Gentlemen (and lady),

Attached is the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting and the final minutes from the last meeting.  The call-in information is on the document.  If you are dialing in, we will begin the work part of the meeting at 6:15.  If you are attending in person, dinner will be available so please reconfirm your attendance and parking needs with Olga.

In the event of inclement weather, the meeting will still be held albeit telephonically.

Allen

This e-mail will serve as the agenda for our Board meeting on Thursday, 30 September.  The meeting will be at the College at 6:30pm.  I will not be there; Richard Ventola, our 1^st VP, will run the meeting in my absence.

-  Membership drive: I will draft two letters for your consideration and e-mail them out next week.  One is to be sent to non-renewals, the other to people we have addresses for who were never members.

-  November event: Andy has been looking into a local (NY environs) venue.

-  Distinguished Alumnus:  We need to select someone and contact them to (1) make sure they can attend and (2) start publicizing the (approximately) Memorial Day presentation and meeting.

-  Alumni Association Dinner (28 October):  We usually take out an ad and sponsor a member or two from the CCVA.

In the event we do not have a quorum, no votes on the Alumni Association Dinner expenditures or the selection of the Distinguished Alumnus can be taken; we will continue those discussions via e-mail.  If you have any additions to the agenda, please contact Richard Ventola.

The board meeting will be help at 6:00 in the Admin building at the college.

Agenda items include an update on the internship/mentorship initiative, planning for the Memorial Day annual meeting, and reports from the nominating committee and bylaws committee.  If there are other agenda items we need to include, please get those to me, too

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK

ROTC AFFILIATE

Announcement of Fall Meeting and Alumni Program in Washington, DC

November 13 thru 15, 2009 [Friday evening thru Sunday morning]

The ROTC Affiliate is pleased to announce its very first event outside of the New York Metropolitan Area.  We will be hosting a special program in Washington, DC this coming November—and all members are cordially invited to participate.

Our base of operations will be the Hilton Hotel in Rockville, Maryland—adjacent to the Washington, DC Metro rail station at Twinbrook (Red Line).  The Hotel is at 1750 Rockville Pike and can be checked out at www.washingtondcrockville.hilton.com .You won’t need to bring a car to Washington to enjoy the events of the weekend, and the Hotel is easy to reach via Metro (subway) from National Airport, Union Station, and numerous other area locations.  In addition, local DC area members can easily get to the hotel by either car or Metro.  (For convenience, some locals also are planning to stay at the hotel, and all are welcome to do so.)  Please Note: It’s the Twinbrook Metro Station—not the Rockville Station (two miles further north, away from DC).

Here are the highlights of the weekend, planned by a local DC committee of five CCNY ROTC alumni for your enjoyment:

Ø  “Happy Hour” Reception at the Hilton Hotel on Friday evening

Ø  Included complete buffet breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings

Ø  Choice of three DC visitor attractions on Saturday morning—each group escorted by a member of our Planning Committee

Ø  Behind-the-Scenes Tour of the brand new Capitol Visitors Center, accompanied by fellow-ROTC Alum Alan Hantman, the former Architect of the Capitol (who supervised construction of the Visitors Center)

Ø  Gala Banquet Dinner with your friends in our private dining room back at the Hilton Hotel—including a very short business meeting to update you on ROTC Affiliate programs and plans

We have reserved a block of rooms at the Rockville Hilton for our group at an amazing price: Only $99 for a lovely and spacious room for two adults (king bed or two doubles), including a fabulous breakfast each morning in the dining room.  Indoor garage parking at the hotel is available for $12 per night; ample convenient street parking is free from 6 PM on Friday.  [Note: Plentiful free parking also is available on weekends in the adjacent Metro lots.  Further, for our local DC members, day and event parking at the Hotel is complimentary.]

We hope that you’ll be able to join us for this Fall Program of your ROTC Affiliate of the CCNY Alumni Association.  Please complete and mail your reservation form (see below) ASAP to John Lass, Treasurer for this event and one of our Committee members.  John can be reached at 301-871-6734 or at johnlass@comcast.net .  His mailing address (for return of your form and $15 registration fee per person) is 14225 Woodcrest Drive; Rockville, MD 20853.  Checks should be made out to Alumni Association of CCNY.  Kindly do this as soon as possible, so that you’ll be on our list for additional mailings starting in September—with all the details for the weekend!  A special welcome packet will be prepared and distributed to all out-of-town participants upon their arrival at the hotel (and for others, if requested in advance).

Also, please make your own reservations for hotel accommodations directly with Hilton for the nights of 13 and 14 November.  Single and double rates are $99 (with breakfast).  The triple rate is $104 (including breakfast) and the quad rate is $109 (including breakfast).  Hilton requests that you phone in your reservations at 1-800-HILTONS.  Our Group Name is “CCNY Alumni Association,” and you must specify that name to get the special hotel rates including breakfasts.  Please do reserve as soon as you know your plans, but certainly by the beginning of October!

If you have any questions regarding details of the event, please feel free to contact Harvey T. Kaplan, ’63, at 301-460-1883 or at kaplan@starpower.net .

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the gathering in November—

The DC Planning Committee (all CCNY & ROTC Alumni):

Harvey T. Kaplan, ’63, Chair

Henry Brooks, ’61, Co-Chair

John M. Lass, ’63, Program Treasurer

Reginald Grier, ’65, Association & Affiliate Board Liason

Philip Barsky, ’68, Wash., DC Chapter

RESERVATION FORM

FALL MEETING AND ALUMNI PROGRAM

of the

ROTC AFFILIATE ~ ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF

THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK

MAIL WITH YOUR CHECK FOR REGISTRATION FEE OF $15 PER PERSON TO:

Mr. John M. Lass      Tel: 301-871-6734

14225 Woodcrest Drive    Washington, DC Chapter Website: www.ccnydc.org

Rockville, MD  20853-2332     e-mail contact for event: info@ccnydc.org

Name(s):________________________________________________________________

Street Address: ___________________________________________________________

City: _________________________ State: ________________ ZIP Code: ______-____

E-Mail Address: __________________________________________________________

Telephone # at which you want to be reached: __________________________________

Cell Phone # (optional): _________________________________

At present we would like to request _____ seats at the Gala Saturday Night Banquet Dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Rockville, MD.  The dinner price of only approximately $36 per person (complete dinner with 3 entrée choices, including gratuities and all taxes) will be billed later.  There is no penalty for cancellation.  For the present, it is necessary only that the Committee have you on the list for all future updates regarding the weekend.

I would like to make tentative reservations (no obligation) for the free tours on Saturday morning after breakfast, escorted by a member of the Committee from the Washington, DC Chapter.  [Note: These selections are based on the initial survey conducted by the ROTC Affiliate.  Please recognize that the Pentagon cannot accept visitor groups on Saturday mornings.  Also, there is not ample time that morning to visit the several sites of interest that involve substantial entrance fees.]

VISITOR SITE REQUESTS

    The National Gallery of Art (East & West Buildings): ________ people

    The National Museum of American History: ________ people

The next meeting of the Board will be Thursday, 1800 hours 1 October 2009 at the College.  Tentative agenda items (please send your suggestions) are a discussion of the 2009-10 budget, some committees we need to get going, and the November program in DC (and canonization of Harvey, Henry, John, Reggie, and Phil).

I’ll get out a formal agenda in a few weeks.

Allen

Walter A. Orenstein, MD, is a Deputy Director for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in Integrated Health Solutions Development of the Global Health Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He joined the foundation in October 2008. In March 2004 to October 2008, he was the Director of the Emory Program for Vaccine Policy and Development and as Associate Director of the Emory Vaccine Center at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Orenstein is the former Director of the National Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Dr. Orenstein retired from his 26-year career at CDC where he led the National Immunization Program, a $1.6 billion effort with more than 450 staff, dedicated to reducing vaccine preventable disease burdens around the world including elimination of some of the greatest causes of childhood mortality and disability. While at Emory University, Dr. Orenstein’s primary appointment was in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine in the Emory University School of Medicine. He also held faculty appointments in Pediatrics and in the Departments of International Health and Epidemiology in Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health.  During Dr. Orenstein’s tenure at the National Immunization Program, he led successful efforts to combat and markedly reduce the occurrence of once common childhood diseases, including measles, rubella, mumps, meningitis from Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), varicella, and invasive pneumococcal disease. The Immunization Program also has made major contributions: protecting adults from vaccine-preventable diseases through eliminating barriers to vaccination and developing new vaccine strategies, expanding vaccine safety efforts, improving risk communication, and promoting the use of immunization registries.

Dr. Orenstein received his bachelor’s degree at The City College of New York and his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1972. He completed an internship and a residency in pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, followed by a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Southern California Medical School and a residency in preventive medicine at the CDC. He has served in leadership roles within the CDC’s immunization program since 1982, and from May1993 through January 2004, had been Director of the National Immunization Program. He has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) and to the Pan American Health Organization for programs in polio eradication, measles control, and smallpox eradication in India, Brazil, Argentina and Peru. Dr. Orenstein chaired WHO’s Technical Consultative Group on Polio (TCG) from 1996-2004, the forerunner of today’s Advisory Committee on Polio Eradication.

Dr. Orenstein has served as an Assistant Surgeon General of the U. S. Public Health Service.  He served as the CDC liaison member to the National Vaccine Advisory Committee for more than 14 years, having played a major role in development of critical immunization policy documents such as “The measles epidemic:  the problems, barriers and recommendations” (JAMA 1991; 266:1547-1552). This article became the blue print for today’s immunization program including Federal support for immunization infrastructure, an immunization coverage measurement system for program accountability, and the critical role of research in fostering immunization improvements.  During the same period as Dr. Orenstein served on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, he also served as CDC liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases (COID), the major immunization policy making body for private pediatricians.  Major policies adopted during Dr. Orenstein’s tenure at CDC include recommendations for: 1) a second dose of measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine for all children, 2) universal vaccination of children against Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B, varicella,, and invasive pneumococcal disease, and 3) annual vaccination of all 50-64 year old adults and 6-23 month old children against influenza.  Dr. Orenstein led the efforts to implement the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) an innovative entitlement program that today overcomes financial barriers to vaccine access for approximately 40% of the nation’s children and allows an advisory committee of experts, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), to see its recommendations financed automatically without having to go through the traditional appropriations process.  Dr. Orenstein also fostered development of a major effort to address vaccine safety concerns including overseeing the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a passive adverse reaction reporting system, the Vaccine Safety Datalink which includes researchers from eight Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) covering more than 2% of the US population, special investigations such as the relationship between rhesus rotavirus vaccine and intussusception, and independent assessment of the available evidence on selected adverse events through the Institute of Medicine.  During his tenure as leader of the nation’s immunization program, Dr. Orenstein helped develop a large international immunization program which plays a major role in eradicating polio, reducing measles mortality, and introducing new vaccines into worldwide programs.  Prior to taking over direction of the nation’s immunization efforts, Dr. Orenstein was a major driving force in improving the epidemiologic assessment of vaccine effectiveness, having co-authored numerous papers on the effectiveness of various vaccines in a post-licensure setting including one of the critical reviews of different methods that could be used to assess effectiveness during observational studies.  Another major focus of his work was on understanding the barriers to elimination of indigenous measles in the United States and strategies to overcome them.

Dr. Orenstein is a member of the International Editorial Board for the journal Vaccine. Along with Stanley Plotkin and Paul Offit, Dr. Orenstein co-edited Vaccines, 5th edition, a 1700 page volume with more than 125 contributors that is the leading textbook in the field. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.  He has served on the Council of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, chaired its publications committee, and is a former Secretary/Treasurer.  Dr. Orenstein is presently a member of the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  He received an honorary doctor of science from Wake Forest University in May of 2006.  On October 1, 2006, Dr. Orenstein was elected to membership of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.  On October 26. 2006, Dr. Orenstein received a 2006 Townsend Harris Medal from his alma mater, City College of New York.

Meeting date: May 30, 2009

Meeting location: CCNY Campus Faculty Dining Room

Participants: 21 members signed the attendance sheet.  Also at the meeting were: Josh Philippe (Alumni Association Representative) and Don Jordan (Executive VP of the Alumni Association)

1. The Korean War plaque was dedicated.  It will be a place holder until one with the names of alumni who died during the conflict is completed.

2. Allen Rothman thanked Andy Neroulias for arranging the fall tour of and dinner at Thayer Hall.

3. Don Jordan welcomed the participants and discussed CCNY's current programs and student accomplishments.

4. Richard Ventola discussed the Alumni Group's website on Shutterfly.com.  Currently, it is only open to Board members, but it should be ready for more general exposure soon.

5. The first Distinguished ROTC Alumnus award plaque was presented to Dr. Walter Orenstein '68.  He followed the award presentation with a talk about his ROCT involvement and work pertaining to vaccines.

6. Dr. Orenstein presented the Lt. William M. Lyons III scholarship (from the class of 1968) to Deema Azizi who is a sophomore at CCNY.

7. The meeting attendees voted to re-elect all officers and Board members.  [It was noted that Henry Brooks '61 was left off the Board member list in the program.]  2009-2010 Board members are as follows: Allen Rothman (President),  Richard Ventola (1st Vice Chair), Andonios Neroulias (2nd Vice Chair), Edward Kippel (Secretary), Nicholas Sucic (Treasurer), Henry Brooks, Lloyd Cazes, Eugene Gitelson, Reginald Grier, Peter Hecht, Barry Howard, Pazel Jackson, Richard Kurz, Aris Pappas and  Neville Parker.

8. Josh Phillippe noted that current membership in the ROTC Alumni Group is about 260.

9. Allen Rothman noted that Don Gomez (founder of the CCNY Veteran's Group) had asked if they could have approval to use the ROTC patch as the symbol of their group as well.  There was some discussion about whether the ROTC Alumni Group has the authority to allow them to do so.  Because there is currently no ROTC program on campus, it was decided that permission could be granted. The meeting attendees voted to permit use of the patch.  A suggestion was made to include a tab above the shield that says "Veteran". No vote or discussion was taken on the suggestion.

10. Henry Brooks suggested that the Board should consider changing the Group's name to ROTC and Veterans Alumni Group.  The Board will take this recommendation under advisement.  If we decided to do this, a By-Laws change will be required.

11. It was noted that the CCNY Veterans Group wants the ROTC Alumni Group's help to bring ROTC back on campus.  The Board will address this request at a future meeting.

12. It was noted that ROTC alumni who graduated from after it became a separate entity in the early 70's must join the CCNY Alumni Association to become part of the ROTC Alumni Group.  There will have to be a discussion regarding how to handle these kinds of matters (which also includes Graduates of other colleges that had ROTC affiliation with CCNY).

13. The group thanked Josh Phillippe for his help in getting the ROTC Alumni Group off the ground over the past year.

14. Harvey Kaplan discussed the plans for the November 13-15, 2009 Veterans Day gathering in the area.  The local chapter of the Alumni Association will be handling the arrangements.  Their committee includes Harvey Kaplan, Henry Brooks, Phil Barsky, Regie Grier and John Lass.  It was noted that Henry Brooks has agreed to subsidize the administrative costs associated with this activity.  Josh Phillippe will send to the entire membership Email list the attached questionnaire to solicit interest and find about preferences pertaining to lodging and tours. He will ask group members to return the questionnaire directly to Harvey Kaplan (htkaplan@verizon.net ).  There will be tours during the day and a dinner at night on November 12.  There may be a hospitality room at the hotel on Friday night. 

The board meeting will be on March 31 at 6:00

1. Review and approval of previous minutes – Ed (attached)

2. Treasurer's report – Nick

3. President’s Report – Allen

    Update on Memorial Day meeting

      - Plaques

      - Speaker

      - Presentation of City College Fund Scholarship

      - Business portion (finances, elections)

3. Membership report - Josh

4. Programming

      Fall meeting in DC?

6. Old Business

    Website - Richard

7. New Business

    Formation of Distinguished Alumnus nominating committee

8. Next meeting

RSVP with Josh at liaison@alumniassociationccny.org