News From Fort Schuyler

December 26, 1998 - Volume 2, No. 60

THE COMMODORE - The recent Alumni Bulletin profile of LEROY J. ALEXANDERSON, Class of 1930, elicited this response from IRV WILLIAMS, Class of 1947: "The Commodore had a remarkable career ! I never had the pleasure of meeting him when I sailed for U.S. Lines (1947 - 1949 and later 1950 - 1952) in the North Atlantic run, mainly on C-2s, with time on the WASHINGTON and LA GUARDIA carrying dependents to Southampton and Bremerhaven. My point here (finally) — I read the amounts of CONTINUOUS sea time that the Commodore had put in, in contrast to the time I was at sea. The contrast, to me, is remarkable. Now I finally can see why we had a union in my time. Hats off to the Commodore!"

FLAG WAVING - Several weeks ago, the Marine Personnel Manager for The Interlake Steamship Company, BRENDAN P. O’CONNOR, was waylaid in the library and importuned for a house flag to brighten up the place. The flag arrived in the mail last week and the Reading Room now sports this bright orange, black and white house flag. ( Ed. - We have wall space for more additions)

A MAN-A PLAN-A CANAL-A HANDOVER - The December 10 issue of Fairplay magazine contained several articles on Panama and the future of the canal, control of which is due to be transferred to Panama in 370 days. The article was quite upbeat about what it termed the "second big hand-over" (after Hong Kong) but an accompanying illustration showed a picture of a roofless, vacant building in the Zone that had been stripped even of its window frames by the departing U.S. tenants. Is this photo typical of the handover process or just overzealous "editorializing" on the part of Fairplay ? The article also notes that with 65 per cent of the senior pilot workforce eligible for retirement, there is discussion of privatizing the pilot service. How about a United Sandy Hook Pilots S.A.?

BTW - As a federal depository the Luce Library currently receives the "Panama Canal Spillway" newspaper. It is shelved in the Reading Room with the other current magazines and newspapers.

DOMER IMAGE - Thanks to his new HP scanner, ALPHONSE GUARDINO, Class of 1971, has produced a new, compact, 41k JPG of The Domer, circa 1970, which he scanned from a T-shirt. "I still have one of those T-shirts. They were done by my classmate Steve Cernik. It depicts a guy in a sailor suit twiddling his thumbs and whistling ‘innocently’ with the TSES IV on a rock and down by the bow, TITANIC-style, behind him. It’s a reference to the ship having ripped a bit of a hole in its bottom the summer of our Second Class cruise. My shirt survived because it’s a very small ‘Large’, and I’m a very ‘XX-Large’ guy and never wore it." If you want the image just send a note to: rcorson@sunymaritime.edu and it will be e-mailed.

MOVIE CALL - The item about the Lawrence Durrell biography in #58 reminded DAVE BROWN, Class of 1971, that: "We saw the move ‘Justine’ on my First Class cruise (I think). While the book was only one fourth of the Alexandria Quartet [Durrell’s most famous work], they tried to roll all four books into it. The movie was pretty well panned by the critics, but I liked it well enough to go read the Alexandria Quartet, and then a number of other books by Durrell in the following years."

DISTANT CELEBRITY - According to BOB SASSON, film buff and Director of the Educational Communications Center at the college, part of the new Woody Allen film, ‘Celebrity’, was filmed across the East River from the Fort. On some shots the Training Ship EMPIRE STATE VI is clearly visible in the background. So, even though the real ship is off to Caribbean climes with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, you can find the "virtual" TSES at your nabe.

LOST IN CYBERSPACE - The editor seeks to keep up with email address changes, but some slip through the cracks so issues of NFFS do not get through. Can anyone provide current email addresses for any of the following: CESAR DeWINDT 72 - ALBERT SONG 59 - CARL HAUSHEER 79 - DUKE ADAMS 80 - CLIFF MARKS 80 - PAUL DUERNBERGER 68 - FRANKE WELTE 95 - THOMAS WYNNE 90 - MARC STETTNER 90 - CARL TISKA 86 - PAUL AMRHEIN 85 - THOMAS McCLOSKEY 86 - CHARLES SADLER 75 ALAN GARLAND 69 - KEVIN FITZPATRICK 85 - LEE CATALFOMO 73? If you can help, please notify: Rcorson@sunymaritime.edu

YEAR-END RECOMMENDATIONS: Recent issues of the SUNY publication, Status Line, recently highlighted several worthwhile sites in its ‘Noticed on the Net’ section: 1.) A free multimedia encyclopedia, Funk & Wagnalls, plus Webster’s College Dictionary, can be found at http://www.funkandwagnalls.com/main.html You need to register, but it IS free; 2.) One for you ‘policy wonks’ is Policy.com (http://policy.com), described as a "...comprehensive public policy resource. It showcases leading research, opinions and events shaping public policy on dozens of issues including education, technology, and healthcare." Policy.com is non-partisan and free." (Source: Status Line, issues 124 & 125, SUNY/OCLC Network)

REMINDER - The college will continue the practice of shutting down most offices during the winter break in order to save money on heat and salaries. The Luce Library Reading Room, therefore, will be closed through Sunday, January 3.