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Also in this issue: Little Caesar vs. the McCarthyites: rethinking Hollywood and politics page 16 USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies invents play with purpose page 18 Surgical strike: Keck doctors pioneer minimally invasive techniques page 22
Fas Regna Trojae USC’s USC’s historic historic $6 $6 billion billion campaign campaign –– the the most most ambitious ambitious in in the the history history of of higher higher education education –– heralds heralds ‘the ‘the destined destined reign reign of of Troy’ Troy’ PAGE 11
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The race isn’t over until there’s a cure. Last year, 32,000 men died from prostate cancer and more than 217,000 new cases were diagnosed. Today, 2.2 million live with the disease.
Your contribution supports our race toward a cure for prostate cancer.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2011 Register to run in the L.A. Prostate Cancer 5K at Active.com or USCUrology.com or call (323) 865-3700
Fight On.
inside [ FEATURES ]
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Fas Regna Trojae
Politics and Hollywood
Brave New World
Healing the Healer
The Destined Reign of Troy
By Steven J. Ross
By Orli Belman
By Mary Ellen Zenka
USC launches the most ambitious campaign in the history of higher education.
Movie legend Edward G. Robinson mobilized the Hollywood community toward political activism.
Virtual reality is the new reality at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies.
Minimally invasive colorectal surgery lets veterinarian Nicole Knapp return to her passion for healing animals.
[ COLUMNS ]
[ DEPARTMENTS ]
02 Editor’s Note
04 Mail Bag
The Trojan Family’s generosity is boundless.
Readers give us a piece of their minds.
03 President’s Page
07 Trojan Beat
Moving forward with passion and purpose to support USC
Thinking globally, lab work, shelf life and more
48 Last Word
Connecting Trojans worldwide
Money makes the world go round. Test your knowledge on monetary minutiae.
35 Family Ties 40 Class Notes
On the cover: “Tommy Trojan,” sculpted by Roger Noble Burnham in 1930, remains one of USC’s most recognizable figures. Photo by Philip Channing
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editor’s note
USC TROJAN FAMILY
The quarterly magazine of the University of Southern California
Pillars of Excellence
EDITOR
Nicole M. Malec SENIOR EDITORS
Lauren Clark Diane Krieger ART DIRECTOR
Sheharazad P. Fleming MANAGING EDITOR
Mary Modina CONTRIBUTORS
Susan Andrews, Orli Belman, Anne Bergman, Cheryl Bruyninckx, Cheryl Collier, Beth Dunham, Pamela J. Johnson, Timothy O. Knight, Matthew Kredell, Ross M. Levine, Steve Linan, Sam Lopez, Carl Marziali, Eddie North-Hager, Jan Peterson, Sara Reeve, Julie Riggott, Steven J. Ross, Darren Schenck, Liz Segal, Shirley S. Shin, Ambrosia Viramontes-Brody, Mary Ellen Zenka DESIGN AND PRODUCTION
Nicole M. Malec A S S O C I AT E S E N I O R V P U S C C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
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EXPLORE USC TROJAN FAMILY MAGAZINE ONLINE AT tfm.usc.edu
U S C T R O J A N FA M I LY M A G A Z I N E autumn 2011
Russell Ono Stacey Torii ADVERTISING MANAGER
Mary Modina | (213) 740-8622 CIRCULATION MANAGER
Vickie Kebler USC Trojan Family Magazine 3375 S. Hoover St., Ste. H201 Los Angeles, CA 90089-7790 magazines@usc.edu | tfm.usc.edu USC Trojan Family Magazine (ISSN 87507927) is published four times a year, in March, June, September and December, by USC University Communications. MOVING? Submit your updated mailing address at tfm.usc.edu/subscribe
PHOTO BY DIETMAR QUISTORF
is astounding. In just the past year, despite a difficult economic climate in California and across the nation, USC received gifts totaling more than $1 billion for its educational and research missions. Our donors saw enduring value in supporting our students and faculty, our programs, and our desire and potential to effect positive change. Beyond gifts, so many of you also gave your time to organize events, welcome new students and spread the word about USC. It’s this infectious affinity Trojans have for USC that gives us the unbridled confidence that we can raise $6 billion to support the continued ascent of this great university. The collective spirit of the Trojan Family is an intangible asset that is impossible to measure – yet it is so clearly one of the most valuable features of our community. We hope that, as the campaign progresses, each of you will be engaged in the journey and will be proud of the Trojan Family’s impact both in our nearest neighborhoods and around the world. THE TROJAN FAMILY’S GENEROSITY
president’s page BY C. L. MAX NIKIAS
As we begin a fresh academic year and celebrate the launch of our ambitious fundraising campaign, I want to open this column with some words of gratitude to each of you, the members of the Trojan Family. This past year, we collectively raised more than $1 billion for USC!
PHOTO BY STEVE COHN
Julie and John Mork with USC president C. L. Max Nikias
This total includes three historic gifts – $200 million from Dana and David Dornsife, $150 million from the W. M. Keck Foundation and $110 million from Julie and John Mork – as well as heartfelt annual fund donations from our undergraduates. Each gift made a difference. Each one of you made a difference. And today, I sincerely say thank you. While we’ve achieved a great deal, there is much more to do, as we march toward our lofty $6 billion goal. Let us move forward with passion, but also with purpose. And most of all, let us be mindful of why we are supporting our beloved university. Our campaign will focus significantly on strengthening USC’s endowment, which will ensure our long-term financial stability and strategic growth. A portion of these funds will underwrite capital projects, infrastructure and academic priorities, while another portion will support our faculty and students. These funds will allow us to compete for the most brilliant faculty and the most talented students, while helping us ensure that their time at USC is maximized, that their scholarship or creative work reaches society and that the impact of their contributions is fully realized. We’ve already made tremendous headway on these fronts. Earlier this year, we welcomed Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel McFadden to our campuses. He is known around the world for his innovations in economics and mathematics related to models of learning and choice, and he holds the prestigious title of Presidential Professor of Health Economics. (Along with Distinguished Professor George Olah and Presidential Professor Murray Gell-Mann, he raises USC’s count of Nobel laureates to three!) But professor McFadden brings more than a vast garland of credentials to USC. His work is transformative: His scholarship has fundamentally altered the
way academics examine choice modeling, as well as how companies track and predict consumer decision-making and behavior. He is an intellectual tour de force. The same holds true for our students. Last month, our very first group of Mork Scholars arrived at the university. These 20 inspiring individuals hail from 15 different states and bring a breadth of experiences. Consider John Humphries, from Charlotte, N.C., who will major in chemistry. I could tell you that he graduated top of his class, interned for federal Judge Frank Whitney, competed in a dozen triathlons and scored astronomically high on his standardized tests. But you’ve come to expect such feats of USC’s students. So I’ll tell you that over the past seven years, he and his sister raised more than $15,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, having turned their own birthday parties into fundraisers for the organization. John said he drew inspiration from a young girl named Hope Stout, who wished for the wishes of all the other children in the program – instead of asking for a wish of her own. In one year, an additional cohort of Mork Scholars will arrive on our campuses, which means in four years’ time, we will have a total of about 80 at USC. Our inaugural group will graduate, but the intellectual, creative and social experiences they have at USC will remain with them, forming the foundation on which they build their professional lives. In this way, their successes will be part of USC’s successes. Their contributions will be part of USC’s legacy. This is what inspires me. This promise – this dedication to our collective future and to giving back to our society – motivates my personal commitment to this campaign. I look forward to the years ahead, and I warmly extend my hand to each one of you: Please join me on this journey! These are pivotal years in USC’s glorious history, and together we can alter the course of our university, our community and even our nation. If we are steadfast, focused and thoughtful – and we will be! – then I am confident USC will soon assume its place among the pantheon of undisputed elite universities. ● N O W O N L I N E : tfm.usc.edu
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mailbag Your appointment of this man to dean of religious life is disturbing to me. Our culture in this country is predominantly Christian, but with total freedom to practice any religion one cares to. Students from other countries should taste our culture and spirituality, just as we would if we went to India or China. The fact that he is the only non-Christian university dean of religious life in America shows how far off-base this is. Lloyd O. Johnson ’51
The Spirituality of Troy
H AY D E N L A K E , I D
After reading the article on Varun Soni, my sense of logic and definition of truth was left severely wanting. My observation is that an un-chaplain is a contradiction in terms wrapped in a paradox. If the job description of a chaplain boils down to counseling others, what, in fact, does an un-chaplain do? Soni seems like he’s a fine academic and an entrepreneurial type of guy, but there’s no discussion of consequence in the article of persons he’s helped and changes he’s helped them achieve in their lives. Seems like he may be missing what it takes to be a chaplain. Dennis Purpura ’70, MBA ’71 DANVILLE, CA
I love the article on Varun Soni (“The Un-Chaplain,” Summer 2011, p. 18). It’s an example of my favorite type of profile piece – extremely positive, well researched, lots of voices, and it shows many sides of the individual. I was a full-time reporter for several years and continue to write on a freelance basis. It’s great to see stories like this at USC. Laura Sturza G R A D UAT E A D V I S E R HERMAN OSTROW SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY OF USC CAMPUS
In the article on Varun Soni, there is a sentence so uneducated and preposterous that it can’t be allowed to go unchallenged in an academic publication: “However, questions of spiritual meaning and religious faith rarely come up in the classroom, nor should they in a secular research university.” They don’t? They shouldn’t? How do you study anything in the humanities, arts, even the sciences, without dealing with spiritual meaning? Dante? Milton? Darwin? Michelangelo? Beethoven? The Beatles? The Middle East on the front page of newspapers? If this notion is true, then USC’s “education” is a waste of time and money. Thomas E. Mille ’81
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WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK. SUBMIT YOUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR AT tfm.usc.edu/mailbag
TFM Redesigned I am thoroughly impressed with the online magazine. I’ve seen versions that attempt to duplicate the look and feel of a print magazine, which seems so forced. But this online format (which I’m reading on a computer, not even a phone or iPad) feels fresh and forward-thinking. Great redesign – it’s a tough job, but you did it. Well done, USC! Irene Mason ’06 LOS ANGELES, CA
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PHOTO BY MARK BERNDT
A P P L E VA L L E Y , C A
Apparently, nobody at USC Trojan Family Magazine paid attention to the recent Gap logo-redesign epic fail. Nor did they consult with the USC Roski School of Fine Arts, the USC Graphic Identity Program or any freshman graphic design major. Quite simply, the new font is about the worst choice that could have been made, with neither any sense of historical connection to the university nor perspective beyond a five-year window. Everybody knows that sans-serif fonts are all the rage at the moment (just look at the Facebook, Twitter and Bing logos). They are terrible choices for a 130-year-old university and will look dated (“oh, that late 2010 look�) very fast. Lansing McLoskey MM ’92 MIAMI, FL
Art Facts I loved the photos in “Unexpected Treasures� (Summer 2011, p. 16), particularly the 1931 El Rodeo. I’m a fan of early
flight Art Deco pieces and was surprised to see such art in the El Rodeo. I’d love to find out more about the artist who illustrated the airplane motif. Lee Anne Fisher Masten ’94
(Summer 2011, p. 32). He was anything but a bozo. He was warm, funny and charming. Most people do not know he also owned the rights to Laurel and Hardy and portrayed Stan Laurel on some commercials. He loved USC and truly loved bringing smiles to the faces of his audience. From one bozo to another, R.I.P. Larry. I miss you. Dale S. Gribow ’65
THE BERKSHIRES, MA
P A L M D E S E R T, C A
USC historian Annette Moore replies: The 1931 El Rodeo would be a treat for any fan of early flight art. It features Art Deco-style images with an aviation theme throughout, including a Trojan horse with wings and several scenes with airplanes flying in the sky. All told, there are some six color illustrations, in addition to the frontispiece, credited to artists George Spielman and Ray Conners.
Short Notice I was disappointed when I turned to the obituary pages in the latest issue of the magazine (Summer 2011, p. 50). They are the first thing I turn to, to read about old friends and fellow colleagues. I was dismayed by the abbreviated version. Dorothy A. Morris MA ’79
Being Bozo I loved your missive on my all-time favorite client Larry “Bozo the Clown� Harmon ’50
Editor’s Note: Full obituaries of Trojan Family members can be found in the online edition at tfm.usc.edu/memoriam
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University of Southern California
Global Challenges and Enhancing Opportunities Featuring New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author
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trojan beat
LAB WORK
His Stress, Her Stress
I L L U S T R AT I O N / V E E R
When it comes to housework, shared relaxation eludes the average couple. IT’S THE CLASSIC grievance in the war between the sexes: she doesn’t keep the house neat enough; he never helps out. Only now, there’s biochemical data to back it up. A USC study published in the Journal of Family Psychology found that it isn’t enough for couples to relax together for their stress levels to fall at the end of the day. Men find it easier to unwind if their wives are still busy with chores. Women prefer hands-on help: their stress levels go down if their husbands chip in with housework. This isn’t a promising formula of marital
bliss. “Your biological adaptation to stress looks healthier when your partner has to suffer the consequences – more housework for husbands, less leisure for wives,” explains psychologist Darby Saxbe, a postdoctoral fellow at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and lead author of the study, which received national media attention. For both husbands and wives, the research showed, doing more housework kept cortisol levels higher at the end of the day – in other words, doing chores seemed
to limit their ability to recover from workrelated stress. For wives, cortisol profiles were healthier if their husbands did chores alongside them in the home. Alternately for husbands, leisure was linked to healthier cortisol levels – but only if their wives kept busy with chores. The study measured stress hormones and daily activities among 30 Los Angeles couples who worked full-time and had at least one child. The researchers tracked the families’ activities at 10-minute intervals and sampled their saliva repeatedly over three days. The saliva samples then were analyzed for cortisol, a hormone that increases in stressful situations. Saxbe and her colleagues focused on the drop in cortisol after the end of the workday. A steeper drop is considered healthier. The study found there was a link between household activities and physiology. In particular, the way couples divvy up chores affects the body’s adaptation to stress. The result shows that the actions of one spouse can affect the stress levels of the partner and “have real implications for longterm health,” Saxbe says. Cortisol levels can affect sleep, weight gain, burnout and weakened immune resistance. Saxbe conducted much of the research while writing her thesis at UCLA’s Center on the Everyday Lives of Families with co-authors Rena Repetti of UCLA and Anthony Graesch of Connecticut College. One of Saxbe’s earlier studies had focused on marital relationships, stress and work. Her research found that more happily married women showed healthier cortisol patterns, while women who reported marital dissatisfaction had flatter cortisol profiles, which have been associated with chronic stress. Men’s marital satisfaction ratings, on the other hand, were not connected to their cortisol patterns. “The quality of relationships makes a big difference in a person’s health,” Saxbe says. “Dividing up your housework fairly with your partner may be as important as eating your vegetables.” EDDIE NORTH-HAGER
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THIS URBAN LIFE
Slices of Southland Life Urban scholar ‘images’ Los Angeles like a radiologist.
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called “Persian palaces”), which he regularly passed on the way to pick up his son from school. According to Krieger, everyday life leads to new subjects. When he started riding the bus to USC, he discovered another world to systematically and exhaustively photograph. “I’m not an artist,” he explains. “I don’t worry if the photos are great. I just want to have lots of detail and information that is clearly visible.” Krieger had not originally planned to produce a book at all. He merely wished to document what was going on in Los Angeles, with the vague idea of leaving an archive
MATTHEW KREDELL
The Art of Arts Reporting What if you threw a bunch of skilled journalists at a subject and asked them to invent creative ways of reporting it? That was the intriguing premise behind Engine28, an arts journalism program that debuted this summer at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. For one week in June, reporters from 28 media outlets across the country formed a “pop-up” newsroom to provide extensive coverage of theatre in Los Angeles. The journalists produced reviews, analyses, forums, podcasts and videos around three coinciding theatre festivals and conferences – the RADAR L.A. Festival, the 2011 Theatre Communications Group National Conference and the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Twenty-one reporters and critics – all fellows in USC Annenberg’s seventh National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater – worked alongside a staff of top editors led by Jeff Weinstein, former arts editor and columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Village Voice. “Rather than simply talk about new models for arts journalism at this year’s NEA Arts Journalism Institute, we decided to create some,” says Douglas McLennan, digital editor and chief architect for Engine28.com. “Engine28 was a real-time laboratory for journalism about the arts.” And a crucial laboratory at that, Weinstein says, “because arts journalism – a dull phrase – is in trouble and needs muscular innovation as well as solid traditional talent to survive.” To see what the experiment yielded, visit Engine28.com ●
PHOTO BY STEVE COHN
THREE YEARS AGO, during a routine echocardiogram, Martin Krieger gazed at some 30 images of his heart, taken from all different angles, and had an epiphany. Medical tomography – the imaging of multiple slices of an organ – was the perfect metaphor, he realized, for the amorphous L.A. documentation project he had been engaged in since 1997. “I thought, that’s exactly what I’m doing – taking multiple pictures of the city from different angles and perspectives,” says Krieger, a professor of planning at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. “I could finally make sense of my projects.” The result is Urban Tomographies (University of Pennsylvania Press, $49.95), which explores the concept of tomography as applied to photo documentation. The striking cover displays many of the 800-plus pictures he took of the facades of storefront houses of worship. Other images in his archive include markets, streetscapes, every Department of Water and Power station in the city (around 150), workers at more than 240 work sites and many other slices of L.A. urban life. With the help of USC School of Cinematic Arts professor Tomlinson Holman, who developed the THX sound quality-assurance system for Lucasfilm, Krieger also recorded the ambient sounds of Los Angeles – from the calls of a tamale vendor to the buzz of a workshop saw. Many of Krieger’s photographs and sounds – he snapped tens of thousands of pictures and made hundreds of surround-sound recordings and smartphone videos – can be experienced at tomography.usc.edu/urban Krieger’s interest in photo documentation grew out of a fascination with the distinctive architecture of Iranian-American immigrant homes in Beverly Hills (the so-
for posterity – much as Charles Marville documented Paris from 1858 to 1877. The work was unconventional, but Krieger – who has eight books to his credit – had enough seniority to take risks. Along the way, photo documentation became a passion. “I’m an extremely happy man when I can go out and do fieldwork,” Krieger says. “In my career, I’ve spent most of my time in my office, thinking and reading and writing.” Krieger continues to take photographs and record sounds. He’s currently focusing on the Orthodox Jewish enclave in the Pico-Robertson area of West Los Angeles. This work eventually may lead to another book, although it’s the joy he receives from documenting the ever-changing cityscape that keeps him going. “I do all the work and then the book comes as the last part,” Krieger says. “You put enough ingredients in the mix and then it’s like, ‘Oh, I can make a cake.’ ”
world watch
T H I N K I N G G L O B A L LY
Cross-Continental Show and Tell A USC surgical team demonstrates robotic and laparoscopic techniques before 1,800 Chinese urologists.
PHOTO BY DON MILICI
Inderbir Gill
IN 12 DAYS, they visited five cities – Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Singapore. This was no whirlwind tour of Asia, though. It was a teaching blitz by surgeons in USC’s Institute of Urology. Led by Inderbir Gill, founding executive director of the institute, the team included urology professors Mihir Desai and HuiWen Xie, and urology fellow Casey Ng. Together, they offered a series of live-surgery symposia this past spring. More than 1,800 Chinese urologists attended these symposia to watch the USC team perform 15 advanced robotic and laparoscopic surgeries for kidney, prostate and bladder diseases. “The goal of this trip was to create a USC-China Program in clinical medicine, which will enhance academic exchanges and make USC a preferred destination for Chinese patients seeking cutting-edge
medical and surgical treatment,” says Gill, who is professor and chair of the Catherine and Joseph Aresty Department of Urology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. In addition to demonstrating their surgical techniques, Gill, Desai and Xie delivered state-ofthe-art lectures and disseminated Institute of Urology brochures and physician business cards that had been translated into Chinese. Several Chinese dignitaries attended the symposia, including the director of the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, dean of the Beijing Medical University, dean of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, president and vice president of the Chinese Urological Association, president of the Chinese Military Hospitals Association and more than 40 chairmen of various urology departments across China, Hong Kong and Singapore. The USC urologists also met with the U.S. consul general in Guangzhou, officials of the USC-Hong Kong office and the CEOs of seven health care and insurance companies. One health care company submitted a contract to the institute, which already has generated patient referrals. The USC Institute of Urology has been working on a USC-China collaboration for the past decade. Since 1998, more than 50 Chinese urologists have visited USC every year for a week-long instructional symposium to observe live surgeries and learn new techniques. Future collaboration possibilities are being explored, including teleconsults and e-consults, remote health monitoring, patient referrals to USC for advanced medical care and stronger relationship-building with Chinese physicians. CHERYL BRUYNINCKX
USC in Mumbai USC’s Office of Global Initiatives opened a new international office in Mumbai to promote academic and research partnerships, expand opportunities for student servicebased learning in India and help attract top Indian students to USC. The Mumbai office, which is led by Kamaldeep Chadha ‘89, MBT ‘98, joins an international office in Bangalore that recently was opened by the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
Legal Lifeline USC Gould School of Law established a chapter of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, an organization that teams law students with pro bono attorneys to provide representation to Iraqi refugees seeking resettlement in the United States. Spearheaded by USC undergraduates Ali Al-Sarraf and Jared Irmas, the USC chapter has already recruited 40 student volunteers and partnered with eight attorneys from the Los Angeles offices of O’Melveny & Myers and Gibson Dunn.
Gone to Ghana Eight undergraduates from a variety of majors traveled to West Africa this summer as the first participants in the Summer Research Fellowship to Ghana, a new program sponsored by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. For five weeks, they investigated agriculture, education and sustainable development. Among their accomplishments: producing a needs assessment to help local farmers build a demonstration farm and researching how monoculture – the agricultural practice of growing one crop over a wide area – affects farmers in Ghana for better or worse.
Global Consultation Hoping to beef up entrepreneurship in the low-income community of Kumba, Cameroon in Africa, USC Marshall School of Business professors Sriram Dasu and Yehuda Bassok turned to their MBA students. A team of six students worked with Kumba’s mayor and city council to analyze viable markets for local resources and identify products that could be made by local entrepreneurs. Organizers hope to replicate the process and make this type of global consulting work a staple of USC Marshall’s outreach efforts. ● N O W O N L I N E : tfm.usc.edu
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Sign of Fantasy As American icons go, the Hollywood Sign is worthy of a book. USC culture scholar Leo Braudy obliges. The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon
by Leo Braudy YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, $24
WITH ITS NINE WHITE steel-and-concrete letters standing 30-feet wide and 45-feet tall, the Hollywood Sign is one of the most recognized symbols in the world, yet it remains an enigma. Consider these ironies: rather than a symbol or image, it is a word. And though easy to see, it is quite difficult to visit or touch. Captivated by these and many other contradictions, USC culture scholar, historian and film critic Leo Braudy set about writing a thoughtful book dissecting them all. The result is The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon, part of the “Icons of America” series of scholarly works by Yale University Press. Viewing the sign for the first time is often a disappointment, especially if one has conjured up a symbol of grandeur, glitz and glamour, says Braudy, who is a University Professor and holder of the Leo S. Bing Chair in English and American Literature at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. But then much about
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Tinseltown lore is that way. The fabled intersection of Hollywood and Vine – where people flock from around the world – turns out to be a cluster of nondescript buildings. Braudy calls this let-down the clash between fantasy and reality. He lovingly retraces a history riddled with irony and let-downs. The original sign, which read “Hollywoodland,” was constructed in 1923 by a real estate developer. It perched atop Mount Lee, lit by 4,000 bulbs. Through the years the sign fell into disrepair – it “has endured almost as many deaths, near-deaths and revivals as Kenny in South Park,” quipped Braudy in a May 2010 Los Angeles Times op-ed. In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce contracted with the L.A. Parks Department to renovate it. The “land” portion of the sign was removed, and its symbolic importance to the city cemented. In 1978, a full-scale reconstruction was undertaken, spearheaded by the unlikely duo of adult entertainment mogul Hugh Hefner and heavy metal rocker Alice Cooper. The “new” sign was 5 feet shorter than the original but still grandiose and a lot more stable. Even today, its fate is uncertain. A couple of years ago, 138 acres above and to the left of the sign were put on the market for $22 million. If used for housing, the sale could materially have altered the view of the sign. A group calling itself The Trust for Public Land raised $9 million to purchase the land and save the view for posterity. The option to buy, however, was set at $12.5 million by the Chicago-based commercial developer that has owned the property since 2002. The city held its breath, hoping for a Hollywood ending. That hope did not prove in vain: The iconic sign was rescued yet again by a last-minute donation of $900,000 from Hefner and matching grants from the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, Aileen Getty and thousands of individuals, famous and not. Among the famous: Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. SUSAN ANDREWS
milestones Educator Carol Campbell Fox MS ’62, an independent consultant and outgoing president of the USC Alumni Association, was elected to the USC Board of Trustees. Fox has taught professionally at several Southern California universities, including USC, and has coordinated an innovative teacher-training program for UCLA Education Extension. Past president of Town and Gown and the Trojan Guild of Los Angeles, Fox was the 2006 winner of the USC Alumni Service Award.
Administrator Tom Sayles was named senior vice president for USC University Relations. Previously he was vice president for USC Government and Civic Engagement. Before joining USC in 2009, Sayles was senior vice president for government affairs and corporate communications at Rentech Inc., an alternative fuels company in Los Angeles. He also served as the State of California’s commissioner of corporations and, before that, as state secretary of business, transportation and housing. Sayles holds degrees from Harvard Law School and Stanford University.
Dean Longtime faculty member William W. Holder was named dean of the USC Leventhal School of Accounting, a unit of the USC Marshall School of Business. An expert on financial reporting and auditing, Holder came to USC in 1979 and has directed the USC SEC and Financial Reporting Institute since 1994. He holds a doctorate in business administration and a master of accountancy, both from the University of Oklahoma. ●
B R A U D Y P H O T O B Y M I R A Z I M E T; F O X A N D S AY L E S P H O T O S B Y S T E V E C O H N
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[ A WILL TOWARD GREATNESS ]
Fas Regna Trojae
The destined reign of Troy
Six billion dollars. That’s the figure President C. L. Max Nikias vowed USC will raise in the comprehensive campaign that launched on Sept. 15. ¶ It’s the most ambitious campaign in history – not just Trojan history, but the history of American higher education. ¶ Why such an extraordinary sum? Because, says Nikias, it’s what USC must do if it is to reach the pinnacle of excellence in its academic ascent – what the president calls “undisputed elite status.” And according to Nikias, the campaign will ensure that USC’s contributions to society will be fully realized. ¶ “These things are not only possible; they’re within our grasp. They’re right here for the taking. They’re just a few steps down the road,” he says.
USC’s historic $6 billion campaign USC’s historic $6 billion campaign – the most ambitious in the history of higher education – heralds the ‘destined reign of Troy.’ - perhaps the most ambitious in the history of higher education - heralds the ‘destined reign of Troy.’
THE STAGE FOR THE CAMPAIGN for the University of Southern California was set at Nikias’ inauguration, when he pledged an all-out effort to expand and strengthen USC at an unprecedented rate and in a short period of time. Within a few minutes of the new president’s formal investiture on Oct. 15, 2010, the university announced two separate gifts of $50 million: one from USC trustee Ming Hsieh ’83, MS ’84 to establish an interdisciplinary cancer research institute bringing together engineers, scientists and physicians; another from USC trustee Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation to finance a new building for the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. Since then, four additional donors have made leadership commitments to USC: in March, Dana and David Dornsife ’65 gave $200 million (the largest single gift in USC’s history) to name the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; in April, Julie and John Mork ’70 gave $110 million to fund undergraduate merit scholarships and stipends, and longtime USC supporters Roger and Michele Dedeaux Engemann gave $15 million to support a new student health center on the University Park campus; and in June, the W. M. Keck Foundation gave $150 million to accelerate groundbreaking medical, clinical and translational research and education at USC. In total, USC has raised more than a billion dollars in President Nikias’ first year! “FAS REGNA TROJAE”
PHOTO BY PHILIP CHANNING
From the beginning of his presidency, Nikias vowed to tirelessly push USC forward and upward, while drawing strength from its history. In his inaugural address, the newly anointed president called attention to a littleread inscription on the southwest-facing base of the Trojan Shrine: “Here are provided seats of meditative joy … where shall rise again the
››
destined reign of Troy.” In Latin, the second line translates to “fas regna trojae.” For Nikias – an electrical engineer by training, but a classicist by temperament – the couplet is loaded with meaning. The Trojans stand for excellence and purity of purpose: “No one worked harder than the Trojans, no one was more determined than the Trojans. And their will toward greatness could even bend the will of the gods in their favor,” Nikias said in his address. In Virgil’s epic, the battle-weary Trojans – routed by the Greeks from their native Ilium – take to the high seas, battling monsters and sirens, triumphing over every adversity. “And when they reached their destination,” Nikias added, “they would lay the cornerstone for the great city of Rome – the mightiest and most enduring of all empires.” Therein lies a metaphor for today’s Trojans. “Our own quest for undisputed elite status could be likened to the voyage of Aeneas,” Nikias continued. “It means the difference between being a ‘hot’ and ‘up-and-coming’ university and being undisputedly one of the most influential institutions in the world.” What has USC got going for it to give Nikias such confidence? A dynamic blend of the arts and humanities and culture, certainly. Cutting-edge science, medicine and technology, social sciences and professions – no doubt. Now add to that the gold standard of real estate – location, location, location. “As our world today is shifting away from an Atlantic to a Pacific Century, USC is better positioned than anyone else to become the foremost laboratory of experimentation of ‘East-West’ ideas – in scholarship and the arts and media and journalism and culture, to become the campus where the influencers of the Pacific Age will be educated, shaped and molded. This is our moment,” Nikias says, “and, I believe, that should be our vision.”
ENDOWMENT
USC’s academic ascent, like that of every great university, is fueled by the strength of its endowment. Over the course of four major fundraising campaigns since 1961, the endowment has grown from $18 million to $2.9 billion. But more will be needed to lift USC to the highest pinnacle of academe. Endowment marches in lockstep with academic excellence. If USC does not get its endowment rank in the top tier, it will not be taken seriously by its private peers. A principal goal of the campaign is to add another $3 billion to USC’s endowment. Nikias believes momentum is on USC’s side. “Right now is a perfect storm of economy and opportunity. Right now is the moment when our competitors are on their heels, when our peers are picking up the pieces in a time of great economic turmoil,” he says. “In uncertain times like these, I hope you find great comfort in USC’s sound financial planning and management. While other universities are looking to cut back, USC is planning to move forward.” CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES
“USC must ensure the excellence of our faculty and fund scholarships that enable the most talented students to attend USC regardless of their financial need,” says Al Checcio, senior vice president for University Advancement. Half of the $6 billion campaign goal will be earmarked for endowments supporting these priorities, including research. The remaining $3 billion will finance immediate academic priorities, as well as capital projects and infrastructure improvements. “Only five schools left at our university remain unnamed. These schools are some of our jewels,” noted Provost Elizabeth Garrett at a trustees retreat in March. The un-
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN AND VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE PUBLIC LAUNCH, PLEASE VISIT usc.edu/campaign
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named schools are architecture, theatre, pharmacy, social work, and policy, planning, and development. How would a much-enlarged endowment transform life at USC? Take scholarships. Currently, only about 4 percent of undergraduate scholarship aid comes from endowment income. Yet USC hands out more than $225 million a year in undergraduate student aid. The lion’s share comes from unrestricted funds, which are not as stable a source of support as an endowment. Or consider endowed chairs. Top faculty expect to receive this form of internal recognition. Trying to recruit the best professors in the world without being able to offer them endowed chairs puts the university at a disadvantage. “We have 400 endowed chairs or professorships for a faculty of 3,300,” Garrett explains. Compare that to 500 at Stanford, with a faculty of just 1,900. USC is likewise committed to recruiting exceptional Ph.D. students. For example, the Provost’s Ph.D. Fellowship Program targets individuals who show outstanding promise for careers in academic research and teaching. USC’s campaign will seek to endow fellowships such as these to attract talented students and provide them with the support they need to do their best work.
UNIVERSITY
2010 ENDOWMENT
U.S. News & World Report 2011 RANKINGS
Harvard
$ 27.5 billion
1
Yale
$ 16.6 billion
3
Princeton
$ 14.4 billion
2
Stanford
$ 13.8 billion
5
Columbia
$ 6.5 billion
4
Penn
$ 5.6 billion
5
USC
$ 2.9 billion
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Source: Huffington Post, “The 13 Largest University Endowments,” http://huff.to/qdP03l
SCHOOL GOALS $1.5 billion for Keck School
$750 million for USC Dornsife
$500 million for USC Viterbi
BEYOND ENDOWMENT
There are other compelling priorities beyond building endowment. A key campaign goal is to erect a number of new buildings – for example, an undergraduate business building, a social science building encouraging collaboration between economists with appointments in law, business, and policy and planning, and a building shared by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering that brings together stellar new hires working in the areas where life sciences and engineering converge. The campaign also aims to fund dramatic discoveries and developments in medical research, teaching and patient care. And there is talk among the arts deans about creating a one-of-a-kind program modeled on the Rhodes Scholarship – an international award that brings the best arts graduate students from the Pacific Rim and India to USC. The rising energy level is palpable. “It’s time for USC to embrace its destiny,” Nikias says. This, as he stated in his inaugural address, “is the great journey. This is the way forward to the ‘destined reign of Troy.’ ” O
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$400 million for USC Marshall
$50 million – $200 million each for remaining professional and arts schools, libraries and athletics
PRIORITIES
$2 billion for faculty and research program endowments
$1 billion for scholarship endowments
$2 billion for immediate academic priorities
$1 billion for capital projects and infrastructure improvement
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Little Caesar and the
McCarthyist Mob by Steven J. Ross
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[ POLITICS & HOLLYWOOD ]
In his new book,
Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics, USC historian Steven J. Ross chronicles how Tinseltown grew into a vital center of American political life, using outspoken movie stars as his focus. “My cast of characters features 10 activists: five on the left and five on the right,” Ross writes in his introduction. They include Charlie Chaplin, Ronald Reagan, Harry Belafonte, Charlton Heston, Jane Fonda, Warren Beatty and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The following excerpt is taken from the chapter on Edward G. Robinson (whose papers are housed at the USC Cinematic Arts Library). “The goal of this book,” Ross writes, “is not to demonize one side of the political spectrum and praise the other. Rather, it seeks to understand how each of these 10 people saw the world, why they became political, what they hoped to accomplish, how they affected political life and, in several cases, the steep personal costs of their activism.”
F
ilm scholars refer to the 1930s as the “Golden Age of Hollywood,” a time when movies were at their lavish best. The 1930s were also the Golden Age of Hollywood politics, the decade when Hollywood and its stars emerged as a major force in the nation’s political life. While Charlie Chaplin concentrated on visual politics and Louis B. Mayer on electoral politics, Edward G. Robinson engaged in what soon became the dominant form of Hollywood activism, issue-oriented politics. Robinson showed how a mobilized community of movie stars could use their celebrity to draw national attention to the most controversial issues of the day and help sway public opinion. At a time when most Americans ignored the expansionist policies of fascist leaders Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco, Robinson and dozens of left celebrities marched in the streets, went on the radio and issued political declarations that attracted widespread attention. Studies of political activism in the movie industry during the 1940s and 1950s usually focus on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and its attack on the 10 writers, directors and producers who refused to testify, commonly known as the Hollywood Ten. Yet, in many ways, this familiar history is far less significant than the story of Robinson and the rise and fall of leftoriented politics. Everyone in the movie industry knew that most of the Hollywood Ten – especially John Howard Lawson, Lester Cole, Ring Lardner Jr. and Dalton Trumbo – were or had been Communist Party members. Therefore, it was upsetting but not
surprising when HUAC went after them. However, Hollywood activists were truly frightened when Red hunters targeted those who were decidedly not Communists, particularly Eddie Robinson. In late 1947, the longtime star was completing Arthur Miller’s All My Sons and getting ready to shoot Key Largo with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Three years later, he was persona non grata in the industry he so loved.
Anti-Nazi Activist Robinson’s desire to stop Hitler led him to join dozens of organizations, but none proved as important as the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League (HANL). Founded in April 1936, the HANL was the city’s best known and most diverse Popular Front organization. Far from being a dilettante celebrity group, the HANL marked the beginning of a new kind of issueoriented politics. In a Hollywood ruled by studios that controlled what messages went on the screen, movie stars found an alternative way to reach a broad public. They used their celebrity to raise public awareness about the dangers Nazism posed in Europe and the United States. The organization – whose 4,000 to 5,000 members included liberals and leftists such as Robinson, Melvyn Douglas and Fredric March, and conservatives such as Bruce Cabot, Joan Bennett, John Ford and Dick Powell – mounted frequent demonstrations and rallies, held talks on topics such as “Hitlerism in America,” sponsored two weekly radio shows that publicized fascist activities, published its own biweekly newspaper Hollywood Now, called for boycotts of German products and blockaded meetings of the Los Angeles German-American Bund. Heated protests by the HANL also succeeded in cutting short Hollywood visits by Mussolini’s N O W O N L I N E : tfm.usc.edu
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son Vittorio in September 1937 and by Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler’s favor- screened at the White House that March, A Dispatch From Reuters (1940) and The Sea Wolf (1941). Robinson’s political activism also extended to ite filmmaker, a year later. The internationalist pronouncements of Robinson and other Hollywood radio, which he saw as another way to influence public opinion. In Big activists soon came to haunt them as HUAC began portraying anti-fas- Town, a series that ran from 1937 to 1942, he played crusading newspaper cists as the allies of Communists bent on destroying America. Ironically, editor Steve Wilson, who each week battled one of the many problems the impetus behind HUAC came from New York Jewish Congressman plaguing American life. When war broke out in Europe on Sept. 1, 1939, Robinson began Samuel Dickstein. In 1934, he called for a House investigation of proNazi propaganda and subversion in the United States. When Congress delivering speeches denouncing Nazism and right-wing isolationist approved the plan in 1938, they made Texas Representative Martin Dies groups such as America First. Over the next three years, he participated the chair and excluded the Jewish politician from HUAC. The publicity- in an ever-wider array of organizations: the National Bureau for the Right hungry Texan immediately launched an investigation of Hollywood, of Asylum and Aid to Political Refugees, the American Committee for which he called a “hotbed of communism,” but paid little attention Protection of the Foreign Born, the Committee to Defend America to fascist groups that many considered far more dangerous. In August by Aiding the Allies and, after Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the Russian War 1938, HUAC investigator Edward Relief Association of California and Sullivan turned the nation’s attenthe National Council of Americantion to the movie capital when he desire to stop Hitler Soviet Friendship. He also used his accused the HANL of being a led him to join dozens of organizations, radio show as a platform to call for Communist front. military preparedness. Robinson entered the national but none proved as important as the Once the United States entered political stage on Dec. 9, 1938, Hollywood Anti-Nazi League. the conflict, Robinson interrupted when 56 prominent stars, writhis film career to serve his couners, directors and studio heads – including James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Henry Fonda, Groucho try. In October 1942, four months after he volunteered for military Marx, Rosalind Russell, Bette Davis, Paul Muni, Melvyn Douglas, service, the Office of War Information appointed the 49-year-old “as a Harry Warner and Jack Warner – gathered at his home to discuss the Special Representative of the Overseas Operation Branch of this Agency worsening situation in Germany and Western Europe. They consti- at London, England.” Once in London, Robinson delivered radio tuted a Committee of 56, named after the number of signatories to the addresses in half a dozen languages to countries under Nazi domination. Declaration of Independence, and signed a “Declaration of Democratic He returned to Europe in 1944 and was the first movie star to travel to Independence,” which they sent to Congress and the president. The Normandy to entertain the troops after D-Day. During his time back “Declaration” called for a boycott of all German products until the nation home, Robinson sold war bonds, donated $100,000 to the USO, talked ended its aggression toward other nations and stopped persecuting Jews to workers at shipyards and defense plants, and appeared in numerous government-sponsored rallies. and all minorities. When Robinson heard rumors in 1938 that Harry and Jack Warner wanted to turn FBI agent Leon Turrou’s account of foiling a domestic Cold War Consequences Nazi-spy ring into a film, he begged for a role. The Warners responded The conclusion of the war in Europe and Japan marked the beginning of by casting him as the crusading Turrou. By participating in Confessions of a Cold War against the Soviet Union and an equally chilling war against a Nazi Spy, the first film to portray Nazis as a threat to America, Robinson Hollywood activists. For Robinson, issue-oriented politics did not die felt “that I am serving my country just as effectively as if I shouldered a with the end of war. Defeating Nazism and fascism steeled his detergun and marched away to war.” mination to forge a more democratic and less prejudiced postwar world. He accepted roles in several other Warner Jewish bio-pictures and anti- He joined with Myrna Loy, Danny Kaye and dozens of other stars in fascist films: Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet (1940), which Franklin D. Roosevelt drumming up public support for the United Nations and working with
Robinson’s
Is Hollywood Really Liberal? Longstanding conventional wisdom that Hollywood has always been a bastion of the political left is wrong on two counts. First, Hollywood has a longer history of conservatism than liberalism. It was the Republican Party, not the Democratic Party, that established the first political beachhead in Hollywood. Second, and far more surprising, although the Hollywood left has been more numerous and visible, the Hollywood right – led by Louis B. Mayer, George Murphy, Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston and Arnold Schwarzenegger – has had a greater impact on American politi-
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cal life. The Hollywood left has been more effective in publicizing and raising funds for various causes. But if we ask who has done more to change the American government, the answer is the Hollywood right. The Hollywood left has the political glitz, but the Hollywood right sought, won and exercised electoral power. Can such a counterintuitive argument really be true? What did the Hollywood right achieve to merit such a claim? There have been two foundational changes in 20th century U.S. politics. The first was the creation of
a welfare state under Franklin D. Roosevelt, a development that established a new relationship between government and the governed, and crystallized differences among conservatives, liberals and radicals. The second was the gradual dismantling of the welfare state that began under a movie star, Ronald Reagan. The conservative revolution of the 1980s could not have happened without the groundwork laid by Mayer, his protégé George Murphy and his protégé Reagan. STEVEN J. ROSS
the Hollywood Democratic Committee’s successor, the Hollywood Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions, to lobby for a Congressional bill that would have provided national health care for all Americans. In September 1947, HUAC subpoenaed 43 prominent Hollywood figures and demanded that they testify before the committee. The 10 writers and directors who refused to answer questions regarding possible Communist affiliations were voted in contempt by Congress in November, tried in federal court the following year and sentenced to 12 months in jail. Hollywood liberals and leftists responded to HUAC’s subpoenas by organizing the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA). The group – which included Robinson, Marsha Hunt, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Danny Kaye, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly – denounced HUAC’s actions arguing that “any investigation into the political beliefs of the individual is contrary to the basic principles of our democracy.” It was the Constitution, the group declared, and not the Hollywood Ten that they were defending. Robinson appeared on the initial list of actors to be investigated by HUAC. Little did he realize the FBI had closely monitored his activities for several years. FBI reports listed all the dinners Robinson hosted for political causes between 1941 and 1945, the dates of every speech and rally in which he was involved, and even suggested that he and [his wife] Gladys were “involved in Russian espionage activities.” In May 1945, the FBI sent the White House a confidential memo naming Robinson as one NAZI SPIES IN AMERICA: When Robinson learned that the Warners wanted to of 50 movie stars accused of being a Communist or having Communist turn FBI agent Leon Turrou’s account of foiling a domestic Nazi-spy ring into a film, leanings. By the summer of 1947, secret informants told the FBI that he begged for a role. Robinson was a member of the Communist Party and that Red leaders found his political views “to be very sound and mature.” Their accusations led FBI agents to place his home under in Confessions of a Nazi Spy, surveillance and record the license plate the first film to portray Nazis as a threat to America, Robinson numbers of everyone who visited him. American Federation of Labor leader felt “that I am serving my country just as effectively as if I Matthew Woll was the first to openly shouldered a gun and marched away to war.” accuse Robinson of having Communist ties. In a September 1946 magazine article, he insisted, “Hollywood today is the third largest Communist center Robinson never considered himself a radical so he never felt the need in the United States” and listed Robinson as one of the most prominent to stop speaking out. But repeated accusations associating the star with fellow travelers, a charge that was reprinted in the rabidly anti-Communist Communist groups made him a box-office risk. Offers for good parts, for Hollywood Reporter. An outraged Robinson sent letters to both periodicals any parts, began to dry up. The proverbial straw that broke the back of labeling the charges as “false and unfounded” and charged Woll with his career came in June 1950, when the three former FBI agents who using “Hitlerian tactics” to frighten him “by innuendo, weasel words and authored Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and false accusations.” The labor leader, he wrote, was “trying to bludgeon Television charged him, along with 150 other people, with belonging to and coerce me and millions of other American citizens like me away from a number of Communist fronts. Although no Red affiliation was ever all enlightened, progressive, and liberal interests and activities.” proven, Robinson’s reign as a major star was over. Woll’s accusations and the subsequent publicity generated by the Outraged by the smear campaign directed against him, Robinson spent HUAC hearings damaged Robinson’s reputation and box-office pros- the next three years of his life and over $100,000 of his own money trying pects, but Robinson refused to curb his political activities. Instead, to clear his name and resume his career. When a three-hour visit to the he grew more assertive in supporting controversial groups such as the editors of Red Channels failed to change their minds, the feisty actor wrote Progressive Citizens of America and the Conference of Studio Unions. to HUAC requesting an opportunity to testify about his participation in Accusations of Red affiliations increased when he campaigned in 1948 alleged Communist groups. His request was granted. for Communist-backed Progressive Party presidential candidate Henry On Oct. 27, 1950, the actor appeared before HUAC’s investigative staff Wallace, whose platform called for ending the Cold War, ending segrega- in Washington D.C., with a statement that listed all the organizations in tion and instituting universal health care for all Americans. which he participated, explained the rationale behind his political activiRobinson’s frequent clashes with Red-baiters and anti-Semites did not ties and accounted for every donation he made from Dec. 16, 1938 to initially derail his career. The actor appeared in two major features, Scarlet Dec. 15, 1949. During several hours of questioning by senior investigator Street (1945) and The Stranger (1946); in 1947 he starred in The Red House Louis J. Russell, Robinson insisted that he had “at all times subscribed and began shooting All My Sons, Key Largo and Night Has a Thousand Eyes. to and believed in the principles of democracy.” As for his participation Robinson’s fortunes were about to change. As angry fan letters poured in U.S.-Russian groups, Robinson reminded Russell that at the time into studio offices, industry leaders moved to placate audiences by Russia was the United States’ ally and the gatherings at which he spoke pressuring stars to refrain from taking controversial political positions. included the likes of secretary of state Cordell Hull, assistant secretary
By participating
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CONGA LINE: Robinson leads a conga line of Hollywood Democratic Committee stars – which included Lauren Bacall, Danny Kaye and Lucille Ball – who campaigned for
of state Dean Acheson, secretary of treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. and care whether the Soviet Union took over the United States so long as he numerous U.S. senators. When Russell asked “whether or not you have was allowed to keep his art collection, the flabbergasted actor replied, ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States or of “That is a vicious lie.” In a highly emotional closing statement, Robinson any other country,” the actor immediately shot back, “I am not now, nor explained how “my good name and my Americanism” had been “hurt have I ever been, a fellow traveler or a member of the Communist Party.” by a lot of these vicious charges, and the repetition of them in a lot of Robinson concluded by pledging to “assist and defend the United States irresponsible publications.” Choking with emotion, Robinson ended with a Patrick Henry-like of America in any way within my power against any enemy, including appeal: “Either snap my neck or set me free. If you snap my neck I will still Russia, her supporters and satellites.” Hoping to leave no doubts about his loyalties, Robinson wrote J. Edgar say I believe in America.” When the committee hesitated to do either, lead investigator Russell Hoover several days came to Robinson’s later asking to present defense, explaining his case to the FBI. or set me free. that he had conducted Robinson told the If you snap my neck I will still say I believe in America.” a thorough investigaFBI head he “would tion of Communists be more than pleased to confront any such accuser at any time and place you may designate.” in Hollywood in 1945 and the actor’s name did not appear on any docuHoover, who considered himself “a Robinson fan,” wrote back thanking ment linking him to the party. News of Little Caesar’s testimony and his denial of any Communist him for bringing “your observations to my attention,” but explained that he could do nothing to help. A similar request by Robinson to appear affiliation were widely reported in the national press. “Now that Eddie before the executive board of the Motion Picture Alliance “to clear his Robinson has been completely cleared of those Communist charges by Uncle Sam, himself,” gossip columnist Louella Parsons wrote on Dec. name of the Communist stigma” was also denied. When new allegations surfaced several weeks later, the embattled star 26, “it’s time that all the whispering stopped.” Rumors of his Red affiliareturned to Washington to testify before a HUAC subcommittee. On tion were so widespread, she added, that they were “beginning to affect Dec. 21, 1950, Robinson once again swore that he had “never been a his career.” On Jan. 10, 1951, HUAC released a report clearing Robinson Communist sympathizer” nor was he “active in anything that smacked “of ever having engaged in pro-Communist activities or any other activiof communism.” Asked if it was true he had once said that he did not ties against the interests of the United States.” Anxious to get back to
“Either snap my neck
Reprinted from Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics by Steven J. Ross with permission from Oxford University Press, Inc. Copyright © 2011 by Steven J. Ross. Recipient of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Film Scholar Award, Ross is a professor and chair of history at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, co-chair of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities and the author of four books on Hollywood politics.
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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE EDWARD G. ROBINSON COLLECTION AT THE USC CINEMATIC ARTS LIBRARY
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman in 1944.
work, the actor sent copies of his testimony to Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer, Harry and Jack Warner, Darryl Zanuck, Joseph Schenck and Howard Hughes. Chances for a quick resumption of Robinson’s career were crushed when HUAC member Rep. Donald Jackson, R-Calif., who hoped to tarnish all of Hollywood’s Democratic activists, denied that the committee had cleared his constituent. After receiving complaints by American Legion investigators who were “disturbed over the apparent ‘whitewash’ given” to Robinson, Jackson told the press that the actor had been allowed to make self-serving statements without the committee calling witnesses “who claimed to have evidence of his alleged Red affiliations.” Ready for further battle, Robinson wrote back to HUAC chairman John Wood asking for a quick hearing “because every day that it is postponed only adds further damage to my name and reputation.” Not only was Robinson denied a speedy hearing, but the national furor over his case sparked a new round of HUAC investigations. The committee subpoenaed John Garfield, Anne Revere, José Ferrer and comedian Abe Burrows in March 1951. But Robinson would not be called for another 13 months. In the meantime, his career ground to a halt. No studio was willing to take the chance of offering the politically tainted actor a starring role. A distraught Robinson appealed to Screen Actors Guild (SAG) president Ronald Reagan for assistance, but the SAG officer and FBI informant, whom Robinson had alienated during Hollywood’s contentious postwar labor battles, refused to help him. In April 1952, the desperate and despondent star traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify before HUAC for a third time. In a hoarse voice, Robinson told committee members what they wanted to hear: “I was duped and used.” Insisting that he had “always been a liberal Democrat” who fought to “help underprivileged or oppressed people,” a repentant Robinson confessed he had slowly come “to realize that persons I thought were sincere were Communists” and that “some organizations which I permitted to use my name were, in fact, Communist fronts.” He had been consistently lied to. “Not one of the Communists who sought my help or requested permission to use my name ever told me that he or she was a member of the Communist Party.” He had been a fool. “I am glad for the sake of myself and the nation that they have been exposed by your committee.” During the course of several grueling hours of questioning, Robinson named no names but he did repudiate the progressive organizations to which he had belonged in the 1930s and 1940s. His testimony made newspaper headlines throughout the country. “Robinson Says He Was Duped by Reds,” blared one daily, “EGR Called ‘Sucker’ for Red Fronts” screamed another headline. Desperate to salvage his career, the actor continued his ritual of rehabilitation through humiliation by publishing an article in the October 1952 issue of American Legion Magazine titled “How the Reds Made a Sucker Out of Me.” Robinson told readers that while he had “never paid much attention to communism in the past,” he now knew how they went about duping loyal Americans. “They do not reveal themselves as communists,” but pose “as fine American citizens who are for ‘peace,’ or ‘decent working conditions,’ or ‘against intolerance.’ ” These were lies; their real aim was “world domination, oppression, and slavery for the working people and the minorities they profess to love.” The contrite actor ended by swearing, “I am not a communist, I have never been, I never will be – I am an American.” Neither his article nor his HUAC testimony succeeded in clearing his name or restoring his career. During the next several years, the only offers he received were minor roles, at greatly reduced pay, in minor films such as Actors and Sin (1952), Vice Squad (1953), Big Leaguer (1953), The Glass Web (1953), Black Tuesday (1954) and The Violent Men (1955). Robinson was forced into one last humiliating round of testifying before HUAC when it was revealed in January 1954 that he had loaned $300 to Louis J. Russell, the committee’s chief investigator.
Ironically, Robinson was restored to semi-respectability in 1956 when Cecil B. DeMille, one of Hollywood’s most prominent anti-Communists, offered him a plum role in The Ten Commandments as the Hebrew informer Dathan. After making The Ten Commandments, Robinson waited almost three years before being offered another significant part, this time in Frank Capra’s A Hole in the Head (1959). Robinson continued making movies until his death in 1973 and even experienced a mild resurgence in the 1960s, appearing in 19 movies between 1960 and 1973. Ironically, his best role of the era was as Lancey Howard, the seemingly washed up gambler, in The Cincinnati Kid (1965), a film co-written by blacklisted writer Ring Lardner Jr. Robinson’s story is more than just the sad tale of a decent man caught in the web of events beyond his control. In many ways, his persecution and political retreat had a far more devastating effect on the film community than that of the Hollywood Ten. Politically aware actors knew that most of the Ten were Communist Party members. But Robinson was no radical, let alone a Red. Robinson’s downfall sent an even greater chill throughout the industry than the incarceration of the Hollywood Ten. Actors, directors, writers and producers did not condone HUAC’s actions, but they understood why the committee pursued such well-known radicals. Robinson was quite another case. If the government could drive a left-liberal like Eddie out of the business, a man whom even anti-Communists like Ronald Reagan called “one of the warmest-hearted, truly kind people in the world,” then they could go after anyone. And if a star of Robinson’s magnitude could not survive such attacks, was anyone safe? A whole generation of Hollywood activists took note of his fate. ●
AMONG FRIENDS: Democratic Party activists Robinson and Humphrey Bogart meet and shake hands with Eleanor Roosevelt.
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[ THE FUTURE IS NOW ]
ICT’s Light Stage 5 captures the shape, shine, color and texture of an actor’s face, creating a realistic digital character.
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Brave New World
At USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, virtual reality is the new reality.
By Orli Belman
FOR APRIL FOOLS’ THIS YEAR,
Google introduced Gmail Motion, an e-mail feature that claimed to replace simple key strokes and mouse clicks with exaggerated body movements like pantomiming opening an envelope to read a message or licking a stamp to send one. ¶ People got a laugh watching Google’s spoof video. But Evan Suma, a virtual-reality researcher at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), got an idea. ¶ Using skeleton tracking data from Microsoft Kinect, a system that allows users to interact through voice and body gestures without the need for a controller, Suma proved the prank was possible. His demonstration video, posted that same day, went viral, earning applause from tech blogs, The New York Times and Google itself. ¶ Suma’s video was lighthearted. But it is a prime example of the serious work taking place at ICT, a U.S. Army-sponsored research and development lab in Playa Vista, Calif., where academics, artists, scientists and storytellers take computer-based toys and dream up futuristic tools that train soldiers, treat patients, teach students and more.
Think play, with a purpose. Suma’s gesture-translating toolkit has led to the development of more effective physical rehabilitation systems. His USC colleagues have already transformed off-the-shelf headsets and joysticks into successful virtual-reality therapy for treating posttraumatic stress disorder. ICT-created games teach U.S. armed forces skills ranging from negotiating with people of other cultures to detecting improvised explosive devices. Additional applications build social skills for children with autism and educate parents about juvenile cancers. ¶ The institute specializes in developing virtual humans, computer-animated characters that appear, speak, understand, express emotions and display body language in ever-more realistic ways. So similar are the virtual models to humans that ICT’s graphics guru Paul Debevec received an Academy Award in 2010 for his advances in creating believable digital doubles in movies like Avatar and Spider-Man 2. ¶ In research settings, these human facsimiles advance social scientists’ understanding of how people think, feel and behave. Outside the lab, they live in laptops and large installations across the country, employed as digital docents explaining science to museum visitors, online coaches providing guidance to soldiers and families seeking mental health resources, and virtual role players replacing live actors for training mental health workers or teaching troops to better conduct field interviews. ¶ “It is not enough to use technologies to create a cool experience,” says Randall W. Hill Jr., ICT’s executive director who oversees an interdisciplinary team of nearly 200 experts, including computer scientists, digital artists, script writers, game designers, physical therapists and psychologists. “We are creating a whole new way for people to engage with computers so that they can practice, learn and perform better.” ¶ And that is a gesture anyone can appreciate. ¶ Here and on the following pages are examples of the futuristic research taking place at ICT.
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ICT video games transform textbook teachings and real-world wisdom into interactive learning experiences. Research teams have collaborated with experts from the USC Rossier School of Education and the USC School of Cinematic Arts to develop applications that combine advanced artificial intelligence, evidence-based educational designs and engaging story-based lessons. In the negotiation trainer ELECT BiLAT (top), the student assumes the role of a U.S. Army officer who needs to conduct a series of meetings with local leaders to achieve mission objectives. To be successful, players must establish relationships with these virtual characters and be sensitive to their cultural conventions. Declining an offer to drink tea or skipping small talk to discuss business can set the negotiations back or end them completely. The game incorporates ICT research on advanced virtual humans who display believable behaviors and computational models of social interaction that emulate individual and group responses. And it features intelligent tutoring to provide students with real-time guidance and in-depth feedback. Serious games like these are used by thousands of American servicemen. West Point cadet Eric Zastoupil recently tested the game with ICT scientist H. Chad Lane (bottom).
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T H I S PA G E : P H O T O S B Y C H U C K B O W M A N ; O P P O S I T E PA G E : P H O T O B Y A L S E I B / L O S A N G E L E S T I M E S
NOT JUST GAMES
DIGITAL DOUBLES Paul Debevec, ICT’s associate director for graphics research and a research professor of computer science at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, was inspired to become a visual-effects innovator after watching a DeLorean fly in the movie Back to the Future. Debevec is seen above in Light Stage 6, one of a series of LED light-filled spheres he developed to capture and simulate how people and objects appear under real-world lighting conditions. Debevec’s technologies enable virtual worlds and characters to look convincing. They have been employed to create detailed digital faces that mirror their human counterparts down to individual skin pores and wrinkles. Work on these systems earned Debevec and his collaborators a 2010 Scientific and Engineering Academy Award. ICT’s Graphics Lab also developed a 3-D video teleconferencing system that beams hologram-like images capable of maintaining eye contact and conversations with people in other locations. Back to the future, indeed. SEE VIDEOS ON ICT’S INNOVATIVE RESEARCH AT youtube.com/USC ICT
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VIRTUAL REALITY IS ABOUT IMMERSION ICT’s Mixed Reality Lab (MxR) studies and creates immersive systems that incorporate both real and virtual elements. Led by Mark Bolas, who also is an associate professor in the Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, MxR creates simulated environments in which participants can speak, move and gesture as readily as they would in the real world. Above, Bolas demonstrates “stretching space,” an effort led by researcher Evan Suma (opposite page, bottom right) that uses imperceptible redirection techniques to transform a limited physical space into a boundless virtual
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world. For example, a gravel path inside the lab provides the base for a winding journey down roadways and through buildings. These virtual research projects have real implications for training, education and entertainment. A head-mounted projector generates individualized perspectives (this page, top and center), providing each wearer a different image on the same screen. The system allows a user to perceive whether a virtual character is establishing eye contact, gesturing or pointing a weapon at them.
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Meet Ada and Grace, two bright and bubbly educators who arrived at Boston’s Museum of Science in 2009. Science and technology are literally part of their being. That’s because they aren’t real people – but virtual ones. Designed to advance the public’s awareness of, and engagement in, computer science and emerging learning technologies, the virtual guides make a museum visit richer by answering visitor questions, suggesting exhibitions and explaining the technology that makes them work. Named after two inspirational female computer science pioneers, Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper, these digital docents are trailblazers in their own right. As part of an exhibition called InterFaces, they are among the first and most advanced virtual humans ever created to speak face-to-face with museum visitors. As both examples and explainers of technical scientific concepts, Ada and Grace represent a new and potentially transformative medium for engaging the public in science.
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SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM ICT AT tfm.usc.edu/bravenewworld
U S C T R O J A N FA M I LY M A G A Z I N E autumn 2011
PREVIOUS SPREAD: PHOTOS BY AL SEIB/LOS ANGELES TIMES; GUNSLINGER PHOTO BY STEVE COHN
VIRTUAL HUMANITY
BRINGING AGENTS TO LIFE Built on the same platform as Ada and Grace, ICT’s Sgt. Star (top, right) is a life-sized virtual human who can talk about Army life and careers. Other ICT virtual characters help develop skills in leadership, negotiation and cultural awareness. In another project called Gunslinger (middle, right), virtual human technologies combine with Hollywood storytelling and set building to transport users to the Wild West. Players speak with virtual characters, who also speak to one another. By combining improvised conversation with carefully crafted narrative, Gunslinger pushes the frontiers of virtual human research and interactive storytelling. Petty Officer Samuel Sarax (bottom, right) is a combat veteran with emotional scars that won’t heal. A collaboration between the USC School of Social Work and ICT, this virtual patient is helping prepare future clinicians to address mental health needs of soldiers, veterans and their families. Student therapists can practice their skills in conducting interviews and making diagnoses before meeting real patients. Other ICT medical virtual-reality projects provide therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and rehabilitation for stroke and traumatic brain injury. ● If you have questions or comments on this article, go to tfm.usc.edu/mailbag
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[ DOCTORS OF USC ]
Minimally invasive colorectal surgery lets veterinarian Nicole Knapp return to her practice – and a normal life. BY MARY ELLEN ZENKA
When the Healer Needs
Healing “Awful.” That is how veterinarian Nicole Knapp, 30, described her experience with ulcerative colitis. “I lost 25 pounds in 10 months. Many foods just ran through me so fast I couldn’t keep weight on,” Knapp recalls. “I tried to keep up with my busy veterinary practice – running to the bathroom between appointments. My work partners were very understanding, but it got to the point where I was so debilitated I ended up in the hospital.” Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease of the large intestine, or colon, with onset usually occurring during a person’s teen years or twenties. Knapp was 28 in 2009 when her symptoms, which included painful stomach cramps, increased in severity. A colonoscopy showed her colon was lined with ulcers. Though there is no known cause for ulcerative colitis, there is a presumed genetic component to susceptibility. The disease also may be triggered in a susceptible person by environmental factors. Knapp’s experience matches both theories. She has a family member who suffers from Crohn’s disease – a similar condition – and her symptoms first began years earlier as mild stomach upset while she was keeping up with the grueling pace of academic study in veterinary school. Knapp chalked the stomach upset and bowel irregularity up to stress. She felt she was too young for her symptoms to be a cause for worry, and she assumed all would vanish with her completion
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of school. Instead, her problems worsened. Jacques Van Dam, professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and director of clinical gastroenterology at USC University Hospital, says that young people with this ailment often have very advanced disease by the time they arrive at his gastroenterology office. “Young people aren’t used to being ill, so they often seek care only when symptoms become severe,” Van Dam says. “Add in the ‘embarrassment factor’ because young people are still a bit shy about personal issues that may involve exams of the rectum and colon. That results in a more severe problem by the time I see them. Their symptoms are no longer mild, but often painful and weakening, so they are more agreeable to the diagnostic process. Of course, we make them comfortable
AT EASE After years of increasing discomfort and pain, Nicole Knapp turned to USC for expert minimally invasive surgery.
and they learn the tests aren’t too difficult.” Diarrhea and stomach cramping can come from a foodborne bacteria, poor diet or stress, among other factors. According to Van Dam, experiencing these symptoms for three to five days is generally no cause for concern. However, if symptoms continue for many days, a person should consult his or her physician.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHILIP CHANNING
By the time Knapp ended up hospitalized with dehydration and fever in September 2010, all attempts at controlling her everincreasing nausea, diarrhea, cramping and muscle weakness were failing. She had tried various drug therapies and dietary restrictions for several months without much effect. She could no longer work and had to take disability leave from her practice.
“My husband and I couldn’t go out much, and if I did, I had to know where the closest bathroom would be before I even left my house,” Knapp says. “I was always tired from nightly sleep loss due to bathroom visits. Eating made me anxious because I didn’t always know how my system would react. I was miserable, and my husband felt helpless.”
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Exploring surgical options
Knapp’s symptoms had become so debilitating that she knew the time had come for surgical intervention. Her physicians told her three consecutive surgeries would be necessary before she could return to work with a bowel-elimination routine that would be easier to manage. Hospitalized at a prominent Los Angelesarea hospital, she was informed that surgeons wanted to open her abdominal area using standard, hands-in surgery, which would involve large incisions, increased pain, longer recovery periods between operations and an increased chance of internal scarring that might affect her future fertility. None of this was acceptable to Knapp. She did some research and found the chief of the division of colorectal surgery at the Keck School, Anthony Senagore, who had a reputation for pioneering minimally invasive, laparoscopic surgeries for colorectal care.
“When I first met Dr. Knapp, she was a very sick young woman,” Senagore remembers. “She had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis for a couple of years and had taken a variety of expensive and complicated medicines to try and control it. Those drugs are not for long-term use and can become toxic to the body. Plus, her immune system was knocked down to the point where she was having difficulty fighting off other ailments. She was generally malnourished because eating was problematic. I knew the time for her to have the surgeries had come, and I knew she would benefit from the minimally invasive, laparoscopic surgery techniques that I had developed,” he adds. Minimally invasive surgery allows surgeons to operate through small incisions, compared to the larger incisions during traditional surgery. For patients, this technique often translates into less postoperative pain, a shorter hospital stay, faster recovery and, in
some cases, a superior overall outcome. While laparoscopic techniques vary widely, surgeons generally make a small incision and insert an endoscope – a long, thin tube with a lighted, high-definition camera at its tip. The camera sends an image to a high-definition monitor, which the surgical team uses to view the area on which they will operate. Surgeons can then guide specially designed surgical instruments through the original cut or through other small incisions. For Knapp, Senagore and his team performed an ileostomy due to her chronic inflammation. This procedure temporarily re-routed the contents of Knapp’s intestines to an external opening made in her abdominal area. The bowel contents exit into a collection bag worn under clothing. During this initial surgery, her colon also was removed. “For the first time in years, I didn’t have cramping,” Knapp recalls. “It was a welcomed break, even though I knew I had a long way to go with future surgeries.” While optimistic, Knapp knew her healing would take much longer. She and her husband chose to leave their apartment and move in with her mother, a registered nurse, who would provide the home health care necessary for Knapp’s recovery. After several weeks of healing, Knapp returned to USC University Hospital for the second of her three-part surgical process. This time, Senagore used his laparoscopic skills to remove Knapp’s diseased rectum and construct a “J Pouch.” Using the end portion of the small intestine called the ileum, the pouch is pulled down and sutured to what remains of the rectum area, forming a shape similar to the letter “J.” “This pouch takes the place of the colon by becoming a reservoir for stool between bowel movements,” Senagore explains. “A patient with such advanced disease as this may not return to the normal bathroom habits she once had. But she will have more control than she did previously. This will improve her life and allow her to return to work.” Minimally invasive techniques often result in less residual trauma for surgical patients. The discomfort, pain and potential for disability or morbidity associated with conventional surgery is due to the trauma PIONEERING SURGEON Anthony Senagore recognized that Knapp would benefit from minimally invasive surgical techniques he developed.
in obtaining access to the area through large, often muscle-cutting incisions to perform the surgery, rather than the surgery itself. With conventional colorectal surgery, a patient is hospitalized for five to seven days and requires at least six weeks of recovery time. “Each time, I was only in the hospital for about two days,” Knapp says. “I was able to walk out with only very small incisions and bearable pain. My third, and final, surgery was to have the ileostomy reversed. Getting rid of this external collection bag was a relief. All went well with that surgery, too, thanks to Dr. Senagore and his team.” Looking ahead
Knapp is eager to put this all behind her and return to date nights with her husband. With her increasing stamina, she has already returned to the kitchen and her baking. It’s the little things she says she missed most, like making holiday cookies with her mom. “Though Dr. Knapp’s case was complicated, it also was typical for advanced ulcerative colitis,” Senagore explains. “So many people afflicted with this problem are young and anxious to resume their normal activities. Minimally invasive surgery techniques expedite that process.” Knapp also is eager to resume the professional challenges at her veterinary practice
MOVING FORWARD Now recovered from surgery to ease her ulcerative colitis, Knapp looks forward to returning to her veterinary practice.
and spend more time with animals. Though comforted by the four dogs vying for her affection at home, she knows it isn’t the same as spending each day helping to heal suffering animals. Her spiraling disease experience taught her how debilitating an illness can be and has increased her compassion for others – a very important attribute for someone in her line of work. “My disease turned life’s simplest pleasures into hassles,” Knapp says. “I am so
thankful and relieved to have found Dr. Senagore and his skilled team at USC University Hospital. It has been a very tough year – feeling so sick and weak for so long. Finally, I feel like I can put this all behind me and move on with both my professional and personal life.” ● To schedule an appointment or for additional information, please call (323) 865-3690, or visit uschospitals.com/colorectalsurgery
Minimally invasive surgery provides advantages for cancer patients A variety of inflammatory bowel diseases and gastrointestinal cancers share the same initial symptoms as ulcerative colitis – abdominal cramping, bloody diarrhea, frequent heartburn and sometimes anemia due to blood loss. Expert diagnosis is the first step in finding relief and proper treatment. If a patient is diagnosed with a cancer, he or she will likely require a multilayered treatment of drug therapy, such as chemotherapy, and surgery to remove tumors. “Timing in cancer treatment is important,” says Syma Iqbal MD ‘95, assistant professor of medical oncology at the Keck School of Medicine
of USC. “If a patient needs surgery, often the recovery period goes on for weeks. This can delay the onset of life-saving chemotherapy or halt the progress of an existing chemo treatment until the patient is strong enough to resume it after surgery.” As a gastrointestinal oncologist, Iqbal frequently treats patients who need to have surgery for cancerous tumors. With recent advancements in minimally invasive surgery, Iqbal collaborates with surgeons in the division of colorectal surgery and sees better patient outcomes as a result. “Since postoperative recovery times have decreased, morbidity has lessened,” she says.
“We see less physical stress on a patient, as well as emotional stress, which leads to the chance for a better result.” According to Iqbal, laparoscopic techniques are proving important for surgical options with metastatic disease, as well. Portions of organs, such as the liver, stomach, esophagus or colon, can be removed without the trauma to the body that a full open incision would cause. “Cancer is complicated,” Iqbal says. “Sometimes tumor removal is the correct choice, and if it can be done with a minimally invasive technique, it is always better for the patient.” MARY ELLEN ZENKA
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eSCapes: Specialty Travel for Trojans TRAVEL THE WORLD TROJAN-STYLE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS TODAY! AFRICA / MIDDLE EAST
EUROPE
Botswana*
Treasures of Antiquity (Greece, Italy, Malta)
March 1–11
Treasures of East Africa
March 18–April 1
October 8–22
Cruise the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula
Legends of the Nile
Alumni Campus Abroad – Austria June 11–21
Danube River and the Habsburg Empire June 14–27
November 6–17
March 28–April 8
Along the Adriatic Sea
Waterways of Holland and Belgium (The Floriade)
July 1–9
ASIA / SOUTH PACIFIC Splendors Down Under
April 14–22
July 14–21
February 19–March 8
Celtic Lands
Journey through Vietnam*
April 22–May 1
Wine and Cheese of Northern Italy*
March 14–24
August 4–12
Mystical India*
Alumni Campus Abroad Apulia (Italy)
March 18–April 4
May 1–9
September 9–17
Tahitian Jewels
Continental Passage: Cruise Barcelona to Southampton
Ancient Greece and Turkey
April 21–May 3
China and Tibet
May 8–21
May 19–June 3
Sketches of Spain
Waterways of Russia
May 17–27
August 28–September 7
Italian Lake District
CENTRAL / SOUTH AMERICA Cruise the Lesser Antilles January 27–February 3
Samba Rhythms (Brazil) February 25–March 9
Alumni Campus Abroad – Peru March 19–29 *USC exclusive departure Destinations and dates are subject to change
Insider’s Berlin
The Kentucky Derby May 3–6
International Lifestyles Explorations: Aix–En–Provence May 26–June 24
Discovery Retreats: Colorado June 17–21
Discover Switzerland August 8–23
YOUNG ALUMNI TRAVEL PROGRAM Alpine Winter Adventure February 18–26
Cruising the Black Sea
October 11–19
NORTH AMERICA Alaska July 6–13
May 19–27
The Best of the Canadian Rockies
Jewels of Antiquity (French Riviera, Italy, Greece, Balkans)
WORLD / UNIQUE
July 22–28
May 25–June 9
Expedition to Antarctica
Alumni Campus Abroad – Rhône River
February 15–28
May 26–June 3
Cultures and Cuisines by Private Jet (Europe and Asia)
England’s Cotswolds
September 18–October 10
June 2–10
Changing Tides of History: Cruising the Baltic Sea
Heaven and Earth by Private Jet (Australia, Europe, Asia & the Americas)
June 5–17
October 31–November 20
Call (213) 821-6005 or visit
http://alumni.usc.edu/travel
family ties
››
FOR PROFILES OF OTHER TROJAN LUMINARIES, VISIT alumni.usc.edu/archives/profiles
A Conversation with Lisa & Anthony Barkett
campaign. This is a high priority for me, and we’ll develop a day of service – what I call a “philanthropy in action” worldwide program – to leverage the deep culture of volunteerism within the Trojan Family. What leadership advice would you give to your son Anthony? I would tell him to lead with vision, passion, inspiration, energy, direction and commitment – and by example. Do not expect others to do a job that you are not willing to do yourself. Work side by side with your colleagues and make it a team effort. You will gain so much more as a leader who is truly involved and not just watching from the sidelines. How do you inspire others to give back to USC? Inspiring others is easy if you are inspired! There are so many ways to give back to USC – volunteering, mentoring, attending events, financial support – so be creative, stimulate through new ideas, and build on the momentum at USC. Anthony, what inspired you to become president of Society 53, and what advice would you give students wanting to get involved? I was inspired by my parents and by Hillary Buckner ’11, a good friend and past president of Society 53. It was an honor to serve as her vice president and work with the program’s dedicated members. I would encourage every student to join a campus organization, to give back to the university and to broaden their college experience. Whatever I’m involved with, whether it’s my school or clubs, I make sure I give back in some positive way; it’s extremely rewarding and a great way to meet people.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL SPENGLER
Lisa Barkett ’81 takes the reins as president of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors, following 20 years of service to her local women’s group Trojan League Associates of San Diego County. Her new post coincides with her son Anthony Barkett taking over as 2011-12 president of Society 53, the USC Alumni Association’s student outreach program. They spoke with the USC Alumni Association’s Cheryl Collier.
Lisa, what does it mean to you to have so many of your family members go to USC? I am extremely proud to come from a USC family and am honored to have my three children attend and graduate from USC. I have relived my USC experience through them, and I believe this generational legacy is one of the university’s greatest strengths. What are your priorities as president? The Board of Governors provides critical advice
and support to the USC Alumni Association in the development of USC’s alumni relations program. As president, I will work closely with my fellow board members and staff to increase the USC Alumni Association’s visibility across campus and in Trojan communities worldwide. This year, we also will be working with University Advancement and alumni leaders to build a culture of philanthropy among the Trojan Family in support of USC’s capital
Why are you so passionate about USC and giving back? The best part about USC is that it offers everything: excellent academics, exceptional professors, amazing sports programs, lifelong friendships, an entertaining social life and unforgettable memories – all in an incredible urban environment. I remember going home for Thanksgiving my freshman year of college and telling my high school friends how excited I was to get back to school. That is the effect USC has on people. It makes you never want to leave campus because it offers you one of the greatest experiences of your life. And the best thing is that it doesn’t end when you graduate – USC and the Trojan Family will be there for you the rest of your life. ● N O W O N L I N E : tfm.usc.edu
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IN RECOGNITION
Elegance Meets Excellence Ten Trojans Honored at the 78th Annual USC Alumni Awards Carol C. Fox MS ’62 (who completed her term in May) then welcomed and thanked friends and supporters of the USCAA. Their remarks set the tone for the evening, which unfolded in the Westin’s elegant California Ballroom. The Asa V. Call Alumni Achievement Award, USC’s highest alumni honor, was presented to longtime university benefactor and trustee Ronald N. Tutor ’63, whose gifts have helped name the Ronald Tutor Campus Center and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Tutor Hall. Accepting his award, Tutor shared fond memories of his undergraduate days at USC and described his close-knit friendship with President Nikias. Called “a true champion on and off the field” by Fox, New York Jets quarterback
Mark Sanchez ’09 received the inaugural Young Alumni Merit Award, which recognizes the achievements of alumni under 35. Other alumni merit awards went to Larry S. Flax ’67, LLM ’71, co-founder and co-CEO of California Pizza Kitchen, and Bryan Lourd ’82, partner and managing director of Creative Artists Agency, a leading entertainment and sports agency. Lourd spoke of his enduring bond with his undergraduate mentor Joan Schaefer, the former USC dean of women, who had encouraged Lourd to expand his horizons by studying art, music and literature. Four of USC’s most devoted volunteers also were recognized for their decades of service to the university and the Trojan Family. George L. Pla MPA ’74, one of the founding members of the USC Latino
From left, alumni awards chairs Scott Gilmore ’75, JD/MBA ’78 and Lisa Barkett ’81, Scott Mory, Bryan Lourd ’82, Robert Plumleigh, George Pla MPA ’74, Elizabeth Plumleigh MLA ’84, Niki Nikias, Joann Koll, President Nikias, Ronald Tutor ’63, Mark Sanchez ’09, Carol Fox MS ’62 and Larry Flax ’67, LLM ’71
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U S C T R O J A N FA M I LY M A G A Z I N E autumn 2011
PHOTOS BY STEVE COHN
an unprecedented school year for the university and the USC Alumni Association (USCAA), the 78th annual USC Alumni Awards drew a record crowd of nearly 800 Trojans and friends to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles on April 30. USCAA’s premier event paid tribute to 10 distinguished members of the Trojan Family, including USC president C. L. Max Nikias and first lady Niki C. Nikias, who were awarded honorary alumni status. In his welcoming remarks, USC Alumni Association CEO Scott M. Mory spoke of the “palpable buzz of excitement and anticipation” at USC and among alumni about the university’s future under the visionary leadership of President Nikias. USCAA Board of Governors president
MARKING THE END OF
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FOR MORE ALUMNI EVENTS, VISIT alumni.usc.edu
Alumni Association, and Robert E. Plumleigh and Elizabeth Plumleigh MLA ’84, longtime supporters of several USC schools and organizations, received alumni service awards. The Fred B. Olds Award, which recognizes Trojans for their extraordinary and unparalleled service to the university over an extended period of time, went to Joann Koll, a former chair of the university’s Alumnae Coordinating Council and, at the time, a member of the USCAA Board of Governors. In honoring President and Mrs. Nikias, Fox and USC trustee Daniel J. Epstein ’62 presented them with two framed, goldplated USC Alumni Association membership cards. Both membership cards were inscribed with President Nikias’ inauguration date: Oct. 15, 2010. The ceremony also featured performances by USC Thornton School of Music students and the traditional, end-of-evening send-off by the USC Trojan Marching Band led by Art Bartner, along with the USC Song Girls and Spirit Leaders.
Carol Fox and President Nikias with Asa V. Call Alumni Achievement Award winner Ronald Tutor (center)
T I M O T H Y O. K N I G H T
Alumni Merit Award recipient Bryan Lourd with his mentor, former USC dean of women Joan Schaefer
New York Jets quarterback and Young Alumni Merit Award recipient Mark Sanchez (far left) poses with President Nikias. USC Thornton School of Music students Yu-Joong Kim (above left), Kayla Moffett (on violin) and Malena Michota perform at the awards ceremony.
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alumni SCene A busy spring for Trojans in London, L.A., Dallas and D.C. 1
2
3
1. Let the Games Begin! With the 2012 Olympic Games on their way to the U.K. next summer, the USC Alumni Club of London organized a walking tour of Olympic Park currently under construction in East London. Here, alumni, overseas students, and Trojan friends and family members pose in front of the nearly completed Olympic Stadium on May 21. Said London club member Jen Ladwig ’99, “We Londoners feel lucky that our city will be hosting the games next year!”
2. Graduating with Pride On May 7, the USC Lambda LGBT Alumni Association, in cooperation with campus LGBT student groups, presented the 17th annual Lavender Commencement Celebration at USC’s Argue Plaza adjacent to Widney Alumni House. Todd Dickey, USC senior vice president for administration, introduced keynote 38
U S C T R O J A N FA M I LY M A G A Z I N E autumn 2011
speaker Stephanie Miller ’83, host of the syndicated talk-radio program The Stephanie Miller Show. After the announcement of the 2011-12 scholarship recipients, Patrick Bailey, USC senior associate dean of students, recognized 60 graduating LGBT and allied students, many pictured here.
3. An Executive Evening in Dallas Texas Trojans and friends gathered at the Park City Club in Dallas on May 25 for the second annual Executive Evening: Industry Trends and Career Opportunities, presented by the USC Alumni Club of North Texas. USC Alumni Association Board of Governors member John Clendening ’85, MBA ’92, senior vice president of marketing communications for Siemens PLM Software, moderated a panel discussion featuring professionals from the worlds of higher education, medicine and telecommunications. Pictured here (from left) are
Clendening; USC Alumni Club of North Texas board member Nick Tipoff ’89; panelist Maj. Gen. Mary L. Saunders, USAF (Ret.), executive director of the Texas Woman’s University Leadership Institute; and club president Byron Howard ’92.
4. SPPD in D.C. On May 26, Beltway Trojans attended the first in a yearlong series of “fireside chats” co-hosted by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD), the USC Alumni Association and the USC Alumni Club of the Nation’s Capital. Held at the university’s Washington, D.C., office, the discussion was led by SPPD dean Jack Knott, who introduced guest speaker Arif Alikhan, a distinguished visiting professor of homeland security and counterterrorism at National Defense University. At left are Alikhan and Knott; at right are five event attendees. ●
P H O T O S B Y J E N L A D W I G ; A M Y O P O K A ; J A M E S E D W A R D P H O T O G R A P H Y; D AV E S C AV O N E P H O T O G R A P H Y
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See how campus has changed as you relive USC memories and create new ones with alumni, family and friends! Reunion Weekend 2011 includes: • Special class celebrations • Academic presentations highlighting the best of USC • Homecoming festivities • Tailgates and football (USC vs. Washington) For up-to-date registration information and to support reunion class giving, visit
http://alumni.usc.edu/reunion
Class of 1961 – 50th Reunion Class of 1971 – 40th Reunion Class of 1981 – 30th Reunion Class of 1986 – 25th Reunion Class of 2001 – 10th Reunion
class notes 1930s Julian Myers ’39 co-produced a feature film about artists Edward and Josephine Hopper titled Nighthawks: 90 Minutes and Nine Lives. He is a Hollywood publicist living in Marina del Rey, Calif.
Identical Blueprints
1950s Jack Couffer ’52 of Corona del Mar, Calif.,
chronicled his experiences as a director of animal and nature footage in his memoir, The Lion and the Giraffe: A Naturalist’s Life in the Movie Business. He has worked on productions like the Born Free sequel and series, Never Cry Wolf and Out of Africa. Michael Halperin ’55 was selected to
showcase his comedy Freedom, Texas on the performance slate for the National Playwrights’ Slam, an annual event held at the Theatre Communications Group Conference in Los Angeles. Carl R. Terzian ’57, a Los Angeles-based
public relations consultant and past president of the Los Angeles Fire Commission, was honored by the Jewish Vocational Service with the Corporate Partnership Award. Carol Lindberg ’59, MS ’64 of Ventura, Calif., was selected as the Woman of the Year for California Assembly District 35 for her efforts on behalf of the community. She worked as a teacher at Montalvo and Loma Vista schools before retiring in 1993.
IDENTICAL TWIN SISTERS Carolyn McCarron Brink ’54 (left) and Marilyn McCarron
Urmston ’54, ME ’74 lived a life of togetherness. Born one minute apart, the sisters were so inseparable that there were only two years when they lived more than a mile apart. After graduating from the USC School of Architecture, they worked at various firms throughout Southern California. Carolyn eventually went on to become head architect for Kaiser Permanente. Marilyn went into teaching, first as an instructor at Los Angeles Trade Technical School and later as vice president at Mission College in San Fernando. Marilyn died June 10, 1992, in Santa Monica, Calif., after a two-decade-long battle with breast cancer, at the age of 60. Carolyn died July 19 in Arcadia, Calif., of lung cancer, at the age of 80. ●
1960s Roland S. Jefferson ’61 of Los Angeles is
the author of White Coat Fever, a novel that explores the world of the 1960s when Motown, jazz and the civil rights movement defined the entire generation. He also wrote A Card for the Players. Paul Bryan Jr. ’66 painted a portrait of Los
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CLASS NOTES ALSO APPEARS ONLINE. READ NEWS ABOUT EACH GRADUATE AT tfm.usc.edu/classnotes SEND US YOUR NEWS AT classnotes@usc.edu
U S C T R O J A N FA M I LY M A G A Z I N E autumn 2011
Bill Altaffer ’67, MS ’69 spent a week at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, a facility in Russia responsible for training cosmonauts for space missions. He wrote
EL RODEO CIRCA 1954
Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel and later sent it to him as a gift. He lives in Balboa Island, Calif.
alumni profile ’81 about the experience for an article in International Travel News. John Tumpak MBA ’68 of Reseda, Calif., is
a jazz journalist who specializes in writing about the big band era. His book, When Swing Was the Thing: Personality Profiles of the Big Band Era, along with oral history interviews, have been archived at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
A Love of Labor When U.S. labor secretary Hilda Solis MPA ’81 was looking for internship opportunities after her first semester in USC’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, a Trojan alum pulled out his Rolodex and gave her some names to contact. As a result, she landed an internship in the White House
1970s
Office for Hispanic Affairs under the Carter administration – her first experience in
Ronald Edward Brown PhD ’72 was hon-
ored with the 2011 Richard W. Hamming Annual Faculty Award for Interdisciplinary Achievement from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., where he is a research professor of physics. Previously, he worked for 40 years in the aerospace industry. Pat Nolan ’72, JD ’75, director of Jus-
tice Fellowship, received an award and a $10,000 grant from the Freda Utley Foundation in recognition for outstanding work for criminal justice reform. He lives in Leesburg, Va.
Washington, D.C. Today, she heads the U.S. Department of Labor, the second-largest enforcement agency in the federal government charged with providing enforcement and protection in the workplace. Before becoming the first Hispanic woman to hold a permanent Cabinet post, Solis was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives – serving from 2001 to 2009 in California’s 32nd Congressional District, which includes East Los Angeles and parts of the San Gabriel Valley. The Trojan Family remains an important part of her network. In November, Solis returned to campus to accept the Robert P. Biller Award for Exemplary Public Service. The award is named after the late USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) dean and longtime administrator who led the school when Solis graduated. Before his passing last August, Biller had remarked on Solis’ ascent from community college trustee to congresswoman to Cabinet secretary. “By learning how politics and bureaucracy and
James E. Nuzum MPA ’72 of Sonora, Calif., serves as vice chair of the Tuolumne County Historic Preservation Review Commission. For the past four years, he has co-chaired the subcommittee that plans the annual historic preservation conference.
public policy issues work, and then immediately translating that to a very constructive career of
Diane Rusling Becket ’74, PhD ’96 received
ing significant contributions in whatever positions they hold. It isn’t just my story. It’s the story of
action, she has benefitted not just [her] constituents, but the rest of us,” he said. During her time as a graduate student at USC, Solis built close bonds with her classmates from the MPA program – bonds that continue to this day. “Some of my best friends are from my program here. Those friends have been supporting me much of my political career.” And vice versa. “My classmates have done great, good things, too,” Solis says. “They are mak-
the Barbara Conrad Leadership Award in Durango, Colo., for her volunteer work with Leadership La Plata and various community and nonprofit organizations.
all my MPA classmates. We are all working hard to make the world a better place.” Working hard, indeed. Immediately upon taking office in February 2009 – at the height of the financial crisis – Solis had to grapple with the grim statistic of Americans losing 800,000 jobs every month. She quickly began investing in training for “green” jobs and health and allied-health
BJ (Hateley) Gallagher ’76 of Los Angeles
published her 25th book, If God is Your Co-Pilot, Switch Seats, a scrapbook of stories, poems and words of inspiration about the gifts of spiritual surrender.
P H O T O B Y T O M Q U E A L LY
William Dickerman JD ’77 is a principal
at the Los Angeles-based Dickerman & Associates, a law practice focused on business and real estate litigations, as well as personal injury matters. Wes Kenney ’78, a music professor at
Colorado State University, began his ninth season as music director and conductor of the Fort Collins Symphony. He has been
training – two sectors of the collapsed economy that were actually growing. Solis noted there was some fear in local communities about dealing with the federal government. One of her primary concerns was how to engage people who had been critically underrepresented in terms of access to job training programs. “Part of the process was building bridges and reestablishing ourselves as a Department of Labor that would protect workers and put workers first,” Solis says. “That’s a change, and it’s still hard.” She undertook a comprehensive strategic plan that reached out to members of Congress and into local communities. “People who do best in public administration are people who come in with an open mind, gather information, adapt to what they learn and make decisions.” Asked what her message would be to current SPPD students, Solis says: “You’re going to keep learning and changing. You’re going to keep moving forward and adapt and learn new things. And whatever you learn, don’t be selfish. Share it!” JAN PETERSON
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JOIN THE USC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION USC vs. Arizona State
for pep rallies, tailgates and more at the
Saturday, September 24
USC vs. CAL Thursday, October 13
USC vs. Notre Dame
2011
FOOTBALL
WEEKENDERS
Saturday, October 22
USC vs. Colorado Friday, November 4
USC vs. Oregon Saturday, November 19 (no pep rally or tailgate)
Turn your weekends into Weekenders at five exciting away games across the country.
Make your reservations today! The 2011 Weekenders are co-hosted by the USC Alumni Clubs of Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago and Colorado.
Fight On! For reservations and complete Weekender package information, call (213) 740-2300 or visit
http://alumni.usc.edu/football
alumni profile ’85 named Music Educator of the Year by the Colorado Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and won the first-ever Varna International Conduction Competition.
Saving Lives David K. Hansen ’85 dreamed of opening
a restaurant, but fate had something else Cliff Goldstein MPA ’79 was elected presi-
in store. After graduating from the USC
dent of the American Jewish Committee’s Los Angeles region. He is founder and managing principal of The GPI Companies and P3 Ventures, and is a board member of USC Hillel.
Marshall School of Business, he spent 12 years in the Marine Corps, and later as a civilian, spearheaded the successful Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program, which is estimated to have saved
Udo Wahn MD ’79, an OB-GYN in Del
Mar, Calif., wrote Cabo and Coral Reef Explorers, a children’s picture book that highlights the importance of preserving ocean resources. He serves as a volunteer for the Surfrider Foundation and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
thousands of American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Restaurant dreams notwithstanding, Hansen already had his eye on military service when he entered USC in 1981 and joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. “We drilled every morning on Child’s Way at 6:30 a.m.,” he recalls fondly. “I also worked as a security guard every night at the University Village, so I was tired.”
1980s
Though he majored in business administration, and did well, Hansen struggled with statistics, barely earning a passing grade. Little did he realize the irony in that.
George Waxter ’81 of Walkersville, Md., is
a physician who spent time in Hawaii and Tasmania working in outpatient clinics and teaching trainee physicians and medical students. He is active in ocean swimming races and rode the Sea Gull Century 100-mile bike race.
“The day we tossed our hats in the air, we promptly went over to basic training in Quantico [Va.] and got our commissions,” he says. Hansen saw his first tour of duty in Okinawa, Japan, where he learned all about “the business-end of acquisitions for the Department of Defense.” He procured equipment ranging from firearms to optics, and enjoyed it so much that he stayed in the Corps until 1997. Once out of uniform, he accepted a civilian position with the Corps and eventually advanced to program manager for acquisitions – the highest level in his field. Along the way, Hansen also
George J. Chambers MS ’86, a retired
defense systems engineer and a U.S. Navy veteran, is completing his fourth book, World War II as Seen Through the Eyes of United States Cruisers, a day-to-day story about the 83 cruisers that served in six of the seven world’s oceans. He lives in Westminister, Calif.
entered graduate school at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. This is where the irony comes in. “I remember in one meeting, some business people were presenting stats to us. I hated stats as an undergrad, but here I was whipping out my old textbook to decide about an acquisition,” Hansen says proudly. He went on to earn two master’s degrees, one in business administration, the other in national resource strategy. In 2006, secretary of defense Robert Gates asked Hansen to help lead an urgent new pro-
Chengyu Fu MS ’86 was appointed chair-
gram. “Those were the days in Iraq when we were experiencing a lot of Humvees getting blown
man of Sinopec, also known as China Petrochemical Corp., the seventh-largest corporation in the world and Asia’s biggest refiner. Previously, he served as president and chairman of China National Offshore Oil Corp.
up on the road” by improvised explosive devices, he recalls. “Secretary Gates called on us to
David Williams MS ’87 accepted an assistant professor position at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry’s Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. He leaves his private practice of more than 22 years to pursue an academic career in the Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences.
develop a strategy to quickly procure and field MRAP vehicles, which raise a soldier higher off the ground and deflect any blast to the sides of the vehicle. Time, as every businessman knows, is money. In this case, time was American lives. “You hear a lot about programs like the Joint Strike Fighter taking 15 to 20 years. Our program mobilized the trucks within 144 days,” Hansen says. He managed six manufacturers, 300 government employees and 500 support contractors to complete each vehicle. In all, he helped oversee the deployment of 27,000 MRAP vehicles. For his accomplishment, Hansen received the Department of Defense’s Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, among the highest honors awarded to civilians by the armed forces. “The Marshall School totally paved the way for this,” Hansen says. “The best part is getting feedback from the soldiers in the theatre, and hearing them say how much we’ve helped save lives.”
Henry “Hank” Malanowski MS ’88 retired
from the U.S. Marine Corps after 28 years
Maybe it’s just as well he never opened that restaurant. LIZ SEGAL
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Piece of cake.
When doing what you love seems much too difficult, it might be heart valve disease. We can get you back on your feet.
Fight On.
To learn more about minimally invasive heart valve repair, call (323) 442-5849 or visit uschospitals.com/heart.
of service as a professional logistician and was awarded the Legion of Merit. He works in AT&T’s Supply Chain and Fleet Operations organization in Lorton, Va.
influence of ancient Mayan art in the West. He is a filmmaker, curator and professor in the Intercollegiate Media Studies program of the Claremont Colleges.
Lisa Bolton Singelyn ’88 was appointed
Thomas A. Long ’91 is a commander in the
director of social media and communications for Counterintuity LLC, a marketing, social media, design and communications agency in Burbank, Calif. She is a board member of the National Charity League.
U.S. Navy, who completed his tour as commanding officer of VR-55, a Navy C-130 squadron located at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif. His next assignment is with the 7th Fleet Staff in Yokosuka, Japan.
Randy Bouverat ’89 of Los Angeles created
Ellisen Turner ’97 was named a “Rising Star” and one of five intellectual property attorneys under 40 to watch in the nation by Law360. She is a partner at Irell & Manella in Los Angeles.
Gether, a peer-to-peer polling app, and GetherData for marketers to analyze their social media efforts by demographic and ZIP code. 1990s Jesse Lerner MA ’91 of Los Angeles wrote The Maya of Modernism: Art, Architecture, and Film, a study that explores the enduring
Michael Gallelli MA ’98 of Langley, Wash.,
published “Boomers, Technology and Health: Consumers Taking Charge!” a research report on baby boomer aging and tech-enabled health products for personal use.
2000s Shruti Joshi ’00 was named a principal at
consulting firm Altman Vilandrie & Co. Previously, she served as executive director for consumer marketing for Verizon Communications. She lives in New York City. Diana Bald MBA ’01 was appointed senior
vice president-director of marketing at ID Media, a media services company based in New York City. She previously served as vice president of business development at Univision. She is a board director for the Advertising Women of New York. Robert Frear MM ’03 was awarded tenure and a promotion to associate professor at California State University, Long Beach, where he serves as director of brass music studies. Bret Butler ’04 of Woodinville, Wash., was
recognized by the National Association
Experience the BAA Connection! •
x x x x x x
Networking Mentoring Scholarship Donors Role Models Life Long Friendships Progressive Involved Proud Trojans!
usc.edu/baa
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in memoriam of Realtors as part of its Class of 2011 “30 Under 30” award in Realtor Magazine. Previously, he worked for Countrywide and IndyMac.
MARRIAGES Tracy Leigh Trenham ’87 and James Mitchell
William C. “Mickey” Anderson
Davis
’41, Orange County, Calif.; April 26, at the age of 93
George Shaw ’04 released a soundtrack
album for Agents of Secret Stuff, a film on YouTube starring Ryan Higa and directed by Wong Fu Productions that has amassed more than 10 million views to date. He lives in Los Angeles. Benhoor Hakim ’05 works as an assistant at
Dickerman & Associates in Los Angeles, a law firm focused on defamation, bad faith insurance claims and personal injury matters. Annam Manthiram MPW ’05 of Rio Ran-
cho, N.M., released her first novel, After the Tsunami, a story about a young boy who is orphaned after a tsunami devastates his coastal village in India. Beaumont Shapiro ’05 was ordained as a
rabbi by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. He serves as a rabbi at Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Tanya White ’05 qualified for the National
Volleyball League’s main draw tournament in Baltimore. She also represents Panama and helped her team secure a silver medal in the first round of qualifications for the 2012 Olympics in London. Louise Bale MFT ’07 passed the California
board licensing exam and is now a licensed marriage and family therapist. She works as a psychotherapist at St. Anne’s, a housing program for young mothers, and also has a private practice in West Los Angeles.
ALUMNI
Ramin Zolfagari ’97 and Sharon Wie. Eldon Davis
BIRTHS Jonathan Boggs ’83 and Marie Casey, a daughter, Veronica Julianne Seth Ford Gilman ’88, MBA ’02 and Susie (Forte) Gilman ’90, a son, Tate Ford.
He joins brother, Everett, 3. He is the grandson of Nelson Gilman ’59, MS ’61 and nephew of Justine Gilman ’85, MA ’87, EdD ’97 Gregory Tonkovich ’94, MS ’01 and Jaclyn (Talarico) Tonkovich MA ’01, a daughter,
Taitlyn Sarina. She joins brother, Colten, 2. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Ruth (Dallman) Launer ’16, great-granddaughter of Earl Harris ’39 and Eunice (Launer) Harris ’39, great-grandniece of Ruthmarie (Launer) Gruber ’41, granddaughter of Janet (Harris) Tonkovich ’65, grandniece of Kathleen (Harris) Windsor ’66, and niece of Diane (Tonkovich) Miller ’92, Matthew Tonkovich ’92 and Babe (Foster) Tonkovich ’04
’42, West Hills, Calif.; April 22, at the age of 94 James C. “Jim” Creswell
’45, Fullerton, Calif.; May 13, at the age of 86 Charles Laufer
’48, Northridge, Calif.; April 5, at the age of 87 Daniel L. Rothstein
’49, MS ’50, Sherman Oaks, Calif.; May 25, at the age of 87 Albert A. Johnston
’50, Boise, Iowa; Jan. 7, at the age of 86 Edward Joseph Lupiani
’50, Claremont, Calif.; Nov. 17, 2009, at the age of 84 William E. McCroskey
’50, Corona del Mar, Calif.; Jan. 4, 2009, at the age of 83
Heather (Meylor) Dibblee ’95, MHA ’97
and Harrison Dibblee, a daughter, Hannah Grace. She joins brothers Rian and Brandon
’51, Irvine, Calif.; March 21, at the age of 83
Kimberly Bliss ’96 and Ceide Zapparoni, a
Albert C. “Al” Hansen
son, Felix Zapparoni Bliss
’53, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.; May 24, at the age of 90
Jack B. Kirven
Michelle (Silver) Brunet MA ’97 and Michael Eric Stanton ’09 is vice president of sales
Brunet, a daughter, Madeleine Sophia. She is the granddaughter of Robert Silver MBA ’70 and niece of Laurie (Silver) Bremer ’97
William “Bill” Garrison
January Von Luft ’98 and Scott Von Luft ’98,
John Davies
a daughter, Juliet Day. She joins brother, Baron Paul, 3
’56, San Diego; May 20, at the age of 76
Sean Bandawat ’10 of Phoenix is work-
Todd Campbell ’00 and Jennifer Baughman,
John Walter “Walt” Quist
ing to revitalize housewares manufacturer Jacob Bromwell Inc., where he serves as president. He also is founder of RateMyFraternity.com, which gives college students a free inside look at more than 1,500 fraternity chapters nationwide.
a son, Brendan
’58, MS ’76, Oxnard, Calif.; Dec. 21, at the age of 74
for Jacob Bromwell Inc., one of the oldest housewares companies in North America. He lives in Los Angeles. 2010s
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U S C T R O J A N FA M I LY M A G A Z I N E autumn 2011
Adam Rabin Dalesandro ’01 and Deborah Derickson Dalesandro, a son, Lincoln Rabin. He is the grandson of Jeffrey C. Derickson DDS ’78.
’55, St. Simons Island, Ga.; Sept. 14, 2010, at the age of 77
Monroe Nash
’73, San Diego; March 28, at the age of 61
Kam Kuwata
’75, Venice, Calif.; April 11, at the age of 57 Diane Caswell Coluzzi
’81, MPA ’82, Irvine, Calif.; March 28, at the age of 52 David John Fulton Marriner
’06, Gardena, Calif.; Jan. 1. FA C U LT Y, S TA F F & F R I E N D S Val Clark
DDS ’57, La Cañada and Newport Beach, Calif.; July 2, at the age of 79 William H. Crawford Jr.
’58, DDS ’62, MS ’64, Templeton, Calif.; June 18, at the age of 74 Harris Goldman
DMA ’71, Los Angeles; May 13, at the age of 78
Herman Ostrow Herman Ostrow DDS ’45, a graduate of the Ostrow School of Dentistry and the benefactor whose name the school shares, died April 23 in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 88. A lifelong resident of Southern California, Ostrow was born in East Los Angeles and grew up in the Belvedere neighborhood, graduating from James A. Garfield High School. After receiving his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from USC, he served in the U.S. Army Dental Corps before returning to Los Angeles to treat patients in private practice. For 17 years, Ostrow practiced dentistry full- and parttime, before entering the Los Angeles construction and real estate market. During a 2009 visit to the Griffith
Observatory, Ostrow saw how private gifts helped an educational institution grow and develop. This served as the inspiration behind his $35 million gift to the School of Dentistry in 2010, the largest gift ever made by an individual to a dental school. “We are grateful and proud that an alumnus of our school has chosen us to carry his legacy,” said Avishai Sadan, dean of the School of Dentistry, at the announcement ceremony on Jan. 20, 2010. “I’m proud to give my support and name to the USC School of Dentistry, an institution with a well-earned reputation for excellence,” Ostrow said of his gift. “I am thrilled that my legacy will provide tomorrow’s talented professionals with opportunities to achieve great successes.” ●
Olaf Helmer
Anacortes, Wash.; April 14, at the age of 100 Kay Mills
Santa Monica, Calif.; Jan. 13, at the age of 69 Gunnar Nielsson
Seal Beach, Calif.; July 10, at the age of 77 Alan J. Rowe
Los Angeles; May 19, at the age of 87 Helen Rowe
Los Angeles; May 13, at the age of 81 Laura Ziskin
’73, Santa Monica, Calif.; June 12, at the age of 61. ●
››
READ THE OBITUARIES OF THESE MEMBERS OF THE TROJAN FAMILY AT tfm.usc.edu/memoriam
John Hospers John Hospers, professor emeritus of philosophy at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the Libertarian Party’s first presidential nominee, died June 12 in Los Angeles. He was 93. “Of all the dimensions of John’s life … he loved teaching the most,” said Kevin Robb, professor of philosophy at USC Dornsife. “The classroom was where he really shined, and he told me many times it was the most satisfying aspect of his life.” After receiving a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University in 1946, Hospers taught philosophy and humanities at several universities before coming to USC in 1968 as chair of the university’s School of Philosophy. Widely known for
his contributions to the field of philosophy, he taught classes on epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics and the philosophy of law at USC. Hospers also was wellknown for his role in the Libertarian Party movement. His beliefs in human rights and human freedom led the newly formed party to nominate him and running mate, Theodora Nathan, at its first convention in 1972. Running on a platform in support of limited government controls and affirming the right of individuals, they received one electoral vote. Hospers published on various topics in philosophy, including Meaning and Truth in the Arts, Law and the Market and Human Conduct. He served as editor of The Personalist, The Monist and Liberty magazines. ●
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last word
››
SUBMIT ANSWERS OR VIEW PREVIOUS CONTESTS AT tfm.usc.edu/lastword
MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND With USC kicking off a $6 billion campaign, green eyeshades are suddenly all the rage. Numismatists and armchair economists, we invite you to test your knowledge of monetary minutiae.
4. An East European nation set the worldrecord for hyperinflation in 1946, when its treasury printed currency in denominations of 100 million and even 1 billion – leading to the spectacle of worthless bank notes littering the gutters of the capital.
2. This old European currency shows up in Shakespearean oaths at moments of crisis – for example, when Hamlet mistakenly kills Polonius behind a curtain or when Shylock learns his daughter has eloped with her lover.
5. Lucy Pickens appears on the $100 bill of this defunct currency.
3. This currency was based on a pound of silver. Introduced in Europe by Charlemagne, it derives from the Latin word for “pound” – a root still evident in the abbreviation “lb” and the symbol £ used to represent the British pound sterling.
6. In 1992, this Hungarian-born currency trader sold short more than $10 billion worth of pounds sterling, earning him the label “the man who broke the Bank of England.” 7. Developed in Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C., this currency corresponded to a specific amount of barley. Its etymology traces back to the ancient Hebrew “to weigh.”
CONTEST RULES Identify the modern-day Croesus of clue 6, the iconic building of clue 10 and the currencies referenced in the remaining clues, and you could be rolling in cash. The five best responses will receive $30 gift certificates from Amazon. If more than five perfect entries are received, the winners will be drawn by lot.
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U S C T R O J A N FA M I LY M A G A Z I N E autumn 2011
8. First introduced as an Islamic coin in the late 7th century by Abd al-Malik, the fifth caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, this monetary unit remains common in Middle Eastern countries today. 9. Second prize in the world’s-most-worthless-money sweepstakes goes to a modern African nation. It was losing half its value every 24 hours at its inflationary peak. 10. About 2.5 percent of all the gold ever refined throughout human history is held in a fortified vault at this U.S. Army base south of Louisville, Ky. 11. At least three major Asian currencies are derived from a Chinese character meaning “round shape.” ●
Submit your answers by Dec. 15 online, by mail to The Last Word c/o USC Trojan Family Magazine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-7790, or by e-mail at magazines@usc.edu.
I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y H A N K F I S C H E R
1. From China to Thailand, trade used to be conducted in this ancient unit of weight. Roughly equal to 1.3 ounces of silver (though different lands used different standards), it served as international currency across Asia right up to the 1930s.
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