News From Fort Schuyler

February 18, 2008 - Volume 8, No. 6

TREASURE TROVE - One of the pleasures of recent internet browsing was finding www.gCaptain.com, a site for maritime professionals. It provides links to all things maritime. One contributor wrote: "What I really love about this website is that it uses new media tools to distribute valuable information, knowledge and experience to members of an ancient profession. This is what the Internet does very effectively and in gCaptain.com's case, it could end up saving lives and property and protecting the environment." Besides offering breaking news, blogs from mariners, tools for mariners, gCaptain also includes photographs related to Fort Schuyler training ship cruises and New York harbor scenes at http://flickr.com/photos/gcaptain

FAR FLUNG CORRESPONDENTS - Last week's issue made note of SUE DABRITZ, Class of 1986, owner of a marine wildlife photography company in Hawaii. Further north is DON BODRON, Class of 1967, firmly based in Alaska. Don, a retired U.S. Coast Guard Captain, is Special Projects Manager at the Marine Exchange in Juneau. He writes, "As I graduated more than 40 years ago and living in Alaska, I haven't had much contact with anyone from the Fort. Just one of my classmates who lives in Puget Sound's San Juan Islands makes it up here in the summer for commercial fishing. In 2005 I was privileged to make the acquaintance of a 1980's time frame graduate who was serving as master of a brand new double hulled TAPS trade tanker, the ALASKAN EXPLORER."

DOWN TO EARTH EVENT - Over 400 alumni and guests attended the 31 January Alumni Awards Dinner. According to AUSTIN DOOLEY, Class of 1968, the attendees listened attentively "... to every word of Astronaut SCOTT KELLY's [Class of 1987] narration of the space flight video..."The two other recipients of the 2008 Alumni Awards were CMDR. KEVIN MANNIX, Class of 1986, who assumed command of the Blue Angels in 2006 and JOHN V. KEENAN, Class of 1979, the President of Horizon Lines LLC. Austin concluded that "One of the best lines of the night was John Keenan's observation that his ships only made about 22 knots compared with Scott's 18,000 mph and Kevin's 500 mph jet fighter." See www.blueangels.navy.mil and www.horizonlines.com

COMING UP - The Connecticut Maritime Association Shipping 2008 Event takes place March 17-19 in Stamford. The program almost sounds like a massage session, i.e. "....mixes shoulder rubbing with the highest levels of the US Coast Guard, with practical and informed economic insights and a range of technical, safety and personnel seminars..." There is usually of sizeable contingent of Cadets from Fort Schuyler attending this conference. For more information go to http://www.shipping2008.com/

LOCATION, LOCATION - Did you know that opening scenes of Martin Scorsese's 2006 film, "The Departed" were shot at Fort Schuyler? The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson, got four Academy Awards in 2006 - Best Picture, Directing, Film Editing, and Writing. Although the film is set in Boston, most of it was shot in New York. The SUNY Maritime campus was used as the location for classroom shots, shooting range, the graduation ceremony in St. Mary's Pentagon, and a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio and Anthony Anderson are running on a track. Finally, toward the middle of the film Jack Nicholson orders a "Schuyler" in one of the many bar scenes. Not enough trivia? For even more go to www.filmed-here.com/movie/The_Departed and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/trivia) [Hopefully the fee for these location shots was substantial and put to a good use in the college budget.]

LOCATION, LOCATION, AND MORE LOCATION - After bouncing around the US West Coast, Central America, Asia, and Southeast Asia, the owner of SeaPics, SUE DABRITZ, Class of 1986, is now based in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. She represent some 250 of the world's top marine life photographers and "I'm always looking for shipping photos." If anyone matches this category contact Sue at her company www.seapics.com

NOT ALL NEWS IS GOOD NEWS - Troubles continue for FATHER MICHAEL R MOYNIHAN, a positive, thoughtful, and caring presence at the college for years. Last year, January 2007, because of financial irregularities, Father Mike was asked to resign from the parish he had led for fourteen years, St. Michael The Archangel Church in Greenwich. On 6 February 2008, the Associated Press reported that the Bridgeport Diocese had stripped him of his priestly authority after a New York Post article about his living arrangements. According to the AP article, "The diocese decision means Moynihan can no longer act as chaplain, although SUNY spokeswoman, Jane Bartnett, called Moynihan's departure a 'leave of absence' at his request." www.bridgeportdiocese.com/story_stmichael2.shtml

ONWARD AND UPWARD - The former VP/COO/Chief of Staff of the college, DR. KIMBERLY R. CLINE, has been appointed the 10th President of Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, effective 1 July. Good news!

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Richard Corson - Forest Hills, NY

Latitude 40.716N Longitude 73.85W

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