News From Fort Schuyler

March 29, 2002 - Volume 6, No. 12

POLITICS AS USUAL - A story about Albany-style political favoritism linked to architectural contracts at Fort Schuyler hit the headlines today. According to the article in the March 29 NY Times, James Copeland, a neighbor of New York's Governor, George Pataki, is the beneficiary. "...most of the rules violations occurred not at the campus level, but at the university system's Albany headquarters, which is run by Pataki appointees. And the first two contracts Mr. Copeland won were for work ... at the university's Maritime College in the Bronx." [No information yet on which Fort Schuyler projects are connected with these allegations.]

MID-COURSE ADJUSTMENT - An update from CERISE BUNCH, Class of 1991, who worked in the Luce Library and aboard the EMPIRE STATE V as a Cadet Ship's Librarian throughout her years at Fort Schuyler. Her First Class cruise was most memorable: "..on SST 90 (a.k.a. Summer Dry Dock 90, since it was mostly spent in dry dock in Genoa, Italy).....I was initially disappointed that I couldn't see England again, it was the best summer I had at Maritime. Italy was so beautiful, the people so friendly and food excellent. ...Father Moynihan and a body of cadets had an audience with the Pope. We took a beautiful picture with him.."

"I'm in a sort of mini-break from full time work right now and really enjoying it. I have been working almost non-stop since graduating. I worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a few years as a 2nd Asst Engineer. I then worked on land for what is now Synagro at their fertilizer manufacturing facility in NYC. After a little over ten years of working shift work and operating machinery I've had enough and moved down to Georgia this past November. Right now I'm planning to go into business with a relative. I plan to be self-employed at least for the short-term and preferably until my retirement. I always wanted to have a white-collar job in the engineering and technology fields. But it seems to me no easier to get these jobs then when I graduated from Maritime. And it seems most companies want recent college grads with high GPAs, interns or lots of years of experience. So since I can't cater to their list of qualifications, I just have to create my own job. :)"

"I'm happy to have been able to continue traveling abroad after Maritime. I've gone to Egypt, Greece, China, and Australia. More locally, I've been back to some additional islands in the Caribbean. I plan to always some how find a way to travel and learn! Even if it's in my own backyard. Can you believe after all these years in NYC, I never fully took advantage of all it culturally had to offer? My last few years there I began to but it was just the tip of the iceberg."

CHEMISTRY CLASS FORMULA - This from one of Fred Hess's many admirers, ROBERT SCHWIEGER, Class of 1964: "Great guy even though he had a strange marking system. On one report he gave me a 'B' because he said I wasn't doing 'A' wo rk even though I had an 'A' average. He told me I was just coasting, should be doing more because I had a strong background in chemistry from my high school days, was very interested in the subject, etc., etc. Like trying to tell a CEO to work harder even though he's maxed out on his incentive. Oh, well, I did work a bit harder and got an 'A' on the final report. Guess that was the Hess 'inventive' plan." [And more effective than the creative accounting used for some CEO incentives.]

ACCREDITATION VISIT - Additional information on the recent Middle States visit from DR. JOSEPH HOFMANN, Class of 1975, Associate Provost and Dean of Freshman Programs and State University Distinguished Teaching Professor: "The chair of the visiting team, Dr. William Miller, Academic Dean and Provost at the US Naval Academy, made special mention of the Self-Study Report as being a 'breath of fresh air' because of its candor in reporting both the strengths and weaknesses of the College. The general consensus is that it was a very good visit." Joe anticipates that the Middle States Association will re-accredit the Maritime College for the standard 10-year period at its late Spring meeting.

FAST ACTION ON THE LEGAL FRONT - Last Sunday, when a maritime lawyer from Fort Schuyler, JAMES MALONEY, Class of 1980, logged onto the website of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, he found that not only was 'Admiralty' misspelled in the 'Practice Area', but also that SUNY Maritime was missing from the website's selectable list of colleges. Jim e-mailed the association, noting that "Many New York attorneys I know are graduates of that institution. As Daniel Webster said in the Dartmouth College case, 'It's a small school, but there are those who love it.'" The corrections were made within 24 hours by ABCNY - almost as fast as the response time of Alumni Association webmaster, JOE TARTAGLIA, Class of 1976. (And wasn't that a great legal citation that Jim used in his complaint !)

DOT DASH . . . - Morse Code ceased to be the international code for maritime distress on 01 January 1998 (see NFFS 2:7) but it lives on in various guises. Under the heading, "Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve", a mail order catalog now sells a bracelet with 'Love' spelled out in Morse Code. (www.IsabellaCatalog.com)