In This Issue
Dear Reader
The
Vision
A
Vehicle for Innovation
InterVIEW:
NANCY HARTRY
L.A.
Story
Toronto
Chapter golf tourney raises $40,000
Alumni
In Touch
Getting
a Good Start
It’s been said that, if you want to see
what the future looks like, take a glance at California today. In this
issue, our cover story looks at how University of Windsor alumni are helping
to define L.A. From the Editor of the highly influential Los Angeles Times
to a Senior Vice President at entertainment giant Disney, our alumni are
proof that “the degree that works” is working on an international scale.
University of Windsor President Ross Paul
has unveiled his strategic plan to take the university into the 21st century.
Where does he hope to position the university in 2004? Turn to page 3 to
find out.
The University of Windsor/Chrysler Canada Ltd. Automotive Research and Development Centre has won national recognition this year with two prestigious awards. But what impact will the work being done there have on you? VIEW takes a look at this unique joint venture.
The Right Honourable Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is also a contributor to this issue with a tribute written about his boyhood friend, the late Yves Landry.
In InterView, writer Lisa René-de-Cotrét profiles lawyer-turned-children’s author Nancy Hartry whose first effort, Hold On, McGinty!, has enjoyed great national success.
Finally, our first edition of VIEW was
well-received, with many positive comments from our readers. But we must
make one correction: in our section “RearView,” we incorrectly stated that
58 Assumption College students crammed into a phone booth to set a world
record. But, by 1959, the year of the feat, the name of the institution
had changed to Assumption University of Windsor which it remained until
1963, when the non-denominational University of Windsor was born.
As we enter the new millennium, the University of Windsor faces both very significant challenges and some major opportunities. How we deal with these over the next few years will say a great deal about what kind of university we have 10 years from now. Of one thing I am certain – it will be a very different university from the one we have known for the past four decades, whether by design or institutional drift.
The major purpose of this document is to ensure that we take our collective responsibility to forge that future rather than having it evolve more randomly into something less. Presidents may be too prone to using words like “watershed”, “crisis” and “turning point”, but it is hard to deny the impact of steadily declining enrolments and government cuts on the resource base of the University of Windsor. If we do not reverse the enrolment trend immediately, we will be a much smaller institution, one incapable of offering anything like the range of programmes and services we now do.
The ideal size for a revitalized University of Windsor will be about 9,000 full-time undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students, about 10% of whom will come from outside Canada, and 3,500 part-time students. It will be known as a friendly mid-sized institution which best combines accessible and student-oriented faculty with research and teaching excellence. While it legitimately aspires to a national reputation for research and scholarship, this must not be at the sacrifice of a strong student orientation and an informal atmosphere supportive of learning and experimentation.
The University will strive to attract the best students in all academic areas, but not at the expense of its commitment to accessibility to university.
The University of Windsor will be known for the quality and focus of its research culture built around the major themes of the automotive industry, the environment, health sciences and the humanities.
It will be highly competitive for national grants and awards in its selected areas of expertise but also provide a strong general support for individual researchers across the University. Building on the already impressive support of its alumni, which is among the highest in Canada on a per capita basis, the University of Windsor will increasingly develop a reputation where faculty, staff and students interact for the highest possible academic standards but in an atmosphere of warmth, support and respect that transcends the reputation of any particular programme.
The essence of this vision is that the University of Windsor must capitalize much more effectively than it has on the past on its primary opportunities in the automotive sector, the formidable environmental challenges of the Great Lakes region and in selected programme strengths in the professions, engineering, science and the arts.
There is considerable fear on campus that too strong an emphasis on job preparation and applied research will undermine the traditional values of a liberal Arts and Science institution. This report asserts that there is not necessarily any contradiction in affirming both of these perspectives and that the University can thrive at one and the same time in both.
We can no longer afford the all-too-prevalent
attitude that something is “good enough” but, in striving to be the best,
we must also not lose our essential humanity and a cli-mate of civility
and respect for differences of opinion. We will lose a great deal if the
pendulum swings too far in either direction but we also have much to gain
if we can re-alize the best advantages of the mid-sized university by
combining a quest for excellence with
a strong human touch.
I will be providing, respectively to the
Senate and the Board of Governors during November, 1998, a final Stra-tegic
Action Plan for approval. Everyone in the community has a responsibility
to help make this a better plan.
Please read it, suggest amendments, additions
and deletions and work constructively for a better University of Windsor
in the new millennium.
Now is your chance to help us make a positive difference! The President’s Plan is available in its complete form on the university website at www.uwindsor.ca/strategic.
Or, you can receive an abridged copy by contacting the university at 253.3000 Ext. 2000. Call or e-mail your comments to rpaul@uwindsor.ca.
By Dr. Ross Paul, President, University
of Windsor
You may never set foot inside the $50-million University of Windsor/Chrysler Canada Automotive Research and Development Centre on Rhodes Drive... But the work being done there might just save your life, improve the air you breathe or create a job for someone you know.
“Beauty" and “The Beast" greet visitors to the Research Centre reception area. The massive 8 litre V-10 “Beast" and the svelt 2 litre 4 cylinder “Beauty" both showcased on pedes-tals, were designed by Chrysler Canada engineers and power the Dodge Ram T-300 pick-up truck and the Dodge Neon and Stratus mid-sized cars respectively. They are tangible proof of the potential that the R&D Centre offers.
Inside the Centre, ideas bounce like heated molecules in a jar. For it is here that Chrysler engineers and University of Windsor professors and students are testing the concepts that will drive the auto industry of tomorrow.
“Our partnership is about much more than making better widgets," says John Mann, Director of the Research and Development Centre. “What we are doing here is building a better future, together."
The R&D Centre, which opened in 1996, was the brain-child of the late Chrysler Canada President Yves Landry and University of Windsor President Ron Ianni. Its goal was to bring the corporate and education sectors together in a union which would benefit both, as well as society.
Its achievements are measured not only in dollars but in the knowledge gained by the University of Windsor engineering students who learn there. Over 50 students have been involved with the centre in its first two years of operation. Ten of those were graduate students, working on a Master's or Doctoral degree.
Egidio Mosca is a fourth-year Windsor engineering student whose development of a propane-powered lawn mower has landed him national media attention, including an interview on CBC's national radio news.
Using an engine donated by Briggs and Stratton
Corp., and Chrysler propane fuel injection components along with assistance
from ARDC staff, Mosca created a propane-fuelled engine that is as powerful
as a gasoline engine but creates far less harmful emissions.
“None of this would have happened without
my exposure to the R&D centre," says Mosca. “For my final year project
at the University of Windsor, I got to work on a highly experimental development.
The centre is invaluable to students and will help Chrysler become a better
company in the long run."
Mosca plans to begin his Master's research at the Centre this fall, giving him more time to perfect the projects with which he has been involved. John Mann says that type of long-term exposure is beneficial: “This is where the cutting-edge ideas will emerge, on projects that may take a year or two or three, and where the student has ownership of the project from start to finish."
The Research and Development Centre is having a banner year, with two national awards, and the prestigious addition of two new Industrial Research Chairs - special faculty positions dedicated to a specific area of research.
The 1998 Synergy Award, from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), is being presented to representatives of the partnership at a national conference in Halifax in November.
Earlier this year, the Conference Board of Canada, Human Resources Development Canada and the Royal Bank presented Chrysler Canada and the University of Windsor with the 1997/98 National Partners in Education Award at a conference in Ottawa.
“These awards are recognition that this partnership is setting a standard for others to follow," says Mann.
Two research chairs have been announced as well. Dr. Peter Frise, who joined Windsor last year, is the Chrysler/NSERC Industrial Re-search Chair in Mechanical Design. Dr. Andrzej Sobiesiak, joined the team in August as the Chrysler/NSERC Indus-trial Research Chair in Alternate Fuels.
Both will work with graduate students on campus and at the research and development centre.
NSERC has also supported the development
of a design engineering program with details to be announced at a later
date.
In his June report outlining the future
direction of the University of Windsor, President Dr. Ross Paul said studies
and research in the automotive sector is a natural for Windsor and must
be strengthened further. John Mann could not agree more: “Industry has
to be a partner with educators so a university can produce the kind of
engineers we need to design and build our products. This builds our company
and strengthens the economy of our country. “It's a win-win situation."
oV
NANCY HARTRY
Successful lawyer Nancy Hartry LLB ’80 found a more rewarding audience than a jury when she turned her love of storytelling into a bestselling children’s book about an old man and a boat, Hold On, McGinty!
By Lisa René-de-Cotrét.
What is the story in a nutshell?
A. This is truly a Canadian book. Hold
on, McGinty! is the story of an elderly fisherman from Newfoundland who
cannot catch any more fish. He realizes he must leave and go to his family
on Vancouver Island. However, he refuses to leave his boat behind, so he
ships it via the train. It is a love story, and it extends from the Atlantic
to the Pacific.
Q. Did you base the main character on
anyone in particular?
A. McGinty is a rendering of people that
I am very close to, such as my uncle, and my grandparents. Every-thing
in the book is a part of me to some extent.
Q. Did you test the book on your own kids
as well as others?
A. My children were the first to have
responded to the story. Still, I did take it to classrooms, and it was
well received.
Q. What has the feedback been like? What
do you hope children get out of the book?
A. Well, the book came out in October
with a second printing before Christmas. I was surprised that people responded
so well. It has received a star from the Canadian Book Centre, and was
chosen by a group of librarians, teachers, and children’s booksellers.
As for the children, I hope that they will get a love of this country.
Q. Why did you become an author?
A. Believe it or not, my son who was two
at the time was having trouble sleeping, so I made up stories. I now have
two children. My husband thought they were good stories, and suggested
I start taking some writing courses. So I enrolled in a Creative Writing
for Children class at George Brown College.
Q. What similar traits would you find
between lawyers and authors?
A. There are many similarities such as
precision of language, structure and form. When creative writing, my vo-cabulary
is more expansive, especially when writing for children. You have to tell
a story in a few words, in order for their minds to digest the information
correctly. Every word has to count.
Q. How difficult is it to write for young
children, versus writing for adults?
A. Many adult writers simply cannot write
for children and vice versa. In terms of form, it is very challenging because
of the book's size. Most picture books have to be less than 1,000 words,
so it is like writing a piece of music, and with every turn of the page
you add to its rhythm.
Q. Was this your first foray into writing?
A. Yes, this is my first book. It was
a four-year process, and I had re-worked
the book at least 100 times in writers’ workshops. Getting published was
extremely difficult. The book had been to its fifth publisher, and they
kept sending it back with editors' notes. They usually don't do that, so
I knew I was on to something. Then finally Double Day Canada decided to
publish it. The book came out in October of last year.
Q. Where is the book distributed?
A. So far, the book can only be found
in Canada. Its content is specific to Canada. However, friends have sent
to others overseas—in fact all over the world. Sales have been great, which
is astounding for a first-time author. I was thrilled to see it on the
bestsellers list in January.
Q. Are there any plans to continue Hold
on, McGinty ! as a series? Are you currently working on another book? Can
you tell me anything about it?
A. That is interesting that you should
ask, because people have been requesting more information on the child
character, so I am not ruling out a sequel. Currently I have four picture
books making the rounds. I am also writing a novel geared to 15-year-olds.
This one has very strong female role modes, and is somewhat autobiographical.
Q. Would you ever consider writing literature
for adults?
A. I don’t worry too much about the market,
I just write. I am interested in both nonfiction and fiction—I think that
would be fun. However, I do plan to go back to practicing law eventually.
Q. What advice would you offer to aspiring
writers?
A. The most surprising thing is, I keep
meeting people who constantly tell me they would love to write a child's
book. So I will say what I say to them: Simply write, take courses, find
a mentor, be part of a workshop. One pen and one piece of paper is all
it takes. oV
Everything we know about the 21st century
is happening in Los Angeles already. Case in point: the focus of the coming
century will be on the Asian-Pacific Rim—81
percent of trade in the international market is already conducted from
Southern California. It communicates our values in films, television and
music—whether we like them or not. Los Angeles today is facing the problems
predicted for our future—an increasing chasm between rich and poor, higher
crime, culture clashes, worsening pollution. The promise is there as well—computers,
film, music, politics, industry, finance—southern California is the epicentre
of change with tremors and aftershocks affecting the rest of us over time.
Los Angeles is poised to rise to even greater international prominence than it enjoys today—as the potential focal point of culture, foreign trade and commerce, and technology. Over 200,000 Canadians reside there, including several hundred University of Windsor graduates—some in positions of great influence. With Windsor photographer Kevin Kavanaugh BA ‘94, I went to find them.
Monday May 4 1998 Los Angeles, CA., 4:30 p.m.
If there’s a fast lane here, we haven’t found it. Upon landing in the City of Angels on an uncharacteristically foggy, cool afternoon, our very tight schedule is sabatoged by the moving parking lots which L.A. natives call freeways. Our poor directions leads us to a suspicious neighbourhood. When we finally arrive at our hotel, I sign the registry with a still-shaking hand.
An hour later, we sit out front of our hotel awaiting Laura Robinson BFA ’80, our first interview. Despite the peaceful rustling of nearby palm trees and his resolve to quit, Kevin puffs a cigarette—the city has already claimed his nerves.
Although she is an actress who has consistently
found work in television and films,
Robinson may be best known as the inventor
of the board game ”Balderdash.“ Delayed by a commercial shoot, Robinson
finally arrives accompanied by apologies and a light rain. We head to Beverly
Hills for an appropriately ”L.A.“ cover photo. Coldwater Canyon Drive winds
its way from the commercial district of our hotel to the swank addresses
of Beverly Hills. The Jeep negotiates the hairpin curves with precision
as we take in the white palatial homes built into the hills that surround
L.A., crowned literally and figuratively by the 20,000-square foot mansion
erected by Aaron Spelling. Excess is the expected here—from the jungle-like
vegetation to the mini Statue of Liberty presiding over a front yard we
pass by.
We pass Rodeo Drive, whose famous shopkeepers include Fendi, Versaci Couturiers, Cartiers and Harry Winston Jewellers. This is where Julia Roberts walked into film history in ”Pretty Woman,“ and where elegant tanned women, slim wrists glittering with diamonds, come to wreak havoc on their chequebooks.
We decide to shoot Robinson at the landmark
Beverly Hills Hotel, playground of the rich and famous. Multi-million-dollar
deals are inked in its Polo Lounge. Not only does it maintain the expected
black stretch limousine for its VIPs, but a Rolls Royce too.
Robinson vamps outrageously with the Rolls
and chats about her career and her remarkably smooth path to Hollywood.
Upon graduating from the University of
Windsor she signed with an agent and, within one month had auditioned for
and won a part on the CBC series, ”Homefires“ (1981). She has appeared
work such as ”Switching Channels,“ ”Mikey,“ ”Cheers,“ ”Frasier,“ and ”Street
Legal.“ She will be trying out for a role on ”Ally McBeal“ in the coming
season.
Robinson knows of no one who has suffered
the Hollywood ”casting couch.“ Success in other ventures has allowed Robinson
to avoid such desperation. The surprise success of ”Balderdash“ (which
she and husband Mark Ettlinger are shopping as a potential game show) and
Ettlinger’s healthy computer business provided a cushion when necessary.
Robinson attributes her career to ”luck, timing and a love of acting.“
Living in Los Angeles has held both highs and lows for her. Robinson’s wedding was held at the home of the late Burgess Merideth—just down the road from Larry Hagman and Madonna. She got her nephew a job on ”ER“ (my ears perked up). On the downside, she lived uncomfortably close to the L.A. riots and had just signed the deal on her current home when the great quake of 1994 struck.
The interview over, Robinson leaves us with promises to return for another shoot on Thursday morning, when the weather is expected to clear.
Tuesday May 5, 7:00 a.m.
Tuesday dawns gray and soggy as a lazy
storm system drizzles on us.
We enter Highway 101 and observe that,
only in California will you find hills wrapped in plastic to keep them
from tumbling onto the freeways.
Our first interview of the day is with Michael Parks BA ’65, editor and senior vice-president of the Los Angeles Times. It is one of the most distinguished newspapers in the United States, read by 1,095,000 people daily, 1,385,000 on Sundays. The newspaper is quiet at this early hour, having put the morning paper to bed hours before. Only the ceaseless beating of the rain on the massive atrium roof breaks the silence. Suddenly, he is there in the hall with an outstretched hand, having heard our tentative footsteps. Parks looks powerful, with a stocky toughness and wrestler’s brushcut—something you’d expect of someone whose tenacity in foreign news reporting won him the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his South Africa coverage.
Parks joined The Times in 1980 as Beijing
bureau chief after a 12-year career with The Baltimore Sun. He assumed
his current position in 1997. He speaks Vietnamese, Russian, Chinese, Hebrew,
and Arabic among others, and considers each foreign assignment he took
as a PhD. His education did not include journalism, but instead, embraced
the classics and English at Windsor, after immersing himself in Latin for
two years at the University of Detroit. Dr. Charles Fantazzi, his former
professor at Windsor, says that Parks has often underscored to him the
value of that education—that he learned the development of a prose style
from the study of such writers as Cicero and Tacitus, the training in rhetoric,
the analytical reading of difficult texts, the lesson of ancient history
and politics.
Parks’ day includes little sleep. He lives
and breathes the paper—reading the regional edition at dawn and ending
with next morning’s edition delivered to his home at 10 p.m. for his persual.
”Actually, I’ve gotten my sleep up to six hours. When I was a foreign correspondent I only slept four or five hours a night.“ Of course, waking up on the wrong side of enemy lines during a war will do that to you.
Parks’ work as a foreign correspondent put him in more than a few sticky situations—he was bombed by the U.S. in North Vietnam, shelled in Pakistan by the Indian army and lived to tell about a helicopter whose engine gave out. His career began with Vietnam War and continued through the Soviet-American Détente, the Egyptian peace accord in Cairo, the ascent of Deng Xiaoping to power in China, and the successful struggle against Apartheid. He watched firsthand the collapse of the Soviet Union, and covered the peace accord between Israel and the P.L.O.
”There have been no low spots—I saw history up close in the making.“ Who impressed him the most? How can one choose between a Gorbachev, a Sadat, a Rabin, or a Mandela? And what about those whose names are not familiar—unsung heroes and heroines. The real challenge to journalists, says Parks, is ”to tell these stories as a justice, not only to those people struggling, but to the reader.“
He is modest about his accomplishments. The Pulitzer Prize, which is a certificate, sits at home in a drawer, along with his ego. Three years ago Parks left behind the foreign scene to embark on the ”grand adventure“ of helping to steer The Times through its own challenges, primarily—increasing readership while putting out a profitable paper relevant on a local, regional, national and international level.
”What we do well is to put into context the fleeting images—anticipate the news and offer pre-analysis—so that our readers understand when they hear the story on the radio or TV. We have to get there before the news.“ With such a mandate, who has time for sleep?
Tuesday May 5, 10:00 a.m.
We are in Vernon, CA, an industrial town
north of Los Angeles and home to Alcoa Cast Plate. Alcoa Cast Plate, with
projected 1998 earnings of $30- to $40-million—is part of Alcoa, the world’s
largest producer of aluminum with a current worth of $20 billion.
John Hogarth, BASc ’81, emerges from his
car at the plant’s front gate and, because the plant is undergoing a $15
million expansion to triple its output, drives us to his temporary office
in a trailer. As general manager for the past three years, he provides
active leadership—developing both his people and his product. Under Hogarth’s
stewardship, sales have doubled.
”We face several challenges at Alcoa Cast Plate,“ he says. ”There is the expectations of return on the invested capital—producing at a low cost, safely and in an environmentally responsible fashion.“
Hogarth has met his objectives while displaying a quiet authority, genuinely caring about his staff and clearly communicating the company’s priorities. A rigorous education with a solid technical foundation prepared Hogarth for the job. Starting as a metallurgist, he found he had a knack for dealing with people and for problem-solving. But what becomes quickly obvious is that his almost-palpable determination has truly driven his success. This fall, he plans to start an executive-level MBA to get ”to the next level.“
Hogarth is dedicated to his family: speaking of daughter Rana’s achievements and displaying son Yannick’s preschool artwork on his bulletin board. Through an Alcoa-sponsored initiative, Hogarth also visits inner city children to encourage them to stay in school.
He has fond memories of his Windsor years, still keeping in touch with friends from those days. Oddly enough, he lives in Windsor Hills, in west Los Angeles. It’s a city he has found to his liking, with its cosmopolitan atmosphere. ”To thrive here, you need tolerance, perserverance and diligence,“ he says. Already rich in that currency, Hogarth will travel far.
Tuesday May 5, 1:30 p.m.
The Disney Store Inc. headquarters is
located in the trendy Los Angeles business district of Glendale, where
the main drag is marked with signs indicating which luxury car dealer can
be found on each side of the boulevard.
The Disney office is living proof that
Mickey Mouse isn’t kid stuff. Corporate types bearing briefcases full of
presentations and hope, await audiences with Disney executives.
Paul Alofs, BA, BComm ’78, endured almost
30 interviews to secure the position of Vice-President, North America,
for Disney Stores Inc., including one with Disney CEO Michael Eisner. But
there was never really any doubt that Alofs would fit into a company whose
philosophy is ”creative risk-taking.“
Growth of the Disney Store Inc. has translated into 659 stores worldwide, selling everything from toys to watches and an adult clothing line. Its 1997 revenue reached $1.7 billion with $1 billion in North American sales alone.
With his shock of blonde hair, youthful face and polo shirt (with Mickey embroidered on the pocket, of course), Alofs embodies the archtypal Disney executive. He is a big kid who enjoys his ”boogie board“ and rollerblading, but who also brings a laser-precise focus to his position.
”I’ve never been afraid to take chances,“ he says. ”New ideas—not cost-cutting—builds great teams.“
Alofs came to those conclusions during his tenure as president of HMV Records. He joined HMV at age 33 in 1989 when its annual sales were stalled at $35 million. By the time he left to become president of BMG Entertainment, HMV sales had approached $250 million and its stores had grown from 30 to 80. The magic continued at BMG. Under Alofs, BMG’s market share grew by 50 percent and Alofs was voted Music Industry Executive of the Year by the Canadian Music Industry.
When Disney knocked on his door in 1997, Alofs was quick to answer. Disney, had branched far into the entertainment industry with film and television projects, in addition to its popular theme parks. It enjoyed $22 billion in sales in 1997 up from just $3 billion 10 years previously.
”Michael Eisner took us into new media,“ Alofs says. ”But it’s still the same company that grew out of Walt Disney’s creativity and business skills.“ It was a place Alofs knew he could fit in.
Disney not only pervades his work life but his home from art work to beanie babies (which he first suggested Disney sell).”I don’t think I own any shirts without Mickey, Tigger or Donald on them,“ he laughs.
Currently, he is working with the producers of the upcoming ”Tarzan“ movie. Based on preliminary discussions, Alofs production team will come up with products to accompany the movie. It will take about one year until they find their way into stores.
Are there perks in working for Disney? ”Most of all, I get to work with remarkable people in a great environment.“ And, while working for a mouse might be a problem for some people, Alofs assures us that those rumours about Mickey’s big ego are just not true.
Wednesday May 6, 7:00 a.m.
Chula Vista sits on the southern fringes
of San Diego. Windsor graduate Harjit Sethi MASc’75 first came to this
sleepy community in 1986. He joined the Rohr Space Products Division of
BF Goodrich to help solve the engineering problem which had caused the
worst catastrophe in the history of the U.S. space program—the explosion
of the Challenger Space Shuttle. Today, the Rohr division of B.F. Goodrich
is a leading supplier of nacelles (the section of an airplane which houses
the engine) for 80 percent of all commercial airliners in the world. But
during the 1980s, it was integral to putting the American space program
back on track after the Challenger tragedy, in which seven lives were lost.
Engineers would later discover that it was the ill-designed o-ring, a small rubber seal on the rocket boosters, which had failed, sealing the fate of the $2 billion dollar shuttle. The cold morning air had affected the seal, allowing rocket propellant to leak. Less than one year later, Sethi was one of 14 successful applicants to the Rohr program out of 1,000. Born in New Delhi, Sethi came to Canada in 1973 and earned his Master’s of Science at the University of Windsor. In 1986, he left his position as an industrial engineering manager at Canada Post and took a pay cut to come to San Diego.
Upon his arrival at Rohr, Sethi was assigned
to a team of 13 design and manufacturing engineers who were charged with
designing a new o-ring and the groove into which it fit.
Eighteen months later, the team watched
as the first space shuttle after Challenger rocketed upward: ”Our hearts
were pounding,“ Sethi remembers. The o-rings held—and the future of the
U.S. space program brightened immensely.
”The astronauts congratulated us. We still talk about it.“
Today, because Rohr no longer is involved in space products, Sethi is one of Rohr’s Project Managers for nacelles—he is responsible for 150 personnel and the efficient production of a particular nacelle after its major production run is finished. Currently, 10 to 15 models are in production. When manufacturing products which can cost $12 million each, efficiency is critical. Thus, Sethi has helped implement the Lean Manufacturing Process first championed by Toyota. Under the process, manufacturing is more organized with less waste in all areas. Recently, Rohr received an award from Boeing for its successful implementation of the system.
”The engine doesn’t fly the plane,“ he says, as we walk through one of several giant factories. ”The plane flies the engines.“ In fact, it is the nacelle which houses and controls each of the airplane’s three engines (one in each wing and one in the tail). The nacelle, weighing thousands of pounds, provides the thrust necessary to boost the plane off of the ground.
”Look at this,“ beckons fellow team leader
Mac Thomas. He points to some small bolts.
”These eight bolts are the only things
holding the engine to the plane,“ he says. ”The nacelle’s forward thrust
moves the plane and the plane holds onto the engine.“ Eight little bolts.
My fear of flying increased...
Wednesday May 6, 2:00 p.m.
Matt Lauer and Katie Couric smile from
the walls of NBC 7/39 (KNSD-TV). Glossy photos of the San Diego television
station’s anchors play second fiddle. Elizabeth Polachok BA ’92, MA ’94,
an NBC research analyst, strides into the room to greet us. She seems very
young to be working there—not only in network television but so far from
her home of Windsor. The answer lies in hockey.
Having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
from Windsor’s communication studies program in 1992, she earned her Masters
of Arts in Communication Studies in 1994. That same year, Polachok married
former Lancer hockey player Brad Belland. A position in the West Coast
Hockey League with the San Diego Gulls brought them out west in February
1995.
As luck would have it, the research position
came up at NBC—an ideal application for Polachok’s expertise in theory
and media analysis.
Essentially, her work supports advertising
sales at the station. The station sells air-time both locally and nationwide.
Polachok works with both local and national reps by providing them with
needed analysis of market segments.
She meets with potential purchasers of
ad-time and provides documentation to prove how the station can fulfil
their needs, and provides quarterly information for a market activity analysis.
Basically, if Polachok does her homework well, it means millions of dollars
in annual sales revenue for the station.
”We have to compete for our advertisers’ dollars with other stations,“and despite how hard or convincing her numbers may be, ”it sometimes just comes down to who is running the show with the most people watching.“ NBC, home to most of the top 10 television programs on television, offers Polachok a strong advantage. She admits to missing the city she grew up in and is eager for any tidbits. We leave—after I extract a blood vow from Polachok to get George Clooney’s autograph.
As we cruise back to Los Angeles, we come across the Border Patrol booth. Cars slow down so that the patrol officers, guns at their sides, can check cars for illegal immigrants. They look dead serious. As Kevin aims his camera at them for a quick photo, I hiss at him and knock the camera down. I certainly didn’t intend to spend my last day in California languishing in jail.
Thursday May 7, 10:00 a.m.
It’s our last chance to get a cover shot.
Laura Robinson has agreed to meet us for one last photo session at the
Beverly Hills Hotel. It is her birthday and she intends to treat herself
to a visit to the spa, including a session in which she is whipped with
a wheat stalk.
The gods have smiled on us. Kevin lucks
out with a 20-minute window of opportunity where the sky is blue with picture-perfect
white clouds. He snaps the photos and Robinson speeds off.
Our work done, we find ourselves jetting
home, our plane drifting over the Pacific before banking south east toward
Phoenix. We watch Los Angeles fade into the clouds.
From several thousand feet above, it could
be any beach community. Though it is already one of the most famous (or
infamous!) cities in the world, its greatest hour might be yet to come,
with the advent of the next millennium. And University of Windsor alumni
will be among the authors of its storied times.
Despite wretched conditions, over 130 alumni and friends turned out for the Windsor Chapter Alumni and Friends Golf Tournament, held August 5 at Roseland Golf Club in Windsor. “It just goes to show how dedicated our supporters are,” says Susan Lester, director of Alumni Affairs. “They really have a good time.”
Head Start, held last July, provided a great opportunity for news students to learn more about the University of Windsor Alumni Association. Representatives of the association staffed a booth featuring alumni information--and tickets for a raffle of a free semester’s tuition. Predictably, it was a popular Head Start destination.
Head Start, the orientation and registration program, coordinated by Student Affairs, is for all first-year students and their families. It provides information about services, courses, and regulations.
Toronto Chapter golf tourney raises $40,000
The Toronto chapter of the Alumni Association can be proud of the stupendous results of its Fourth Annual Alumni and Friends Golf Tournament. The tourney, held June 10 at the Blue Springs Golf and Country Club in Acton, ON, raised $40,000. The funds will be donated to the Dr. Ron W. Ianni Memorial Scholarship Fund.
As the cheque was presented to Mina Grossman-Ianni, it was announced that the tournament is being renamed in honour of her late husband and Yves Landry.
The Golf Committee co-chairs are: Robert
Humphrey ’70; Richard Shaban ’80 ’83; and Michael Stinson ’89 ’90. “We
were really excited by the support shown by the Golf Committee and especially,
by our alumni,” says Humphrey. “Having a fun day and raising a significant
amount of money in honour of Dr. Ianni was truly a gratifying experience
for all of us.” The 1999 Ianni-Landry University of Windsor Alumni Association
Toronto Chapter Memorial Golf Tournament will be held June 9.