Class Notes, November/December 2002
Tuesday December 31, 2002 Category: Archives Permanent Link
As 2002 draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on how my study habits have changed since I graduated from Cornell… make that deteriorated. I don’t know about the rest of our classmates, but I can’t sit through an episode of “CSI” without simultaneously reading a magazine and talking on the phone. Although I was focused enough for several Coca-Cola-fueled all-nighters my senior year, I now have trouble committing to an entire issue of Entertainment Weekly. Fortunately, it was a lot easier to concentrate on my studies back in Ithaca where my mobility was limited by snowstorms, steep hills, and guilt.
I don’t know how city-dwelling students succeed despite all of the newsworthy distractions they contend with every day. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, some ingenious prankster sticks a pumpkin on McGraw Tower and it makes the national news. I’ve also wondered how our classmates contend with the challenges of returning to schools dramatically different from Cornell after an extended absence. If there are any current or former grad students who would like to share advice or anecdotes about their own experiences, please e-mail them to AlexandraCahill@aol.com and I will include your thoughts in my next fun-filled column.
Judging from the updates I have received so far, 2003 will be a year filled with professional and personal promise. I’ll be happy as long as the boy-band phenomenon ends quietly without any more dance tributes to the King of Pop. If O-Town is still together by the time this column comes out I’m going to be very upset, but that’s a rant for another day. We only have one Wedding Watch entry for now, but we’re expecting a lot more in the coming months. Sarah Ende Masri reports that she recently married Aaron Masri at a July 14, ‘02 ceremony on Long Island. “The matron of honor was Heather Caruthers Miniman. Other Cornellians present were Heather’s husband Stuart ‘95, Mindy Goodman Sickle ‘95, Jodi Goroff Green ‘97, Elayne Heisler ‘98, Juliet Bishop, and Shoshana Sperber Baskind.” Sarah and Aaron reside in Providence, RI, where she is the director of planning and allocations at the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island.
Two other happy couples marked their anniversaries in 2002. On August 19, Jodi Boffard and Marc Pearlman enjoyed the first anniversary of their wedding. They were “married outside in the heat last summer with many bloopers to make the day memorable.” Anyone curious about the nature of these “bloopers” will have to ask Jodi and her husband. John ‘94 and Kendra Dunbar Christiana celebrated five years of wedded bliss on Sept. 6, ‘02 with their children Taylor, 3, and Peter, 2. Kendra says that her family lives in Vermont, where John works at Goodrich Aerospace. “I am a full-time mom and feel fortunate to spend these formative years with our children. I plan to return to work once the kids are in school.”
And finally, here are a few assorted tidbits about your hard-working classmates on the Eastern seaboard. Doesn’t anyone write from California anymore? In her recent e-mail message, Shani Waugh says that she is juggling a new job as a human resources manager at Par Pharmaceutical in Spring Valley with graduate school. She has only six more classes to go until she completes her MBA at Pace U. Shani has been in contact with Amber Beal and Tonya White Hallett, who recently celebrated the birth of her first child, Reese. In addition to her new job and studies at Pace, Shani’s also looking forward to planning—along with other alumn—next year’s Cornell Black Alumni Assn.’s (CBAA) Reunion at Cornell.
From Bethesda, MD, Richard Girards reports that he is “currently working as an attorney in the intellectual property department of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP in Washington, DC.” Kaan Onur, MBA ‘98, tells us that he is hanging out with the Turkish crowd in New York and completed his Turkish military service last October, right after 9/11. Kaan also says that he bought a condo six months ago in New Jersey and that he’s been with Goldman for 1.5 years now, “what a roller coaster ride.” Lastly, Josh Holbreich sent me another one of his cryptic e-mail messages from his underground lair in New York City. He says, “After the Internet imploded, I returned to TV production as a writer and producer. I’m now kicking it up notches unknown to mankind at the Food Network. I work for Sara Moulton’s show, ‘Sara’s Secrets.’”
—Allie Cahill, Class Correspondent
