Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 1995 November/December

Class Notes, 1995 November/December

November 1995

"Hello again! I have been inundated with News and Dues forms and cards, and it is encouraging that so many of us have paid class dues. If you know anyone who has not paid, please encourage him or her to do so. Also, keep in mind that Reunion will be less than eight months away (June 6-9, '96) and fast approaching as you read this. Speaking of Reunion, my first report comes from Jana Pompadur, a co-chair for our 5th Reunion campaign. If anyone is interested in helping with the campaign or with any other aspect of Reunion, please contact me and I will put you in touch with the appropriate people. In addition, Jana had a bit of news to report about herself and some other classmates. She moved to Chicago in September, where she is once again classmates with Keith Lender, this time at the Kellogg School of Management. She had attended the August wedding of Lauren Gallagher and John Heil '90 on Long Island, where she saw Lori Attanasio, Kristen Anderer, Maria Ortiz, Jodi Rogoff, Katherine Miller, and Kelly Hannafin '90. Katherine graduated from law school in May and is currently clerking for a judge in Baltimore. Jodi has returned to New York City to attend Columbia's business school after spending three years working in Chicago. Jack Gonzalez has returned to Ithaca to attend the Johnson school.

News of another wedding comes from Kelly Westbrooks Joyce, who married husband Matthew on April 15. Among the alumni at the wedding were Michele Benton '92, Salvador Cuadra, Mayra Jimenez '91, Mark La Rocca, Courtney Meek '92, Christine Montenegro, Amy Skolnick Nordenschild '90, and Nina Nsilo-Swai. Kelly earned her MD from Case Western Reserve U. this past spring, along with Katrina Schreiber Firlik. Kelly is performing her residency in pediatrics at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, OH, while Katrina will be in the neurosurgery program at the U. of Pittsburgh.

But wait, there's more ... Michelle (Rosenberg) wrote to say that she married Dr. Michael Parentis in May 1994, with Evelyn Achuck and Maryyance Murphy Morrisroe among those in attendance. Michelle and Michael have moved to Hershey, PA, where Michael is completing his residency in orthopedic surgery. Michelle is the association sales manager for the Harrisburg Hilton and Towers and writes, "The air truly smells like chocolate in Hershey!"

News also comes of the December 1994 marriage of Paul Hayre and Jeannette Perez-Rossello. Paul and Jeannette were married in San Juan, Puerto Rico and now live in Boston, where Jeannette is a resident in radiology and Paul is working for Andersen Consulting. Susan Todd married Glenn Alexander this past spring, and is working on a dairy farm in Upstate New York. Cathy Butz reports another wedding, that of Jennifer Tolentino, Memorial Day weekend, but did not provide any details. Cathy is working on her PhD in psychology at the U. of Illinois at Chicago. Best wishes to all on their respective marriages.

Several classmates have ended up in France. Among those is Richard Field, now working in Paris as vice president of a multinational health-care company after completing his MBA at New York U.'s business school. Perhaps he'll run across Robin Hartman DeLafforest, who writes to say that she had a baby boy on April 15. Congratulations, Robin!

Moving in the opposite (geographic) direction from Cornell, we find Daniel Harrison in Los Angeles, where he is manager of program scheduling and development for the United Paramount Network. Charles Ho is also in LA, where he is a PhD candidate in molecular and cellular sciences at UCLA. Other graduate students include Denise El-Soufi, who is studying Near Eastern studies at Princeton, and MP A candidates Richard Levy (at NYU) and Christina Miske (at Cornell). Several classmates are pursuing MBA degrees, among them David O'Connor (Carnegie-Mellon), Greg Stoller (Harvard), and Kristen Krzyzewski (also Harvard).

More news from the East Coast arrives from Lisa Miner, who has moved to Binghamton, NY with her husband since he finished law school at the U. of Buffalo. Lisa works at Universal Instruments Corp. as an engineer. Sam Fineman checks in from Philadelphia, where he is working as both an attorney and a staff reporter for Legal Communications Ltd. Sam also writes that Kris Maher has left the New Yorker magazine to work towards a master's degree in English at NYU.

I hope you are all planning to attend Reunion in June, and that many of you will volunteer to help out at Reunion and to help run our class activities (including this column, hint, hint) for the next five years. Also, please note that I now have an e-mail address. *Howard Stein, 600 Warren Rd., #3-2D, Ithaca, NY 14850; tel., (607) 257-3922; email, hss4@ cornell.edu.

December 1995

As we enter another holiday season, we are also entering the remaining 180 days or so until our five-year Reunion. Can you believe it's been five years already? Many classmates are working hard to make our weekend back at Cornell most memorable. So please save June 5-9, '96 on your calendar and plan to have a great time back at our alma mater. Hope to see you all there.

So what have our peers been doing for the past almost-five years? The trends point to, well, just about everything. Jennifer Tenser spent four-plus years living in New York City and working at Foote Cone Belding, but has relocated to Columbus, OH, where she is still pursuing advertising and a much more peaceful environment. Meanwhile, Jennifer Lee remains in hustling and bustling NYC, where she is enjoying her work with a photographer. Kenny Roban and Neil Einhorn are roomies, living near Lincoln Center. Kenny is back in academia, attending New York U. business school for his MBA. Neil is in the workplace and is employed at an executive placement agency.

Darcy Andrew wrote that she is in Chicago after earning her MBA. She is working in the consulting division at Price Waterhouse. Between graduation and entering the workforce, Darcy managed to get certified in scuba diving and squeeze in a few dives down in Florida, along with traveling to Oregon and Sweden.

Britt Lacher Tauber wrote with news about the wedding of Kenneth Miller, MD to Elissa Wasserberger '92 back in May. Britt said more than 20 alumni were in attendance, many from our class. Britt graduated from medical school and will be doing a residency in emergency medicine at Albert Einstein Medical Center in the Bronx after completing a transitional year at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan. Matt Joseph is a lawyer for Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in NYC, and Rob Cignarella is an investment banker for Salomon Brothers in NYC.

Meanwhile, Marc Tauber, Britt's husband, is a buy-side trader for Furman Selz in NYC, Seth Briskin just graduated from Case W estern Reserve law school, and Rachel "Shelly" Hood works for the Small Business Assn. of Cleveland. Kenny Roban also attended the wedding, in addition to Joe DeLuca, who works for Chemical Bank in NYC, Dave Peck, who just graduated from Brooklyn law school, and Doug Greene, who is a consultant for Price Waterhouse in NYC. New medical school graduates were the groom, who will be doing a residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston; Rita Landman, MD, doing a residency in internal medicine at Cornell Medical Center in NYC; Kong Lam, who will be continuinghis MD/PhDat NYU; and Jon Goldstein, MD who just graduated from SUNY, Downstate. Thanks for all the news, Britt, and good luck to all.

Jessica Lifland is living in what was reported as the country's most expensive city in which to live--San Francisco. Jessica is a freelance photographer and submitted a most impressive photo she had taken at the Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg, NY back in 1994. David Ratner is also in California and says he is "loving life" in warm Los Angeles. David earned his master's degree in computer science from UCLA and is working toward his PhD. He did get his black belt in American freestyle karate, though. Now he is studying Gracie Jiu-jitsu. David also reports that David Kleidermacher is still working and living in Santa Barbara, and Tony DiRubbo graduated from med school and is completing his residency in Rochester.

Melissa Sherman is currently in a master's program for speech and hearing, while Daniel Rothberg finished med school at Temple and will be doing his residency in emergency medicine. They both live in Philadelphia. Katrina Schreiber Firlik is in Pittsburgh, where she is a resident in neurosurgery at the U. of Pittsburgh after graduating from Case Western Reserve U. medical school.

Scott Drake lives on an island in Puget Sound, where he is director of sales for Scan Am companies, a large Norwegian aquaculture corporation. In his spare time, Scott says he has hiked to the top of Mt. Baker and enjoys "excessive" mountain biking and hiking. I must say, Scott's comment about news from other classmates: "They are still in the rat race in NYC," hit a certain chord with me. After spending ten days on a rafting trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon shooting a television documentary, I certainly learned to stop and notice the finer things in life, and that I could definitely survive, quite happily, I might add, without whatever it is that everyone in that "rat race" is racing to get. *Melanie Bloom, 315 E. 85th St., #2C, NYC 10028.