Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2020 July/August

Class Notes, 2020 July/August

July/August 2020

It’s one of my favorites, but what’s The Incredibles really about? Like this scene: As the tug-of-war between using their superpowers and fitting in plays out, Elastigirl tells Dash, “Everyone is special,” to which a frustrated Dash retorts, “That’s just another way of saying no one is.”

The coronavirus and social distancing have changed us in ways we don’t yet know. What we do know is how our classmates made a difference in the moment. Jeff Hyink (Pacific Grove, CA), a retired Navy officer, could fix or build anything back then. Always happy to teach you how, few took him up on it. Now, dozens of our homebound high school- and college-age students have accepted his offer to learn basic programming, in Python, over several weeks. Jeff affectionately called his students “Pythonistas” and tempted the class with, “You can use these skills to learn other languages, build some apps, and rake in some real dough.”

Sanjeev Dhawan (Woodcliff Lake, NJ) would spend hours upon hours building things too, like paper bridges for an Engineering class. Now, Sanj, founder and owner of Unicorn Construction, builds and maintains real bridges.“Fortunately, city and state government aimed to keep infrastructure projects going, so we’ve been able to keep people working—but my focus and concerns are different than before.” Sanj further remarked, “40 percent of my day is making sure that worksites are safe for our employees.”

With his guitar freshman year, Andy Tarsy (Cambridge, MA) would connect Jeff, Sanj, me, and others. Andy, founder of Emblem Strategic, uses a different instrument to connect people these days: Zoom. Andy gathered over 100 “isolated” leaders in groups of 10-12. He began one session, “This is my therapy.” His goal: simply to ask how the current situation looks from different vantage points. He ended another session, “It’s great to see your beautiful faces. Now go out there and help each other through this time and beyond.”

Jeff Peres (Towson, MD) took part in one of Andy’s sessions. If you don’t know Jeff, or his employer Epic Games, you probably know the game Fortnite. Head of MegaGrants, Jeff beamed, “Epic Games is sharing its unbelievable success to help people realize their artistic and technical ambitions. The company has committed $100 million to game and tool developers, media and entertainment creators, educators, and students to do amazing things with Unreal Engine.” Though I joked with Jeff that it’s been difficult for my wife and me to work while the boys are screaming at the TV, Fortnite is a welcome diversion and friend connector. To date, the team has awarded grants to over 200 recipients. Make note, parents.

With little time for video games, John Heimlich (Bethesda, MD), VP and chief economist for Airlines for America, said simply, “I wake up every morning on a mission to save 750 thousand direct industry jobs and 10.4 million indirect jobs.” Airlines are suffering. John cited a 96 percent drop in passenger volume, leading to the worst cash crisis in aviation history. Working tirelessly to navigate the disaster relief payouts, John lamented, “Most carriers prepared for an emergency twice the impact of 9/11. What we’re facing now is at least four times that bad.”

Greg Stoller (Needham, MA) has been busy in his own right: “I’ve been managing my real estate holding company, teaching Boston U. MBA students in over 15 countries, trying to keep up with my daughter during her online gymnastics workouts, and dropping my son off at a grocery store job.” Greg only wanted to talk about one thing, though—how his wife, Arlene, a geriatric clinical nurse specialist, made his family so proud. “We’re also a little terrified.” Arlene specializes in nursing education and recently has made rounds to ensure that all nurses have what they need to do their jobs safely. “She wouldn’t have it any other way,” Greg concluded our conversation. “It’s her raison d’être.”

With the help of these classmates, I finally get The Incredibles. It’s okay to fit in most of the time. In fact, it’s necessary. By fitting in, it allows you to see, understand, and act when your superpowers are needed. A tired Mr. Incredible jests, “No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved! You know, for a little bit?” Take a deep breath, Class of ’91. You never know when your superpowers will be needed once again.

Have news to share? Send an online news form at alumni.cornell.edu/class-notes. Or you can contact any of us directly at: Joe Marraccino, Joe.Marraccino@wfafinet.com; Wendy Milks Coburn, wmilkscoburn@me.com; J. Tim Vanini, lavanooche@icloud.com; Lori Woodring, lori.woodring@yahoo.com.