RCNJ

RCNJ Executive Committee Shows Off
Chapter of the Year Award at a dinner on October
4, 2006, at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Parsippany,
NJ. [ Photo: Jillian DiGregorio ]

The Rensselaer Club of New Jersey's Executive Committee was honored for winning the Craig W. Angell '35 Chapter of the Year Award for 2005-06 at a private dinner on October 4, 2006. The dinner took place at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Parsippany, NJ. Jeff Schanz, Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at Rensselaer presented the Chapter of the Year plaque to RCNJ President Sandeep Nandy '94.

Sandeep Nandy stated, "This is truly an honor to be recognized with this award from the RAA. This recognition is symbolic of the efforts of our officers and each member of the Rensselaer Club of New Jersey Leadership Committee. A special round of thanks to Vice President John Cloninger '96, Treasurer Phil Lurie, '74, Chairman Ken DeGhetto '50, and Leadership Committee Members Dave Aiello '89, Joe Pilaro '55, Henry Rosenblatt '54, Gordon Snyder '66, Harry Rosenthal '60, Steve Nudelman '90, Richard Whipple '88, Dick Shive '54, Dave Bressen '56, and Howard Deutsch '69 for all their hard work and efforts on behalf of the RCNJ."

This is the second time that the RCNJ has won Chapter of the Year from the RAA. The first time was in 2000-01. With this recognition, the RCNJ joins an elite group of regional chapters to have won Chapter of the Year more than once since its inception in 1987. This group includes:

• Boston, 5
• Greater Hartford, 3
• Baltimore, 2
• New York City, 2
• New Jersey, 2

The RCNJ now looks forward to the challenge of defending its Chapter of the Year Award against the other regional chapters of the RAA. The last regional chapter to repeat as Chapter of the Year was the Boston Chapter of the RAA which won the award in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On September 11, 2001, RCNJ.org published an article called NYC Phonathon Cancelled Due to Terrorist Attack, which began:

Dave Aiello wrote, "Of course you know that a coordinated terrorist attack has destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City. We have no idea if any alumni have been killed or injured. I spoke to Kate Potvin on the telephone, and it is obvious that the New York City Phonathon, scheduled for tonight, cannot be held. We are in the process of calling all of the alumni who agreed to attend the Phonathon to make sure that they are OK. We will let you know if there are any further developments."

The article goes on to point out that all of the alumni who were scheduled to attend the New York City Phonathon that night survived, but two members of the Rensselaer family lost their lives that day:

• Nicholas J. Humber '63, an executive of Enron Wind Corporation who was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the World Trade Center: In Memory of J. Nicholas Humber '63, Killed on September 11.
• Kalyan K. Sarkar, a seismic engineer for the Port Authority, the father of Rensselaer Graduate Kishan Sarkar: In Memory of Kalyan Sarkar, Killed in WTC Disaster.

We remember these men and all of the other victims of the attacks who died five years ago today.

To read more RCNJ articles on the 9/11 attacks, search RCNJ for "World Trade Center".

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

James Aiello was born on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at
a hospital in Bucks County, PA. I guess this makes
him a member of the RPI Class of 2028(?).
[ Photo: Dave Aiello ]

Kathleen and I just wanted to let everyone in the RCNJ know that our son James Aiello was born on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at 7:33pm at a hospital near our house in Bucks County, PA. Kathleen had a c-section. She and Jimmy came home on May 27, and we're all settling into a routine.

It's a lot of work to have a newborn baby, but it's also been a lot of fun. If I had a nickel for everytime a friend had told me "your life's about to change" before Jimmy was born, I think his college fund would be fully funded by now. I don't think anyone can convey the intricacies of caring for your first child, no matter how much experience they have.

Thanks to all of you who emailed or called to express your best wishes. We hope to be able to bring Jimmy to an RCNJ event sometime soon, so you can see him in person.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Rensselaer Alumni Association has just announced that the Rensselaer Club of New Jersey will be awarded The Craig W. Angell '35 Chapter of the Year Award for 2005-06. The chapter will be recognized at the RAA Annual Dinner during Reunion Weekend on June 9 in Troy with formal presentation taking place in New Jersey sometime in the Fall.

This is the second time that the RCNJ has won Chapter of the Year from the RAA. The first time was in 2000-01.

More information will be added to this article as we receive it.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sandeep Nandy wrote, "Please join me in extending congratulations to RCNJ Vice President John Cloninger '96, who was a recipient of the 2005 RAA Alumni Key Award. John will receive his award at a formal dinner on Friday June 10. I am planning to attend and hope some of you will be able to as well to honor John's accomplishment."

According to information on the Rensselaer Alumni Association website:

The Alumni Key was created in 1965 by the RAA Board of Trustees to recognize outstanding service, supporting the advancement of Rensselaer (such as chapters, classes, fundraising and special events), by either alumni or friends.

Nominations may be made by any member of the Rensselaer Community and should contain a justification for the award. Recipients will be chosen by a committee of the RAA and approved by the RAA Executive Committee.

The Alumni Key Award is a certificate and medal. They are presented by the President of the Institute, assisted by the President of the RAA, at the Annual Meeting of the RAA, or at a function determined by the RAA Board of Trustees. A maximum of nine awards may be presented each year.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote, "I was one of eight men and six women chosen by USA Hockey from around the country to officiate at the Chicago Showcase national high school hockey all star tournament. This tournament took place from April 13 to 17 in Bensenville, Illinois. Twenty-four boys teams and 12 girls teams from different states or regions took part."

"Participating in this tournament was a great honor and one of the most intense experiences I've ever had as a hockey official. Coincidentally, I met a fellow alumnus named Jamie Lalos (probably Class of 2001) who was one of the six women chosen to officiate. She played for the Rensselaer women's hockey team before she graduated."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote, "In the Winter 2004 edition of Rensselaer Magazine, I read of the July 2, 2004 passing of William A. Sirrat '41, reportedly the author of the lyrics to the famous song Unchained Melody. This is an extremely famous and popular song recorded in 1955 by Al Hibbler and later recorded by The Righteous Brothers, among many other famous artists. There are 78 different versions of this song in the iTunes Music Store."

"I was able to confirm the fact that William Sirrat was the lyricist of this song. Surprisingly, I also discovered he lived in New Jersey. According to a December 2003 article in the News Transcript he worked at Northrup Grumman in Eatontown and spent his retirement years in Freehold Township."

"This is an amazing story that I stumbled on completely by accident. There are probably many more stories that should be told of Rensselaer alumni from New Jersey and nearby. If you know of one, let us know by submitting it to the RCNJ website or by emailing me at dave_aiello at ctdata.com."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello '89 launched a new website called Weblog Improvement for his company CTDATA. The Weblog Improvement site is designed to attract customers who are looking for assistance building or enhancing websites based on the Movable Type web publishing system. Movable Type is the most popular web publishing tool for building weblogs, websites that contain articles listed in reverse chronological order.

The idea for Weblog Improvement came from the Ed Anuff '90, Dave's friend from college who co-founded Epicentric and recently worked at Vignette Corporation. He suggested offering Movable Type consulting services, building on the success of Operation Gadget, a Movable Type site that Dave built and currently blogs himself. Operation Gadget recently celebrated its first anniversary and has now has between 100,000 and 150,000 unique readers per month.

"There's no question that Operation Gadget is in the top 1 percent of weblogs in terms of traffic", Dave said. "I'm hoping to be able to help other serious webloggers increase their readerships and generate higher cash flows using some of the techniques I've learned by blogging for a year. There's room for more top tier weblogs and I'd like to help other people join the club."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote, "Jon Paul Morosi of the Albany Times Union wrote an excellent profile of Adam Oates on the occasion of his induction to the RPI Hockey Ring of Honor at Houston Field House. It's probably more accurate to say Oates will inaugurate the Ring of Honor, since his number was the first one placed in it."

"I was talking to John Cloninger while we were reading this article, and both of us thought it was one of the best written articles on the history of RPI hockey in years. Included in it are a photo of John Tiano, another member of the 1985 NCAA Championship Team, embracing Oates. Morosi rightly says 'The photograph may be the most famous in RPI athletic history.' It also includes extensive quotes from former RPI coach Mike Addesa, a rarity in recent years, and Dino Macaluso, one of Oates' best friends who works as a finacial advisor in the Albany area."

"Friday night's ceremony honoring Adam Oates is likely to be the first of several that will bring back members of the 1985 NCAA Championship Team on the twentieth anniversary of their incredible season."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Sunday, The Times Union reported that Tony Hejna '90, former RPI hockey player now living in Buffalo, NY, was in second place after two rounds of the New York State Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship. A quick check of the NYSGA website indicates that Hejna played well in the third round (link to an Adobe Acrobat document), and finished second overall in the tournament (75-71-74=220, +7).

Jim Roy from Bellevue Country Club in Syracuse won the tournament. He has won this competition four times, including this year.

Hejna was leading by one stroke after 16. He bogied the 17th and 18th holes to lose by one stroke. Tony is a tremendous competitor and deserves a lot of credit for coming as close as he did to winning such a prestigious tournament.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello '89 wrote:

On October 9, I'm going to join the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope by participating in the Washington DC fundraising bike ride and I would appreciate your support. One hundred percent of the funds raised during the Tour of Hope ride will benefit cancer research through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. To learn more, visit www.tourofhope.org.

Riding in Memory of Peter Frank '92

Peter Frank, Dave Aiello, and Dieter Frank in May 2003.

I'm participating in the Tour of Hope this year to remember one of my closest friends, Peter Andreas Frank of the RPI Class of 1992. Peter died of brain cancer in August 2003 after a 10-year struggle with a series of brain tumors. He and his family fought this illness in a courageous and amazing manner, and I've been looking for a way to pay tribute to all of them on the first anniversary of Peter's death.

Peter participated in a clinical trial of the drug Gleevec, a drug that is normally prescribed for gastrointestinal tumors and leukemia, under the care of Dr. Roger Stupp of the University Hospital Multidisciplinary Oncology Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. He did this to prolong his life, improve his quality of life, and to help future brain cancer patients.

The Tour of Hope raises money for cancer clinical trials. So, I'm sure that Peter would support this program wholeheartedly.

Each rider must commit to raising a minimum of $500 for cancer research in order to participate in the Tour of Hope Washington, DC ride. I can't give that much myself this year. If you'd like to help me support cancer research, please click on the Help Dave ride the Tour of Hope button to make a tax deductible contribution with your credit card. The pledge you make is a fixed amount, and isn't based on how far I ride. If you have a loved one whose life has been affected by cancer, you can make your pledge in memory or in honor of that person.

If you need instructions on how to donate by check or you need an address for Peter Frank's family so that a memorial card can be sent to them, please email me at daiello@operationgadget.com.

Thanks for your help. I plan to talk about the Tour of Hope Washington, DC ride on my other website, Operation Gadget, a site that talks about the latest electronic gadgets and sports technology. So, I hope you'll come by and check out our progress.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Canadian Press reports that Joe Juneau '91 announced his retirement on Saturday. Two days earlier, his team, the Montreal Canadiens, had been eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning, four games to zero, in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Juneau ends his career with 156 goals and 416 assists in 828 NHL games. He played for six different NHL teams: Boston, Washington, Buffalo, Ottawa, Phoenix and Montreal.

Joe Juneau is the fifth leading scorer in Rensselaer hockey history (69-144-213), just behind Adam Oates and Bob Brinkworth. In the NHL, he is best known for having set rookie records of 70 assists and 102 points as a left wing for the Boston Bruins in the 1992-3 season. During that season, he was runner up to Teemu Selanne for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL's most outstanding rookie.

According to the article, Juneau said, "It's taken two years to prepare myself. I know that the time for retirement has come."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ESPN reports that Adam Oates '85 announced his retirement on Saturday after his team, the Edmonton Oilers, lost to the Vancouver Canucks and were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Oates ends his career with 341 goals and 1,079 assists in 1,337 NHL games. He is the sixth leading assist-maker in the history of the National Hockey League.

Adam Oates is tied with Bob Brinkworth as the third leading scorer in Rensselaer hockey history.

According to the article, Oates said, "I wish it wasn't for a few weeks but I have absolutely no regrets.... I'm a very lucky guy. To be able to play so long has been fantastic."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Albany Times Union ran a series of articles about this weekend's Alumni Hockey and Big Red Freakout festivities in today's edition. Chief among them are two articles about the 1954 NCAA Championship Team which is being honored on the 50th anniversary of their achievements.

• RPI glory frozen in time tells the story of how 82-year old coach Ned Harkness and 11 players from the 14-member team are expected to return. The players from the 1954 team are all about 70 years old.

• After RPI tells what each member of the team has done since they left Troy.
  

The "After RPI" article needs a bit of correction. John Magadini '55 who now lives in Far Hills, NJ, was a member of the 1954 NCAA Championship Hockey Team and the 1952 NCAA Championship Lacrosse Team. He is the head coach of the boys' varsity hockey team at The Pingry School in Martinsville, NJ.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RPI alumni Adam Oates and Joe Juneau both recently passed milestones in their NHL careers. Adam Oates played in his 1,300th National Hockey League game on Thursday night, when the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 1-0 in Edmonton. You may remember that the Mighty Ducks released Oates at the end of last season, after an excellent performance in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Joe Juneau played in his 800th NHL game on Saturday night against the New York Rangers, which ended in a 2-2 tie. This was a very important game for both teams. They are both in the same conference, and are expected to be among the teams fighting for the final playoff seeds at the end of the season.

In case you are wondering how difficult it is to achieve milestones like these, each team in the NHL plays 82 games in the regular season.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Motorola recently announced that Ed Zander '68 will assume the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on January 5, 2004. Zander's last major job was as President and Chief Operating Office of Sun Microsystems. As previously reported on RCNJ.org, he left Sun in July 2002 after spending about 15 years with the company.

Shortly after he was named Chairman and CEO of Motorola, CNET News.com interviewed him and asked what challenges lay ahead in turning around the 75-year-old icon of the mobile communications industry. According to the article, the company has lost $6 billion and 50,000 employees in the last three years.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Canadian Press reported on the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton. Joe Sakic had one goal and two assists to lead Colorado to victory. According to the article:

Adam Oates, signed to a one-year deal by Edmonton as a free agent November 17, made his Oilers debut. Oates, who missed training camp and the first quarter of the season, was impressive in his first action since playing in the 2003 playoffs with the Stanley Cup-finalist Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Oates won faceoffs in the offensive zone near the end of the first and second {periods}- something the Oilers have struggled doing - that gave Edmonton good scoring chances.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Canadian Press is reporting that the Montreal Canadiens will play the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night in a game that will take place outdoors. The game, referred to as the Molson Canadian Heritage Classic will take place at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

The article, which appeared in the Toronto Star on Wednesday, quoted Joe Juneau '91 extensively. Regarding the idea of playing outdoors:

"It's going to feel a little awkward," said Juneau, a native of Pont-Rouge, Quebec. "If it feels great, perfect. It's going to be like the atmosphere of going there and having fun so you kind of wish it would be pre-season game. We'll have to find a way to look at it as a big game."

According to NHL.com, the game will be broadcast live on CBC in Canada from coast-to-coast, but it will only be available in the U.S. via the NHL Center Ice Package.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Associated Press reports that Adam Oates '85 signed a $1.95 million one year contract with the Edmonton Oilers yesterday. Oates was an unrestricted free agent and had been unsigned since the end of last season's Stanley Cup Finals. He had 9 goals and 36 assists last season for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. In 18 NHL seasons, he has over 1,200 games played, 1,000 assists, and 1,400 points.

According to the article, Oilers General Manager Kevin Low said, "Adam is a world-class passer, and is one of the best faceoff specialists.... This is a rare opportunity for us to acquire one of the best offensive talents in the history of the game."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday, Operation Gadget debuted on the Internet. This new weblog was created by Dave Aiello '89 and will cover electronic gadgets, software, and related products.

When an article on Operation Gadget makes reference to a product that is available through Amazon.com or one of its retail partners, the website will include a "buy box". The buy box will show a small picture of the product, its name, the current price, and a "buy from Amazon.com" button.

Operation Gadget is a demonstration of CTDATA's technical skill with Amazon Web Services,a set of programming tools that allows third parties to build interfaces to Amazon.com's website that enhance customers' shopping experiences.

For more information, visit OperationGadget.com or read the article, Introducing Operation Gadget on CTDATA.com.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Friday, The Albany Times Union reported that Matt Murley '02 was named to the roster of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the start of the season.

In what was reported to be his first NHL game, Friday night against the Los Angeles Kings at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Murley played 11 minutes and 23 seconds during 18 shifts. According to the Times Union, Matt Murley is the 20th Rensselaer alumnus to have played at least one game in the National Hockey League.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RCNJ members Joe Pilaro '55 and Jesse Treu '68, and New York City Chapter member Henry Scheuer '69 received The Alumni Key at the RAA Awards Dinner last Friday in Troy.

Joe Pilaro is a member of the RCNJ Leadership Committee and heads up our admissions support efforts. Jesse Treu spoke at Entrepreneurship in a Post 9/11 World, a technological entrepreneurship forum that occured in March and was sponsored by the RCNJ and the RAA. Henry Scheuer is the leading individual fundraiser at the RCNJ Annual Phonathon and is the chairman of the New York City Chapter's Annual Phonathon.

A full list of the 2003 RAA Awards may be found on the AlumServ web site.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 5:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote, "The New Jersey Devils played like champions tonight, and defeated The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3-0 before a capacity crowd at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford. The victory gave New Jersey their third Stanley Cup in franchise history. Martin Brodeur led his team to victory with 24 saves, earning his third shutout of this year's finals."

"Covering the Stanley Cup Finals on RCNJ.org would be off-topic if Adam Oates weren't involved. This is the second time he has played in the Stanley Cup Finals. While this year's result was an improvement over his experience when the Washington Capitals were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in 1998, he still came up one victory short. No alumnus could have watched this game and not felt disappointed for him."

Update: Sandeep Nandy '94, arguably the RCNJ's biggest Devils fan, attended the game and told us:

Just wanted to share with you the fact that being in the arena for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.

During the course of my life, I have had the opportunity to attend various events, including football games, baseball games, hockey games, Pope visit, tennis matches, ice skating performances, RPI commencements and presidential inaugurations, Verizon excellence award celebrations, RAA Award dinners, etc. None of these aforementioned events can hold a light to the event that I witnessed last night.

I will cherish every second of the Devils game last night, because one never knows when and if I will be able to experience such a coronation again in my lifetime. Just everything about the occasion. The pre-game tailgate, the fesitive atmosphere, the beautiful weather, the comraderie of my fellow fans. Everything was magnificent.

Once the Devils scored their first goal, I started to gain confidence that the Devils may win the Cup. After the final bell sounded, the time for trophy presentation had come.

To be able to witness the greatest trophy in the history of sports being passed on from player to player, was remarkable. It is a moment I will never forget as long as I live. To see the team I have been a fan of since childhood, skate away with the Cup again....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Stanley Cup Finals have reached a decisive seventh game for the first time in recent history. That game will take place Monday night at 8:00pm at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford. The game will be televised on ABC.

On Saturday, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2.

The game was defined, in many respects, by the outstanding open ice check that Scott Stevens of the Devils delivered to Ducks' captain Paul Kariya. Stevens has made similar crushing hits in previous playoff games. Among the most famous was the punishing blow he delivered to Eric Lindros, then playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the Year 2000. That check resulted in Lindros' sixth concussion in 27 months, ending Lindros' season and soon after, his entire team's.

This time, however, Kariya was able to come back into the game after a brief trip to the locker room. Shortly after he returned, he scored a goal for the Ducks to make the score 4-1. That goal was set up by RPI alumnus Adam Oates, who made a neat pass to ex-Devil Petr Sykora who fed Kariya, breaking down the left wing for the slapshot to the far post.

Oates has 4 goals and 9 assists for 13 points in the playoffs, tying him with Sykora for the Anaheim team lead.

As Kara Yorio said in the Sporting News:

Games 1 and 2 as the exceptions, those who didn't watch this series missed exciting hockey. As the players wore down, they made more mistakes. That made the play ragged and ugly at times, but it opened up the ice, creating more scoring chances.

Watch Game 7 tomorrow night to see if the Devils can win the decisive game on home ice. The last time they played a Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 in 2001, they lost to the Colorado Avalanche.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After spotting the New Jersey Devils two games in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Devils 3-2 in Overtime in Game 3. The Devils now lead the series, two games to one.

Lynn Zinser of The Star-Ledger reports on the decisive faceoff of Game 3, won by RPI alumnus Adam Oates. Zinser calls the play Oates' dream faceoff. As a result of the clean faceoff win, Ruslan Salei scored on Devils' goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Game 4 takes place Monday night at 8:00pm, Eastern Time. The game will be televised on ABC TV.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Game 1 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals will take place tonight at Continental Airlines Arena when the New Jersey Devils will take on the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Adam Oates '85 is one of the team leaders for Anaheim, scoring both goals in Game 4 of the Western Conference Championship against the Minnesota Wild. Oates previously played in the Stanley Cup Finals for the Washington Capitals when they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in 1998. In an interview on Anaheim's team web site, Oates talks about this season's playoff run, the similarities and differences between this year and 1998, and briefly, about the 1985 NCAA Championship.

The Devils are, arguably, the local team for the RCNJ. The Ottawa Senators took the Devils to a seventh game before the Devils put them away with a hard-fought road victory.

Another RPI alumnus who will be in the building tonight is Sandeep Nandy '94, known to many RCNJ members as one of the biggest Devils fans in the world. Sandeep will be rooting for the Devils.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote, "I have been selected to officiate six games in the USA Hockey Girls' and Women's National Championships beginning today in Aston, PA, and lasting through this weekend. According to USA Hockey, 54 teams are participating in the tournament in five different age groups or divisions. The teams come from throughout the United States."

"I attended the officiating staff meeting last night at Newmann College, and met most of the elite female officials from throughout the country. They will be working with male officials from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware who are senior members of the local ice hockey officiating community. I am honored to be able to participate in this tournament in any capacity, and especially honored to be able to work as an on-ice official."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote, "Roberto Jurado '83 is the second alumnus in the RCNJ area that we've discovered running a weblog. His site, DynamoBuzz describes itself as 'A weblog about computing, beer, New Jersey, politics, web design, current events, more beer.'"

"If you are wondering what a weblog is, it's a web site where the author 'logs' all the other webpages he finds interesting. The term was coined by Jorn Barger on his Robot Wisdom web site. Two of the keys to operating a successful weblog are to update it often and emphasize current events. Roberto is succeeding on both counts."

"Roberto and I have exchanged emails a few times over the past week. I asked him to describe himself a bit, and this is what he told me:"

I'm Roberto Jurado, class of 1983 (oh my, that's 20 years ago!). I was a chemical engineering major. I am currently a production superintendant with Akzo Nobel in Edison NJ. I'm living in Middlesex NJ, and I've been married 16 years with two children. I was a brother at Pi Lambda Phi. I played intramural hockey at RPI for the 69ers, we were D League champs in 1980-1981. I still play hockey at Mennen Arena every Sunday night. I played Hockey North America for a long time, but I haven't played the last two years. Traveling up to Hackensack every week for 11:00 week day games was getting to me.

I started getting into blogging about 6 months ago. I started following some of the bigger blogs, like Instapundit and "Live from the WTC". I did some research and decided to get my own web space and install B2 blogging software. I'm trying to keep the content 1/3 politics, 1/3 New Jersey stuff and 1/3 everything else. I've gotten some good feedback. I got on the blogroll at www.greatestjeneration.com after only being on-line for about 10 days.

Dave Aiello continued, "Roberto has an interesting site that's worth looking at from time to time. I recommend that you visit DynamoBuzz, and let him know you heard about it from the RCNJ."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mark Ameres, the president of the RAA's New York City Chapter, wrote to point out that he has started a new weblog at http://ameres.blogspot.com/. This complements his other website at http://www.mameres.com/.

In his initial entry, Mark writes, "It's really tough to decide what to write and what to publish. I guess I should read more blogs before putting pen to paper and foot to mouth."

Here's a tip from someone who runs more than one weblog: Once you start a weblog about a topic, make it the only web site you run about that subject. You can't maintain three or four web sites that have significant subject overlaps. You spend time thinking about which site is the best location for a piece of content, when you should be posting and moving on. FWIW.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote, "On Monday, Howard Isermann '42 presented a a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls. The baseball was signed by Ruth and Gehrig in 1933, and is in mint condition."

"This picture shows most of the Rensselaer people who were on hand for the presentation. From the left: Ken DeGhetto '50, Dave Aiello '89, Bud Baeslack '78, Dean of the School of Engineering, Yogi Berra, Howard Isermann '42, and Jonathan Dordick, the Howard P. Isermann Professor of Biochemical Engineering, and Phil Lurie '74."

"Howard's baseball and its original box can be seen in the picture in the glass case between Yogi and Howard."

Update on 12/12/2002: Bud Baeslack told us about the excellent story about this event published on the School of Engineering web site. It includes a number of additional photos.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ken DeGhetto told us that Howard Isermann '42 will donate a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls. The baseball was signed by Ruth and Gehrig in 1933, and is in mint condition.

The presentation will take place on Monday, November 25 at 12:00 noon, and Rensselaer alumni are invited to attend. A number of Baseball Hall of Fame members are scheduled to attend the presentation, including Yogi Berra and Larry Doby.

Directions to the Yogi Berra Museum may be found on its website.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a Sunday night 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Mighty Ducks Center Adam Oates '85 accidently shot the puck into his team's goal from the other end of the ice during a delayed penalty situation. As a result, Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings was credited with a goal and a two minute penalty on the same play.

The real reason the puck traveled 185 feet into the Ducks' goal was, as the Orange County Register said, "{Oates} sent a pass toward wide-open defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski near the blue line. At nearly the same instant Oates released the puck, Vishnevski turned toward the bench, intent on letting a more offensive-oriented defenseman replace him. The puck sailed past Vishnevski and all the way down the ice into the vacated Ducks net...."

Crediting the penalized team with a goal in a delayed penalty situation is one of the rarest circumstances in ice hockey at any level.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier today, The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they signed Neil Little '94 to a multi-year contract. Little has played most of his career for The Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers affiliate in The American Hockey League.

According to the article, "Little led the Philadelphia Phantoms to the Calder Cup championship in 1998, setting an AHL record with 15 postseason victories. He holds Phantoms' records for wins (123) and games played by a goalie (249)."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sandeep Nandy told us that The Anaheim Mighty Ducks recently signed Adam Oates '85 to a $3.5 million, one year contract. He is expected to play on a forward line with Paul Kariya this season.

According to the article, Bryan Murray Anaheim's General Manager said, "Adam Oates' leadership and offensive capabilities will be a great asset for our club... As he showed again last season, Adam is one of the premier playmakers in the league."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 2:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Henry Scheuer '69 pointed out that John Rigas '50 stepped down today as Chairman and CEO of Adelphia Communications, the sixth largest cable television company in the United States. He will remain on the Adelphia Board of Directors and represent the company in dealings with cable industry associations.

Rigas co-founded the company in 1952 and has led the company for about 50 years. He was forced to step down as Chairman about six weeks after Adelphia disclosed that a series of large off-balance sheet transactions had taken place, including a $2.3 billion loan guarantee from Adelphia to partnerships controlled by Rigas' family.

In addition to his role at Adelphia, John Rigas is majority owner of the Buffalo Sabres, a team in the National Hockey League. He is one of the most powerful business leaders in Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania, and his commitment to the communities where he lives and works is well known.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Henry Scheuer '69 pointed out that Ed Zander '68, President and COO of Sun Microsystems, is retiring on July 1. CNET News.com said, "The news comes as a surprise since Zander, along with {Sun Chairman Scott} McNealy, was among the most visible executives at Sun. Zander worked at the company for more than 15 years." Sun Microsystems also issued a press release entitled Sun Announces Zander to Retire from Full-Time Duties This Summer.

Ed Zander is scheduled to be a panelist at an alumni event tomorrow in Santa Clara, CA called "High Tech Industries: What Lies Ahead". More information about this event is available on the Featured Alumni Events page of Alumserv.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier in the week, we reported that Neil Little would start for the Flyers for the first time in eight years with the organization. He started against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Unfortunately, the Flyers only had one shot on goal in the first period, and it didn't get much better, as the 'Canes cruised to a 4-1 victory.

[ Additional reports: Ticker | Associated Press ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reports indicate that the Washington Capitals have traded Adam Oates '85 to the Philadelphia Flyers for goaltender Maxime Ouellet and three draft picks. Oates has been the subject of trade rumors for more than a season, and was moved on the trade deadline to the Flyers, whose playoff status is virtually assured. The Washington Post indicates that the Capitals would have lost Oates without compensation at the end of the season had they not traded him by today's trade deadline of 3:00pm Eastern Time.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sandeep Nandy writes, "I received a letter in the mail from Rensselaer Alumni Association (RAA) President Lee Bishop '60 yesterday. Bishop informed me that I have been selected as one of this year's Alumni Key award recipients."

The Alumni Key was created in 1965 by the RAA Board of Trustees to recognize outstanding service, supporting the advancement of Rensselaer. The award (a certificate and medal) will be presented at the annual RAA Awards dinner on Friday, June 7, 2002.

RCNJ members who have previously been awarded the Alumni Key award include Dave Aiello '89 (1998), Dave Bressen '56 (1972), Ken DeGhetto '50 (1991), Howard Isermann '42 (1978), Betty Lurie '75 (1991), and Phil Lurie '74 (1991).

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote, "In February, The Washington Post reported that Adam Oates '85 recorded his 1,000th assist in the National Hockey League. The article reads, in part:"

Oates, who has spent the past six years of his 17-year NHL career with Washington, recently became the eighth player in history to accumulate 1,000 assists, in a season in which his team has struggled to a 20-26-8 record. He leads the Capitals in points (49), tied for 15th in the league, and is first in the NHL in assists (41) for the second straight season; Oates was the oldest player in history to lead the NHL in assists last season.

Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leader in points, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr are the only players in history to average more assists per game than Oates.... "Reaching 1,000 assists is an incredible milestone," Gretzky said. "Adam is a quality person on and off the ice and a first-class individual. He is an ambassador for how our game should be played."

Continue reading "Oates Surpasses 1,000 Assists in NHL Career" »

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

John Cloninger pointed out an article from yesterday's Trentonian that reports that Alain St. Hilaire has retired from professional hockey and has found a job working at Sage Financial Group in Bala Cynwyd, PA, west of Philadelphia.

In a previous report on RCNJ, we indicated that St. Hilaire was expected to retire after being traded to the Roanoke Express of Virginia. When he failed to report to his new team, they suspended him for 45 days so that they would preserve their contractual rights. Now, the 45 day period has expired, and none of the teams who are interested in his services have been able to interest him in returning.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)