Dorothea in the Mirror by Lois Wells Santalo: U/M graduate Jill marries a Jewish refugee now in the campus army language program,only to see him charged with murder. Could he possibly be guilty or has he escaped Hitler’s deadly assault only to become enmeshed in the American legal system? Only Jill can find the answer, since the police believe they have their man.

James A. Samborn has been elected Chairman of Dickinson Wright PLLC. He shares this role with Mr. Edward H. Pappas, a University of Michigan Alumnus, who also was elected Chairman.

In addition to his practice as a commercial litigator specializing in the areas of construction law and alternative dispute resolution, Mr. Samborn for the past 10 years served as the firm’s CEO. He is a member in the firm’s Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan offices. Throughout his career, he has been lead counsel in a wide variety of sophisticated and complex construction and commercial litigation matters in various State and Federal courts, and in arbitration and other ADR proceedings. He has more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry, representing owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and engineers. Mr. Samborn is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s Large, Complex Case Panel of Arbitrators and its Panels of Construction and Commercial Arbitrators, and is a member of the ABA’s Forum on the Construction Industry.

Mr. Samborn received both his B.S.E. (summa cum laude) and his J.D. (magna cum laude) from the University of Michigan.

Two University of Michigan grads have successfully come together to form a Michigan based company. Eco-Logic Lawn and Landscape LLC is a 100% organic, chemical free, lawn and landscape fertilization and maintenance company. We have taken our passion for the environment and the passion for protecting our families and made a winning combination. www.ecologiclawn.com

Edward H. Pappas has been elected Chairman of Dickinson Wright PLLC. He shares this role with Mr. James a Samborn, also a University of Michigan Alumnus, who also was elected Chairman.

Mr. Pappas, a member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills, Michigan office, focuses his practice in complex commercial and business litigation, arbitration and mediation. He has more than 36 years experience in all forms of civil litigation, but is recognized as an expert in business tort litigation, having written the definitive treatise on Michigan Business Torts. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America for Commercial and Bet-The-Company Litigation, Chambers USA Leading Lawyers for Business, Michigan Super Lawyers, and Benchmark Litigation as a Local Litigation Star. Mr. Pappas also is a certified mediator and a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, having mediated hundreds of complex civil cases, and serves as an arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association’s Large Complex Case Panel. Mr. Pappas is the immediate past president of the State Bar of Michigan, and is a past president of the Oakland County Bar Association. He has served on the boards of trustees of Oakland Community College and Oakland Mediation Center, as well as President of the former Oakland Livingston Legal Aid. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and in 2009 was selected as one of the Top 25 Leaders in the Law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Mr. Pappas received both his B.B.A. in Business Administration and his J.D. (cum laude) from the University of Michigan.

Joan Weiss is included in the exhibition, “inside/out”: Bay Area Abstraction” at the Marin MOCA in February, 2010. She also exhibits at Mercury 20 Gallery in Oakland, CA. Her recent one person show at Mercury 20 was “Reckless Blooms” in 2009.

Linda Savoyard recently authored the newly published book “Mid-Life Makeover: Getting Healthy, Happy and Financially Secure in the Second Half of Life” which is available on www.Amazon.com or through her website www.lindabooks.com. Ms. Savoyard has pursued an unusual dual career: she holds an engineering degree from U of M and has been employed by Chrysler LLC for over 26 years; she is also a board certified Licensed Professional Counselor with Masters degrees in Counseling and Business Administration. She is an experienced therapist, college instructor, professional speaker and corporate trainer. She and her husband Dan live in Michigan.

Douglas Smith, DMA in Trumpet Performance, 1969, has taken full retirement after 34 1/2 years as Professor of Church Music at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Oracle recently announced Brian Robson as an alternate member to the Higher Education User Group (HEUG) Product Advisory Group — Student Financials. Since 1997, Brian has supported U-M as a business analyst in the Student Administration-Financial Aid and Students Financial Group.

As an alternate, Brian will hold a one-year, non-voting membership. He will solicit and synthesize feedback from the user community to convey to Oracle product strategists and developers. He will also advocate to Oracle, on behalf of the user community, for enhancements, new functionality, and resolutions to problems. He is currently working with a group to create a whitepaper on refunding improvements.
The HEUG is an international organization consisting of universities that use application software from the Oracle Corporation. Oracle is currently the software behind U-M’s Pathways Financials, Physical Resources, Student Administration and Human Resources Management systems.

Brian earned at Bachelor of Music in 1983 and a Master of Music in 1984 from the University of Michigan.

Pat is currently in his 25th year of delivering mail for the U.S. Postal Service. Only 8 more to go and he’ll earn a government pension! Pat reports he has met many interesting people on his route over the years. And some angry dogs!! Sometimes when he is walking between houses he fondly hearkens back to the many hours he spent studying at the UGLi (do they still call it that?) [Editor’s note: Yes!]. He is still a loyal follower of Michigan football and even gets to attend a game now and then–even though he has to work most Saturdays. Pat wants to send out well wishes to all his fellow Markley-ites where he spent all four glorious years. Hey do they still serve those hockey pucks they passed off as hamburgers? How about those “mi-NUTE” steaks? Oh yea, Pat remembers. Pat met his lovely wife at the post office (yes a fellow mail carrier) and they have two small….beagles named Blueberry (as in Go Blue Berry) and Waffle. Pat, his wife and beagles report that they are ALL IN for Rich-Rod even though the Wolverines lost their final 5 games after Pat met the Coach at his radio show last fall….UH OH!! Pat wants to give special greetings to all U-M alumni currently carrying mail. Keep pounding that pavement (postal jargon)!