Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 1993 September/October

Class Notes, 1993 September/October

September 1993

Hello again. Our report this month, amazingly enough, comes entirely from letters received from classmates, not from News & Dues forms! Keep on writingÑI love hearing about the incredible variety of activities in which we've gotten involved. The first letter comes from Lisa (Au),who married Sammy Cheung, MEng '90 in Hong Kong this past January. Lisa writes that she "would really like to let our friends know how much we appreciated their attendance at our wedding." She was "thrilled beyond belief' to have a number of her friends attend the wedding, though "a majority of them still reside in the US." The wedding party included Lisa's brother, James Au '94, Maid of Honor Shirley Chang '90, and Bridesmaids Elaine Chan, May Chan, MS '90, Amy Ho '90, and Wai Ling Ng. Other Cornellians in attendance were Lany Chan '93, Ernest Chen '89, Ellen Choy '90, Duncan Chui, Ethan Ho, MEng '90, Wilson Lam '93, Tony Lau '88, Farah Lau, Wai Tong Lau '89, Chuiinn Lee, Karen Lim '93, Lawrence Ma, phD '92, Steven Mong '92, Yvonne So 90, Daniel Szeto, Johnny Tseng, and Raymond Woo '92. Lisa now lives in Pleasanton, CA. Congratulations and best wishes, Lisa! Everyone should be so lucky to have such devoted friends!

This next letter was passed on to me by fellow class correspondent Melanie Bloom, and comes from Thomas Jung. Thomas recently resigned his position with Hospitality Valuation Services, a hotel and real estate consulting firm in the New York City area, to join the Peace Corps. Thomas will be working as a small business advisor in Botswana, educating people there in "basic business concepts, troubleshooting their operations, and [helping them become] less reliant on South Africa." Thomas had been living on Long Island and volunteering with the Literacy Volunteers of America, and was in Ithaca last spring for the Cornell Jazz Ensemble concert with saxophonist Joe Henderson. Melanie also sent me a card she received from Scott Rodwin '90, who is an architect with Saiber Saiber in Denver. Scott lives in Golden, CO and teaches women's self-defense on weekends.

Jean Signorelli had an interesting experience when she was invited by a professor she had studied with to lecture his class, a textiles class called "Product Quality Control and Assessment." Jean writes, "It was weird being on the other side of the desk," but she enjoyed it anyhow. Jean lives in York, PA, where she works as an assistant buyer for the Bon Ton Stores Inc. I also received a note from Richard Levy, who has been coordinator for a pediatric screening program at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC since last fall.

Several classmates have recently relocated. I just received a letter from Julie Voveris, saying she is now in Boston after having spent the last two years in the South. Julie works for a consulting firm and greatly enjoys both her job and city life. Will Wechsler completed his master's degree in public policy and administration at Columbia last May and is now a member of President Clinton's staff as special assistant to the director of the White House Fellows, Program. (Boy, that's a mouthful of a job title!) Jeffrey Loiter is now living in New Orleans with Charles "Chip" Asbury. Jeff is an environmental engineer with URS Consultants Inc. Jeff writes that he frequently sees Gary Bean, but decries the small Cornell representation down there. A change for Cathy James, too, who was to begin medical school at the U. of Pennsylvania this fall. Cathy has been working as a chemist, with Merck & Co. in Rahway, NJ.

In conclusion, I'd like to return to Lisa Cheung's statements in appreciation of her friends at the beginning of the column, with a quote from James Boswell's Life of Johnson: "We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over." *Howard Stein, 600 Warren Rd., #3-2D, Ithaca, NY 14850; (607) 257-3922.

October 1993

Well, it's the middle of a new fall season, and I have tons of news to report. First of all, thanks for all the letters! Christine Anderson definitely wins the prize this month for the longest, most news worthy letter. From Chicago, Christine sure keeps good tabs on a bunch of classmates all over the country. First, she is working at Leo Burnett Co. as a media buyer/planner on the Eggo Waffles and Kellogg's accounts. She admits it is pretty stressful, but she also says her job has a lot of perks. Greg Landis Smithers also works at Burnett in the creative department. Christine's roommate Alissa Moore is busy at, as Christine terms it, an association management firm. Christine had a chance to travel west to Vail, CO to visit Margaret Showel, Melissa Pattison, and Becca Shilling. Becca was to start Case Western medical school this fall, while Missy and Margaret will hit the slopes again with Scott Peterson, Aaron "Boz" Bosworth, and Mike Murray.

Donna Bosshardt '90 was married to Mike Abreu in Switzerland in July, after which they moved back to San Francisco. Christine listed a bunch of New York classmates who wished their best to Donna and Mike: Laura Fricke, who is getting her master's in teaching; Cindy Johnson, who is at Cornell Medical College; Amanda Murray, working in publishing; Karen Roberts; Cheryl Lundeberg; Shelly Hood; Lisa Strope; Courtenay Singer; Karen Paul; and Kim Scott, pursuing an acting career in Los Angeles. Other '91ers keeping Christine company in Chicago are Abbe Goldberg, working at Le Meridien Hotel; Greg Schulson, managing Bistro 110; and Sarah Siedman, Nicole Halpern, Steve Beiser, Dave Kurtz, Jack Gonzalez, Jeff Baehr.

Barbara Wilinsky wrote from Evanston, IL, where she is at Northwestern U. working on her PhD in radio, TV, and film. Darcy Andrew sent a postcard from Tokyo, saying she was leaving Japan after two years. She was to begin studying at MIT's Sloan School this fall. Heather Tatkon sent news that she graduated "again" from Cornell in the spring with a MPA and moved to the Boston area in July.

Marcy Porter Sylvester-Jarvis '82 (BS Ag '91) wrote that she and classmate Nat Jarvis were married in June in Ironville, NY in the Adirondacks. The couple has relocated to Lansdale, PA, where Nat is working as a packaging design engineer for Merck. Doug Jutte sent a note reporting that he is beginning his third year at Harvard medical school, along with Bozena Jachina, David Roberts, and Mohammad Hirmand. Doug also mentioned having seen Piers Barker, Monisha Mehra, and Kristin Baird last time he was in New York. Piers is studying at Cornell Medical College, Monisha is at Mt. Sinai med, and Kristin was back in the US after two years abroad, working in Lithuania in the Parliament and as the President's personal translator.

Other news comes from classmates who are beginning their studies once again this fall. James Wilson is a third-year law student at Harvard law school, Richard Madris is studying law at the U. of Chicago, and Michele Wunderlich is completing her third and final year of law school at the U. of Georgia. Other law students are Eric Torkelson, in his third year at Brooklyn law school, and Peter Sloane, at New York U. law school. Meanwhile, Gary Wojcik is a grad student at SUNY, Albany. Nina Rosen is in a graduate program, and Robert Spencer is in a PhD program, both back at our Alma Mater.

Benjamin Rayer began at U. of Pennsylvania studying for his master's of government administration. Laura Panko is a student in the anatomy department at the U. of Chicago. Olga Tsoudis is a grad student in the sociology department at the U. of Arizona. She said that on her last visit to New York she was able to meet up with classmates David Tate, Tom Shields, Kulravee Puttharuksa, and Carol Chen. Others in New York pursuing different careers are Sean Ryan, a trading assistant at Byrne Securities in Garden City; Jennifer Berger, an analyst at Andersen Consulting; Howard Wolkow, a computer consultant at DBR; and Caryn Cooperman, compensation coordinator at Lehman Brothers. In addition, Benjamin Stewart is a stockbroker with Shearson; Betty Ng is an administrator at Cornell Medical College; Kevin O'Donnell is at Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc.; Cynthia Samala is a nutrition researcher at Columbia U.; and Joi Smith is a project engineer at O'Brien Kreitzberg and Associates Inc. The list goes onÑJoana Moy is a civil engineer at EBASCO Services Inc.; Avinash Mehrotra is in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and Co.; and Christine Meyer is an information systems consultant.

Before I go, I wanted you all to please take note of my new address, so you can continue to send all of your news. Call me, (202) 744-4531, for details on a gathering of young alumni during the CU in Philadelphia festivities next month. ¥ Melanie Bloom, 401 E. 80th St., #24D, NYC 10021.