Christmas 1997

David is still designing robots for NASA at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, and also works on computer systems for their Biosphere. Metrica (a corporation which he co-founded in 1994) moved its Robotics Laboratories to a new 2500 sq/ft office and now employs 17 people. David was an invited participant at an international workshop on robotic intelligence in Porto Allegre, Brazil. While there he visited Rio, and the Falls of Iquassu (276 distinct waterfalls on the border of Brazil and Argentina) including the horrific Garganta do Diablo (Devil's Throat Falls). He also gave an invited workshop on robotics at the U. of Ulm in Germany. In Ulm he climbed the 768 steps to the top of the 14th Century Ulm Cathedral, which has the highest spire in the world. He rented a car and saw some of the other sites of central Germany including visits to some hometowns of his ancestors. When in Washington, DC, David gets together with Steve and Jane; once they went to see the Vienna Boys Choir, and another time he ran a 10k road race with Steve. In April David appeared briefly on the PBS Scientific American Frontiers show "Robots Alive!" which included the Mobile Robotics Competition held in Portland (he is coordinator and a judge for the annual competition). David enjoys running, participating in various road races and running the Houston Marathon each year. He enjoys hiking and camping trips with friends. This year they hiked and camped from rim to rim at the Grand Canyon, and camped at Carlsbad Caverns. They also made their annual scuba diving trip, this year again to the Mexican island of Cozumel. David bought a house in March, and his mother Janet, Peter, Julie, and Tony took a road trip to Houston to help him move.

Suzie and Jerry celebrated their daughter Kaitlyn's third birthday this year. She loves to dance, read, watch movies; likes dinosaurs and her Uncle Tony; took more swimming lessons this summer (likes water, doesn’t like instructors) and her second gymnastics class; and likes to answer and talk on the phone. Suzie still works as a tax attorney and CPA in Madison, and Jerry as an architectural draftsman. Suzie has been promoted to supervisor of her tax department, but will be working only 6 months/year so she can spend more time with Kaitlyn. They all flew to Knoxville for Steve and Jane's wedding; and then took some vacation time to tour the Smoky Mountains and see the sites of Gatlinburg. They also spend occasional weekends at the Raflik family cabin on a lake in northern Wisconsin. Jerry, his father and brothers, are outdoorsmen. This year they made a fishing trip to Canada. Jerry also golfs, and plays on a flag football team, and on softball, and basketball teams. Suzie enjoys sewing and craft work. Suzie and Jerry’s home is often a central meeting place for Kortenkamp family get-togethers. Perhaps planning for future events of this kind, they have bought some land north of Madison and will be designing and building their second, and larger, new house next year.

Steve and Jane married September 20, with an outdoor wedding and reception on her brother’s acreage near Knoxville (her brother, The Honorable Judge Eric Morrison, presided). Both being astronomers, they had their wedding rings crafted from a meteorite. They honeymooned in Hawaii, hiking and camping on the islands of Hawaii and Kauai (the Garden Island). A memory -- On a two day climb of the Mauna Loa volcano, while taking a lunch break amid “the endless black lava fields” at 12,000 feet, a tiny beautifully colored hummingbird appeared and took a drink out of their Gatorade bottle. Jane works at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. This year she also did research at Heidelberg U., and Kitt Peak Observatory, Tucson; and presented papers in Vienna, and Torino.. Steve is at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in DC. He works with Dr. George Wetherill, the world’s expert on the origin and evolution of the solar system. This year Dr. Wetherill received the National Medal of Science from President Clinton. Steve researches the formation of the earth and the astroidal belt, particularly astroidal dust accretion on earth as a means of dating deep-sea sediments and glacial ice. He attended conferences in Houston, New Hampshire and Boston (presenting papers at the latter two conferences). Jane is already learning about her Kortenkamp in-laws. Peter stayed with them while auditioning for the Baltimore Symphony. And in October Sarah & Kurt, Betsy and Katy showed up for the running of the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC. Steve ran and qualified again for the Boston Marathon.

Nancy quit her job as an audiologist with the Iowa Ear Clinic in Des Moines to become co-founder and co-owner (with her friend Kurt) of Global Performance in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They sell products manufactured by Equinox International, the “fastest growing company in the world.” Equinox researches and produces “a complete line of environmentally conscious and health related products” -- cleaning agents, water purifiers, health and fitness dietary supplements, beauty aids, etc. She travels a lot in her job, and attended Equinox meetings in Phoenix, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Memphis (where she stayed across from the Elvis Presley Mansion). Nancy continues her own fitness program, and runs road races. She was training to run the Marine Corp Marathon with her brothers and sisters, but injured herself by dropping a weight on her knee while doing weight training.

Peter became engaged to Julie “on a sunset lit dock over strawberries, bread and wine.” No wedding date has been set. Julie graduated from UW-Madison last December with a degree in music education, and taught music during spring semester in the Madison school system. Peter is a second-year music student at the U. of Akron, where he plays Principle Horn for the University Symphony, Symphonic Band, University Brass Choir, Mosaic Woodwind Quintet, a Horn Quartet called "The Vibrating Columns," and many gigs. He played for a run of the musical rendition of the film It's a Wonderful Life at the Cleveland Playhouse. Peter also does research and sets up demonstrations for an acoustics course in the Physics Dept. During the summer Peter hung out with Julie in Madison, "living off his income tax return." Peter and Julie provided the music for Steve and Jane's wedding, Julie playing clarinet. This fall Julie joined Peter in Akron where she does some substitute teaching, works in the U. book store and has “discovered the art of outdoor photography.” She is applying to graduate schools to study music therapy.

Sarah is a doctoral candidate in clinical neuropsychology at the U. of Florida. She had a busy year – passed her Ph.D. qualifying exams, published her undergraduate Honors Thesis in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology (a very prestigious journal), received her Department’s “Excellence in Neuropsychology Research Award” for her latest research on epilepsy, and worked as a research assistant for the psychology department. She also ran the Marine Corp Marathon in DC. Sarah and her fiancee Kurt are planning their wedding for August 15, 1998, in Decorah, Iowa, where Kurt was an art and English major at Luther College. He works in the U. of Florida’s Brain Institute, providing computer support for their research.. Kurt has a graduate degree in English/creative writing from Iowa State U. (he is working on his second novel). And, he keeps active as a studio artist. While in school he worked summers at a pottery shop in Door County. He also plays guitar.

Betsy graduated from UW-Milwaukee in December with a psychology major. She worked the past two years as a nanny for a family in Milwaukee, and will be moving to Houston to look for work. She would like to work a couple years with children in a hospital setting before applying to graduate schools. Betsy and Katy took their first road trips alone -- driving to Houston to visit David, and to Gainesville to visit Sarah and Kurt. In October Betsy ran the Marine Corp Marathon with Sarah, Katy, and Steve (they ran with Vice-President Gore and his daughters for a few miles). It was Betsy’s first marathon. Each year Betsy gets tickets to a musical, this year Guys and Dolls. Janet, Sue, Nancy, Sarah, Katy, Julie, and Kayla all meet in Milwaukee to join Betsy where they go out to eat, and then to the musical. Betsy is still very active on the World Wide Web, posting pictures and news to her home page for everyone to see.

Katy is a junior in the Honors Program (still getting straight “A”s) at UW-Madison, majoring in psychology and environmental studies. She works in the environmental psychology lab, and is also doing her own research on raising people's environmental awareness, which is related to her involvement in the Student Environmental Action Coalition. Like many of her brothers and sisters, Katy is a runner, and ran the Madison Half-Marathon this summer with Peter, Julie, Sarah, and Nancy. A funny story -- on a training run, Katy and Betsy were running through a park during a rain storm when they came to what they thought was a puddle in the grass. It turned out to be a creek overflowing its banks. After one step into the "puddle" they found themselves up to their necks in water. They were training for the Marine Corp Marathon; but like Nancy, Katy had to stop training because of an injury. However, she did enjoy going to DC and running 16 miles of the marathon with Betsy and Sarah.

Kayla, a foreign exchange student from the Bahamas, is in her fourth year living with us. She is a sophomore here at UW-Stevens Point, majoring in communicative disorders. Since she is a foreign student, she is not eligible for government loans or financial assistance. To help pay for college she sleeps 5 nights/wk at the home of Pauline Issacson, a retired college professor (who needs daily medical assistance), and receives $20/night. Kayla also works for a catering service, serving at wedding receptions, banquets, etc. And, she helps out at the reception desk of the Foreign Student Office on campus. Kayla usually gets back to the Bahamas a couple times each year. This year she also visited her brother in Baltimore, and traveled with our family to Steve and Jane’s wedding. A high point of her year was getting her driver’s license – in a stick shift car!

Tony started college here at UW-Stevens Point. He is a physics and computer science major, thinking of being an astronomer. He spends many evenings on the deck with his 8” reflector telescope. Tony is also into weight lifting and enjoys working out at the University Health Enhancement Center. Last spring, Tony was a beginning pole vaulter on his H.S. track team and didn’t clear 7’ in his first meet. By the end of the season he cleared 9’6” and was their #1 vaulter. A high point of the summer for Tony was when he got his motorcycle license. He now rides with several of his friends who have motorcycles. In fact, he has toyed with the fantasy of dropping out of college and becoming a motorcycle mechanic(!).