1989

In the days following September 11, Sikh-Americans also learned about terror firsthand. ASikh gas station owner in Arizona was killed in what police say was a hate crime. A Sikh-American software engineer was pulled off a train in Rhode Island, handcuffed and arrested. He was charged with concealing aweapon a 4-inch ceremonial sword called a kirpan, worn by orthodox Sikh men. The charges against him were eventually dropped, thanks to the Sikh Communications Council, founded by Harmeet Dhillon, her brother Mandeep and several others in the Silicon Valley area. The group provides legal advice for the Sikh community and tries to education the public about Sikh culture. Harmeet, who is a senior litigation associate at Cooley Godward in Palo Alto, was quoted in the TheRecorder about the Rhode Island incident. "As a lawyer I was horrified by this and as a Sikh I was horrified. This could have happened to any of our brothers, fathers or husbands." According to the paper, the group also met with Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, who later issued guidelines prohibiting airport security personnel from ordering men to remove their turbans without probable cause. In the past Harmeet has handled several pro bono cases against major corporations who barred employees from wearing turbans. She attended UVA law school and during that time, worked with the Center for Individual Rights in Washington, D.C., and with the civil division of the U.S. Justice Department. "The thing that concerns me most," Harmeet told TheRecorder, "is that hate crimes continue...that's happening here in California on a regular basis."

Matt Holleran has been named the president and CEO of Apexon Inc. in San Jose, California, a "leader in supplier relationship management solutions for global discrete manufacturers." Huh? However, I was able to decipher from the press release that Matt, who has an M.B.A. from Harvard, is a whiz at guiding fast growing enterprise software companies and that Apexon is thrilled to have him at the helm.

Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, last seen in this column hanging out with Alec Scott, was recently profiled in the Sacramento Business Journal. She's the president of AKT Developments Inc.—a land developer. According to the paper, her hobbies are biking, hiking, reading and traveling. Her favorite comic strip is Doonesbury. Her heroes are Eleanor Roosevelt, Madonna and Margaret Thatcher, and her favorite movies include Wings of Desire. How many of you remember seeing that fantastic film as part of a Hopkins Center Film Festival? Eleni, who has her M.B.A. from the UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, also serves on a number of nonprofit boards.

In other news from the business wires, Scott Wu has been named to the board of directors of the Xign Corp., "a leading provider of financial applications and services that automate the settlement end of the supply chain." Don't ask, I have no idea. But the board of directors is an impressive bunch, so our kudos go out to him. Scott is a founding partner of Financial Technology Ventures, which invests in companies that develop technologies for the financial services industry.

Stephen Kaplitt has joined Lumenis as executive vice president and general counsel. Lumenis, formerly ESC Medical Systems, develops laser and intense pulsed light devices which are used in a wide variety of surgeries for everything from hair-removal to cataracts to neurosurgery.

Finally, hearty congratulations to Sarah Konrad, who's been named to the National Collegiate Cycling Association All-American squad. She won three national road cycling championships last May. Sarah earned her Ph.D. in geology from the University of Wyoming last fall.

5912 Aberdeen Road, Bethesda,MD 20817; jennifemvellino.89@alum.dartmouth.org