Since designing the viewing platform for the World Trade Center (WTC) site last year, Kevin Kennon '80 has been busy working on several projects centered around the group Lower Manhattan with United Architects, an organization formed last August in response to a request from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) to revitalize the area.

Kennon's architecture group is one of the six finalists competing for the contract to design all aspects of the new WTC site except for the actual memorial. "It is a huge undertaking, and is first and foremost among the projects I am working on," Kennon said. In addition to a space for a memorial, his new design for the site will include a major transportation hub that combines major subway stops, public bus stations and a train line to John F. Kennedy Airport. His firm also plans to include new cultural facilities, hotels and office space in their proposal.

In January, there will be a separate competition for the design of the actual memorial to commemorate victims of the 9/11 attacks. "Whatever we propose, the memorial comes first. At the end of the day, we want it to be uplifting, and [want] many generations not simply to remember, but move through the future in a positive way," Kennon said.

LMDC will review and choose a design from among the finalists. Though Kennon cannot say what his design will look like because of issues of confidentiality, he stated that he would like to come to Amherst at some point to show the design to the College community. "It's going to be great," he said.

Kennon and United Architects have been working with the Public Art Fund (PAF) to develop "The Incubator," which Kennon describes as, "a unique kind of artist residency" that will be approximately 60,000 square feet and is expected to be completed in three and a half years. According to Kennon, the PAF will curate the building and assign artists to work and live there. "It is part of a program to develop lower Manhattan as an artist community," he said. Kennon and United Architects also plan to include a museum and theater space in the building so writers, directors and actors can reside and work. Plays and dance programs written and choreographed specifically at "The Incubator" will become part of the project.

Kennon is also currently the Executive Director for the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS). In June of 2003, the program will be inaugurated as a one-semester post-graduate and post-baccalaureate program. Students will study the architecture of New York City and gain exposure to top architects.

Kennon taught at Princeton University last year and was on the admissions committee for its School of Architecture. "It is important to give students the best opportunities they can get in learning about architecture," he said.

In the eighteen years he has been working as an architect, Kennon has been interested in socially responsible architecture." Though earlier in his career he participated in commercial projects and museums, he is currently interested in schools and in projects with a social agenda. "[I'm] motivated in employing architecture for public service."

Warren Tolman

Few in politics play it clean. Even fewer make it their express policy to do so. Warren Tolman '82 began his campaign for the Democratic candidacy for Massachusetts governor two years ago. He was the only candidate to run a "clean election," meaning that he received limited public funding and contributions from Massachusetts state voters, none of which exceeded $100 each, in accordance with the Clean Elections Law of 1998.

Concerned with the issue of overspending in elections, Tolman pledged to hold himself to these restraints. He ran his campaign with the intention of ending special interest donation and minimizing unwarranted competition.

Tolman wound up losing the election. But, while he admits it was not easy to run a clean election campaign, he feels the experience was inherently rewarding. "We knew it was the right thing because the cause of reform cannot endure in theory alone," he said. "We knew it was the right thing because when lobbyists are calling the shots, we're the ones paying the price."

Despite the campaign's outcome, Tolman is proud to have run Massachusetts' first clean election campaign. He and his team raised issues that he considered critical, such as auto insurance, single-individual health care and prescription drug costs. "We've won a moral victory. [It's] no less significant," he said. "We proved that clean elections works: that the cause of reform endures, that the will of the people still matters."

An economics major at Amherst, Tolman was president of the student government, took part in numerous extracurricular activities and formed lasting and significant relationships with professors. Two of the professors who influenced him the most were Professor of Political Science and Jurisprudence, Austin Sarat and Professor of Economics Frank Westhoff. He described Sarat as "a very dynamic professor" who inspired him to do well in things that mattered personally to him.

Tolman said that Westhoff was a remarkable professor and credited him with helping him understand how to maintain a balance and perspective in life, as well as to "bring economics home" to a practical level. He felt that Westhoff's influence helped him during his time on the taxation committee and during the nine years he served on the Massachusetts state legislature.

Now that the gubernatorial race is over, Tolman's immediate goal is to become a better and more involved parent. Campaigning and politics deprived him of much of the time he now likes to spend with his children in such activities as coaching basketball at their school.

As for his professional life, Tolman has various goals in mind, as well as a few hurdles to overcome. He is aware that politics is a difficult profession when it comes to making a living. He has a number of other options open to him at the moment and has been in touch with law firms and entrepreneurs. "My biggest obstacle," he said, "is finding the right profession that is rewarding and challenging and that will give me an opportunity to contribute and make a difference in people's lives."