NEWSLETTER. Union Christian College Alumni Association of North America (A Tax-exempted Non-profit Charitable Organization)

Transcription

1 Advisory Board Board of Directors Union Christian College Alumni Association of North America (A Tax-exempted Non-profit Charitable Organization) Dr. A. M. Chacko, UCC Manager Dr. Thomas Philip, UCC Principal Dr. Benny Cherian, UCC Bursar Lal Varghese, Esq., Legal Advisor Dr. K. C. Chacko, Advisor Dr. K. M. Koshy, Advisor Dr. Kamakshi Krishnan, Advisor Dr. Thara K. Simon, Advisor NEWSLETTER Dr. Simon Thomas, President Dr. Pothen Varughese, Vice President Mr. Thomas Mathew, Secretary Dr. Thomas P. Mathew, Treasurer Dr. James Jacob, Member Mr. George P. Kurien, Member Mr. Alex Mathew, Member Mr. Sankara I. Ramaswamy, Member Dr. M. G. Sarngadharan, Member Mr. George Varghese, Member Volume III May, 2012 Number 1 From the Editor s Desk. The President s Message Dear UCC Alumni and Friends: It gives me great pleasure to type in a few words in this space, in spite of my pathetically low typing speed of 600 wpm (words per month!) was admittedly a great year for our Association, thanks to its membership. I'm fully aware that many people will be talking about our various achievements during the past year in this issue of the Newsletter which include, among others, our Endowment which, as you probably know by now, got off to a great start. We hit the ground running. Dr. James (Jim) Jacob has done a splendid job of directing the course of UCCAANA as our President for over four years for which all of us who worked with him are forever in his debt. Respecting his desire for a well-deserved break after such long service, we elected the former Vice-President, Dr. Simon Thomas, as our President for the current year. I wish Simon all the very best during the coming year (years?!), along with the promise that we will --- I believe I can speak for the rest of the Board as well --- work closely with him in making the year 2012 even a more fruitful and action-filled year. We began 2012 well. UCCAANA organized a cruise which took the cruisers to two ports in Mexico. If I say it was thoroughly enjoyable, it would be an understatement. Right in the middle of all the fun and games which included the daily table tennis singles and doubles games and the inevitable "56" (If you do not know what is 56, I dare say you don't know what you are missing!), and the infinite variety (they looked infinite to me!) of culinary delights which were to be found on practically every deck of the ship (I used the word boat in front of one of the senior officers of the cruise, and he gave me a dirty look!), we also managed to conduct some UCCAANA business one day, if you can at all believe it! We informally discussed the possibility of arranging a Fall get-together in or around the Baltimore-Washington area this year which should attract a large enough crowd from the surrounding areas. A back of the envelope census showed over 25 UCC Alumni households within 200 miles of Baltimore. If I failed to describe the cruise well enough, consider this: I had taken a book to read while on the cruise, but unlike other cruises that I had been on, I found the unopened book at the bottom of my suit case when I unpacked! I had better stop here before this article runs into another page, because I know many people do not read anything over a page (legendary example: Ronald Reagan!). So here's my usual sign-off line which contains a humble request to all the readers: Participate in the Life of UCCAANA. --- George P. Kurien As the newly elected President of the Union Christian College Alumni Association of North America (UCCAANA) it is my pleasure to write this short column for the Newsletter. I do consider it a privilege and an honor to be elected to this position. In my new role, evidently I do tacitly assume the continued support and team effort from the new Board, Advisors, UCC management and the whole alumni family. We, as a team, do look forward to the continued growth of UCCAANA and to build on our relationship with UC College. The baton has been passed onto me by Dr. James Jacob, the past President. The growth of UCCAANA and its activities in recent years have undoubtedly been thanks to the splendid leadership of Dr. Jacob. The AANA community as a whole, UCC and I personally, owe our deep debt of gratitude to Dr. Jacob for all that he has done for UCCANA s growth. I am pleased to note that he has graciously consented to continue serving on the Board and growing the association. While most of the Board members have been re-elected, to their prior roles, I welcome Dr. Pothen Varughese to his new role of Vice President. Dr. Varughese is a veteran academician and University administrator whose expertise will also be leveraged by UCC. On behalf of the Board, I also want to thank Mrs. Fatima Tharakandath who for family reasons, has stepped down from the Board with the expectation to resume a role in the future. As we look ahead to the future, we as an association are steadfast in our mission and consistent in our strategies. Though oft repeated (lest we should forget!), our mission continues to be (i) to provide alumni and friends of UCC in North America a forum for networking and mutual emotional and intellectual enrichment and (ii) to provide the College with encouragement and support for its renewal and growth in contemporary and global context. (Continued following page, column 2) 1

2 UCCAANA Elects Board of Directors and Advisory Board for 2012 UCCAANA elected its Board of Directors and Advisers for the year 2012 during its General Body meeting that met in cyberspace on January 26. The following are the Members of the Board with their respective functions, addresses, and personal phone numbers. They may be contacted for any assistance and/or further information concerning the Association. Dr. Simon Thomas (President) Dr. Pothen Varughese (Vice President) Mr. Thomas Mathew (NJ) (Secretary) Dr. Thomas P. Mathew (OH) (Treasurer) Dr. James Jacob (Member) Mr. George P. Kurien (Member/Editor of Newsletter) Mr. Alex Mathew (Member) Mr. Sankara I. Ramaswamy (Member) Dr. M. G. Sarngadharan (Member) Mr. George Varghese (Member) And here are the Members of the Advisory Board: Dr. A. M. Chacko (UCC Manager) Dr. Thomas Philip (UCC Principal) Phone: (91) Dr. Benny Cherian (UCC Bursar) Lal Varghese, Esq. (Legal Advisor) Dr. K. C. Chacko, Advisor Dr. K. M. Koshy (Advisor) Dr. Kamakshi Krishnan (Advisor) Dr. Thara K.Simon (Advisor) The President s Message (Cont d from previous page) Our expectation for UCCAANA is to grow in size as a connected, multigenerational alumni association seeking to share the UCC heritage and experiences. Knowing that we all have the critical need to belong, as an immigrant community in N. America, I believe that, our heritage and bond to UCC can bring us together. Sharing our life experiences will add to a richer and joyous life to all. A couple of my recent experiences will surely vouch for my feelings of elation. I met face to face with some Board members for the very first time ever although we all had left UCC half a century ago. Our meeting was like a reunion of long lost brothers; we seemed to know each other so very well, sharing our laughter and joy. Also through the UCCAANA, I reconnected with two other dear friends in Canada who were in UCC at the same time as I. After all those years we were connected again and it was sheer joy to reminisce the old days and share notes from our journey hitherto. Such experience alone must be compelling reason (with so many more) to attract new members to the organization. I hope we can grow as an association for a fulfilling journey into the future. It is too prosaic to say that UCC must have been good to all of us and have given us something special; our values and heritage and a wonderful UCC education that led us here. We are obliged to give something back to the college that shaped our lives. The association is one of the best ways to channel such gifts to the alma mater. We already have established an Educational Endowment, the proceeds from which were given as scholarships to 14 students in December The plan is to grow the endowment in the coming years to broaden the range of our gifts of thanks to UCC. Collectively we can grow the association into a vibrant organization. It is your association, it is our association. Let us make it what we all would like it to be. Opportunities are enormous, beyond being just a social network. Please join hands. Dr. Simon Thomas President simonthomas@cox.net UCCAANA Membership Application Form A copy of the Association Membership form is included on page 14 of this Newsletter. Readers/members are requested to please spread the word, and forward the membership form to alumni who may not know about our existence. 2

3 (The following article was forwarded to our Newsletter by the former President, Dr. James Jacob, and is herein reproduced for the benefit of our readers. Editor) 3

4 From the Ledgers. by Dr. Thomas P. Mathew, Treasurer I am very happy to report that we had more financial activities in 2011 to support the needy students at U C College. Alumni and friends from USA and Canada were very generous in donating $23, for the UCCAANA Educational Endowment, which we established in June Interest from the Endowment was used to award scholarships. On January 9 th, Dr. and Mrs. Sarngadharan and I were able to present scholarships to 14 students from all the departments in a special meeting at Varkey Memorial Hall at UCC. We are in the process of a 5-year plan to raise One Hundred Thousand Dollars from one hundred alumni with a donation of $ per year for the Educational Endowment. There are so many poor and needy students at UCC. We have a responsibility to assist the less fortunate. Whoever is kind to the needy, honors God. So please be kind and make a generous donation to UCCAANA to help these needy students. All donations to UCCAANA are tax deductible. We will send the donor a receipt. UCCAANA was very happy to send the letter openers and 2012 calendars to all UCCAAANA members. If you need extra for friends and/or other alumni, please let me know. Please ask the alumni to register the membership with UCCAANA through our website or the form attached at the end of this Newsletter). Furthermore, I am very pleased to report to all of you that we were able to visit Kerala in Dec/ Jan. My family and I visited UCC on Dec. 30th and had a meeting with Dr. A M Chacko, Dr. Thomas Philip, Dr. David Saj Mathew, and Dr. Thara Simon. Also, Mr. Abdul Hakeem, I. A. S. (UCC alumnus) joined the meeting as he came from Calicut to meet me. We had a good meeting and three items were discussed. 1. The Principal talked about getting some financial help to improve the circulation of library books, like bar coding all the books etc. At present if a student asks for a book, someone has to go to the shelf and look for the book. The present computer system won't show whether the book is in or is checked out. UCC will not get any grants to update this. Please see the attached proposal from the Principal. Later the Principal, Dr. Thomas Philip and the Bursar, Dr. Benny Cherian gave me a tour of the library. The library looks in bad shape. They are planning to add more space to the present library building. They have received UGC grants for that. They would like to get a donation of about Six Thousand Dollars, so that they can hire three professionals to update all the books in 3 months time. 2. Dr. David Saj Mathew is the Secretary of U C College Old Students' Association. He suggested that we both need to share activities and plans about our associations. I agreed with him and plans would be put in place. 3. I asked them to let us know when they publish the College Newsletter, so that our Secretary can send a brief report to publish in the Newsletter. They agreed to inform us about it. Also, I shared with them that this way we will get some more publicity and can attract more alumni. On January 8 th, I attended the Sunday evening chapel service and gave the sermon. On Monday, Jan. 9th I met with B.A. final, MA 1st and 2nd year students from the Psychology Dept. We had a good session. Then I met with the Psychology staff and discussed with them about starting a counseling psychology concentration program. They already have a clinical psychology concentration program. UCC's M. A. Psychology Program was regularized this year. Kerala has the highest literacy rate in all of India. At the same time Kerala is in the front for suicide, alcoholism and divorce. Per my request a Psychologist (UCC Alumnus and old friend) from Kakkanad Mental Hospital joined me for these sessions. Also, I met with Kolencherry Medical College Secretary (UCC alumnus and old friend) and discussed with him about UCC psychology students doing internship there. My brother-in-law is the Vice principal there, and I connected him with the Head of the Dept. of Psychology at UCC. I am very glad that I was able to assist them. In the afternoon they arranged a meeting to distribute the UCCAANA Educational Endowment Scholarships. To my pleasant surprise Dr. & Mrs. Sarngadharan arrived at the college an hour earlier to see Chacko Sir. So they also joined in the meeting and distributed the scholarships to students from all the departments. There was a good turn out and UCCAANA was recognized for its generosity. They asked me to convey their warm regards to all the alumni in USA and Canada. 4

5 Digital Thought Device By Elsy Satheesan What if one could turn thoughts on and off As with an electric switch? But thoughts always stay tuned in Refusing to be turned off! One may call upon All meditation techniques In one s hold all Yet thoughts the good, the bad, the terrible The smiling, the frowning, the tearing All stay enmeshed together Like an overcooked Aviyal of a South Indian Cook. The most unwanted keep popping up. It is one s own mind! But what use? Ownership right is null and void! This mind Has its own mind And rakes out ghosts From nailed coffins too. Oh! What wouldn t I give For a digital magic switch That turns thoughts on and off at will!! Any cyber magician Out there for my help? (Prof. Elsy Satheesan taught English Literature at various Kerala University colleges, and currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has sent in another poem which was published in our last Newsletter. I only hope she will continue to contribute in future as well. Editor) News Items: UCC Principal plans to visit USA: Dr. T. Thomas Philip, Principal, Union Christian College, is planning to visit the USA during August September He will attend the UCCAANA meeting on September 1, 2012 in Baltimore and hopes to visit and meet alumni in other US cities during this trip. Dr. Philip will visit Hope College, Holland, Michigan for strengthening student and faculty exchange programmes. He will also be meeting the officials of other partner institutions and organisations of UCC. Dr. Abraham C Kulangara adds to the Kulanagra Endowment in UCC: Dr. Abraham C Kulangara, an alumnus of UCC ( ) during his recent visit to UCC, added Rs. five lakhs to his scholarship endowment. This scholarship is being awarded to the best degree and post graduate students of all science departments of UCC. Dr. Kulangara is a member of UCCAANA UCCAAA Activities through a camera: A few photographs, taken by amateurs, I might add, are included in this issue of the Newsletter. They include the UCCAANA Cruise to two Mexican ports which some of the members went on last winter, and photographs taken when distinguished Alumni visited the UC College campus in Aluva during the past year. The pictures are provided on the last few pages of this Newsletter. Editor 5

6 Virtual Golf Essay by: George P. Kurien I received my Cable TV bill the other day. There s nothing new or unusual there; it always arrived without fail in my mailbox during the first week of every month for the past several years. The only difference this time was that I took a look at it before writing the check. One hundred sixty three dollars and ninety eight cents, they charged me! Hot the well!, I said! Being a good Lutheran, and this magazine being a family newsletter, I had to dust up my old spoonerism skills to stay away from the cuss word that starts with h, but the sentiments were there nonetheless. I decided to dig a little deeper. I wanted to know what I was getting by way of cable TV in exchange for my $ of un-inflated money. OK, I am getting CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS, that s all fine and dandy, but they were channels that I used to get even before the advent of the cable TV. I used to get them over the air waves without the help of the cable, and for absolutely free. That s what wireless is all about, is it not?! The only discernible difference in the hardware from those days was that there were a couple of contraptions which were connected to the body of the TV. One was a circular wire of about 6 to 8 inches in diameter, and the others were two stainless steel-looking telescopic rods sticking out from the top of the TV which one could adjust at various angles for optimum reception, while at the same time trying to keep one s vertical hold intact. It was admittedly a delicate balancing act, but we survived all that. The circular do-hickey was supposed to be for the UHF (ultrahigh frequency, is it?), and the steel rods for the not-so-uhf, but why they had to go for the ultra-high, I don t have the faintest clue. I bet ultra-high is better than average high! But then I noticed, I have two QVC channels, QVC1 and QVC2, a pair of 24/7 commercial pushers, towards the maintenance and profit of which goes part of my $163.98!! I couldn t believe that I was paying real, hard-earned dollar money for this trash that they are airing. So I said to myself: If I am paying for it, I might as well watch this for a few minutes. I have news for you, I didn t last much longer than thirty seconds, because the woman who was pushing the costume jewelry had the audacity to say that she was going into a commercial break, and that she would be back in a few moments after a bunch of commercial messages! Wait a minute! I didn t get it. QVC is pushing commercials 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And then they take a break from their regular commercials to introduce a bunch of other commercials! How dumb did they think we the viewers are? This is like Prince Charlie (Charles?!) of the United Kingdom taking a vacation to visit the United States, his old colonies. What else does the guy do in the old country other than being on a year around vacation anyway?! As can be imagined, I didn t waste too much time on QVC. I went straight from channel 8 to 51. Yes, one can do that if one masters the art (science?) of manipulating the remote control. Channel 51, incidentally, is the Golf channel, need I say more? I simply can t believe people playing golf, let alone watching it being played on TV. Watching golf on TV is like watching hair grow, if you ask me. I can t imagine anyone hitting with an iron club (appropriately named iron!) a totally harmless-looking little ball with dimples, sitting on a grassy real estate doing nothing. If it is up to me, I would rather hit a ball which is in motion, and coming straight at me at about 90 miles per hour such as a tennis ball, but not the golf ball which is so small and so innocentlooking, and so seemingly at rest and in peace (not to be confused for rest in peace ). A hole-in-one is a myth and a statistical impossibility, so my point is, why waste one s time? Your chance of making a hole-in-one is about the same whether you play the game or not. You stand a better chance of being hit by lightning and bitten by a snake all on the same morning, especially when that s the morning that you decided to sleep in and call in sick. And of course, what a real waste of real estate! And why this pre-occupation with the avian names? Such as birdie and eagle and woody woodpecker? And what s more? This is the only game (what game?!) that I am aware of where less score is considered to be better. Now what does that tell us? What does one call it? Progress, like in opposite of Congress? (Pro, con, that angle, if you get my drift.) OK, I ve had enough. I ain t paying 163 US dollars and 98 US cents for this nonsense. I need to trim down. Just give me CBS, NBC and PBS; that s all I ask. Add the History Channel and Discovery if you like. Throw in the USA Channel, AMC and TBS if you insist, and if it doesn t cost me no extry (same as extra, but in Southern, and without no double negative!), but that s about all I can watch in my ever-so-narrow attention span of 30 minutes. No Fox channel please; I can t stand Rupert Murdoch or his weird philosophy. As a tradeoff, I will take ABC, but only for the local news. Otherwise how am I to find out who killed who in my neighborhood on any given day? Mission of UCCAANA (i) To provide the Union Christian College alumni in North America a forum for networking and mutual emotional and intellectual enrichment; and (ii) to provide the College with encouragement and support for its renewal and growth in contemporary and global context. 6

7 UCC Hosts National Conference on Materials Science The Department of Chemistry of the Union Christian College organized a national conference on Advances in Materials Science during the month of March of this year, according to Dr. Benny Cherian, Bursar of the College. Cherian, who is a 30 year veteran of the Chemistry Department at UCC, stated that the Conference provided an ideal platform for discussions on the latest advancements in Materials Science. Funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), it aims at bringing together under one umbrella researchers, scientists and academia in the field of Materials Science. The Conference covered a wide range of topics which are in the forefront of the Materials Science arena. Eminent scientists shared their views and experience during the technical sessions. Participants offered oral presentations and poster sessions during the conference, which greatly benefited the conferees as well as the numerous graduate and post-graduate students of varying disciplines who attended the two-day event. UCCAANA Gathering in Baltimore/Washington Area Secretary of UCCAANA, Mr. Thomas Mathew, under the direction of the Board of Directors, has arranged an early Fall get-together of UCCAANA members and their spouses in the Baltimore/Washington region. The late afternoon/evening event is scheduled for September 1, 2012, the Saturday preceding Labor Day, at the Flavors of India Restaurant located at 7185 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia, MD (Phone Numbers: & ; The event, the details of which are still evolving, would begin at 5:00 pm, and will consist of a delicious dinner followed by an opportunity for members and their spouses to meet and socialize. Secretary Mathew hopes that this would be attended by at least a hundred people due to its proximity to the large population base of the Nation s capital and its surroundings. If this proves to be a success, which Mathew is quite optimistic about, such regional gatherings can be arranged in future in other cities and/or resorts all around the USA and Canada. Mathew went on to suggest that members mark their calendars early on, so as not to miss this excellent opportunity to meet former friends and class/college-mates. UCCAANA Sets Sail A group of UCCAANA members and their spouses went on an ocean cruise in early February of this year which took them to two ports in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The group which consisted of nine persons, six of whom UCC alumni, boarded the Royal Caribbean ship in Tampa, Florida on February 4. After five days of cruise over the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, they logged about 3500 kilometers by the time they landed back on American soil. It was anecdotally mentioned that the nine cruisers collectively gained about 50 pounds of body weight, albeit not evenly divided among the sailors. The fun-filled cruise featured, on a daily basis, singles and doubles table tennis matches and the card game, "56". Sailors included the former and current UCCAANA Presidents, Dr. James Jacob and Dr. Simon Thomas, along with the current Treasurer Dr. Thomas P. Mathew. Also present were Mr. Alex Mathew, a member of the UCCAANA Board as well as the current Editor of the UCCAANA Newsletter, Mr. George Kurien. The spouses, one of whom was a UCC alum, also thoroughly enjoyed the five days of rest and relaxation on the spacious decks of the large and modern vessel as well as the beautiful sandy beaches of Cozumel and Costa Maya. In the midst of all the fun and games, the members found time to conduct an informal meeting of the Board of Directors on board, no pun intended! While on board, the cruisers befriended three senior Malayalee officers of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as well as a Malayalee family from Toronto, Canada, who joined them for a short lunch. It might have been the fun-filled conversations, because what began as a quick one hour power lunch lasted well over three hours! By the time the lunch was over, they were virtually ready for the next meal! Some of the more memorable snapshots taken during the Cruise may be found on the following pages of this Newsletter. 7

8 ANNUAL REPORT of UCCAANA Board Members: President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: Dr. James Jacob Dr. Simon Thomas Mr.Thomas Mathew Dr.Thomas P. Mathew Mr. George P. Kurien- Editor of Newsletter Mr. George Varghese Dr. Pothen Varughese Mr. Alex Mathew Mrs. Fatima A. Tharakandath Dr. M.G. Sarngadharan Mr. Sankara I. Ramaswamy Advisory Board Members Dr. K.C. Chacko Dr. Kamakshi Krishnan Dr. K.M. Koshy Dr. A.M. Chacko- Manager UCC Dr. Thomas Philip- Principal UCC Dr. Thara K Simon- Professor & HOD Botany Dept. UCC Dr. Benny Cherian- Bursar UCC Atty Lal Varghese - Legal Advisor The Annual General Body meeting and Elections were conducted on March 30, We were able to establish the UCCAANA Educational Endowment at UCC with an initial Amount of $25, (which included $ 10,000 donated earlier by Dr. K.C Chacko, Colorado). We started on a 5- year plan to raise One Hundred Thousand Dollars. The interest from the Endowment will be used to award scholarships to needy students and other academic needs. On January 9, 2012 UCCAANA treasurer Dr. Thomas P. Mathew, Board member Dr. M.G. Sarngadharan and Mrs. M. G. Sarngadharan distributed scholarships to 14 students at a special meeting at UC College. UCCAANA was well recognized at the meeting by the students and faculty of UCC. During the year, through UCCAANA we also donated Five Thousand Dollars to UCC for the CSRS project and Sixteen Hundred Dollars to the Vidwan P.G. Nair Malayalam Project Dr. Raju K. John, former Principal attended UCCAANA Board Meeting held on September 28, Dr. Simon Thomas, Vice President of UCCAANA coordinated discussions between Dr. Raju K. John and the Board members. The main topic of discussion was UCC and Alumni relations. Dr. John presented an overview of the UCC perspective on global relations and made concrete recommendations for AANA s membership drive and for improving communication between UCC and AANA. Dr. John also volunteered to make specific recommendations to UCC management to this end and to champion the recommendations. On behalf of UCC, he expressed his appreciation of the past Alumni support to UCC and emphasized the importance of continued and expanded support. Dr. Raju K. John also visited Hope College, Michigan as part of an MOU between UCC and Hope College. 8

9 UCCAANA Cruise: A 5 day cruise from Tampa, Florida to Cozumel and Costa Maya (both in Mexico) on Royal Caribbean was planned and finalized in November. The cruise is scheduled for Feb: 4 to 9, UCCAANA Newsletter: Volume 2, No. 1 was published in May, 2011 Nostalgia: As part of Navathy celebration, UCC has decided to bring out a book titled Nostalgia and wishes to remember all those who have associated with the college in various capacities over the past nine decades. Eight UCCAANA members have submitted articles for this Book which is expected to be published shortly Registration of UCCAANA: Re-registered with the state of Ohio for another five years. Trip Report UCCAANA Secretary, Mr. Thomas Mathew (NJ) attended the UCC Alumni Reunion held in November 2011 and spoke at the public meeting. He was able to meet with several UCC faculty members and students on that occasion. Dr. Thomas P. Mathew (OH), treasurer, Dr. M. G. Sarngadharan and Mrs. Sarngadharan visited UCC on Monday, January 9, 2012, attended a meeting in the VMA Hall and distributed UCCAANA Endowment scholarships. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Thomas Philip, Principal of UCC. Dr. Thomas P. Mathew, Dr. Sarngadharan and college bursar Dr. Benny Cherian spoke on the occasion. Dr. Thomas P. Mathew also visited UCC on December 30, 2011 and January 8, He had the opportunity to lead an interactive session for the faculty and the final year students of the Department of Psychology. In retrospect, the year 2011 was a period of solid achievements. We hope to consolidate our position and move on to achieve our goals in the coming years. For UCCAANA, membership drive remains to be the greatest challenge. Another objective of UCCAANA is to promote exchange programs between colleges in USA and UCC. Dr. K. C. Chacko is striving to motivate UCC to strengthen collaboration with Hope College, Michigan. Dr. Raju K John had a very productive three day visit to Hope College. UCCAANA looks forward to 2012 with great optimism to grow the alumni association in N. America on the solid foundation already in place and strengthen the bond among alumni. While we are pleased with the financial contributions made to UCC so far, we will strive to expand our support more broadly in other academic areas and help retain the stature of UCC. Thomas Mathew, Secretary, UCCAANA January 26,

10 A few photos from the cruise The Cruisers, at the dinner table on board the Jewel of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean luxury vessel. Standing left to right: Mrs. Sally Jacob, Dr. James Jacob, Dr. Simon Thomas, Mrs. Leni Thomas & Mr. Alex Mathew Seated left to right: Dr. Thomas P. Mathew, Dr. Rachael Mathew, Mr. George Kurien & Mrs. Susan Kurien The Cruisers befriended Canadian Malayalees and some of the senior Royal Caribbean staff on board. (Photo with them) 10

11 Mr. Alex Mathew discusses the Strategic Plans for UCCAANA. (Of course it was serious business too) After a long walk on the white sandy beach, taking a break for കര ക ക ന വ ള ള 11

12 It was intense ( 56 ) Houseboat it was not!! Entertainment by Mayan Dancers They fed us and sang too! Please see more photos below from the scholarship awards at UCC 12

13 Dr. Thomas P. Mathew, UCCAANA Treasurer, addresses the gathering at the UCCAAANA scholarship award ceremony in UCC, Aluva. Dr. M.G. Sarnagadharan, UCCAANA Board member gives a scholarship award to UCC student. (also seen l to r: Dr. Thomas P. Mathew, Mrs. Sarnagadharan, Dr. Benny Cherian, UCC Bursar & Dr. Thomas Philip, UCC Principal.) Dr. Abraham Kulangara, a UCCAANA member, presented an additional amount of Rs. 5 lakh to Dr.A.M.Chacko, Manager, UCC to expand the Kulangara scholarship fund in UCC. 13

14 UCCAANA MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM Name: (First) (M.I) (Last) Street: City: State/Province Zip: Phone: Cell U C College: Student: to PreDegree/Intermediate Group to Degree Major to Degree Major Teaching: to Subject Other Institutions: 1. Degree Major 2. Degree Major 3. Degree Major Employment (Optional): Employed [ Y ] [ N] Retired [ Y ] [ N ] Company/Institution 1. # of years 2. # of years 3. # of years Awards/Achievements: Area(s) of Expertise: Family (Optional): Name of Wife/Husband Number of children Grand children Number of Family members who attended U C College Home Town Please send completed form to: Thomas Mathew; tmathew41@yahoo.com (Hard copy applications may be returned to: UCCAANA, 120 Valencia Circle, Orange Village, OH 44022) 14