BA '72
I had a very good education in my field: political science. I developed a close relationship with one professor, Henry Pachter, who taught Soviet foreign policy. He was a refugee from Nazism with the broad knowledge and interests of the European intellectuals of his generation. His political orientation was social democratic, but he was a fierce opponent of Communism. I had the privilege of meeting with him once a week for three semesters as he supervised my work on a senior honors thesis dealing with Soviet strategy in the Third World. Our conversations included the philosophy of history, the evolution of modern political ideas, European diplomatic history, and even the role of pop culture in society. There's a saying that the best possible education would be you and Socrates conversing while sitting opposite on a log. For me, the equivalent was Henry and I chatting in his office in Wagner Hall. The broad grounding in history and analytic thinking that I gained from him greatly influenced my career as an international affairs analyst. Another very important part of my CCNY experience was working on the undergraduate newspaper, The Campus, of which I eventually became editor-in-chief. I helped to cover the campus protests and shutdowns of '69 and '70 as well as the start of the Open Admissions program. I had other memorable experiences such as interviewing Ali McGraw when she filmed the Harvard Law graduation scene in Love Story at the Great Hall and covering the arrest of the legendary Raymond the Bagelman for unlawful vending. I learned the techniques of effective writing and editing, which I would put to use throughout my career. I am particularly grateful to one of my first editors, Lou Lumenick, for mentoring me in the craft of journalism. The Campus was a home base and something of a family. When my thoughts wander back to my undergraduate days, they almost always end up happily at the paper's lively and pleasantly shabby office in the old Finley Center.