A newsletter for alumni, students, parents and friends.

President’s Corner: Welcome our Newest Board Members
By Edward Thelen
Alumni Association President

A hearty welcome to our newest Board members Desiree Sideroff, Scott Hayes and Madeleine Loh. We are very excited to have an influx of younger folks onto our Alumni Board of Directors, and hope the trend will continue.We will be holding elections for the Board of Directors at the Alumni Association Annual Meeting on October 13, 2007, Homecoming Weekend. Read more about our Alumni Association at www. usca.org/alumni. If you are thinking about becoming a Board member, please call 510-848-1936 or email Nancy Blattel, our Membership Chair at nancyb@alumni.berkeley.edu for further information.

Scott Hayes lived in Ridge House from 2003 until 2005, while he was finishing his bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration on International Corporate Management. His research at U.C. Berkeley focused on mergers & acquisitions, organizational culture, and post-merger integration.

While at Cal, he was a member of the Cal Band and UC Jazz Ensemble. He also co-taught a DeCal course on leadership and organizational dynamics at the Walter A. Haas School of Business. He held leadership positions within UC Jazz and the Students’ Human Resource Association. Scott is now the Chief Marketing Officer for Alumwire, Inc., located in San Francisco.

Desiree Sideroff lived at Lothlorien from 1998 to 1999, and then lived at Rochdale and Northside Apartments from 1999-2001. She was a very involved co-oper, serving as Vice President of Education and Resources and USCA President over the summer. Fellow Lothlorien elf Karen Edwards encouraged Desiree to join the Co-op Alumni Board in October of 2006.

Desiree works for Bay Area Local Initiative Support Corporation, a nonprofit intermediary helping support local groups in affordable housing and community development. Desiree has her hands full running a comprehensive commercial revitalization and stabilization program with sites in San Francisco, Richmond, and Oakland.

Madeleine Loh claims that “Anyone who knew me at Davis House (1993 – 1996) would probably vote me ‘Least likely to become alumni board member. ‘ Yet now I am very grateful for the sense of community with the space to become my own person, a safe place to experiment, a (relatively) forgiving setting for me to learn responsibility and conscientious living.” Madeleine also met her best friend Joy in the co-ops, whose oldest child is Madeleine’s goddaughter.

When Madeleine was looking for housing after she was accepted at Boalt Law, the USCA was still there for her. “I was thrilled to learn that CO had maintained my records – and I even had enough points to bid into a studio at Rochdale (2002 – 2004)!

Madeleine lives in Oakland and works as an associate at Heller Ehrman LLP in San Francisco.