Gator Generations

 Did you grow up in a family full of SF State alumni?

If you’re a second-, third- or fourth-generation Gator, let SF State Magazine in on the details. Tell us how many people in your family attended SF State and how these smart people influenced you to follow in their footsteps. Please send your stories of no more than 400 words to sfsumag@sfsu.edu

by Feb. 29, 2008. We may publish your family’s story in the forthcoming spring/summer issue.

Tuesday night on PBS: Putin’s Plan

This just in from alumna Victoria Gamburg: 

“Putin’s Plan,” a new documentary I produced for Frontline/World, will
air on PBS tomorrow night. The documentary looks at the prospects for
democracy in Russia on the eve of the country’s March 2nd presidential
election. As Vladimir Putin names his successor, silences opposition
media, and maneuvers to maintain influence, the film finds Russians
wondering what Putin’s plan for the future really is.

Scroll down to the bottom of this Wall Street Journal article for a review.

Have news of your own? Send an e-mail to abee@sfsu.edu

Sounds of success

Two alumni were among last night’s Oscar nominees. Congratulations to Ethan Van Der Ryn and Chris Scarabosio for their impressive accomplishments in sound editing.

In other sound-related news, alumnus Jeffrey Kafer won “Best New Voice” in the 2008 Voicey Awards competition.

SF State Magazine Now Online

SF State Magazine is now online with a fresh new look and another collection of impressive accomplishments of alumni, faculty, students and staff.

Reader feedback is encouraged. Letters to the editor received by Feb. 25 will be considered for publication in the forthcoming spring/summer issue.

Remembering Tom Lantos, Professor Joseph McBride receives international award…

Alumni William Mason and Ken White are among those reflecting on the lasting contributions of Congressman and Professor Emeritus Tom Lantos in this Oakland Tribune article: http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_8238508?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com

Felicitations to Joseph McBride, assistant professor of cinema, whose book “Searching For John Ford ” in French translation was honored in Paris last week by the French film critics association as the best foreign film book of the year.

Sisters Bridget and Jessica McCracken, both alumni, run the nonprofit arts organization, Trash Mash-Up, recently featured in Americans for the Arts’ year-end journal. Participants use disposable materials to construct pageant masks and costumes inspired by traditions around the world. The green program not only reduces waste but invites artists to cross cultural and geographic borders.

Save the date: The debut performance of the SF State percussion ensemble will take place Sat., Feb. 23, at 11 a.m., Knuth Hall, Creative Arts building. The free event will feature Steel Bands from Marin City and other professional percussionists and young performers from the Bay Area. For more information, contact Allen Biggs at bigdrums@sfsu.edu

SF State mourns the loss of Tom Lantos

The University mourns the loss of Professor Emeritus and Congressman Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, who passed away on Monday. Lantos taught economics at SF State for nearly three decades before his election to the House of Representatives. His longstanding commitment to human rights issues can be traced to the hardships he endured at an early age when he lost nearly his entire family in the Holocaust. He served as founding co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which focuses on human rights violations across the globe. To read about the many lasting contributions he made, visit

visit www.lantos.org/index.php

 

Another Sundance champ

Congratulations to cinema alumnus Daniel Robin, who won the 2008 Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at Sundance for “My Olympic Summer.” Focusing on a letter and a roll of unexposed film, the 12-minute documentary recounts the miraculous story of Robin’s parents in summer 1972. Robin’s father was among those taken hostage in the Black September raid on the Israeli Olympic delegation. His captivity would have a profound affect on Robin’s parent’s marriage. For more information, visit www.neighborhoodfilms.com or www.sundance.org/festival/film_events/details1.asp?filmid=08F02044

Also at Sundance: “Along the Way,” a 20-minute video mosaic created in part by Jorge Sanchez, a project researcher at the Cesar Chavez Institute’s Family Acceptance Project. He and artistic partners of the Cause Collective interviewed more than 1,500 people in and around Oakland for the piece, which runs continuously on a media wall inside the Oakland International Airport. For a closer look at the project, visit our SF State News Web site: http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2008/spring/11.htm

NFL Cameraman, Synchronized Gator…

Yesterday Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning became the latest sports hero to seal victory by shouting the famous phrase, “I’m going to Disneyland!” And the man behind the camera capturing it all was SF State alumnus Mark Allan. As this San Francisco Chronicle article  reveals, Allan has shot 18 of these Super Bowl spots for NFL Films, starting with NY Giants quarterback Phil Simms in 1987. Allan, I’m told, played baseball for the Gators in the mid-1960s. As for other Gator athletes in the news, SF State alumna Kim Probst is co-captain of the U.S. National Synchronized Swimming Team. Probst, who graduated from SF State in 2006, will head to Beijing in May. Her coach, Tammy McGregor, a Gold medalist, is also a Gator.

Tom Brady: Trained by a Gator, Tune in for Tambor…

Enjoy the Super/Puppy Bowls

Alumnus Tom Martinez, College of San Mateo football coach extraordinaire, will be watching his former star student Tom Brady this Sunday. For more information, read this San Mateo County Times story. On a personal note, Coach Martinez, your friends at SF State are wishing you the best right now.

As for other NFL connections among our alumni, Seattle Seahawks Coach Mike Holmgren and Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid both had coaching stints under legendary Gator Football Coach Vic Rowen. Other Gators who can be found on the gridiron include Seahawks Assistant Coach Gil Haskell (B.A., ’71) and San Diego Chargers Quarterbacks Coach John Ramsdell (M.A., ’77). But if the Puppy Bowl is more your cup of tea, I have a book recommendation for you. I just cracked open “Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit” (Crown, ’07), a wonderfully entertaining book edited by alumna Claudia Kawczynska and Cameron Woo, coeditors of The Bark magazine. The book’s impressive list of contributors includes Al Franken, Pam Houston and Dave Barry.  

Tambor back on TV

As for Monday night, I plan to check out “Welcome to the Captain,” the new CBS comedy featuring alumnus Jeffrey Tambor. The show focuses on the residents of a Hollywood apartment building, including Tambor, who plays a former “Three’s Company” writer. A funny concept as Tambor made numerous memorable appearances on “Three’s Company” over the years and later enjoyed a starring role on its spin-off, “The Ropers.” I, for one, am still bitter over the halt to Tambor’s last TV hit, the clever comedy “Arrested Development,” which unfortunately underwent just that. I had the pleasure of interviewing Tambor for SF State Magazine, when A.D. was scoring big points with critics. He told me that he was positive he was an actor because of  SF State.

 

SF State Jazz Greats

Attention jazz fans, you won’t want to miss the Jazz Heritage Center Community Celebration on Sunday, Feb. 24, from 2 to 5 p.m. The free event includes a concert with performances by jazz greats including alumni John Handy and Allen Smith. Professor Dee Spencer, the gifted keyboardist who founded SF State’s jazz studies undergraduate degree program, will kick off the event with a preview of music accompanying a scene from a new play by award-winning poet/playwright, alumnus Marcus Gardley. He was commissioned to write the play by the Handful Players, a nonprofit children’s theatre group. The play, which celebrates the jazz legends and the revitalization of the Fillmore, will be ready for primetime in May. I’ll bring you an update later this spring.