Rocky Mountain Princeton Club |
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Note: Addresses, phone numbers and email addresses are available at TigerNet.  SEPTEMBER 1999 Volume 9, Number 1 NOVEMBER 1999 Volume 9, Number 2 FEBRUARY 2000 Volume 9, Number 3 JULY 2000 Volume 9, Number 4 SEPTEMBER 2000 Volume 10, Number 1 SEPTEMBER 1999 Volume 9, Number 1President Shapiro to Address Rocky Mountain AlumniTHURSDAY, NOV. 4We are delighted to announce that Princeton University President Harold Shapiro will address the RMPC during a trip to Denver this fall. His remarks will focus on his vision for the University in the twenty-first century and the important ways in which education at Princeton is evolving to meet the realities of the new century, including teaching initiatives, faculty hires, building projects, etc. He will also devote a significant portion of his time to fielding your questions, so come prepared. President Shapiro has written, "In this past century, our spectacular progress in scientific understanding was not accompanied by a sufficiently improved understanding of what is just, what is fair and what is good. We showed more inventiveness in developing new technologies than in finding ways to live together more peacefully, to share our resources more equitably, or to define moral and ethical values that would enable thoughtful people of all cultures to treat each other with understanding and dignity…. My hope for the new century is that Princeton - and Princetonians everywhere - will contribute not only to the further discovery of new knowledge and understanding, but to the development of new ideas and approaches that will allow us, in this nation and in all nations, to build better communities and a more humane society, and to meet human needs and aspirations we all share." Anyone who has heard President Shapiro speak knows what a wonderful opportunity this is. It has been several years since he last visited Denver, so please mark your calendars and rsvp as soon as possible on the tear-off strip attached to this newsletter. The University Club will serve hearty hors d'oeuvres (make it your dinner) and host a cash bar from 6:30 p.m. President Shapiro will begin his remarks around 7:00 p.m. The cost will be $13.00 per person. There is ample free parking adjacent to the Club. Enter the AMPCO parking lot from 16th St. at Sherman and park as close as possible to the University Club at the far end of the lot. The Club has an arrangement with AMPCO allowing overflow parking in AMPCO spaces for evening guests, free of charge. Successful Launch of "Princeton in Denver Schools": Fall Program Begins SoonTHURSDAY, SEPT. 23 Thanks to the hard work of nine volunteer tutors last Spring, and especially of organizers Irene Perez Law '92 and Ned Clayton '90, RMPC's new community service program (launched in conjunction with the Denver Public Schools) was a great success. Our thanks to the Princetonians who provided tutoring and mentoring to at-risk youth in Bradley Elementary School: Ned Clayton '90, Rich Feit '94, Leigh Goldberg '96, Irene Perez Law '92, and Grady Lee '93. Last year's volunteers found this outreach program genuinely rewarding. One stated, "It's a great opportunity to make a small but important contribution to the local community," and another said, "It's a wonderful way to get involved in my new community, while meeting people from my former university." The response from the Bradley Elementary students was so enthusiastic that the RMPC and Denver Public Schools would like to expand the program this year. Therefore, the Club is looking for additional volunteers to serve either as primary or substitute tutors. Volunteers commit to attending a study hall at the school to tutor/mentor an assigned student for an hour and a half every Thursday evening, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. The program starts Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999 and runs through the end of the semester. Substitutes cover for tutors who cannot make a particular session. The School provides a liaison teacher to assist volunteers with study materials or anything else they may need. Family and friends of alumni are warmly encouraged to join fully in the program. A kick-off pizza party has been scheduled in Room 119 at the school for students, parents, tutors and liaison teachers on September 23, 1999. Bradley Elementary is located at 3051 S. Elm Street, near I-25 and Hampden Ave. The principal, a Harvard grad, is very excited about expanding the program this year. If you have wanted to become more involved in your community, this is a wonderful way to do so. Please contact Irene Law or Ned Clayton with any questions. You can also find out more over free hors d'oeuvres at the young alumni happy hour on September 22, 1999. Irene, Ned and possibly other tutors from last year will be present to talk with you about their experience with the program. Annual Dues Request For 1999-2000Your organization remained financially sound during the past fiscal year thanks to the continued support of its many members in Colorado and Wyoming. Your tax-deductible dues cover the cost of mailings, support our Schools Committee's work in attracting promising students to Princeton, underwrite community service projects such as Princeton in Denver Schools, and allow visiting faculty and current undergrads to be our guests at functions. Also, your earmarked gifts, along with a recent club surplus, were forwarded to the RMPC Scholarship Fund, established in 1938 and administered by the University, which awards a need-based stipend each year to an undergraduate from our region. Currently, the endowment is nearing a level that will support a second student. Please return your dues check along with the tear-off strip. We thank you for your support, as your participation is vital to the success of the Club. We are especially grateful to those alumni who contribute generously at the level of Sustaining and Patron memberships. Topics for 1999-2000 Seminar ProgramWe are once again in the planning stages of our annual seminar program. This program typically
consists of a Friday evening reception with a lecture by a Princeton faculty member, provided
to the Club courtesy of the University. For those with greater time or interest, the program
continues on Saturday morning with more in-depth presentations and discussions, finishing with
a post-lunch wrap-up. Some ideas for this year's seminar are: Please assist us in choosing a topic by numbering your top three choices from the above, on the tear-off strip provided. Please also feel free to suggest a topic and/or faculty member of interest to you in the lines provided on the tear-off sheet. Schools Committee Report: Class of 2003Schools Committee Chairmen Don Kirkpatrick '71 and Cam Walker '72 report that Colorado and
Wyoming will be sending 18 Freshman to Princeton this year, a near record, including: Despite an increase of 23% in Colorado applicants last year, Don and his crew of volunteers were able to interview a record 75+% of the 141 applicants. Thanks again to all of you for your hard work and first-rate results. Don expects this all-time high level of interest in Princeton to continue this year, so anyone interested in joining the team is heartily encouraged to contact him or, for Wyoming, Cam Walker. Young Alumni Happy HourWEDNESDAY, SEPT. 22 Stop by for free hors d'oeuvres. Find out who else is in Denver from Princeton, and what they are doing. Meet some of the Club officers and give us your ideas about upcoming events you think would make fun young alumni outings. Or, find out more about Princeton in Denver Schools since the organizers will be present. Hope to see you there. The restaurant is located behind Houlihan's in the Tamarac Square Mall on the north side of Hampden. Seventy Summit Mount Princeton!Outdoor Action chief Rick Curtis '79 reports that 70 out of the 108 participants in the July 16th assault on Mount Princeton successfully reached their objective, an astounding number given that almost all came from sea level and at least half climbed all the way from the parking lot at the base of the mountain. It should be noted also that this was accomplished without injury or incident to any alum, minor altitude effects aside. Photos of the climb are said to be available on the web at http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/. Our special thanks, as always, to Anne Yates '73, who organized the RMPC support efforts, including an excellent BBQ for all participants at the Mount Princeton Hot Springs following the climb. Rick Curtis also acknowledged the help of RMPC volunteers who assisted in processing climbers and in safely escorting them up to and down from the summit. Outdoor Action is looking forward to its next climb of Mount Princeton, scheduled for 2001. In the meantime, interested RMPC members may want to consider assisting the Forest Service with trail maintenance on the mountain. 1999 Holiday Luncheon DateTUESDAY, DEC. 21 Mark your calendars now for this year's Holiday luncheon. This consistently well-attended event is a favorite with alumni because it is a good way to keep in touch with life at Princeton. Alumni have the opportunity to meet current undergrads over lunch and hear their informal presentations to the group about undergraduate activities at Princeton. Ask Not What Your Club Can Do For You…If you know how to build a web page, or want to learn, RMPC needs you! We need a secure web page where alumni can contact RMPC alumni, post notices of events, etc. The University can provide all the necessary technical guidance, as well as numerous sample pages from other alumni clubs. The Club also needs a Career Counseling Committee Chairperson, as well as someone to develop young alumni activities. If you have an interest in working on any of these projects, or any others you care to dream up, please feel free to contact your President, who would be grateful to hear from you, at cpenny@earthnet.net.
NOVEMBER 1999 Volume 9, Number 2
ContentsPresident Shapiro Addresses Rocky Mountain Alumni President Shapiro Addresses Rocky Mountain AlumniSpeaking to just over a hundred alumni at the University Club November 4th, President Shapiro stated that his top priority is to retain Princeton's position as the country's leading undergraduate institution. His chief worry for Princeton is complacency. The President believes that to continue delivering the best education in the country, Princeton can not rely solely on what has brought it success to date. With its reputation for excellence and its extraordinary resources, Princeton, of all educational institutions, must not be afraid to innovate.New technologies, for instance, are changing the way information is stored and delivered. Shapiro believes that Princeton must explore how this can enhance learning. Thus, Princeton is experimenting with "bookless" cyber libraries in two new academic buildings. On the teaching front, President Shapiro has instituted an excellence in teaching fund that encourages faculty to try new teaching methods by awarding additional funding to the best new teaching proposals annually. President Shapiro also reported that the ratio of faculty to students at the University has dropped to one to seven overall, and has almost reached the Trustees' goal of less than one to ten in each course. The longstanding policy that all faculty must teach remains in force. Currently, the Board of Trustees is reviewing whether to increase the overall size of the student body. A decision is likely to be made within the year. Any increase would not exceed 10% and would only take effect over a 5-10 year period. At a luncheon earlier in the day, President Shapiro also stated that Princeton has achieved greater diversity among its students thanks to the success of annual giving. For the first time ever, acceptance rates for lower income applicants equals that for middle and upper income applicants because of the dramatic increase in the availability of grant aid. Lower income applicants traditionally have not viewed loans as a long-term investment the way middle and upper income applicants have. National Security in the 21st CenturyWEDNESDAY, JAN. 12 In his talk, Jeff will explore the changing nature of security challenges facing the United States, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, international efforts to combat proliferation, the risk of materiel and technology falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue nations, prospects for global arms control, and the post-Cold War role and changing structure of the U.S. military. He will also discuss the implications of this for NORAD and the missile silos in northern Colorado. Jeff is an Air Force Academy graduate who received his Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton in 1991. Jeff recently retired from a 21-year career in the Air Force as an officer and pilot in the Strategic Air Command and the Air Training Command, and as a professor of political science at the Academy. In 1995, Jeff gave a similar presentation to RMPC alumni in Colorado Springs that was simply outstanding. I hope you will join us for this lecture. Holiday LuncheonTUESDAY, DEC. 21 The RMPC invites you and a guest to our annual Holiday Luncheon, a favorite event for our alumni. Current undergraduates attend as our guests and share with us details of their studies and contemporary life at Princeton. Last year more than a dozen of Colorado's best and brightest young people wove for us a rich tapestry of enthusiasm, preparation, and dedication in thesis research, class study projects, campus governance issues, athletic endeavors, and community service projects. To facilitate planning, please respond on the tear-off sheet by December 18. We look forward to seeing you there. Ski Train Mountain Outing
The only catch is we need to make payment in full by January 26 or else we lose any unpaid seats. Since the ski train normally sells out, we may not be able to regain these seats. So, please respond with your check soon, but at the latest by January 25. Don't Make Us Resort to a Pledge Drive on NPR!Paying your membership dues really does make a difference to what the Club can do, because event fees seldom cover the actual cost of our events. Your dues allow us to host current undergraduates at the Holiday Luncheon, run the Princeton in Denver Schools Program, build and maintain our web page, reserve facilities, cover speaker expenses, make event prices more affordable for young alumni, and, the biggest expense of all, print and mail newsletters announcing Club activities. The Club's fiscal year begins in July, so if you haven't written your tax-deductible dues check since then, please consider doing so now. This will be our last mailing to non-dues-paying members, as it costs us several hundred dollars more per mailing to send to the full regional list. We are genuinely appreciative of those who have already sent in dues for this year. We are especially grateful to those who contribute generously at the level of Sustaining and Patron members. Outdoor Adventure Astronomy Enters its Golden Age According to Michael, we are living in the Golden Age of Astronomy. Advances in telescopes and image detectors have enhanced our observation by improving reception fifty-fold or more in virtually all energy wavelengths. Michael will give a historical overview, with illustrations, of the Big Bang Theory and the concept of an expanding universe. He will discuss the formation of the first stars and galaxies about 13 billion years ago, how stars and galaxies are forming today, how black holes lurk at the core of many galaxies including possibly our own, recent revisions in our estimate of the age of the universe, and exciting new hints that the expansion rate of the universe may be accelerating instead of slowing. Michael stresses that he has given this presentation several times before to non-astronomy students and that it is designed for the non-scientist. He will also be available, however, for more in-depth discussions in a question and answer session following the presentation, as well as during the stargazing. So take advantage of this opportunity to hear the latest on quasars, pulsars, neutron stars, supernovae, supermassive black holes, dark matter, etc. To be informed when this talk will occur, please indicate your interest on the tear-off strip, or send an email to cpenny@earthnet.net . We will notify dues-paying members of the date in a later newsletter. Tutoring Program Doubles! - Mentors Needed for SpringThe Princeton in Denver Schools Program, which tutors and mentors at-risk public school elementary students, more than doubled in size this fall, says the program's founder Irene Perez-Law '92. RMPC participants now number 13 primary tutors and 6 substitute tutors, hailing from all quarters of the Club, including spouses, parents, friends and members of the Classes of '69 through '96. Volunteers commit to tutoring their student for at least one semester, once a week for an hour and a half on Thursday evenings at 5:30, at Bradley Elementary School in south Denver (at Yale and I-25). The students are eager for the help and our tutors find the program highly rewarding. Bradley Elementary provides a liaison teacher to assist volunteers with study materials or whatever else they may need. If you have wanted to become more involved in your community, this is a wonderful way to do so. For information about this spring's semester, please contact Rich Feit '94, at richfeit@alumni.princeton.edu . Rich will take over from Irene who is expecting her first child in December. We wish her all the best! Our thanks to the following Club members and friends for tutoring this fall: Sally Bornhijm '77; Ned Clayton '90; George Cowen '69; Brian Davis; Matt Dickerson '95; Rich Feit '94; Leigh Goldberg '96; Chris Jones; DJ Jones; Carie Larson '94; Irene Perez-Law '92; Randy Law S'92; Isabelle Penny P'85; John Porro; Andy Ritz; Kristin Ruehle; Heather Selph; Jesse Smedley '86; and Susan Turner. Web Page is Born!Well, almost… Our web trust (Anne Brenner '75, Wes Go '90, and Julie South '94) has actually built the page but is awaiting presidential action and further member input before formally launching it. The address will be http://alumni.princeton.edu/~paa061. If you would like to see and discuss the page before it is launched, Anne Brenner will have it on her laptop at the Holiday luncheon. Likely content thus far includes event information, member news, copies of our newsletters, reunion information, tigernet access, membership information and applications, comment space, address change, officer contact information, and a separate section accessing University sites. Anne Brenner has graciously volunteered to serve as our Webmaster and maintain the page. Please contact her with your thoughts, desires or anxieties about the design, content, or any other aspect of the web page. You are also welcome to take part in our final review of the page. To comment or take part in the review, contact Anne Brenner. Schools CommitteeThis is the busiest time of the year for the Schools Committee. To help out with interviewing, please contact Don Kirkpatrick at donk@drcdnvr.com, or, for Wyoming, Cam Walker at cwalker@trib.com , or meet Don at the Holiday luncheon on Dec. 21. Front Range Growth is 1999-2000 Seminar Topic
FEBRUARY 2000 Volume 9, Number 3
ContentsUnderstanding Globalization Understanding GlobalizationLUNCHEON ADDRESS.
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Lt. Col. Jeffrey A. Larsen
(ret.)*91, founder of the U.S. Air Force Institute for National Security Studies and a leading
national security expert will present an overview of our evolving national security strategy
on Wednesday, January 12, 2000, at the Denver Country Club. His talk will begin at 6:30 p.m.,
following hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar at 6:00. Currently, Jeff serves as the editor of the
official US Air Force history of the 1999 air war over Serbia and is a senior policy analyst
and national defense program manager at the Foreign Systems Research Center of Science Applications
International Corporation in Denver.
We have reserved thirty
seats at a reduced price in the front car of the ski train for a beautiful mountain train ride
and a day of snowshoeing, cross country skiing or downhill skiing, your choice. Food is available
on board through Pour La France-catered dining cars. Lift tickets are also available in advance
for $39 ($50+ at the resort). Other activities, such as snowcat tours of the mountain, are also
available. (For info. about snowshoeing call (303) 892-0961 x1732, cross country skiing call
(970) 726-8231, and anything else call (303) 296-4754, or visit 
If you want to get into the mountains this
year, to hike, snowshoe or cross country ski, contact Bill Burson '67, one of the proud founding
members of the Princeton Half-Fast Mtn Club, at 
University of Colorado
astrophysics professor J. Michael Shull *76 will give a slide show and lecture featuring spectacular
slides from the Hubble Space Telescope, and distilling in layman's terms our current understanding
of the structure, origin and evolution of the universe. There will be stargazing afterwards
at the University of Denver observatory in Observatory Park, weather permitting. His talk is
tentatively set for March.
Our thanks to the many
members who took the time to indicate their preferences for this year's seminar topic. Although
the vote was close, your first choice was Front Range Growth. The format for this topic will
be a panel discussion, drawing from the region as well as the University. When we complete selecting
the panel and chose a date, we will contact those who indicate an interest on the enclosed tear
off strip, or send email to 
Bright and early trail head departure.
Explosive population growth and low-density
sprawl are rapidly transforming Colorado, many fear into another Los Angeles. On November 7th,
you will have the opportunity to vote on an amendment to the Colorado Constitution that would
give voters throughout much of Colorado authority to approve or deny projected local development,
and would require cities and counties to prepare growth area maps and growth impact disclosures
for all voters.
The group ranged in age from 3 years on
up and included all levels of familiarity with the outdoors. As you can see above, the so-called
"hut" was actually quite comfortable. If you are interested in joining future hikes, hut trips,
or snowshoe outings, whatever your skill level, contact Bill Burson '67.
Volunteers commit to attending one study
hall per week at the school, to tutor and mentor an assigned student for an hour and a half
every Thursday evening, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Substitute tutors cover for tutors who cannot make
a particular session. The School provides a liaison teacher to assist volunteers with study
materials or anything else they may need. Of course, family and friends of alumni are encouraged
to join fully in the program.
The response from the Bradley Elementary
students continues to be enthusiastic. The principal, a Harvard grad, is committed to expanding
the program. So please, contact Rich Feit '94 to volunteer to be a primary or substitute tutor
for this Fall semester. It is a wonderful way to become involved in the community, and while
meeting the other tutors you meet.
It's up and running!…, so, save the RMPC
web site in your "favorites" list. It has links to the University web sites, updates on Club
activities, and more!