Jan/Feb 2002

So, you just got engaged and are immersed in decisions about centerpieces, favors, and song lists? The Cornell column is the perfect place to share your news, but keep in mind that the magazine prints word of such events only after they have taken place. It is always great to hear of engagements, but it is impossible for me to try and keep track of wedding dates and track people down to gather details for the column. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to send in an update AFTER the big event, with information like who was there, where it took place, where you honeymooned, etc. Also, please be patient in waiting for your news to appear in print once you have submitted it. It generally takes a few months, at minimum, for news to appear due to the bi-monthly publishing schedule and the column deadlines. (Of course, non-wedding news is equally as exciting and is always welcome!)

The Independent reported in July that Chester (England) Jets coach Robbie Peers "produced the recruiting coup of the close season" by signing four-time All Star John McCord, who led the league in scoring last season with an average of more than 25 points per game.

Laura Busch married Jim Noonan in Middletown, CT, on June 23, '01. Laura and Jim reside in San Bruno, CA, where Laura is an architect with Fong & Chan in San Francisco and Jim is a doctoral candidate in genetics at Stanford. Kimberly Charlton '94 and Pablo Bedetti tied the knot in Montclair, NJ. Kimberly and Pablo met at Cornell; she is the curator of manuscripts at the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark and he is a candidate for an MBA degree at Cornell. Another Cornellian couple, Wendy Chen and Alvin Wong, got married in Roslyn Harbor, NY, on June 16, '01. Wendy and Alvin actually met freshman year at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. Wendy is an MBA candidate at NYU, and Alvin is a computer consultant for Quidnunc Ltd. Lauren Gleicher married David Goldstein at the Muttontown Country Club in East Norwich, NY. Lauren is an actress based in Manhattan and has appeared in several regional theater productions. David is an investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney in Manhattan.

Sandy Loeb, MD '01, married Corey Salsberg on June 3, '01 at the Hammon Museum in North Salem, NY. Sandy graduated from med school at Cornell last spring and planned a residency in pediatrics at the U. of California, Irvine Medical Center. Corey collected his JD from Stanford last spring. Michelle McKee married James Cubbon on July 13, '01 in Depew, NY. Michelle is an attorney in the Fourth Judicial Department of the NYS Appellate Division in Rochester; James is attending the U. of Rochester for an MBA.

Mike Alsko married Gillian Grassi on Nov. 25, '00, at the Mayflower Hotel in DC (they met while working there). Rob Shuck '98 was a groomsman; attendees included Pete Kelly, Nick Halverson, Josh Carter and Sarah Deardorff, Luke Austin '98, and Thad Paul '98. Mike and Gillian now live in Wisconsin. A few months later, Sarah and Josh tied the knot on July 6, '01, at a mountaintop lodge in Keystone, CO. The wedding party included Steve Zawadzkas, Chris Ziegler '95, Jim Miskell, Mike Alsko, best man Stanton Oishi, Kristin Arioli '98, and yours truly. Also attending were Aaron Miller '98, Mike Biggee '98, MS CH '99, Matt Rosedale '98, Alan Deuel '95, Greg Weber '95, ME E '96, and Kate MacKenzie '00. Greg and Aaron are in Colorado; Steve, Mike, Chris, and Matt are working in NYC; and Kate is in grad school at Columbia. Stanton is enjoying law school in his native Hawaii, Jim is working in Atlanta, and Alan is in Upstate New York. Kristin (who married Billy Zaruka '98 in California in May 2001) is in grad school in Los Angeles. Sarah also shared news of the birth of Tracy D'Aversa Bonoffski's son Caden Michael last summer.

A slew of classmates graduated from medical schools around the country last spring. Jason B. Friedman received his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson U. in Philadelphia last June. Jason, who competed in several marathons during med school, planned to begin a residency in emergency medicine at Cooper Hospital at the U. of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Neeral Shah (nls4@cornell.edu) spent his fourth year of medical school doing international health electives in India and Ecuador and worked in a clinic in the Amazon rain forest. He also produced and designed the set for a medical school production of the musical Into the Woods. Seanna Thompson (sthomp9@uic.edu) graduated from the College of Medicine at the U. of Illinois at Chicago. Seanna married Dr. Tim Niewold in May 2001 and plans a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. She's kept in touch with Heather Hill and Wayne Soong. Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) announced in August that Divya Gupta, a fourth-year student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, was selected to serve as the organization's president for the 2001-02 term. MSFC is a nonprofit organization that represents more than 7,000 pro-choice medical students and residents in the United States and Canada. Kudos to Shaw Natan, who received the 2001 Charles Schnall Medical Alumni Award for Clinical Excellence from Temple U. school of medicine. The award is given annually to the member of the graduating class with the best performance in clinical studies. Shaw planned to begin his residency training in internal medicine at the Hospital of the U. of Pennsylvania.

Jeremiah Grossman (jlg9@cornell.edu) planned to enroll in law school at the U. of Pennsylvania after finishing a three-year stint in the Peace Corps. Jeremiah has seen a lot of Cornellians, including Shari Altamuro, Joe Gaffney, MS E '98, Patee Gesuwan, Brian Peiser, Rathiga Kasinathan, Charlotte McKnight, Alvin Lu '96, and Alexis Park. Kathryn Krase wrote in June that she graduated from Fordham Law School, as did Laurie Mandell, Susan Master '98, and "probably about 20 to 50 other Cornell alumni."

Zulfikar Ramzan joined Lucira Technologies, which develops security technology for laptops and other electronic devices, last year. Zulfikar got his PhD at MIT, where he studied cryptography and information security. Michael Tamburro, a senior creative developer for the Internet company Viant, returned to campus in April as a panelist in the inaugural "Careers for Creative People" discussion. The event, sponsored by Cornell Career Services, was intended to help students identify ways in which they can incorporate creativity into the workplace.

You're at the end of the column now, but it didn't have to end here. I've cleaned out my stash of news. Send your news in now, so that your fellow classmates have something to read in the next issue. And when you have a minute, check out www.classof97.cornell.edu for updates on reunion! Come see for yourself all of the changes on campus! Please send news to--Erica Broennle Nelson, 303 Vine Street #308, Philadelphia, PA 19106; e-mail, ejb4@cornell.edu.