61 Thanks, classmates, for sending your news. We now have a supply of good stuff for future columns. To start off, we've heard from Jackie Siegel Awerman, whose business card says she's a "knitting therapist yarn dancer." She has invented a "knit 2 quit" smoking cessation program, and adds, "I probably should have stayed in Home Ec." Jackie lived in the Southwest from 1977 to 2005 and she misses the dry heat. While there she founded Cactus Needles Knitting Guild, Phoenix, AZ. In addition she started a group called Blanket Revolutionaries that makes blankets for children, adults, and pets. Jackie would like to hear from David Marks, BCE '62, MCE '64.

Our classmates love the Finger Lakes region. Al Bruce, BS Ag '65, and wife Noreen are "renovating an 1860 five-bedroom Victorian monster about 90 minutes from alma mater." He "moonlights from retirement for the Hornell, NY, Evening Tribune, covering four area school districts." He also writes a weekly humor column for the august publication. Al's first job after graduation was as a police reporter for the Rochester, NY, Democrat & Chronicle. Another local is Henrik "Hank" Dullea, who writes, "As chair of the board of TCAT (Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit Inc.), the bus system that serves Cornell and the entire county, I'm deeply involved in the negotiation of our expiring contract with the UAW (United Auto Workers) representing our bus operators and mechanics. I also serve as chair of the county's Independent Redistricting Commission, charged with drawing new boundaries for the county legislature based on changed 2010 census numbers, and performing the same task within the City of Ithaca as a member of the City Redistricting Committee."

Jonathan Black finds himself back at Cornell by "taking a post as a part-time adjunct professor of Biomedical Engineering. Long a dream of mine, I now find myself a 'new boy'. The older buildings look much the same, but there are so many new ones. And so many new small places to eat, not like the old days. I work in Weill Hall, a magnificent white edifice only a few years old. I remember there used to be playing fields where it now stands. the students (mostly I teach and direct design projects in the Master of Biomedical Engineering program) are superb and full of energy and come from a remarkable variety of places and backgrounds. So much stuff to learn by the end of each day, my head hurts from trying to fit it all in. But Cornell is still the amazing place it has always been!"

Ellen Brock Narins (East Aurora, NY) lives in the Buffalo area and is a trustee of East Aurora's historical society. "We operate museums that celebrate our local heroes - Millard Fillmore and Elbert Hubbard." She is still managing her husband's medical practice. Not far from Niagara Falls is Mary Ann Tower Rolland. She is retired, but keeps busy promoting historical preservation in western New York and exploring the local Underground Railroad. She enjoys Presbyterian church activities, visiting grandchildren, and trips to see friends. "Thinking about a move, researching historical buildings in the area, Rhodes Scholar program at Chautauqua, NY." She would like to be in touch with Sandy Perrot.

Catherine "Catie" Graeffe Burke writes that she leads a quiet life, then proceeds to say that though she has retired from teaching at USC, she still still sees doctoral students through their dissertations. "I guess old professors never stop writing or doing research, so that continues. My last book was Systems Leadership: Creative Positive Organizations with co-authors Ian Macdonald and Karl Stewart. Current work continues on work performance management, organizational structures and systems as well as a textbook for public administrators. My other major activity is working with the Aerospace Corp., an FFRDC (Federally Funded Research and Development Center) where they are helping local governments in the development of Automated Transit Networks (ATN).  My early work reported in the book, Innovation and Public Policy: The Case of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), studied some of the early ATNs and the political issues that effectively blocked their development.  For anyone living in West Virginia, you can see an automated system that was built in Morgantown, WVA.  It is still called PRT, though in fact it is a group automated system.  It seems retirement is as busy as when I was still on the job.”  How quiet is that Catie?

Charles Hecht is a partner in Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz In NYC “specializing  in complex securities and commercial litigation and SEC transactional work.”  He is also an active artist with studios in Beijing and Brooklyn.  His art is currently showing in Art Exposition 2011 in Beijing.  Charles and his wife Leslie both enjoy scuba diving, playing golf and visiting with their six grandchildren.  He travels to and from China, as you may imagine, and on the last trip, he and Leslie spent a week in the Gobi Desert of Outer Mongolia.  He’s lost contact with  Montgomery Kingsley, BA '63, and would like to reconnect. In our Nov/Dec column we reported about the activities of Stephen Minikes.  Sadly, his wife Dede writes that he passed away of cancer September 24, 2011. Please remember we need to hear from you,  Susan Williams Stevens, sastevens61@gmail.com; Doug Fuss, dougout@attglobal.net.