Table of Contents
Six(ty) Degrees of St. Lawrence (Part 3)
Laura Besanceney ’02, an English writing major. Laurie has been on the editorial boards of the Laurentian literary magazine and The Hill News. “My favorite writing assignment was to cover bands playing at the Java Barn. I always got to hang out with them after the show,” says Laurie, also a sister of Kappa Delta Sigma sorority and a “Chip” as the daughter of Class Reporter Susan Christensen Besanceney ’71. She enjoys the rigorous academic life as well; she is participating in the credit-bearing communications office internship under the mentorship of…
Neal Burdick ’72, editor of St. Lawrence’s publications, numbering about 400 each year, including the alumni magazine. Since 1980 he has sponsored 107 interns, most of whom have earned academic credit for their work through the English department. The benefits run both ways. Neal says sponsoring interns “benefits me because the best way to improve one’s own skills is to teach them” and because connecting with students helps him to know what’s going on at St. Lawrence. Knowing this keeps him current and therefore helps him with his job. His interns benefit, he says, because they get to work with a professional writer/editor in a real-world setting with real audiences and real deadlines. One former intern who attests to that is…
Martyn Ball ’90, a Toronto, Ontario, native who wrote also for The Hill News and played hockey. He recalls, “The internship allowed me to gain practical real-world experience by applying what I had learned in the classroom.” After graduation, Martyn obtained his first position in finance with the help of John Greenwood ’75. Martyn says, “Through my involvement with the hockey team, I was given the opportunity to interact with and get to know people who live and work in the larger community that makes up St. Lawrence University.” As one of the first two McCurdy/Sprague “young” trustees, Martyn came to an even greater appreciation for those who teach and administer in the wider liberal arts community: “There are a lot of people who make everything happen, and to many students and alumni, they are invisible,” he says. “When you combine everyone’s efforts the experience becomes very meaningful.” Martyn lived in Whitman in his first year at St. Lawrence, as did his fellow McCurdy/Sprague trustee
Jennifer Curley ’90, who agrees that being a trustee has given her a completely new perspective on St. Lawrence and Laurentians. The director of government affairs at VoteHere, a Washington, D.C., on-line and electronic voting company (“We could have prevented the ‘Florida 2000’ situation,” she notes), Curley says her connection with the Board began when she was a student delegate. “That was my first networking experience,” she says. “It opened lots of doors for me.” As a way of returning that favor, she now enjoys being on the other side of the networking equation. She has hired St. Lawrence students as interns, and advised newly-minted graduates when they’re come to Washington in hopes of launching their careers. Among the latter group is
Anastasia Tirio ’00, who claims “Connections made at St. Lawrence affect my life every day. The personalities of the people I came in contact with during my four years rubbed off on me and have become a part of who I am. I came out of college a much more confident person than when I entered.” That confidence allowed her to move to Washington, D.C., several months after she graduated, to look for work. Once there, Anastasia met with Curley (after Lisa Cania, for whom Anastasia worked for three and a years at St. Lawrence, introduced the two alumnae), who gave her advice and encouraged her to take career risks and do what felt right in her gut. Anastasia continued to get a little help from her St. Lawrence friends. Her former KDS pledge mother made sure Anastasia found an apartment, while another St. Lawrence alumna arranged connections for an interview that led to a job as an events coordinator for a leading insurance trade group. “St. Lawrence connections are beneficial in every aspect of my life,” Anastasia says. “In retrospect, I think one thing that defines the University is the network of support it continues to provide.” Anastasia hails from northern New Jersey, where she attended Saints Network events with
David Officer ’67, who has had over 70 interns since 1979. “Brigid Hayes '02 was with me at Permal Asset Management this past January,” he says, adding that “I stay in touch with about half of the group--many are in the financial field so they are part of my network. We share information and since all are considerably younger than me, they give me fresh ideas. My son David did not attend SLU, but when he was a college senior my former intern Andrew Smith '97 offered him an internship at his firm, Tudor Investment Management, and that was one of the reasons David was selected for Goldman Sachs' Analyst Program. The benefits of providing internships really came home to the Officer family with that.”
Reflecting further on his interns, Officer notes that “Trustee Mike Ranger ‘80 was one of my first. St. Lawrence admissions counselor Maureen Williams ’00 was another; I talk with her frequently about prospects and applicants for the University. I consider several of the interns close friends – they have truly enriched my life. If only I had asked for a small percentage of their lifetime earnings, then they REALLY would have enriched my life!” David shares a generosity of spirit, as well as time and energy, withAlumni Council President-elect and regular intern sponsor Joe Richardson ’63, senior vice president for corporate lending at Charter One Bank in Albany, N.Y. “It’s terrific to have students in the office,” he says. “They’re inquisitive and enthusiastic, and they can get a taste of what it’s like in the banking profession. Besides, they make me feel young! I got my start through St. Lawrence,” Joe continues; “here’s a way I can help students get started in a very competitive environment.” His intern last summer was
Megan Babcock ’02, who he says fit in well as a team player and was a good communicator—“talents I believe she honed at St. Lawrence,” he notes. The following winter break, Richardson helped Megan land another internship, this time in the marketing department at Whiteface Mountain. Megan says, “St. Lawrence’s strong alumni network has made both my internships possible and helped give me an idea of what I want to do after I graduate.” Besides being a pro at working the alumni network, Megan is also the treasurer of Kappa Delta Sigma and an economics major who spent a semester in Kenya. She was inducted into ODK, the leadership honorary; ODK’s advisor is
Peg Kelsey Cornwell ’79, whose involvement in ODK, to which she was elected in 1997 in recognition of her work in the career planning office and support of student groups such as the Women’s Resource Center, makes sense. Today, Peg is a project director for the newly established St. Lawrence Leadership Academy. “My new job is great. I connect with students wherever they are, and I help them make things better as they want to,” Peg says. The major goals of the Leadership Academy include strengthening student organizations and bringing better programs to all students. Peg strives to unite the initiatives of different student groups and campus resources. Another key aspect of leadership is voluntary service. “We work closely with the David Garner Center for Collegiate Volunteerism because it is important to provide students opportunities to practice the skills they’re acquiring and to engage in leadership development,” she says. During the 2001 holiday season, volunteer teams from St. Lawrence worked with the Salvation Army, ringing those famous bells and raising funds at local businesses. One of these students, who wore a Santa costume he borrowed from Peg, is
John Trentini ’03, president of his class, and a resident of the Civitas leadership residential theme suite. A second-degree blackbelt, John is the founder of and an instructor in the Isshinryu Karate Club. A cadet in the Air Force ROTC unit at Clarkson, he is also president-elect of the St. Lawrence chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the national leadership honorary. “ODK has especially put me in contact with every aspect of campus, from religious life and spirituality to athletics to academics,” he says. John, who hails from Goshen, N.Y., brought his sense of connectedness to the community when he played Santa Claus on campus last December. “Santa” turned up at a men’s hockey game, the Big Brother/Big Sister holiday party hosted by Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and International House’s holiday party where
Stefania Anton ’04 is the student coordinator. An economics and math double major with a minor in government, she applies her academic interests to extracurricular activities, not only as coordinator of International House, but also as chair of the Investment Club and a member of the Model U.N. organization. “St. Lawrence is a great place to be if you like to be challenged. The more you get involved, the more opportunities open up for you,” says Stefi, who is also a Teaching Assistant for the Quantitative Methods course in economics. As an intern with the University communications staff in January 2002, she created a marketing plan for a conference featuring…
Jim Garbarino ’68, who is director and professor of family life and human development at Cornell University and a nationally renowned expert in adolescent violence and family dynamics. Jim has authored many books on these topics; his most recent, Parents Under Siege: Why You Are the Solution, Not the Problem, in Your Child's Life, was the topic of a conference at St. Lawrence this spring. Other books to Garbarino’s credit include Lost Boys : Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them and Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment. Jim graduated Phi Beta Kappa from St. Lawrence and was also keynote speaker for the honor society’s spring induction banquet, just one of the ways he has connected back to his undergraduate alma mater. Another connection for Jim is his service, as a former government major, on the steering committee of alumni who raised funds for the Robert N. Wells Scholarship Fund, at the time Bob Wells retired. A fellow committee member and government major whose career took a different direction than his academic interests would imply is…
Viggo Morensen ’80, whose most recent acting credit is the role of Stryder/Aragorn in the film Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings. Most know Viggo as an actor; he’s appeared in such films as A Perfect Murder, GI Jane and Portrait of a Lady. His artistic talents extend to poetry (his collection Recent Forgeries is the subject of critical acclaim), painting and photography. He is working on his third book of poetry, and will be showing new photographs and paintings at Track 16 Gallery in Los Angeles. Born in New York to a Danish father and an American mother, Viggo traveled a great deal and spent several years living in Venezuela, Argentina, and Denmark, developing an appreciation for internationalism, a quality he shares with
Assistant Professor of Modern Languages Roseline Tremblay, who is originally from Montréal and studied in Italy, Paris and New York City before she came to St. Lawrence. This multi-lingual professor also earned her law degree at the University of Montréal Law School and practiced for two years. She came to St. Lawrence to teach French and Italian and build a new curriculum of Québec studies, which includes working on a tentative program in Québec City in January 2003. In the meantime, she takes her students on field trips to that Francophonic city. Roseline says, “I think St. Lawrence is a wonderful place for students because it lets them learn more than one language.” One of those languages is Swahili, which is taught by her colleague
Visiting International Lecturer Anne Mahero. Coming from Kenya to St. Lawrence to teach Swahili and pursue her master’s degree in counseling, Anne couldn’t foresee all the cultural challenges she’d have to face or the overwhelming support she would find in the network of colleagues and students. “From the harsh weather, to small everyday details like what to eat and wear, how to say some things appropriately… My newfound friends provided a springboard that bounced me back to normal life,” says Anne. She has since come to enjoy the serene surroundings and the rich academic life of St. Lawrence. “This place has bequeathed me an invaluable gem that will remain at the heart of my being for a long time,” says Anne. St. Lawrence welcomes at least two Kenyan students each year, such as
Rahab Mwangi ’02, who has taken advantage of numerous opportunities for research at St. Lawrence. She received a travel grant that financed an internship with a hospital in rural Kenya and later, while on St. Lawrence’s program in Denmark, was able to compare the healthcare systems of Kenya, the United States and Europe. Other research includes experiments in biochemistry that eventually turned into a manual Rahab helped write for the new biochemistry research methods course. Rahab, a biology major, received a University Fellowship for summer 2000 to study “Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Behavioral and Population Ecology of Small Mammals” with her fellow Kenyan…