Yale62.org

Convened at 12 noon, Saybrook Room, Yale Club of New York City

Attending in Person were: White (Secretary), Garvin, Chapman, Ward, Lash, Hummel, Hedlund, Patterson, Weeden, Honneus (Treasurer), Oliver (50th Reunion Chair), Scharff, Davis, Susman, Danetz, Lipsher, Koenigsberg, Finkle, McDonald and Kane (Corresponding Secretary).

Attending by Conference call were: Wilder, Winslow, Brooks, Chambers (AYA Representative), Weil, and Litvack.

Total attendance: 26 plus Bill Boyer (Chair of YAF Agents) who was stranded in Cleveland on a cancelled flight

Following a delicious lunch, Secretary White made a welcome statement and, after a round of introductions, convened the business session .The first agenda item was the presentation of class leadership reports.

David Honneus led off with the Treasurer’s report, supported by a summary financial statement of the Class Fund for the fiscal year ending March 30, 2009. His statement showed that the Class Fund increased by $23,000 during the year, with revenue- primarily class dues- of $32,000 exceeding expenses of $9,000. The Fund closing balance increased from $51,528 to a closing balance at 3/30/09 of $74,547. The major expenses were charges by the Yale Alumni Magazine ($5564), mailing charges by AYA ($1500), www.Yale62.org web site expense ($1050), and Yale Club of NY charges for the 2008 Council meeting ($898). Noting that both revenue and expense items were of a recurring nature, and no extraordinary revenue or expense items were foreseeable, the Treasurer forecast a similar annual increase of roughly $20,000 to the Class Fund in the years ahead, which would mean the Fund approaching $130,000 for our 50th.

The Treasurer’s summary financial statement for the Fund can be viewed below:
The Treasurer noted that the dues participation rate for the current year was 37%, and that this was also the rate in the previous year. The Council discussion showed a consensus that an effort should be made to increase this percentage, and the use of an e-mail campaign was suggested; the recommendation was made that all requests for class dues be made with emphasis that class dues are for the benefit of our class , covering class expenses such as YAM costs and the web site, and reunions, and are not available to Yale for university purposes. The lack of e-mail addresses for a significant number of classmates was cited as a hindrance in this regard, and the sense of the Council was that an organized effort be made to build up the email address tally in cooperation the AYA.

Further discussion expanded on this theme with a consensus that the approach of our 50th Reunion added urgency to the need for ready access to all classmates both by mail and email.

CorSec Kane estimated that AYA had email addresses for about 600 of the 810 classmates for whom mailing addresses are on file. [Subsequent contact with AYA showed that there were 813 mailing addresses for our classmates of whom 567 provided an email address as well].

White and Kane agreed to investigate further as to the best method of collecting missing email addresses.

Kane submitted a report as Corresponding Secretary, specifically that since the 2008 Council meeting the class web site www.Yale62.org had published three issues with a fourth planned for June 2009, and that an Alumni Notes column for our Class had appeared in each of the six YAM issues published during the year July 2008-June 2009.

Kane reported that the web site, as retooled in early 2008, was receiving favorable reviews and continued to receive upgrades, such as the ability for readers to enter comments on line, and the pending addition of the entire Class of ’62 YAM Alumni Notes going back to that year (presently we have archives only since YAM went digital in the early 2000’s). A brief poll of the attending Council members showed that a few had yet to access the web site- ever – notwithstanding its 10-year+ existence, and an appropriate round of boos was directed at these miscreants.

Departing from his CorSec report script, Kane enjoyed informing the Council that he, Hedlund, and Oliver had journeyed to Albany NY to see the Yale’s men’s hockey team compete in the “Final Four” of the ECAC tournament. As far as we know, the trio were the only Class of 62 members to witness Yale’s first ever title in this event , and possibly the oldest spectators in the audience. Coming on top of Yale’s sweep of Harvard in this sport, the ECAC crown goes a long way toward medicating the sting of the last two Yale Harvard football games . Kane reported he had sent an appropriate congratulatory letter to Pres. Levin.

Al Chambers next reported as AYA Delegate, noting that his full report of each year’s annual AYA meeting is available on the class web site.

Al informed the Council of his expectation that a focus of the 2009 Fall Annual AYA Assembly would be presentation and discussion about Classes and Clubs, just as the AYA had offered new ideas the past two years on Shared Interest Groups (SIGS). This might include pursuing the idea of transforming reunions from the historic class-based structure with five year gaps spread over two weekends to a model connecting adjacent graduating classes with increased inter group activity. It seemed that 2012 could be the time that AYA would be interested in experimenting. Responding to Al’s request for a sense of the Council on this issue, there was near unanimous agreement that our 50th reunion should be held on the traditional basis, regardless of innovations that might apply to other reunion years. Al agreed to defend this position at the AYA Fall meeting if needed.

Al also pointed out that the Yale Global Day of Service, a new AYA initiative, was approaching and was expected to have a high level of participation around the country (CorSec note: Al’s prediction was borne out when the day of service was held on May 16. The AYA reported that 3500 Yale graduates and friends volunteered at 170 sites in 40 states and 12 countries, including India and Turkey. Next year’s Global Day of Service date has been set at May 15th).

Al mentioned that two classmates, David Hummel and Dan Koenigsberg, will be traveling with an AYA group in June to Japan where the various activities and objectives of the AYA will be shared with colleagues at the University of Tokyo and others. We will have a report from them for our web site.

Jim White submitted the Alumni Fund progress report on behalf of absent AF Agent Bill Boyer, who had planned to attend until his Cleveland flight was cancelled due to fog in the NY area. The report showed that 744 solicitations made to date yielded 265 donors and $161,411 in contributions against a goal for the year (June 30th) of $210,000. The participation rate was 36%, and the average gift was $609. An additional 70 donors were needed to reach the 45% or 335 classmates participation goal.

Bob Oliver reported next as chairman of the 50th reunion. Bob highlighted a number of topics relevant to reunion planning including .

- need for a class survey , as well as solicitation of input from all as to the Reunion program
- designation of discussion panels
- arranging for Whiffenpoofs presence
- setting up a scholarship fund

Bob plans to kick off the planning process with a questionnaire to be mailed to the entire class this Fall, requesting indicated attendance, and equally important classmate expectations criteria wishes regarding all aspects of the reunion.

Steve Sussman brought up the question of an appropriate class gift to Yale and suggested that our class look into identifying a special project or gift that would bear our Class name rather than simply give a dollar amount to Yale. Bob Oliver will include this topic on his long list of subjects to be discussed with appropriate AYA officials.

JimWhite concluded the meeting with a report on the status of class activities. Firmly committed is an off-year mini- reunion in New York City in the Fall of 2010. Kirk McDonald and Bo Rogers are chairing this event. Other possible mini- reunion sites, for 2011, included Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. While encouraging forward progress in arranging these additional mini- reunions, the Secretary cautioned that in light of the logistical challenges, these probably should be seen as optional rather than essential class activities leading up to the 50th.

Respectfully submitted,
Mike Kane
Corresponding Secretary
June 22, 2009

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A transcript of the weekend’s program on FOX News Channel.

Gigot: Welcome to “The Journal Editorial Report.” I’m Paul Gigot.

Well, as April 15 nears, taxpayers across the country are struggling to meet the filing deadline and wondering how much higher their taxes can possibly go. Economist Arthur Laffer is here to tell us. He’s the co-author of the book “The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy if We Let It Happen.”

Arthur, thanks for being here. Great to have you here again.

Laffer: It’s a great pleasure to be with you, Paul.

Gigot: You were one of the architects of the Reagan tax cuts of nearly 30 years ago now. But that era seems to be ending at least in terms of taxation. Are we entering a new era of much higher taxes?

Laffer: I think we really are. I mean, with the spending that this administration has done and the promises of not letting the Bush tax cuts continue, I think we’re entering a period of much higher spending–taxes.

Gigot: Well, how are they going to go? It’s now 35% top marginal income tax rate. Under Clinton it was up to 39.6%, and that’s how high President Obama says he’s willing to let it go. But in the past, as you know, they were as high as 70% before Reagan came into office, and even 90% under Roosevelt. How high are they going to go?

Laffer: That’s right. I don’t know how high they’re going to go. But I’ll bet you they’re going to go a lot, lot higher than 40%. I think they’re going to extend the payroll tax. I mean, when you look at the income tax, Paul, I mean, you really can’t collect much money from upper-income people. They know how to get around taxes. So if you want to raise revenues, you’ve got to do it in low-level, broad-based taxes. That includes the income tax, that includes the payroll tax, that includes sales taxes. So would I guess they’re going to really go after these the low-level, high-revenue-base taxes in the next four or five years.

Gigot: Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. President Obama says nobody under $250,000 is going to pay a dime of new taxes. What you’re saying, if I hear you correctly, is that that’s where the money is. You’ve got to go at it. What’s that going to do to his political popularity if he really does that?

Laffer: Well, I have no idea. The political popularity does not seem to be based on economics, at least not oonf the economics I know about.

Gigot: It’s early days. It’s still early days.

Laffer: It is early days, but he is very popular, but he has proposed the cap-and-trade, which is estimated to raise $650 billion. Now, that’s a pretty big tax.

Gigot: That’s a tax on carbon energy.

Laffer: Yes, carbon energy, but it’ll be paid by everyone, low-income people. It’s a tax like any other tax. My guess is that within the next three or four years, you’re going to see some very major high-revenue taxes, and it cannot be done at the high end because those people can get away from it.

Gigot: One thing we’re seeing is President Obama during the campaign said he would raise taxes, but he has put the income tax increases off at least until 2011, explaining that he doesn’t wan to hit a weak economy right now with a tax increase. But this is now sort of hanging over the economy. People know, investors know, Americans know that this is going to hit in 2011. What does that–what does that do in terms–what impact does that have on investors, decisions to save and so on?

Laffer: Well, investors’ decision to save and so on, it’s negative. For workers, it’s just the opposite, Paul. I mean, if you know they’re going to raise taxes next year, what do you do this year? Accelerate all the–

Gigot: Spend this year?

Laffer: Yeah, you accelerate all the income you can into the lower-taxed years. And I think a lot of people are going to try to move the income as best they can up forward. I think it will be hard for 401(k)s and other deferred-income plans.

Gigot: What are you seeing–I use to live in California, very high taxes.

Laffer: Yes, I did. I moved to Tennessee.

Gigot: California–

Laffer: No income tax in Tennessee.

Gigot: Good for you. I can’t say the same for New York, which is already going to raise taxes, substantially it said.

Laffer: Isn’t it amazing. It’s amazing.

Gigot: California has already done the same. Ten other states are talking about raising taxes significantly, in some form or another.

Laffer: Yes, they are.

Gigot: I thought the stimulus bill was supposed to prevent this by sending money back to the states. What effect economically is this going to have?

Laffer: Well, I think that raising taxes in state and local governments is going to be very detrimental. I mean, you can get a lot of people who move, like I did. I moved from California to Tennessee specifically because of taxes. Now I love it here. It’s really wonderful. But I think it’ll really reallocate people, not reallocate revenues, on the state and local taxes.

But the stimulus package, I don’t think it’s going to help the economy, Paul. You can’t bail someone out of trouble without putting someone else into trouble, and if you spend that money bailing losers out, like the auto companies and some of the other companies, those moneys come from winners, and it just hurts the economy long-run. That really the essence of what our book is all about, is how in the long run these taxes will have to rise, and it will do a lot of damage to the economy.

Gigot: But here’s what the Democrats would say, and here’s what White House economists say to me, which is, You know, you guys said the same thing in 1993, when Bill Clinton raised taxes, and look at how great the ’90s were. Taxes just aren’t that significant an impact on the economy. What’s your response to that?

Laffer: My response, No. 1, I did not say that. I mean, I voted for Bill Clinton. I thought he was a great president. I did not like his raising taxes, but the rest of his policies I think offset it amazingly. He did push Nafta through Congress, against his own party and the unions. He got rid of the retirement tests. He signed into law welfare reform. He reappointed Reagan’s Fed chairman twice. He put in–signed into law the biggest capital gains tax cut in our nation’s history. And he–he cut government spending as a share of GDP, Paul, by 3½ percentage points. So that’s better than the next four presidents combined.

Gigot: So tose policies dwarfed the tax increase of 1993?

Laffer: They did. They did. The tax increase of 1993 did hurt the economy, but on balance it was way more than offset by the other great policies that Clinton did, I thought.

Gigot: All right, now here we are. You remember the ’70s. We had a terrible economic time. Reagan came in, proposed a new economic plan, and the economy did very well. We’re sitting here facing an era of higher taxes. If you’re a low-tax person who believes in free markets, what should be the response? How–do you just propose lower taxes across the board, or do you propose a specific tax cut, like on the corporate tax rate, or maybe go the route of tax reform?

Laffer: I think we go the route of tax reform. I mean, there was a great article in The Wall Street Journal today, by the way, that went on tax reform, and it was really terrific. I think we go tax reform. We get a low-rate flat tax. I like the one that Jerry Brown did in 1992 when he ran against Clinton in the primary. You get rid of all federal taxes except for sin taxes and put two low-rate flat taxes, one on businesses–net sales or value added–and one on personal unadjusted gross income. No deductions, no exemptions. Just bang, that’s it. And you could match all federal revenues today with a tax rate of about 11.5%. That’s pretty amazing. We could really have this economy booming.

Gigot: All right. On that hopeful note, thank you very much for being here.

All right, still ahead, runaway prosecutors. The abuse of power in the Ted Stevens case isn’t an isolated incident. We’ll take a look at how widespread the misconduct is when we come back.

Art Laffer’s email is jax@laffer.com.

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Hail Classmates of  ‘62!  CorSec returns from a long winter’s nap  and submits his column for this Spring Edition of Yale62.org.

Starting with housekeeping, I am calling an end to my Pantino Girl challenge. For those who recall, this was a contest in which the winner would identify the classmate who had a date with the then-famous Pantino Girl, a young lady who decorated many a NY Times Magazine with her derriere clad in Pantino-brand slacks.  Although probably several hundred Yale undergrads of our time had erotic fantasies about her, only one was clever and bold enough to actually locate and date her, and that person was our classmate.  He told his story to a small group of us immediately after the abrupt end to his “date,” as explained below. So this contest could only have been won by two or three of us, and the class as a whole can be excused for being clueless.

But the story, if not the identity, can be revealed. Our classmate managed to find out through who knows what means (no Google then) her real name and address, and by telephone pitched her the idea of a date with a Yale man and a trip to New Haven for a big football game (Harvard or Princeton, I forget). Doubtless awed and flattered, she accepted. But then he had to venture to her home, one of the five boroughs (not Manhattan, as I recall) to close the deal, at which point he made several discoveries. First, she was only 16. Second, her parents required a 1-day excursion timeframe and that she return home immediately after the game (no Taft option). Third, viewed from the “anterior” for the first time, the young lady was not the perfect 10 suggested by the “posterior” views used in the NY Times ads.  All this explaining why, when we caught up to him shortly after the game and asked where the Pantino Girl was, we learned that she was already on the train back to Mom and Dad.

I e-mailed this individual in hopes of persuading him to tell the story better than I could, but received no reply, so I have to assume he prefers to remain anonymous. No other witnesses having come forward, no one can win this contest and it is officially and forever over.  But it’s a great story.  Now here is a new contest: which highly successful (and living) Classmate drove his car, with passengers, at least once, from Smith College to New Haven at speeds reaching 100mph?

More housekeeping: on May 9th I had the pleasure of attending the 2d annual Class Council meeting, held at the Yale Club in NYC.  The Club, by the way, is much upgraded from the 1980 days when I used it as a visiting banker from Boston. The meeting drew over 20 Classmates, from as distant as Montana (Dave Hummel) and Chicago (John Chapman), plus another six by conference call, and everyone had a good time. Jim White, as Chairman, presided, and I served as scribe for the Minutes (must read) which are published elsewhere in this Yale 62.org posting.

And finally, the idea of a “Wives and Partners” section on our website has met with thunderous silence.  The space will still be there if this worthy idea can gain a sponsor, or I am prepared to turn over this column space on an ad hoc basis whenever there is a contribution from one or more consorts.

It seems a long time since I last composed this column, and indeed it was a long time compared to past cycles of posting www.Yale62.org . With apologies to those eager for more helpings of this website, part of the reason for this long interlude is that I had an orthopedic surgical incident this winter, which may amuse some readers.  It began with sudden shoulder pain at a paddle tennis tournament, playing early morning in 5-degree weather in early December.  Doctor appointments and an MRI examination in January showed that there were many things wrong with my shoulder, this torn, that torn, and bone spurs. The Dr. said these problems were the residue of many years of athletic activity, and surgery was the only way to regain normal use of my right arm.  A 2.5 hr – allegedly successful – surgery followed on February 23. Post-op recuperation  involved, among other things, sleeping in a reclining chair for three weeks while wearing an ice machine to control pain and swelling. Sleep was fitful.  Daytimes required wearing a sling to keep the arm and shoulder out of trouble. At this writing, almost 4 months later, I am still weeks away from being able to play golf while healing goes on, and I exercise to rebuild atrophied muscles (yuk). Age does enough bad things to your body without adding this effect. Standard wisdom is that this type of surgery takes a full year to heal fully. Back to the point relative to CorSec performance:  For a long time after this kind of surgery it is painful to lift your arm above the waist (i.e., to operate a computer keyboard) but not impossible, so CorSec, not a skilled typist to begin with, took disability leave from these duties for a while. 

I gave myself a break in late March.  While I was still wearing my sling and under doctor’s orders not to drive, I drove across the Mass Turnpike to meet up with Gus Hedlund in Albany and watch the Yale men’s hockey team take the ECAC men’s hockey championship for the first time ever.  (Also sighted in the stands was Bob Oliver, a longtime Yale hockey fan and a regular at Ingalls Rink events). Making it even sweeter, Harvard lost twice to Yale this season and didn’t qualify for Albany.  Yale won the semi-final by scoring two goals in the last 2 minutes to win by one over St Lawrence, and beat Cornell in the final the next night  5-0.  Gus and I much enjoyed the entire outing, which included hearty meals at the justly-famous Albany restaurant Jack’s Oyster House, and as a bonus, Gus found a new friend at the sports bar where we hung out after the finals, but I will let him tell that story another time.  

 Lifestyle trivia:  I bought an Apple I-touch, but am not competent with it yet. I don’t Tweet or Text. I am not on Facebook and don’t plan on it. How about you?  Requesting all who are on Facebook/or Twitter to notify us, by comment on this site or email to me.

Political Journal:  still happy and hopeful to be in a new world in which our Executive Branch is (mostly) in the hands of smart, dedicated, and competent people, the way I recall we thought of it last in the early 1960’s.  We all know that this administration inherited a toxic brew of problems, and getting  things fixed especially those that require Congressional action will not be easy or quick.  I am rooting for them & screw Rush Limbaugh!  While we are on politics, let me say a word about health care as many of you probably are following the action in Washington.  If you are like me (5 years ago before I began doing some work in the field), you find it hard to get your arms around the problem(s). And the media do not help because they don’t understand it either. I will offer a couple of observations that I think are  grounded in my experience reviewing hundreds of hospital financial statements in multiple states, plus my fly–on-the-wall knowledge from my sources in the field of health policy.

1) Follow the cash:  the “costs” of our health care system are traceable to cash flowing  from us mainly to the following:  doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and medical equipment manufacturers.  Insurance company premiums simply reflect the prices that insurance companies pay to these providers.  Insurance company overhead expenses and profits add to the total bill.  Bottom line: if you need to control costs, you need to control these cash outflows, which means less $$ for these providers, which is the hardball that is being played in our nation’s capitol.

2) Except here and there around the edges, health care is non-competitive  and “free market” theories don’t work.  Most people are not prepared to shop for doctors and hospitals, and comparative price and quality data is not  readily available. In practice, most people go to a hospital selected by their doctor, and take the drugs that are prescribed by their doctor.  Also, in many areas, insurance companies  and/or  hospitals hold virtual monopolies.  (In Maine for example, one insurer has substantially all the  market.  In eastern Massachusetts, on the other hand, we have dominant hospital market power with MassGeneral and Childrens Hospitals – health insurers have been shown to have no negotiating power and end up paying  the prices demanded by these hospitals.

3) By the way, many, many “non-profit” hospitals like Mass General and Childrens are very profitable and also control large financial reserves.  Non profit, also “not-for profit” are euphemisms actually meaning only “not subject to taxation”.

5) Insurance does not reduce costs.  When we extend insurance, in theory a good thing, we just add to the number of people who will be paying the the above-named providers the prices  prevailing  in this  non-competitive market.

6)  If the money supply is limited, either you have to add more money (higher taxes), or you reduce the amount of money going out to the providers.  If you just do the former, without doing the latter, you (we) go broke eventually.

These are just facts as I see them. They may lead to policy conclusions, but that is a topic for another time.

On to lighter matter -

Reading List:  What does a CorSec read, you may wonder (or may not wonder, but here is a list of my favorite winter reads anyway, all well worth your interest):

• Fiasco (Iraq – sustained incompetence/tragic folly by GWB civilian authorities)
• Jokes Every Man Should Know
• House of Cards  (Bear Stearns as poster child for Wall St craziness leading to 2008)
• The Last Tycoons (brilliant, dynamic, controversial guy – once called a “sleazoid” by a bank CEO – wreaks havoc on clients and employers alike)
• The Downhill Lie (golf humor)
• The Last Stand of Fox Company  (Korean war USMC heroics)
• Tried by War (Lincoln: Civil War maybe prolonged for years by sticking with insubordinate and immobile Gen. McClellan, for political reasons)
• Cod (amazing history of this Canadian/New England fishery)
• Salt (world history of)
• In My Blood (quite bizarre saga of the Sedgwick family of Stockbridge, Mass and Harvard College, and some madness, too)

Thanks to all who have sent in their news and/or opinions – www.Yale62.org runs on your contributions, so keep ‘em coming!

Yours truly,
Corresponding Secretary Mike Kane
mkane40@gmail.com

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By Charles Mills
Locust Valley, NY
May 2009

In October 2003 and on May 25, 2004 the ACLU made broad Freedom of Information Act requests for all government documents concerning the treatment of detainees in the War on Terrorism. It followed this up with a suit in the District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2005  Both the ACLU and the United States Attorney seem to have wanted this suit handled one issue at a time and the Judge seems to have done that.

I am the general counsel (”Judge Advocate” in their terms) to The American Legion in New York State.  The National Headquarters of The American Legion retained me to write an amicus curiae brief against the production and publication of certain photographs known as the Darby photographs taken of Military Policemen and Policewomen and Army Intelligence soldiers humiliating and frightening certain prisoners at the Baghdad Central Confinement Facility at Abu Ghraib.  These were part of the same set of photographs as those already leaked that showed such things as an American female soldier in a T-shirt leading an Arab prisoner on a leash.  My position is that we should not release things like this until the day we withdraw all our combat troops and thereby avoid stirring up hostility toward them.

It quickly became apparent to me that the United States Attorney was not making the strongest arguments available.  The only arguments being made by the government was that the photographs might invade privacy and were an exception to the Freedom of Information Act covering materials gathered in a criminal investigation whose release might severely endanger life or physical safety.  The ACLU argued that this exception applied only to danger to law enforcement personnel.  The government never argued that the MP Brigade in Baghdad was law enforcement personnel, and indeed refused to make this argument on oral argument when the Judge asked them about it.

The government also never argued that the photographs were not covered because at the time the Freedom of Information Act request was made they were in Iraq being used to prepare for courts martial.  This was a critical argument because it attacked the very subject matter jurisdiction of the court to order the photographs produced.

The situation appeared to be permeated with the possibility that Military Police are being made scapegoats to protect intelligence agents.  In 2004, all the military personnel in the photographs were tried by courts martial and sentenced to extraordinarily harsh terms of imprisonment.  They were also harshly denounced by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to the Commanding General of the Military Police Brigade, she had an argument with the Commanding General of the Military Intelligence Brigade about using Military Police to soften up prisoners for interrogation which she opposed.  Both were female Brigadier Generals.  The MP one was retired as a colonel.  The MI one was promoted to Major General.

In my brief in the District Court I made the arguments the United States Attorney had inexplicably failed to make.  The Department of Justice let it be known that it was unhappy with me but some Department of the Army lawyers complimented me privately on my brief. 

The Judge ruled in favor of disclosure of the photographs.  He mentioned each of my arguments in footnotes, in each case saying he was not considering them because the government had not raised them.  This is clearly reversible error.  It is settled beyond any doubt that a judge should consider suggestions that he lacks subject matter jurisdiction from any source.

The government appealed and I wrote and filed a brief in the US Court of Appeals. Before the appeal could be argued the rest of the photographs appeared on the internet and the United States Attorney withdrew the appeal.  It is hard to conceive of any way the photographs got out other than a leak in the US Attorney’s office or the Department of Justice.  I was told that the Viet Nam veterans who hold the key positions in the National Headquarters of The American Legion felt like they were “back in Viet Nam” – betrayed by Washington.  I do not think that the leak was the work of just one person.

That ended my direct involvement in the case but I continued to receive hundreds of  electronic notices from the Court as the case dragged on for four more years.

Recently the issue came up in the case of the three Department of Justice memoranda  known as the torture memos.  These were 2002 and 2005 Top Secret (in two cases with further restriction) internal Department of Justice memoranda concerning the legality of certain interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. These memoranda reached the conclusion that the techniques, including waterboarding, were not torture as defined in the United States Code.  On the other hand, the average person who has never heard of the United States Code usually thinks waterboarding is torture.  It may also be torture under international law.  The Department of Justice would have naturally had a special interest in preventing the disclosure of memoranda by its people justifying waterboarding. There was, certainly, a good reason not to disclose these memoranda because their disclosure tells terrorists exactly what to expect if captured, but it also seems that the Department of Justice had its own motives.

These memoranda were released as part of the case but only after the Department of Justice could blame them on the prior administration.

In my opinion protecting soldiers is more important than protecting government lawyers.  That dilemma would not have come up if we had just kept the lid on everything until combat was over and then released it.  If low ranking MPs were made scapegoats to protect government lawyers it was despicable.

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A medley of news flashes from/about Classmates

First, this from Jim White, Class Secretary: “Be sure to check out Mike Kane’s report, elsewhere in this web posting, of the second Y62 Class Council meeting on May 9th. It was a productive and fun meeting. The next council meeting will be held same time (early May) next year. If you’re reading this you’re already interested in class activities. Council members want me to urge you to spread the word to your roommates and friends: read the website, get active and involved, make a contribution to the Yale Alumni Fund, and especially pay class dues, which go directly to our class treasury and therefore will support what is sure to be a terrific celebration, our 50th Reunion. If you haven’t already seen the first drawings of Yale’s two new residential colleges, they’re available on the Yale Daily News web site, www.yaledailynews.com . They will look familiar to you. Finally, I’ve been in DC for a lot of changes in administration. This one is different, and special: it’s generally a younger, more hip, more diverse group that -including the President and his family- is out and about in the city. Washington is now the place to be!”

Many of us will remember our dynamic deanery duo of Bob Porter and Sam Chauncey (see photo below), who each occupied expansive suites in Davenport college. Although Sam was my assigned Asst Dean and a very  able counselor,  I recall that Bob in particular was noted for his hospitality to undergraduates, always ready with a beer and cheese tray and a hearty welcome when one showed up , uninvited, at his door.  Thanks to Tom Luckey, who shared a phone number,  I recently had  the good luck to catch  “Uncle Ro” by telephone at his home of many years in Tucson, Arizona.  Bob, after an initial cautious moment as he tried to recall who I was, after some 40 years of silence,  informed me that he was 86  and greatly enjoying life in the southwest, where his main activity is serving as a guide for the National Forest Service.  He waxed  eloquent on the subject of the many local ecosystems  that exist within his guide turf in the Santa Catalina mountains outside of Tucson, with peaks ranging up to 9,000 ft above sea level, and was successful in psyching me up  for a visit.  I am sure he would like to hear from other classmates who share the happy memories I have of his quaint ways and generous disposition.

At Yale graduation ceremonies held on May 25th, classmate and artist Richard Serra joined Hillary Clinton and eight others who received honorary degrees. Google should fill in the art-challenged among us on Richard’s many artistic achievements, but needless to say if he is in Hillary’s league they are impressive.

(Rev.) Rod Quainton continues to do the Lord’s work in suburban Detroit.  An email  from him appeared back in January that should have made it into YAM if CorSec were not so disorganized.  With apologies to Rod, here is his news in his own words:

“I am still gainfully employed as Senior Associate Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, MI. Needless to say we are all feeling the economic crunch, frozen salaries, cut benefits, yes, even in the church. In response I am organizing an Economic Outlook Summit for March 12.  When not planning a retreat in New Mexico and a mission trip to Zambia this summer, I am launching a new on-line ministry for the unemployed, the underemployed or just plain mis-employed. It can be accessed at www.fumcbirmingham.org/crossroadscareer.  The access code for a Career explorer is fumc2008. Great stuff on this website so pass it along to your children/grandchildren, it’s not just for Michiganians.  I am happy to report that all my kids are still employed: Jennifer at the FoodNetwork in NYC, Andrew with the Museum of the North in Fairbanks, AK and Sarah with ARUP in Los Angeles and my son-in-law with MySpace in LA. My step son Drew continues at DePaul in Chicago so we are empty nesters.”

Rod sent an update recently that he is off with four others on a  two-week mission to South Africa and Zambia.   We hope he will write to  fill us in on this voyage  for future posting on Yale62.org.

George Snider responded to CorSec’s request for train photos (see YAM notes for the details): “Per your request in the YAM, attached are four photos of our excursion rail line, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad – which operates over 30 pieces of rolling stock (including 24 cars and eight diesel engines) along 51 miles of track, about half of those miles through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park between Cleveland and Akron. Last year, over 152,000 riders boarded our various excursion and special-event trains. We use ‘vintage’ equipment from the 1950s and 1960s (as opposed to the older ‘antique’ cars found on many excursion railroads).”

“The first shot, taken about 18 months ago, shows me inside the St. Lucie Sound, a private observation car that formerly belonged to the president of the Florida East Coast Railroad (which Henry Flagler created to take patrons to his resort hotels in Palm Beach and Boca Raton).  The car is decorated for the Christmas holidays.”

“ This is me beside one of our diesel engines at the railroad’s Fitzwater Yard and Maintenance Facility:”

“The third is our iconic shot of the train along the Cuyahoga River, just south of the Rt. 82 bridge at Brecksville, Ohio.”

“The last is another shot of the train (and bridge) at Brecksville station.”

“As a follow-up to the previous pix, this is an interesting shot of a steam engine we borrow each fall for a special weekend event in the national Park.  It draws thousands of riders and onlookers. You will note the rather impressive carbon footprint, which is a major reason why we don’t own steam engines. Also, the engine requires a fresh load of coal about every 15 miles.”

 Finally, says George, “Here I am with wife Nora and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson at the Railroad’s annual All Aboard Ball, held this past May at our Fitzwater Yard and Maintenance Facility.”

From Chap Barnes: “Just finished (as a collaborative effort) a modest new book on the architectural history of Watch Hill, Rhode Island. It will be published in June by the Watch Hill Conservancy, Watch Hill’s land trust, planning and preservation organization. The book is offered as a contribution to the preservation of this special New England shoreline community, and we hope it will encourage new construction (renovation and new building) to respect the established tradition. Pre-publication flyer attached, I trust.”

The flyer he refers to had this text and some pictures that unfortunately didn’t make it through CorSec’s primitive systems.  Those interested should call the number below for full details.

THE WATCH HILL CONSERVANCY
222 Watch Hill Road
Westerly, Rhode Island 02891
Tel: 401 348-6450 Fax: 401 348-6541
thewatchhillconservancy@yahoo.com

“Watch Hill Style: The goal of this modest primer on Watch Hill’s historic architectural style is to provide a guide for those considering new construction or preservation, to assist in understanding, appreciating, and respecting the colony’s architectural heritage and character.”

From Norm Jackson, a cheery newsblast , also arriving just days too late for the January edition of www.Yale62.org:

“Well, it’s probably been about a year since I logged in, and a lot has happened!

Margo Daly, my ‘ladyfriend of Australian – and Irish and English! – citizenship’ in the last episode did indeed arrive in May of last year in Paris, and after getting her out of the clouds (which took a week!) we did toddle off to Ireland together.

We went to Dublin to visit her son & his family, who were packing for Tortola (where they are now) and then to the Beara Peninsula to visit Dzogchen Beara, where Margo used to work, at one of Rigpa’s retreat and spiritual care centres.

Her son David and I quickly became great drinking buddies, and added to Guiness’ profits for last year, I’m sure.

Mid-June I went back to Lerab Ling for 6 weeks, to receive some of the important teachings of our tradition – a fine way to treat a ladyfriend visiting Europe, eh?!

We got back together for 2 weeks at the beginning of August and decided this ‘being apart’ stuff was a drag: she promptly flew back to Oz!  But only for 3 months, to wrap up her affairs, and since the beginning of November, she’s back in Paris.

To make a long story short, we’re getting married on February 14 here in Paris, and her son is coming from Tortola to participate in the ceremony as a ‘witness’.

And – oh, my gaaawd, I thought I’d never do it! – we’re on Facebook!  Whatta hoot! (Perfectly useless, except as a distraction from practice, but…)

When I think about it, getting married at the ripe old age of 67 seems a bit strange, but we feel like we’ve been married already for at least 30 years, if not for 30 lifetimes… Besides, she’s a geriatric nurse! :Happy New Year to all… Norm”

Phil Proctor, as some of you know, is based in LA where he is very active as a “voice” in commercials, video games, and perhaps other things, in addition to performing live acting gigs in legitimate theatre.  Some of us are fortunate to be on the distribution list for Phil Proctor’s “Planet Proctor” e-blasts, composed mostly of humor, but for those who are not in touch with Phil and especially for the theatrical types, here is a recent update from Phil on the Left Coast:

My daughter, Kristin, gave birth to my first grandson, Bowen Campbell, late last year.  His dad, Geoff, is the oldest son of Gordon Campbell, the recently re-elected Premier of British Columbia in Canada.  Kristin and Geoff (and little Bowen, named after their relative who founded the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) all went up to Vancouver to help Gordon reach the under-35 demographic, and it obviously worked.  I’m proud and happy for them all.

At the same time, I and the other 3 original members  of the 42-year-old nationally honored Firesign Theatre comedy troupe which includes Peter Bergman ‘61, appeared STILL LIVE on stage in our new show “Forward Into the Past” at the newly renovated 80-year-old Golden State Theatre in Monterey, California to a nearly sold-out house.  We were also promoting our latest release on Shout!Reprise Records of “Danger in a Box,” a 4-CD collection of our classic Nick Danger adventures.

Encouraged by the enthusiastic reception in these hard times, we intend to tour some more this year and next and are seeking venues.  Is it time for a return to New Haven??? We started in the ’60s and we’re now in our 60s, so maybe the timing is right!

Finally, I and my wife Melinda, are celebrating 17 years of wedded blitz and enjoying our lives here in Beverly Hills adjacent, where we’re still both active on stage and off-screen as I still do lots of voiceovers.

And here’s a thought for you all from the website of Planet Proctor:

“You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live that long.” – Woody Allen

In the last www.Yale62.org posting  we alerted you to the launching of a film about Tom Luckey, focused on the work and family issues posed by his 2005 accident.  The film made its debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, in March, and showed next in Boston at an Independent Film Festival in April.  Both screenings had strong attendance and good reviews, and the Sundance Channel has acquired rights to broadcast the film this Fall.  You can check a brief preview of the film on the web at www.LuckeyTheFilm.com .

A recent feature article in The Artful Mind, a Berkshire (MA) magazine dedicated to the fine arts, celebrates the careers and remarkable medical and artistic achievements of Eli and Carolyn Newberger. As the author, Ed Bride, introduces the article: “…between them, they are a world- renowned pediatrician, a flutist, a preeminent developmental and clinical psychologist, a top-tier jazz tuba player, a painter, an essayist, two lecturers, two expert witnesses, a pianist… well, you get the idea, but to see the full text, plus view some of Carolyn’s watercolors, go to Eli’s  website: www.elinewberger.com/artfulmind.html .

Eli wants it known that classmate Fred Starr gets the credit for introducing the multi-talented couple, back when it all began.

Jonathan Ater recently visited the Boston area, after seeing a granddaughter graduate from Union College (Schenectady, NY). We couldn’t manage a meeting during his short visit, but we had a productive email exchange about the current movement toward health care reform in Oregon, in which Jonathan and his law firm Ater Wynne have played leadership roles.  Classmates will recall the feature article on this subject Jonathan wrote for this web site in 2008 (click here to read it again). The Oregon legislature subsequently passed the legislation Jonathan and others had worked towards, and it remains to be seen how their initiative will play out compared to that in Massachusetts, the other state that has acted to date in expanding health insurance coverage.

Please be sure to send your news to your Corresponding Secretary Mike Kane at mkane40@gmail.com . Thanks!

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