New Arrivals

CGU NAMES NEW PRESIDENT

The Los Angeles Times reports today that Claremont Graduate University has named economist Deborah Anne Freund to be CGU's next president. Freund will replace interim president Joseph Hough, who came out of retirement after Robert Klitgaard stepped down last year.

Freund is a Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. From 1999 to 2006, she served as the university's provost and vice-chancellor for academic affairs.

According to the Times, Freund was considered the leading candidate for the chancellor's post at UCLA four years ago, but the deal fell through because Freund's husband Thomas Kniesner, who was chair of the economics department at Syracuse, wasn't able to secure a teaching job at UCLA. CGU has apparently offered Kniesner a job.

The Times article explains why Freund took the CGU job:

In a telephone interview from Syracuse, Freund said that her expertise and career fit better with a private university like Claremont that emphasizes cross-disciplinary studies, and that she harbors no ill will toward UC. "I just think this is sort of meant to be," she said. "I come from a private university now and the kind of work that CGU does really stokes my passion."

Freund's area of expertise is health care, and she has been working on a special research project for New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office. The project is examining ways of reforming a system used by health insurers nationwide to reimburse customers for out-of-network doctor visits. The project is funded by $100 million in settlements the New York AG obtained from 13 different insurers following the AG's investigation.

Freund's work on the project caused a bit of a stir earlier this year when the Syracuse Post-Standard published a story about Freund holding a seat on the board of Excellus, one of the health insurers who settled with state of New York. The Post-Standard reported that Freund received $61,000 annually from Excellus for the board position. After the story came out, Freund said she had made full disclosure of her connections to Excellus, and she subsequently resigned her board seat.


CHEESE CAVE UP AND RUNNING

One of Claremont's latest non-academic arrivals, Cheese Cave, opened for business on June 18. The weekend business seems good, and store has received several thumbs up in the form of positive Yelp! reviews.

The Cheese Cave owners have jumped right into the Claremont mix, joining the Chamber of Commerce and serving up some of their wares at Claremont Rotary's Taste of Claremont in May. They plan a grand opening on July 24.

Cheese Cave
325 N. Yale Ave.
Claremont, CA
(909) 625-7560

Hours:

Tuesdays to Thursdays - 11am to 7pm
Fridays - 11am to 9pm
Saturdays - 10am to 6pm
Sundays - 10am to 4pm

Closed Mondays

CASA MORENO OPEN FOR DINNER

Like Cheese Cave, Casa Moreno, the new Mexican restaurant in the Village Expansion, has had a "soft opening." This week they're conducting a trial run and are open for dinner only. If all goes well, they should be open for lunch and dinner starting next week. There's no website yet, but you can check out the site for Casa Moreno's original venue on Citrus Ave. in Covina.

Casa Moreno is located in the Village Expansion public plaza next to the Hotel Casa 425 and the Laemmle Theatres.

Casa Moreno
101 N. Indian Hill, C2-103
(909) 447-5000

Taste of Claremont - Saturday

The Claremont Rotary Club is hosting its 10th Annual Taste of Claremont this Saturday, April 18, at Claremont's Taylor Hall in Cahuilla Park, located on Indian Hill Blvd. north of Claremont High School. The Rotary has a website for the event with the following information:

Rotary Club of Claremont Presents the 10th Annual A Taste of Claremont

Saturday, April 18, 2009
5pm to 8pm
Taylor Hall
1775 Indian Hill Boulevard
Claremont, CA 91711

Ticket prices:
$50 through 3/31 ~ $60 after 3/31
Must be 21+ to attend

Live music, raffles, art gallery and more!
Proceeds will benefit Rotary International’s
PolioPlus, African Water Projects and
Local Community Organizations

For more information call 909.447.7717

Tickets are a bit pricey, but get on out if you can. It's always a fun event, and the money goes to some worthy causes. Also, unlike last year, it doesn't conflict with the Claremont Folk Music Center's Folk Festival.

Culture News

Claremont Courier movie reviewer and retired University of La Verne professor Catherine Henley-Erickson gets a mention in David Allen's Daily Bulletin column.

Allen writes about the Henley-Erickson being named the city of La Verne's poet laureate:

California has two dozen poets laureate, most of them in the Bay Area, serving cities as large as San Francisco (population 824,525) and as small as Point Arena (population 493), according to the California Arts Council.

In Southern California, only Santa Barbara and the community of Sunland-Tujunga have designated poets. And now La Verne.

Henley-Erickson, who retired after 22 years as a composition and creative writing professor at the University of La Verne, doesn't intend to sit in an ivory tower and muse in isolation.

She likened the position to "an old-time minstrel" and said she's available to write "poetry on demand." She quickly added: "With a week's notice." She'd also like to mentor students interested in poetry.

Allen also blogged about Henley-Erickson. Although she hasn't written a review in terza rima, Henley-Erickson did mention that she one wrote a movie review in blank verse.

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Allen's column also mentioned the Claremont Folk Festival. Allen says he didn't want to shell out the 50 bucks for a ticket, but since he lives nearby, he did walk over and stand by the gate on Yale Ave. to catch Jackson Browne singing "These Days."

The Courier's Landus Rigsby also covered the event, from the inside. The Courier also has an online slide show of photos from a number of local events over the past few weeks. The photos were taken by the Courier's Gabriel Fenoy.

We did get a couple emails from people questioning why the Folk Festival and the Taste of Claremont events were on the same day. We don't know. The Clarmeont Folk Music Center puts on the festival, and the local Rotary Club puts on the other. It's a shame to have to choose between one or the other.