Architecture Student’s Thesis Revives Public Interest in Pennsylvania Maglev Project
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While
an undergraduate in the Department of Architecture, John A. Jackson (’03
B.Arch., Honors in Arch. and Arch. Engineering) was so interested in the
proposed Pennsylvania High-Speed Maglev Project that he used it as the basis
of his senior thesis. In turn, U.S. Steel, one of Maglev Inc.’s primary
shareholders, was so interested in Jackson’s thesis that the company
used it to help generate publicity for the Maglev Project, a proposed 54-mile
high-speed maglev (short for “magnetic levitation”) transportation
system that runs from Pittsburgh International Airport to Greensburg with
several stations in between.
U.S. Steel unveiled two of Jackson’s models for the downtown Pittsburgh station last August for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, who is a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and other state representatives. Jackson’s design stems from the concepts of speed, movement and connection and consists of a series of trussed arches that he envisions being built above the Crosstown Boulevard (I-579) between the U.S. Steel Tower and Mellon Arena.
Jackson, a native of the Pittsburgh area, says he was honored and excited that his thesis was used to revive public interest in the Pennsylvania Maglev initiative. “Part of the reason why I chose this project was because it investigated very powerful concepts concerning the built environment. I feel very strongly that the implementation of maglev in a city with such rich opportunity as Pittsburgh could completely revolutionize our concepts of transportation and urban connection, and set an important precedent for the future of urban building, both domestic and abroad,” says Jackson, who received his master of engineering degree from Penn State this spring.
Pittsburgh and the Baltimore-Washington region have been competing for federal funds for their maglev projects for the past several years. The $3 billion Pennsylvania project has been in development for more than a decade.
For more information on the Pennsylvania High-Speed Maglev Project, visit www.maglevpa.com.
School of Music Forms Own Alumni Group
The School of Music has formed a Music Affiliate Program Group (APG), an alumni organization for graduates of the school. The Music APG is the second such group in the College of Arts and Architecture, formed after the Department of Landscape Architecture found success with its own APG. The Music APG received its official charter from the Arts and Architecture/Performing Arts Alumni Society in April and is now soliciting members.
Music APG Board of Directors
Diane Coffin (’72 B.S. Music Ed.), Secretary
String Specialist, School District of Philadelphia, Wallingford,
Pa.
Matthew Goetz (’01 B.S. Music Ed.)
Music Educator, New Milford Public Schools, New Milford, N.J.
Jay Hertzog (’68 B.S. Music Ed.), Treasurer
Dean, College of Education, Slippery Rock University, Slippery
Rock, Pa.
Lowell D. Knauer (’79 B.M. Organ), Vice President
Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.
Nick Petrella (’90 B.S. Music Ed.), President
Band and Orchestral Education Director, SABIAN Inc., and faculty
member, Oakland University, Pontiac, Mich.
David L. Shotsberger Jr. (’98 M.M. Composition)
Director of Operations, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Cordova,
Tenn.
Molly Weaver (’80 B.S. Music Ed.)
Associate Professor of Music, West Virginia University, Morgantown,
W.V.
Ex Officio
Richard Green, Director, School of Music
Joyce Hoffman, Director of Alumni Relations and Communications, College of Arts and Architecture
Class Notes
Performing Arts
Bob Tinstman (’50 B.S. Arch. Engineering, Blue Band) is this year’s president of the National Sojourners chapter in Austin, Texas. He was also an individual sponsor of the statewide “Texans Helping Texans” program, an initiative of the United Way of Texas that recognizes local United Way chapters and their leaders who are innovative and uniquely effective in helping citizens of their area.
Marianne Pindar (’78 A.A. Arts, Chorus) was recently appointed evening administrator at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa.
David Harris (’82 B.S. Computer Science, Blue Band) is the director of the Raleigh Ringers, a handbell choir based in Raleigh, N.C. In December 2003, the Ringers’ holiday concert was broadcast on more than 120 PBS stations across the United States.
Michael Buchanan (’93 B.A. English, Thespians) is now the business manager for local productions at WGBH-TV in Boston, a PBS affiliate. He works on programs including Greater Boston, Greater Boston Arts, Basic Black, La Plaza and Eye on Education.
Theatre
Patricia Kessler (’59 B.A.) performed in Play On, a farce, and had the lead role of Fannie in Painting Churches by award-winning playwright Tina Howe, both for Curtain Players of Westerville (Ohio). Sadly, Kessler’s son, John, died an accidental death in June 2003.
Dick Bagwell (’62 M.A.) is active in theatre and music at both ends of California. He was recently featured as an actor/ musician in the newest edition of the Christmas Revels, a theatrical celebration of the Winter Solstice that crosses religious and ethnic boundaries. He worked with leading new clown Geoff Hoyle. Other recent activity includes roles with the Pasadena Shakespeare Company, of which his daughter Gillian is the founder and artistic director. Bagwell also creates incidental music and soundscapes for stage works at PiperHQ Studio.
Tony Salome (’71 B.A.) continues to work as an actor in Los Angeles. He has appeared in numerous film, TV, commercial and theatre projects over the past 30 years since moving to California. He is currently in his third season behind the camera as the location manager on the award-winning Fox TV series, 24. His wife, Randon Pool, is a freelance costume designer and his daughter, Meghan, is currently a junior at a performing arts high school in the Los Angeles area, where she is studying musical theatre.
Colleen (Kingdon) Bonniol (’87 B.A.) and her husband, Robert, are partners at MODE Studios Inc. in Seattle and write a semi-monthly column for Entertainment Design Magazine called “On Projection.” In November 2003, they were voted Projection Designers of the Year at the Entertainment Technology Show/Lighting Dimensions International for their work with the Seattle Opera on its groundbreaking production of Parsifal.
After 11 years on the road with The Phantom of the Opera and Evita, several New York Off-Broadway productions, a stint on Guiding Light, and a few independent films, Thomas E. Cunningham (’92 B.A.) has moved to Oklahoma City, where he married Jenna Burrell in April. The two met while Thomas was on tour with Phantom.
Sue Brill (’93 B.A.) recently changed jobs from promotions coordinator at Universal Studios Florida to manager of public relations at the Golf Channel.
Chad Groshart (’93 B.A.) is an associate with Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design in New York. Recently, he served as designer on the MetLife Tower restoration project, a $30 million undertaking that has drawn rave reviews and was featured in the May 2003 issue of Architectural Record.
Paul Graham (’96 M.F.A.) left the United States in August 2003 to spend a year in Australia touring with Cirque du Soleil’s production of Quidam as the assistant technical director.
In December 2003, the Broad Horizons Theatre Company in New York, whose artistic director is W. Lewis Magruder (’96 M.F.A.), presented Lowell Manfull’s adaptation of Dickens’ Cricket on the Hearth. Magruder also reports that Broad Horizons has wrapped up its first full semester of “a playground for actors,” the company’s weekly acting studio. For more information, visit Broad Horizons’ recently redesigned Web site at www.bhorizons.org.
