All News

The Descendants, an adaptation of the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings with a screenplay by Nat Faxon '97, Jim Rash and Alexander Payne, recently won the Golden Globe for Best Picture Drama. The three were also nominated for Best Screenplay but ultimately lost out to Woody Allen.

The Writers' Circle, a nonprofit center for emerging and professional authors, has featured the work of Robert M. Lipgar '49 on their website. The organization selected his poem "A Death in October," which reflects on the passing of a dearly loved father, for an artistic merit award.  The poem can be read at http://www.riwriterscircle.com/ and will be showcased through April.

Marc Simon '94, PGA Golf Exhibitions group sales director, has been named the Reed Exhibitions-Americas Group Sales Director of the Year for 2011. The award recognizes Simon's leadership inrejuvenating industry participation in the PGA Merchandise Show and PGA Expo, his creativity designing on-site Show programs to increase vendor business, and his success raising exhibitor and attendee satisfaction levels.

Waldorf School of the Peninsula in Mountainview, CA, where Deborah Newlen '87 serves as high school co-chair and a teacher of English and drama, was recently featured in the news for its unique stance on technology—excluding computers from the classroom until high school.  There are not even whiteboards in the building, only chalkboards, and cell phones have to be kept in lockers. Newlen, who was interviewed for CBS, explained the policy: "A computer is a good tool. It’s a fun toy. It can even be a tutor, but it’s not a teacher."

Martha Freymann Miser K'75 has been awarded a PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. Miser’s dissertation, The Myth of Endless Accumulation: A Feminist Inquiry Into Globalization, Growth, and Social Change, examines the concept of growth and its core assumptions – that continual accumulation of wealth is both socially wise and ecologically sustainable. Miser suggests alternatives to the idea of infinite accumulation and offers plans for social change.

Mary Furtado '00 is the new assistant county manager of Catawba County, NC. She will be responsible for overseeing the management of particular departments and county activities.

Gordon Kaye '74, editor and publisher of Graphic Design USA magazine, recently published an article titled "Designers and Print: Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" as part of a series for Xerox Corporation.  In it he investigates the reasons why most professional graphic designers still work on print.

Henry Sneath '80 was recently installed as president of DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, an international organization of 22,000 civl defense trial counsel, commercial litigation attorneys, and corporate counsel.  He will also serve as the principal spokesperson for DRI’s Center for Law and Public Policy.  Sneath has previously served as both second and first vice-president of DRI, as a member of the Board of Directors, and as chair of the Commercial Litigation and Public Policy Committees.

David Prior '01 has won two awards for his essay "Civilization, Republic, Nation: Contested Keywords, Northern Republicans, and the Forgotten Reconstruction of Mormon Utah," published in the Civil War History, Sept. 2010.

Thomson West has published Litigating Business and Commercial Tort Cases by Matt Cartwright '83, P'15, Joseph C Peiffer, and Kirk Reasonover.  The practice guide explains the law for each cause of action for business torts and includes practice tips, analyses of potential claims and defenses, and forms necessary for handling a case.  All three authors are current or past chairs of the American Association for Justice's (AAJ) Business Tort Section.