News From Fort Schuyler

February 25, 2008 - Volume 8, No. 7

CELEBRATING A CENTENNIAL - The Engineering Department is 100 years old. According to department chairman, DR. RICHARD BURKE, Class of 1972, "We started to teach marine engineering at the Maritime College in 1908, coincident with the arrival of the USS NEWPORT as the school's second training ship. The NEWPORT was a steam auxiliary, having an 800 HP reciprocating steam engine. Until 1915, cadets did both the deck curriculum and the engine curriculum, so the dual license idea is hardly a modern innovation." [Ed. There is a working scale model of the engine in the training ship section of the Maritime Industry Museum.]

60 YEARS AND GOING STRONG - The NYSMA Class of 1948 will be gather at Fort Schuyler for its diamond jubilee on September 27, 2008, summoned by Chairman HAROLD A (Hap) PARNHAM and co-chair MARTY SILVER. This class, the last one to graduate with diplomas from the New York State Maritime Academy, hopes to muster at least 30% of its active members for this reunion. There are preliminary plans to use the Hilton Rye Town in Rye Brook for off-campus activities since it is near I-95 and the Westchester Airport. Classmates can contact Hap for more information, updates and details at NYSMA48@aol.com

NEW COLLEGE CLUB - There is now a student chapter of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) on campus. Dick Burke writes, "This should be a major contribution to our Facilities Engineering program. In the coming year we will be soliciting contributions of funds and new equipment to establish an HVAC Lab for this program."

NEW OFFICERS - The Alumni Association 2008 election results: President - DICK BRACKEN, Class of 1956; 1st VP - PETER BACI, Class of 1969; 2nd VP - JIM DESIMONE, Class of 1973; Secretary - JAMES MALONEY, Class of 1980; Treasurer - THEODORE MASON, Class of 1957; Asst. Treasurer - ANDREW DONOVAN, Class of 1998.

FAR FLUNG CORRESPONDENTS - Word comes from another alumnus on yet another continent. LUIS M. LUIS, Class of 1983, is now based in Africa. He writes, "I returned to my "accidental" African roots. I have been working full time in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, since 2006. My employer is not an international company, but instead I work for a locally owned Nigerian offshore oil and gas consultancy as their Lead Structural Engineer and Advisor. The company is Point Engineering Limited" [ http://www.pointengineering.com/ ] He continues, "I mentioned that I returned to my "accidental" African roots, because both my parents were Portuguese but had migrated to the African colony of Angola. I was born and raised in Luanda, but we left in 1975 at the time of independence. So almost exactly 30 years later I ... decided, perhaps due to some middle age crisis, to return to Africa, although not Angola just yet." Luis' wife and two daughters remain back at the family homestead in Houston. "My oldest daughter Yma (she is now 19) would like to come and visit for a couple of weeks, just to have a feel of what Africa is like, knowing that both her parents were born [there], but she would not like to live here for long. Actually most young people here dream of leaving to the UK or America..." Luis commutes back to home and family in Houston on a quarterly basis and manages to fulfill his Naval Reserve commitment there. He sent a picture of himself and a colleague accompanied by a machine gun toting 'MoPol' (mobile policeman) - part of the standard security. The homepage of a website run by expatriates in Port Harcourt contains a section devoted to "News and Security Updates" at www.oyibosonline.com. Luis still keeps in touch with some of his Fort Schuyler classmates and offers assistance to any alumni who find themselves in Nigeria, "I will be here to connect with him/her and help." His mobile number, including the international code for Nigeria, is (234) 806-442-8274.

FLORIDA CALLING - The Class of 1958 will be holding its tenth annual winter reunion luncheon on 10 March in Sarasota at the Marina Jack Restaurant. According to Tom Hancock, at the 2007 luncheon "...we had 16 classmates and 15 wives and hope to break our attendance record again this year."

50th REUNION PLANS - TOM HANCOCK, Class of 1958, reports that the class has been working on its 50th reunion for over a year and plans a four-day event surrounding the 27 September 2008 Homecoming Day at Fort Schuyler. 45 classmates have already signed up for the event which commences on 25 September. Reunion HQ will be the Crowne Plaza Hotel near LaGuardia Airport. There will be a dinner buffet at the hotel on Thursday. On Friday there is an optional visit to the college to join the cadets for lunch and be 'piped aboard' and introduced as the returning 50th year class at the 15:00 regimental formation. Friday evening features a dinner cruise on the East River and New York Harbor aboard a private boat chartered for the occasion. There is a full day of Homecoming activities at the Fort on Saturday. The weekend will conclude with a brunch/business meeting at the hotel on Sunday morning "...to discuss items of interest to the class and obtain ideas for our 55th reunion gathering." Now is the time to sign up if you haven't. You can contact Tom at cartominc@aol.com

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Richard Corson - Forest Hills, NY

Latitude 40.716N Longitude 73.85W

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