University of Southern California School of Dentistry - El Molaro (Los Angeles, CA)

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4! Jerry would like to tell you to stick it up your Santa Monica City College A. A., Calif. State University Northridge B.A. I ' m tired of this crap, let ' s go have a smoke. .. ' fflaiSiMSySfflSSiiffi: . ;rap, another double meat whopper th cheese and I hope I can keep down. Jerry Szkiarek was not what you would call your every day All-American, run-of-the-mill dental student. By way of Poland, Jerry settled in California in 1969. (There is no truth to those ugly rumors that Jerry is a communist spy.) After receiving his B.S. from Cal St. Northridge in five years without the benefit of knowing any English, Jerry craved for still a greater challenge. In 1974, contemplating a career either as a Polish cosmonaut or an American dentist, he chose to pursue the latter at USC. (And the Conquest goes on!) Upon entering SC, Jerry was placed in Lab E and was assigned an Hawaiian partner. Also in the same corner of the lab sat another European. Mike Tasic, a Yugoslavian. Despite these handicaps, Jerry excelled in all facets of preclinical dentistry. Jerry and Mike became inseparable friends, maybe because no one else understood them. They would always take two hour smoke breaks before getting started on a 21 2 hour operative or morphology carving exam. They could be heard muttering to themselves on these breaks about returning to Russia, PICKA Tl MATERINAI Clinical work was no different, as Jerry took two semesters off mastering the art of pinball-otomy, before scheduling his first patient. He amazingly completed his junior clinics in one month of the last trimester as a junior, getting no less than 4.0 ' s. The last I heard he had amassed 1800 pts. in his last trimester alone but was still a hundred pts. short in Perio. Jerry plans to practice in L.A. and return to SC as a part-time instructor in either Operative or pinball. 179

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What ' s a start check? ' We in E lab knew Gary would do well at SC when we observed him polishining his manikin head just before operative finals. Gary applied himself very diligently in those preclinical years and acquitted himself quite admirably. At times I considered it my own special curse from above that my preps and projects had to be graded adjacent to his. There were some advantages to having a hot dog for a lab partner . . . once when my lamp bulb burned out during operative finals I found I could get by quite nicely in the glow reflected from the finish of his class V foil. Gary also found time to become a mean chess player, a pin ball protagonist and an active participant In that internecine series of struggles which came to be know (by the custodial staff at least) as the great E lab Rubber Band Wars. Four years have gone by quickly, it seems. As we leave SC I will set forth with unequivocally pleasant memories of a lengthy and uncompromisingly honest individual. Gee, I never dreamed Team would be this much fun. 178

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University of Hawaii This is my sidel ick, he ' ll polish the alloy. ' That stupid Vince left his fishing reel In here again. You say you don ' t like the way he ' s holding his handpiece. Alan who hails from Hawaii entered USC dental school with the hope of becoming the best dentist among the engineers (engineering degree from the University of Hawaii). In the MDL he was quiet and fast, he never stayed late, nor did he ever have any difficulties except some minor mishaps which he greeted with a loud sh . . . t, and that was the only reminder to the rest of us that he was still there. Alan hated LA. and wanted to get away so badly that one time during the sophomore operative final he got done so fast that while the rest of us were still curving our class ll ' s, Alan was on the plane to Hawaii dreaming of beautiful beaches and even more beautiful women. After school one could always see Alan wearing slippers with an aloha shirt, and drinking beer at 901 with the guys laughing with his most unique laugh even at the dumbest jokes. Alan was fast, efficient, and ready to help his fellow student with an advise or a particularly difficult procedure. I will always treasure his friendship, and so will the others who had the privilage to know him. He plans on opening a practice in Hawaii after graduation, and we all wish him success knowing that he will undoubtedly be the best at whatever he undertakes. ALOHA, and good luck.