SENIOR PROFILE: Ben Siegelman

Ben Siegelman, CC '07, has many accomplishments under his belt from his time at Columbia. He has managed the University radio station WKCR, played guitar with the Columbia Jazz Ensemble for three years, and interviewed some of Duke Ellington's old managers and sidemen on air. And he's not done yet-this month he will reunite a 1970s Free Jazz trio for a concert on campus.

But looking back over four years, Siegelman said he is most proud of the time he defeated winter.

Born in Palo Alto, Calif., Siegelman spent his adolescence in Dallas and dislikes all things cold, dark, and snowy. "I can't control the weather," he admitted. "But the weather can't control me, either."

Every day for the last six years, summer through winter, Siegelman has walked around in one of several pairs of his signature American flag flip-flops-changing only for events with the strictest of dress codes.

This year, he played beach volleyball in Central Park well into December. February was tough, he said, but "it was seventy in March. So winter was defeated."

Siegelman's brash defiance may help him battle the elements, but his other pursuits require patience and practice. An accomplished jazz guitarist and pianist, Siegelman, became station manager of WKCR in his junior year. In that position, he spent late nights at the station immersed in the music of his favorite artist, Ellington, soaking in the complex harmonies and obscure tales from those who knew him off-stage.

"At KCR, people treat it [the music] like its important. They talk about it in a way that at least strives to place the music in its context-to say, 'You're about to hear this great music, let me help you understand what it is so you can be better at listening to it,'" Siegelman said.

Between organizing this month's reunion concert festival and jockeying his weekly show, the music composition major picked up a third instrument-the Japanese hichiriki. He plans to continue studying the instrument in Japan this summer on a grant from the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies at Columbia. After he returns, Siegelman said he will play beach volleyball and study music, although he doesn't know when, where, or how.

Regardless, he is sure that he doesn't want to grow up into a shoe-wearing adult-ever.