WESTWOOD – The Bruin softball team let us down, but otherwise, the 2nd edition of the “Seniors Dinner” brought alumni from far across the globe.
A group of 13 alumni and 12 active brothers convened on June 8 at Westwood Brewing Company. We watched the tail end of Michigan defeat us in the NCAA final, and proceeded to honor the successful graduating senior class of Upsilon.
Movie producer and attorney Steve Kaplan gave up his tickets in a Dodger luxury suite that night, and squeezed in the dinner between trips to Cannes, Costa Rica and New York. Steve is currently screening his new film, “F%$!,” a documentary on the F-word that his production team has submitted to the Toronto Film Festival.
Attorneys were the majority (so next year, we need a more diversified crowd): Shane Tseng, Stu Johnson, Scott Good, Chris Good, Gary Gross, and Won Park.
The young and the wise were represented. The most recent alumni were Liron Nelik and Chris Good, and 1940s Long Beach Poly prep football star Joe Marsalek represented the ‘wise’ end of the spectrum.
David Finkel, acting Scholarship Chair, was commended for his visionary purchase of an ice machine in the late 1980s. Scot Kawano, Sage Emertius who holds the house record for most years as a live-in and works at the UCLA Dental School, advised the seniors on the importance of dental hygiene and passed out graduation gifts of toothbrushes and toothpaste, horked from the school. Scot lives in Westchester with his lovely wife Helen and their two children.
Herman Quispe, immediate past president of UAA, wore proudly his purple and gold Sigma Pi tie. He also pimped his brother Dorian, the former St. Francis football star who will run in the Machu Picu marathon this summer. Herman plans to make the trip to Peru with his father, who is a native of the country.
The seniors are an impressive group.
Dave Schwartz the Young (brother of alumnus Jeff “Doogie Howser” Schwartz) will study aerospace systems and dynamics at the UCLA Graduate School of Engineering and work at Grumman Northrup, but not before a jaunt to Europe this summer.
Alex Ooi, a former Social Chairman, will work at Deloitte and Touche. He will room with Sam Feinstein and Cory Bookman in Brentwood.
Ben Ikuta will attend Hastings Law School in San Francisco, (alma mater of alumnus Matt Sumrow).
Sam Feinstein will work as an investment banking analyst for Morgan Stanley wealth management in Century City.
Cory Bookman will work at Diversified Entertainment Properties, an entertainment marketing firm in Westwood. He led the fundraising and renovation for the new weight room.
Justin Brandt will be an intern for the Dodgers (where Seth Bluman works in the ticket office) and will pursue a career in sports management.
Andrew Casson will work at Morgan Stanley in wealth management.
Ricardo “Rickstar” Rodriguez will intern with Sen. Diane Feinstein’s Los Angeles office and pursue a career in construction management.
Jared White graduated in Business/Economics and may pursue a career in commercial real estate.
Other graduates are Brian Ario, a former Second Counselor; Marty Salgo; Cory Sambol, a former Sage who later became Pledge Father; Josh Kamzan; Jake Hundley, a former Rush Chairman and House Manager; Josh Grose; Gwin Duangnapa; Abner Shao; and Carl Pestelos, a former Spirit Squad member.
An extra thanks goes to these brothers who paid twice their bill to sponsor the actives’ dinner: Joe Marsalek (courtesy of a $100 donation from our annual appeal for Annual Dues), Gary Gross, Herman Quispe, Won Park, Liron Nelik, Scott Good, Chris Good, and Shane Tseng.
Matt Vrable, the First Counselor, coordinated scheduling of the actives. Unlike our era, he did it right and most everyone showed up on time – NOT late on Sigma Pi Time!
We covered all but $100 of the total bill. So, if any alumni wish to send a donation or Annual Dues, the UAA will gladly accept!