1960
Bob Rader reports that he is still inhaling and exhaling.
1962
George Stoltz reports he is still alive and well. "When
you get my age, that is news," he writes. "Am looking forward
to the 2012 class reunion in five years as well as to the next time former
Star staffers get together to tell lies."
1963
Barry Schrader got to portray Joseph F. Glidden on the Glidden
and Haish float for NIU's Homecoming parade last October.
1966
Tom Jachimiec retired July 7, 2006, after 39 years at the Daily
Herald, Arlington Heights where he was features copy editor. Tom was the
Northern Star editor in 1965 and graduated in January 1966. He now lives
in Michigan City, Ind.
Ed Murnane, 1993 winner of the Donald Grubb award for distinguished
service as an alumnus, has been elected vice chairman of the board of the
American Tort Reform Association. Ed has completed his 14th year as president
of the Illinois Civil Justice League, following service as political editor
of the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights and stints as a press secretary
on Capitol Hill and White House service in both the Reagan and GHW Bush
administrations. He also is the author of "It's Not Such A
Long Way To Tipperary." And he is an NIU football season-ticket holder.
He worked on the Star from 1964-66, serving as Copy Desk Chief in 1965-66.
1970
Mike Korcek was one of three national recipients of the College
Sports Information Directors of America Lifetime Achievement Award at the
annual CoSIDA Workshop this July in San Diego. After retiring in 2006 as
NIU's sports information director, he's now SID Emeritus.
1971
Allan Shriver ... graduated NIU June 1971; left to tour Europe
for 3 months; asked for diploma to be posted home; stayed in Europe for
18 months; fell in love 18 times; toured a dozen countries in first 3 months;
worked as a motorbike messenger in central London for a year; returned to
downtown Chicago to work in the PR/marketing department of international
civil engineering firm for most of 1973; missed the UK (and the girls there);
returned in Dec '73; started in technical periodical journalism for Reed
(now known as Elsevier) as news and features editor for a new?launch international
marine equipment monthly trade rag; left a year later to become technical
journalist on a weekly consumer photography mag; 10 years later became editor-in-chief
with a staff of 16; launched a consumer video mag; 3 years later became
editor-in-chief of new title development; fell in love; had a family; defected
to PR in about 1986; specialised in computer/telecoms technology PR in 1988;
defected to commercial writing/marketing in about 1991; went back to in?house
PR for automotive industry for about 3 years; went on to direct marketing
agency for 3 years for B2B industrial clients; launched own marcoms consultancy
3 years later; lives in England, where he has been self-employed as a marketing
consultant for past eight years or so. He now works for a portfolio of datacoms
and telecoms technology clients. He writes that he's "reconsidering
motorbike messenger job again -- more fun, less hassle."
Tom Wartowski continues to work as Administrative Assistant State's Attorney in Winnebago County where he reports to State's Attorney Paul Logli and oversees special projects. His largest project involving the construction of a new jail under the hammer of a federal lawsuit is ending as a new one involving a new case management software system for the county's entire criminal justice system begins. Additionally, Tom recently was asked to also oversee the Domestic Violence Unit, which is where his passion remains.
1972
Candace Perkins Bowen (B.S. '72, M.A. '81) will be a tenure track
assistant professor at Kent State University in Ohio, beginning this fall.
Candace, who has held an administrative position in the School of Journalism
and Mass Communication there since 1995, will also be director of the new
Center for Scholastic Journalism. She and the School's new Knight Chair
for Scholastic Journalism, Mark Goodman, will be working with teachers,
administrators and commercial media representatives to promote First Amendment
rights and civic education for student journalists.
1974
Shelley Epstein retired from the Peoria Journal Star in February,
after nearly 33 years there. "Actually, I took an early buyout before
the paper was sold," he writes, "but nevertheless I left the profession
I started with three decades earlier at the beloved Kishwaukee Hall. (Younger
grads will have to ask where that was.)" After eight weeks of being
retired, and many rounds of golf, Shelley was hired by the Ameren Illinois
utilities to be their spokesman and head their public relations department.
"Not sure I've gone over to the dark side, since we supply light to
1.2 million customers," he writes. "Instead, I'll look at it as
going straight after all these years. Anyway, I'm enjoying it quite a bit,
from dealing with the media from around the state to helping shape the approach
in Springfield. It's an interesting view from the other side of the wall.
If Albert Walker could see me now."
On the personal side, Shelley and his wife, former Northern Star secretary
Marianne Riedel Epstein, are approaching their 32nd anniversary.
Marianne teaches in Peoria.
1975
Carol Jouzaitis lives in Chicago and is Vice President and Director
of Public Relations at Slack Barshinger, a leading integrated marketing
communications agency located in downtown Chicago. She and her husband visit
their beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as often as they
can. Carol was inducted into the Northern Star Hall of Fame this year.
1976
Rick Cerrone is a senior vice president for Dan Klores Communications
in New York City. His accounts include the Arena Football League and the
U.S. Open tennis tournament. Rick previously spent 11 years with the New
York Yankees as director of media relations.
Mary Dieter is director of policy and communications at the Indianapolis Private Industry Council Inc., the Workforce Investment Board for Marion County, Ind.
Rev. Martin A. Haeger is employed by the Northern Illinois District
of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as a Mission and Ministry Facilitator.
Most of his duties include leadership development in congregations as well
as mission planting. He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry
Degree at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. He hopes
to complete that degree in time for graduation on May 2008.
He lives in Bourbonnais, Ill., with his wife, Peggy and 12-year-old son
Matthew, who is an avid baseball player and member of the Bradley-Bourbonnais
Little League. Matthew was invited this summer to be one of four Little
League reporters. He writes a summary of the games for the Kankakee Daily
Journal and has expressed an interest in journalism.
1977
Paul Ivice started May 1 as a copy editor for Bankrate.com, a
personal financial Web site based in North Palm Beach, Fla. Paul moved to
Jupiter, Fla., after living for 24 years in Jacksonville, where he most
recently had been a free-lance writer, mostly for the Jacksonville Business
Journal and The Associated Press, as well as an umpire for girls high school
fast?pitch softball and youth recreational baseball.
Jim Rygelski is editor of the St. Louis Review, the weekly newspaper of the St. Louis Roman Catholic Archdiocese, with a paid circulation of 70,000.
1978
Bob Palermini is interim Vice President and Chief Technology
Officer for Tribune Publishing Company, the publishing division of Chicago-based
Tribune Company, where he is responsible for technology projects and operations
at the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Newsday and six other papers.
He continues in his role as Sr. VP and CTO of the Los Angeles Times and
lives in La Cañada, Calif.
1982
Mike Burke has started a new job, which he says has been a natural
jump from his previous job. He is program director at the Buffett Early
Childhood Fund, Susie Buffett's foundation dedicated to helping more infants,
toddlers and preschoolers in disadvantaged families grow up eager to learn
and ready for school. The foundation is based in Omaha but Mike keeps his
office in Chicago and continue traveling a great deal across the country.
1985
Mary S. Butler lives in New York City and is a Senior Content
Strategist for Avenue A | Razorfish. She also does website strategy consulting
for corporate and non?profit clients. Mary covers topics of interest in
the online publishing world on her blog: http://www.marysbutler.com/site/blog/.
Her husband, Dave Tainer, is a Director of IS for a Manhattan-based nonprofit.
Laura (LeMar) Kjosen (B.A. Journalism '85; M.A. English '94) teaches writing and tutors in the Writing Center at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colo. She has two sons, ages 10 and 6, and volunteers regularly at their school. Laura reports she has been experimenting with writing fiction, especially fantasy fiction. She has been participating in fiction writing workshops and recently won a local writing contest for a fantasy short story.
Jim Marshall works for Sprint as Michigan/Ohio director of sales
in government accounts. He lives in Detroit with my wife, 7-year-old boy
and 5-year-old girl. At the Star, he was sports editor, copy desk editor
and "all-around pain in the butt during the crazy times of 1984."
"I am out of the writing business and work for Sprint as our Michigan/Ohio
director of sales in government accounts. I live in Detroit with my wife,
7-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl."
1988
Jeff Vogelsang is a managing partner with Promontory Point Partners,
LLC. He and his wife have a 4-year-old daughter and live in Chicago.
1991
Karri Christiansen and her husband, Tim Unzicker (U of I-Champaign-Urbana
grad and former newspaper reporter, now a police detective in Oak Park),
live in Naperville with three cats. Karri freelances occasionally, and works
part-time as a fashion consultant for J.Jill, a store in downtown Naperville.
She also just started a blog, called Bulldog News Services, a forum for
news and editorial commentary.
1992
Marc Alberts works at the Arlington Heights Post and is a member
of the rock band West of Rome.
Sabryna Cornish (B.A. '92, M.A. '95) starts this fall as an assistant professor in the NIU Department of Communication, teaching journalism courses. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her expertise concentrates in new media studies.
Michael McCulloh accepted the postion of Director of Corporate Communications at Sears Holdings in Hoffman Estates, Ill. last August, after nearly six years as associate director of communications at Mooseheart. He and his wife, Heather, recently moved to a new place in Pingree Grove and are enjoying life with their 19-month-old daughter, Lily.
1993
Jim Huguelet (B.S. '93, M.S. '95) is president of The Huguelet
Group LLC (www.huguelet.com) which
provides strategic information technology consulting and project management
services to clients in the Chicago area including BP and McDonald's Corporation.
He is currently working with the NIU Alumni Association to form the Computer
Science Alumni
Council. Jim and his wife, Stephanie, live in Bolingbrook, Ill.
1994
Michael Berg lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is Deputy
Editor of the Enthusiast Group at AMI publications, overseeing the day-to-day
editorial operations of Muscle & Fitness, Muscle & Fitness Hers,
and Flex magazines.
Matt Gronlund, works at Allured Publishing Corp. as publisher of Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine and Perfumer & Flavorist magazine. Matt lives in Wheaton, Ill., with his wife, Kelly, and daughter, Kate.
1995
Tom Collins, his wife Kerry and their son Aidan have moved to
their new home in Oswego, Ill.
dAniel Alig Jacobson still lives in Switzerland, can speak French and German pretty well, and is teaching English at the "Wirtschaft Informatik Schule Schweiz." It's a private business school which offers high school and masters level programs in business and IT. He and his wife were expecting their first baby in June. "I'm still running a lot," dAnny adds. "Finished my 14th marathon in Geneva May 6 and time permitting, have plans to compete in several mountain races this summer including the Jungfrau Marathon in September - 26.2 Miles with about 6,000 feet of uphill and about 1,200 feet of downhill."
Zach Smith is National Sales Manager at WGN-TV in Chicago. The family, which includes wife Carole and 4-year-old twins Anna and Jacob, lives in Bartlett.
1996
Laura (DeLisle) Doherty has joined the Daily Herald. Laura is
a senior account executive in charge of major accounts. Previously Laura
worked at the Chicago Tribune.
Markos Moulitsas and his wife have a baby daughter, Elisandra Elexy, born in March 2007. Their son, Aristotle Alberto, is 3. Markos was elected to the Star Hall of Fame this year.
1997
Laura (McHale) Dodd is Midwest Advertising Director for The Health
Central Network.
Kristophere' Owens is a marketing and public relations specialist for Elgin Community College, Elgin, Ill. He and his wife, Tiana, are expecting their first child in November. They live in Rockford, Ill.
1998
Eric Barnes married Brenda Bingham May 19, 2007. The couple lives
in Chicago. Eric is a sales executive with the Chicago Tribune.
Erin Hallstrom-Erickson is married to Aaron Erickson and stepmom to two great kids ages 10 and 5. She's currently the group managing editor for Reed Business Information's residential construction magazine titles.
Darl Larsen has been awarded tenureship at Brigham Young University and works on movie scripts. Darl, his wife Nycole and their seven kids live in Utah.
David Lipien and his wife, Jill, have a new baby boy, Matthew James, born March 17, 2007. David and Jill have another son, Luke. David works for IBM.
Mike Logan and his wife, Sarah, have a daughter, Sydney Grace, born Feb. 13, 2007. Mike is an executive at the Chicago Tribune Interactive.
Dietrich Martin left the Chicago Tribune and is now working in the banking industry.
Dawn Raftery is the managing editor at The Doings Newspapers in Hinsdale, Ill.
Heather (Mrowiec) Westberg and husband Jay have a baby girl, Ella, born March 30, 2007. Their son Max is 3 years old. Heather, who works for Eli Lilly will relocate to the Chicago area.
1999
Kara (Pipitone) Anderson and her husband, Shawn, welcomed a new
baby girl, Ellery Kate, on Jan. 24. Ellery joins brother Owen, 3.
Christy Arnold has been named editor of the Englewood (Fla.) Sun. She left Sun Newspapers in June 2005 to work as a reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, but returned south to the Charlotte Sun in February 2006. She transferred to the Englewood Sun last November, working as an editor and reporter. Christy was a member of reporting staff that covered the devastation of Hurricane Charley in 2004. The staff was recognized as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005.
Matt Bute has been promoted to Automotive Advertising Sales Manager at the Chicago Tribune. Matt has had several positions within the company, most recently he served as the RedEye's sales manager.
Kevin and Heather (McLindsay) Dean are proud parents of Logan Andrew, born Nov. 4, 2006. Kevin is an account executive at Abbott Laboratories, and Heather is Senior Product Manager at TAP Pharmaceuticals. The couple lives in Gurnee, Ill.
Veronica Gonzalez is a reporter for the Star-News in Wilmington, N.C. This past year, she covered a deadly tornado that killed eight people, and took an award-winning photo of a woman who lost her son, daughter and grandson. The photo ran in the New York Times. Veronica also worked on a two-part series about gangs in southeastern North Carolina and also covers immigration. And, she writes, "I made it through my first year of homeownership. With two cats."
Bob McGann is Chief Financial Officer for Guggenheim Investment Management, LLC, in New York City. He was married last year to Kara Kavanagh, a New York stock analyst. The couple enjoyed a "nice, low-key honeymoon with a half-marathon in New Zealand and kicking back on our deck in Bora Bora." Bob also is researching the life of Edward Kemeys, the animal sculptor who designed the lions in front of Chicago's Art Institute. He hopes to have a book out in the next two years.
Iva-Marie Palmer, after spending some time as a video game producer,
took a position as an associate editorial producer at Disney Online in southern
California, working primarily for the Family Network. She and her husband,
Steve, live in Burbank, Calif. She reports that their most recent celebrity
sighting was Diane Keaton souvenir shopping at Disneyland, "unless
you count being less than 25 feet from White Sox reliever Bobby Jenks as
he warmed up at an Angels-Sox game. (This was by far the more exciting sighting
for us.)"
Besides her day job writing, Iva-Marie still freelances for some publications
in the Chicago area and is always looking for new clients. She also reports
that Disney has a great referral program, so job seekers shouldn't hesitate
to get in touch with her.
David Spitz is a Direct Marketing Associate for HSBC North America. He lives in Skokie, Ill.
Bill Tynan is still patrolling the streets of St. Charles as a police officer. He bought a townhouse in North Aurora last September. "And just because I feel like it, I'm going to Hong Kong in August," Bill writes. "I toured Europe two years ago with a friend, and that really opened my eyes to travel. This time I'm going on my own for eight days, so it should be a great experience."
2000
Kristina Aiello (2000) and husband Anthony Jordan (2001)
have twins. Landing and Griffin were born Oct. 26, 2006. The family lives
in Sycamore. Both Kristina and Tony teach in DeKalb area. Kristina obtained
her master's degree in May 2007.
Joe Biesk still works in The Associated Press' Frankfort, Ky. Bureau, covering mostly state government and politics. He's getting married in September to Kate McCann.
Erica (Gallagher) Burke is senior copy editor/food editor for Schofield Media Ltd. Her zine Love, Chicago is now exclusively online (www.lovechicago.org). Erica lives in Chicago with her husband, former Star cartoonist Jason Burke ('00), who starts a new job teaching art at Barrington High School this fall.
Eric Clark is arts and entertainment reporter at the Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His wife, Noel (Williams) Clark ('00) recently left her job as weekend meteorologist at KCRG-TV to become a science teacher. She is working on a master's degree at the University of Iowa.
Joe Menard is an account manager at B2B Computer Products in Chicago. Prior to that, he was a general assignment reporter at the Detroit News. He and his wife have a 19-month-old daughter, Ava, and a second daughter, Maya, born in June.
Kevin Slattery has worked for the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau almost six years now. He was promoted to Marketing Manager for the bureau's publications, Web sites and call center. He rents a studio in the Gold Coast in the middle of Rush and Division - "Party central is a nice place for me," he reports. This past winter Kevin took an eight-week digital photography class at The Chicago Photography Center. And, he currently is busy giving tours as a docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation and training for the LaSalle Bank Distance Classic 1/2 marathon on Aug. 12.
Kevin Wendt has been promoted to assistant managing editor of the San Jose Mercury News, supervising sports, the copy desk and the online operation at night. He also continues to oversee the paper's front page two nights a week.
Sarah (Boomgarden) Williams is a media communication specialist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, working with various campus departments to serve their marketing needs by managing and producing print pieces, Web sites and multimedia productions. In October 2005, she married Ryan Williams, class of 2000, and traveled to Costa Rica for their honeymoon. Sarah lived and worked as a journalist and later in higher education marketing in the Chicago area for six years. In September 2006, Sarah and Ryan returned to Central Illinois where they were born and raised and purchased a 104-year-old farmhouse on three acres in Farmer City (halfway between Bloomington and Champaign) and adopted Maddie, a Border Collie. In their spare time, they grow vegetables, raise chickens, canoe, and keep busy around the farm.
2001
Whitney Carnahan is a features editor for the American Rental
Association in Moline, Ill. - writing about tent structures, skidsteer attachments
and table linens, among other things. Also, She's also engaged to a fellow
writer with whom she used to work at the Rock Island Argus, Dustin Lemmon.
They are engaged to be married this September.
Marvin Doolin and his wife, Carrie, moved to South Elgin recently. They had a baby girl, Kinsey, last November. Marvin continues practicing Web programming and design at Nelix, Inc. in Schaumburg.
Josh Gaby is a copy editor/page designer/sometimes slot person on the Chicago Sun-Times sports desk. He and wife Kati now have Isabella Suzanne (aka "Isa"), born Sept. 30, 2006. The family lives in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood.
Gary Heller and his wife, Katie, welcomed their first child in June: a son, Gavin Joseph. They live in DeKalb, and Gary is a graphic designer at the Kane County Chronicle in Geneva, Ill.
Jennifer (D'Souza) Pinto and husband Oscar welcomed their first child, Marcus Vincent, on March 7. Jennifer works at The Record newspaper in Hackensack, N.J., as an advertising copy editor/designer.
Steve Woodruff is still working at James Hardie Building Products, as the head of software development for the company's U.S. marketing department. "I think I may stay in California for a while," he writes. "I joined a sailing team a year and a half ago, and I'm having a great time. We took sixth place in our class in the Newport Beach, Calif., to Ensenada, Mexico race this year. Next year we're planning on entering the first leg of the Transpacific Race - Los Angeles to Hawaii!"
2002
Hank Brockett, when not editing The MidWeek in Sycamore, operating
www.baseballbookshelf.com
or reminiscing about the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, is trying to grow a beard.
Sources close to the situation indicate it's not going well.
Lynn Celmer is a Lifestyles general assignment reporter for Liberty Suburban Chicago Newspapers in their North Riverside office. She would like to say hello to all of her fellow Northern Star alums. "Hope to see you all at Homecoming this year."
Nick Franklin has moved from Rochelle, where he worked for DNA Communications, to Chicago. Nick has started his own production band booking company - BiG D!G Productions. He is still interested in design opportunities.
Janna Smallwood works as a personal trainer at XSport Fitness in St. Charles, Ill. She lives in St. Charles with her boyfriend of five years, Andrew Sobol. Janna's Web site, www.trufitgo.com, features regularly updated fitness and nutrition information and will chronicle her training for the 2007 Chicago Marathon.
2003
Courtney Cavanaugh works as a copywriter at Martopia, a growth
catalyst firm™ that provides a unique blend of business, marketing,
public relations and sales expertise to help businesses achieve their growth
goals, located in downtown St. Charles, Ill. She now lives in Lombard, Ill.
Greg Clemens has joined State Farm Insurance in LaGrange Park, Ill.
Previously Greg was a sales executive at the Chicago Tribune. Greg and his
wife Kati are moving - in June - into their new condo in Chicago.
John (J.D.) Piland reports that he is still gainfully employed as an editor in the Small Business division of Imagination Publishing, a Chicago-based custom publisher of both print and online magazines. J.D. and Betsy Perveiler (Class of '03) now have been together for more than four years; they live in Chicago's Wrigleyville area. And most importantly, they still have the two cats.
Steve Staden works and lives in Madison, Wis. "I'm still traveling quite a bit for work, but was fortunate enough to vacation in Puerto Rico this year," he writes.
2004
Nick Alajakis is a crime reporter for the News?Sun in Waukegan.
When he's not working, he lives a pretty awesome life, though he refuses
to elaborate on it.
Se'Nita Harris works at Newspaper Services of America in Downers Grove.
Libby John works for Schofield Media, a business publication company.
Karen Castens is a graphic designer for Rotary International in Evanston, Ill. One of her projects will be recognized in the July 2007 issue of GD USA for winning an In?House Design Award.
Ashley "Tim" Laurence is unemployed this summer as he hikes the Appalachian Trail. He says he should be done around Aug. 12. Then he's moving to Tucson, Ariz., where he'll be looking for an IT job.
Kelli Panish is a sales representative at the Kane County Chronicle in Geneva, Ill.
Cory Ohlendorf is the Shopper columnist for the Washington Post. The weekly column decontructs trends and seeks new products, lines and designers. He also regularly reviews beauty and grooming products for the Post's Sunday Source. Additionally, his fashion writing has been published in Chicago's Red Eye, the Miami Herald, CS, Angeleno and New York magazine's Web site.
Dan Patterson just finished in May his master's degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. He's now a very happy regional planner for Dakota County, the third-most populous county in Minnesota.
Mark Pickrel is the lawn and ornamental service manager for Drake Lawn and Pest Control, based out of Orlando, Fla. He lives in Altamonte Springs, Fla., with his girlfriend, Gail, and his dog, Max.
Jaime Swanson works as a news copy editor at the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights. She lives in Chicago's Wrigleyville North neighborhood.
2005
Jackie Burke is city reporter at the Aberdeen American News in
Aberdeen, S.D. She and her fiancé just bought a house. They were
married July 14.
Christina Chapman is a staff writer for The Herald News in Joliet, Ill. She covers Grundy County. She also is a deejay at WJDK 95.7 in Morris on Sunday mornings.
Jaclyn Cerovac is a sales representative at the Kane County Chronicle in Geneva, Ill.
David Gomez is a student at John Marshall Law School in Chicago.
Marcus Leshock is the host of "Metromix" on Tribune-owned CLTV. It's been a wild year for Marcus. He was working as an entertainment reporter for "Metromix" until he was asked to be the sole host of the show back in January. He accepted....and now you can watch him live every night at 7, 8, 9 and midnight. He also reviews movies on the show in his "Leshock Value" segment ... picking up right where he left off at the Northern Star. You can watch most of his work at cltv.com/metromix....metromix.com.....or chicagotribune.com.
Kate McDonough is Communications Manager for the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians in Oakbrook Terrace. She is engaged and will be married on the beach in California in November 2007. She lives with her fiancé, Tim, and their two ferrets in Oak Park.
Carrie (Stobart) McKinney works at Mule-Hide Products as a Staff Accountant. She lives in South Beloit, Ill., with her husband, Jeff.
Kartikay Mehrotra has spent the last year reporting for the Kane County Chronicle, where he has covered Sugar Grove, Elburn, Campton Hills and St. Charles. This fall he will begin working toward his master's degree at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Mike Neumann is the associate editor for The Woodstock Independent. He writes and edits community, school, and business news stories, writes a weekly editorial, takes photos and will occasionally write a column. He lives in an apartment on Woodstock Square, which can be seen in the movie "Groundhog Day," specifically in scenes where Bill Murray's character runs into the obnoxious Ned Ryerson character. He hopes to buy a house in the somewhat near future, but chances of it having appeared in the movie are slim.
Frank Rusnak has quit his job at the Chicago Sun-Times and appeared on the Travel Channel on June 6 for the World Poker Tour in the Bahamas. He's already won three $10,000 seats for this year's World Series of Poker and will use the additional ones to continue to travel the world and play in big buy-in poker tournaments.
Mark Pietrowski earned his master's degree in communications from NIU this spring.
Jonathon (J.T.) Strube is an Associate Design Editor for the Aurora Beacon News. In late April he also was accepted into the Master of Fine Arts program in Visual Communication at NIU.
2006
Rasmieyh Abdelnabi is the police and courts reporter for the
Beloit (Wis.) Daily News.
Gino Betts Jr. is a student at Southern Illinois University School of Law.
Jessica King is the Web and public relations coordinator for A Greater Gift/SERRV International, a nonprofit organization that works to empower low?income artisans and farmers through training and fair trade. She lives in Madison, Wis., and is looking to start free-lance writing also.
Kaylyn Kuzniar is the Director of Marketing and Member Services at Spoon River Electric Cooperative in Canton, Ill. - 10 minutes from her hometown. "I basically do everything related to communications, marketing, etc here (design, write and photograph), I am in charge of our youth programs and scholarships and also involved with our economic development projects." She adds: "I just bought my first house on my own a few weeks ago (renting is a waste, kids!) and am currently remodeling the bathroom. I'm big girl now!"
Erika Lopez is an advertising executive at The Examiner in Washington, D.C.
Dominic Poggi is an account manager at TransPerfect Translation in Chicago.
Thomas Reckwerdt works for TAM, the company makes software for inventory control and cash registers.
JoAnn Regenauer works in downtown Milwaukee, Wis., as a copy editor at the American Society for Quality. She is enjoying life close to the lake as she recently purchased her first home north of the city in Port Washington.
Chris Strupp is working an internship with America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network. He works in the communications department. Chris just finished his first year of graduate school at DePaul University in Chicago.
Joey Baskerville is a sports writer for the Freeport Journal-Standard.
Steve Brown is a designer for the Naperville Sun.
Deanna Cabinian (B.S. 2005, M.S. 2007) is an Associate Account Representative at Omeda Communications in Northbrook, Ill. (www.omeda.com). The company handles database and circulation management for trade publications. Deanna just got her master's degree in sports management from NIU, while working a graduate assistantship for the past two years as station manager of NSRadio, the Star's online radio station.
Sean Connor teaches and coaches freshman basketball at Woodstock High School.
Genevieve Diesing is a news intern at the Peoria Journal Star and a writer for Venus Zine.
Billy Kulpa will intern at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., from October through December. He'll help with editing and production, graphic design and social-networking issues, and with the redesign of Poynter's Web site. This after spending a term as a summer fellow at Poynter where, he says, "I had to reinvent myself. I went in strictly as a designer, and came out with a solid understanding of what it takes to be a multimedia producer. It was the most challenging professional experience of my life, and I would urge any member of the Star - no matter what their perceived abilities may be - to apply for the program. It changed my life." Billy also spent part of the summer interning as a page designer for the Orlando Sentinel.
Jessica Lang is a sales representative with McKesson Pharmaceuticals.
Sean Ostruszka has "successfully fooled the people at Incredible Technologies into thinking that I am a Marketing Associate. Basically I write up content for the Web site, press releases, newsletters, and play Golden Tee LIVE all day."
Jarrod Rice is a copy editor/designer at the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Ill.
Carl Schweihs is an auditor at Sikich LLP. In Aurora. Carl is also pursuing a master's degree in accounting.
Derek Wright works on the copy desk at the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Ill. Derek also works part-time with J.B. TV in Chicago and is a freelance writer.
Jerry Thompson is retired and lives in Malta, Ill.
Maria Krull celebrated 20 years at the Northern Star on April 1, 2007.
Jim Killam and his wife, Lauren, now have two sons in college. Ben is a junior geography major at NIU and Zack is a freshman at Rock Valley College in Rockford. The Killams' daughter, Lindsey, is a high school junior.
James J. Herringer died in 2005 from complication of Myasthenia Gravis. He graduated from NIU in 1965 and was Northern Star editor in chief in 1964.
Owen "Bud" Nangle died Oct. 9, 2006, in suburban San
Diego, after suffering a stroke in September. He was 87. Bud is known as
the patriarch of NIU's Sports Information office and one of NIU's pioneers
instrumental in the Huskies' elevation to major-college status in football
and the program's initial affiliation with the Mid-American Conference.
He is survived by his wife Joyce. The couple had no children.
Asked by Mike Korcek for his memories of Bud, Northern Star Hall of Famer
Gary Stein of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel said: "Every time I
think of Bud, I have a smile on my face. Bud meant so much to all of us.
He trained us. He was what we all wanted to be. To him, there were no shortcuts
whether you were a college writer or a professional writer. He taught us.
'You are a reporter, act like a professional, ask the right questions, and
be accurate.' That was the old-school newspaper training. That was Bud."
Nangle was inducted into the Northern Star Hall of Fame as a Friend of the
Star in 2002.