John Fanselow is president of International Pacific College in
New Zealand. His main tasks are recruitment, especially in Japan where the
school gets more than half of its students, and teacher development. ”NIU
from 1956-61 for me was the entire universe and between classes and involvement
in APO and the Northern Star provided the skills, ideas andenergy to continue
to grow through the years,” he said.
Chuck Shriver was inducted into the Northern Star Hall of Fame.
Chuck has been retired as copy editor of the Daily Herald since March of
2002 and is enjoying retirement immensely. His wife, Sandra, retired at
about the same time after 40 years as a flight attendant for United Airlines.
Gerald DiPego lives in Santa Ynez, Calif., with wife Christine.
Two sons live in the nearby L.A. area. Jerry has been a screenwriter
and novelist for 33 years. His most recent novel was “Cheevey”
(1996) and his most recent film was “The Forgotten” (2004).
Joe Distelheim, a Northern Star Hall of Famer, has co-authored a baseball book, “Cubs,” newly published by The Sporting News. It’s a history/appreciation by a lifelong fan and one-time Star sports editor. As of the end of July, Joe and wife Dottie are moving to Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Ron O’Connor is principal of O’Connor & Partners,
a branding and public relations firm based in St. Louis. Ron just completed
a two-year term as treasurer of the Public Relations Global Network, an
invitation-only consortium of 32 independent firms in America, Canada, Mexico,
Europe, Asia and Australia.
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Ed Murnane began his 12th year as president of the Illinois Civil Justice League in February. ICJL is the major tort reform advocacy group in Illinois. Prior to ICJL, Murnane worked at the Daily Herald from 1966-71; was a staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971-76; a public affairs consultant from 1976-84 (including senior roles in 76-80-84 Reagan and Bush campaigns); Public Affairs Director for Regional Transportation Authority (Chicago) from 1984-88; U.S. Small Business Administration Regional Administrator from 1988-91; and worked in the White House in 1991-92 as an assistant to President Bush and Director of Presidential Advance Office. Ed now lives in Arlington Heights, Ill., and is an NIU Huskies football season ticket holder.
Kurt Sipolski retired in 1988 to Palm Desert, Calif., where he
freelances infrequently. His autobiographical op-ed piece was published
in the Los Angeles Times and the International Herald Tribune in September
2004. He is working on a stage play based on the same piece. This year Kurt
worked with the state legislature to have a ‘’Polio Awareness”
day recognized. He just returned from a cruise to Acapulco.
Allan Zullo, a 2005 Hall of Fame inductee, is author of more than
80 nonfiction books, many for general readership and others for young adults. He
recently published books for young adults: “Survivors: True Stories
of Children in theHolocaust” and “Heroes of the Holocaust: True
Stories of Rescues by Teens.”His latest published books for general
audience include “A Boomer’s Guide toGrandparenting” (with
wife Kathryn) and “Mews Items: Amazing But True CatStories.” Allan
and Kathryn live on a mountain outside of Asheville, N.C.
Mark Gould recently celebrated his fifth year anniversary at
the Chicago-based American Library Association, a 64,000 national member
organization, which is the voice of America’s Libraries. He is Director,
Public Information Office, in charge of ALA’s media relations,
advocacy, and public education efforts. “Libraries
are unique public institutions, part of the American dream,” Mark says.
“They are a place for self-help and education. And they offer free
access to all and bring opportunity to everyone. It is an honor to devote
my career to communicating the incredible value of libraries and library
workers.” He says the highlights of his work include a partnership
with Major League Baseball. Gould has worked for several years with
MLB executive Sharon Robinson, daughter of Jackie Robinson, on a computer
literacy program, and has organized an event with First Lady Laura Bush.
Norm Cohen was the Star associate editor in summer 1971 (he was the guy who broke Jerry Thompson in!). After graduation he worked as sports editor at the Southwest News-Herald, moved to the Suburban Tribune, went to Newsday in 1987 and he is back with Tribune Co. as deputy Sunday sports editor.
Tom Wartowski hooded his wife, Angela, in graduation ceremonies
at the NIU College of Law. Angela received her JD in May 2005; Tom
graduated there in 1999. Tom recently was promoted to Administrative Assistant
State’s Attorney in Winnebago County, where he is responsible for Special
Projects and IT. He reports directly to the State’s Attorney.
Henry de Fiebre and his wife, Karen Rothe, have become full-time
residents of Florida. They live in the Naples area.
Gary Benson has been practicing real estate law in Chicago for
almost 28 years. Highlights of the past year include his eldest child getting
admitted to Stanford (MBA school), and a project he’s been working
on in Union Pier, Mich. “My significant other and I renovated
a group of five cottages about 100 yards from Lake Michigan. We have
two sold and three to go. If anyone is looking for a great getaway
cottage, give us a call or send an e-mail.”
Shelley Epstein, a 2005 Hall of Fame inductee, is Associate Editor
at the Peoria Journal Star. His wife, Marianne, who was a secretary at the
Star when they met, is an eighth-grade teacher. They’ve been in Peoria
31 years.
Deborah Nelson is the Washington investigative editor for the
Los Angeles Times. She’s married to Tom Brune, a Newsday reporter who,
she says, had the poor judgment to go to Northwestern instead of NIU.
Larry Lenard was the 1974-75 Star assistant business manager.
He is a CPA and a partner in the accounting firm of Borhart Spellmeyer &
Co. in Elgin.
Cary Baker has launched a new public relations and consulting firm for the music industry called Conqueroo, in Los Angeles. Previously, he headed publicity at Capitol Records and I.R.S. Records in Los Angeles. The Web site for the new company is www.conqueroo.com.
Eileen Norris is manager of publications for Joint Commission Resources, which writes books focusing on all aspects of patient safety. She’s been there about a year; previously, she was a senior editor in the consumer books division of the American Medical Association. Her husband, Bruce Dold, is editorial page editor of the Chicago Tribune. Their daughters are in college: one at Northwestern and the other about to start Notre Dame.
Bob Palermini is Senior Vice President of Technology and Facilities
at the Los Angeles Times. In 2004 he served as interim COO of Hoy/Los Angeles,
Tribune Company’s multi-market Spanish language paper. He is a Trustee
at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Rick Baert was named to the Northern Star Publication Board in
early 2005. He will serve a three-year term. Rick is P&I Daily editor
at Pensions & Investments newspaper, a Crain publication based in Chicago.
His wife, Pam Baert (Star 1979-80), is a copy editor at the Daily Herald
in Arlington Heights. They live in Schaumburg and have three children: Katie,
20; Joe, 17; and Stephen, 11.
Ed Beckmann lives in Berthoud, Colo. and is Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations at SunCorp Corporate Credit Union in Westminster, Colo. As of August 2005 he’ll have lived in Colorado five years. He and his wife, Christi (NIU ’82) live in a house that’s on three acres, backing up to 500 acres of open space including a mountain. They’re about 25 minutes from Rocky Mountain National Park.
Kathy Louden in 2004 won the Eric Martin Award from the American Medical Writers Association for distinguished medical writing for a lay audience. She has published her first humor article in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Celine Kurkowski and husband Doug Clemens (NIU, Marketing ’83)
had their 6th child, Kevin Joseph, born Sept. 19, 2004. Baby Kevin Joseph
joins Dana (13), Genevieve (11), Brendan (9), Austin (7) and Lauren (4).
The family lives in Rockford.
Karen (Andros) Eyres, moved from New York City to West Hollywood, Calif., a couple of years ago. She works IBM in the Real Estate department.
Sharyl Holtzman has moved to Los Angeles, where she’s free-lancing for Paramount Studios as a producer’s assistant, and continuing to cultivate her own business, Girl Rock Productions. Sharyl spent her post-college years in Chicago as a freelance arts-entertainment writer and producer of music events and concerts for charitable causes and the arts. “I still marvel today at the foundation my Star education provided me,” she says. “While I am no longer a journalist, the skills I honed at the Star, my natural instinct to cross-promote, appeal both to the off the beaten path and the masses, champion the unsung and the underdog, has remained and serves me well.” She’s also happy to report that she will pursue writing again in the form of screenplays.
Cindy (Lyle) Pevonka was the 1984 Star assistant advertising manager. She lives in St. Charles, Ill.
Mary S. Butler, a 2005 Northern Star Hall of Fame inductee, moved to New York City and accepted a newly created position at Forbes.com Inc. Mary is the Editor-in-Chief of ForbesAutos.com, which she launched on May 1. Prior to being recruited by Forbes.com to head up this luxury automotive portal, Mary was Managing Editor at cars.com. Mary just bought an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan; her husband, Dave Tainer, will join Mary in New York this summer after finishing the spring semester at DePaul University, where he teaches at the Computer Science school.
David M. Callahan is the managing editor of Bike Traffic – Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.
Debbie (Henfling) Coakley has been a free-lance writer and proofreader for the past 11 years. She lives in Warrenville, Ill.
Laura LeMar is married to Glenn Kjosen, has two boys, Evan,
8, and Liam, 4, and lives near Denver, Colo. She has been teaching writing
at the community college level for 10 years after earning her master of
arts degree in English from NIU in 1994. She currently teaches at Arapahoe
Community College in Littleton, Colo., and is making a foray in writing
fiction for children.
Deborah Snow Humiston is a communications specialist at Prairie State College. She writes for college publications (schedules, catalog, program brochures, press releases, viewbook). Prior to that (2001-2003), she was a freelance journalist, primarily writing stories for the Chicago Tribune. Prior to that (1987-2001), she was a reporter for The Daily Southtown. Her family moved to New Lenox, Ill., in July 2004. She and her husband, Rich, have a daughter, Rose, 8; and a son, Dylan, 6.
Phil Luciano, Star Hall of Famer and columnist for the Peoria
Journal, co-hosts a radio show every weekday with Jamie Markley on WMBD,
AM 1470. The Markley & Luciano Show also streams live on the Web from
4 to 6 p.m. Go to http://www.wmbdradio.com/ Phil particularly recommends
“Cannonball Friday,” which has featured such guests as Otis Day,
Lacy Underalls, Biff Tannen, Doug Niedermeier, Murph (of Murph & the
Magictones, of course), Peter Tork and other swingin’ B-list celebrities.
Jim Wozniak is a bureau chief for the Johnson City Press in Johnson
City, Tenn. He oversees the bureau in Erwin, Tenn., and covers stories in
that town and Unicoi County, Tenn.
Jeff Haack was the Star office manager. He works for Charles Industries, Ltd. in the Marine & Industrial Group. Jeff and his wife, Jen, have a new baby daughter, Grace born Sept. 25, 2004. Jeff, Jen, daughter Madison (12) and baby Grace live in Arlington Heights, Ill.
Tricia O’Halloran (B.S. ’90, M.A. ’92) lives in Peotone, Ill., with her husband, Michael; two children, Alyssa and Joey; and two dogs, Bailey and Duke. She is an audiologist and works at Community Hospital in Munster, Ind.
Karri E. Christiansen is a freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune
and the Riverside (Ill.) Landmark. She and her husband, Tim Unzicker, former
managing editor of Press-Republican Newspapers in St. Charles, recently
bought a home in Naperville. In July, Karri participated in the Out of the
Darkness Overnight 20-mile walk along the Chicago lakeshore to raise awareness
for suicide prevention.
Sabryna Cornish is associate editor for UIC News, faculty and staff newspaper at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also is a lecturer at UIC in communication department. Most importantly, she says, she passed preliminary examinations for Ph.D. in communications research at the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, so she now is a doctoral candidate. And, she’s a yellow belt in shotokan karate.
Ron Golminas is an Advertising Account Manager for Newsweek. He, his wife and two sons live in Naperville.
Laura Nornholm was a Star advertising sales representative. She is an account executive in the entertainment division at the Chicago Tribune.
Philip Dalton is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla.
Rob Heselbarth is editor of Residential Design & Build magazine, which covers the custom home building industry. In the past year, Rob and his wife, Kim, visited Costa Rica to attend a family wedding and traveled to Kauai, Hawaii, on vacation.
Matt Gronlund was promoted to publisher of Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine for Allured Publisher Corp., Carol Stream, Ill. In addition, Matt maintains his role as publisher of Perfumer & Flavorist magazine and The Journal of Essential Oil Research. This past December, Matt and his wife, Kelly, welcomed their firstchild, Kate Ella.
Kevin Lyons is the community editor for the Northwest Herald in Woodstock, Ill. Kevin and his wife Maria have a son, Jackson Patrick Lyons, born November 22, 2004.
Erin (Gockman) Drinkwine and husband, Chris, have a baby boy, Eddie, born in June 2004. Their first child, Lily is now 3 years old. Erin, with the help of her husband just started a new business, Stork Bundles of Rockford. Check them out at Stork-Bundles.com. The family lives in Rockford, Ill.
Tom Collins and his wife, Kerry, had their first child, Aidan Thomas, born Oct. 22, 2004. Tom was the Star systems manager for several years. He is the current president of the Northern Star Alumni. Tom works is a trainer at UTStarcom.
Allison (Kozak) Barham was a Star advertising representative. She is an account executive at the Chicago Tribune. At the 2005 National Newspaper Association meeting in Dallas, Allison was honored with the Target, Inc. National Sales Rep of the Year. She was the only one in the entire country to receive this prestigious award. Allison and husband Bryan just moved to their new home in Palos Park, Ill.
Jim Huguelet is the CIO of Aquascape Designs, the world’s largest manufacturer of equipment for residential pond and water feature construction. He and his wife, Stephanie, live in Bolingbrook, Ill., with their son, Michael. At The Northern Star, Jim was the business systems manager from 1990-95 while earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer science.
dAniel Alig Jacobson lives in Bern, Switzerland. He’s married, no kids, and works as an English teacher for two different schools. He also does private tutoring on the side. He got his Cambridge Language Teaching certification last year. He travels a lot, and also runs races (road, trail, mountain). Also, he and his wife have taken up dancing Swing, or Lindyhop as it’s also known. “It’s quite a minor craze with a large and growing scene around Europe,” he says. Finally, he’s trying to find time to finish up the last few volumes of a travel writing project. What he’s done so far can be found at: www.thepizzachronicles.com.
Joel Michael was a Star photo editor. He currently works in sales for Steiner Electric in Elk Grove, Ill. Joel still does photography, mostly weddings and weekend events.
Adam Bain works in the video game industry, going on nine years now. Most recently, he was part of the development team for Major League Baseball 2K5 and ESPN NHL 2k5 for the Xbox and Playstation2. He worked on the 3d environments, cut-scenes and animations. In August, he plans to close on a brand new condo on the west side of Los Angeles in August, not far from the beach. “Now I get to design my own true environment in real 3D,” he says.”
Lesley Rogers Barrett joined the Indianapolis Star in January as a reporter. She covers the city’s northern suburbs.
Trevor Freeze is a news designer for the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.
Liza (Lundholm) Sury is a lawyer with James M. Ridge & Associates in Chicago. She and her husband live in Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Markos Moulitsas was in the national spotlight during the 2004 presidential election as creator and editor of a liberal political blog, Daily Kos.
Jeff Nuckles is an instructional design specialist at Joliet Junior
College. He lives in Aurora, Ill. As a student, Jeff was the Star’s
systems manager and the creator of the first Northern Star Web site.
Chris Belec is engaged to Cecilia, due to marry Jan. 14, 2006. Chris is an account executive dealing with major accounts in the Home Goods division at the Chicago Tribune.
Peter Denk is a staff writer for Thoroughbred Times in Lexington, Ky. He moved there in March, after spending five years here at the Courier News in Elgin (two years in news, three in sports). “Horse racing is a passion of mine,” he says, “and finding a full-time job writing about it has been a career goal for a while now.”
Laura (McHale) Dodd and her husband Steve have a new baby, Tyler James born Oct. 21, 2004. Laura is the national sales manager for Scholastic Teen Magazine Network.
Bill Gockman works in research marketing for Ace Hardware in Oakbrook, Ill. Bill married Jennifer in October 2004; the couple lives in Minooka, Ill.
Nate Hernandez is a reporter for The Associated Press in Chicago.
Ken Shafer is Director of e-Media for MediaTec Publishing, located
in downtown Chicago on Michigan Ave. The company publishes three magazines:
Certification, Chief Learning Officer and Workforce Performance Solutions. Ken
currently is overseeing the upgrade of all four Web sites. He has been married
for one year. “My experience at the Northern Star was one of my fondest
memories of NIU along with being a delivery driver for Tom & Jerry’s,”
he says.
'98
Erin Hallstrom is managing editor for three magazine titles at Reed Business Information’s (formerly Cahner’s) Residential Building Group. She is getting married in August and recently bought a house and moved to Romeoville, Ill.
Mike Logan married Sarah Ann Jones in October 2004. Mike is a sales representative in the Real Estate Interactive Division of the Chicago Tribune.
Grace Parker has joined Concierge Preferred Magazine, she works as a director of sales. Grace previously worked in sales at the Daily Herald.
Heather (Mrowiec) Westberg and husband Jay have a little boy,
Max born July 11, 2004. Heather has been working, since graduation, as a
pharmaceutical sales representative for Eli Lilly.
'99
Christy Arnold started at the Cincinnati Enquirer on June 27 as a general assignment reporter. In her last year at the Charlotte Sun in Florida, the paper was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of Hurricane Charley. It also was a finalist for the Scripps Howard Public Service Award, won the Gold Medal at the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors for its hurricane coverage and picked up first place awards for deadline reporting and hurricane coverage. Christy won first place in feature reporting at the FSNE as well.
Kara (Pipitone) Anderson is working in Rockford as a freelance writer doing newspaper and magazine articles, PR, marketing and other communications work. She and huband Shawn are parents of 1-year-old Owen.
Matt Bute married Julie Parr in October 2005. The couple lives in Chicago. Matt is a sales representative in the automotive division of the Chicago Tribune.
Heather (McLindsay) Dean has moved back to the Chicago area. She works for TAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and her title is Senior Product Manager, Metabolic Disorders Marketing. Heather and her husband Kevin (’99) live in Gurnee, Ill.
Kevin Dean (married to Heather) is a an account executive for the Creative Network in Abbott Laboratories in Lake Forest, Ill.
Veronica Gonzalez lives near the beach in Wilmington, N.C., and works for the Star-News. She says it’s the best place she’s worked, aside from the Northern Star. She covers Brunswick County, which borders South Carolina, and writes about Hispanic issues. Before moving there this year, she worked for Reflejos, the Daily Herald’s Spanish-language newspaper. She won a Lisagor award from the Chicago Headline Club for her story about hospital interpreters.
Iva-Marie Palmer-Stanis and her husband, Steve, moved to Los Angeles this spring. She’s accepted a job as communications coordinator with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Steve will be a research assistant for the Law and Economics Consulting Group. Iva-Marie also hopes to pick up some freelance work. Her early relocation plans also include trying out for “Wheel of Fortune.” (“I have interviewed both Pat and Vanna before so I’m hoping that might win me points,” she says.)
Eric Nanney married Elizabeth Polisson (NIU alumna) in September 2004. Eric is an assistant vice president for ABN AMRO in Chicago. Eric and Elizabeth live in Chicago.
David Spitz is a Marketing Specialist for Washington Mutual in Vernon Hills, Ill. He just began his third year with the direct marketing team which is part of the Customer Optimization Department. David is single and lives in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood. He is involved with the social fraternity he belonged to while an NIU undergrad, Delta Chi. He serves as alumni adviser, providing leadership and positive guidance on an as-needed basis to the chapter’s executive board.
Bill Tynan, a police officer in St. Charles, Ill., spent four
days in training to become a licensed breath analysis operator. He hopes
to attend more training this year to become a juvenile officer, and
also some drug-enforcement classes.
Joe Biesk is an Associated Press statehouse reporter based in Frankfort, Ky.
Erica (Gallagher) Burke is senior editor for Schofield Media Ltd. She kicked off 2005 with the launch of her quarterly zine Love, Chicago, which spotlights the city’s best independent artists, retailers and events. Last summer, she married Jason Burke (’00), former Northern Star cartoonist and current art teacher at Elm Middle School in Elmwood Park, Ill. They live in Chicago with their dog, Chewie.
Eric Clark is the arts and entertainment reporter at the Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He reviews CDs and concerts and profiles authors and rock bands. Eric and his wife, Noel (2000), recently bought their first house.
Wade Duerkes is a photo technician for NIU Media Services.
Tracy Keane is a graphic designer for the advertising agency Euro RSCG Life Central. His group designs ads, brochures, posters, CDs and other collateral for medical clients. He lives in Chicago’s Lakeview area.
Tim Laurence works at the University of Chicago Law School doing much the same thing he did at the Star: administrating Macs and UNIX and supporting anything and everything. Outside of that, Tim reports having dropped 50 pounds, given up meat, enjoying living in the city and biking and backpacking whenever he gets the chance. He plans to hike the Appalachian Trail in a couple of years.
Joe Menard is an education reporter for the Detroit News. He got married this year and now he and wife, Dawn, are expecting a baby in October.
Katie Scrivano moved to Burson-Marsteller in Chicago in January 2005 as aSenior Associate in the Brand Marketing practice. She works on global andnational PR/marketing efforts for clients including Coca-Cola, Ross Products, Office Depot and McDonald’s. She recently worked on 50th Anniversary for McDonald’s which included the opening of the company’s new flagship restaurant in downtown Chicago. Previously, Katie worked four years at Dome Communications.
Justin Steinecker is an account executive at ALG Direct; the company provides logistics services for the direct mail industry. Justin married Dana on Oct. 9, 2004. The Steineckers live in Chicago.
Aaron Washburn works for Bovis Lend Lease, a construction project
management firm. The company manages all type of construction from building
the new Trump tower to retail construction. Aaron has been at Bovis Lend
Lease since 2001. His current title is U Systems Manager.
Whitney Carnahan is a reporter for the Rock Island Argus and Moline Dispatch. She covers four small towns south of the Quad-Cities: Carbon Cliff, Coal Valley, Colona and Milan. I also cover farm/rural issues, andsome general assignment. She moved last year to Moline.
Marvin Doolin works and lives in Schaumburg, Ill. By day, he designs and builds Web-based information solutions with Nelix, Inc. In his free time, he cooks with his wife, walks his dog and practices the violin.
Josh Gaby works on the Chicago Sun Times sports desk as (interchangeably) a copy editor and page designer. His wife, Kati, and he were married in November 2004, and now live in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood.
Nate Hardesty has moved to San Diego, California, and loves it. He is a sales manager at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. Nate works with convention sales and handles the East Coast National Association Market for the hotel.
Gary Heller and his fiancé bought a house in DeKalb last year and plan an August wedding. Gary is an ad designer at the Courier News in Elgin.
Melanie Miller works in Aurora for Warner Music Group and manage inventory in the indie rock catagory. She works with more than 60 different labels including Subpop, Matador, Saddlecreek, and Touch & Go.
Bob Nelson is studying for the bar exam this summer and looking for legal work in Chicago. He recently completed law school at Syracuse University in New York.
Jennifer (D’Souza) Pinto got married April 16 to Oscar Pinto. They live in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Steve Woodruff lives in Newport Beach, Calif. And works as the Marketing Analyst for James Hardie Building Products.
Josh Albrecht and his wife, Kelly, are proud parents of Owen Corey Albrecht, born July 15. Josh reports that Mom and baby are both happy and healthy and Owen has watched several Cubs games already with dad. In the past year, Josh helped launch the new monthly entertainment publication Take ONE, which is circulated throughout DeKalb County. He now is managing editor for The MidWeek, Take ONE and Valley Free Press.
Christian Arrecis is a news photographer for the Elburn Herald and teaches photography classes at Kishwaukee College. He is working towards his MFA in Art at NIU. He lives with his wife, April, (also an NIU graduate) who works at Elwood House Museum in DeKalb. They have two four-legged kids: Slim and Iggy.
Hank Brockett is news editor for The MidWeek, Valley Free Press and Take ONE in DeKalb County. “In looking at the fine print on his Northern Star Campbell scholarship,” Hank says, “it clearly stated that if shared between two Star students, those students must work together at some point within the next five years. So, I took Josh Albrecht’s offer in October 2004 and the rest is newspaper magic.”
Lynn Celmer is a lifestyle editor for Liberty Suburban Chicago Newspapers in the North Riverside office.
Greg Clemens was honored with the Chicago Tribune “Rookie of the Year” award. The recognition is given yearly to an outstanding new sales representative. Greg recently was promoted to senior account executive.
Nate Legue works for the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, covering McHenry County.
Willie Mickell is a graduate student in sports management at NIU. Willie and his wife, Tracey, have two children, Willie Mickell III, and Antwan Hampton Jr. The Mickell family lives in Cortland, Ill.
Kate Pica has moved to St. Louis, Mo., and works at Summit Marketing; Katie has just been promoted to Account Executive.
Victor Santiago is a staff writer in the communications office of the Chicago Public Schools.
Janna Smallwood was certified as a personal trainer by the American
Council on Exercise in November 2004 and currently works as a trainer at
XSport Fitness in St. Charles, Ill. She also contributes fitness-related
stories to the Kane County Chronicle. She lives with her boyfriend,
Andrew, in DeKalb.
'03
Barbara Bystryk works as an Assistant Producer at cars.com, a division of Classified Ventures. She lives in Chicago.
Courtney Cavanaugh is a staff writer at the Wheaton Leader Newspaper, part of Liberty Suburban Chicago Newspapers, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. She lives in Wheaton.
Ben Devries, a photographer for Daily Nonpareil in Council Bluffs, Iowa, took first place for general news photo at the Iowa Associated Press Managing Editors banquet this year.
Jenan Diab is the senior producer for Radio Islam, America’s first live daily Muslim talk radio program. The program is broadcast from 1450 AM WCEV in Chicago, and also is available at radioislam.com. Jenan lives in the Southwest suburbs. She’s also thrilled to announce she’s engaged to be married to Jehad Abedelal.
Sarah Folgers is an account recruiting manager for Aerotek.
Brian Mayfield has recently been promoted to assistant manager at Wells Fargo Financial in Naperville.
Betsy Perveiler is a copy editor for MediaTec Publishing in Chicago. The company publishes Certification magazine, Chief Learning Officer magazine, and Workforce Performance Solutions magazine.
Steve Staden works as a Technology Specialist for Standard Networks in Madison, Wis. He lives in Stoughton, Wis., plays for a couple of hockey teams and remains a loyal Chicago Bears fan.
Jeff Goluszka covers Burr Ridge as a Staff Writer for The Doings in Hinsdale. He covers village meetings, three school districts, two park districts and assorted other newsmakers. The Doings has seven editions, and Jeff’s work mostly appears in the Burr Ridge-Darien-Willowbrook edition. Jeff also is part of the acoustic rock band Facing Winter. Free music and info is available at www.facingwinter.com.
Anthony Marinaccio is an account manager at Emmis Communications Corporation, WKQX-FM/Q101 in Chicago.
Paul Mikolajczyk is police and fire reporter for the News Herald in Panama City, Fla.
Jeremy Norman works for The Washington Post as an editorial designer in thefeatures department of the online division (Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive) in Arlington, Va.. In addition to his work in Washington, he continues to keep his DeKalb connections strong with weekly online editing for The MidWeek and print design work for Take ONE, a new monthly entertainment magazine by NI Publishing.
Cory Ohlendorf lives in Washington, D.C. and writes for The West End Guide, a magazine that focuses on D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood. He covers the arts and entertainment and writes a monthly shopping feature. “And thanks to the wonders of technology,” he says, “I’m still writing and editing takeONE – DeKalb’s sometimes brash but always brilliant monthly lifestyle publication.”
Dan Patterson starts graduate school this fall at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis-St. Paul, for urban and regional planning. Since his graduation from NIU in December 2004, he’s worked as a copy editor for Sauk Valley Newspapers in Sterling, Ill.
Mark Pickrel lives in Orlando, Fla., works for a landscaping company and umpires a lot of baseball games. He hopes to go to umpiring school and eventually become a Major League umpire.
Brent Renken is an advertising sales representative at the Arizona Republic. In June 2005 Brent was promoted and handles key accounts. Brent is the president of the Arizona Republic Toastmaster chapter, the TART. Brent serves on the Board of the Ad 2 Phoenix, which is part of the AAF (American Advertising Federation) and in his spare time conducts training sessions – on prospecting - for new recruits.
Scott Smith used his experience at the Northern Star and NS Radio to help land a position as night show host at hit music station B102.9 WXXB in Lafayette, Ind. He also hosts a Sunday night show at powerhouse Indianapolis station Z99.5 WZPL. Visit Scott’s Web site at www.scottontheradio.com for audio clips and information on his radio shows. In 2003-04, Scott was the first program director for NSRadio.
Jaime Swanson works as a copy editor at the Daily Southtown, where
she says she has had to skirt around the fact that she’s a Cubs fan.
She lives in Worth, Ill.
'05
Mark Bieganski is a visual editor for The Times of Northwest Indiana. He currently lives in Chicago’s Wicker Park area and is adjusting to life in the real world, he says.
Kristin Cavarretta is a proofreader at the Marketing Store in Oak Brook, Ill. She lives in Chicago.
Christina Chapman is a reporter for the Herald News in Joliet, Ill. She covers Grundy County.
Lionel Hickenbottom has become the first Northern Star alumnus to sign with a National Football League team. The former NIU free safety, who worked as a night-time deejay for NS Radio the past two years, was signed in May as a free agent safety by the Cleveland Browns.
Kate McDonough is Communication Manager for the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians, Oakbrook Terrace.
John O’Connor is working in sales for CDW in Vernon Hills, Ill.
Sean O’Connor is assistant features editor for the Kane County Chronicle in Geneva, Ill.
Megan Rodriguez is marketing and sales coordinator for the Morris (Ill.) Daily Herald.
Mike Runestad is the external relations coordinator for Family Service of Central Indiana, Inc.. Mike lives in Indianapolis, Ind.
Frank Rusnak writes sports part-time for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Amy Sherwood is an account administrator at Association Management Companies. Amy works primarily with three medical associations: American Pain Society, Midwest Pain Society and American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
Carrie Stobart moved to Madison, Wisconsin and is pursuing a career in human resources management.
Nick Swedberg works for Sauk Valley Newspapers, a Shaw newspaper group, in Sterling, Ill. He is the Lee County government reporter.
Fernie Grace Tiflis is working a summer job at United Airlines as she applies to several newspapers and law firms.
And last but not least ...
| Longtime Northern Star Adviser Jerry Thompson is enjoying retirement with his wife, Winnie, in nearby Malta, Ill. Jerry spends a good deal of time tending his garden and enjoying his grandchildren, but also dabbles in local politics. He’s a member of the Dekalb County Planning Commission and his thoughts often appear in letters to the editor columns in several local newspapers, including the Northern Star. A big reader, Jerry’s currently tackling “1776,” historian David McCullough’s look at military strategy in the American Revolution. |  |