ALUMNI NEWS


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Opening our lines of communication

A Message from the Executive Director of the Association of Emory Alumni

By Bob Carpenter

"Let's keep in touch."

How often do you say those words to friends, acquaintances, or relatives with the knowledge that the good intentions behind them will go unrealized? You might think that with the rise of e-mail and the competitive pricing of long distance rates we as a culture would be in constant contact with those whose lives we share. I would argue we are not. It seems the more surrounded we become with the technology of communication, the more compressed our time becomes, eroding the moments that used to be spent on a leisurely visit.

My own example of this erosion is with a family with whom I've been good friends for more than thirty years. They moved from Atlanta to south Florida in the fall. While in Miami on business in December, I had the chance to drop by and visit them in their new home, thus surpassing by one the number of visits I made to their home in four years in Atlanta.

Part of our mission at the Association of Emory Alumni is to help you keep in touch with friends and classmates from your time at Oxford or Emory, even as our lines of communication seem stretched to their limits. Here are some of the ways we do that:

In addition to the traditional listings in alphabetical order and by class year, the new directory will list alumni by career and city. The book will be offered two ways: on paper or CD-ROM. Please anticipate this important questionnaire and respond quickly. If you do not receive a copy soon, please call the alumni office at 404-727-6400 and we will send you one.

Travel Update­Thanks to all of you who responded with encouragement and suggestions to my column about our travel program. As we hoped, several of our trips for 1997 have sold out, including the Winter Escapade to Austria and the Alumni Campus Abroad to Tuscany.

Because of our success with the Alumni Campus Abroad program, Emory is one of a select number of universities to offer a new program to Stirling, Scotland, for nine days beginning August 27. Home base will be the Stirling Highland Hotel, with visits to Edinburgh, Loch Ness, The Trossachs, and the Pathways of Rob Roy McGregor. Many of you have mentioned Scotland as a preferred destination, and I hope you will take advantage of this economical and well-planned program. If you would like more information on this or any other trip, please call Diane Loeser at the alumni office at 404-727-4239.

I welcome your comments and suggestions. You may call me at 404-727-6400, or e-mail me at rcarpen@emory.edu.


Travel Opportunities for 1997

Alumni College of Ireland; Ennis, Ireland, nine days

May 6 to 14

This popular Alumni Campus Abroad program sold out in 1996, so we're offering it again. Whether you're simply curious or an avid enthusiast, this concept offers an opportunity to learn, explore, and relax with fellow alumni. Highlights include Bunratty Castle, the Burren Center, Coole Park, Thoor Ballylee and Galway City, and the Cliffs of Moher. $1,995.

Alumni College of Tuscany; Cortona, Italy, (SOLD OUT) nine days

May 14 to 23

A brand-new Alumni Campus Abroad program. Enjoy the tradition and magnificent beauty of Tuscany. Excursions include a walking tour of Cortona, the Tuscan countryside, Siena, Perugia and Assisi, ancient Montepulciano, and Florence. $2,195.

Alaskan Wilderness and Voyage of the Glaciers, thirteen days

July 21 to August 2

Arrive in Vancouver and board the deluxe Cunard Dynasty for a memorable cruise of the Inside Passage. Enjoy up-close views of massive Hubbard Glacier, Misty Fjord, and the Inside Passage with ports of call at Ketchikan, Wrangell, Skagway, and Juneau. This tour also features two nights in Denali National Park, where you'll view the stunning Alaskan landscape from the glass-domed rail cars of the McKinley Explorer. This unforgettable trip will conclude in Fairbanks. From $2,995.

Alumni College of Scotland; Stirling, Scotland, nine days

August 27 to September 4

Another brand-new Alumni Campus Abroad program offered through only a select number of universities this year. Spend nine days in Scotland, from your home base at the Stirling Highland Hotel, where your visit will include Edinburgh, Scottish Highland, Loch Ness, The Trossachs, and the Pathways of Rob Roy MacGregor. $2,295.

Wines of the World: Bordeaux, eleven days

October 2 to 12

This opportunity to visit well-known wine chateaux and sample their wares will entice wine enthusiasts of every level. Wine tastings and lectures highlight this journey. While in Bordeaux, you'll experience the Dordogne Valley, Sarlat, Graves, Saint Emilion, Medoc, Sauternes, Biarritz, and San Sebastian, Spain. $3,795.

For travel information, send name, address, and telephone number to: Association of Emory Alumni Travel Program, 1627 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, or call (404) 727-4239. Individual trip brochures will be mailed to interested alumni as soon as they are available, usually six months prior to departure. All pricing is per person, based on double occupancy.


William Newman '71C

A ride for your ride

When thunder-dunking NBA center Shaquille O'Neal was traded last year from the Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers, he was faced with a problem few people have-how to get his armada of expensive automobiles out to the West Coast. His solution was to contact Tampa-based Newman International Transport, which is owned by 1971 Emory College alumnus William Newman. His company has shipped pricey rides for celebs including pop star Elton John, Oscar-winning actor Nicholas Cage, and former heavyweight champion George Foreman.

Newman's company, which was founded more than a decade ago, is one of the largest shippers of exotic cars in America. A major reason for its success is the business' reputation for on-time delivery. "Unlike other trucking companies that lie through their teeth about their schedules, if Bill Newman tells you that cars are going to be picked up today or tomorrow, you can go to the bank with the information," Derek Tracey, sales manager at Rolls Royce of Beverly Hills, recently told the Tampa Tribune.

Tight schedules and a specific route are two primary differences between Newman's company and other transporters. Instead of waiting for his trucks to fill up, as is the policy with some other companies, his leave according to a strict timetable. And as opposed to delivering cars all over the United States, Newman's operation sticks to a lucrative loop from the Southeast, through Texas, and into California. "We're like an airline that goes back and forth from coast to coast," says Newman.

Newman came up with the idea for the company with his father, who had some experience shipping his extensive collection of vintage Rolls Royces. Newman International Transport now ships nearly two hundred cars a month, including many new and exotic automobiles. The pricetag of some of the vehicles can run into the seven figures, so every precaution is taken: they travel in enclosed, climate-controlled trailers, and straps are used instead of chains to protect the axles. "We'll even cover the cars inside the truck in case you have a million-dollar sports car or a very rare car," explains Newman. "So it's like traveling in your living room."

Newman International Transport also works with production companies to deliver cars for use in commercials, music videos, and films. Even though his company has hauled both the Ferrari driven in Beverly Hills Cop II and a Batmobile piloted in Batman Returns, Newman says the most noteworthy vehicle he has ever shipped was a pristine British Morgan convertible used in the fractious Michael Douglas­Kathleen Turner film, The War of the Roses.

Ironically, all the TLC that Newman's company lavished on the little import was for naught. "They got the car, and it was in perfect condition," remembers Newman. "And I asked them, When do you want us to take it back? And they said, Go see the movie. They just destroyed that car in the film."--J.D.T.


Clint Smith '82MBA

Filling a publishing niche

When Clint Smith '82MBA, former publisher of Georgia Trend magazine, began New World Communications in 1992, Atlanta lacked a comprehensive guide to the visual arts community. That void inspired Smith to launch Museums and Galleries, published bimonthly and distributed free at fine arts venues, visitors' centers, and hotels. Printed in a handy five-by-eight-inch format, each issue contains a calendar of events, feature stories, artist and gallery profiles, and maps with gallery locations. Although the magazine is geared toward tourists, according to Smith, Museums and Galleries has been "as popular with local people as it is with visitors."

Smith also publishes Antiques Atlanta and intends to develop similar arts and antiques guides for cities such as Nashville, Charlotte, and Savannah. Since its founding, New World Communications has produced some thirty arts publications. Smith's company is also a custom magazine publisher for local non-profit organizations and corporations. Its credits include Good Cents magazine for the Southern Company, Preview for Georgia Public Television, and catalogs and guides for the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta History Center, and the Arts Festival of Atlanta. "It's a service that people obviously need, and it's a business I know," Smith says.--A.O.A.


Brian L. Bowen '79Ox-'82B

Tashkent Calling

The Wall Street Journal called the first international entrepreneurial venture by Brian L. Bowen '79Ox-'82B "one of the most unusual business stories to emerge from the former Soviet Union." A certified public accountant from Perry, Bowen and five local partners formed the International Communications Group (ICG) and offered cellular telephone service in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, shortly after the former Soviet republic opened to Western investment in 1990.

"We thought, Let's go somewhere where no one else would go," Bowen told the Wall Street Journal. While major U.S. corporations were avoiding the region, Bowen and his partners studied maps and decided to court the officials of Tashkent, the fourth largest city in the former Soviet Union. It has a population of 2.2 million and a phone system dating back to the 1920s. Bowen moved to Uzbekistan to manage the venture, and by 1992 Tashkent was the third former Soviet city, following Moscow and St. Petersburg, to have cellular service.

ICG's predicted earnings for 1996 are $50 million, triple those of the previous year and forty times the group's initial investment. The company has been approached by telecommunications giants including Motorola and Northern Telecom for link-ups, use of equipment, and shares in equity. Bowen's goal, however, is to take the company public and pursue other ventures in Central Asia.--A.O.A.


Ed DeWeese '53T

A renewed faith

Twelve years ago, Ed DeWeese '53T underwent a crisis that transformed his faith and his life. A United Methodist minister who had served in the Mississippi conference, he spent thirteen months in a state prison after he was convicted of embezzlement in 1985. "I had a real experience of forgiveness with God and a [renewed] call to my ministry," DeWeese says. "I started ministering in the prison itself."

While incarcerated, DeWeese composed a manuscript of devotionals specifically for prisoners. Scheduled for publication this spring by the United Methodist Church, Prayers for Prisoners presents a series of scriptural passages, prayers, and reflections written in simple, inviting language. The books will be sold to churches or groups who will provide them to prison chaplains for free distribution.

"It deals with matters of considerable interest to people who are incarcerated," DeWeese explains. "They want God's forgiveness for what they've done. They're interested in repentance, in getting their lives back in order, in healing, self-control, visitation, financial security, deliverance from prison."

After his own release, DeWeese served as a state director for Prison Fellowship Ministries. Now semi-retired, he serves as a chaplain in a Baton Rouge hospital.

"In his own life, [DeWeese] has turned that time of pain into a time of grace," George E. Goodbout, a Roman Catholic chaplain, writes in a foreword to the book. "Through this publication, he offers insights to others in hope that they too might use this time to grow in faith."--A.O.A.


Help us find lost alumni from 1962-82

The University does not have current mailing addresses for these alumni who will be celebrating reunions this fall. If you have any information on their whereabouts, please forward their last known address and/or phone number to:

Emory University
Alumni Records Department
795 Gatewood Road
Atlanta, GA 30322

If you would like to phone in this information, call (404) 727-6400 or (404) 727-4249. You may also fax to (404) 727-4876 or e-mail at eurec@emory.edu.


Eugene Hendrix Sanders '19C-'28G turns one hundred

On February 23, more than four hundred family members and friends gathered at the Emory Conference Center Hotel to celebrate the one-hundredth birthday of Eugene Hendrix Sanders, who graduated from Emory College in 1918 and earned his master's degree from the University in 1928. Sanders was a high school science teacher in Atlanta for froty-two years, organized the State Science Fair in 1948, served two terms as the Atlanta Teachers Association, and was honored as a Star Teacher in 1962. Also active in the Decatur Lions Club, Sanders was named the Outstanding Lion of Geor