Class Notes, May/June 1998
Wednesday July 01, 1998 Category: Archives Permanent Link
Hopefully, as y’all read this, “y’all” will no longer be part of my vernacular, as I will have flown the coop to head back North for some job that, as my advisor so astutely stated, pays peanuts but is a heck of an educational experience. This is being written as the holiday season kicks in with the strength of a stiff breeze off Cayuga Lake. Though I have recently been relieved of the burden of that small nuisance called graduate school, it’s hard to imagine sitting down in May and reading this column in the magazine. So many choices— Boston , DC , California… naugahyde, papasan, or barstool? Let me start off by saying, for those of you who took the plunge into real life right after we left Schoellkopf so many moons ago, I admire you. And I will pay you handsomely for your secrets of survival out of the realm of academia.
After some extensive travel in Ireland , Liam O’Mahony is working in media relations for the Chicago Bulls. As his news was postmarked in May 1997, we might have a true soothsayer on our hands as he correctly prognosticated, “The Bulls will win their fifth NBA title.” Deborah Donahue Ostoyich is living in Germantown, NY, and works as a surgical technician at Taconic Farms Inc. Al Pizzica is an ensign with the US Navy, has graduated from Naval Nuclear Power School, and is assigned to the USS Albuquerque in New London, CT. Al had a “mini-reunion” with Bill Hander, Eric Sinoway, Gina DeMartini, and Jeanine Schoen. The group practiced for reunion in 2001 by spending time in the mountains and reminiscing. Marisa Schiller is working on her second year at Cornell Medical College in New York City , and is accompanied by other ‘96ers at CUMC—Ross Silver and Tammy Gotlieb. (Hey, have you guys found a practical use for orgo yet? Keep me posted.) Norbert Lou is working for Brown Brothers Harriman as an analyst, also in NYC.
Marci Levine is in her second year at Harvard dental school and learning how to knock people out (with novocaine and laughing gas—dentist jokes). Marci regularly sees Lisa Drayer, running for the shuttle bus to Cambridge , and Nedra Guckert, who works in a nearby lab. Marci is enjoying school, and navigating a campus with a better idea of the horizontal. Lori Schwartz is working in NYC, and celebrated the 1997 round of birthdays with Lisa Scaccia, Emily Luskin, Michelle Yarmus, Jill Borsuk, Shari Kurzrok, Toby Reiter, Dana Lipton, Melissa Gellert, Kim Chinsky, Meri Resnick, and Barry Schwartz. Jane A. Lowell and Vivien H. Lee are attending Penn State medical school in Hershey. Jane recently saw Katy Locker, MPA ‘97, in Ithaca. Derek Shaffer traded the 1/9 train and business attire for freeways and lawbooks—he left the East Coast and a job with DE Shaw and Co. in NYC for Stanford law school. Matthew Podell spent the year after graduation backpacking through Europe and America , holding jobs as a bartender and telephone operator, and has now settled in at Boston College law school.
Christopher Rakov, MEC ‘97, was commissioned as an ensign in the US Navy, and is currently in Pensacola , FL , for training as a Navy pilot. Christopher hung out with some Psi U’s at Tower Club, including Billy Mack, Derek VanStraaten, James Mallios, and Konrad Duchek. Robyn Levey is an auditor with Deloitte and Touche, and is taking the next three summers off to get an MBA from New York U. business school. Rachel Ravitz is a marketing associate with the International Commerce Exchange in NYC. Margaret “Meg” MacMillan is in her second year at U. of Rochester medical school. Macy Leung is an associate purchasing manager with Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati , which, evidently, has the best chili in the world. After finishing an internship at the White House and paying the bills by peddling frilly underthings at Victoria ‘s Secret, Holly J. Lebowitz is in Boston , pursuing graduate studies at Harvard Divinity School. Diana M. Puig Diaz is pursuing her MA/PhD in Spanish Literature at New York U. Diana reports seeing Dan Chen, Julian Hoyos, Andres Arroyo, and Pedro Arroyo. Christopher Reed completed a fellowship with the National Institutes of Health in molecular genetics, and is in his first year at Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine in Florida. Jonathan Simon is in his second year of studies at Fordham law school. Gina Saline is an account coordinator at a public relations firm in Manhattan , and in her free time (!) is attending Brooklyn law school at night. Ron Mateo is a corporate bond trader with Salomon Brothers in NYC, and headed out to Kansas City to celebrate the wedding of Jeff Gilkinson ‘95. Celebrating with Jeff were Steve Bus, who completed his MEng at U. of Illinois , Doug “The Hog” Ingham, who works for Airborne Express in Sacramento , CA , and Tom “Hot Truck” Holden ‘95, who is engineering in Syracuse.
Bonnie Meyer is pursuing her PhD in school and clinical psychology at Pace U. , and, hopefully, is not still hunting for an apartment. Andrew Morse is putting those long hours at the Sun to good use, as an assignment editor at Fox-TV in Washington , DC , and is a freelancer/stringer for Vibe Magazine. Andrew bumped into Harold Pohl, who is working as a financier, and Brian Kolodny, a media specialist for the Boston Bruins. (Do they really let him drive the zamboni?)
Heather Mulcahy is an account coordinator for Brodeur Porter Novelli, in Boston. Heather went “two-stepping” with Laura Kornegay, C. K. “Tanzi” Wehe, Lisa Perronne, and Jim Butler while in Dallas. Julie Nesbit is a second-year law student at Vanderbilt U. She spent last summer in Dublin and Prague taking classes and visiting Mabi Huang, who is a second -year law student at U. of California , Santa Cruz. Kerry A. O’Brien is studying toxicology at Cornell Medical Center , in NYC, working on chemotherapy drugs. Jon Reichard is a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali , West Africa , in the midst of his two-year assignment doing agricultural and forestry work. Irina Rivkind is working in clinical trials in Connecticut , and still hanging out with Margaret Bae, Sonal Vaid, and J. Luke Wilcox. Stephanie Sanok attends the Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge , MA , working toward her master of public policy degree, concentrating in international security and political/economic development. Scott Saperstein is working for Modem Media, an interactive marketing firm in Westport , CT.
Becca Schader is still working in HBO’s creative services department as an associate producer. Lori Marino is a second- year law student at U. of Pennsylvania , and keeps in contact with Debra Hoffman, Heather deHond, and Kathy Rombach, who is working in NYC at Nations Bank. Justin McEntee is an investment banking analyst with Salomon Brothers in Chicago. Michael Merritt is a research assistant in otolaryngology at Washinton U. medical school in St. Louis , and is a candidate for a master’s in biology.
As I am now an alumna of two universities, a distinction that comes at a premium, and am currently being solicited for funds from my graduate school (like they don’t have enough money from Coca-Cola—the most recognized trade name in the world), I truly value what my undergraduate education provided me. Besides sore calves, a tolerance for sub-zero weather, and a love of library stacks, I feel a connection to the school, Ithaca , and everyone from the class who writes or stops in to say hi. The answer you give when someone asks you how you managed to get through Cornell with just a couple of scratches is like that secret smile your parents used to give each other when you asked a precocious question and were baffled and dismayed at the answer you invariably received. Someday, you might understand.
—Sheryl L. Magzamen, Class Correspondent
