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00 | Happy New Year, dear friends! And yes, I am actually wishing you a Happy 2005. Can you believe it? It has been five short years since we left, and the Hill is awaiting our return. This June, hundreds of our classmates will be traveling from all over the world to reminisce, rejoice, and reunite. Reunion 2005, here we come! I better see all of you there!

Once we get back to Ithaca, we can congratulate all our classmates and celebrate their good news! Michael Buray has a new addition to his family, Jaiden Michael, born on February 2, 2004. Cornellians Steven Schnee, DVM '03, and Christie Bialowas '01 were married in 2003 at Sage Chapel. Becky Avrin also got married upstate—to Jeremy Zifchock '98 at Sheldrake Point Winery on Cayuga Lake. The couple moved to Delaware so Becky could start a PhD program in biomechanics at the U. of Delaware.

John Wang and Eileen McComiskey also tied the knot and then honeymooned in Bora Bora. They now live in Cambridge, MA, where John is finishing up his MBA at Harvard B-School. Congrats, you two! Fellow Theta Emily Wilson married Tucker Hall in Lanesboro, MN. Emily and Tucker have been good friends since junior high and dated since our freshman year at Cornell. RikaWilcox sang at the wedding, and Emily's father Ted Wilson '63 walked her down the aisle. Liz Selden and Brenda Kulju were also in attendance. The couple honeymooned in Italy and Switzerland.

Some of our classmates have been traveling overseas for more than just a honeymoon! Nicole Hedinger spent two months teaching science in Bangkok, Thailand. She is now a high school biology teacher in New Jersey. Lorraine Trillana has been working as a lay missionary with Youth with a Mission (YWAM), based in Australia. Lorraine has also been working as a missionary in Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Kelly Saikkonen spent one year as a university instructor at the U. of Tuzla, Bosnia- Herzegovina. She also visited Costa Rica, India, and Greece, where she saw Dimitrios Zervas, ME '03. Kelly is now an environmental engineer with Science Application International Corp. (SAIC) in Harrisburg, PA.

Seth Cochran, ME '01, has traveled extensively for his job in a private equity firm—Berlin, Italy, Spain, the UK, and China—but Seth will be making his home in Denver, CO, for now. And last but not least, Jocelyn Getgen has been giving her time to the Peace Corps as a rural health volunteer in the Galapagos Islands and the southern Ecuadorian Andes. She even met a classmate, Georgia Kayser, during her time abroad.We miss you, Jocie!

We've got classmates, including myself, who are still in school, even five years after graduation! Katherine Steen is a grad student at George Mason U. pursuing a master's in individualized studies in zoo and aquarium leadership with a concentration in conservation education. Katherine also hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon last April. And Lindsay Allen is now a midwesterner! She is in graduate school in Chicago studying clinical psychology and neuropsychology. She welcomes any Cornellians to drop her a line at linds_allen55@hotmail.com. Also in Chicago, Erica Sackett is now working toward her MA in missions and intercultural studies at Wheaton College. Hey, you should give Lindsay a call!

Suzanne Kinsky just graduated from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health this past May, and is now living just outside D.C. And Sam Vonderheide graduated from Stanford U. with his MS in aeronautics and astronautics engineering. Sam is now pursuing his teaching credential in math and will be living in San Luis Obispo, CA. Kudos to all!

Now, before I leave, I would like to say a few more things about our upcoming reunion. First, on behalf of the Class of '00 Class Council, I would like to send out a heartfelt thank you to the Class of '31, their president Bill Vanneman, and the rest of the Class of '31 officers. Their class donated an extremely generous sum to our reunion fund and we would like to tell them how grateful and touched we are by their kindness. Thank you!

Second, for those of you that are still wavering on whether to come back for reunion, let me just say this: I know that reunions have the dichotomous stigma of creating joyous anticipation as well as nervous anxiety. But trust me, even if you haven't gotten engaged, haven't gotten the perfect job, or haven't lost any weight, your classmates still want to see you. And if things haven't gone exactly as you planned since graduation, there's nothing like seeing old friends and sharing old memories to lift your spirits. Therefore, I hope to see many of you this June back at our dear alma mater. If you just can't make it, remember, we love hearing from you and we love writing for you. So at the very least, write us and tell us how you are! -- Andrea M. Chan, amc32@cornell.edu; and Sarah Striffler, sjs34@cornell.edu.

01 | Inevitably, the beginning of each new year serves as a marker of time, one year further away from our collegiate days, but also one year closer to our first reunion. For some of our classmates, 2005 will be differentiated by filing joint tax returns for the first time, and until 2006, their weddings serve as minireunions for their friends.

On June 18, 2004 Amy Palmieri and Scott Cohen were married at the Florentine Gardens in River Vale, NJ. Amy is currently a fourth-year medical student at New Jersey Medical School, and Scott is a consultant for Accenture in Manhattan. Amy and Scott met while at Cornell and have been together ever since. Among the many Cornell alumni in attendance were classmates Meredith Messing Bastardi, Nicole D'Amato, Carrie Danziger, Steve Driver, Nate Dyer, Jocelyn Heyman, Jackie Holscher and Dianne LaRocca. Scott and Amy spent two weeks honeymooning in Hawaii before returning to their home in Hoboken, NJ. On the same day, in Sudbury,MA, two other Cornellians were married, Carrie Cresenzi, MS '03, and Alan French '03. They are currently working at strategy consulting companies in the Boston area for the in vitro diagnostic and pharmaceutical industries.

Jill Newman, ME '02, married Tim Schaffer on July 17, 2004 in Auburn, NY. Among the three generations of Cornellians in attendance were classmates Jeff Hardgrove, Trina Lee, Betty Sun, Sarah Vincent, and Becky Walden Murphy. Just six weeks earlier in the summer, Becky was married to Tim Murphy on June 5, 2004 in North Carolina. She currently lives in Raleigh and works for ICF Consulting. After spending a year volunteering in the inner city of Philadelphia, Sarah returned to upstate New York and spent the past summer working at a rescue mission, Schenectady City Mission, and working toward her master's in social work at the U. at Albany. Trina ran the Portland Marathon in October and was cheered on by Matt Jones, who is studying and working in Portland. In August, Bernie Murphy (Monterey, CA) rode with Matt in the Oregon MS 150 Bike Tour, a fundraising event for multiple sclerosis. Jeff lives in Cayuga Heights, where he is a volunteer firefighter and works in sales for Carrier.

Several Cornellians attended the September 25, 2004 wedding of Beth Hill '99, MS '02, to Mike Tulanowski in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. Everybody kicked it up with Wiemer Riesling, a fantastic last-minute band choice, and a "Beth-style" stocked hotel room after the reception. Over a dozen alumni were in attendance, including classmates Kristy Graf, Chris Jennings, MAT '02, Melissa Kalvestrand, Kristi Kull, Ross Mollenhauer, ME '02, Kristy Putnam, and Catie Wooten.

Other classmates are in the middle of new academic endeavors. Fatema Gunja checked in from Princeton, NJ, to tell us that she started an MPA program at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton this past fall. In Montreal, Nageeb Sumar started law school at McGill U. KristinaWallender trekked across New York to California to begin the MBA program this past fall at Stanford U. Classmate Salil Gupte is also at Stanford for his MBA, which he'll complete in 2006.Meanwhile, Lauren Eade is a second-year law student at William and Mary and is looking for a summer associate position in the Baltimore/D.C.metropolitan area.

Nicole Neroulias made the big move west, trading in her reporting job in Connecticut for one with the San Mateo County Times in California. She hopes to get the hang of saying "Governor Schwarzenegger"with a straight face in the near future. After spending time in California, North Carolina,Virginia,Washington, and Thailand and two years in Okinawa, Japan, David Saunders is back in the States and studying international relations in North Carolina. He lives right off the beach on the Outer Banks and hopes to find time for sailing, swimming, kayaking, fishing, and running on the beach. Still in the Marine Corps, David was promoted to First Lieutenant in October 2003 and works as the facilities officer for the 2nd Marine Division.

Also serving our country, 1st Lt. Zach Iscol, US Marine Corps, is Officer-in-Charge of a Combined Action Base between Falluja and Baghdad, with a force of 250 Iraqi soldiers and 30 Marines. They engage in combined action patrols, and Zach meets with tribal leaders and local officials to assess security matters and local civic concerns. He would love to hear from his friends at IscolZJ@1div1mardm.1mardivdm.usmc.mil. After working in the magazine industry since 2001, Jim Jazwiecki was "sick to his gills of the Harvard and Yale mafia" and has recently started an alumni network for Cornellians involved in magazine and newspaper publishing. E-mail him at jim@newyorkest.com to get involved.

Bill Pottle,ME '02, returned to his native Colorado to run one of the oldest and most successful martial art schools in the state (www.kattaekwondo.com) after working for the U. of Pennsylvania's Viral Vector Core program for two years.He is also teaching university courses in Taekwondo and working to advance research aimed at the martial arts.He recently published his first novel, DreamQuest (www.dreamqueststory.com). After a cycle of unemployment, retail, technical work for a state department contractor in Canberra,Australia, and more unemployment, Scott Kreidler '01, ME '02, has settled into his current position as a systems/support engineer for Advanced Digital Information Corporation, a world leader in intelligent storage systems. Send news to -- Trina Lee, TKL6@cornell.edu; or Lauren Wallach, LEW15@cornell.edu.

02 | By the time this article is printed, we'll know who the next President will be. I am personally looking forward to voting in my first presidential election, as four years ago my absentee ballot never made it from Sydney.

I spent the past weekend in Boston attending the Red Sox victory parade. I was lucky enough to attend Game 6 of the ALCS, where Curt Schilling pitched on half an ankle with a sutured tendon, and where the blood that seeped through his sock was in the shape of Oklahoma.Whether you're a Sox fan or not, what happened this postseason was just good, dramatic, record-breaking baseball. And now, on to the drama of our classmates.

After meeting in Prof. Cecilia Lawless, PhD '92's Spanish class during their sophomore year, Pam Kelly and John "Kentucky" Glauber got hitched this past July. It was a fabulous Sigma Chi Delta/Zeta Psi wedding, followed by a week of climbing mountains, lying on the beach, and getting sunburned in Puerto Rico. The newlyweds are now settling down in the Bronx, where John is a math teacher for the New York City Teaching Fellows program and working toward a master's in education, and Pam is a communications coordinator for TechnoServe, a nonprofit based in Norwalk, CT.

Joe Lisi, MAT '04, has a job teaching ninth grade Regents earth science at Homer High School near Cortland, NY. Joe lives in Cayuga Heights right next to campus and is a 1st Lieutenant with the Cayuga Heights Fire Dept., having just completed his EMT class this summer. He is also the production/administrative director of Cornell Productions.

Some of us are still enrolled in challenging graduate programs or in jobs that place us all across the country. Michele Glass is in her third year of law school. Adam Raiken is still working in New Jersey. Jacqueline Yuen is currently a dietitian for a community nonprofit healthcare program in San Francisco. Scott Kramer has been living and working in New York City trading options downtown on the American Stock Exchange for Susquehanna International Group. He currently lives with Cornell '02 alumnus David Muren in Murray Hill. Scott and his friends Ziv Feldman, Martin Vogel, and Sunil Gupta wish everyone the best and hope that the Cornell spirit is alive and well in NYC and everywhere else.

Some very important information was left out of our last column when I wrote about the wedding of Alissa Bovee and Stephen Terry in Sage Chapel on July 24, 2004. In addition to the many classmates and Cornellians who attended the wedding,members of the wedding party included fellow '02ers Matthew Jarrett, Andrew Lastowka, Fariba Yassaee, and Melissa Batista. The couple resides in Washington, DC, where Steve works for Capital One and Alissa attends graduate school at Johns Hopkins.

Everyone should have received a letter in the mail with information on how to pay your class dues for 2005. The more of you who do so, the more space will be allotted to our column. I encourage everyone to send in updates, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. It's better than having me fill the space with the trials and tribulations of all my close personal friends—fun for me, but probably pretty boring for the rest of you.Write in your thought for the day, vent about the weather, send in your pick for the next "Apprentice" (mine is Jennifer) . . . whatever comes to mind.Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season and I'll see you again in March.--Carolyn Deckinger, cmd35@cornell. edu; Liz Richards, elizabethlauren_richards@yahoo.com.

03 | So what has everyone been up to these past few months anyway? Fall is upon us as I write this column, and with our second Cornell Homecoming just behind us, we rapidly approach the beginning of another new year. It is a chance to clear our slates, make new resolutions, and press onward into new adventures.

Matt Haistings tells us that he is happily enjoying his time at Fort Carson, CO. In the Army,Matt departed for Iraq last year and returned in April.We are glad to have you back,Matt! He describes Colorado Springs as "the largest town that I've lived in yet; it's a city, but it's not overwhelming. I have to admit that I kind of miss Ithaca, especially right now during the fall season." Classmates Zach Conine and Courtney Mace visited him most recently. Zach is still working as an executive at the Golden Nugget Casino, while Courtney is enjoying her time in Colorado with friends and family.

Yujin Chung, ME '04, graduated with his master's from the Big Red this past May and is now working in Boston, MA.Meanwhile, Gretchen Poulos has moved to the Big Apple and is pursuing her acting interests.

Tom Struble and Adrian Korduba are in the middle of the Navy's Submarine School located in Groton, CT. Tom is living in Mystic, CT, just around the corner from the Seaport. Upon completion of school he will be stationed in Groton on the SSN Virginia, the Navy's newest submarine. Adrian has received orders to the SSN Montpelier, located in Norfolk,VA.

I am also living in Norfolk,VA, as a Surface Warfare Officer, but am looking to move to another ship on the West Coast in a few months. The destroyer USS Ross brought me home safe and sound from our deployment to the Middle East back in August, and now I am looking forward to enjoying the more temperate fall and winter months here in Virginia. I hope this update finds you all well! Keep in touch -- Samantha Buckingham, swb9@cornell.edu; and Sudha Nandagopal, sn58@cornell.edu.

04 | Happy New Year! About this time of year most of us begin to fondly recall the 10-degree weather (or worse) of Ithaca.Well, a few us decided we just couldn't handle it anymore. Anthony DiRaimondo,Matthew Gewolb, Jeffrey Granillo, Justin Pollak, Michele Steiner, and I (Vanessa Matsis) gave up the icy slope for Atlanta to attend Emory Law School. Luckily, we survived our first semester, thanks to our Cornell training. If anyone else is in Atlanta, let us know!

Jason Kwartner decided to defer law school and stay on the Hill until May. He is working for the Family Life Development Center at Cornell on the Residential Child Care Project ("RCCP"). The RCCP is an international training, outreach, and technical assistance organization devoted to preventing institutional child abuse and neglect. Established in 1982, it has two major programs that improve life for young people and staff in residential child care facilities, the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention System and the Institutional Child Abuse Project. If you would like more information, contact Jason at jk295@cornell.edu.

Philadelphia has become home to two future doctors. Elizabeth Blinder is attending Jefferson Medical College, and Lara Dunn is attending U. of Pennsylvania Medical School. Congratulations to Amy Smith! In July, she was named a Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholar. As a young child,Amy worked at a small hospital her parents founded in rural Honduras. She plans to become a public health doctor and is attending George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences for a combined MD and Master of Public Health degree. Veronika Belenkaya lives in New York City and reports for the Daily News. My favorite article was published on Sept. 17, 2004 and is entitled "Seat- Grubber Standout Newshound Excels At Art of Subway Sit."You must check out her subway odyssey!

Some of you may be wondering why there seems to be a lag in the Class Notes. For example, I will not have stories from Homecoming until the next issue. This is because the column is written and sent to the magazine nearly three months before it's published. Don't worry if you sent me something and don't see it in this issue; it's coming up soon. The good news is that I have lots of space available to fill up, so send me an update on your life! Have a Happy, Healthy New Year!-- Vanessa Matsis, vmatsis@law.emory.edu or vgm3@cornell.edu.

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