Thursday, April 28, 2011

Photo from Malone's - New to MN Dinner


Cornell Club of Minnesota: Upcoming events & Volunteer Opportunities

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 April 2011
In This Issue
Help with admissions
Slope Day
Guthrie Tour and Play
Cornell BB Coming to MN
Volunteers Needed
Quick Links
cornell CAAAN
Want to be a part of Cornell Admissions?

CAAAN is looking for volunteers. No essay reading or busy work. Simply interview local prospective students on behalf of Cornell.

 

Click here for more information.

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Dear Reader,

We know it has been too long since we have sent a network wide newsletter.  We have a lot of great events coming up. Our next event is next Thursday, May 5th, Pinstripes, 3849 Gallagher Drive, Edina, to celebrate Slope Day in Minnesota. Full details here

Read more what we've been working on and the volunteers we are looking for in the most recent letter to our alumni members. 
Celebrate Slope Day in Minnesota
Thursday, May 5th

pinstripes logoEnjoy the fun of Slope Day here in Minnesota at Pinstripes. For those who have not been to Pinstripes before we think you will really enjoy it. It is not your typical bowling alley. They have great food, fine wines, a large bar selection and, yes, bowling (and bocce ball)

 pinstripes wine

We have reserved two lanes for bowling if you would like to bowl and the first 10 people to arrive will get one free cocktail! 

 

Event starts at 5 pm (a little later than our 8 am start in Ithaca!)

Guthrie Backstage Tour and Play
Saturday, June 25th 
guthrie
Tour and play

  

Play: God of Carnage

Date:  Saturday, June 25, 2011

 

We have a block of tickets reserved.

 

Play starts at 7:30 pm

Tour starts at 4:30 pm - you can go on just the tour or you can go to both the tour and the play. 

St. Paul Walking Art Toursculpture
Save the date! June 11th at noon
 
More details to come!
 
Volunteers Needed
Several Opportunities to "Give Back"
  1. We are looking for volunteers to lead several events that we have tentatively planned for 2012. Time requirement is generally a total of between 5 to 10 hours spread over several months. Please send us an e-mail if you would like to be contacted and to help out the club.
     
  2. Young Alums needed to help grow and energize our most recent alums (class of 2000 - 2010). Please contact us for details.

We appreciate your continued support and look forward to seeing you at future events. If you have any suggestions for the club, would like to volunteer or would like to lead a volunteer activity, please contact us.

Go Big Red,

 nick signature 

 

nickphotoNick Halverson
President - Cornell Club of Minnesota 

nick@solpropertygroup.com

612.819.8154 

Save
$$$$
All members of the Cornell Club of Minnesota enjoy discounts at all events. If you have not signed up already please visit our membership page online (you can payonline or learn where to mail your checks to). All funds are used to put on events, pre-purchase tickets and allow us to increase the number and variety of activities that the club hosts.
Offer Expires: Don't let your membership expire!
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Message from the Board

I can't believe it is almost May! Where has 2011 gone? The Board of Directors of the Cornell Club of Minnesota has been hard at work discussing ideas and putting together more events for the last half of 2011. We hope the upcoming events will continue to generate interest from the local alumni and new friendships and networks will be made.

Board member Carlos Gutierrez reintroduced a great tradition this past week by inviting over 150 Cornell Alumni who have moved to the Twin Cities in the last three years. We will be having another one of the dinners in August/September time frame. It is a great way for Cornell alums who may not have a large network of friends or contacts in the area to instantly connect with a large, diverse group. During the dinner at Malone's in Maple Grove we learned that 3M has its own Cornell Alumni network with over 20 active members. Please let us know if your company has its own Cornell Alumni network.

We have planned events for the upcoming months including:

  • Slope Day Celebration next Thursday (day before the actual Slope Day)
  • St. Paul Walking Art Tour, June 11 
  • Guthrie Theater backstage tour and play on Saturday, June 25th.
    God of Carnage is what we will be seeing. We have a block of tickets reserved.
  • New Student Send off on Sunday, July 31st    
  • Coffee tasting/Starbucks 101 (details TBD)
  • St. Paul Saints game/tailgate (summer)
  • Habitat for Humanity landscaping event in September
  • Zinck's Night in October
  • Monthly book club continues to meet every month.
We need your help!!
We are looking for the following:
  • Volunteers to help plan and chair events. We can have more events but are limited with our volunteer pool. If you have an idea for an event and can help us please contact one of us on the board.
  • Young alumni (Class of 2000 or younger) chair to plan events for our most recent alums
  • Social Media Chair: We have all the tools set up ready to go but we need someone to stay on top of it every week or couple of weeks.
We will help and assist our volunteers with communicating to alums. Please sign up.

We will be sending out more consistent messages from now on.

Thank you for your continued support and every member of the board looks forward to meeting you at the next event.

Go Big Red!
Nick Halverson
President - Cornell Club of Minnesota
nick@solpropertygroup.com
612.819.8154

Slope Day in Minnesota 2011

Slope Day Eve Celebration!

Thursday, May 5th from 5pm – 8pm

Come join fellow Cornellians to commemorate the last day of the Spring Semester with a Pre-Slope Day Happy Hour at Pinstripes in Edina.  Bring your Bowling Ball and Shoes – we have 2 lanes reserved – or try out indoor Bocce Ball.  Happy Hour runs until 6pm in the bar.  Free drink for the first 10 attendees compliments of the Cornell Club of MN.  Bowling optional at $7/person/game plus $4 shoe rental.  

Pinstripes Edina
3849 Gallagher Drive
Edina, MN

Friday, April 15, 2011

Cornell Club of Minnesota Book Club

April 12 – Olive Kittredge by Elizabeth Stout

May 10 – The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

June 14 – The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

July 12 – Just Kids by Patti Smith

August 9 – The Mermaid Chair – Sue Monk Kidd

Sept 13 –Grapes of Wrath -  John Steinbeck

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Mobile, social, cloud computing dominate Cornell Silicon Valley's annual gathering

Casey Ryan and trustee Becky Morgan at CSV11
Casey Ryan MBA '09 (founder of Watku) and Cornell trustee emeritus Becky Morgan '60 chat at CSV11. Morgan also is a CSV adviser.
More than 400 Cornell alumni, parents and friends attended Cornell Silicon Valley's (CSV) 11th annual presidential event March 15, marking it as the university alumni networking group's largest gathering to date.
The daylong event, "Make the Connection: Mobile, Social, Cloud, Cornell.," was held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif.
For the first time, recruiters were part of the event, and representatives from Facebook, Workday Inc., Box.net, Intel, Palantir Technologies, Teknominds Inc. and more were available to meet with alumni during the course of the day.
Those companies, and the event's themes of mobile, social and cloud computing, "are the new game changers in Silicon Valley," said Ashley Binter '97, CSV's associate director. "These are the areas of technology that are creating the new economic bubble in the valley. CSV11 is meant to examine how Cornellians are leading in these spaces and how Cornell research is affecting the course of innovation," she said.
David Duffield speaks during alumni panel discussion
From left, David Duffield '62, MBA '64 (chairman and CEO, Workday), Tien Tzuo '90 (founder and CEO of Zuora) and Lew Tucker '72 (vice president and chief technology officer, cloud computing, Cisco) participated in the alumni panel that discussed cloud computing.
Cornell President David Skorton honored Shannon Murray '94 for his 10 years of service to CSV. Murray helped launch the San Francisco Bay-area CSV and served as senior director of Cornell Business Communities, the larger group that counts CSV, Cornell Wall Street and the Cornell Entrepreneurial Network as its members.
Skorton gave an overview of Cornell's technology research and, extending the event's themes, he said CSV itself is a way of connecting back to Cornell -- and that through mobile, social and cloud computing, Cornellians can connect to friends, family and Cornell.
Technology, not surprisingly, played a leading role at the event:
  • For the first time, CSV ran a virtual trade show, in which a PowerPoint slideshow of Cornell-led and affiliated ventures were looped on screens throughout the venue.
  • Attendees tweeted during the entire event, Binter said, and the Twitter feed updated live on screens so others could see what was being tweeted.
  • Several other slideshows ran on displays during the day, such as one trumpeting top Cornell innovations and another featuring Cornell imagery.
  • Many slides included QR (quick response) codes, square-shaped black-and-white dot matrix barcodes that, when photographed by the cameras in mobile phones and smartphones, can connect directly to websites and download contact information, coupons or other materials.
Attendee at Cornell Silicon Vally event
An attendee stays connected via mobile technology at CSV11. More than 400 alumni and friends came to the annual presidential event, which included a talk and Q&A with President David Skorton.
The idea throughout, Binter said, was that through social, mobile and cloud computing, we are connecting to our data and to one another in new and different ways, so the natural progression of thought is that, through technology, you can also connect back to Cornell in new ways.
Featured speakers included Skorton, Provost Kent Fuchs, College of Engineering Dean Lance Collins and John Hollar, president and CEO of the Computer History Museum.
A faculty panel included Collins and Ken Birman (computer science), Claire Cardie (information science) and Hakim Weatherspoon (computer science).
Panel discussion at CSV11
The first of two alumni panels at CSV11 discussed privacy and trust issues related to social media and mobile devices.
There were two alumni panels, one focused on social networks and media along with mobile devices and mobile technology; the other examined cloud computing.
Alumni panel participants were Anamitra Banjeri, MBA '04 (senior product manager, Twitter); Anand Chandrasekher '86 (senior V.P. and general manager, Intel); Jennifer Dulski '93, MBA '99 (founder and CEO, the Dealmap); Henry Hsu '02, M.Eng. '03 (senior manager for business operations, LinkedIn); Drew Martin '86 (senior V.P. and CIO, Sony); Charles Wu '91 (manager, partner engineering, Facebook); Sid Anand '97, M.Eng. '02 (cloud architect, Netflix); David Duffield '62, MBA '64 (chairman and CEO, Workday); Ammar Hanafi '88 (general partner, Alloy Ventures); Lew Tucker '72 (V.P. and CTO, cloud computing, Cisco); and Tien Tzuo '90 (founder and CEO, Zuora).
Professor Ken Birman speaks at faculty panel
Ken Birman, the N. Rama Rao Professor of Computer Science at Cornell, speaks during the faculty panel at CSV11.
"From listening to the social and mobile panel discuss the role of Facebook and Twitter in Middle East politics today to providing commentary on the importance of cloud computing -- that is, 'It's not just a passing fad' -- to companies like Zuora, Workday, Cisco and Netflix, I thoroughly enjoyed CSV11," speaker Sid Anand said.
The event came one day after several hundred Cornellians gathered at Fox Studios in Los Angeles for another California alumni event -- "Early Evening with David Skorton."

Two trustee leaders talk finances, faculty and 'polishing the jewel'

On March 11 the Cornell Board of Trustees elected a new chairman: Robert S. Harrison, a 1976 graduate and chief executive officer of the Clinton Global Initiative. He is a former student trustee, a Rhodes scholar, a lawyer and a retired managing director of The Goldman Sachs Group. He chairs the board's executive committee and has been a trustee since 2002.
Robert Harrison and Peter Meinig discuss state of the university
Robert S. Harrison '76, CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative, left, becomes the new chairman of the board of trustees in 2012. Here, he and current chairman Peter C. Meinig '61 share thoughts about the state of the university during a video interview.
Harrison's two-and-a-half-year term begins in 2012. He will succeed Peter C. Meinig '61, who has chaired the board since 2002.
Here, Harrison and Meinig share some thoughts about the state of the university.
Mr. Harrison, when you served as a student trustee 1975-76, did you imagine that you would serve again -- and chair the board?
Absolutely not, on chairing of the board. That is a complete surprise. But I actually had hoped after graduating, given what an extraordinary experience it was being a student trustee, that I might be fortunate enough to serve again on the board at some point.
Back then, it was a much more partisan situation, where student trustees looked at themselves as representing students as opposed to representing the interests of the university as a whole. The board essentially tolerated student trustees back then, whereas under Pete's leadership, the board values students' input. We really do look forward to hearing from our student trustees as a very important constituency.
Cornell has established a $100 million Faculty Renewal Fund to hire up to 1,000 new faculty members over the next decade. How will we raise the money? How will we compete against peer institutions for replacements?
Meinig: Half of the fund will be raised from the reallocation of internal resources by the president and provost, and $50 million will be raised through philanthropy. All universities are under financial stress today, some more than others, and we have made a commitment that we are going to be very aggressive in faculty hiring. Many universities will not be able to do this. This creates a good marketplace for us.
Can Cornell afford to continue and increase the amount of financial aid that will be necessary to bring deserving students to Cornell?
Harrison: Financial aid is part of the DNA of Cornell. I can't imagine the board decreasing its commitment. It's a question of priorities and how you allocate or reallocate resources. Given what's happened in the economy, given 9 percent unemployment, the families of many of our students are very seriously affected. So this isn't the time to reallocate downward.
Is Cornell doing enough to ensure the academic success of underrepresented minority students?
Harrison: These initiatives in many cases go back to the 1960s. What the university is doing by evaluating and reevaluating is exactly what needs to be done on a constant basis. … It's an ongoing effort that the university is very committed to doing and must do.
Meinig: Are we doing enough? The answer is no. You can never do enough. There is certainly a focus from the board, at the administration level, also, on the issue, and I think that focus is going to continue.
Mr. Meinig, what advice will you give Mr. Harrison?
Meinig: I would say to him, you are holding a jewel in your hands. What the board needs to do under Bob's leadership is polish that jewel. You don't want to cut the jewel and change all the facets of the jewel. The role of the board is one of advice and consent, choosing outstanding administrative leadership at the university and then supporting that leadership.
What are the university's greatest challenges and opportunities through its sesquicentennial in 2015?
Meinig: Our challenges are in part financial, in part related to the human resources at the university. We definitely will expect reduced support from the state, and we have to deal with that in an appropriate way. We have to deal with the issue of faculty renewal and that certainly is a major challenge.
I think we also have to look at the student experience here at Cornell. We've seen some of these issues come to the forefront over the last year or so. These are issues that are nationwide issues. Cornell, because of our diversity, because of the makeup of our student body, has a unique opportunity to be a leader to finding and implementing the appropriate solutions to these challenges. I'm very optimistic about the future of Cornell and the future of higher education in the country.
Harrison: First and foremost is faculty renewal. That's going to set the tone for decades to come. Second, sustaining a "caring community" and investing in the mental and physical health of our student body and others in the Cornell community is critically important.
Finally, I would say that taking a hint from President [David] Skorton and his desire to focus on public engagement in a global sense -- in other words, making Cornell the land-grant university to the world -- is a challenge and a huge opportunity.

Cornell Athletics has great winter season...again

Wrestler's national title one of many winter sports standouts for Big Red

Wrestler Kyle Dake '13 wins his second national title
Kyle Dake '13 earned an 8-1 decision over Frank Molinaro of Penn State in the NCAA finals March 19, becoming the first Cornell wrestler to win national titles as both a freshman and sophomore. Photo by Lindsey Mechalik.
Kyle Dake '13 won his second consecutive national title in commanding fashion to help the Big Red wrestling team to a second-place finish for the second straight year in the team race at the 2011 NCAA tournament March 19, marking what might be the biggest highlight among many for Cornell's winter sports teams during the month of March.
At 149 pounds, fourth-seeded Dake earned an 8-1 decision over second seed Frank Molinaro of Penn State in the finals to become the first Cornell wrestler to win national titles as both a freshman and sophomore.
Despite coming up short of its goal to win a national team championship, the Big Red totaled a program-best 93.5 team points and set a school record with five All-Americans -- Dake, Mack Lewnes '11, Mike Grey '11, Cam Simaz '12 and Steve Bosak '13 -- at the championships.
Lewnes capped a historic career by becoming a three-time All-American with a fourth-place finish at 174 pounds. Grey earned his second All-America honor after taking sixth at 133 pounds, while Simaz became a three-time All-American at 197 pounds with a third-place finish. Bosak earned his first All-American award with a fourth-place finish at 184 pounds.
Big Red women's ice hockey team with ECAC Hockey trophy
The Big Red women's ice hockey team captured the ECAC Hockey tournament title (pictured) and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. Photo by Darl Zehr.
Women's ice hockey
For the second straight season, the Big Red women's ice hockey team won the Ivy League championship, captured the ECAC Hockey regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. Along the way, the squad won a school record 31 games and featured three All-Americans -- Laura Fortino '13, Lauriane Rougeau '13 and Rebecca Johnston '12.
While the Cornell season came to an end at the hands of Boston University in the national semifinals, the team rolled through the 2010-11 campaign in dominant fashion, ending the year ranked in the top 10 in nearly every NCAA statistical category, including posting the most shutouts (12) of any team in the nation.
Big Red women's gymnastics team with ECAC championship banner
Cornell won its first ECAC gymnastics team title and claimed five individual champions on three different events.
Perhaps more importantly, the team captured the hearts of the Ithaca community and broke the attendance record twice during the season, culminating with a program-best 2,711 fans watching the Big Red defeat Dartmouth, 3-0, in the ECAC Hockey tournament final.
Gymnastics
Melanie Standridge '12 in action on the beam during the regular season. She won the ECAC beam title and will compete at the 2011 NCAA Regionals on April 2. Photo by Tim McKinney.
Cornell won its first ECAC gymnastics team title by edging out Penn by half a point and topping the seven-team field with a score of 191.675. Additionally, the Big Red claimed five individual champions on three different events, and assistant coach Melanie Dilliplane was named the ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year for the second time in three years.
Melanie Standridge '12 won the beam title with a score of 9.850 and, for her efforts, earned an invitation to compete at the 2011 NCAA Regionals in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 2. A two-time USAG All-American on beam and the school record holder (9.9) in the event, she is the first Cornell gymnast to qualify for NCAA Regionals since Maddie Pearsall '11 in 2008.
Also winning ECAC titles were McKenna Archer '13 and Emily Santoro '11, who shared the vault crown after both scored a 9.800 on the event, while Alexis Schupp '14 and Pearsall shared the title on bars after scoring 9.700.
Men's ice hockey
Big Red men's hockey team on the ice
The Big Red men's hockey team finished the year with a winning 16-15-3 record and returned to the ECAC Hockey tournament title game in Atlantic City (pictured) for the third straight season. Photo by Patrick Shanahan.
After graduating seven letter winners, including three who have gone on to appear on an NHL roster in the past year, the Big Red rebounded from a historically slow start to return to the ECAC Hockey tournament title game for the third straight season.
Despite utilizing a host of young and untested players, Cornell finished the year with a winning record (16-15-3) for the 12th straight season, and made its 10th appearance in the ECAC Hockey championship game in 16 years under head coach Mike Schafer.
Following the season, Joe Devin '11 garnered second-team All-ECAC Hockey honors, while his brother, Mike Devin '11, was placed on the third team, and goaltender Andy Iles '14 earned a spot on the All-Rookie team.
Nick Sachvie '14 and squash head coach Mark DeVoy
Nick Sachvie '14, pictured with head coach Mark DeVoy, advanced to the finals of the College Squash Association's Individual National Championship bracket. Though he lost the title match, he earned the highest finish ever by a Cornell men's squash player at a national tournament.
Men's squash
Nick Sachvie '14 advanced to the finals of the College Squash Association's Individual National Championship bracket before falling in the national title match, earning the highest finish ever by a Cornell men's squash player at the national tournament.
Sachvie, who spent his freshman year at Niagara College in Ontario, posted a 12-3 record on the year while playing at the No. 1 spot in the lineup in team matches. He was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and was a unanimous selection to the All-Ivy team, where he was joined by teammates Alex Domenick '12 and Thomas Spettigue '12.
Christine McIntosh '14, April Whitney '14 and coach Iryna Dolgikh
Cornell fencers Christine McIntosh '14, left, and April Whitney '14 (with head coach Iryna Dolgikh) both finished in the top 20 at the 2011 NCAA championships. Photo by Michael McIntosh.
Fencing
While Cornell sent just two fencers to the 2011 NCAA championships, the future looks very bright, as both Christine McIntosh '14 and April Whitney '14 finished in the top 20 in their first postseason appearances. The Big Red used points by the freshmen foils to place 17th overall, a feat all the more impressive considering that fencing is scored as a co-ed sport by the NCAA, and Cornell competes with just a women's team.
McIntosh placed 14th overall with 11 victories over the two-day tournament, four of which came against fencers that finished higher than she in the final standings. McIntosh's best victories included a commanding 5-1 win over eventual bronze medalist Evgeniya Kirpicheva (St. John's) and a slim 4-3 triumph over Irina Koroleva (St. John's), who ended the tournament in fifth place.
Whitney finished 18th at the tournament with eight victories, half of which came against fencers that finished higher than she in the final standings. Included were wins over a pair of top 10 finishers, as she defeated Temple's Alyssa Lomuscio (seventh), 5-4, and Notre Dame's Hayley Reese (eighth), 5-3.