Class Notes, September/October 1997
Saturday November 01, 1997 Category: Archives Permanent Link
I belive it was a well-respected deity who once professed “When news does not reach you down South, you must sojurn North to seek it.” So, by way of ancient Japanese car, with fully loaded Pentax in tow, this roving reporter hit the long road for a fact-finding mission in America’s Northeast. (Mind you, this was a no-expenses-paid trip, all of you who are salivating over the thought that Cornell Magazine would pay for you to go visit your friends)
First stop New York City: Ithaca South, where you could trip over someone we graduated with while taking in the skyline. I bumped into Elan Irom coming out of the subway, clad in full power-lunch attire, after a productive day at Solomon Brothers. Dave Stein, Tim Whelan, and Mary “Brice” Woods were galavanting on the Upper East Side, somewhat miffed that their choices have broadened from the offerings on College Ave. and Dryden Rd. Dave is doing research at New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, and now calls The City (that’s not a typo) home. He is joined at Cornell Med by Asaf Savir, also researching and living in NYC. Marc Turner is enjoying a leisurely summer before starting a new job in Westchester as a food service coordinator. Keeping the Yankee Stadium bleachers rowdy this summer are Paul O’Connor, Cary Segall, Greg Swenson, and Nick Ditrio.
Mary Philip spent the past year working in a doctor’s office in her native Long Island, and will be attending medical school at SUNY, Stony Brook in the fall. And, after all my chiding about the Midwest, Seth Schneider has decided to bite the bullet and become an offical New Yorker license and all. Seth is working for Malcolm Pirnie, an environmental engineering firm in White Plains, and is asking the ultimate question Yankees or Mets season tickets?
Second Stop: Our nation’s capital for our nation’s birthday. Joining me for the road trip up North were Ben Rubin and Andy Brief. Ben just completed his first year of graduate school in race-car driving (which is his new euphemism for neurobiology) at Duke, and is planning his own excursion up North, making a stop on the Hill for some Chariot corn nuggets and a romp in the gorge. Andy is spending the summer in Durham, doing orthopedic research, before returning to Einstein medical school for his second year. Somewhat dazed by the eerily similar Slope Day ambiance on the Mall, my class columnist heart went pitter-patter when I perused the veritable throng of Cornellians parked in front of the Washington Monument. Attending the festivities were Patti Jette, who is working in television production in Virginia, and was in full force with the Polaroid. Joanna Citron, Arnold and Porter paralegal by day, Georgetown fixture by night, is to be commended on her sleuthing skills, finding me at the Museum of American “Culture,” and locating Kristi Kim, BA ‘95, on the Mall. Kristi came down from NYC, where she has recently changed positions and offices at Prudential, and found the easiest way to explain this to this non-business-oriented correspondent was, “I used to be on the buy side now I’m on the sell side.” In her spare time, when she’s not selling, Kris is trying her luck at ice sculpture. DCer Deborah Moll played hostess to Michelle Lauer-mann, Liz Rand, Becca Schader, and Pat Newman. Pat also shared that, yes, there might be a ‘96er in Atlanta that I haven’t hunted down and gotten some news from Walter Leddy is down in Dixie, as well. Sue Kim spent one of her last weekends in DC; she was leaving to attend Boston College law school in the fall. Pete Maxfield and Adam Lorenz came down from Boston, to enjoy a weekend of revelry and rafting.
Jeff Ullman took a break from his PhD studies at Duke to make a stop in DC, before continuing on to his native Ohio, where he plans to stop by for a visit with Katie Diehl, a first-year vet student at Ohio State U. Bryan Olthof is spending the summer at the National Academy of Sciences, on break from chemical engineering and public policy studies at U. of California, Berkeley, and, hey, if the future political climate isn’t to Bryan’s liking, there’s always that guest appearance on “Saturday Night LiveTM” Katie Butler, working for the Advisory Board, enjoyed an impromptu mini-reunion as the city was deluged with former residents of the fourth floor of Class of ‘28 Hall. Gail Rosenberg, oft mistaken for a character from “Swingers,” took a break for the weekend from her new place in NYC and life at ABC News. She came to visit with Kerry Iseman, who is working for a medical PR firm in Union Square, Henry Quinn, who, when not providing the masses with actuarial figures, or introducing new traditions at Yankee Stadium, is virtually writing the book on “How to Have Fun in the Office.” Gail also saw Andrea Fuhr, an advertising account exec living the charmed life, traveling to Miami and Bermuda for business. Karen Schnelwar and Alexis Farrell also made the trip down, revisiting old haunts from their semester at Cornell in Washington, seemingly a long time ago.
Howie Kramer, Dave Epstein, and Mike Kelly are all breathing a huge sigh of relief after completing their first year of med school, and if the MD thing doesn’t work out, are considering becoming professional table-acquirers at Friday’s. Jose Siri will be bidding adieu to the East Coast, starting medical school at U. of Michigan in the fall. Laura Kornegay managed to make time for the ol’ roomates while family- reunioning it in DC. Dave Greenberger made it out of the Georgetown law library to enjoy the fireworks over the Reflecting Pool. And, heard about, but not seen, were Hootan Yaghoobzadeh, working for DLJ in NYC, and Yuly Lyandres, who just completed his first year at New York U. medical school.
The post-graduation travel thang is in full effect this summer. Lora Levy, on summer break from Teach for America, is taking a well-deserved soiree in Europe. (It sounds REAL GOOD to be in education right about now!) Rob Revzan, BArch ‘97, who went the distance and finished his BArch last May, is touring all the places he learned about during those long hours in Rand. Michelle Crames, Big Red Book poster girl, is teaching in Europe this summer, before working for McKinsey Consulting in DC. Andrea Jackson spent the first year of her master’s degree program in Bologna, Italy, is working at the American Embassy in Bulgaria this summer, and will be joined by partner- in-crime Alison Conlin, who just completed her public health degree at Boston U. Anda will resume her studies in international affairs at Johns Hopkins in the fall.
Herman Yang, ME E ‘97, is heading out to Los Angeles to work for TRW. Josh Babbitt also expected to finish graduate studies on the Hill, and will be relocating to Hoboken. Carrie Ortiz opted for another year in Ithaca, and moved up Triphammer Rd. to Lansing. Jesse Gerber, BA ‘97, is remaining a fixture in Ithaca for a duration, managing Stella’s. Stephanie Cockerl has landed a job as a web-page master. And, hotelie-cum-political- commentator Amy Johnston made an appearance on the 11 o’clock news in Atlanta, sharing her thoughts about Georgia’s latest political scandal. Said financial software writer and roommate Joanne Koch, “We were screaming so loud, we had negative idea what she said.”
Someone recently remarked to me, “I never met people as attached to their school as you guys are to Cornell.” Maybe that’s because we were stuck in Ithaca for four long arduous years, and couldn’t help but find beauty in snowstorms, humor in Chem 208 prelims, entertainment at Trillium, and glory at hockey games. Cornell didn’t end when you tossed your mortarboard up in the air at Schoellkopf. So, keep writing, e- mailing, calling. Don’t be shy about seeing your name in the back of the mag (and, by the way, don’t run for dear life when you find out that Allie Cahill, Courtney Rubin, and I are your class cor-re-spon-dents).
—Sheryl Magzamen, Class Columnist
