Jerry Alperstein, Class of 1964, was Daily Cardinal Assistant Sports Editor in his sophomore year and Sports Editor [with Maurice Wozniak] in his junior year. He served in the United States Navy in 1966 and 1967 and is a Vietnam combat veteran.

Jerry completed graduate work in 1978 at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, earning an MA in Newspaper Journalism and a Ph.D. in Mass Communications. He worked for a number of publications and taught both in college and in high school before retiring in 2006. He also was an active member of the Class of 1964 Reunion Committee. Jerry has been married to Sara for 48 years and has two daughters and three grandchildren.

The year of his retirement [2006] also proved to have another significant turning point in his life. As the Legislative Committee Chair of the Jewish War Veterans Department [State] of New York, he played a key role in a string of legislative successes including more than a dozen new State laws and State Budget changes over an 11-year span.

Jerry’s accomplishments came in spite of representing an organization which has few members and little money and is prohibited by law from making political contributions. His experiences lobbying to improve the lives of veterans in the State of New York has included interacting with the working press. He found that hardly any of the working press covering government understands how government works. This inspired his talk at the 125th Daily Cardinal Reunion.