Cornell Club of Greater Miami and the Florida Keys

Dear Alumni Community,

All Ivy+ / Yale and Stanford are sponsoring a Day of Service, Saturday, May 12, with the Urban Paradise Guild (UPG). The event includes a Nature Walk & Butterfly Monitoring. It’s a great event for the family to attend, check out the details below! See attached flyer for contact info.

Sponsoring Club: All Ivy+, Yale Club of South Florida and Stanford Club of South Florida

Date and Time: Sat, 05/12/2012 – 9:00am – 12:00pm

Parking Location: Miami Museum of Science Lot
3280 South Miami Ave. – Miami, FL 33129
**please see separate map below

Web site: http://www.urban-paradise.org

Description: Hammock Habitat Planting Project

Urban Paradise Guild (UPG) has been conducting education and protecting and restoring Vizcaya’s unique and fragile Hammocks since 2008.

For 2012, we will be planting Hammock species to restore areas in the Vizcaya Village Hammock, including rare and endangered plants and trees.

Background: for YDOS 2011, UPG had a Seedling Safari (collecting rare seedlings) and Organic Stewardship (removal of exotics). These activities helped prepare our planting area in 2012! Seedlings collected in 2011 will be planted in 2012!

The UPG Nature Walk / Project Orientation will take people through the areas where they worked during YDOS 2011, and will work in 2012, to experience the difference that a year’s Organic Stewardship makes.

The optional Butterfly Monitoring & Nature Walk begins at 12:15. UPG re-introduced the Atala Butterfly (listed as Threatened) to Vizcaya. This tour leads the Volunteers through the Old Growth Hammock and through the Vizcaya Formal Gardens into the Old Growth Mangroves by the Bay. It is great for families.

Vizcaya, a historic mansion, contains priceless biodiversity protected by the vision that guided its design and construction. It contains the largest old-growth remnant of the Brickell Hammock, a unique hardwood ecosystem found nowhere else in the world.

UPG is a high-impact Native Habitat and Sustainability organization with 5 Locations around Miami-Dade, with 5 Volunteer Opportunities every week. Activities include Native Habitat, Urban Agriculture and Nursery.

All Ivy+ YDOS Flyer

**Map for parking.

Barbara J. Riesberg earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in Business / Political Science. She then commenced her legal studies at Cornell Law School, where she obtained her Juris Doctor in 1992. At Cornell Law, Barbara was a finalist in the Moot Court Competition.

Barbara is an experienced litigation lawyer with nearly 20 years of experience. She focuses her practice primarily on complex commercial litigation in State and Federal Courts, including trials and appeals. She also arbitrates before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Her past and present clients are corporations, public entities, and individuals.

Barbara is very active in the South Florida community. She was the President of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Miami-Dade County in 2011, continues to serve as the Chapter Director of IvyLife – Miami, and has organized fundraising efforts on behalf of Educate Tomorrow (www.educatetomorrow.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and mentoring of disadvantaged children aging out of the foster care system.

Alumni,

I am pleased to announce that 267 students applied to Cornell from Miami-Dade County.  An astounding 30% (80 applicants) were admitted!!!  This is in large part due to the efforts of Rodrigo Tsutsumi, CAAAN Chair, and his wonderful committee that conducted the Cornell contacts.

Please take a minute to let the applicants know why you choose to attend Cornell.  Over 25% will be at our Admitted Student Reception on Saturday.  If possible, please come out to personally meet them and answer any questions they may have.

Donell Hicks

CCM President

Would you like to attend the All Ivy+ Cultural Events? Please click the links below for ordering instructions.

Alvin Ailey All Ivy+ Cultural Series Updated

Come Fly Away All Ivy+ Cultural Series Updated

Lion King All Ivy+ Cultural Series

Frank P. Scruggs II is a shareholder / partner at the law firm of Berger Singerman, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  He performed his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, where he graduated summa cum laude as a Government major in 1973.  Frank then obtained two graduate degrees, from Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania respectfully, and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1977.

Frank Scruggs advises employers regarding compliance with federal and state employment laws, using a distinctive combination of experiences: commercial litigator; executive in the public and private sectors; and member of the governing boards of major corporations.  Frank served as Secretary of Labor and Employment Security for the State of Florida.

Frank advises companies regarding compliance risks in day-to-day operations and litigates cases that threaten the enterprise and brand.  He uses preventive counseling to help employers avoid charges of discrimination, claims that misclassification of employees violates the Fair Labor Standards Act,  the determination of independent contract status, and myriad other employment law issues.  In addition to litigating employment law cases, he also tries complex commercial disputes.

Frank has penned many legal articles and has given presentations to organizations such as the American Bar Association and the Broward County Women Lawyers Association.  He is also heavily involved in community service, as he has been a member of the Board of Directors for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, a member of the Board of Directors for Office Depot, Inc., a member of the Board of Regents for the State University System of Florida, and a Chair for the Florida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias Study Commission.