|
|
|
|
|
Alpha Association Events Please check the website regularly for information regarding future programs, as well as for reports of recent events!
Our 2008 Annual Membership Meeting and Final Program The following report was prepared by our Recording Secretary, Jean Paule: A CELEBRATION The May 18, 2008 date of the Annual Meeting of Phi Beta Kappa Alumni in Southern California was a special one, for ninety years ago to almost the day this Association became a reality after many months of planning by a small group of local Phi Beta Kappa members. In due course Alpha Association was chartered by The Phi Beta Kappa Society, and today joins over 60 Associations within the country. James Ragan, known as “Jim” to his fellow Phi Betes in Alpha Association, was a highlight of the evening as he read from the vast repertoire of poems that he has written. This versatile scholar holds world recognition as a poet, playwright, and screenwriter. He travels the globe delivering his readings to heads of state in intimate settings as well as to large audiences as in a recent United Nations appearance.
Preceding Dr. Ragan’s presentation there was a brief review of Alpha Association’s ninety years of support for liberal education through a variety of programs and events with opportunity for fellowship among members, along with an ambitious scholarship program. Special note was taken of the International Scholarship Program begun at the end of World War II as an “Investment in World Unity.” This endeavor is still in effect through grants to students from abroad for graduate study in our local universities. An estimated $905,000 in contributions have been awarded to hundreds of men and women from a wide variety of countries. A second provision for scholarship assistance was established in 1980 with the Graduate Study Program that provides a monetary award to one graduating Phi Beta Kappa senior in each of the ten colleges and universities within the Association to be used for graduate study. To date $417.000 have been awarded to 247 students. A High School Program established in 1995 is the Association’s newest scholarship endeavor, through which an estimated $66,250 in modest grants have been awarded to 163 qualified seniors from local high schools, money to be used primarily in preparation for college admission. The estimated total of the grants in these three scholarship programs has now reached nearly $1,400.000. Three recipients of the three programs were special guests at this anniversary celebration, each coming to the podium to relate his activity since receiving the grant. Jason Yan, when a senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, was a 1999 recipient, and is now back at his high school as a mathematics teacher for the Roosevelt Magnet program. Armen H. Dikranian received the Graduate Study Award as a USC senior in 1995. He became a medical doctor and is now a urologist specialist in the San Gabriel Valley. Theodore Christov of Bulgaria, a current international scholar, received his Ph.D. degree in political science this spring from UCLA, where he will continue as a post-doctoral student. The mission of Phi Beta Kappa Alumni in 1908 was in words of today, “to support liberal education and lifelong learning by providing high quality programs and interaction opportunities for members and scholarships for students.” Alpha Association’s hundreds of members over the ninety years have faithfully upheld that mission. With their example we move forward to our Centennial. For details about Alpha Association's founding in 1918 and its subsequent history, please click on History. The Spring 2008 Event: A Concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic On Sunday, April 27, we attended a concert at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Check-in is at 1:15. This was followed at 1:30 by a tour of the new concert hall. After an optional pre-concert lecture at 2:00, at 3:00 p.m., we heard a concert featuring works by Mozart and Brukner, performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen.
The Fall, 2007, Event: Athol Fugard's Play, "Master Harold and the Boys," at the Colony Theater, in Burbank, November 11. Here are some pictures:
The 2007 Annual Membership Meeting On Saturday morning, May 5, about eighty of us gathered at the historic Ninth Circuit Court on South Grand Avenue in Pasadena.
After registration, coffee, and pastries from 10:00-10;45 a.m., we adjourned to Courtroom One for the meeting. Cecilia Conrad, Bette Napoli Harris, Laura Hoopes, Evelyn Kieffer, Jean Paule, Sue Carol Rokaw, John D. Taylor, and Robin Romans were elected to the Alpha Association Council. Former Council member and Alpha Association president Shari Dennis Nelson was elected to our Advisory Board. Immediately afterward, in the same historic room, legal scholar Walter Stahr discussed his new biography, John Jay: Founding Father (2006). Jay was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. But, as our speaker pointed out, that was only one of his many contributions to the Colonies, the Revolution, and our new country.
Walter Stahr, who signed copies of his book after the talk, is an internationally renowned graduate of Stanford University, where he earned his Phi Beta Kappa key. He was editor of the Harvard Environmental Law Review, and later worked for Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He currently serves as counsel for Emerging Markets Partnership in Washington, DC. Following the program, many of us took docent-led tours of this scenic building, initially a grand hotel, later a rehabilitation hospital in WWII, and now a beautifully restored Court House overlooking the Arroyo Seco. (One of the docents was our Councilor B. Lorraine Reed.)
We'd like to thank Sharon McNalley, Program Chair, and John D. Taylor, Esq. for organizing and managing this well-attended and thought-provoking event.
Alpha Association Hears Talk by Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones On Tuesday, March 6, 2007, the 101st anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake, at the Valley Hunt Club in Pasadena, we were treated to a fascinating presentation by Dr. Lucille B. "Lucy" Jones, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the USGS's Earthquake Program in Southern California. Dr. Jones, who has become famous for her lively TV guest appearances whenever the Southern California earth trembles, spoke on "Earthquakes: Learning from the Past, Getting Ready for the Future."
We all came away with a much better understanding of earthquakes and what we can do to get ready for them. Dr. Jones assured us that the southern end of the San Andreas fault will someday rupture, but that if we take basic precautions, such as bolting foundations and keeping a supply of water on hand, we can minimize the impact. We were also treated to a delicious dinner by the Club, which consisted of a radicchio cup with cascading filed greens, walnuts. bleu cheese and pear, and French vinaigrette; pan roasted "Shelton Farms" chicken breast with pumpkin ravioli, sauteéd spinach, roasted shallots, "Chevrolle" goat cheese, with whole grain mustard and sage sauce; and assorted cookies.
Special thanks are due Councilors Billie Kolb Youngblood-Knolle, for
organizing the event, Jean Paule for handling registration, and
Sonia J. Luna for selling drink tickets.
Alpha Association Hears Dr. Robert Winter
at UCLA On
Saturday, January 27, 2007, we were treated to a talk by renowned
music scholar, Dr. Robert Winter,
who holds the Presidential
Chair in Music and Interactive Arts at UCLA. The program was
held held at the UCLA Faculty Center.
Unfortunately, your webmaster was unable to attend this event.
However, from all reports it was spectacular. SONIA J. LUNA,
who organized the program, has promised to send me a brief write up plus
some pictures in the near future. They will be posted as soon as I receive
them. So please check your website regularly!
THE 2006 ANNUAL ALPHA ASSOCIATION
MEMBERSHIP Alpha Association's 2006 Annual Membership
Meeting was held on Saturday, June 10, at the Orange
Country Museum of Art Education Center, Newport
Beach. The following persons were elected to the Alpha Association
Council for three-year terms expiring in June, 2009: Anna Stockton
Blount, James Herr, C. Scott Littleton, Hermann Muennichow,
Matthew S. Rae, Jr., B. Loraine Reed, and
Billie Youngblood-Knolle. The Association officers (elected by the Council) are:
President: Sue Carol Rokaw; Vice President: Cecilia
Conrad; Recording Secretary: B. Loraine Reed; Corresponding Secretary: Jean Paule; Treasurer: Hermann
Muennichow; Immediate Past President: Shari Dennis Nelson. The program featured John Schneiderman, a renowned
virtuoso of plucked instruments and especially the seven-string Russian
guitar, which he and a colleague have recently reintroduced to the musical
scene. Mr. Schniederman has performed with the Los Angeles Opera, the Los
Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the L.A. Philharmonic, and is currently a
member of
the faculty at the University of California, Irvine, and several other local
colleges.
OTHER RECENT ALPHA ASSOCIATION EVENTS
On Sunday, April 30, 2006, almost 200
Alpha Association members and their guests visited the RONALD
REAGAN LIBRARY in Simi Valley. Led by knowledgeable docents, we
toured the Library and its fascinating exhibits, including the recently
installed Air Force One used by President Reagan and several of his
predecessors. Afterwards, we enjoyed an excellent buffet lunch in the
shadow--l,iterally!--of the famous plane.
This event was originally
scheduled for January 22. However, due to widespread interest among
the membership, we decided to schedule another visit on April 30. The
impressive turnout clearly indicates that this was a wise decision!
On Tuesday evening, November 8, 2005,
78 members and guests of Alpha Association gathered in Caltech’s Athenaeum for
a talk by JPL Project Scientist Trina Ray on “Cassini: Highlights
from Our First Year in Tour.” Ms. Ray, who is an expert on Saturn’s largest moon,
Titan, described the Cassini mission to Saturn as “the most ambitious effort
in planetary space exploration ever mounted.” The mission, which includes
the probe Huygens, is still in progress, and our speaker brought us up to
date on the latest findings, especially in regard to Titan, which she
characterized as the most likely object in the solar system to harbor life.
She also discussed recent information about Saturn’s famous rings and about
its moon Hyperion, which we now know has a strange, spongy surface unlike
that of any other moon in the solar system.
Ms. Ray’s talk was preceded by an excellent dinner
consisting of wild mushroom soup en croute, roasted Cornish gamed hen,
celery risotto and vegetable pearls, and oyster mushroom demi, followed by
Tahitian vanilla crème brulée. After some opening remarks by Alpha
Association president Sue Rokaw, our speaker was introduced by
Athena R. Castro, Executive Director of the Caltech Y and a member of
the Association’s Council.
Last updated
11 Jun 2008 |
|
.JPG)
Our speaker, Trina Ray, of
JPL; Alpha Association president Sue Rokaw