1986

Thank you for the strong response to the last column. I have taken your comments to heart and therefore have moved, disconnected the phone and grown a beard. Keep the feedback coming.

If "The Sopranos" need a new enforcer, I'll recommend Nikki Pope. She "asked" people to contribute and they did. Some of them weren't even in our class. Nikki has completed her first year of law school, acing her exams. She is hoping that Charlie Baker makes his run for the White House in 2004, because she is ready to be the White House chief counsel. I think she just wants to meet Rob Lowe.

Ginger Campbell reports that she is running an event production/public relations company called SNAP Productions. She has produced two "Blacks In Technology" events for Tavis Smiley. She also produced the 5K for the Marathon and the PR/event production for the 33rd Image Awards. Ginger has a most precocious almost-6-year-old, who takes much of her energy and time when she is not hobnobbing with celebrities at events. She keeps in touch with Marty Foster, who quit her job as deputy director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events in Chicago (a made-up position if I ever heard one) to raise goats. She found Wisconsin too isolated (impossible) and returned to Chicago. I'm guessing the warrant expired.

Cecilia Fabrizio sent in her report from Hong Kong, where she has lived for four years. She is still with the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, running their cancer control efforts.

Ron Stover '85 is still in business development with the Arizona Chemical division of International Paper. They live in a high rise, breathe polluted air, and travel as often as they can. Their two kids have developed British accents and can't ride a bike, but can catch a taxi like nobody's business.

Kirk Elliott spent six years in Asia (one year in Singapore, followed by five years in Taiwan). He was working for Nabisco in Taiwan. He bought a food business for Nabisco and then managed it, plus two businesses based in Hong Kong. Last year, Kraft purchased the worldwide business of Nabisco. He turned down an offer to join Kraft and reexamined his life goals and priorities. While living in Taiwan, he explored and studied traditional Chinese medicine. So late last year, Kirk, Teresa and their three girls moved to San Diego. Kirk is currently attending the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and will graduate in three years. Upon graduation, he will open an acupuncture
and herbal medicine practice.

The Lauren '83 and Charlie Baker family ran into the Mimi and Dodge McFall family at Disney World this spring. No injuries were reported. It was the first day of the vacation for both families, and adults and kids had a great time. The five children had such a good time together, they are now planning next year's joint vacation at Euro Disney. The parents are planning additional funding sources to finance the trip. Dodge started an enterprise software company in November 2000, which wasn't the best time to raise money or sell
software, but they are still alive and fighting. It has been the most exciting experience he has had to date. He obviously did not play a lot of intramurals at Kellogg. Charlie is excited by the Red Sox season so far, but knows that they will break his heart in September. Hey, the Pats won the Super Bowl and the Celts are in the conference finals. Give another city a chance.

Eugene von Kamarasy is alive and well in Wiesbaden, Germany, and is commuting to Basel, Switzerland, during the week to his new job as financial manager for a subsidiary of a large German conglomerate. The company formerly was called Metalgesellschaft and is now mg-technologies. He finished the year with a five-week holiday diving in the Maldives on a small island (70 by 200 yards). Oyvind and Susan Solvang's private pond is bigger than that! Eugene's subsidiary constructs sterile liquid chemical plants and equipment for the health care and pharmaceutical industries. He is offering his help to anyone who needs a pharmaceutical plant or shampoo or body milk line. He didn't make it back to the USA in this job change, but hopes to
move in a few years within mg-technologies. He spends hisfree time driving his BMW 140 mph on the autobahn, hiking in the mountains and eating chocolate during the week. He spends the weekends with his partner, an aerobics instructor. He didn't report whether she eats chocolate also.

Martin Suter has been promoted to serve as a director at Dell. Little change in the day-to-day, but a bit more work/exposure on the European front. It had been raining for three weeks at the time of his report, and his children had adopted a few tadpoles from the local pond. At least these animals can swim around and like it. Ron Leaf writes that Dave Jaffray has a new position as director of sales for the Stonebridge Group in Minneapolis, a consulting firm that specializes in IT services for the health-care industry. Kevin Damon and his family enjoyed missing the Olympics. Kathy and all three kids got sick simultaneously for a week while they were visiting the in-laws. Amazingly, the in-laws claim they are welcome to come back, but that they should call first. Lori Samuels and Kelvin Walker got together when Kelvin was in L.A. on business. Apparently Kelvin is on the Dick Clark diet or sold his soul to the devil, because he has not aged since graduation. He and his wife, Celia, are enjoying Dallas.

For those who enjoy the sporting life, the winning number in the "how long will Judy Seldin stay out of the workforce?" pool was 36 months. In April, she started working as a vice president of sales and marketing at Omega Insurance Services. She will call each of you very soon to set up an appointment. No, she doesn't sell insurance. Her firm, headquartered in St. Pete, investigates potentially fraudulent disability and workers compensation claims for insurance companies. Her firm rejected my disability claim that I was allergic to fluorescent lights.

I forgot to mention that I ran into John McDonough at a few conventions over the past year. He is president of Hobart-Food Service Division. He wears the most futuristic glasses this side of "Star Trek." They divert attention from his perfect scalp. During the past few months, I've had lunch with Oyvind Solvang and Lauren Schreiner. Oyvind and Susan built a new house during the last year. Lauren has been doing consulting work for SC Johnson since January.

I had a great time at the Olympics. I attended the aerials, team ski jumping and slalom events. I also tried to visit every bar in Park City at least once, saw Katie Couric on the street with her daughters, and drank a Norwegian beer called Aass. Ask Oyvind how to pronounce it without getting hit. In April, I went skiing at Whistler/Blackcomb. Had a great time there as well. I have spent some time trapping chipmunks that live under our house. Really, under the house. They are captured alive and released in a near (but not too near) park. My current consulting projects include draft beer equipment, barley malt and NASCAR. I am totally focused. This summer, I will spend time corrupting young minds teaching international marketing at UWM and losing golf balls.

In the last column, I didn't mean to make fun of children updates. As we get older and our careers stall and body parts fall off, it's nice to have something positive to talk about. Also, we need to get a few pictures into our section. We used to have plenty of wedding pictures and I don't think we should wait until retirement photos. So let's get busy with the cameras. Picnics with lots of Kellogg alums are great opportunities.