Posted on May 1, 1994

When Jane Cavalier '83 sat down in 1989 at the Union Square Cafe with Brian Buckle and Tom DeCerchio, two upstarts who were forming their own advertising agency, she thought she was content with her professional life.

After six years in advertising, during which she became an account executive with Saatchi & Saatchi, perhaps New York's hottest ad agency of the eighties, Cavalier had become marketing director of ActMedia, a highly successful, in-store marketing firm in Darien, Conn. A newlywed with hopes of beginning a family, Cavalier was not planning a return to the pressure-filled world of New York advertising.

It didn't take her long to change her mind. “Five minutes after I sat down with Brian and Tom, I knew I was on my way back,” she says. “They just had so much energy and such a vision of that they wanted to accomplish. They had won the Godfather's Pizza account even before I met them and wanted General Motors the next. These were definitely the kind of people I wanted to work with.”

Buckle and DeCerchio got what they wanted, too-one of the hottest young account managers in New York. So the three twentysomethings set up shop in DeCerchio's loft.

They realized that Godfather's needed to focus on the desires of sixteen-year-old boys, who seemed like the most sensible group to employ. By the time the storyboards rose, a job driving for Godfather's sounded like adolescent heaven. There were three different print ads and three different slogans: Take a Job Where the Only Person You Have to Listen to is Bon Jovi, Put Your Back Seat to Good Use Every Friday Night, and Feed Hungry Women on a Nightly Basis.

“What made us successful,” Cavalier says, “was that there wasn't any campaign we felt we couldn't handle. People suggested that since we were a small, young agency, we should focus on youth-oriented advertising. But we wanted the biggest campaigns available and wouldn't quit until we had them. Even early on, when we were on the brink of bankruptcy, we wouldn't quit.”

The perseverance paid off. Two days before their first Christmas, just when the funds were about to run short, Snapple Beverages signed on with the young agency; 9 West and Russ Togs followed shortly thereafter. A year later, after they had told the world that Snapple was “Made from the best stuff on earth” and had worked with worldwide companies like Nikon and Nabisco, BDC had earned more advertising industry awards that any other major agency in New York.

But for Cavalier, marriage, motherhood, and the realities of the business world meant more change.

In 1991, the other two-thirds of Buckle DeCerchio Cavalier decided to pursue screenwriting and directing careers in Hollywood. Cavalier prompt
ly brokered a merger between the agency, which had grown to nineteen persons, and the international design firm Frankfurt Gips Balkind.

A year after the Frankfurt Gips merger, Cavalier was ready for a new challenge. With one child in the nursery and another on the way, she wanted to spend more time at home in suburban Connecticut. The solution-today Cavalier is one of the few presidents in advertising who's never in the office more than four days a week.

Has the abbreviated work schedule at the small firm of Cox Landey Partners hurt her career? Not likely, since she's heading an account for
Viatel-a worldwide telecommunications corporation (“MCI for the rest of the world,” is how she describes it)-and helping John F. Kennedy, Jr., launch his new political magazine.

“There are a lot of tough choices women today have to confront,” she says. “My children are so central to who I am, and I really miss them when I'm not with them, while at the same time I really love my work and wouldn't want to stop.”

With her husband, a Connecticut litigator, Cavalier has sought a balance among motherhood, advertising, and her latest venture, an ever-growing greeting card company featuring the character Sally the Maladjusted, which Cavalier and a friend began last year. “I think the key is deciding just what it is you want to do and then doing it,” she says.

Posted on May 1, 1994

When people think of Corning, Inc., they're likely to think of durable, reliable plates that sit in their kitchen cabinets for a lifetime.

So it may come as no surprise that those Corningware dishes are made from material developed for use on rocket nosecones.

In other words, Corning is more than dishware. It is one of the most successful and innovative high technology companies in the world, and
James Ramich '67 has played a large part in Coming's success.

Ramich, a native of Elmira, N.Y., had a brief association with Corning during the summer between his graduation from Union and the start of an M.B.A. program at Columbia University. He was general manager of Meenan Oil in New York City, a family-run business, when Corning called again in 1973. Recognizing the potential for growth at a huge corporation with a rich history, he answered the call.

Twenty years later, after working in a variety of jobs in the U.S. and abroad,
Ramich has become an executive vice president. He is in charge of the company's information display group and sits on the seven-member operating committee that reports directly to Coming's president.

Ramich recently returned from a two and-half-year stint in Japan, where he was president of Corning Japan and manager of the Advanced Display Products division. That group, one of Coming's fastest growing businesses, produces flat glass for the full-color, liquid-crystal display screens used in laptop computers and other electronic devices. With Ramich in charge, Advanced Display Products began to grow at a rate of forty percent annually and turned its first profit last year.

Despite his success, Ramich doesn't believe that he knows all there is to know about managing in a high-tech industry, especially after what he describes as an “unbelievable learning experience” in Japan.

“There's really no way to know how to conduct business in a foreign culture until you actually do it,” he says. “In the United States, the consumer is king. The Japanese, on the other hand, are obsessed with a company's market share.

“And they have a business-oriented culture where a company's corporate customers are the keys, government policy favors business, and Japanese consumers end up in a much less favorable position having to deal with high prices and reduced product choice.”

Ramich believes Corning has placed itself perfectly in terms of coming industrial and political trends.

First, it is a worldwide operation, able
to take advantage of the fact that developing countries grow at a faster rate than established industrial superpowers.

Second, as Ramich explains, “If you look at the three major thrusts of the Clinton Administration, you see health care, the environment, and high-technology business. Corning has a laboratory science group that includes the largest blood testing lab in the country. We make the ceramic substrates used in catalytic converters, which protect the atmosphere. My division produces glass used in projection TV lenses, TV tubes, and LCD displays. And Corning fiber optics will run the interfacing on the coming information super-highway.”

Ramich, an economics major who abandoned electrical engineering for a liberal arts education at Union, tries to keep up with the high-tech times by doing as much reading and listening to the experts as he can.

“I'm thankful I have a broad-based background,” he says. “A liberal arts major can be successful in a
high-tech field if you immerse yourself in the technology.” And Ramich certainly has done his share of that.

Posted on May 1, 1994

Back in the early sixties, when teenagers were falling in love with their Mustangs,
Fred Hay '66 didn't think much about automobiles.

Certainly he didn't think that thirty years later, automobiles would be just about all he would think about. Automobile parts, that is.

Today Fred Hay, who claims that before and during college he “didn't have a clue about what I wanted to do,” is president of Interior Systems and Components: United Technologies Automotive, a division of United Technologies and one of the leading distributors of interior auto parts in the world.

“I assumed I wanted to go into business,” says Hay, who majored in economics and received an M.BA from Indiana State University in 1970. “But I knew I was headed for the military after graduation.” And he also had football and lacrosse to concentrate on, so professional life could wait.

Hay enlisted in the Army, avoided a tour in Vietnam when the military cancelled his orders at the last moment, and spent his military days as an officer in the Atlanta Army supply depot.

The Ford Motor Company gave Hay
his first job after graduate school. During the next eleven years, the company gave him seven more jobs, moving him from automobile financing to corporate finance to strategic planning.

His tenure with Ford's long-term planning arm coincided with the Mideast oil embargoes and the Japanese invasion of the U.S. automobile market. “We realized that we were going to have to stop the broad diversification plans we had made at Ford and get back to basics,” Hay recalls. “We simply had to focus on making vehicles, take the competition head-on, and basically just try to survive.”

It was while managing this latest crisis at Ford that Hay realized he wanted to switch to the supplier side of the automobile business. When United Technologies Automotive offered him a job as vice president of strategic planning, flay leaped at the opportunity to work for the smaller and faster-moving company.

Today he is president of an operation that includes twenty-five plants throughout the world and does between $650 and $700 million worth of business. His division supplies components such as roof systems, door trim panels, steering wheels, and dashboards not only to GM, Ford, and Chrysler, but also to Korean and Japanese automakers.

“I don't have to worry about whether people buy Japanese or American cars as much as I do about specific lines of cars that we supply with components,” he says.

Hay has seen major changes in the U.S. auto industry as companies have moved from ordering parts that their engineers demanded to operating with suppliers to find out the most cost-effective designs for cars. Hay and UTA will work with a company from day one to design a car with the lowest possible production costs and sticker prices.

With the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the expansion of the U.S. auto industry into Mexico, Hay's group will be
expanding right along with the Big Three. “We're going to be expanding the total number of cars built and sold in North America and that can only help the industry as a whole,” he explains. “We [UTA] simply have to be where our customers build their cars. Especially since some of our products are bulky and difficult to ship.”

In addition, with the fall of the Iron Curtain, Hay also notes the possibilities for expansion into Eastern Europe. Companies will build plants there to take advantage of the low cost of labor, he says; once the workers start earning more money of their own, they'll want to buy more cars.

One thing that has remained stable through the years is the nature of the auto business, which Hay says operates in a constant state of, well, crisis.

“There's just so much tough competition,” he says, “and so much money invested that you have no choice but to move as quickly as you can.” Just put on your seat belt and head into the fast lane, one might say.

Posted on May 1, 1994

Ralph D. Bennett '21, former vice chair­man of the Board of Trustees and a trustee emeritus, died Feb. 15. He was ninety-three.

Long one of the College's most active alumni, Ralph Bennett was a regular visitor to campus until the last few years. In addition to trustee meetings, he rarely missed Reunion, Home­coming, and Alumni Council sessions. Whenever he was on campus, he made a round of visits to administrators and faculty, invariably leaving with the friendly admonition to “Persevere.”

Mr. Bennett earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from the College. He was an early member of the student radio station, one of the first in the country. While visiting campus several years ago, he was a guest on WRUC, recalling the early days of what was then called 2XQ.

As a senior, he was awarded the Bailey Prize for outstanding service to the College. Besides the radio club, he was active in the Electrical Society, Mountebanks, the band, and YMCA.

He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1925. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Union in 1945 and received the Alumni Council's Gold Medal in 1977.

Shortly after graduating, he taught mathematics and physics at the College. He later taught electrical measurements at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a national research fellow at California Institute of Technology and a research associate at the University of Chicago. For his Navy service during World War II, he won the U.S. Legion of Merit, the Navy Meritorious award, and the Distinguished Civilian Service award, and was named an honorary officer in the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

As an alumnus, he was a trustee from 1946 until 1979, when he was elected a trustee emeritus. He served as vice chairman from 1969 to 1978. He was chairman of the board's Committee on Academic Affairs for most of his tenure and was a member of the board's Executive Committee. He also served as secretary for his class and associate agent for the Annual Fund.

Before his retirement, he was vice president of the Nuclear Division of the Martin Marietta Corp. Previously, he served as technical director of the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Silver Spring, Md. He also served as a consultant, scientist, and research administrator for a number of organizations.

He was a fellow of the Institute of Radio Engineers, the American Physical Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. His memberships included the American Society of Engineering, the American Nuclear Society, and Sigma Xi.

Survivors include his wife, the former Anna Gray; a son, Ralph, Jr.; and a daughter, Sarah Reichart.

Posted on May 1, 1994

The major stories of the winter sports season were a team that lived up to high expectations (swimming) and a team that far exceeded expectations (hockey).

The women's swim team won its second state championship and then went on to finish ninth in the country in the Division III national championships. Eight women gained All-American status.

The men's swim team, meanwhile, won 12 of 16 events and set eight meet records in placing third in the Upper New York State championship meet. The team finished sixth in the national meet, competing with sixty-three other teams and setting a Union record of 200 points. Seven men achieved All­American honors.

In hockey, a team that had finished last in the ECAC for the past two seasons-and which had been picked to finish last again in the preseason polls-wound up sixth. The Dutchmen
ended the year with a nine-game unbeaten streak and knocked off pre­season favorite RPI in the first game of the ECAC tournament before the Engineers regrouped to win the best-of­three series.

SWIMMING

A total of eighty-four teams came to the women's national event, and Union's ninth place finish marked the third year in a row it had ended in the top ten.

Freshman Jackie Crane, of Danville, Pa., and senior Kelly Bevan, of Dalton, Mass., earned All-American honors in the 1650 and 100 breaststroke, respectively. The 400-medlay relay, 200-medlay relay, and 800-freestyle relay teams also gained All American status by placing among the top eight in the country.

In the state meet, the women scored 1,138.5 points to beat fifteen other teams. Ithaca College, which had won eight of the past nine championships, was second with 1,033 points.

The women won twelve championship events, setting meet records in four. Head Coach Susan Bassett, who was named the state association's “Coach of the Year” for the second straight season, said the victory was “a total team effort.” For example, she said, Union had five of the top eight swimmers in the 100-meter butterfly.

Since Bassett became head coach before the 1987-88 season, Union has sent thirty-six women to the NCAA meet. Nineteen have won All American honors and one Julie Benker in the 100 backstroke in 1993-won a national title.

During those seven years, the team has won fifty-six of sixty-four dual meets.
The men's team finished third in the state meet behind Hamilton and Hartwick, winning twelve events. Bassett said the team's members swam well but Union did not have enough depth to win the title.

Junior Scott Bowden, of Guilderland, N.Y., and freshman Mike Humphreys, of New Hartford, N.Y., each had ninety­nine points at the state meet-the highest individual totals. Freshman Kevin Markarowski, of Washington Mills, N.Y., had ninety-five.

To become an All-American, a swimmer must finish in the top eight in his or her event at the national championships.

Union women who attained All-American recognition were Bevan, Crane, Jen Allaire, Maureen O'Donnell, Amy Ambrosini, Jonatha Meade, Cecelia Buchanan, and Jen Baldwin.

All-American men were Bowden, Makarowski, Bill Humphreys, Chip Quarrier, Chris Riley, Mike Humphreys, and Nat Stuntz.

Since Bassett took over as men's head coach in 1988-89, the team has had a dual meet record of 35-18.

HOCKEY

With a roster that featured fourteen freshmen and just one senior, Coach Bruce Delventhal's team moved to sixth in the ECAC with a regular-season record of 10-9-3.

The Dutchmen were 149-4 in the regular season and 15-11-4 overall. They won at home (6-4 – 3), on the road (9-7-1), and in close games (8-4 in one-goal games). The team also had
one of the league's longest unbeaten streaks, ending the year 7-0-2.

“We have a lot to be proud of,” Delventhal said. “We grew both as a team and as individuals. We earned the respect of the league, and we reached-and in many cases surpassed-our preseason goals. There's no question that this
group has set the tone for what people can expect from Union hockey next season.”

In a year of highlights, perhaps none was better than the first round of the ECAC playoffs, when Union traveled down the road to Troy. The Dutchmen had lost eight straight times to the Engineers, and RPI had been the pre­season favorites to win the ECAC.

In a game to remember, Union went ahead 41, held off a strong RPI rally, and won, 43. A measure of the excite­ment was the fact that local television stations flashed the score across their regular programs all evening long. Even though RPI won the next two games and the series, there was little reason to feel downcast.

The lone senior was forward Jeff Jiampetti, of Plattsburgh, N.Y., who scored twenty-nine points and was, according to Delventhal, a hardworking and dedicated team leader. His line­mates, Chris Albert, of Nepean, Ont., and Cory Holbrough, of Burlington, Vt., will return, as will top scorers Chris Ford, of Rochester, N.Y., and Troy Stevens, of Coon Rapids, Minn.

The most satisfying story was that of goalie Mike Gallant, of Hamilton, Ont. Gallant was 0-19 during Union's first two years in Division I. This year he was 10-9-2 and his save percentage of .895 was one of the best in the country. Goalie Luigi Villa, of Mississauga, Ont., was 5-2-2.

“I don't think anyone outside of our locker room expected this kind of sea­son,” Delventhal said. “A lot of people feel we overachieved. I disagree. I'd
like to think that the hard-nosed hockey we played will be the trade­mark that people come to expect from us.”

In a fitting cap to the season, Delventhal was named “Coach of the Year” by his ECAC col­leagues. Three players were honored by the coaches-sophomore defenseman Reid Simonton, who was an honorable mention on the ECAC All-Star team; and Ford and Stevens, who were selected to the All-Rookie team.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

For the first time since the 1990-91 season, Union went to a postsea­son tournament. Despite a loss to Hamilton, the Dutchmen ended 16-10 in a schedule that had a dozen games against teams that qualified for NCAA and ECAC tournaments.

The team set three team records, and two players broke individual records. The team point total of 2,142 broke the old mark of 1,950, the scoring average of 82.4 was the highest ever, and the field goal total of 819 was the most ever.

Senior guard Steve Evans, of Rome, N.Y., set a single-season record with 192 assists and junior forward Mark Stodden, of Pittsfield, Mass., set a single-season mark with 78 blocked shots.

Senior forward Ken Evans, of Ballston Lake, N.Y., finished his career with 1,233 points, for sixth place on the College's all-time scoring list.

Head coach Bill Scanlon is now five wins away from 300, with a record of 295-225. He has never had a team win fewer than ten games in a season, and this year's ECAC invitation was the tenth postseason appearance in Scanlon's twenty-one years at Union.