Current Newsletter

nell Chap
T h e Co r
eta | Winter 2016
ter of Alpha Z
Save the Dates
National Initiation and Associate
Initiation of Dean Kathryn Boor
April 8, 2016
Look for details on the Cornell AZ website.
http://www.alphazeta-cornell.org/
Cornell Homecoming
September 23-24, 2016
AZ Annual Meeting
and Homecoming Luncheon
September 24, 2016
Notes from the
Left to right: Jessica Zou, Emaleigh Perry, Chrishell Marble, Felix FernandezPenny, and Collin Dillingham
Corp Board
The AZ Corporation Board has enjoyed a quiet
fall semester. The actives are keeping the
house looking great and are involved in many
activities as you will see in this issue. The board
continues to consider small facility upgrades to
keep the house looking sharp. Major systems
are now in good shape. We are working
with the actives to continue reaching out and
increasing awareness and networking between
active members and our alumni network. Those
connections are part of who we are! The plan is
to continue developing the new website as a key
in those connections.
Fraternally, Jeff Perry
New Members
The Cornell chapter of AZ is proud to announce our newest pledge
class! Coming from across the country, our new members are energetic
and enthusiastic additions to our House. We happily welcome Chrishell
Marble, Jessica Zou, Emaleigh Perry, Felix Fernandez-Penny, and Collin
Dillingham to our family. Our new members’ majors include Animal
Science, Agricultural Science, Plant Science, and Viticulture. We are all
looking forward to their future achievements at Cornell and beyond.
We thank our Pledge Master, Nick Culver ‘16, and our Pledge Educator,
Natasha Bartolotta ‘16, for their dedication.
Emily Ardalan ‘17
Outgoing Scribe and Incoming Pledge Educator
Alumni Board President
Check Out Our New Website!
You can:
alphazeta-cornell.org
Contact us with news and updates
• Pay your dues – quickly, conveniently and securely!
• And, read about our most recent and upcoming events
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Chancellor’s Note
As I enter into my second term as Chancellor I reflect on the past year and also look to the year ahead. Of the
things that I have accomplished so far, I am most proud of the successful reestablishment of past traditions that had
been lost. I think that the things that were reintroduced helped to grow and strengthen our Chapter. One thing that we
did this year, and particularly this semester, was to fill our appointed positions and have the members in those positions
really take an active role in the Chapter. This was particularly successful in the Morale Enhancer position. This position
is held by Emma Hallowell ’16 and she has put on a number of events every month this semester which have helped
to boost spirits in the House and give members a good excuse for a study break. Another practice that we brought
back was having formal dinners and meetings. Requiring business casual and business formal attire at Chapter events
helps members to know what is appropriate to wear at interviews, conferences, and other professional functions. The
tradition that we brought back that I think helped to grow our Chapter the most was the goal setting meeting. After this
initial meeting, we also presented our goals to our advisors and gained some perspective on our goals. This enabled us
to establish what all of our members wanted for the semester and what steps we could take to achieve these goals.
Additionally, it also got our advisors more involved, which is something that I really wanted to accomplish during my
term as Chancellor.
Moving forward into my second term there are still more things that I hope to do to further AZ. I had a great
executive board supporting me in my last term and I am excited to work with the incoming officers. Many of our
incoming officers are young members and I am delighted that they are getting involved so early on in their time as
members. I hope that I will be inspired by the new officers and that they will bring new perspectives to the table. I
want to further our Chapter’s reach in the Cornell community and to do more to educate the student body about
agriculture. Additionally, I would like to create more opportunities for our members to get exposure to different facets
of the field of agriculture. This is something that we as a House had discussed in our goal setting meeting and that I
feel is one of our main priorities. I am looking forward to the year ahead and all the priorities that it will present!
Lauren Fessler ‘17
Chancellor
The Swedish Exchange group assembled for the 60th anniversary of the start of the program in 1955. Since the exchange
students stayed at AGR in the Fall Semester and AZ in the Spring, there was a lot of interest of AZ’s to participate in the
program. The reunion overlapped with Homecoming weekend, so many attended both.
Pictured (L to R): George F. Lamont AZ ‘57 (first CU student to spend a year in Sweden, and chief “suggester and adviser”
to this first reunion, organized by Chistine Potter in the CALS Student Services Office), Fritz Koennecke AZ ‘62, Ed Smith AZ
‘64, Carl Eisenhard AZ ‘65, Sophie Wistrom (visiting from SLU 15-16), Ben Dillner ‘17 (CALS student to be in Sweden next
year), Pete Smith AZ ‘66, Bill Dalrymple ‘76 (“not AZ but many relatives in AZ!”), Paul Redmond AGR ‘78, Arlene Lee ‘91,
Also attending, but not in picture, Bruce Anderson AZ ‘68, and Karin Rosberg AZ ‘04.
AG Day
Ag Day this semester was held on September 21st and
was a hit! The weather was balmy and we had a great
turnout. Students and faculty alike passed through the
Ag Quad and stopped by to check out the event. This
semester we brought calves, lambs, chickens, and of
course Rosie the fistulated cow to the quad. Along with
the animals and farm equipment, there were booths
representing many of the agricultural clubs on campus
including the bee club, CFFA, the fungi club, and Hortus
Forum, just to name a few. As per the usual, people were
invited to play “Cow Chip Bingo” (one of the University’s
official 161 things to do!). The proceeds went to the NYS
4-H Foundation, of which our own alumnus Emma Long
’12 chairs. A special thanks to Dean Boor who donated
her winnings! We also had interactive booths including
cattle roping and a bale toss. With the success of past
semesters, we decided to continue the recent tradition
of holding a grill-off following the events of Ag Day. This
semester our panel of judges featured past and present
Corporation Board Presidents Richard Church ‘64 and Jeff
Perry ‘89 and last semester’s winner.
ip
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Cow
!
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i
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Overall the day was a great success and was even
featured on the CALS Facebook page! The post
highlighted the central focus of Ag Day, to educate the
Cornell community about agriculture. Thank you to our
sponsors that made this event possible and we hope
to have another superb Ag Day in the spring!
Lauren Fessler ‘17
Chancellor
See you in
the Spring!
Cranberry Harvesting
On Halloween afternoon, AZ actives Amber Bornt ’16,
Connie Potter ’16, Dani Harris ’16, Lauren Fessler ’17,
alumni Chris Castellano ‘10, and Lynn Veenstra headed
east to East Taunton, MA.
We were greeted with a warm welcome by alumni William McCaffrey’s
‘10 parents and their dog Pixie on the
farm he runs with his parents and his
fiancée Veronica Palladino ‘12. We were
also able to meet up with some other
notable AZ alums, John Orlowski ‘10
and Caroline Salisbury ‘13.
On Sunday morning we woke up to a
delicious breakfast, courtesy of Will’s
mom, and then headed out to the back
of their property to the cranberry fields.
Their farm is an interesting place. They
are right on the edge of suburbia. Their
neighbors live in pre-fab houses on
small plots of land, but once you get
behind the McCaffrey’s house a hedgerow blocks the view of suburbia and
you would never know it was right next
door. The farm was once a dairy, and
next to the main farmhouse they have
a converted milk house and a converted tie stall barn that they now use for
storage. It is clear that the farm and its
buildings have been well-used and wellloved for many years.
Our first glimpse of the cranberry field
was incredible. Pictures don’t do its
beauty justice. It was about a two-acre
bog, flooded under about three feet of
water with cranberries floating across
the entire surface. The cranberries were
different shades of a bright, deep red.
The cranberries grow on little bushes.
When it is time to harvest, they flood
the field a little bit and then drive up and
down the rows of cranberry plants with
a tractor that has a special attachment
for knocking the berries off of their
bushes. Then they flood the field the
rest of the way. One of the main jobs
we helped with was using metal rakes
to dislodge any cranberries that were
still attached to their bushes.
To harvest the cranberries we systematically pushed them towards one end
of the field using interconnecting straps
that were similar to fire hoses with
chains inside. At one corner of the field
there was a big machine that sucked
up the cranberries through a big hose,
separated them from the water and
other junk that was sucked in with the
cranberries, and then launched them
into the back of a dump truck. We harvested over eighty thousand pounds of
cranberries from one bog.
There was quite a crew of people helping. The McCaffreys announce
their harvest dates to the public, so in
addition to the AZ group, there were
quite a few community members that
came out to help. Some had never
seen a cranberry harvest before and
some seemed to be regulars. We also
met a group of Harvard students that
came to see the harvest as a part of a
sustainable agriculture program.
At the end of the day we were all tired,
and had a long drive back to Ithaca
ahead of us. We were all able to bring
some cranberries home for our own
families. It was an awesome experience and something new for several of
us. We thank the McCaffrey family and
hope to return next fall!
Dani Harris ‘16
Outgoing House Manager
Faculty Wine and Cheese
As has been the tradition each semester, Alpha Zeta recently held our
faculty wine and cheese event. Each year this event brings a number of
professors to our house to socialize, network and celebrate another
semester that has come and gone oh so quickly. Although the turnout was
not as plentiful as it has been in semesters past, all members of AZ worked together to
make it a memorable occasion. This semester, we had between twenty and thirty attendees,
with many of our “regulars” and some new faces. As I looked around the room I could see
warm smiles, and could hear the buzz of conversations both practical and academic.
As always, it was nice to see a setting in which students and professors could interact on a
more personal level- something that is not always possible on campus. We are planning to
host another faculty wine and cheese event next semester, and hope that it will be even more
successful. Thank you to those who attended; we hope to see you again next semester.
Kassidy Hitt ‘16
Outgoing Chronicler
Coming Home to Alpha Zeta at Cornell
Homecoming 2015
Thanks to all the alumni who returned
to Alpha Zeta for Cornell’s Homecoming
Weekend on September 18, 2015!
The actives were fine hosts and are
proudly carrying on the traditions
of the past such as continuing with
formal inductions of new members
by candlelight in the secrecy of the
hallowed halls of Alpha Zeta on
Thurston Ave.
During the annual meeting, we enjoyed
two impressive presentations by
students. Anya Gandi ‘17 presented
“Cowboying in Montana,” which led
to a job offer on the largest ranch
in New Zealand for her. Natasha
Bartolotta ’16 spoke of her experiences
abroad in Tanzania studying wildlife
management, as well as her research
with Shoals Marine Lab – the latter
becoming Natasha’s honors thesis
topic. Both AZ Sisters are grateful for
their internship experiences supported
by the CALS Charitable Trust, which
is growing strong and continuing to
provide experiences that students may
otherwise not be able to financially
afford. We honored Ron Furry ’53 for
his 28 years serving Alpha Zeta on the
Corp Board along with Dick Church,
Mr. Alpha Zeta, who continues to be
involved with Ron as an Emeritus Corp
Board member. Jeff Perry presented a
clock to Jim Weisbeck ’59 to recognize
Jim’s time on the Corp Board and
with the CALS Charitable Trust. We
adjourned the meeting applauding the
fine efforts of the actives doing good
work in the community while working
and growing in the name of scholarship
and fellowship.
Speaking of fellowship, we all enjoyed
connecting with fellow alumni
especially the stories of our more
experienced alumni. Ron Ramsdan ‘57
spoke of driving with a visiting AZ Corp
Board member to meet with Liberty
Hyde Bailey on campus while Ron was
a senior at Cornell. It’s hard for me
to imagine these legends like Bailey
shaping our history also interacted with
Alpha Zeta. I truly enjoyed combing
through the old composites with Will
Porter and his son to search for pictures
of Will while he was an active in AZ.
Connecting with AZ traditions and AZ
family - new and not-so-new - is truly
like coming home. What a joy!
Plan a trip back to Cornell
next fall and join us!
Kimberly Farrell Fleming ‘87
Alumni Board Member
Cornell Homecoming Sept. 23-24, 2016
Interview with Tim Jenkins
Tim is a member of our Spring ’14
Pledge Class and is our only member
graduating this December. He will
receive a Bachelor’s of Science for his
degree in International Agricultural and
Rural Development (IARD). Tim has
been an integral part of AZ, not only
by serving as our sergeant-at-arms but
also by always fostering a sense of
community in the House whether that
is by making food for our hungry, less
culinarily inclined members or making
sure there was a thriving social life at
the House. It is a bittersweet moment
as we are sad to see Tim go but are so
proud of him for graduating!
Lauren Fessler:
What is one of your favorite
memories from Cornell?
Jenkins:
“ Tim
Taking International Development
class. It was really interesting. I
enjoyed participating and felt like I
could speak a lot in that class. And
also going to office hours with
professors and developing one-onone relationships with them. I was
surprised by how approachable
professors at Cornell are and that
it I felt very equal while speaking
with them and that I was able to
share ideas and debate and discuss
on casual and equal footing with
professors knowing that some of
those professors are the best in
their field.
”
L: What are your plans for
after graduation?
I am going to Costa Rica and
“ T:Nicaragua
to work in the coffee
production industry there as part of
a team of agronomists doing crop
inspections, looking for diseases,
soil testing, pest management, and
mostly fungus management. I am
really excited about that, it is very
much the kind of work I hoped to
get. Hopefully it will turn from an
internship into a job. We will probably
do some crop diversification working
with large farmers and small farmers
as well.
”
L: What is one of your favorite
things about AZ?
it helps you meet people
“ T:thatThat
are in the same field as you and
have the same interests. That was
certainly one of the coolest things
about coming here because back
home no one understood why I was
interested in plants and soil and all
those sorts of things. Just having a
Alpha Zeta Alumni News
Save the date – Florida AZ Brothers
and Sisters! The Florida AZ lunch is on
February 3, 2016. More details to come.
Lamont AZ Brothers and Family Farm
Recognized - Dick Church shares this
great photo of Roger ‘64 and George
Lamont ‘57 in front of the new sign
designating their farm as a Bicentennial
Farm established in 1815 by Josias
Lamont. The photo was taken at a
celebration picnic on August 15, 2015
attended by approximately 200 family
and friends. Congratulations to our AZ
brothers and the entire Lamont family!
AZ Alumni Still Traveling the World In his letter to “Family and Friends” on
November 12, 2015, Mark Henderson
’04 wrote, “Greetings again from TimorLeste. Since the last email, Molly and
I have settled into our new 4-year post
quite well - bringing Micah to play groups
on the beach, baking fresh bread, and
mowing my lawn on the weekends.
Timor gave us a warm welcome in
our community, church and workplace
(US/AID), and we’ve had a very good
year. The biggest news for us is our
new bundle of joy...Luke. He was born
October 11th at 7lbs 7oz. Best contact
for Mark is: [email protected].
community of people that are into
the same thing as you are but who
also introduce you to new ways
and disciplines that you wouldn’t
have thought of, especially meeting
people from rural agricultural
backgrounds because I wasn’t
exposed to much of that before.
”
L: What advice would you give
to AZ members, other undergrads
at Cornell, etc?
advantage of being able
“ T:to Take
talk to your professors one on
one. They’ll help you when you’re
struggling they really will. Pick your
friends that you really care about
and don’t waste your time with the
others. There are people who will
enhance you and help you progress
in life and there are others who
won’t and you’re here only for a brief
time. AZ helped me to do that, to
find friends that actually respect
and care for me and have interests
similar to mine. Take a class that you
don’t know a whole lot about and
be surprised. I am now certified to
impregnate a cow! I’m never going
to, I don’t like cows but now I have
an appreciation for that. Take care of
yourself, pace yourself, and do your
work in the daytime.
”
AZ Alumni in the NY Farm Bureau
News - Paul Foutz ‘95 was recently
elected as the new District 5 Director
on the NY Farm Bureau Board of
Directors. Alex Wright ‘03 was elected
as the Young Farmer and Rancher Chair.
Congratulations to Paul and Alex in their
newest leadership roles!
L: Which of the “161 things to do at Cornell” have you not done
but wish you had?
climbed to the top of
“ T:theI haven’t
clock tower yet but I’ll probably
do that Friday with my family. I
also haven’t been to the museum
at all or the Cornell cinema which is
unfortunate but I’m definitely going
to the clock tower and museum
this weekend.
”
L: Who in your life has inspired you?
for one. My mom
“ T:gotMyherparents,
second degree in nursing,
well actually probably both degrees,
while working because those were
the days when you just worked
through school. She said that
she never ate a meal that didn’t
involve a steering wheel because
she had to drive to school, drive
to work, and drive back home and
her only time to eat was in her car.
Thinking about that helped to keep
me going knowing I had a lot more
convenience. She also was a good
typist and everyone wrote their
papers by hand so people would pay
her to transcribe their essays, so I
was like, “Wow, I guess I can write
my essay then, if she could write
her essay and type other people’s
essays too.” My dad, because he
is a wealth of knowledge and a
prominent intellectual in his field.
Peter Hobbs has inspired me as my
advisor, my professors…you know
here at Cornell you meet people
who aren’t just here to get by they’re
here to be the best at what they do.
There are a lot of people here who
are really Type A personalities doing
a million things at once.
”
L: What are you most looking
forward to about graduating?
Actually using the skills that I have
“ T:learned
and improving upon those
because I’m more of a hands-on
person than an arm chair intellectual.
I’m really excited to be in the field
and use what I have learned and
I am excited to start teaching in
whatever capacity that I can. And
the thrill of traveling and seeing new
things, improving my Spanish, and
all that stuff.
”
L: Thanks Tim!
Lauren Fessler ‘17
Chancellor
Updated Contact
Information
In Memory
Dan Bouck ’65 can be reach at his new
email address: [email protected]
We are sad to report that William
“Bill” Jolly ’64 passed away on August
4th due to natural causes at his home in
Chesterfield, MA.
John “Tony” Lyons ‘58 can now be
reached at 3428 Mt Diablo Blvd, Suite
301, Lafayette, CA 94549, 925-2822830, and [email protected].
Cindy and Paul Gallagher updated
their address. Send greetings to 7723
State Route 20, Waterville, NY 13480.
Ken Wing ’58 writes that he has a
new address. Ken is now at 10 North
Trail, Brunswick, ME 04011
and [email protected].
Ted Hopkins ‘67 from Fillmore, NY
passed away on November 21st, 2015.
Our thoughts and prayers are with
the families and friends of our
departed brothers.
AZ News
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
Alumni Records Office
Cornell Chapter of Alpha Zeta
c/o Keegan Associates, Inc.
50 Clinton Ave.
Cortland, NY 13045
OPTION FOR ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER:
If interested in receiving an
electronic newsletter rather
than a mailed copy, please email
Jeff at [email protected] and
we will make that adjustment
for the next newsletter.
AZ News is published regularly by the
Cornell Chapter of Alpha Zeta for its friends
and members.
AZ Goes International
As Alpha Zeta Cornell moves into 2016, it’s clear to our House that the
forefront of agricultural and life sciences work takes place as much abroad
as it does at home. Our only senior to graduate this December, Tim
Jenkins, is returning to Latin America to work post-graduation. Fellow
seniors Natasha Bartolotta, Amber Bornt, and Chad Crowley
are also headed abroad this winter break; Natasha is
off to Argentina, Amber is seeking post-graduation
employment in France (while staying with Arnaud
Louiset PC Fall ’14), and Chad will be working
in the United Kingdom. Junior Anya Gandy is
also headed off next semester, beginning her
year abroad in Australia. By going abroad, our
brothers and sisters will be gaining the tools
and experience they need to be leaders in the
world of agriculture, and when they return to our
House, the perspective they bring will ensure
that all members benefit from their opportunities.
Chad Crowley ‘16
Outgoing Censor
Can you identify this?
We are updating our display case and trying to uncover
stories for the treasures we have on hand. Please send
stories via email to [email protected] or drop a note
to Dani Harris, 214 Thurston Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Officers
Undergraduate Officers
Chancellor........................Lauren Fessler ’17
Censor................................Anthony Arce ‘18
Scribe...................................Emily Green ’18
Treasurer........................Chrishell Marble ‘18
Chronicler........... Felix Fernández-Penny ‘18
House Manager.............Mariah Goodwin ’18
Steward........................... Emaleigh Perry ‘18
Pledge Master................ Nicholas Culver ’16
Pledge Educator................ Emily Ardalan ‘17
Rush Chairs...................... Jessica White ‘16
.......................................Chrishell Marble ‘18
Social Chair.....................Victoria Houser ’17
Alumni Officers
Corporation Board
President......................... Jeffrey A. Perry ’89
Vice President............. Bonnie Muffoletto ’88
Secretary......Rebecca Tallmadge Ingram ’98
Treasurer............................Glenn Gabriel ’97
John Brouillette ’86
Chris Castellano ‘10
Kimberly Farrell Fleming ‘87
Rebecca Franklin-Guild ’92
Jess May ‘11
Advisors
Timothy J. Oonk ’86 (Associate ’03)
Cindy van Es (Associate ’08)
Todd Schmit (Wisconsin Gamma ’90)