Hey everyone. Not a whole lot of news to report, so make sure to sit down and send me a blitz letting me know what's going on. Lee Istrail is moving to Arlington, Virginia, to attend the George Mason University School of Law in August. Joining him in Arlington is his fiancee, Rebekka Brooks '01. She is currently working at the MIT Press and is seeking publishing work in the D.C. area. The two were engaged in June and are planning a 2004 wedding.
Eric Eckberg writes, "Quite a lot is happening in the Fort Drum-Watertown, New York Area. The biggest news is that Andrea Roberts and I were formally engaged last October. Now the interesting bit: I was scheduling for a six month long deployment to Macedonia/Kosovo with the 10th Mountain Division as part of NATO's peacekeeping force. So, before I left, we decided to have a civil ceremony. On October 26, 2001, Andrea and I got married. We are still having the full ceremony on October 26th of this year, but it made a lot of sense for us while I was overseas and Andrea remained here in Watertown. I returned home in May, after sixth months of being a platoon leader for the Quick Reaction Force at Camp Able Sentry in the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. Having graduated from the Army's Air Assault School, I am now the executive officer for B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery. Andrea is working at the Community Action Council here in Watertown. Neither of us has seen too many other alums recently, although we did drop by campus over Commencement, when I commissioned Michael Breen '02 as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reservce. Over the same weekend a bridal shower was thrown for Andrea, attended by her sister Cynthia Blouch '97 and Emily Loudon ."
Christian Bateson finished up a three-year stretch at Bear Sterns in June. At the beginning of July he left the country to travel around the world for a full year, planning to return to New York in the summer of 2003. Chris, who planned the trip for almost a year, is heading to Europe first, then Africa, South America, New Zealand, Australia, and Asia. A number of alums threw together a send-off party before his departure across the Atlantic, including Jonah Sonnenborn, Lauren Brenner, Leigh Eisenman, Karen Ho, Ada Aņon, Regina Bienstock, Tully Pruden, and Hillary Kopple. Matt Garvey and Kate Creskoff were engaged after six years of dating (yes, that would be freshman year). Kate wrote to point out a funny coincidence: "Sarah Valkenburgh and Bill Tsiaris started dating just one week after us at Dartmouth and got engaged this past December (as reported in the July/August issue) one week after us." Sarah and Kate are in the same medical school class at Harvard.
For those of you familiar with my inability to stay in the same place for more than a year, you'll be happy to know that I'm moving again. After taking a month off to attend fire-fighting academy in Maryland, I'll be moving back to Washington, D.C., to continue my consulting career. I regret that I'm deserting my Red Sox in the middle of the season, but the draw of disgustingly hot summers and beltway gridlock is just too strong. I'll include contact information in the next issue. Until then, blitz is best.
Seth Kelly,
seth.kelly.99@alum.dartmouth.org