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MAR./APR. 2004 VOLUME 106 NUMBER 5  Class Notes

90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99

90 | "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" (William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2). When Dick the Butcher uttered these words, he surely could not have meant to include any Cornell Class of '90 grads. Dick the Butcher—what did he know? Free speech—that's the ticket. Christopher Gilbert was elected partner to the law firm Bracewell & Patterson LLP.He is based in the Houston, TX, office of the firm and focuses on First Amendment rights regarding public schools and colleges, including the rights of students and employees, school prayer, the use of religious literature and music on campuses, and the celebration of religious holidays in schools. William Litt (BillLitt@aol.com) also focuses his practice on civil rights and employment issues.He opened his own law firm in Redwood City, CA, in July 2002, after marrying Charmaine Huntting in September 2001. Rene McCurry Johnson (rjohnson@morganlewis.com) also focuses her practice on labor and employment issues. Last we heard, Rene was a partner at the Princeton office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockins, with a caseload split between New York and New Jersey. She lives just outside Princeton with her husband Rusty and 3-year-old daughter Samantha. She quips that working and parenting keeps them pretty busy. No kidding!

All of a sudden, the lawyer TV shows hit home."Ally McBeal" was more realistic than "L.A. Law," except when apparition Billy started appearing to Ally in her office late at night while she was slumped over her desk using Chapter 93A of the Massachusetts General Laws as a pillow. I'm told that the building I work in has a ghost in it, but we've never met.When our classmates were in law school, "L.A. Law" was still on the air. A room full of first years would scream at the screen as Arnie botched a case, someone fell down an elevator shaft, or a TV judge used the phrase "resjudicata" and somewhere in our tired, overworked, overwrought brains we thought, "So that's what Arthur Miller was talking about." If you haven't guessed by now, I'm a lawyer. Just look at my e-mail address below. It wasn't the first screen name I tried to create ten years ago, but none of my other pseudonyms were available. Born of sheer exasperation, I tried it and it stuck. At first I felt a little self-conscious, and then I started to get instant messages from online users I didn't even know asking, "Are you a lawyer?" When the requests for free legal advice started to pour over the line, I gave the standard disclaimer I learned in law school ("Without speaking to the merits of your case . . . not licensed to practice in your state, but . . . It depends.").

Speaking of the internet, Loren McRoss became associated with Vedder Price Kaufman & Kammholz in Chicago. He joined the firm as an intellectual property lawyer working with their technology lawyers and IP litigation attorneys. He obtained his degree in electrical engineering at Cornell, then went on to obtain his law degree from the U. of Illinois College of Law. He is licensed to practice in California, as well as before the US Patent and Trademark Office. I doubt that Loren says "It depends" a whole lot in his practice. Michael Davis joined Carter Ledyard & Milburn Environmental Practice Group in its Washington,DC, office. Prior to joining the firm he was a partner at Wilcox & Savage PC in Norfolk,VA.After he got his law degree from the U. of Chicago Law School in 1993, he went on to work as an associate at Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom & Moritz in Chicago. He now has over ten years of experience litigating environmental and corporate matters.

Folks who need lawyers: venture capitalists. They tend to say that the lawyers kill all the deals. Not so for Andrew Firlik, MD '93, who joined Canaan Partners, a national venture capital investment firm. Andrew was appointed principal to focus on healthcare investments, mainly medical technology investments. All the while, he continued his practice as a physician specializing in neurological surgery.Andrew's accolades are too numerous to mention, except that he studied biology on the Hill and at Oxford U., then obtained an MBA from the U. of Pittsburgh and his MD from Cornell Medical College. Not to mention that he holds a clinical faculty appointment at the Yale U. School of Medicine.

Hey, why didn't he get a law degree, too? Probably because there are already way too many of us. Last year, the American Bar Assn. published a survey indicating which states had the most lawyers per capita to the general population. Washington, DC, was number one on the list, followed by Massachusetts, a close second. That's why some of us left the bustle of Boston in favor of the quality of life in North Carolina, which, by the way, ranked second to last on the ABA's survey. I don't recall where Washington state ranked in the survey, but Carllene Placide-Edwards (placc@foster.com) must be enjoying it there. She changed law firms after practicing for five years with Lane Powell Spears & Whersby LLP in favor of the firm Foster Pepper & Shefelman LLC. She says Seattle is nice this time of year. Vive avocat!

By the way, you don't have to be a lawyer to be mentioned in the Class of '90 class column! Send news, great and small, to: -- Amanda Willis, AmandaEsq@aol.com; Carole Moran Krus, clm42@cornell.edu; or Alisa Gilhooley, AlisaGil@aol.com.

91 | Greetings from the farm. By now, you have all received (and I am sure you have finished reading) your very own copy of Antigone, provided to you gratis by your Class of 1991 officers. So, what did you think? Are you glad we sent you the play? Did it make you think about Cornell and the good times that you had in your Freshman Writing Seminar? Were you just happy to receive something for free? Let us know on our class website: http://classof91.alumni.cornell.edu. Also, please participate in the online discussions about the play and reconnect with the Cornell community.

Having recently relocated to Westchester, I have had more than a few Cornellian train-spottings. I'd like to take this opportunity to let Dave Peck, MPA '92, know that although I was a bit mouthy about his loss of power during the October windstorm, I arrived home to my house and it was cold and it was dark. I also sat next to Robert Gates '90, MBA '94, on the Mt. Kisco express, where we discussed the latest and greatest in reality TV and the finer points of legal boating and fishing on the Croton Reservoir. I also spotted Dan Sirota '90 at lunch in White Plains. I wanted to let Dan know to stay away from the turkey chili—it was not so good. What's that, you think it's a slow month for news? Well maybe it is, but here's the good news:

Monica Chadha Piper writes that she and husband Jeff are living in Chicago, and welcomed Shawn Nathan Piper on New Year's Day 2003. Monica graduated with an MBA from Ohio State U. in 1995, after which she worked as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers (now IBM Business Consulting Services). Monica is currently on an extended leave of absence from IBM and enjoying being home with Shawn! Mollie Finch Hunter reports that she married LCDR John Hunter, USN on Oct. 4, '03 in Peterborough, NH. Mollie and John are stationed for two years in Bahrain. Other Cornellians at the wedding included Christina Miske, MPA '99, Eric, MBA '99, and Susie Curtis Schneider, and Todd Smalley.

Tom Catalano writes that he and wife Carrie and their son Jack welcomed Thomas Nicholas in May 2003. The Catalanos are living in Horsham, PA, where Tom works as a marketing manager at McNeil Consumer Healthcare. Karen Finkston Payes and husband Giora are living in New York City and welcomed Noah Isaac on July 7, '03. Cornellians at the bris included Carla Heiss and Jennifer Lee, with her husband Scott Klein and their children Jared Lee and Rachel. The New York Times reported that Sarah Abbe married Jim Taylor at the home of Sarah's father in Healdsburg, CA. Sarah is the West Coast fund-raiser for Accion International, a nonprofit organization in Boston that provides financial support and training to small businesses.

Lisa Ploucha Christensen has joined the Syracuse office of Bond, Schoeneck & King LLC, the largest law firm in Central New York. Karen Schmeidler Sagor reports that she married David on Sept. 18, '03 in New Rochelle, NY. Karen writes, "Although tropical storm Isabella came through that evening, a wonderful time was had by all, and the storm created an amazing backdrop to an amazing day!" Cornellians in attendance were: Mike and Joan Kochan Schade, Joe, ME '92, and Beth Livolsi Riordan '92, Adam and Sue Farrar-Choi, Jim Conti '88, MBA '89, Samir and Kathy Duffy Khanjar, Bill Munze, Paula Burdett Rusu,MBA '94, Dorine Colabella Scher, Jeff, MD '95, and Robyn Lipsky Weintraub, Gary Wojcik, and Joel Ossher '06. Much to the enjoyment of all the wedding guests, Karen and David ended the evening with a (slightly offkey) rendition of the Alma Mater!

Now that's the way to end the evening. Congratulations on all the new jobs, new marriages, and new babies. -- Nina Rosen Peek, nsr5@cornell.edu; Dave Smith, docds30@yahoo.com; Corinne Kuchling, kuccori@hotmail.com.

92 | As I write this, we are experiencing our first "real" snowfall of the season in Wisconsin. My husband David and I took our 2-year-old son Brayden for his first sled ride this morning. David and I were laughing, remembering our fun years ago when we snuck trays out of the dining hall to do our runs on Libe Slope.Wait . . . we're past the statute of limitations with Public Safety, right? Anyway, the sledding in Wisconsin is fun, even if there are no hills quite like Libe Slope and even if we are using real sleds instead of dining hall trays! Right now, instead of sledding, I'm inside, compiling the latest news of our classmates.

Amy Sachs, DVM '98, was married in October 2001 to Kevin Yam '91. She has been practicing as a small animal veterinarian in Falls Church, VA, for about 5-1/2 years. (Amy joked, "Sidenote: if they call it practicing, when do I get to do the real thing?") Amy and Kevin had son Benjamin on Aug. 15, '03. "I am now working half-time so I can be at home with him every day. Motherhood is far more challenging than vet school! And even though I LOVE my job, the rewards of motherhood are far greater as well." On Apr. 11, '03, Adam Rosenberg and wife Jennifer gave birth to twins, future Cornellians Abigail and Sophia. "We have had such a great time watching them grow and coo every day." Lots of Cornellians have been by to see them, including Rodney Gleiberman (with his adorable baby Annie), Mat Zucker and Bryan Fuhr '93, Mariela Markelis-Dybner, Jann Yogman '93, and current resident of the Hill Jared Needle '04. Adam noted, "I can't wait for everyone to meet them at the next reunion."

Adrien Kant finished three years of general surgery residency at Wayne State U./Detroit Medical Center. This year, she is doing research with the Robotic Surgery Program in the Pediatric Surgery dept. of Children's Hospital of Michigan. They work with the Zeus robot and Aesop camera positioner to develop clinical and laparoscopic/endoscopic applications of the robot in surgical procedures. Adrien would love to hear from anyone traveling through Detroit. Karen McCalley sent her news from Germany, where she has been living since August 2002. She teaches high school English at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. Karen has been enjoying lots of European travel, as well as the chance to view global events from a new perspective. Karen has kept up with a number of '92 classmates (thank goodness for e-mail!). "The news is all about babies," she wrote. "Julie Grass Jurman and husband Rory '91 welcomed their second son, Duncan, into the world in April 2003. Tanya Steinberg Schreibman, MD '97, and husband Dave had Benjamin, in July 2003. Jonathan Kay and wife Eileen welcomed daughter Anabel in August 2003. Pete Wahl and wife Parul Desai '91 had their first child, a son named Indivar, in October 2003. And my freshman roommate, Jessica Aronofsky Schwartzberg and husband Paul had their first child, a baby girl named Hannah, also in October 2003."

Jon and Diana Maxant Simon '94 welcomed their first child, Jeremy Wendell Simon, into the world on Nov. 29, '03. The Simons live in Washington, DC. Mark,MBA '93, and Sarah B. Clauss live in Bethesda, MD, and had their second child, Jack, on October 15. Jack's big sister is Alexa. After the birth, Sarah took three months off from her medical practice at Children's National Medical Center and from doing research on congenital heart disease at NIH. Mark is very busy with his Corporate Executive Board, where he does best practices research. Sarah mentioned that Maia Albano Coladonato had a baby boy, Gavin Alexander, on October 17. Her husband Greg '93 is a first-year student at Wharton. Sarah visited with Liz Weinreb Feeley and Shelli Klein Faber at Maia's shower. Liz lives in Avon, CT, and Shelli in New Jersey.

Sarah Chambers Potter and husband Jason reside in Portland, OR. Sarah has worked as a senior meeting planner for a medical communications company, Cardinal Health, for the past three years since moving to Portland from Lake Tahoe in 2000. Alex Varga and wife Lisa had their third son, Samuel Harrison Varga, on November 17, rounding out the trio by joining brothers Bradley, 3, and Jackson, 1-1/2, in Fredericksburg,VA. "We'll be busy trying to catch up on sleep for the next 18 years." Peter Christ reported he was busy with ski season in Red Lodge, MT. "My restaurants are great,my wife is great,my kids are great." Peter was in Las Vegas last fall and connected with Mark Birtha '94. "He gave Anne and me a brief tour of the Venetian and all of his restaurant recommendations were a hit with us. It's always nice to get an insider's tip." Peter mentioned that Chris Kraus has moved to Bozeman,MT.

Lori Flashner lives in sunny Southern California and enjoys the weather. She made it "home" to get a taste of fall in New York City and spent time with Laura Kaiser and Judd Emin. Laura is returning to school to seek her master's in nutrition at Fordham, and Judd was looking great and doing well at his firm, where he works in real estate developing and financing. This past July Lori traveled to the South of France for two weeks and "ate and drank like only a true Hotelie can!" Lori enjoys her general manager position for Bon Appetit Management Company and spends time renovating her house.

Carol Heppes German and husband Bob live in Ann Arbor, MI. Carol graduated from U. of Michigan with an MBA in 2002. She works for General Mills, and Bob works for Deloitte Consulting. The big news is that they had twin girls, Isabelle and Katie, on May 29, '03. "They are happy and healthy and keep us very busy!" Amy Bonsall Harry is now a licensed real estate sales associate in Rhode Island. Let her know if you are moving in or out of Rhode Island, but her agency is also a national relocation company, so she can help anyone moving anywhere —a referral service. She can be reached at aharry@residentialproperties.com.

Are you frustrated that your news isn't included here? Please send it to us—we would love to print it! -- Renee Hunter Toth, rah24@cornell,edu; Debbie Feinstein, Debbie_Fein stein@yahoo.com; and Wilma Ann Anderson, Wilpower1@aol.com.

93 | Though it's been almost one year since our 10th Reunion, mentions of that memorable June weekend in Ithaca continue to find their way into the Class Notes. Jason Halio e-mailed to say,"Reunion was a blast! Catching up on old memories with classmates and college neighbors Matt Cercone, Mike Riskind, and Andrew Lloyd, which even included a late night Hot Truck ‘debacle,' was just like old times!" Jason recently relocated from New York to Boston, where he is working at Morgan Stanley. He also mentioned that he completed the NYC Marathon in November: "At the starting line, I ran into (literally) Lorna Sultan '94 and we ran the first 18 miles together—before she dusted me."

William Andersen III wrote that he had a great time seeing old friends at reunion, and then again two months later at the August wedding of Kim Ashton to Rob Cullinane in Cohasset, MA. Other Cornellians in attendance were Matt and Kim Powell Sendelbach, Mark McAnallen, Alex Marcus, Kevin Campanella, ME '94, and Cheng and Kristen Sheppard Lee '92. For the past two years,Wil has been a project landscape architect for Back to Nature Landscape Associates in Oldwick, NJ. "We have designed award-winning residential and private school landscape designs. Currently, we are designing and building one of the first sustainable, green developments in New Jersey. Call me if you need a new house!" Considering how many of our classmates have moved this year, I would not be surprised if several took Wil up on his offer! Benjamin Rogoff Gideon recently relocated from Manhattan to Maine, a change he describes as "a big move, but a good one. I changed my name (assumed my wife's last name) and grew a beard.We have an 8-monthold little boy, Julian Gideon."

Like Benjamin, lots of our classmates became first- and even second-time parents last year. Justin Schor and wife Julie welcomed daughter Vanessa Leigh into the world on September 15. A few weeks later, on October 3, Claudia Humphrey Curtis gave birth to her second daughter, Arielle Elizabeth. Claudia reports fellow ILR classmate Dayo Wilson Lanier also has a new daughter, Kai Diarra, born in March.

Jon Russell,MBA '94, and wife Sue became parents late last year. Jon writes, "Jason Copeland Russell was born November 10. Everyone is doing great, although we have not been sleeping much lately.We are very excited and completely overwhelmed at the same time." Stacey Schwartz e-mailed that she and husband Yves Saada are also proud parents. "Our daughter Lily Michele was born on October 26." Finally, Derek and Nicole Bialas Harrison announce the birth of their first baby, son Maximilian Robert.

Of course, the column would not be complete without mention of a few weddings. Nancy Gellatly Leichter writes, "I moved to the Los Angeles area a couple of years ago and have been working at Nortel Networks in Enterprise Marketing. In September 2002, I married husband Josh in Santa Barbara. Cornellians in attendance were Jen Barber Joyce, Marjorie Dehey Daleo, Christy Bleyle Frank, Kristi Covert '94, ME '95, and Melissa Turner Booth."

Marc Merriweather married Narges Kakalia in New York in August.Marc is an associate at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, a law firm in Manhattan. Patrick Patricio married fellow Class of '93er Jennifer Raynovich, also in November in New York. Jennifer is a research associate at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, coordinating a clinical trial on diabetes, and Mark is the head of stock and derivatives trading at Copper Arch Capital, a hedge fund. In September, Erick Schonfeld married fellow Cornellian Nadia Ghannam '90. Erick is the editor-at-large for Business 2.0, a monthly magazine.

Matthew Kall e-mailed with news of his October 25 wedding to Naomi Katzman. Cornellians in attendance included Matthew's sister Deborah Kall Schaal '88, Law '91, her husband Joe '88, MBA '89, and all three of their daughters ("future Cornellians, we hope!"), groomsman Egan Greenstein, Allan Rousselle '90, Dustin Moskowitz '91, Anne Dunning '92, Jeffrey Anbinder '94, Jennifer Hillman '92, ME '93, and Kevin '91 and Amy Sachs Yam '92, DVM '98, and their new baby Benjamin. Matthew also wrote that in July he was among a group of recipients of the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service, given by John Ashcroft in recognition of their work on the case of United States v. James A. Traficant Jr., the former congressman from Youngstown, Ohio. Congratulations, Matthew.

Josh Owen was also honored in 2003 for his work. He was named one of Surface Magazine's 10 Most Avant Garde American Designers, as well as being included in Philadelphia Magazine's 2003 It List: 22 People Who Will Change Your World. Josh is a professor of industrial design at Philadelphia U. and runs a product design studio called owenLOGIKdesign.

As rewarding as any award is true job satisfaction. Kena Evans Thompson, MBA '98, started working for Cornell in May 2003 as the Director of Alumni Affairs & Development for the Northeast Regional Office. She writes, "I'm loving it!" On that upbeat note, I remind you to please send any and all news you'd like to share with your classmates to your faithful class correspondents. Thanks! -- Erica Fishlin Fox, ericazzz@aol.com; and Yael Berkowitz, berkowitz.y@mellon.com.

94 | Considering that we donned our mortarboards almost a decade ago, we often forget that some of our classmates undergo many years of formal training. Congratulations to the most recent inductees of the stethoscope club: Nilay Shah is a neurologist at Crystalrun Health Care in Middletown, NY. Nikheel Kolatkar earned an MS in physiology and biophysics from Georgetown in 1995 and went on to get his MD at the U. of Minnesota, Minneapolis Medical School four years later. After completing his residency at Baylor College of Medicine, he began a fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes, and hypertension at the Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Lastly, Mary Burdick is completing the final year of a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY. She graduated medical school in 1998. In more good news,Mary and husband Robert are the proud parents of daughter Anna Sophia, born last September.

This birth announcement segues nicely into the baby section of the column: Gail Fraser-Farmer, a doctor in Brooklyn, welcomed her first child, Shakira Grace, last June. That same month, Jennifer Gonzalez-Bousquet, who hangs her hat in Austin, TX, gave birth to Mariana Cecelia.Wrote Jennifer, "Her first laugh was when I explained to her that Brown is a safety school (my husband's alma mater).Mike and I are both looking forward to the 10th Reunion— no hard feelings." Carmen Santana-Telesca, BArch '94, is raising Eva Fernanda, who celebrated her first birthday last September. In the spirit of preservation, Carmen has "purchased and renovated two homes in old Tampa, one from 1900 and one from 1914," working with the planning commission to revitalize the neighborhood.

Another baby girl came into the world in September when Maria de la Fuente Sullivan, a resident of Virginia Beach, VA, gave birth to Kaitlyn Cecilia. Maria is a senior manager at Accenture, a consulting and technology services company, and is married to Jeffrey '93, a Navy pilot. Also in September, Laura Jacobsmeier Battaglia, who lives in Richmond,VA, became a mother to Paul Thomas. She and her husband, both architects, are in the process of renovating a historic house (circa 1858).

Another architect, Maureen Intihar, who works for Mithun Partners in Seattle,WA,married John Gaines on October 4 in Shaker Heights, OH. Among the bridesmaids were Kathleen Dwyer Mayoglothling, whose daughter Anna was born last March, and Mary Fagot, who married Nick Wooten in San Luis Obispo, CA. According to Maureen, Kathleen works at the GE Foundation in Fairfield, CT, while Mary, a two-time Grammy Award nominee, is an art director at Capitol Records.

Another California wedding occurred last August when Liza Brown married Abel Somilleda in Los Angeles. She teaches middle school English and owns a travel company with her husband. Farther afield, Jordan Wallens (also of Los Angeles) journeyed to Pamplona, Spain, to tie the knot with Idoya Urrutia. From the New York Times: Margit Feury, a freelance writer and editor, wed Gar Ragland at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY. I had the pleasure of attending the June 21 nuptials of Dan Wood '93 and Mara Leff, who exchanged vows in a beautiful conservatory in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The couple, who met freshman year, represents the next generation of a Cornell romantic saga: Dan's father Tim Wood '65, BArch '66, met wife Ruth (Rubman) '65 on the Hill, while Ruth's parents, Fred Rubman '31 and Hermine (Cohen) '34, also share an alma mater. Among the guests was Matt Schaab, who works in finance at Goldman Sachs.

Last fall, I received an e-mail from Abhinov (aka Abi) Singh, who shared an abundance of news. Last July, Abi, who received an MBA at U. of Chicago, married France Jaffe '95 in Lyon, France. The two live in the San Francisco area. Courtesy of Abi, we learn that Marcus Davis, who runs a recruiting company in Austin, TX, also joined the newlywed club when he married Lauren Brown in Philadelphia. In July, Geoff Raynak got hitched in Colorado Springs, CO. In October, the latest baby boom hit Evan Kopelson and Rae Ostman, who have a son. In the latest California update, Will Tseng is in Los Angeles, where he works for a technology firm, and Dan (Aaron D.) Sasson is finishing a medical residency in Palo Alto, CA.

More career developments: After getting his MBA, Gregory Woodworth recently started Stony Brook Cookie Company, a mail-order business based in a historic brewery in Jamaica Plain, MA (www.stonybrookcookie.com). Freshly baked cookies ship within 24 hours. In Los Angeles, John Schwartz, who was about to produce his first feature film last fall, is on the lookout for screenwriters. Cory Lyle works in real estate development in Santa Fe, NM, and Barry Schutter lives in Somerset, NJ, punching the clock at ImClone as a project engineer. Tycho Peterson is a biotech analyst at J.P. Morgan Chase in New York.

Also in Gotham is Syl Tang, CEO and founder of the five-year-old media company HipGuide.Wrote Syl, "We've been in everything from Newsweek to the NY Times Style section. This year, I'm judging the Wharton Business Plan Competition." She included news of Alessandra Sagasti, who is married to Chris Taggi. Alessandra teaches at Montgomery College, holds a PhD in marine science, and has authored a children's book on the same subject. After finishing law school at George Washington U., Chris remained in DC, where he practices at McManus Schor Asmar and Darden and volunteers at the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless.

Also living in the DC area is Erin Iverson, an Episcopal youth minister. Erin served in the Army for nine years. She shared updates on Andrea Palm, who works for a congressman on Capitol Hill, and Marty Newhouse, a consultant at Accenture. Last fall, Brian Williams wrote about his busy life at the U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he is pursuing a JD plus two master's degrees after leaving the Air Force in 2000. After a stint at the General Counsel for the Secretary of Defense last summer, his post-graduation plans are to return to DC to clerk for a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

The fall season still means "back to school" for Greta Pangborn, PhD '02, an assistant professor at Saint Michael's College in Colchester, VT. On her roster are classes in computer science, finite math, and algorithms. Julie Orringer, who graduated from the Iowa Writer's Workshop, teaches fiction writing at Stanford U. Her short story collection, How to Breathe Underwater, was published by Knopf last fall. She lives with her husband in San Francisco. Keeping busy in Illinois, Rachelle Bernacki is the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at U. Chicago. Putting all of us couch potatoes to shame, she rode her bike a grand total of 3,250 miles from Seattle to Washington, DC, and even found time to volunteer at a medical clinic near Mount Everest. She reports on Anika Trancik, who is working toward her PhD in psychology.

For those of you who haven't seen our newly redesigned website (courtesy of Nico Marcellino), log on to http://classof94.alumni.cornell.edu/. There you'll find a user-friendly place for everything '94, including campus photos, important links, and information about our upcoming reunion. -- Dika Lam, dikaweb@yahoo.com; Jennifer Rabin Marchant, jennifer.marchant@kraft.com; Dineen PashoukosWasylik, dmp5@cornell.edu.

95 | As Alison pointed out in her Jan/Feb column, it is indeed incredible that we are approximately one year away from our 10th Reunion. Not quite achieving Alison's tenure, I'm only a five-year veteran of writing our Class Notes column and before that an avid reader. Rereading old Class Notes, as well as thinking back over the time since we left the Hill, it is amazing how our lives (and the world for that matter) have changed, taken shape, and occasionally led us down some unexpected detours. Throughout it all, we are joined together by our shared, steadfast allegiance to Cornell and fidelity among the Class of 1995. Originally, I thought all universities were like this, but over time and after interaction with the rest of the alumni worlds, it has become apparent that this is not the norm.We Cornellians are unique. Likewise, we are lucky.

Okay, enough of my column-of-love-fest. Let's get down to the news. Katherine Kiang Pascover is surrounded by Cornellians both at work and in her extended in-law family. Kathy says, "My husband Alex has two non-Cornellian cousins who are marrying Cornellians. Cousin Joanna Poscover married Craig Schranz '98, and cousin Ben Poscover married Jessica Katz '96. Moreover, I was reading an internal memo at work and found that there is another Cornellian, Kim Hunter '75, who was recently named managing editor of BNA's Labor Relations Reporter. This is in addition to my new coworker Paul Oldewurtel '88, BFA '90, and fellow employee Cathy Minkler. I myself was introduced to BNA through my Cornell mentor Pat Strongin '59, who is now retired. It's just a strange but happy invasion into my work and personal life that I just had to comment on to somebody!"

Dale Rosenthal started graduate school full time at the U. of Chicago. He is working toward an MS in statistics and concurrently working for Morgan Stanley part-time. The direction Dale plans to take post-degree is "back to the finance world!" Hmmm . . . sounds like anyone looking to hang out with Dale during his free time will have to wait until 2007.We'll miss you, Dale! (Just teasing . . . about the 2007 part!) Dr. Maureen Shaw Terranova has joined Rhinebeck Women's Health. Maureen is "expertly trained in the obstetrical care of the mother and newborn, and providing family-centered births."Another '95er in the news is Paul Rodriguez, ME '97. Paul is receiving the prestigious George Bradley Gascoigne Medal from the Water Environment Federation (WEF) as recognition for his article, "Attack of Lagoon Bloom." For those unfamiliar with the lagoon bloom exposé (no, it is not a scifi thriller), "the article identifies and discusses the process used to implement a DAF treatment process to remove algae from the Town of Warren's lagoon effluent."

Jeffrey Marcus and Joanne Seiff celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary by taking a month-long trip to Sante Fe, NM. After their extended holiday, they moved to Bowling Green, KY, where Jeff is now an assistant professor of biology at Western Kentucky U. Joanne gave up a tenure track position teaching English at a community college to move to Kentucky, but she is enjoying her new, less stressful job as a freelance writer. Since the move, the pair has been visited by Joanne's mother, Judy Gleicher Seiff '65, Rebecca Conable '94, and Ashley Dawn Weiss. "The guest room has been full of Cornellians."

Leslie Davis Nicholson sent in a delightful update on her life. She writes, "Rob Nicholson and I were married on May 25 (the same day as Cornell graduation!) in a little town on Skaneateles Lake, just 40 miles north of Cornell. Many Class of '95ers, as well as '92s, '94s, '96s, and '97s, traveled from all over to join us for a weekend of festivities and revisiting Cornell memories. The wedding party included classmates Beth Jordan, Juliette Sorhagen Fershtman, and Kristin Manley. We had a tremendous time and were very glad to be able to share the weekend with so many friends and family in the Finger Lakes. Afterwards, we spent two wonderful weeks in the Greek Islands. Rob and I live in NYC, where I am a product manager at the NASDAQ Stock Market and he is an investment banker with RBC Capital Markets."

In a vivid e-mail, Y.Andrew Yang says, "Following a harrowing escape from SARS, I completed my expatriate assignment in Hong Kong and returned to Boston this spring. Safety was certainly one reason.However, there was a much greater cause for my return: I wanted to make sure I was alive and in one piece to marry my true love, Kim. Our wedding was a wonderful moment in time, in which we were joined by our friends and family. As I looked at my closest friends and groomsmen, I realized that they had all spent time on the Hill with me. Cornell was, and still is, one of the most special places in the world.What a joy it is to be home."Very well said, Andy!

On July 12, '03, Mathew Schwartz '96 married Justine Firnhaber-Baker in the Wellesley College chapel. Cornellians in attendance were best man Chris "Tick" Ahearn '96, groomsman Mark Handel, and Eben Klemm '92, Soraya Rosenfield '94, Chris, BArch '01, and Andrea Pigoni Auxier '96, Emily Yacus, Annie Cranstoun '97, and Yves Etheart '96. The couple honeymooned in Poland and the Baltics.Afterwards, they moved to France so Justine could do research for her medieval history PhD.Mat is a freelance writer/photographer who concentrates mostly on business and technology topics in addition to working on Fodor's Paris 2005 guide.

More weddings abound! Karen Fellowes Siwinski attended the wedding of Letitia Chan and Ramon Peypoch on Apr. 25, '03 in Carmel, CA. Karen and Michelle Madriaga were bridesmaids. Guests included classmates Chris Chouinard and Dharinee Sanganee Menon. In more personal news, Karen reports that she and husband Peter welcomed their first child into the world on Oct. 3, '03, Jack Peter Siwinski. As a new mother, Karen says, "He is an absolute joy! I will admit, however, that neither of us truly understood the meaning of sleep deprivation until Jack came into our lives!" Joining the ranks of the sleep deprived, Gilbert and Mara Cooper Chan welcomed their little bundle of joy Julia on Jan. 31, '03. Gil writes, "Little Julia is our pride and joy and we're already preparing her for Cornell in 18 years or so. Also, in between all the excitement of having a baby, I changed jobs in May and am now the engineering manager at Polyshot Corp., a company here in Rochester, NY, that manufactures runnerless molding systems for the injection molding industry."

Also in January 2003, Michael Mendelsohn and wife Lynn Rosen had a new arrival, Samuel Rosen Mendelsohn, on the 23rd. Mike is an associate producer for ABC News Magazine "20/20," and Lynn is a playwright. The couple lives in Manhattan. In March 2003, Brian Rose became the proud father of Cyrus Benjamin. Brian enjoys his work at HBK Investments. In his spare time, he serves on the board of the Dallas Area Torah Assn. and as chair of his neighborhood crimewatch committee. And the last little edition to the extended Cornell family to make into this Class Notes is "sweet baby girl" Hannah Paige. She was born on June 9, '03, to Signe Freiberg Whitson and her husband Richard. "What a joy!"

And that is the conclusion of the spring 2004 Class Notes. It is always a pleasure to hear from you and I echo Signe's comment, "What a joy!" -- Abra Benson, amb8@cornell.edu; and Alison Torillo French, amt7@cornell.edu. Class website, www.classof95.cornell.edu.

96 | Greetings, Sixers! I hope the new year is treating you well. As I write this, we're being deluged by "Best of" and "Worst of the Year" lists, memories, icons, pariahs, and what have you. I haven't quite grasped the concept that the year is ending; going back to school has resuscitated the concept that the year actually ends in May. For those of you without that blissful recollection, I have a class assignment for you: go and check out President Jeffrey Lehman '77's convocation speech on the Cornell website. Trust me, it's nothing short of awesome. One of those things that made me proud that I spent my time on East Hill.

Justine Harrison is in her second year of law school at UNLV, headed toward a career in health law. She's been working part-time to help create the Nevada Cancer Inst., but still getting to see friends all around. Justine reported that she saw Josh Babbitt, MS '97 (a "comrade in suffering" at NYU Law), Alex Luna, and Mark Dubovy on a recent trip to NYC, Andrea Foster in L.A., and John Tolpa, JD '99, who's working as an attorney in San Diego and loving the West Coast life. Ben Faulkner spent a long hiatus in South America soaking up some Spanish and a couple of soccer games before starting as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in November.

Erica Gantner wrote that Sheila Di Gasper, Alicia Parlanti,Karen Szczepanski, and Robyn Tuttle Burns all visited her in Boston "to sort of kick off our 30s." Erica caught up with former Beantown resident Karl Schimmeck, who recently relocated to Chicago. Erica also reported that Laura Scheirer Quinn started her own nonprofit consulting company (aldercon sulting.com) doing website consulting for nonprofits. Laura's husband Henry recently left the corporate world and started last fall as a NYC public school teacher, teaching high school math. Laura wrote,"Married life can't be beat. I started my business at the same time he started teaching, to begin a new life of good works and poverty.Well, not actually poverty, but no longer the corporate fat cats we were."

Ali Davis now calls Japan home. She moved to Tokyo in 2003 to work for PADECO, a transportation consulting company. She's been working in various spots in the Far East, including China. Apparently, Ithaca wasn't cold enough for Lisa Perronne, who is finishing up b-school at Wisconsin in the spring, and then heading further north to Minneapolis to rejoin the working world. She let me know that she'll be spending some time in warmer climates before inching closer to the north pole in the fall.

Nina Roosevelt and Alex Collmer '97 were married on Aug. 9, '03 in South Dartmouth, MA. Nina is a fifth grade teacher at the Allen-Stevenson School in New York, and finishing up her master's in education at Columbia. Alex owns Interactive Entertainment Partners, based in New York. Katie Butler is finishing up her time in "Ithaca: Reloaded" (being a 2nd year at the Johnson School) where she hopes she's facing her last Ithaca winter. Katie visited San Francisco in October, where she got to see Joy Guidi and Danielle Fisher '97 and Dave Cole '97, whose wedding she also attended in June at Lake Tahoe.

And while we're on the left coast, Arshad Ahmed reported that he launched the bi-coastal law firm of Ahmed & Mogul LLP. Arshad serves as the managing partner of the firm's San Francisco Bay Area office. Chetna Bansal, M ORIE '97, and husband Aravind Narasimhan '97 welcomed daughter Maya into the world on Aug. 21, '03. Congratulations to the proud new parents!

Thanks to everyone who wrote in, and those who encouraged others to write in with their news.We always look forward to hearing from you. -- Sheryl Magzamen, SLM1@cornell.edu; Allie Cahill, AlexandraCahill@aol.com; and Courtney Rubin, cbr1@cornell.edu.

97 | As you read this, spring is around the corner . . . finally! This past year, like others in recent memory, was one in which many classmates tied the knot. Elisabeth Field married Andy Mims on July 26, '03, in Little Compton, RI. The couple met at Dartmouth, where they received their MBA degrees. Elisabeth is a management consultant at the Parthenon Group, and Andy is a stock research associate at Thomas Weisel Partners, a merchant bank. Joseph Britt and Kelly O'Hare got married at Graham Chapel at Washington U. in St. Louis,MO, on Nov. 30, '02. Briget Doyle Grbic got married on Aug. 3, '02. She and her husband honeymooned in Croatia, and Briget started with Marsh USA in June 2003.

August was a busy month for classmates' weddings: Alex Collmer and Nina Roosevelt '96 tied the knot Aug. 9, '03, in South Dartmouth, MA. Nina teaches fifth grade at the Allen- Stevenson School in New York and is seeking her master's degree in education from Columbia. Alex owns Interactive Entertainment Partners, a video programming firm in New York. His father is a professor of plant pathology at Cornell.Meanwhile, at the Newark Club in New Jersey on the same day, Samantha Youngman (spygirl129@aol.com) and Mark Meiler got married. Classmates attending included Beth Rothenstein, Andrew and Julie Leffler Schultz, Yvette Nick Montvelisky, Josh, DVM '01, and Rebecca Propis Baum, Caryn Feinberg, Michael Siegel and wife Robyn, and Marc and Ellen Goodman Stiefel. Samantha is the features editor at the newly revamped Star magazine.

Paula Gerber (paulaannegerber@yahoo.com) and Pankaj Gore got hitched on Aug. 30, '03 in her hometown of Spokane,WA. Pankaj's brother Neeraj Gore is in the class of '00. Also on August 30, on the other side of the country, Julie Winarski (jnw2@cornell.edu) and Jason Jack were married in Upper Montclair, NJ. Melissa Martinchick and Margaret Safford were bridesmaids; other classmates attending included Greg and Sarah Karcinell Fried, Shelly Tyler Radler, Laurie Rothenberg, and Christina Edling Melendi. Jason and Julie live in NYC, where Julie is an attorney in the investment management group of Davis Poll & Wardwell.

In June 2003, Jason Friedman (jayruns@excite.com) and Jodi Frantz joined in holy matrimony in Philadelphia. Both Jason and Jodi have Cornellian siblings: Jason's sister Allison Friedman Osborn '00 and husband Andrew '00 joined Jodi's sister Brooke Frantz Salzman '95 in the festivities. Al Brandstaedter '96, MEng '97, was best man; John Steed and Aravind Swaminathan also attended. Jason is finishing his residency in emergency medicine at Cooper Hospital in Camden, NJ. Danielle Grundleger (dannie99@hotmail.com) married Harrison Rosenberg in Lawrence, NY, on Sept. 6, '03. The Rosenbergs live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; Danielle works for IBM as a consultant, and has seen Staci Harris Frauwirth, Dave Silverstein, Jason Bender, Elliot Goodman, Jennifer Colasuonno-Schaffer, and Bill Trenchard.

Scott Hatherley (shatherl@mac.com) sent word that he attended Brad Hopper's wedding on Sept. 6, '03. Maria Westberg (mariawest berg@yahoo.com) married Peter Adams, MBA '02, on Sept. 27, '03 in Bristol, RI. Classmates joining in the festivities included Jessika Trancik, Alison Brown Mungenast, Julie Laukys, and Anne and Sarah Snelgrove, MD '01.Maria finished up her master's at Tufts, where she studied nutrition communications and public health. Julie Laukys (jkl6@cornell.edu) checked in with some news of her own: she received her clinical doctorate in physical therapy from Temple U. this summer.

Anne-Marie Compton (amco101@yahoo.com) gave birth to son Dominic Matthew Ross on Aug. 3, '03. Anne-Marie is enjoying life as a full-time mom after teaching introductory chemistry at the U. of Alaska, Fairbanks. Colleen Zampier (cjz8@juno.com) loves her job as a clinical dietitian at R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the U. of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Patara Yongvanich, MBA '00 (py12@cornell.edu) was promoted last fall to director of field services for SAP AG. Patara spent the summer with Derek Deich, Dan Davidson, and Jason Wang '96.

John Boyer continues to put his Harvard Law degree to good use: he's a member of the Judge Advocate General core of the 101st Airborne division of the Army and was serving in Iraq this fall. After returning from a "glorious" ten-week post-Bar exam vacation, Lia Brooks (lnb1@cornell.edu) has settled into her job as an associate in Davis Polk & Wardwell's litigation department and still managed to find time to train and run the New York City Marathon on November 2. She graduated from Fordham Law School last May and keeps in touch with Sudwiti Chanda, Rebecca Politzer, and Kristen Breen '98. Christine Booss (cb30@cornell.edu) remains in Eugene, OR, where she's in her third year of studying business law at the U. of Oregon and looking forward to finishing up in May '04.

Rebecca Cantor Amster (Rebecca@amsterfamilylaw.com) opened her own law firm in downtown Coral Gables, FL, where she practices family law, including divorce, adoption, paternity, custody, domestic violence, and dependency. After being inspired by husband Matt '95, who ran in the marathon at Disney World last January, she started training to run in the Disney marathon this year. Rebecca was present at the closing of Jason Litowitz '98's new home.

David Hollman (dah8@cornell.edu) kept busy outdoors in 2003: he traveled to Yosemite National Park with Chris Como '99, Presidential Ridge in New Hampshire, and Mt.Marcy in New York's Adirondacks. David's living in NYC but working in Arlington, VA, since June 2002 for Sapient Corp., and has seen classmate Russ Goodrich in New Hope, PA, and Ann Coulter '84 on Amtrak. Tania Condon Lawrence (taniaben@hotmail.com), husband Ben, and 2-yearold son John moved to Balikpapan, Indonesia, in September 2003. Ben is working as the office manager for Abumas Group, a supply company serving the oil drilling rigs in Kalimantan (formerly Borneo). Tania, who spent last summer in Biddeford, ME, while enrolled in a master's education program at the U. of New Hampshire, planned to volunteer in Balikpapan as an English teacher in a local elementary school.

Megan Clark Eisenberg (mclarkeisenberg@yahoo.com) and husband Josh '96, JD '00, planned to vacation in Vietnam in October 2003.Megan has started her own business, Clark Ventures LLC; she buys, renovates, and sells houses in the New York metropolitan area, and acts as a general contractor on other projects in Manhattan and New Jersey. Megan and Josh keep up with many Cornellians, including classmates Kevin and Lynn Stravinski LaPierre, Emily Mead, Todd Jacobson, Amy Martin, and Maneli Garahan.

Stefan Lehmann (heysml@aol.com) left Morgan Stanley's investment banking division after three years to head to business school at Columbia. Stefan met Elise Shin and Jen Hu for drinks this fall. Elisa Overholt (cedahlia56@aol.com) is back at school studying traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbs). Seth Guikema (sdg4@cornell.edu) finished his PhD at Stanford in management science and engineering. He moved back to Ithaca and is at Cornell as a postdoctorate in civil and environmental engineering.

Have you visited our class website lately? It is a great way to stay connected: investigate upcoming events in your area, peruse past Class Notes columns, post a snapshot, give a gift. You can always submit your news directly to us at the addresses below, or send it in over the Web. And remember, this space isn't reserved solely for weddings, babies, and other major events . . . there is a forum for news of all sorts! -- Erica Broennle Nelson, ejbnelson@yahoo.com; Sarah Deardorff Carter, sjd5@cornell.edu. Class website, www.classof97.cornell.edu.

98 | By the time this column appears, the first signs of springtime should be in the air. In accordance with the season of hope and love, we bring you news on the birds, bees, and busybodies from the Class of 1998. For starters, Jennifer Salzwedel Shenkman has happy news to report from Boston (sorry about the delay, Jennifer!). Back on July 6, '02, she and Evan got married at Sage Chapel on an absolutely perfect Ithaca day at a ceremony that was reportedly beautiful beyond belief. Class of '98 Cornellians in attendance included David and Carolyn Smith Wald, Catherine Yen, Melissa Amernick, MPA '99, Yvonne Wang, Andy Lah, Colin Dougherty, Brennan McDonough, and Derek Dorn. Evan just completed his second year working for Jackson Lewis LLP as a labor and employment attorney. Jennifer works for what is now Columbia Management Group, a subsidiary of Fleet, doing financial analysis and reporting. The couple reports that they are both enjoying their jobs, being married, and living in the best baseball town in the world.

About a year later, Denise Chu and Paul Lee got married on June 7, '03. Jessica Strassberg and Albert Choi were in attendance. James Lee '99 and Gary Lazarus, JD '02, served as groomsmen. Christine Vatovec married Brian Sprague '99 at the Taughannock Falls overlook in Ithaca on June 21, '03. On Aug. 9, '03 back in Sage Chapel,Addie Tyler and Theodore Ming-Tao Wong, MEng '95, were married. The couple honeymooned in Prague,Vienna,Munich, and Paris.

Next in queue for another Sage Chapel wedding were Karen Wang and Dave Fitzhugh '95. The venue could not have been more appropriate —the couple had met in the Sage Chapel Choir nine years before and Dave proposed in the chapel. The weather broke into a sunny gorgeous day for the special occasion. The reception was at the Statler Hotel and was well attended by Cornellians. Mehera O'Brien was the maid of honor, and Becky Green was bridesmaid. Others in the Class of '98 contingent were Seth Levy, Alyssa Goulian, Cheryl Young, Mike Grove, Michelle Walters, MS '99, Tess Gamboa, Mike Coggins, Jaff Hasan, Jen Rosen, and Lillian Chuang. Dave and Karen live in Richmond,VA. On Sept. 20, '03 Amy R.Winkle got married to Tor Glendinning. The ceremony was at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, in Bristol, ME. The couple honeymooned in Nova Scotia.

Moving further along in life's course are Jeremy Goldman, Jay Burnett, and George Voyiatzis, who are now fathers. Jeremy married Debra in August 2001, and they have one child, Adeline, who is 15 months old. Jay announces the birth of their second daughter,Maggie, who was born Sept. 5, '03.His other daughter Abigail is almost 2 and loves being a big sister. Jay is still working for Marriott, where he is now director of sales and marketing analysis. George announces the birth of daughter Georgia, who arrived on Mar. 28, '03. Living in Fresno with his wife and daughters Arti, 4, and Dharma, 2, is Anoop Patel. He is sorry that he missed reunion, but it was for a good reason: he opened a brand new Hampton Inn and Suites on June 17 at the San Francisco Airport. Congratulations, guys!

Settling down. Aside from getting married and making babies, some of our classmates are becoming homeowners. Sheeleza Bacchus Deba got married recently. The couple bought their first home in Helmetta, NJ, and got a beautiful puppy named Buck. All three are settling down slowly and spending lots of time with family and friends. Addy Williams also recently bought a flat in San Francisco, CA. She is working for a restaurant specialized general contractor building boutique restaurants in the Bay Area. In May 2003, she went home to Novia Scotia and then set off to the Philippines to visit her spouse's family and Raeanna Cranbourne. Addy also saw Amy Greenstein Cuker, Stephanie Melikian, Andrea Yanik, and Lisa Lowenfels at Anna Godfrey Alig's wedding in Peoria, IL.

Katherine "Trina" Young Barton and her husband moved to California from Connecticut and are in the process of buying a house. The couple is having a hard time with the idea of Fresno winters (temperatures in the upper 80s for the entire month of October). They drove cross-country and enjoyed many national parks along the way. Trina saw Robin Schenker and Kate Temme in Philidelphia in June 2003 and reports that both are very busy and very happy to be in Philly.

Next stops? Our classmates have been to some exotic destinations in the past year, including good old Ithaca, NY. Matthew West gave a guest lecture for Kathy Berggren's Comm 201 class on the topic of effective listening back in October 2003. He also recruited MBA candidates from Cornell's Johnson School for his company, Regan Campbell Ward. Regan Campbell Ward will host Prof. Giban Earle's Cornell Communication Fellow's Program in the spring, where students can spend a day at a real-life NYC advertising agency to ask questions, get a tour of the agency, and hear presentations from agency staff. Peter Majeranowski just left the navy after five-plus years, during which time he has been in Baghdad, Iraq, working on temporary duty for the Coalition Provisional Authority. Erica Wray visited Argentina in December 2002 and then Ireland and England in September 2003. She is as an attorney for a law firm in Menlo Park. CA.

Almost there. Some of our classmates are still toughing it out in school.We wish them the best of luck! Joseph Rossettie is in his second year of law school. He had worked two years as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York, moved to Washington, DC, to work as an independent consultant, then traveled to Jackson, WY, for a year before going to the U. of San Diego Law School. Patricia Bolen is currently in law school at Michigan State U. Chris Malvica is studying a lot in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Slippery Rock U. Congratulations to all! -- Erica Chan, hc31@cornell.edu; and Gregg Herman, gdh5@cornell.edu.

99 | Happy New Year and Almost Reunion, Cornellians! As I write this column, shivering from Ithaca-esque winter winds as 2003 reaches its finale, I have to laugh at the irony that you will be reading these very pages during much warmer and welcoming months— with our 5th Reunion just around the corner! When I put pen to paper this time around, I was quite surprised to find a dearth of gossip, tidbits, and know-how from y'all! Please write us and let us know what's happening in your lives so we can keep entertaining you with the ins and outs of all your classmates.Without further ado, I present you the year in review.

First up at bat is Kevin Orloski (klo3@cor nell.edu), who has been learning the lay of the law in Allentown, PA. After graduating with honors from the U. of Pittsburgh, Kevin began practicing law last October through a clerkship with a trial judge in Easton, PA. Kevin expresses his hopes of sipping martinis alongside pal Young-Bin Song during our 5th Reunion if Young can manage to free himself from the binds of his hectic existence as a systems engineer with LG Electronics. Kevin also hopes to haunt the Big Red bar scene with college buddy Elizabeth Farrell (elizabeth.farrell@chronicle. com). He commends Elizabeth for taking time out of her job at the Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington, DC, to compile her own Sheldon Court Newsletter, allowing "graduates" of the venerable dorm to reconnect. To add to Kevin's praise, Elizabeth was recently awarded a reporting fellowship to go to Athens, Greece, where she met Olympics and education officials. Her DC comrades include Paulo Cunha '00, Katherine Karl, and Andrew Zuckerman.

Cornell's favorite therapist/satirist Evan Waldheter has gone down south for more than just the winter to complete his clinical psychology PhD program at UNC, Chapel Hill. Evan took a few years rest from the intense life of a grad student to try his hand as a marketing executive for Cline, Davis & Mann Inc. in NYC. Reports confirm the Big Apple misses him dearly (especially our East Coast crew), but he's a good correspondent and has dutifully kept in touch with the lot of us, including reunion coordinator Sheyna Horowitz. Sheyna, at this point, is probably in a frenzy between putting the final touches on reunion preparation and finishing her first year of business school at the U. of Virginia Darden School of Business. Also riding the Wall Street wave, Laura Kauderer reports that she's really enjoying her first year as an MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

MIT is chockfull of Cornellians! One my favorite Bostonians,Mukund Thattai, has spent the past five years reinventing the wheel as a mad scientist in his biophysics lab, and is now wrapping up his PhD at MIT.Mukund (and probably most of us) has been quite occupied on the wedding front! He spent his winter break in India to celebrate his brother (and fellow Cornellian) Lakshman's marriage after he, myself, and many other International Living Center residents drove en masse up to Ithaca in the summer to celebrate the marriage of Asya Khonina '00 to James Buckley '01, ME '02. On Aug. 31, '03, Asya walked down the aisle accompanied by bridesmaids Salonika Mitra '00 and Kaye Sy '00, and cheered on by her ladies-in-waiting, the ILC "suiteys" Meaghan Donovan '00, Justyna Zapolska '00, Bijou Bose '00,Restu Ismail '98, ME '99, Eva Bieniek '00, Rehan Tengku, and myself! We worked behind the scenes to make the day a fairy tale come true, and I promise you, it was by far the best wedding I've ever attended—from the romantic ceremony outside Uris Library overlooking Libe Slope on a sunny (yes, SUNNY!) day, to the reception held on the Arts Quad, complete with a breathtaking sunset reflecting off the clock tower to mark the special occasion. ILCers were in attendance from all over the world, and post-wedding Asya and James packed their bags and moved to Amsterdam.Asya welcomes any and all visitors, so if you have an inkling for adventure, be sure to add the Netherlands to your itinerary.

While on the subject of venturing off to faraway lands,my past Paulina Street roommate of two years Carol D'Souza has headed back to her native Switzerland. Now in Geneva, Carol is walking the path of her dream job, working for the World Health Organization after graduating with a master's in international policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. My other roommate of nearly five years (and from whom I'm still suffering separation anxiety) Rachel Erlich and I have also finally left our Paulina abode. Although we only moved a couple blocks away from one another in separate apartments, I tell ya', when you live with someone as long as Rachel and I have, you feel like it's a marriage! Rachel continues her grad school stint in biology at MIT.

Other weddings in 2003 included New Yorker Leon Out to Elisa Miller at the Fontainebleau Inn in Alpine, NY. Leon, a magna cum laude graduate, surfs the intricate web of career development as both a senior developer at Comvision, a Web development firm in New York, and as the chief technical officer of Peer Focus, a related Internet company in New York that specializes in surveys. Also this past year, Sireesha Soma married Dr. Ashwin Jathavedam at the Hindu Samaj Temple in Wappingers Falls, NY. In her third year at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, Sireesha had participated in the Teach for America program from 1999 to 2001 as a first grade teacher at the Roosevelt Elementary School in Lynwood, CA.

Did I mention that my own brother got married this past summer. I was not only the maid of honor, but am now the happy aunt of my beautiful niece Quinn Marie Arzt. I firmly believe the best way to have kids when you're not ready yet is to let your siblings do all the work, and I am proud to admit I was born for the role of "crazy aunt." Still lovin' Boston, I spend my days working as an event planner and marketing manager for a local nonprofit, Volunteers of America. I spend my more exciting nights devising, writing, and acting for a semi-professional sketch comedy group, The Skitches. The one and only all-female gig in town, we have been touring Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline since March 2003.We hope to extend our world tour to new states in the New Year. Read more about us and Boston's local improv and sketch comedy scene at www.improvboston.com.

Speaking of the arts in Boston, Gayle Anonuevo '00 gets the Oscar after completing the project of a lifetime with her two-years-in-themaking documentary of fellow Cornellian Shaun Geer '01. In her own words, the documentary is an investigation of "the previously unstudied phenomena of Essential Shaunness. Shaun Geer is a mystery shrouded in enigma with two coats of ‘what the-?' Shaun will dance at the drop of a hat. Shaun will sing out loud. In public. Shaun will walk ahead of his friends, even if he doesn't know where they are going." The documentary was brought to life by the testimonials of his friends, including '99ers Randi Rotjan,Mukund Thattai, and myself. Largely produced and edited by Gayle, Bijou Bose and James Barabas '00 also contributed many hours of hard work, sweat, and creative juices to filming and creating a soundtrack for the documentary. Gayle held the red carpet premiere in late summer 2003 and concluded the festivities with a party featuring all of Shaun's favorite foods. The documentary is available on VHS via Gayle (gayle_anonuevo@emerson. edu), who is currently completing her graduate studies in film at Emerson College.

It's a small world after all, so write us with your news so we can remind you how few degrees of separation there lies between you and your classmates when it comes to location, careers, marriage, and Kevin Bacon (who I am now officially one degree separated from as my friend took on a small part in Mystic River). Keep sending us your news '99ers, and I hope to see y'all at Reunion 2004! -- Melanie "Crazy Auntie" Arzt, snoopymel@yahoo.com; Jess Smith, jessiniowa@hotmail.com; Jen Sheldon, jsheldon@law.uconn.edu.

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