Princeton Alumni Weekly | The Weekly Blog: Brett Tomlinson Archives

May 8, 2012

Princeton-Virginia matchup pits star goalie against high-school rival

Tyler Fiorito '12 (Photo: Courtesy Athletic Communications)

By David Marcus ’92

Steele Stanwick and Tyler Fiorito ’12 were the two top high-school lacrosse recruits in the country four years ago. Fiorito, a graduate of McDonogh School outside of Baltimore, won three of the four games his team played against Loyola High School, Stanwick’s alma mater, but the two men will face one another for the first time as collegians in the first round of the NCAA playoffs on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va. The University of Virginia is seeded fifth in the tournament, while Princeton is unseeded.

Fiorito has had an excellent career at Princeton. A starter in goal since his freshman year, he’s a three-time All-American and this year’s Ivy League Player of the Year. He’s saved 59 percent of the shots he’s faced this year and led a defense that allowed only 7.19 goals a game despite a 15-7 loss to Yale on Sunday in the Ivy League playoffs.

Stanwick has done even better than Fiorito. A starting attackman for four years at Virginia, he put the Cavaliers on his back in last year’s playoffs, scoring three goals and five assists in a 13-12 comeback win in overtime over Bucknell and then keying a 13-9 demolition of Cornell in the quarterfinals. The Cavaliers beat the University of Denver and the University of Maryland in the Final Four on Memorial Day weekend to win the national title, and Stanwick won the Tewaaraton Trophy as the nation’s best college lacrosse player.

Continue reading Princeton-Virginia matchup pits star goalie against high-school rival…

May 4, 2012

Names in the news: Doar '44, Morrison receive Medal of Freedom, new appointments for a pair of '84 alums, and more

John Doar '44, right, helps to escort University of Mississippi student James Meredith, center, in 1962. Doar received the Presidential Medal of Freedom last week. (Photo: Wikipedia/Library of Congress/U.S. News & World Report Collection)

Civil rights attorney John Doar ’44, pictured at right, and Toni Morrison, the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities emeritus, were among 13 men and women honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom April 27. [Superior (Wis.) Telegram]

The Federal Trade Commission team investigating antitrust allegations against Google added a key member: Beth Wilkinson ’84, a former Justice Department lawyer who played a prominent role in prosecution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. [New York Times]

John Armstrong ’84, a former trauma surgeon and current chief medical officer at the University of South Florida Health Center, will become Florida’s surgeon general in May. [Miami Herald]

Thirteen early paintings by artist Frank Stella ’58 are featured in a new, critically acclaimed exhibition at L&M Arts, a gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. [New York Times]

Consumers tend to manage their everyday expenses but overspend on purchases that they view as “exceptional,” according to a new study by New York University professor Adam Alter *09 and Princeton Ph.D. student Abigail Sussman. [Wall Street Journal]

May 2, 2012

Tiger of the Week: Renee Hsia '99

Renee Hsia '99 (Photo: David Gene Photography)

Renee Hsia ’99’s latest research paper was sparked by a seemingly simple question from a friend who had been poring over his hospital bills: What is the typical cost of an appendectomy?

Hsia, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and emergency-medicine physician, could not give an answer. But she eventually culled the data from a statewide database of health charges: The median fees to treat “uncomplicated” appendicitis totaled $33,611 – and depending on where a patient went for the procedure, it could cost anywhere from $1,529 to $182,955.

“The fact that there’s variation is not surprising,” Hsia told PAW. “But the range was surprising, even to me.”

Hsia and three co-authors published their findings in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, and the study drew national media attention last week, with coverage from ABC News, The New York Times, the Associated Press, and others.

While the wildly disparate fees captured the headlines, Hsia said there were other lessons from the research, including one that she observes in her emergency-room shifts. When you’re suffering from something like severe abdominal pain, you’re not exactly in a position to shop around, but the unpredictable costs of health care “make patients fearful to be admitted,” she said.

The problem is most pressing for those with no insurance or subpar coverage, but Hsia adds that even patients with good insurance often pay hefty out-of-pocket fees and can be affected by health-care inefficiencies, which drive up premiums.

Hsia, a Harvard Medical School graduate who also received a master’s degree from the London School of Economics/London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, divides her time between research, clinical work, and teaching. She studies inefficiency and inequity in health care, areas of interest that have roots in her undergraduate courses at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, where she learned about public policy from the likes of Uwe Reinhardt, Stan Katz, and Lynn White. Hsia shared the Pyne Prize, the University’s highest undergraduate honor, in her senior year at Princeton.

Do you have a nominee for Tiger of the Week? Let us know. All alumni qualify. PAW’s Tiger of the Week is selected by our staff, with help from readers like you.

May 1, 2012

Ivy League Tournament preview: Princeton aims for automatic bid

Tournament schedule

Friday, May 4
Yale vs. Cornell, 5 p.m.
Brown at Princeton,
8 p.m.

Sunday, May 6
Championship, noon

TV: Semifinals - ESPN3, Championship - ESPNU

By David Marcus ’92

The men’s lacrosse team won the Ivy League championship on Saturday with a 14-9 win over Cornell, but Princeton may have to beat the Big Red again in this weekend’s Ivy League tournament to go to the NCAA playoffs. The victory gave Princeton its first undefeated Ivy campaign since 2001, when the Tigers went on to win the national title, and it broke a streak of nine straight years in which Cornell had either won or shared the crown. It also means Princeton will host the Ivy tournament this weekend.

The Ivy League likely will get only one NCAA bid this year, and it will go to the winner of this weekend’s tournament. “We feel that we need to win Friday and Sunday to ensure our spot” in the NCAAs, said Princeton head coach Chris Bates.

Princeton beat Brown 13-2 on March 31 in Providence, a game in which Princeton goalie Tyler Fiorito ’12 made 16 saves while his Brown counterpart Will Round recorded only four. Bates says that the Bears are a “different and better team” than they were a month ago.

Continue reading Ivy League Tournament preview: Princeton aims for automatic bid…

April 27, 2012

Names in the news: Primary election edition

The presidential primary news may be winding down, but for many of the Princeton alumni running for House and Senate seats, the campaign season is just beginning to heat up. Below, PAW provides brief updates on the candidates. If you know of other Princetonians running for office, please contact us.

Twelve alumni candidates in 11 states are pursuing Congressional seats; two others lost primary races in March and April. (Photo: iStockPhoto.com)

Twelve alumni candidates are pursuing Congressional seats; two others lost primary races in March and April. (Photo: iStockPhoto.com)

Two alumni running for the U.S. Senate are primary underdogs, but both have shown promise, according to recent reports. Texas Republican Ted Cruz ’92 finished second in a recent poll, according to the Austin American-Statesman, trailing by 12 points with a month remaining before his primary vote. Minnesota Republican Pete Hegseth ’03, the former executive director of Vets for Freedom, has raised more money than his opponents, but he may have taken a hit when Ron Paul endorsed his top opponent, the Minnesota Post reported.

Democrat Hayden Rogers ’95 aims to earn the open seat in the crowded race for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. Rogers was chief of staff for Rep. Heath Shuler, who decided not to run for re-election. One of Rogers’ Princeton contemporaries, Democrat Derek Kilmer ’96, received the endorsement of retiring Rep. Norm Dicks in the competition for Washington’s 6th Congressional District.

In California’s 9th Congressional District, Ricky Gill ’08 – the youngest of Princeton’s alumni candidates, just shy of his 25th birthday – has been raising more donations than incumbent Democrat Jerry McNerney, according to the Associated Press. Fellow Republican Dan Schwartz ’72 has lagged in the fundraising race but hopes to stay competitive among those vying for the seat in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District.

Continue reading Names in the news: Primary election edition…

April 25, 2012

Tiger of the Week: Charlotte Rogan '75

Charlotte Rogan '75 (Photo: HBGUSA)

Charlotte Rogan ’75 has written fiction for 25 years, but her first published novel, The Lifeboat, did not reach shelves until earlier this month. The author’s persistence seems to be paying handsome rewards: After earning several positive reviews and a spot on the British bookseller Waterstones’ list of the top debut novels of 2012, The Lifeboat has sailed into the No. 12 position of the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers.

Set in 1914 and narrated by a 22-year-old woman named Grace, the novel tells the story of a group of people who spend three weeks at sea after a mysterious explosion on an ocean liner. The New York Review of Books called the book “an enthralling story of survival at sea,” while The Guardian praised it as “a fascinating portrait of a determined, free-thinking young woman, and an inquiry into the puzzle of personality.”

Rogan majored in architecture at Princeton and worked in construction engineering before discovering her talent for creative writing in her 30s. The Lifeboat emerged over the course of a decade.

“The message to other unpublished writers is to stick with it,” Rogan told PAW’s Katherine Federici Greenwood. “It can happen.”

Read more about Rogan and The Lifeboat in the May 16 issue of PAW.

Do you have a nominee for Tiger of the Week? Let us know. All alumni qualify. PAW’s Tiger of the Week is selected by our staff, with help from readers like you.

April 18, 2012

Tiger of the Week: Eric Kuhne *83

Eric Kuhne *83, top, and his firm designed Titanic Belfast, a new exhibition center that opened March 31. (Photos: Ron Kennard/Wikipedia [Kuhne]; Courtesy Civic Arts / Eric R. Kuhne and Associates [Titanic Belfast])

Eric Kuhne *83 and his firm designed Titanic Belfast, a new exhibition center that opened March 31. (Photo: Ron Kennard/Wikipedia)

Architect Eric Kuhne *83 knew that Titanic Belfast was off to a good start the day before its March 31 debut. The exhibition center, designed by Kuhne’s London-based firm, Civic Arts / Eric R. Kuhne and Associates, opened its doors without public notice, and about 4,000 people from the Northern Ireland city came to visit. In the two weeks since, the center has drawn thousands more – about three times the most optimistic estimates, Kuhne said – and attracted widespread media attention as the world marked the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s tragic sinking.

Kuhne’s work in Belfast began seven years ago with a master plan for the waterfront that once housed one of the world’s premier shipbuilding centers, including the shipyard that built Titanic and its sister ship, Olympic. Titanic Belfast, on the site of that historic yard, aims to be a major tourist destination as well as a public hub for Belfastians and a source of civic pride.

“The shipyard is not about one tragic ship,” Kuhne explained in an interview with PAW. “It’s about 400 years of maritime excellence.”

Continue reading Tiger of the Week: Eric Kuhne *83…

April 13, 2012

Krist '79 chronicles 12 tumultuous days in 1919 Chicago

Gary Krist ’79 (Photo: Bob Krist/Courtesy Crown Publishing)

New book: City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago, by Gary Krist ’79 (Crown)

The author: Krist, the author of three novels and two short-story collections, has devoted much of the last decade to journalism and narrative nonfiction. The White Cascade, his 2007 exploration of a 1910 avalanche that killed nearly 100 train travelers in the Cascade Mountains, was his first nonfiction book. Krist frequently writes reviews for publications that include The Washington Post Book World and The New York Times Book Review.

The book: In City of Scoundrels, Krist turns the clock back nearly a century to take a detailed look at Chicago in July 1919. A remarkable series of events, ranging from a deadly blimp crash to a crippling transit strike, pushes Chicago “to the edge of civic disintegration” at a time when its leaders had been trumpeting an effort to modernize.

Continue reading Krist '79 chronicles 12 tumultuous days in 1919 Chicago…

April 12, 2012

Video: Princeton table tennis prepares for national tournament

Dillon Gym is home to one of the nation’s most accomplished table tennis teams – recognized by those who know the sport but mostly overlooked on Princeton’s campus. “It’s funny,” team member Gabriel Reder ’14 told PAW contributor Jonathan Lin ’13. “I think the team is better-known outside the school than it is here.”

Lin’s video, below, follows the Princeton team as it prepares for a return trip to the College Table Tennis National Championships, April 13-15 in Plano, Texas.

April 11, 2012

Tiger of the Week: Gary Gibbons '78

Gary Gibbons '78, M.D. (Photo: Courtesy Morehouse School of Medicine)

Last week, cardiologist and researcher Gary Gibbons ’78 was selected to lead one of the nation’s most important medical research centers, the Bethesda, Md.-based National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Gibbons, currently a professor, department chairman, and director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, is expected to start his new position in the summer.

Gibbons, a leader in work related to cardiovascular health of minority populations, has earned 15 NHLBI-supported grants in the last 15 years and has served on the institute’s advisory council since 2009. In an interview with Science Insider, Gibbons said he aims to ensure “that NHLBI continues its legacy of doing discovery science that advances public health.”

With an annual budget of more than $3 billion, NHLBI is the third largest institute at the National Institutes of Health (behind the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases). In 2007, cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases accounted for 43 percent of deaths in the United States.

Gibbons majored in psychology at Princeton, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School, and taught on the medical faculties at Stanford and Harvard before joining Morehouse in 1999. He was nominated for our weekly honor by classmate – and cardiologist – Kenneth Bernhard ’78.

Do you have a nominee for Tiger of the Week? Let us know. All alumni qualify. PAW’s Tiger of the Week is selected by our staff, with help from readers like you.

April 6, 2012

A win-win for rugby teams and cancer research

The Princeton men's rubgy team beat William Paterson to win the Rickerson Cup March 31. Mike Howard '13, left, was selected as the tournament's most valuable player. (Photo: Courtesy Richard Lopacki)

Princeton rugby posted a perfect record on its home turf at the West Windsor Fields March 31. The men’s team shut out William Paterson University 33-0 in the New Jersey state championship game, retaining the Rickerson Cup, while the women’s team swept its three contests to win the New Jersey Women’s Invitational.

But the rugby program’s most impressive work may have taken place off the field. For the third consecutive year, the tournaments were devoted to raising money for pancreatic cancer research and treatment, and this year’s donations pushed the cumulative fundraising total to more than $100,000.

That milestone was particularly meaningful for Stu Rickerson ’71, a rugby alumnus who is the namesake of the men’s championship trophy. Rickerson was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer seven years ago and said that he’s lucky to be alive (five-year survival rates are in the single digits).

Team leaders first pitched the fundraising idea three years ago, and Rickerson said, “It was terrifically gratifying – it was meaningful and it was completely student-initiated.”

Pancreatic cancer had also touched the life of Elaine Bigelow ’10, captain of the women’s team at the time, who lost her father, Doug, to disease when she was a senior in high school. Bigelow now serves as the tournament director.

Continue reading A win-win for rugby teams and cancer research…

April 4, 2012

Tiger of the Week: H. Bartow Farr III '66

H. Bartow Farr III '66 (Photo: Courtesy Oyez.org)

For Princetonians in Washington, it was a pretty good week. Martin Gruenberg ’75, President Barack Obama’s pick to head the FDIC, finally removed the word “interim” from his job title after the Senate approved his nomination, and two alumni received nominations for new federal posts – Patricia Falcone ’74 in the Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Douglas Griffiths *00 as ambassador to Mozambique.

But the top headliner was Washington-based lawyer H. Bartow Farr III ’66, who played a key role in the closely watched Supreme Court case examining Obama’s 2010 health care law.

Farr’s charge was to argue in favor of upholding the remaining provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, even if the Supreme Court strikes down the disputed health care mandate. The day after Farr’s argument on this “severability” question, a New York Times editorial found his stance to be a compelling one:

“As Mr. Farr made clear, the fate of the mandate should not determine the survival of the other elements of the law — like prohibiting insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charging them higher fees — which can operate without the mandate.”

D.C.-area colleague Joseph Onek told The National Law Journal that Farr is a “lawyer’s lawyer, not a political lawyer or even a Washington lawyer,” adding that Farr was determined not to be swayed by political agendas as he prepared his arguments. Farr has argued 30 cases in the Supreme Court, according to the Law Journal article.

Audio: Listen to an excerpt of Farr’s exchange with the Supreme Court justices, published by The Washington Post.

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May 8, 2012

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