Basketball court named for Solomons
With Northeastern's cheerleading squad shouting, "Go, Bunny, Go!"
to the rock-'n'-roll beat of "Eye of the Tiger," the university's
basketball court got a new name in late November, as more than 200 guests
gathered with university officials in the Cabot Center to dedicate the
Bernard and Jolane Solomon Court.
Renovated last year at a cost of $1 million, the new
court is named for NU graduate and lifetime trustee emeritus Bernard "Bunny"
Solomon, who led a $2 million fund-raising drive to help pay for Cabot's
restoration. Solomon and his wife, Jolane, also donated $50,000 to the
center's renovation project, and raised an additional $350,000 to help
defray its construction costs.
A 1946 liberal arts graduate who managed Northeastern's baseball team
to the 1942 New England Championship, Solomon thanked his family and friends
for supporting Husky athletics over the years. And President Freeland praised
Solomon for being "a true Husky" and a Northeastern "sports
legend." He said the twenty-year university trustee has been "a
fixed presence" at university athletic events during the past five
decades. Solomon has attended some 400 Husky events since 1954.
Solomon was elected to Northeastern's athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.
New book chronicles Curry presidency
Though he served just seven years at the helm-the shortest tenure of
any Northeastern president-few would deny John Curry his place among the
giants in university history.
He significantly boosted Northeastern's academic programs and reputation
in the face of the economic downturn of the early 1990s. He forged
closer ties with federal, state, and local government officials. He
oversaw construction of new academic, research, and recreation facilities.
And he led the university's largest-ever fund-raising drive.
These successes and challenges are recalled in The Curry Years: Smaller
but Better, the fourth volume in a series that chronicles Northeastern's
history.
Written by Karen Feldscher, the book covers the highs and lows of the
Curry presidency, from his controversial selection to succeed Kenneth Ryder
in 1989 to his surprise resignation in 1996. Chapters are devoted to academics,
the colleges, cooperative education, diversity, the physical transformation
of the campus, fund-raising and alumni relations, and athletics.
The book also contains a chronology of noteworthy events and a listing
of honorary degree recipients and governing board members who served during
the Curry administration.
Take a BOW!
The first edition of a new textbook on civil procedure,
co-authored by law school professor Stephen Subrin, sold out. More
than twenty law schools adopted the text-a coup for a first edition.
Subrin wrote Civil Procedure: Doctrine, Practice,
and Context (Panel Publishers, 2000) with leading scholars and practitioners
Mark Brodin, Thomas Main, L'94, and Martha Minow.
The book was born of Subrin's frustration in teaching
his own civil procedure course. He had heard students complain year after
year that, although they knew civil procedure doctrine, they weren't able
to meaningfully apply it.
So seven years ago, Subrin and a group of students
set out to build a more unified civil procedure course. Central to their
efforts was a new text that framed legal doctrine in context and integrated
how it works in practice.
"It was a pleasure to work with such a distinguished
group of colleagues," says Subrin. "We're thrilled with the final
result."
Mantella named to lead enrollment
management
Philomena Mantella, executive vice president for enrollment management
and student life at Pace University in New York, has been named Northeastern's
new vice president for enrollment management. She succeeds Jean Eddy, who
took a job at Brandeis University last April.
Provost David Hall called Mantella "one of the leading enrollment
management specialists in the country. The fact that we were able to secure
her for this position is a tribute to the fact that the university's reputation
nationally is increasing."
During her five years at Pace, Mantella-a twenty-year veteran of higher
education-helped increase applications by 48 percent and freshman enrollment
by 27 percent. She also is credited with raising freshman-to-sophomore
retention rates from 73 percent to 79 percent, the highest in the institution's
history.
Further, she doubled the undergraduate resident population at Pace's
New York City campus.
NU names scholarship for Moakley
Growing up in South Boston, Joseph Moakley never
dreamed of going to college, let alone earning a law degree or holding
a professional job. The expectation, he said, was that you would follow
in your father's footsteps, working on the assembly line or in the shipyards.
So it was with pride and humility
that Moakley, the longtime U.S. representative from the Massachusetts 9th
Congressional district, accepted the university's offer to name its portion
of the City of Boston Employee Development Scholarship Program for him.
"This is a tremendous honor," Moakley told a Northeastern gathering
in late November.
Presented annually since 1984, development scholarships
allow qualified city employees to earn master's degrees in such fields
as business, public administration, nursing, and criminal justice for free
at either Northeastern or Boston University. In return, recipients agree
to continue working for the city for a specified period after graduation.
Recalling Moakley's fifty years of public service,
President Freeland said the congressman's commitment reflects a government
that is "competent, compassionate, and accomplished."
Study: Group exercise helps curb
depression in overweight women
Group exercise can reduce depression in overweight women, although it
has no effect on actual weight loss in the short term, according to Lorna
Hayward, assistant professor of physical therapy and principal researcher
on two recent obesity studies. "The studies demonstrated there is
a need for a long-term approach," said Hayward. "Once people
feel better about themselves, other health indicators could change."
A complex health behavior that is difficult to treat, obesity affects
quality of life and is associated with other chronic ailments, such as
hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and respiratory dysfunction.
Its economic impact is estimated at $100 billion a year. One-third of Americans,
especially women-nonwhite women between the ages of 50 and 59, in particular-are
obese.
Hayward said that once-popular drugs such as fenfluramine and phentermine
(fen-phen) and dexfenfluramine (Redux) pose overall health risks and fail
to address behaviors that maintain weight loss. "Obesity is a chronic
problem that needs long-term attention just like any other chronic disease,"
she said. "Quick fixes like fen-phen or Slimfast just don't seem to
be successful."
In 1998, Hayward conducted a weight-loss study of eight overweight women
with mild to moderate depression. After six months, during which the women
participated in twice-weekly supervised aerobic exercise sessions and relaxation
training, only one of the eight women was classified as mildly depressed,
although no significant weight loss was recorded.
Hayward's first weight-loss study of obese women, conducted in 1997,
focused on nutrition, mental health, exercise instruction, tai chi, relaxation,
and acupuncture.
Co-researchers on the studies included Annemarie Sullivan and Joseph
Libonati, both of Northeastern's cardiopulmonary sciences department.
Russell is inducted into CSSS Hall of Fame
Whether dominating his opponents on the Boston Garden parquet or speaking
out on behalf of African-American athletes and causes, Bill Russell has
never shied away from a leadership role.
For his efforts both on and off the court, the Boston Celtics legend
was inducted into the Center for the Study of Sport in Society's Hall of
Fame at its sixteenth annual awards banquet and Hall of Fame induction
ceremony last November.
"There is a strong chance that if Bill Russell did not come along,
there would be no Center for the Study of Sport in Society," said
Richard Lapchick, the center's founder and director. "We honor Bill
this year not only for what he did as a great athlete, but what he did
to make this a better country."
Dedicated to recognizing athletes and other professionals associated
with sports, the Sport in Society Hall of Fame honored Russell this year
for his seventeen championship seasons with the Celtics and for helping
break down racial barriers, especially for African-American athletes in
the NBA.
Russell, who joined the Celtics in 1956, was known for his fearsome
defensive play. He led his team to eleven NBA championships, including
eight consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966.
Russell succeeded Red Auerbach as the Celtics' head coach in 1967, becoming
the first African-American to take the helm of an NBA team. An outspoken
advocate for racial equality, Russell published Go Up for Glory, a memoir
in which he spoke out for equal treatment of black athletes in all sports.
Also at the banquet, the center presented its annual True Heroes of
Sports Awards to five sports personalities whose work embodies athletic
success, good sportsmanship, and a commitment to helping others. Recipients
were:
Anne Woolf, founder and president of the Bob Woolf Foundation, who received
the first Selma Black New England Hero Award.
Dan Doyle, founder of the Institute for International Sport, who was
given the first Leonard Zakim New England Hero Award.
Boston Globe columnist Derrick Jackson, who received the Excellence
in Journalism Award for print media.
Ross Greenburg, executive producer of HBO Sports, who was awarded the
Excellence in Journalism Award for broadcast media.
Trustee George Behrakis, PAH'57, H'98, who was given the Corporate Goodwill
Award for his long-standing support of the center.
Q&A: Roger Abrams, dean, School of Law
Roger Abrams, dean of the School of Law and an expert in the field of sports
law, recently published his second book on baseball, The Money Pitch: Baseball
Free Agency and Salary Arbitration (Temple University Press, 2000). Here,
he discusses the economics of the game and his experiences as a Major League
Baseball salary arbitrator.
Q. Just when you think you've seen it all, the Texas Rangers,
with the signing last month of Alex Rodriguez, bring us the first quarter
of a billiondollar ballplayer. Does this figure stagger even a student
of baseball economics?
A. I think what this is beginning to show is that the market will value
extraordinary athletes in the same way it values extraordinary performers
in other areas of entertainment. Rodriguez's salary is way below what Tom
Hanks gets for income. And while Hanks is good, I don't think he can hit
a curveball.
Q. How can that kind of salary make sense from an economic standpoint?
A. We really have to leave that to the owners' judgment. These are experienced
businesspeople, they're making an investment in an asset-an asset they're
allowed under federal tax laws to depreciate-and they know exactly what
this means for increased attendance and how it improves the potential retail
value of their franchise.
Q. How high can salaries go?
A. As long as baseball remains profitable, there will be increasing
salaries-but only for the very few people who can really make the difference
in terms of the entertainment value of the product.
Q. What salary do you think Babe Ruth, in his prime, would command
today?
A. Babe Ruth was unique among superstars. When he was earning $80,000
a year, the average ballplayer was earning just a few thousand dollars
a year. My guess is that Babe probably could have asked for and received
half of Manhattan Island-and it would have been a steal.
Q. Romantics like to reminisce about the good old days, when men
played baseball not for money, but for the love of the game. But that's
really not the case, is it?
A. They've always played for the money. Before the reserve system started
in 1879, players in the Major Leagues would play for one team one month,
and another team another month, because they got an extra $100. Every time
a rival league was created, players would jump to the rival league and
would be rewarded for it.
Q. People would be surprised to know some of the famous players who
staged well-publicized holdouts.
A. My favorite is the Ty Cobb story. At one point in his career, he
went back to Georgia to hold out, and the Tigers, to make sure he wouldn't
do anything funny, had him banned from baseball. Then Ty Cobb called up
his friend, who was a U.S. senator from Georgia, and he introduced a bill
to investigate Major League Baseball. The Tigers quickly gave Cobb what
he wanted.
Q. What's your favorite anecdote from an arbitration case?
A. In the first arbitration case I heard-Brett Butler in 1986-the hearing
was moved from a smaller room to a larger room because a lot of people
seemed interested in the case. The only person left in the room with me
was [New York Yankees star] Don Baylor, who was there to support Butler's
case. I'm carrying all my luggage and materials to the new room and was
obviously struggling with it, and Don Baylor offered me a hand with my
luggage. It was the only time my luggage has been carried by an MVP.
Q. What tips would you offer a player's agent or owner's representative
who is preparing for a salary arbitration case?
A. From the agent, I need to know what kind of player this is. "He's
not a power hitter; he's a steady, reliable shortstop. He makes the plays
he has to make, but he doesn't make the plays that some other shortstops
make." In other words, I want him to be honest. My suggestion to management
would be: Don't use the hearing as an opportunity to beat up on one of
your assets. It's not worth it.
Q. Has money ruined baseball?
A. Oh, no. That would be like asking, has money ruined America? This
used to be a wonderful agrarian country with a barter economy, and then
we got rich. Around the turn of the last century, Americans, for the first
time, had leisure time. And they had a little bit of capital. And the question
became, what were they going to spend it on? The answer was baseball. They
came in droves to watch what they recognized as the national game. No,
I don't think money has spoiled baseball. All you have to do is go out
to the park and watch the little kids watching their heroes, and you'd
realize this is still a very special enterprise.
Return to top of page