A vocal advocate of community colleges, Dr. Rassoul Dastmozd is president of Saint Paul College—A Community & Technical College. Beginning with his initial experience as a community college student and through his continuing professional experience as an educator, mentor and administrator in community colleges, Dr. Dastmozd has become a tireless champion of higher education in Minnesota. With an unwavering focus on student success and promoting diversity, Dr. Dastmozd believes that today’s college must “encourage a collective vision, promote collaboration and develop sustainable partnerships. Saint Paul College was ranked #1 in the nation by Washington Monthly in 2010 and 2013, and is one of the most diverse campuses in the state.

Nancy Brady, asked the Club to send prayers for the victims of the terror attack in Belgium this morning.  She shared a reading on the growing economic disparities, prompting members to think about what can we as Rotarians do to build justice in our country and our world.

John Andrews, Boys Scouts, Introduced  guests including a TC Rotaract member who shared Rotaract's recent successful fundraiser and thanked the Club for our support.

Several guests joined the program speaker from Protocol 46 who shared background on the new St. Paul company that is located In the  West Side Flats .  They specialize in intelligence and cyber security for small and mid-sized businesses. As fellow military, they  recognized member Claude Hone and his incredible service to our country.

Past president John was happy to to welcome sponsors to Introduce three new members! Great to have such a large group. Sponsors and new members included:

David Dominic introducing Erika Schwichtenberg, Ally People Solutions; John McNulty introducing Aaron Gjerde, Verden Group; and Sherry Howe introducing Michelle McManus, InterContinental Hotel.

David Dominic announced the three sites for Rotation Day.  Please visit the website and register for your choice of site..

Doug Hartford encouraged members to get their registration and groups in for the Feed My Starving Children pack in April.  Packets went out or you can sign up through the website.

John Andrews welcomed happy dollars.

Cathy Quinlivan Sunrise Club President shared the April 14 Community Forum and invited all members to attend.  The topic for the 7:15 a.m forum at Town and Country Club is The State of Race in Minnesota. Please visit the website and register  on line at stpaulsunriserotary.org.

Chuck Standfuss, The Human Resources Leadership Collaboration, introduced the program from Protocol 46 who reflected on the Belguim attacks close connections to today's topic of cyber security.

Michele McVenes, Director of Sales & Marketing and Eric Ebner, president introduced their new hardware product and security innovations. Michele shared alarming statistic s on the increase number and frequency of cyber attacks and data hacking.  Today small and mid size business are the least protected.

Even in the 2014 Target data breach was through a vendor so their own system was vulnerable regardless that they had a strong first line of defense.Compliance with baseline standards is not enough.  Ransom threats are one common threat.  If you don't pay they will not release your information.

Actions such as updating passwords and constantly installing patches and updates are critical by only one step. Today, what's connected to your wifi can be a risk to your entire system and data.

Digital mesh for example incorporates the cloud, telephone, smart tv, etc.  but one weak vulnerability will similarly impact all devices.  With everything moving to wifi we must protect the whole system.

50 percent of business who experience a cyber breach close to never reopen and 60% will close within two years.  These attacks affect the entire community.

Members asked  what is the difference from software to their hardware.  There are  four different devices designed to go after the bottom line, the network. Own the network own the data.  There is also a software backbone behind the hardware.

Past president John thanked our speakers and recognized them with an appreciation gift and closed the meeting by leading members through the 4 Way Rotary Test.  Meeting adjourned about 1:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Trixie Golberg

Rotation Day is Tuesday, April 5.  We will not have a regular meeting on this day.  So please plan on joining fellow Rotations at an “off-site” location.

It’s important to register in advance as the host sites have limited capacity. To register, click on the link below for the location of your choice. This will take you directly to the registration for that particular site.

What is Rotation Day?

When Paul Harris founded Rotary in 1905, meetings were held at the members’ place of business – rotating from member  company to member company – hence the name “Rotary.”  For our club, Rotation Day is an event which brings us back to our “roots” and gives us the opportunity to gain new insights into the vocational challenges and business issues which are unique to our fellow Rotarians.

How would you like to play golf to end polio? Well, that would take a lot of golf! But you can do your part by signing up and playing in the Rotary 5950/5960 Joint District Conference Golf Tournament to End Polio!

This fun event will be held Thursday, May 12, 2016 at The Meadows Golf Course, at Mystic Lake (this is where the District Conference is being held). We have arranged for this shotgun event to start at 11:00 am. We will wrap up the awards and fellowship afterwards in time to join everyone at the District Conference Welcome Reception. Your golf registration fee includes a ticket to the Welcome Reception. (No, you don't get a discount or money back if you don't go to the Welcome Reception.) You may ask - do I need to be a good golfer to participate and still have fun? Good news: you do not have to be a great golfer! For the "Fun Golfer," you can compete in the Scramble Format - that means you take the best shot, and everyone picks up and shoots from there, this process is repeated after each shot.

The "Serious Golfer" may prefer to have the challenge of playing The Meadows with his/her own ball (Own Ball Format). Each foursome plays one or the other: Scramble Fun Golfer or Own Ball Serious Golfer. We will have awards for each category winner. Of course, the big winner is Polio Plus - proceeds from this tournament will go to Polio Plus! We need 100 golfers, the golf registration fee is $150. Do you have a business you would like to promote? Please sign up for one of the sponsorship packages and email me your company logo. We will promote your business on the website and inside the District Conference Program. Click the link below and sign up today! Thanks!

https://app.eventcaddy.com/events/rotary-districts-5950-5960-golf-tournament-for-polio-plus