Marathon Man

Stanford University recently lured heart surgeon Frank Hanley '74 from the UC San Francisco Medical Center with the chance to direct one of the world's top children's cardiac programs, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in September. Hanley is best known for his pioneering work in unifocalization, a single, marathon surgery to repair heart defects that are normally repaired in stages.

Hold the Incense

Ken Field '74 hopes his new weekly Boston radio show will help conquer New Age music's boring image. It's also a chance for the saxophonist to explore a different sound. "This is a great way to force myself to listen to great music," Field told the Boston Globe in August.

Shape Up or Ship Out

Exercise is serious business at La Palestra, the exclusive Manhattan fitness club run by Pat Manocchia '83, who quizzes prospective members on their motivation for joining the $8,000-a-year club. "If they tell me, ÔI want to lose this stuff on the back of my arms,' " Manocchia told Sports Illustrated Women in September, "I'll say, ÔGet out of here.' "

Double Standard

Watching his sister get picked up at a bar inspired Duanne Lavold '89, who performs under the name Custom, to pen "Hey Mister," an anthem in which a young suitor addresses his teenage girlfriend's father. After MTV deemed the song's video too objectionable to air, Lavold told Rolling Stone, "[MTV has] their own shows that show two girls making out simultaneously with one guy, and then the guy has to choose between them. And that's not objectifying women, but my song is?"

Trash TV

Spending your day in a junkyard isn't exactly glamorous work, but Karyn Bryant '90 is enjoying her new job as cohost of the Learning Channel's Junkyard Wars - even when taping an episode leaves her covered in mud. "A mud bath might be a good thing after all that grime that blows around the junkyard, which can't be good for your skin," Bryant told the Tampa Tribune in August.

Big Is Beautiful

Patricia Wong '96, once a depressed anorexic and former resident of Hong Kong's thinner-is-better advertising world, has now turned "size activist," reports the South China Morning Post. In an attempt to change the way women in Hong Kong think about diet and exercise, Wong has authored, in Chinese, Big Beautiful Women, which offers readers advice on ways to put "big" and "beautiful" together.