Alcalá View 2001 17.9

Brush with Fame Sailing the High Seas with the Padres

Remembering her brush with fame, Jo Powers, executiv e ass ist ant in t h e provost's office, might feel like belting out "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" or humming "If they could see me now," the cru ise line jingle sung by Ka thie Lee Gifford . Powers, husband Bob and daughter Meghann, a sophomore at USD, were passengers last year on a special Padres C a rni va l Crui se t o the Mex ic an Riviera. They rubbed elbows with man-

your brushes with fame. Send an e-mail to Krys tn Shrieve at kshrieve@sandiego .edu or call her at ext. 4934 to share your story.

Powers an d o th e r passe n ge rs h ad a chance to play pingpong, ea t dinner, dance, swim, sing, run relay races and even parasa il with the playe rs, the ir famili es and o the r memb e rs of t h e Padres staff. Powers ate dinner with Loewer, who talked about growing up in Louisian a and offe red tips on h ow to ea t craw- dads. She l istened to Davi s c roon a country song for a radio sta t ion and watched Bochy struggle to draw an ani - mal in a game of "Win , Lose o r Draw." "The first ni ght we we re just fa ns who were excited about ge t- ting autographs on our baseballs," Powers says. "After that, we were like one big happy family." This ye a r' s fir st h o me ga me found the famil y a t Qu a lcomm Stadium , roo ting o n the ir fa vo rit e p laye rs and

Meet H.R. At previous jobs he was dubbed the boss of benefits, the pioneer of pay- roll, the honcho of hiring, the ruler of retirement and , of course, the vet- eran of vacations. His name is H.R. and he's an ace at answering questions about human re so urc es. The Alcala Vi ew h as enlisted his help, so he's packed his bag and is headed to campus to field inquiries about the rules fo r long- term disability, qualifying fo r tuition

remission, how often employ- ees can make changes in their retirement plans, the proper way to handle a grievance or a ny o ther iss ue tha t may have staffers stumped. So, if you've got a question, don 't be shy - ask H .R.

meeting them at a n ea rby res tauran t for a c rui se reunion.

So/Jhomore M eghann Powers with Ben Davis . ager Bruce Bochy, ca tcher Ben Dav is and pitcher Carlton Loewer. "Eve ryo ne was so wa rm, fun a nd down t o earth ," Powers says of the seven-day December trip. "It was fun to be chummy with them." En route to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas aboard the Elation, Alcala View Vol. 17, Issue 9 Editor Krystn Shrieve Contributing Editors Michael Haskins, Susan Herold, Tim McKernan Production and Design Judy Williamson Photography Krystn Shrieve Alcala View is published monthly (except January) by the publications and human resources offices. The newsletter is distributed to all USD employees. [0501/1400]

"Bruce Bochy and his wife came, walked ont o the p a ti o a nd gave us hugs," Powers

Se nd yo ur ques ti o ns t o ......_-=--~-.,_-:;--.J A sk H.R. in Maher H a ll,

Room 274 , o r e- ma il as khr@ sandiego.edu.

says . "It meant so much to see them again. It was a vacation we'll never for- get." The Alcala View wants to hear about

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Office of Publications Maher Hall 274