A Toast is in order here...

College is fun. It's a great deal of work, to be sure, but it's also a time to get out and have fun. What better way to do that than celebrate your year of hard work at a casual bar outing with your professors and dean? That's precisely what I did this past Friday evening while attending the annual class toast at Club Karma. It was a wonderful time, most of which was spent mingling with classmates and faculty. During the time of the actual toast, the faculty present each took a minute to congratulate us, the graduating classes of the undergrad and graduate programs. Pictured above is Peggy Tirelle, Associate Director of Graduate Business Programs. Jerry Curnutt, Assistant Dean of Administration, was also in attendance (pictured at right, in background). There's little more to say than that it was a wonderful time of hors de 'ouevres, sparkling champaigne, and excellent conversation in a chic East Ave/Alexander Street social spot.
While on the topic of wine, there is one interesting story I must tell. Today I attended another International Resource Group seminar entitled "Forging Business Relations with Canada" at the Strathallan on East Avenue. The chief presenter was Mr. Tom Bearss (yes, two s's), Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner for the Canadian Consulate General. He is pictured at left (the far right in the picture) during a recent trade mission to Trinidad y Tobago. The wine is involved because after his presentation, he gave a fun little quiz about it. The prize was a bottle of Canadian wine to the three tables with the highest scores. Lo and behold, I walked away with a bottle of Henry of Pelham Family Estate 2002 Reserve Chardonnay. Not a bad gift from an employee of the Canadian Federal Government. Some interesting facts:

Canada's national sport is not hockey, but lacrosse.

Saudi Arabia is not the number one exporter of oil to the US; Canada is.

The third official langauge of Canada, after English and French, is Mandarin Chinese.

Karma:
http://www.rochesterdrinks.com/allbars/bar174.html

Canadian Trade Comissioner Service
http://infoexport.gc.ca/

The ROC City Coalition

Are you graduating in May or completing your class requirements relatively soon? If so, you and I are in the same boat. The question of "what's next?" is sneaking closer and closer from the horizon, soon to be right in front of us. While graduate studies seem to be in my future post-graduation, I realize that many of you will be heading out into the real world to work. Suppose it is your intent to work in the Rochester area, and you've gotten a job and a place to live... that part's out of the way. Now, suppose you land a job at a relatively small company at which you're the only or one of the few young professionals there? This was the situation I faced while on my co-op. If you remain in Rochester, certainly, you'll have some friends or family in the area. But just as people like to relate to people they had classes with, I think that most people would like to have others in their same line of work or general situation to relate to while off the job. Assuming you have no alumni role in the clubs you were involved with in college, where does your involvement come from next? How can you stay connected?

The answer might come from the ROC City Coalition, a collaboration of organizations in Rochester whose focus is "attracting, retaining, and empowering the young adults of greater Rochester. We provide information, ways to be involved, a chance to be heard, and an opportunity to build a stronger community." Unlike many groups which meet, and their first matter of discussion is "when is our next meeting?", this group actually seems to do some cool things for people our age. Of special note is an upcoming event, which I would love to see a strong RIT presence at (at least a strong enough presence to beat out U of R).

The group will be having a night of networking and hors d'ouevres at Artisan Works, a really cool but little-known art gallery occupying a former industrial complex here in Ra-cha-cha. The event is at 6pm on April 27, and a link to the eVite is provided below. A link in the eVite will allow you to RSVP starting on April 17. See you there!

ROC City Coalition:
http://www.roccity.org/
Artisan Works:
http://www.artisanworks.net/
Event eVite and RSVP:
http://www.paetec.com/invites/ROCITY/Index_Dtls.html

Rubbing Elbows

This Past week, I had the opportunity to enjoy lunch with the RIT Board of Trustees at the invitation of the Cathy Winnie and the Honors Program. With two honors students to a table, we were certainly mixed well! To my great surprise, to my right was none other than Mr. Paul Briggs, the retired Chairman of the Board and CEO of Rochester Gas and Electric! He is pictured at right. To my left was Wayne Morse, Interim Dean of the College of Business. It was an excellent opportunity, speaking with Paul about the difficulties of running a nuclear power plant and dealing with the deregulated landscape. The main focus of conversation for the lunch was the benefits of the Honors Program (including pairing with a faculty member to publish a thesis, company tours, and trips). After lunch, RIT President Albert J. Simone asked honors students to volunteer to speak before the entire room. My hand shot up at the rare opportunity. I got up and spoke from the seat of my pants about our last trips to Cleveland and Washington DC, but it went well. Now a room full of VIP's has seen my face and heard my words. It was one of the many opportunities to do so provided by RIT!

Foodlink... linking food and... hungry people.

Every year, I look forward to the day that the Lowenthal Group helps out at Foodlink. Foodlink is a not-for-profit organization based in a warehouse on Exchange Street here in Rochester. Pictured at left are (from left to right), Lowenthal Advisor Peter Rosenthal and his daughter, Kiera, Lowenthal members Inga Grote and Andy Maitland, and yours truly. As you can see, we're occupying a very large box. Actually, the five of us, along with our picture taker, a senior from Bishop Kearney High School, had just finished emptying that box of hundreds of cans of expired soda. In the foreground are blue crates sitting upside-down over large buckets. Setting the cans upside-down on the crates, we could allow them to drain. The cans would be bagged and sent out for deposit, and the buckets full of disgusting corn-syrup laden soda would be dumped in a nearby sink. After emptying the box of soda cans, we moved on to a full pallet of expired seltzer water. Peter's daughter was our official bagger, but was eventually overwhelmed! Understandable, as one gets into the zone after repeating the same proceedure hundreds of times. Though it sounds repetitive, I had an awesome time helping the community and enjoying the company of fellow Lowenthal members. There were two other groups of volunteers, one rationing out potatoes, the other labeling cans of beats donated by Wegmans. Afterward, all of us got to enjoy the local cuisine at Nathaniel's Pub nearby. An excellent time...

Foodlink's excellent website can be found at:
http://www.foodlinkny.org/

Brother Christopher Adams

As of Saturday, April 8, at 3:30 PM, I became a full brother of Triangle Fraternity. Having pledged in the fall, I am at long last a full brother. Eight of us began the pledge process, but only I remained by the end to become initiated. Chris Adams has gone Greek! Above is our Fraternity's crest. What kind of name is Triangle, you may ask? Triangle is one of sixteen fully Greek fraternities in the United States that doens't use Greek letters for a name. Rest assured, though, we are a social athletic fraternity with one of the highest GPA's of any fraternity on campus. Last I heard, we were strong contender's for this year's president's award (which essentially goes to the highest graded, most involved, most philanthropic fraternity). It was a great day, one I feel proud of. It's especially significant because my Father, Gerard Adams, attended RIT and was, himself, a member of the Greek population through the fraternity Sigma Pi.

Our chapter's website can be found here:
http://www.trianglerit.org/web/default.aspx

Outstanding....

I recently had the honor of being distinguished with the RIT Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar Award. This award is given to individuals in their senior year who have acheived a GPA of 3.85 or above. Less than 1% of the student population of RIT wins each year. I had the opportunity to invite Mr. Lou DiCesare, my high school business teacher, and acknowledge his impact on my educational development. The ceremony was attended by all the deans and President Simone (pictured at right, in middle, near Stan McKenzie and two interpreters at podium), and involved a ceremony in which I recieved a beautiful bronze medal to hang around my neck. After the ceremony, my guests and I enjoyed a wonderful gourmet dinner at which Mr. DiCesare stood to be recognized.

A short clip of the ceremony, with me shaking President Simone's hand toward the end, is available at:
http://www.13wham.com/mediacenter/default.aspx?videoId=177718@video.wokr13.com

Vanden Brul is not a type of dessert...

Today, I had the distinct honor of an invitation to the 2006 Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award. Created in 1984, the award is given annually to an individual who has improved the economic life of greater Rochester or whose innovative management skills have changed the course of an existing business. This year's recipient, pictured left, is Arunas A. Chesonis, Chairman and CEO of Paetec Corp. After the luncheon of filet minion, bowtie pasta, raspberry sorbet, and speeches by local business leaders, including RIT President Al Simone, several of us students had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Chesonis and ask him some questions. Aside from a cute little stuffed animal puppy with a Paetec shirt, I walked away with a lesson from his experiences. Namely, "trust but verify." How true.

Putting a dent in Diabetes

At left is a picture of me pushing a bed down East River Road with some of my brothers from Triangle Fraternity, as well as some ladies from Sigma Delta Tau Sorority of Geneseo. There were 60 of us total. (It's easy to make out which one is me with such an excellent picture, I know). We pushed the bed a total of 26 miles down to Geneseo. In total, we raised over $2100 for the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. Not only was it for a good cause, but it was a fun use of a Saturday. This event was of personal significance for me, as my Father suffered of diabetes for years. I'm happy to have been involved in a way that makes a difference.

Newspaper Coverage: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS01/604020326&SearchID=73240347318945

Media Coverage:

http://www.news10nbc.com/index.asp?template=item&story_id=18303