Colonel White High School Class of 1965 © 2004 :: Featured Alumni

Featured Alumni

Robert Jewett

Hello everyone. I'm Carol Flinspach. We are pleased to have with us today classmate Rob Jewett. Hello, Rob. It’s good to have an opportunity to talk with you about what you’ve been doing since graduation. Where are you living now?

My wife Donna and I live in Potsdam, New York. Potsdam is a small college town (pop. 10,000) located just about as far north as you can go in the state of New York. We're 20 miles from the Canadian border. Pretty close, eh? There are two colleges in our village: SUNY Potsdam, where I work, and Clarkson University. College students nearly outnumber residents during the school year.

Rob, what is your work with SUNY Potsdam?

I am "in transition" right now. My original intentions were to retire in 2002 when I turned 55 (Whew! That sounds old.), but the stock market downturn put those plans on hold. So, I'm working part-time for my old department, Computing & Technology Services. I was the Director for many years, and now I report to the young man who used to report to me (good thing I treated him well back then). I work on special projects, primarily involving database development. I'm a Macintosh guy, so that may shed light on my computing interests.

Please tell us about your family and any pets, Rob.

Donna and I have been married since I graduated from the University of Dayton in 1969. Our children are Greg (33), Heather (31) and Michael (25).

Grandchildren: Ah, grandchildren. What a delight they are! We have three grandchildren at the moment (2 girls--Sarah and Shannon, and a boy--Evan), with another grandson expected in September. Those who have grandchildren know that there is nothing better than the experience of "grandparenthood."

I couldn’t agree with you more, Rob. What other occupations have you had?

I was drafted during the Vietnam era right out of college, though I was able to finish my Masters degree in Psychology. The "greeting" from Uncle Sam was waiting for me in our mailbox when we returned from our honeymoon in 1969. Oh, what a year that was! So, my first job was with the U.S. Army. I spent my entire time at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. Because of my Masters degree in Psychology, I was assigned to the Drug Rehab program, and when the Army abandoned the counseling approach to the drug-related problems of GIs returning from Vietnam, I was re-assigned to a Mental Health clinic. There I learned first-hand about "Catch-22"; that is, you are not crazy if you act crazy enough to get out of the service.

When we returned to Dayton in 1974, I worked as a School Psychologist for the Montgomery County Board of Mental Retardation. What a great program. I worked there until 1980, primarily as part of a behavior modification team. It was my work here that influenced the next major shift in my life. I wanted to apply the principles of psychology to myself and my family and the community I lived in. If you have read "Walden Two" by B. F. Skinner, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, the closest I can come to explaining this is living in a small, intentional community of kindred spirits. The commune movement of the 60's was an attempt at this, but without the deliberate application of the science of psychology (although I hear they had, um, interesting parties).

Over the years, I attended numerous psychology/behavioral conferences and there met representatives of Los Horcones, an international community in Hermosillo, Mexico, that ran a program for the mentally retarded. We left Dayton to try living there. Los Horcones is a thriving, international community of people, but English is the common language and that was fortunate for us. Though it was a positive experience overall, it was harder than we thought it would be to live in a foreign country with small children, especially in Mexico, with such a different culture and climate than we were used to. While we were there, we made plans with a couple from upstate New York to join them in an effort to build a community on land they owned in Russell, NY, about a 45 minute drive south of Potsdam.

We returned to Dayton later in 1980, but only temporarily, to pack up our belongings and head north. Russell is located in the foothills of the Adirondacks and its winters are often severe. Our first winter there was brutal and took its toll on us. I ended up taking some computer science classes at SUNY Potsdam during the winter because it was our plan to purchase one (this was 1980) and use it for managing our collective affairs. One thing led to another, and we decided to end our full-time community efforts and return to a more conventional lifestyle, but we remain close friends today with the couple we lived with.

While taking classes at SUNY Potsdam, I was asked, due to my age and graduate training, if I wanted to apply for a job coordinating academic computing on the campus. I did and got the job. That evolved over 20+ years into the position that I finally left 2 years ago.

Rob, you’ve really had an exciting life! What are some of your outside interests and hobbies?

Almost 20 years ago, one of the college's faculty members talked me into building an ultra-light aircraft with him. We are still flying it today. I do not have a pilot's license, but I did take lessons from a flying legend in our area and soloed before taking my first ultra-light flight. Flying is, as they say, not dangerous, it is just unforgiving. I never forget that point. To be up in the air flying only a few hundred feet over familiar terrain is a rush.

I've also been "crewing" for the past 5 years. Our sculling shell is a 4-person boat that is over 50 feet long. Great fun. I love team-oriented physical activity. You continually learn to work with people at a very focused level, and there is such satisfaction when you achieve something together, even if it is just moving swiftly and smoothly through the water.

Music has been perhaps my most passionate interest since high school. I play with two different groups and we play weekly. I work the keyboard, but have also picked up the didgeridoo, an Australian instrument. Most people looked puzzled when I mention the didj, but I'll bet you've heard it many times. It's one of the oldest musical instruments known. It's just a long bored out "tube" (an authentic didj would be a eucalyptis tree limb hollowed out by termites) and makes a droning sound that, ironically, works especially well with contemporary music. Off course, it also works well with world music that emphasizes drumming. Speaking of which, I've also been enoying African drumming. What a pleasure it is! I play a djembe and a Middle-Eastern drum called the dumbek.

I also work with the local animal shelter in Potsdam. That has been an eye-opener for me. You quickly learn of the many ways people treat animals they come into contact with. There are those for whom a pet is as close to a life-companion as one could find. There are too many others for whom an animal is just another possession, to be used/abused and disposed of in any way they want. The Shelter, as you might suspect, usually comes into contact with the latter.

Last, but most definitely not least, is my vegan lifestyle. Fourteen years ago, my daughter wrote a school paper on factory-farming. I thought she was exaggerating her points as I read it. She assured me she wasn't, so I followed her example and began looking deeper into the issues of our treatment of animals. It's been a path of discovery that led me to adopt a vegan diet and to consider every choice I make when it comes to what I eat, what I wear and what I buy. It's not easy, but there are many more alternatives today than there were 14 years ago when I started. If I had to define myself with only one word, it would be "vegan".

Rob, that’s fascinating. You really have quite a number of interests and activities. Your lifestyle is quite a bit like Paul McCartney’s, well, at least the eating part! (Unless you’re a closet multi-billionaire.) What are some favorite memories of Colonel White, Rob?

The friendships I found there. I still get a smile on my face as I recall old friends from high school. Colonel White may not have meant as much to me as it has for others, but I will never forget the memories of my friends and our high school experiences.

What are you plans for the future?

The future? I don’t know. I take it one day at a time. So far, so good.

Rob, do you have any parting words of wisdom for our classmates?

Hmm. “Parting” sounds so final. I’ll be back! I’m leery of offering “words of wisdom”, but I can say that over 38 years, I’m convinced more than ever that honesty really is the best policy—in personal endeavors and in politics.

Thanks Rob, for sharing a little of your life with us. You have really had an interesting and colorful life...So far! We sincerely hope to see you at Reunion 2005. I hope that all of you have enjoyed your stay. Don't forget, that very soon, we will have another exciting interview to share with you. Until then this is....
-Carol Flinspach Yinger