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Chicago Chapter of the Association of Graduates
Latest News from the President
Please excuse my delay at
following up on the last meeting in June. We had a solid turn out of about 20
people or so at Emmett's Ale House in Downers Grove for what was a very
good summer meeting. I was very pleased
at the ideas that came out of the meeting and will be following up with the
group in other e-mail messages to coordinate on a regular basis with regard to
topics such as a monthly downtown meeting for all grads in the city during the
work week.
First things first. The
board of directors elections are opening up and Chris Reynolds from Chicago is
going to be running for one of the slots. Attached to this message is Chris's
petition, which has to be signed by 25 grads to place his name on the
ballot. I plan on signing the petition and sending it back to the AOG
nominating committee because Chris is exactly the type of graduate that the
board of directors needs to reach out and bring in. I have talked to Chris at
length on several occasions over the issues that are confronting the Academy and
the Association of Graduates. I've enclosed
Chris's nomination package which details his qualifications.
I encourage all of you to sign Chris's
Petition for Board Member and return it either to him or to the Association of
Graduates Nominating Committee. I would be happy to have a member of the board
from the Chicago area. By the way, the elections will be next
spring.
We had an extremely diverse
group in terms of class years at the meeting, ranging from the class of 1964 all
the way through the class of 2003. Again, I want to thank the people who took
the time to come to the meeting. I think we all had a great time listening to
each other and, at least in my case, refreshing my recollection of just how good
it is to be around people with whom I share such a fundamental bond and
experience.
Please mark your calendars
for the following dates:
July 22 -- the Gary Sinese/Lt.
Dan Band Concert at Cantigny (
http://www.mccormicktribune.org/cantigny/) in
Wheaton. Tickets are $20 apiece
and I will get back to you with more
information on a rallying point for the concert. You can buy the tickets
on-line through the OSOTIL website (www.osotil.org) or by calling
800-594-TIXX (8499).
Air Force/Navy -- this game is
scheduled for Saturday, October 7, with a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. Along with the
Navy alumni guys, I will be looking for a site to watch the game. Please plan
on making this event. The Navy contingent
is always large, loud and lucky--the last
two games I've watched here, they've won. Anyone with suggestions as to where
they would like to see the game, please let me know.
Air Force/Army -- this game is
a Friday night affair, November 3, at 7:00
p.m. Again, we'll try to find a suitable venue, but if you have any ideas,
please let me know. I will plan a business meeting in conjunction with one or
both of these games.
I should be getting notice
about the Tri-Service Academy Golf Tournament which is normally the first week
in August. As soon as I have information on that, I will distribute it. You
will also continue to receive updates from me on the networking dinners and breakfasts as they are scheduled.
The pace of those events slows down for the months of July and
August.
I would like to set up a
social event, other than golf, and am
testing the waters with the West Point and Annapolis folks to see about
holding a Service Academy Shoot Out (skeet/trap/sporting clays) at the Deer
Creek Hunt Club in Michigan some time in the fall. I need some measure of interest on something
like this, so if people want to
participate, please let me know.
The House Government Reform
Committee/Subcommittee on National Security is holding a series of hearings on
the Academy's sexual assault scandal and sexual violence against women in the
military. Although I thought we had put the Zoo's situation to bed more than a
year ago, it has reared its ugly head as several Congressmen on the Subcommittee
are in tough reelection fights and need to establish some notoriety. See the report of
the first round of hearings here: http://reform.house.gov/NSETIR/Hearings/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=46158.
I have written a letter to the head of the Subcommittee, Christopher
Shays from Connecticut. I'll be happy to forward a copy of that letter to any
of you who want to see it, and I encourage you to write Congressman Shays and
the Subcommittee directly, either by e-mail or regular mail, giving them your
thoughts on the issue. My take, essentially, was that I wanted the Subcommittee
to examine the investigative reports Academy officials had at the time they had
to make decisions concerning these cases. Having looked at most of those
reports myself, I suspect the Committee will reach the same conclusions that the
Air Force General Counsel did when she noted three years ago that there was no
systematic pattern of neglect or culture of sexual assault at the Academy.
In preparation for the next
business meeting, I would like to have a list of topics people would like to see
addressed, as well as anyone who is interested in volunteering as a speaker to
talk about some interesting aspect of their business. Bob Denaro of NavTec and Jim Piper of Stanton Chase have
kindly volunteered to address us as they are able, but I would also like to hear
from other people who might be interested in talking about certain aspects of
their business. In addition, I would like some thoughts regarding charitable
projects or civic action projects that we can undertake here in the Chicago
area. The Gary Sinese Concert is one such
event, but I would like to see if we are able to set up something that we can
call our own down the road.
Finally, I would like to
canvass the interest for the people who
work in the downtown Chicago area to get together on a bi-monthly or monthly
basis for lunch or a late afternoon sit-down session. Please let me know if
you're interested in such a meeting, and if you have friends who might be
interested, please pass the word to them
as well.
I hope the summer is going well for
everyone and to see many of you at
Cantigny on July 22.
Best
regards.
-- Lou Michels
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