OBAMA GIRL
Holly Miowak Stebing, '09, was one of 10 supporters chosen to be “Backstage with Barack” before candidate Obama accepted the Democratic nomination August 28 in Denver. “I just feel an honor to tell Barack Obama that I like his policies toward Native Americans and Alaska Natives,” the Inupiaq woman from Anchorage told the Red Clout political blog. Stebing is majoring in Native American studies.
AND THE EMMY GOES TO
Jay Roach, '79, won Emmy Awards for best made-for-TV movie and best director for Recount, a fictionalized re-creation for HBO of the 2000 election aftermath in Florida. “I just want to say, it's going to get close again this election,” Roach said September 21 in his acceptance speech. “Keep your local officials honest and please vote. Vote, vote, vote.”
TOUR DE FORCE
Jesse Czelusta and Rick Shelton had always dreamed of riding a few stages of the Tour de France together. When Shelton passed away at age 58, Czelusta, PhD '07, decided to tackle the entire course in his cycling buddy's honor. Each day of the 2008 Tour, Czelusta got up in the wee hours of the morning, strapped 25 pounds of gear to his bike, and rode the course before it was closed for the race. At press time, he had raised more than $6,000 to support programs for young athletes with disabilities, a cause he thought would honor Shelton well. Czelusta's blog about the adventure, featuring such entries as “Need New Knees,” “Riding Rick's Bike” and “How to Eat a Chocolate Eclair While Riding the Tour de France,” is at ricksride.org.
MAYORAL NUPTIALS
The bride wore Vera Wang and rode sidesaddle on a black stallion. The groom got into the Montana ranch spirit by demonstrating how to separate cattle from the herd. They were none other than Jennifer Siebel, '96, MBA '01, and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who wed July 26. An actress who appears on NBC's series Life, Siebel also runs the production company Girls' Club Entertainment, which focuses on films with complex female characters.
GENIUS IN OUR MIDST
In September, David Montgomery, '84, was named one of 25 new MacArthur Fellows by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The “genius grant” provides $500,000 of no-strings-attached support over five years. A professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington, Montgomery examines the forces that shape the Earth's surface. He is the author of King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon and Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization.
SLIMMING TUNES
Packing on the pounds? Heidi Roizen's newest project will be music to your ears. The one-time co-founder of T/Maker software and venture capitalist has created SkinnySongs, a CD of motivational music for weight loss (sample titles: “Use It to Lose It” and “I'm a Hottie Now”). In September, Roizen, '80, MBA '83, was honored with the 2008 Achievement Award from the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives.
GOLF FOR KIDS
Notah Begay III hosted four of his PGA Tour compatriots at his foundation's first tournament, held August 26 at the Oneida Indian Nation's Atunyote Golf Club in upstate New York. Begay, '94, the only full-blooded Native American in professional golf, established the foundation in 2005 to provide golf and soccer opportunities to Native American youth.
OLD SAILORS NEVER DIE
Ninety-year-old Ernie Rideout, Gr. '53, and his 50-something teammates Ray Pingree and Phil Worthen, won the Santana 22 National Championship Regatta on July 27 in Santa Cruz, Calif. The crew's motto: “Old guys rule.”
WHAT THEY DID FOR LOVE
Simone and Corita Grudzen, '95, have long been inspired by their parents' love story: a priest and a nun leaving the Catholic church to marry, risking excommunication and family disapproval. Father Jerry and Sister Margaret's story is one of three the Grudzen sisters feature in their documentary, Immaculate Confession, which premiered October 26 at the United Nations Association Film Festival on campus.
