My message to you today is to urge you to get involved and stay involved with PBK! Because you are reading this newsletter, I know you are interested. There are 58 alumni associations across the country. You can be proud that PBKNCA is one of the largest and most active with close to 1,000 members. As a non-profit 501(C3) organization, your dues and donations go almost exclusively toward our local graduate scholarships and teaching excellence awards. At our annual meeting on May 2, 2010, we awarded eight graduate students scholarships of $5,000 and gave four faculty members teaching excellence awards of consisting of a certificate and $500 honorarium each. Plan to attend our next annual meeting at 4 pm on Sunday, May 1, 2011 at the UC Berkeley Faculty Club.
Other educational and fun social activities that support our awards are the programs you will find in this newsletter. Clip a coupon and send in your money! These events fill up fast. Our annual gathering at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove by the ocean is scheduled over the Presidents’ Day weekend, February 18-21, 2011. A signup form is in the hardcopy or pdf.
We are associated with eight college chapters in Northern California: Mills College, San Francisco State University, Santa Clara University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of the Pacific. Each spring/summer we send representatives to their PBK initiation ceremonies. You can get involved too! Contact , Chapter Liaison.
Our membership year is January-December. You may have sent dues to the PBK Society in Washington, DC, but that does not make you a member of PBKNCA. The Society sends our yearly solicitations to all initiated members in order to maintain its services at the national level, but we do not receive any of that money locally. Please watch for the membership envelope in the November newsletter. Twelve dedicated volunteer board members lead our organization. You will find their contact information here. Call or e-mail to see if you can help. I know each one of them would appreciate it.
We are looking forward to another successful year with you.
Janiece Nolan, President
Teaching Excellence Nominations Needed
To date the Teaching Excellence Committee has received eight nominations for Teaching Excellence Awards. The nominations received thus far are from only three of the eight eligible campuses. The eligible campuses are Mills College, San Francisco State University, Santa Clara University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of the Pacific. Information about nominations and the nomination form as well are available here
Narcinda Lerner, Teaching Excellence Chair
Shah Ali, Stanford, Medicine
Chantal Frankenbach, UC Davis, Music
Harold (Hal) Haggard, UC Berkeley, Physics
William Love Anderegg, Stanford, Biology
Alexis Peri, UC Berkeley, History
Margaret Peters, Stanford, Political Science
Lilliana Radoshevich (Reed Scholarship), UCSF, Biomedical Sci.
Johnny Tam†, UCSF (& UCB), Bioengineering
† Application through UCSF, not UCB
Shah Ali (Medicine, Stanford) is in his second year of graduate study, working toward a career in academic medicine. He is studying coronary artery disease and the cellular loss that results following acute myocardial injury. Some of his research will look at the possibilities of cell transplantation therapy.
Outside the classroom and lab, Shah has been part of a team that developed patient education presentations for the Stanford free clinics and for a Palo Alto homeless shelter. In addition, showing that his interests extend beyond science and medicine, he and a colleague organized trips to live-arts performances to bring together students and faculty in appreciation of the healing power of art.
His professors noted that he is self-directing and charming and has a wonderful sense of humor, a genuine thirst for knowledge, an amazingly sharp wit, and a keen understanding of satire and irony.
Chantal Frankenbach (Music, UC Davis) is examining the dislocation of dance from Western art music. In her dissertation, "Disdain for Dance, Disdain for France: Choreophobia in German Music Criticism," she shows that German music critics characterized dance as "feminine and French," and therefore not "pure" music. She herself is a professional dancer.
As part of her work in the prestigious Professors for the Future program, she devised a project, "Behind the Scenes in the Work of a Professor," to give graduate students a better understanding of the work of a professor and how the work differs at different institutions. A second workshop focused on how to publish in the humanities.
Her professors called her an extremely creative thinker and an exceptional scholar, adept at synthesis and dedicated to her students and colleagues.
Harold (Hal) Haggard (Physics, UC Berkeley) is studying the implications of quantum mechanics and its relation to the theory of relativity. The heart of his thesis is "a description of the geometry arising out of the spin network that involves nine spinning particles." In addition to his Ph.D. from Berkeley, he will be receiving an international Ph.D. through the Universita degli Studi de Pavia, Italy.
Hal is one of the three graduate student co-founders of the Compass Project at UC Berkeley. This project works to "increase the health, diversity, and competitiveness of the physical sciences at Berkeley by cultivating students’ interest in science and supporting them through their college years. . . . [It also] exposes undergraduates to current research and helps them engage and participate in research themselves."
His professors note his impressive research achievements, extraordinary sense of community involvement, and broad intellectual interests.
William Love Anderegg (Biology, Stanford) is testing the physiological mechanisms of climate-induced forest mortality. He is studying the sudden aspen decline (SAD) that has swept across Colorado, several other western states, and parts of Canada. Through his research he seeks to "demonstrate the direct link between climate change and tree mortality . . . and make strides toward predictive models of forest mortality."
"Bill is a renaissance man. Besides his science, he also excels in music and writing." He took up the guitar because he couldn't carry his piano into the field, and he has written a fantasy novel that so impressed his favorite fantasy-novel writer that the latter placed it with his own agent.
His professors note that he is creative, grasps ideas quickly, and rapidly sees errors in logic. He is a mature thinker who "will not do science in silence."
Margaret Peters (Political Science, Stanford) is studying the politics of globalization, with a special focus on the politics of immigration. She is looking at the two periods of globalization in the modern era (1820-1914 and the post-World War II era) and the immigration policies during those periods. Specifically, she is examining the "continued relative closure of the U.S. border to immigrants after World War II." Her goal is to contribute fact-based research instead of research with a policy agenda to policy makers and the general public.
She has received a scholarship from the U.S. Dept. of State (Critical Language Program) and a Gerald R. Ford award for research in public policy. She was also chosen to participate in the National Science Foundation REU Program in Mathematics.
Her professors call her smart, intellectually tough, technically far above the mean, and creative, having "a subversively creative mind."
Lilliana Radoshevich (Biomedical Sciences, UCSF) is studying the role of autophagy in cancer. A driving force in her research is the potential that what she finds could solve serious human health problems. She is also committed to bridging the gap in understanding between the scientific community and the general public.
She designed an adult education course, "Demystifying Molecular Biology," and volunteers in community education through the Science and Health Education Partnership between UCSF and the San Francisco Unified School District, co-teaching lessons with middle-school teachers in urban schools. Having helped vaccinate and tag bighorn sheep during her own middle-school years, she believes in a hands-on approach to science.
Her professors note that she has a great nose for important questions and is meticulous, self-critical, self-directed, and able to see the big picture.
Johnny Tam (Bioengineering, UCSF) is investigating retinal capillaries in early-stage diabetes, using noninvasive techniques that he invented. His study opens up the patient pool that can be potentially investigated for both clinical practice and basic research in disease mechanisms. He is interested in directing the development of applications for medical imaging. He is licensed as an Engineer-in-Training and has received his Certificate in Management of Technology from the Haas School of Business and Engineering at UC Berkeley.
Outside the classroom and the lab, Johnny has been actively involved in the Institute for Science and Engineer Educators, which trains graduate students how to be effective teachers. As an undergraduate, he was vice-president and chair of the External Relations Committee of the Undergraduate Investment Society.
His professors note his passion, dedication, curiosity, and ambition as well as his foresight and courage to go beyond the confines of his discipline.
Joanne Sandstrom, Second Vice President, Scholarship
Are you under 40? Join the Young Phi Betes
We are attempting to reinvigorate the Young Phi Bete (YPB) group. Get together with Phi Betes of similar age and interest for breakfast, drinks after work, go on a picnic, arrange to meet at one the official PBK events (the Chocolate Fest would be an ideal setting) – it is up to the group. Make new friends, network, whatever. There is no leader, someone suggests an event and others respond (or not).
We are setting up a private WordPress blog where YPBs can communicate and plan events. In order to join the blog, you will have to be a member of the Northern California Association and given access to the blog by the moderator. Signup now and we will send you information when the blog is open.
Ray Hendess, Moderator
One of America's newest historical parks, Rosie the Riveter & WWII Home Front National Historical Park is right in our own backyard. While we all know the stories about Rosie, our visit to and ranger-led tour of the park will give us the "nuts and bolts" (pun intended) behind the myths and legends of this fascinating effort which took place during World War II. 
Chocoholics beware! This event is being held on Saturday so that those of us still gainfully employed can participate. The Chocolate Tour we did last year in San Francisco was great and we're hoping to top that this year when we visit the Belmont Congrega-tional Church where we will be able to sample the wares of some 20 different vendors of chocolate, including their ice cream, gelato, brownies, cakes, cookies, truffles & candy of every sort as well as chunks of pure chocolate. And, in addition to all the chocolate, we'll enjoy free champagne and coffee, plus the atmosphere provided by the Michael Medwid Jazz Trio. There are also a chocolate boutique and prizes. This is a charitable event benefitting community programs such as Samaritan House, Second Harvest Food Bank, Interfaith Hospitality Network.
What began as a pastime is today the Thomas Fogarty Winery and Vineyard, one of the San Francisco Peninsula's most respected wineries. A Stanford Cardiovascular Surgeon and world-renowned inventor, Thomas Fogarty took up home-winemaking in the early 1970's in a small cabin on the current winery site. He planted his first grapes in 1978, and in 1981 established a commercial winery in the historic grape growing region of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Our holiday tour is to one of the gems of the Bay Area. Dunsmuir's volunteers will have worked more than 5,000 hours to transform this 16,000 sq.ft. mansion into a magnificent masterpiece of an Edwardian holiday display. Each room will be decorated with elegant holiday trees, garlands, antique furnishings, and festive decorations. Our visit is a self-guided tour of approximately 45 minutes, and while the grounds are open from 11 am to 5 pm, our actual tour of the mansion will begin promptly at 1 pm. Our tickets include the scheduled mansion visit, access to the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate grounds and activities, and the gift shop. Note: carpooling suggested; limited parking on street or possibly on the grounds for a fee.
