Alumni Center Receives $2.7 Million Donation
"Radar" Love
Costco Partners With SDSU Alumni

What Alumni Want
BAN Sponsors Networking Event
20/30s Homecoming Event

Chapter News
Arts & Letters Hosts Grand Opening

Alumni Center Receives $2.7 Million Donation
Friendship Inspires Major Gift for New Campus Facility

They travel together, attend sporting events together, and now SDSU alumni Jack Goodall, Leon Parma, and Bob Payne are fulfilling a shared vision by together donating $2.7 million to help build a new home for San Diego State University's alumni. Their gift is a naming opportunity for a planned $11 million SDSU Alumni Center to be built on campus.

“It's critically important to have an alumni center on campus as a drawing card to get people reenergized about the school,” says Goodall ('60) former president, CEO and retired board chairman of Jack in the Box, Inc. “What we're trying to do is develop something here on campus that will get more people interested in the school and get them back to the school.”

The trio's gift brings to $8 million the amount already raised for the alumni center to be built along 55th Street between the Aztec Athletics Center and the SDSU Sports Deck. The 35,000-square-foot facility will feature meeting and social gathering spaces, a multi-purpose outdoor pavilion overlooking athletic fields and Tony Gwynn Stadium, and a great hall/ballroom facility with space for up to 260 guests.

Artist rendering: SDSU Alumni Center

“...a gathering place...”

“I think it's going to be a gathering place that helps people broaden their sphere of interest and their acquaintances,” says Parma ('51), a former Aztecs quarterback who led the football team to its first post-World War II conference title. He currently is chairman of Parma Management Co. and recently retired as chairman of the board for La Jolla Capital, Inc., a holding company for Coast Distributing Co.

The three good friends, who attended SDSU at different times, share a love of sports. “And that was brought together by the fact that we were all three minority owners of the San Diego Padres in the early ‘90s,” explains Payne ('55), who is president and CEO of Multi-Ventures, Inc., and owner of the Hanalei Hotel.

Gathered for a photo shoot to publicize the announcement of their gift, the three shared stories of their adventures on the road with the Padres. “We'd take our wives with us and we had such a great time together,” remembers Parma. “When we sold the ball club in '94 or '95, we said, 'You know, we had such a good time traveling, let's do it some more.'”

Jack Goodall ('60)

Each year the friends take a trip. “We've gone abroad. We've traveled the United States,” says Parma. “Never a bad word spoken in 15, 16 years. Never a 'Why'd you do that?' - a lot of kidding,” he chuckles.

“It's important to give back.”

Parma, Payne, and Goodall also compare experiences of their time at San Diego State, where all three are founding members of The Campanile Foundation, the university's nonprofit philanthropic organization.

Leon Parma ('51)

“We've been very fortunate to have had an education here at San Diego State,” says Goodall, explaining the friends' continuing involvement with SDSU and their propensity for philanthropy. “All of us feel that without the beginning we had here at San Diego State we wouldn't have been able to achieve what we have in life and I think that we all feel it's important to give back, not just to the school, but to the community.”

“We all made our money here in San Diego and as a result of that I think it's an opportunity for payback,” echoes Payne. “Payback is important because you have to develop a system of philanthropy to justify the success that you have.”

Bob Payne ('55)

SDSU Alumni Association Executive Director Jim Herrick says his organization is grateful the three friends generously share their success with the Alumni Association, the university, and the community. “These individuals demonstrate the very best of what Aztec alumni and SDSU represent,” he says.

“Remember the education you got here...”

The three, all lifetime members of the Alumni Association, are working with the university to come up with a name for the new alumni center. In the meantime, they challenge other SDSU graduates to help come up with the remaining $3 million to complete the new facility.

“Be active. Be a participant,” directs Parma, with a flash of the take-charge Aztec quarterback that, to this day, his personality occasionally reveals. “Don't sit back. Right now we have an alumni center that needs assistance.”

“It's your obligation to support the university when you can afford to do so.” asserts Payne. “Remember the education you got here and how it set the path for your future.”

“Individuals need to get involved in the school to continue to build for the future and to improve on what is already a terrific product here,” explains Goodall. “That's what we're hoping to do.”

For more information on the Alumni Center Campaign, visit http://alumnicenter.sdsu.edu.

"Radar" Love
Dedication to SDSU Wins Aztec Spirit Award

Dennis "Radar" Brown at Midnight Madness.

Ask Dennis Brown about his favorite Aztec sport or who his favorite Aztec coach or student athlete is and the 46-year-old Athletic Department equipment assistant will tell you he doesn't have one. “I just like being around here in athletics and working with the athletes and that kind of thing,” he says.

Brown is very diplomatic, but if you press him he'll cop to being particularly excited when NFL standout Marshall Faulk returns for a visit. If you persist on the question of coaches, “Tony (Gwynn) and I have a great relationship from working down there and helping with (the baseball team) – that kind of thing,” he admits.

In talking with Brown, two things soon become apparent. One is that he never seems to have a bad word for anybody. The other is that he has a penchant for peppering his speech with the phrase, “that kind of thing.”

“I don't play favorites or anything like that,” Brown explains, adding that he simply enjoys working with hundreds of student athletes, some of whom could soon be the next big name in professional sports. “That would be great for me to be able to call (an Aztec who becomes a pro) and say, 'Hey, is there any way I might be able to get a ticket from you for a game?' You know, that kind of thing,” Brown jokes.

“Everybody knows Radar.”

In fact, Brown's good nature and dedication to his job have made him something of a legendary figure in Aztec athletic circles. On the west side of campus, where he spends all hours attending to the needs of coaches and student athletes, he is known affectionately as “Radar,” after the unassuming and preternaturally efficient Corporal Walter O'Reilly in the 1970's-era hit movie and television series, “M*A*S*H.” In addition to some of the character's mannerisms, Brown bears a physical resemblance to actor Gary Burghoff, who starred in the role.

“Everybody who has ever worked in the athletic department knows Radar,” says Bob Bingham ('91), a former athletic department employee who has known Brown for 18 years. “Radar is the hardest-working guy in athletics. He's always got a smile on his face and he's everywhere.”

Dennis "Radar" Brown managing equipment.

“I've known Radar since 1989 and he has been as loyal an employee and Aztec as San Diego State, it's not a reach for me to say, has ever had,” says SDSU women's basketball coach, Beth Burns. “He bleeds red and black.”

Burns describes Brown as a tireless worker who is relentlessly upbeat. “Radar does anything humanly possible that he is capable of doing to help make your day better,” she says. “If that means going the extra mile in any capacity, he'll do that.”

That extra effort is the reason the SDSU Alumni Association will present Brown with this year's Aztec Spirit Award, “given,” as it is inscribed, “in gratitude for dedication to SDSU pride and the inspiration of Aztec spirit.” Brown will receive it during a ceremony at SDSU's homecoming football game October 28.

“A special person.”

He's certain to be there. Brown hasn't missed an Aztecs home football game in more than 20 years. Although the streak sounds impressive, he says it's just part of his job to be present on game days, making sure everything is in order for the players, coaches, and referees.

“The idea of me not missing a home game – I really hadn't thought of that,” Brown reflects. “I never really take that much sick leave time from the university. I could take a two-year sabbatical with (the hours) I've got and still not use up all the (sick leave) time that I have available right now.”

“If Radar ever got overtime I think it might bankrupt the university,” laughs Bingham. “He'll be at a football game until 11 o'clock in the evening and then he'll be at someone's practice at 6:30 the next morning. The guy is just dedicated.”

And not just to football. “He's loyal,” basketball coach Burns agrees. “He's at every game. He gets our lockers ready. He gets (players') gear in their lockers. Gets them dressed out. He waits ‘til we're all gone. I think it takes a special kind of person to do that and without question Radar is a special person.”

“I enjoy being down there at all the games,” Brown explains. “I like to be able to go over and see the players, check in, make sure that they're okay and don't need anything – that kind of thing.”

“A psychological blanket.”

Brown says he got his nickname back in 1975 when, as a student at Crawford High School, he helped out as an Aztec ball boy. “I got the nickname Radar through Ben Ricardo ('76), who was a field goal kicker at the time,” Brown remembers. “He just thought that I looked like Radar from 'M*A*S*H,' so he called me Radar.”

“Looked like him, talked like him, and you could go to him for anything and Radar could take care of it,” says Ricardo, who played 11 seasons in the NFL and now works as a broadcaster and stand-up comedian. “It's almost like a psychological blanket that you have and Radar has been that for so many guys at San Diego State.”

Dennis "Radar" Brown at Peterson Gym.

Ricardo has maintained contact with Brown since the day more than 30 years ago he invited him over the fence at the practice field to hold balls for kicking practice. “I email him every day,” says Ricardo, who helped Brown land a position with the Chargers where he performs duties similar to those on his job at SDSU.

“Radar's the kind of guy, I think, with each and every day he just appreciates life,” Ricardo reflects. “How often do you find in life someone who's so happy to do what he does for a living? He's been one of those guys who's been an institution. They may change the mascots of the Aztecs, but Radar remains the same. He's one of those guys who makes everybody feel special.”

“That's what he does. He helps all of us do what we have to do and he does it with a smile,” explains Burns. “His whole adult life that I've known him has been about service for others and how can you not like someone like that?”

How, indeed. Although he thinks of himself as just doing his job, it's the way he goes about it that endears Dennis Brown to so many on Montezuma Mesa. The man they know as Radar truly exemplifies the very best qualities of Aztec spirit:

Loyalty.

Commitment.

Selflessness.

That kind of thing.

Register for Homecoming events online at www.sdsualumni.org/homecoming.htm.

Costco Partners With SDSU Alumni
Warehouse Club Offers Deal for New Members

Costco Wholesale has become the latest partner to offer a benefit to SDSU Alumni Association members. Starting later this month, Alumni Association members who become new Costco members will receive a $10 Costco Cash Card good at any location, on costco.com and at any Costco Gas Station.

“We're thrilled to have Costco as a partner,” said Alumni Association Associate Director Tammy Blackburn, “especially when you consider that the company's founder is one of our alums.”

San Diego State alumnus Jim Sinegal is founder and CEO of the Issaquah, Washington-based company. “We're so pleased we have this opportunity to bring additional Costco quality and value to the alumni of my alma mater. Smart graduates should also be smart shoppers,” Sinegal said in a released statement.

Costco president and CEO Jim Sinegal

“We're just beginning to reach out.”

Costco Director of Media Services and Affinity Marketing, JoDee Seneker, said the SDSU Alumni Association is one of a handful of alumni organizations partnering with the warehouse giant to offer the deal to members. “This program as a whole is very new,” she explained. “We're just beginning to reach out to affinity groups.”

Seneker says college graduates are a natural demographic for a company like Costco, a membership warehouse club with more than 490 locations worldwide and 49 million members. “They are more educated, higher income, and more people have computers,” she said, pointing out that more of the company's sales are being made through its Web site, costco.com.

As Blackburn explained the deal, SDSU Alumni Association members will be able to go onto the organization's website and use their membership identification number to download a special Costco membership application. Once they complete the application, they can take it to any Costco location to join and receive the Costco Cash Card.

“It's just another way to make sure our Alumni Association members always get the best deal,” said Blackburn. “That's what we're always looking for. That's why we're here.”

War Memorial Ceremony
Location: Aztec Green, SDSU Campus
Time: 9:30 a.m.
For information: Visit the Homecoming Web page
Contact: SDSU Alumni Association at alumni@sdsu.edu
_

Decade Reunion Reception
Location: Montezuma Hall, Aztec Center, SDSU Campus
Time: 11 a.m.
For information: Visit the Homecoming Web page
Contact: SDSU Alumni Association at alumni@sdsu.edu
_

Los Aztecas Tailgate
Location: Qualcomm Stadium
Time: 2 p.m.
For information: Visit the Los Aztecas Web page
Contact: Albert Cuevas at acuevas13@hotmail.com
_

What Alumni Want
Students, Association Learn From Class Survey

What's more important to you; a free ticket to a football tailgate party, special discounts on goods and services, or giving something back to the institution where you received your education? If you're a San Diego State University graduate, how you answer very often depends on your age or the years during which you attended SDSU.

With more than 200,000 living alumni to try to engage, staff members at the SDSU Alumni Association are faced with the challenge of tailoring benefits, communications and operations to a vast array of tastes, wants and needs. That's why guesswork is eliminated and a more scientific approach is employed.

“Why would they join? Why would they not join?”

“We want to serve our alumni in the best way we possibly can,” says SDSU Alumni Association Associate Director Tammy Blackburn ('94, '01), “so we ask them very directly about their expectations of our organization. Why would they join? Why would they not join? What, specifically, do they want?”

This fall some answers will be forthcoming in a survey of younger alumni conducted in conjunction with a class in SDSU's School of Communication. Students in the class – Communications 581: Public Relations Research Methods – are all upper division public relations majors learning how to use social science research methods in the “real world” environment. They learn the necessary skills to conduct a comprehensive research study and then use them to gather and analyze data. Their “client,” in this case, is the Alumni Association.

“This is a great opportunity for everyone involved,” explains instructor R.D. Williams ('87), who is also a member of the Alumni Association's board of directors. “The students gain valuable skills and practical experience and the Alumni Association gets good insight into the knowledge, attitudes and unique interests of younger alumni.”

“… a clearer picture.”

Over the next few weeks, online surveys will go out to a select group of alumni who graduated during the past 10 years, but who have never belonged to the SDSU Alumni Association. They will be asked a variety of questions designed to determine the relevance or appeal of various Alumni Association benefits and potential programs and offerings.

“We want to know why they have not yet joined,” explains Blackburn. “Is it because we don't offer what they want or need or is it as simple as they just don't know what we have to offer because we're not communicating it effectively? The survey will help to paint a clearer picture.”

Blackburn says the Alumni Association has used surveys before with specific groups of alumni, “but we really need to hear the voices of our graduates from the past decade,” she says. “Attitudes change. The college experience here at SDSU has changed. These things shape the perspectives of graduates toward the institution and this organization.”

SDSU senior and Student Alumni Association president Natalie Gomez

Age differences play an important role in perceptions, too. Younger alumni looking to establish themselves in careers, for example, may place a higher emphasis on career services or networking opportunities than, say, alumni who are closer to retirement age, Blackburn explains. “This is what the survey will nail down for us,” she says.

“...a personal stake…”

SDSU senior Natalie Gomez, 21, is one of the 36 students in the class conducting the survey. The communications major with an emphasis in public relations is also president of SDSU's Student Alumni Association. For her, the survey's rewards are threefold; she's gaining applicable career skills, securing significant information to help an organization to which she belongs, and improving the benefits she'll enjoy as an Alumni Association member for years to come.

“Working with the Alumni Association I'm used to hearing, 'here's what we do and here's how we need to do it,'” says Gomez. “Now we're going to be telling the Alumni Association, ‘maybe you should try this' or 'here's what we think you should be doing.' Knowing we can have an impact is very exciting for me.”

Gomez says she's fascinated by the prospect of designing effective questions for the survey. “What makes a good question? What generates the most interest? How can we reach people,” she enthuses. “You get to see what makes a survey work and how the information you gather and interpret can help your client. That's important in PR and developing these skills is very important to me.”

“We're putting in the work right now that's not only going to benefit us, but future students who'll be graduating, so we feel like we have more of a personal stake in the project,” Gomez explains. “I'm going to be involved with SDSU alumni for the rest of my life so my approach here is ‘let's make it better.'”

But making the Alumni Association even better will depend on the response the students get to their surveys. “I hope our alums who receive this survey will take the time to give it some serious thought,” says Blackburn. “Their input is absolutely critical.”

For her part, Gomez is excited about the survey's prospects. “I think we're going to get some really good answers,” she speculates. “I think we can really make a difference and really try to shift where the Alumni Association is going with young alums.”

Stay connected for life. Join the SDSU Alumni Association at www.sdsualumni.org/memberships.htm.

BAN Sponsors Networking Event
"Reconnecting Minds That Move the World"

The SDSU Business Alumni Network (BAN), in partnership with Jobing.com, is sponsoring an evening of facilitated networking October 24 from 5:30 – 8 p.m. at The Rooftop at Park Manor, 525 Spruce Street in San Diego. “Reconnecting Minds that Move the World” will feature special guest remarks by College of Business Administration Associate Dean Jim Lackritz. The cost for those who RSVP is $20 for BAN members, SDSUAA members, students and staff. Community members pay $25. The cost is $30 at the door.

RSVP at http://chapters.sdsu.edu/business or call (619) 594-2586. For more information, email alumnichapters@sdsu.edu or contact Katie Rogow at (858) 453-7100.

20/30s Homecoming Event
Gathering Connects Young Alumni

What better way to spend an afternoon than to reconnect with friends at the 20/30s table at the Homecoming pre-game event at 3 p.m. on October 28 at Qualcomm Stadium! Look for the 20/30s crew handing out raffle tickets and VIP stickers to specially selected young alumni.

Be sure to visit the '90s and '00s tables under the alumni tent for your complimentary gift bag and follow our welcome team to enjoy food and beverages and to see some familiar faces. As a free benefit with your Alumni membership, SDSU Alumni 20/30s' goal is to keep young alumni throughout San Diego County connected. Numerous events each year, including the signature Networking Mixer events, give grads up to age 40 a way to have fun while mingling with other alumni.

Check out www.sdsualumni.org/2030s for a list of upcoming events. See you at the tailgate!

Arts & Letters Hosts Grand Opening
ALAC Finds "A Focus" in New Building

Robin Luby ('61) sat and smiled. “You look at that arch and it's just welcoming you in,” she marveled. She couldn't take her eyes off the expansive entryway to the new building now housing San Diego State University's College of Arts and Letters.

New College of Arts & Letters building

Standing six stories high atop a bluff near the northwest corner of campus, the state-funded, $26.8 million structure has been operational since faculty and staff moved in during August, but the facility's official grand opening was held October 3 before a crowd of campus and community dignitaries. Luby, the Arts and Letters Alumni Chapter (ALAC) president, was among them.

“The whole, big building is ours.”

“When I started on this campus in 1957, the newest building was the social science building,” remembered the former English major. “It was where most of the English classes were until some of the newer buildings started accepting some of us exiles, giving us little homes and closets and such. This is the first time that the whole, big building is ours.”

“Big” is an understatement. The 109,000 square-foot edifice looming above Interstate 8 is now the largest classroom building on campus. It houses four lecture rooms, two computer labs and a 500-seat auditorium, bringing under one roof the college's 19 academic departments, as well as more than a dozen centers and institutes, including three nationally-funded Title VI centers.

“San Diego State has come so far.”

“It's just so fabulous,” exclaimed ALAC board member Suzanne Johnson ('56). “Lots of us older alumni, we went to classes in Quonset huts and that kind of thing. There was no grand and glorious building like this.”

Johnson works in the building as a volunteer. She says the facility is emblematic of her alma mater's transformation. “I think it's kind of evident that San Diego State has come so far and it's truly a great university,” she observed. “We're a very powerful institution. It's not the commuter college it was when some of us first started here.”

(l to r) San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, SDSU President Dr. Stephen L. Weber, Congressman Bob Filner, College of Arts & Letters Dean Paul Wong at October 3rd ribbon cutting ceremony.

Both she and Luby hope the facility will encourage SDSU's CAL alumni to reconnect with the university, perhaps as members of their alumni chapter. “The new building offers a focus,” Luby explained. “People are bound to be aware that it represents something we've hoped for for a very, very long time and it's a chance for them to come back and explore, meet people and find their way into membership.”

Luby says she has scouted possible chapter meeting sites in the building. “We've already noticed there are places,” she said, pointing to an upper-floor balcony with patio umbrellas peeking over the edge. “You can have a reception and look at the view of the campus or on the other side look at the view of the area. It's really gorgeous up there.”

From the breathless exclamations and beaming expressions of the hundreds of alumni, faculty, university officials and community members who attended the grand opening, the new building is a hit. Luby said she was thrilled to have been a part of it all.

“It's absolutely marvelous,” she said. “I can't compare it to anything, but to me certainly it's far better than the Padres winning the pennant or the Chargers going to the (Super Bowl). To me this is the essence of what it is that school is all about - education. The structure is making it possible now for a lot of people to come together and it's fun to look at the new building just as a place to be.”

A place to be, no doubt. State-of-the-art classrooms. Green technology. Faculty and staff parking right next door. Are there any drawbacks to this place at all? Luby pondered a moment before answering. “I haven't found my way around it all yet.”

For more information on the Arts & Letters Alumni Chapter, visit http://chapters.sdsu.edu/cal.

Mailing Address:
San Diego State University Alumni Association
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-1690