ALUMNI PROFILE
Di Palma Forum Reaches Out
By Lisa Mitsuko Kitayama

	Joseph Di Palma '52 with actress Shirley Jones on the set of The Di Palma Forum.

While many television viewers prefer to just sit back and complain about the lack of good programming, the College graduated at least one viewer who is doing something about it. In addition to a successful career in tax litigation and managing his family's investment portfolio, Joseph Di Palma '52 founded The Di Palma Forum at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a television program that features celebrity panels discussing issues of social concern. Di Palma felt that serious discussion panel shows on timely issues were not widely available on television. Though celebrity chat shows, like ABC's Politically Incorrect, air nationwide, the debate typically skews towards comedy, a venue that Di Palma feels limits serious debate on key topics.

The Di Palma Forum combines focused debate with the celebrity element, targeting viewers who might not necessarily tune in to Sunday morning public affairs broadcasts but who would be attracted by celebrities. The first segment aired in November 1997 on Las Vegas's KLVX-TV Channel 10. Moderated by Dr. Claudia Collins, a former Las Vegas public affairs reporter, The Di Palma Forum has featured actors Elliot Gould, John Dye, Shirley Jones, Marty Ingels and Audrey Landers, among others. Di Palma is directly involved in production, researching the issues discussed and writing the questions, while his wife, Joycelyn Engle, is the program's executive producer and recruits panelists. Both volunteer their time and energies for the Forum, but Di Palma stresses that the rewards far exceed the costs. "If I'm going to devote five or six hours a day to tax litigation, why not two or three hours to something that gives me enormous satisfaction?" Working in conjunctions with UNLV and Channel 10, Di Palma hopes eventually to air the Forum nationwide.

The Di Palma Forum is the most public of Di Palma's philanthropic endeavors. He is executive director of The Di Palma Position Papers, a non-profit think tank that examines economic and social issues; it also underwrites the Nightly Business Report on PBS in New York and Las Vegas. In addition, he established The Di Palma Center for the Study of Jewelry and Precious Metals at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York.