today; however, the writing itself took a mere four months.

His research was mostly interviews and conversations with former gang members, L.A. firefighters, nurses and others who saw the riots from the inside. What began as conversation became a work of historical fiction.

“He started creating from nowhere, while pulling from everywhere,” Staniec said.

Most of the author’s discoveries and research of multicultural L.A. came from working with the visual arts crew UGLARworks.

The Unified Group of Los Angeles Residents collaborates to create large-scale murals sanctioned by the city. Though Gattis is not a visual artist, the crew welcomed him by saying, “We see you in us and us in you.”

He began by carrying paint and cleaning up and grew into the member he is today.

“(UGLARworks) allowed me to learn the texture of L.A., and I would not have that type of understanding without them,” Gattis said.

One way he gained the trust of those he interviewed was through his own authentic experience with pain, as well as his ability to empathize with those connected to lives of violence.

As a high school student, Gattis suffered a devastating blow to the face in his hometown of Colorado Springs. He grew up in a family of Air Force Academy legacies and planned to follow suit, but then reconstructive surgery and recovery time after the blow changed the trajectory of his life.

“I understand violence from the inside out. As a result I write about the costs, consequences, how it changes you, how it can completely alter the course of one’s life,” Gattis said.

Because of this perspective, Gattis is able to translate the visceral but honest reactions to violence in his writing. With All Involved, he presents the theme as something that explicates humanity and undergirds events.

“That’s what literature is all about,” Gattis said.

In many ways Gattis’ journey with All Involved has just begun. Even in promoting the work, he feels the support of a creative community that includes Staniec, who joined him at the Hollywood reading.

As Gattis hits the book tour trail, Staniec has a special request. If the author ever is booked to appear on Charlie Rose, he wants to be there in the darkness of the talk show’s New York set, much like he was there during the darkest moment of Gattis’ writing career.

“All Involved is Charlie Rose material,” Staniec said. “If that phone call happens, I want to sit in the background watching him being interviewed — watching him as his life changes.”

Gattis takes questions after an L.A. reading from All Involved, which The New York Times praises as “a high-octane speedball of a read: gritty, nerveracking, sometimes excruciating in its violence and at the same time animated by a bone-deep understanding of its characters’ daily lives.”

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The adventuresome spirit that launched the broadcasting career of Rick Eisleben ’69 still channels record-setting moments at Chapman Radio.

By Sean Woodard (M.A./MFA ’17)

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1970s Tina Costantino-Lane, B.A. multiple subjects ’77, graduated from the doctoral program in educational leadership at Azusa Pacific University and presented a paper at the American Educational Research Association’s annual conference.

The Chapman Radio marathon broadcasting record Rick Eisleben ’69 set 46 years ago was recently broken by Angelo Carlo ’15, who welcomed Eisleben to the new studio location this spring. “My visit to the station warmed my heart,” said Eisleben, who brought along his ID card from when Chapman students spun vinyl on KNAB at AM 890.

he first two days had been a breeze, but lack of sleep eventually started catching up with Rick Eisleben as in spring 1969 he continuously spun vinyl in the broadcast booth of what was then called Radio Chapman. Somehow he made it through almost another full day as friends and colleagues “encouraged” him to stay awake — in one case by hovering over him with a Coke bottle full of water.

Last November, Eisleben ’69 returned for the Chapman Family Homecoming Celebration and toured the studios of Chapman Radio, now in the basement of Henley Hall, where he told stories of his record-setting 69-hour marathon broadcast session. He even challenged current station general manager Angelo Carlo ’15 to beat his record.

This spring, Carlo took up that challenge.

Carlo and others at Chapman Radio concocted a mix of music and live interviews to keep things lively — and Carlo awake. Like Eisleben, Carlo leaned on the support of friends and fellow students en route to a recordbreaking run — in his case, 73 consecutive hours.

During a photo session that brought together the two record-setters in April, Eisleben was asked if he wanted to try to reclaim the mark.

“I yield to Angelo with the greatest congratulations for a job so well done,” he said.

Of course, much has changed about Chapman Radio in the nearly half-century since Eisleben helped found the student-run station. Gone are the double turntable and CART machines, replaced by modern digital equipment. But the spirit of adventure that first put fledgling broadcasters on the air clearly still prevails as Chapman students now stream their shows online at chapmanradio.com.

Eisleben remembers that the idea of starting a radio station on campus germinated in fall 1966, with students taking the lead from the beginning. “The leadership was the students,” he said.

The first control room was a converted coat closet, but thanks to the efforts of student pioneers Eisleben, Varre Cummins ’69, Roland Foster ’68, John McCready ’71 and others, as well as faculty

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N O T E S

Email your news and photos to alumni@chapman.edu or mail to: Alumni Engagement, One University Drive, Orange, Calif. 92866. Any pictures received by mail will be scanned and returned. Class notes are subject to editing due to space. To post class notes and photos online, visit alumni.chapman.edu.

Photo by Nathan Worden ’13 (MBA ’15)

AIR TIME

C L A S S

advisor Richard Doetkott, programming and the station’s popularity quickly expanded.

An early hallmark of the station was the creative freedom the students felt, Eisleben said. In addition to playing post-British Invasion rock ’n’ roll, the young broadcasters developed their own niches, airing student debates and interviews with Artist Lecture Series speakers. Eisleben brought his love of film and Broadway soundtracks to his three-hour shifts.

A fond memory for Eisleben is when the station received an advance copy of the Beatles’ White Album. “We were probably one of the first to play it,” he said.

These days, diverse programming still abounds, with the Chapman Radio schedule bouncing from talk to indie folk rock to Papa Moon’s Bedtime Story Hour, which features all manner of yarn, from Mesopotamian myths to Courage the Cowardly Dog. For Eisleben, the station holds a special place in his memory, as it built lasting friendships and “led to my future occupation,” he said.

Eisleben earned his degree in religion and planned to become a minister but instead has merged his love of broadcasting with his deeply rooted faith in building a highly successful career in film and television production. His experiences as a director, producer, editor and more have taken him to 63 countries. Currently he works with Benny Hinn Ministries, the Trinity Broadcasting Network and Cottonwood Church, among other Christian broadcasters.

He’s eager to share the fruits of his own experience with broadcasters just starting out.

“My visit to the station warmed my heart,” he said. “The spirit of the current students is kindred to what we had in those early days.

They’re inventive and entertaining; they’re reaching out for something more and learning where they fit in the grand scheme of things. I think that’s what Chapman is all about.”

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2

David Hamel, B.A. physical education ’75, retired from a 38-year career as a high school teacher. He began teaching at Canyon High School in the Orange Unified School District three months after graduating from Chapman and went on to teach fine arts and coach tennis at Diamond Bar High School. David currently throws the javelin in USA Track & Field Masters meets and was a pole vaulter and javelin thrower on the Panther track and field team.

1 Dennis Lynch, B.A. English ’76, published Shooting Saddam (Crime Rant Books). The book is a humorous look at Dennis’ experience directing the televised Saddam Hussein trial in Baghdad, Iraq.

He has worked in television since graduating from Chapman, primarily as a director of photography.

1980s Matt Clabaugh, MBA ’84, is the primary manager and a principal of Chapman Investment Company (CICo). In addition, he designed the Yucaipa Valley Golf Course Clubhouse in Yucaipa, Calif. The new clubhouse’s associated banquet and event hall is named The Pavilion at Chapman Heights, in recognition of Matt’s great-grandfather and University namesake C.C. Chapman. Matt is a licensed pilot, and in his free time he enjoys scuba diving, skiing and playing golf.

Paul Higgins, B.A. communications ’85, launched the OC All Stars Competitive Cheer Channel on The Youth Television Network (YTN), a network he started last year in his role as president of Athletes in Motion Sports Television Inc. The new channel focuses on the skill, commitment and stories behind competitive cheerleading.

2 Sidika Kilic, MBA ’86, retired from engineering in 2013 and is enjoying a career in real estate.

Leone Patterson, B.S. accounting ’86, was appointed chief financial officer of diaDexus, a molecular diagnostics company based in San Francisco. Most recently, she was chief financial officer at Transcept Pharmaceuticals.

1990s

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Mohammed K. Salih, B.S. biology ’79, was nominated for inclusion in the prestigious The Leading Physicians of the World publication.

Inclusion is limited to individuals who have demonstrated leadership and achievement in their particular specialty — in Salih’s case, dentistry. Mohammed was a 1979 Cheverton Trophy honoree.

3 Brian Buehler, B.A. communications ’97, joined United Realty, a New York-based commercial real estate syndicator, as executive vice president and president of distribution.

Brian has worked in financial services, commercial real estate and capital markets for 20 years.

Continued on next page ❯❯❯

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Eliana Moreno ‘10

Sky High

By Dennis Arp

E

liana Moreno ’10 didn’t envision herself hovering over millions of Southern Californians, but at age 11 she already knew she wanted to be a TV news reporter.

The bird’s-eye view is just a perk of the job.

Since graduating from Chapman University with dual degrees in broadcast journalism and political science, Moreno has been soaring over SoCal in her reporting role for KCAL 9 and KCBS 2. From brush fires to police pursuits to just about anything else that moves, if it can be shot from above, Moreno is probably tracking and describing it.

“I’m not just a photographer or reporter or editor, I’m actually doing all three things at the same time,” she says. “Every day is different; it’s such an exciting life.”

Moreno is comfortable juggling so many on-air duties thanks to her broadcast news training at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, she says.

Her Twitter followers benefit from her aerial view. Like the time she spotted a baby great white shark off Surfside. Then there’s this tweet: “Just heard this on the (police) scanner.

Officer to dispatcher: It’s a false alarm. The snake turned out to be an extension cord.”

Everything in her professional reporting life as the youngest aerial journalist in the nation’s No. 2 media market relates back to her Chapman experience, “from my freshman year to my senior year,” she relates. “My professors had a hand in preparing me for all that I do.”

And there’s no other job she’d rather have.

“I could definitely see myself doing this for the rest of my life,” she says.

Ken Bunt, B.A. liberal studies ’93, is No. 64 on the 2015 Billboard Power 100 (up from No. 89 last year), which highlights the music industry’s most influential people. Ken is the president of Disney Music Group, overseeing all of The Walt Disney Company’s recorded music and music publishing operations, including Hollywood Records and Walt Disney Records.

4 Greg Janes, MBA ’96,

joined Plaza Bank in 2014.

As relationships manager, he specializes in managing complex credit, deposit and treasury services for the small-tomedium business sector.

5 Jonathan Talberg, B.M.

conducting ’93, received the President’s Award for extraordinary teaching at the 2015 California Music Educators Association Conference. Talberg, who was honored as Chapman’s College of Performing Arts Alumnus of the Year in 2014, is in his 15th year as director of choral, vocal and opera studies at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach.

Erik Van Beuzekom, B.A. communications ’90, is performing at the Orson Welles Centenary celebration in Woodstock, Ill., in May.

2000s 6 Steve Baker, B.S. biology ’01, was promoted to fire captain by the Los Angeles Fire Department.

7 Chris Becerra, B.A. sociology ’05 (M.A. education ’08), and Gabe Perez, B.A. philosophy ’12, married in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Jan. 16. Chris is the director of child development programs for the Brea Olinda Unified School District and is an adjunct faculty member at several colleges, including Brandman University. Gabe is a transportation analyst for the largest private right-of-way firm in California. The couple honeymooned in Italy and reside in Fullerton.

8 Whitney Claire (Kaufman) Coss, BFA theatre performance ’06, performed Disney in Concert: Magical Music from the Movies with the Memphis Symphony under the baton of Maestro Ben Makino, B.M. performance ’00.

Dominic DeLay, MFA film and television production ’03, debuted his feature film Zola Jumped In at the San Diego Black Film Festival earlier this year, where it was nominated in the category of Best Drama. The story follows Zola, a deaf 15year-old girl who turns to a gang for a sense of belonging after her brother is tragically killed.

4 8

9 Jennifer (Heide) Hall, B.S. business administration ’03, and Ryan Hall, BFA film and television ’02, moved to San Antonio, Texas, with their three daughters, Lillie (14), Lorelei (5) and Leanna (2).

Both Ryan and Jennifer work at Concordia Lutheran School in San Antonio. Ryan

or infant loss with support, comfort and resources.

Scott Krog, MBA ’01, was promoted to finance director for Colgate Palmolive and will be based in Rome.

11 Ashley (Mayer) Levering, B.A. communications ‘08, and Jeff Levering, BFA film and television ‘05, welcomed their first son, Brock William, on Oct. 1, 2014. Jeff joined the radio broadcast team for the Milwaukee Brewers in January.

12 Jessica (Bradley) Lilja, B.A. English ’07, married Jacob Lilja in Sausalito, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2014.

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9

is the director of school IT, and Jennifer teaches pre-kindergarten.

Kanani Hoopai, B.A. art history ’07, is curator of education at the Mission Inn Foundation and Museum in Riverside, Calif.

6

Benjamin Frank, B.S. business administration ’06, became a partner in the new strategic alliance between Austin Financial Services, Inc. and Diamond Creek Capital, LLC. Ben is CEO at Austin and oversees its daily operations, while sourcing opportunities for both Austin and DCC.

10

10 Lori Johnson, B.A. social science and French ’02 (MBA ’11), is treasurer on the Board of Directors of Forever Footprints, a nonprofit founded by Kristyn (Leachman) von Rotz, B.A. English ’01, that provides families who have suffered a pregnancy

Greg Montoya, B.S. business administration ’08, launched a local SEO service to business owners seeking Internet marketing in Newport Beach.

The service is offered through his online marketing company, GregMontoya.net.

Nicole Provansal, B.A. economics ’07 (MBA ’09), was promoted to senior account executive, corporate partnerships for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Blake Sartini, B.S. business administration ’09, is Golden Gaming’s vice president of route operations, overseeing Nevada’s largest gaming tavern operator. Blake started as a manager in training at the company’s Colorado casinos and returned to Nevada when Golden Gaming gained the slot route business formerly owned

by Affinity Gaming.

Cruz Medina (M.A./MFA ‘08)

Focus on Diversity

By Melissa Grace Hoon

C

ruz Medina (M.A./MFA ’08) has developed an appreciation for California’s diversity awareness.

“I had the benefit of growing up in a progressive state in schools that reflected the diversity of their communities,” said Medina, Ph.D., now assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at Santa Clara University.

Medina was pursuing his Ph.D. in Arizona when the state passed a controversial immigration law and another that opponents say effectively banned ethnic studies in public schools. Medina responded via his recently released book Reclaiming Poch@ Pop: Examining Rhetoric of Cultural Deficiency, which addresses issues of citizenship, education and politics.

Medina said his interest in anti-ethnic-studies efforts and racial profiling was kindled by the post-colonial literature class of Professor Justine Van Meter, Ph.D., at Chapman University.

And while he was in the M.A./MFA program, Professor Martin Nakell, Ph.D., inspired him to wake up at 4 a.m. to write for two hours each morning, which Medina said prepared him to write book-length projects.

“Because Martin is a poet, he wanted you to follow your vision,” Medina said. “So I always felt encouraged to follow my instincts and indulge my inspirations to write.”

In addition, under the guidance of Professor Doug Sweet, Medina tied his varying interests into a single package of teaching digital writing and multicultural rhetoric, with a focus on issues of social justice, race and pedagogy.

Through this hybrid platform, Medina remains committed to spreading a deeper understanding of diversity issues.

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Brent Smith, B.A. social science ’01 (M.A. organizational leadership ’09), was promoted to chief of the Ceres Police Department in California after serving as the city’s acting police chief for seven months.

Gregory Franklin (M.A. ‘91)

Head of the Class

By Igor Bosilikovski ’15

A

n educator who first dreamed of becoming a football coach has now scored a high-profile award as a school district administrator.

Gregory Franklin (M.A. ’91) was named 2014 California Superintendent of the Year, an accomplishment he says recognizes the great collaborative work being done by the 3,000 employees in the Tustin Unified School District.

Among other things, Franklin’s leadership has helped drive innovative programs involving technology in the district.

“Every student from grade 4 to grade 12 is given an iPad or laptop, and it really has changed the way we teach kids,” said Franklin, who previously was a high school principal and assistant superintendent before taking on the Tustin superintendent role in 2011.

Franklin singled out Professor Kenneth Tye, Ed.D, as an influential figure in his educational development at Chapman University.

“He was instrumental in my decision to pursue education as a career,” Franklin said.

“He inspired me to think I might be able to help lead a school or a school district. His passion for education really came through.”

Franklin sure sounds like a teacher when he says that the only road to success is to work hard every day. He knows firsthand the benefits of such an approach.

“When one is working hard on behalf of others, such as in education, it really makes for a great life,” he said.

Kevin Staniec, BFA film and television production ’01, is a program specialist for the city of Irvine. His new project is Living Room Talks, an exhibition at the Great Park Gallery in Irvine featuring industry professionals talking about marketing, branding and other aspects of being a successful artist, in a one-hour interactive discussion once a month.

14 Blake Allred, B.S. business

administration ’11, and Kristi Brungardt, Class of ’12, married on Dec. 12, 2014, at the Chapman Chapel.

12

Michele Allred, B.S. business administration ’11, and husband Benny Feilhaber welcomed daughter Sophia on June 23, 2014.

16 Tyler Hadzinsky, B.S.

16

15 Ashley Aliprandi, BFA

art ’14, has been published in five top San Diego newspapers.

Her book Smiling Through Life sold more than 600 copies.

13

Chris Tornow, MFA film production ’07, is an adjunct faculty member at Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts and is the CEO of the largest private sound stage in Orange County. This year his company, Pfinix Creative Group, will work with clients such as Rockwell Tools.

13 Danielle (Medina) Walters, B.A. French and history ’05 (MFA creative writing ’11 and M.A. English ’11), and her husband, Kurt, welcomed their first child, Adèle Josette, on March 2.

Katie Gardiner, MBA ’12, is a marketing manager at Taco Bell and starred alongside Conan O’Brien on his TBS talk show in an improvised tour at Taco Bell Headquarters in Irvine, Calif.

2010s

17

business administration ’11, left his role as a financial services senior consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City to take a position in baseball operations in the St. Louis Cardinals’ front office. Hadzinsky was a star player in baseball and soccer at Chapman.

17 Neda Lahidji, B.M. performance ’13, was accepted to New York University’s music theatre performance and vocal

14 18

pedagogy dual-degree graduate program at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development and will start classes this fall.

She will also be an adjunct professor at the university.

Erin (Welden) Rosselli, M.A. special education ’03, was honored as a 2015 California Teacher of the Year. She was also named on the Orange County Register’s 2014 list of the 100 Most Influential People in Orange County.

development ’14), married Ivan Chen on Dec. 20, 2014.

Chapman alumni in the wedding party included Jenna Keiper, B.A. dance ’10; Brittany Vickers, B.A. English ’10; Leah Fontenette, B.A. leadership studies ’10; Priscilla Henson, B.A. communication ’10; Nicole Michel, B.A. music ’12; and Zac Henson, B.S. business administration ’10.

Elizabeth Paffenbarger, B.A. public relations and advertising ’13, was honored by the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame with the Future Famers Award, which recognizes next-generation talent in the medical advertising field.

Shimon Starfury, MFA film production ’11, released The Trilemma Paradox — Race War, the first novel in his planned Trilemma Paradox trilogy.

Trisha Vo, BFA television and broadcast journalism ’11, is working at DreamWorks Animation as a production coordinator. Among other projects, she worked on the feature film Home, which was released in March.

19 Jaime (Kuntz) Yacko, B.S. business administration ’10, and Kurt Yacko, B.S. business administration ’10, married on Oct. 25, 2014, in Whitefish, Mont.

18 Monica Martinez, B.A. English ’10 (M.A. leadership

Laura Farinella ‘86

Top Cop

By Cathi Douglas

L

aura Farinella ’86 has been on the job as Laguna Beach’s first woman police chief just since March, but her personal “road show” is quickly educating her about this artsy, eclectic town.

Farinella, Orange County’s only openly gay police chief, spends hours each week meeting with residents and members of community groups and organizations, listening to their concerns.

“I’m excited about my new position because now I can give back to the city and county that I love,” Farinella said. She and her spouse have two children, a 17-year-old daughter and 11-yearold son, and live in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Farinella previously spent 25 years with the Long Beach Police Department, ending as deputy chief. She credits a high school friend who joined the Los Angeles Police Department for sparking her own interest in law enforcement. She adds that her Chapman University communications degree has proved invaluable.

“I truly believe that it helps no matter what your career,” Farinella said. “It’s a great foundation for any job, whether you’re an attorney, doctor or cop.”

At Chapman, she felt fortunate to interact with a diverse community of students and faculty and appreciated hands-on learning experiences.

“No matter what you end up doing after college, there is value to everything you learn,” she said. “Sometime later it will apply to your life.”

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ALUMNI NEWS AND CAMPUS EVENTS Jimmy Blalock, JD ’09, and Akin Ceylan, B.S./B.A. ’90, met at the Holiday Bowl in December at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to watch the University of Nebraska take on the University of Southern California.

Jimmy is president of the Chapman University Alumni Association, and Akin is a member of the Chapman Board of Trustees and vice president of communications for the Chapman Alumni Association.

Jean-Eric Khalife ‘08

Game Changer

By Igor Bosilikovski ’15

A

t age 3, Jean-Eric Khalife ’08 spent hours playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on his friend’s Nintendo. Even then, he was preparing for the professional life he now leads.

These days, Khalife is a technical artist for Riot Games, maker of one of the most popular video games in the world, League of Legends.

He develops tools that help the company’s artists see their creations in the actual game.

“It’s amazing to be able to work in a field that you’re so passionate about,” he said.

A student of computer science and graphic design while at Chapman University, Khalife drew particular inspiration for his career from a game development class taught

by Wood Harter, who has considerable industry experience.

With help from Harter, Khalife landed an internship at Obsidian Entertainment that after graduation turned into a full-time job.

His five years with Obsidian helped establish the path for his career.

Even though game development is now a job for Khalife, he still makes sure to connect with the part of him that first picked up a Nintendo more than two decades ago.

“Creating an awesome backstory and making good visuals only help to reinforce that the game is entertaining,” Khalife said.

“If you don’t have a game that’s fun to play, then you fail.”

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Join us Oct. 2– 4, 2015

PANTHERS ON THE PROWL

Save the date for The Chapman Family Homecoming Celebration. We can’t wait to welcome you home this fall for a weekend packed with events for alumni, including: • The 6th Annual Chili Cook-Off and Tailgate, sponsored by the Chapman University Alumni Association.

• Reunions for the classes of 1990, 2005 and 2010.

FRIENDS WE WILL MISS

• The 10th Annual Chapman University Toyota of Orange 5K Run/Walk.

• Master classes with your favorite professors.

Andrew G. Coldiron, B.A. English ’04, passed away Jan. 25. He was a teacher at Holy Rosary Academy in Anchorage, Alaska. Andy is remembered by the Chapman Family for his cheerful nature and spirit of volunteerism. He is survived by his wife, Erica, their infant daughter, his father and two brothers.

Clarice Friedline, B.A. physical education ’52, passed away Oct. 5, 2014, at age 84. The daughter of Wilder ’28 and Mary Immel, Clarice is one of six family members to attend Chapman. A woman of deep faith, she built a career as an educator and then at age 51 was ordained by the Disciples of Christ. She served in many ministerial roles, including using her acting skills to bring to life stories of women of the Bible and of American history.

Clarice is remembered as a mother, grandmother, educator, minister, author, artist, Disney aficionado and avid Chapman supporter. She is survived by four daughters, two stepsons and 10 grandchildren.

Marjorie Reeves, B.A. English literature and history ’55, passed away Jan. 22. She was the daughter of the late George N. Reeves, who served as Chapman president from 1942 to 1956. She lived a rich life filled with learning, reading, work and travel.

Marj’s quick wit and sarcasm are legendary, and she will be greatly missed by the Chapman Family.

• Greek Alumni Barbecue.

Make your travel plans now and keep an eye out for more details in the coming months. chapman.edu/homecoming

Interested in

Volunteering at Homecoming?

It’s a great way to catch up with old friends and meet more members of the Chapman Family. Contact Nicole Shay ’14, event and program development assistant, at nshay@chapman.edu or (714) 628-2874 to learn more.

Heads up, alumni from the classes of 1990, 2005 and 2010. Want to help plan your reunion?

Contact Lisa Eap, alumni engagement manager, at eap@chapman.edu or (714) 628-2810 to find out how you can get involved.

STAY CONNECTED

Find Us Online

Whether you live close to campus or across the country, there are opportunities throughout the year to: • Connect with fellow alumni and Chapman Family members to build your professional network.

Web: chapman.edu/alumni Blog: blogs.chapman.edu/alumni Facebook: facebook.com/chapmanuniversityalumni Twitter: @ChapmanAlum LinkedIn: Search for Chapman University Alumni Association

• Attend alumni events like Chappy Hour, Greek Skit Night, The Chapman Family Homecoming Celebration, reunions and more.

• Interact with and mentor current students.

• Take advantage of exclusive alumni discounts on shopping, dining, entertainment and more.

But we can’t let you know about these events and opportunities if we can’t reach you. Update your contact information using our quick and easy online form at chapman.edu/alumni-update.

Chapman University is just two miles from the home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the relationship between the two organizations is drawing closer all the time. A growing number of Panthers now enjoy roles with the Angels, including, from left, Justin Hallenbeck ’05, client services manager; Tara Nicodemo ’13, social media coordinator; Brian Sanders ’03, senior director of ballpark operations; Nicole Provansal ’07 (MBA ’09), senior corporate partnership account executive; and

Clint Blevins ’02, senior group sales account executive.

The Panther-Angel connection will be celebrated during Chapman Night at Angel Stadium on Friday, June 26, when the Angels take on the Seattle Mariners. And you can get discounted tickets on selected seats. Just enter the promo code “PANTHERS” when you purchase at angels.com/ChapmanNight, depending on availability. You’ll even get a free Chapman-themed Angels cap to showcase the connection. “It’s growing,” Provansal says of the PantherAngel link. “And this year especially it’s a true partnership.”

Photo by Nathan Worden '13 (MBA '15)

CU at the Big A