SUNY Oswego - Alumni Association - September E-Newsletter

September 2010 • Vol 6 No 6

Alumnus Enjoys ‘Great’ Experience atop Kilimanjaro

"You need to do something great."

Richard Clarke '82 enjoys the view The advice of his late father really resonated with Richard Clarke ’82 as he approached age 50 in April. A few months and 19,350 feet later, Clarke reached great heights atop one of the world’s tallest mountains.

“Of all the things I’ve done, this was a killer,” said Clarke of scaling Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. “It was just so satisfying to get to the top.

“It was just breathtaking -- you’re on top of the clouds,” he said.

The altitude and air made the four-day trek particularly difficult, even for the avid cyclist, runner and general adventurer.

Richard Clarke '82, his friend and guides pose at the peak of Kilimanjaro To build his endurance in the months leading up to his climb, Clarke played tennis — for four to five hours a day, most days of the week. The strategy proved effective in training for his 15-hour days walking up Kilimanjaro.

Clarke nurtured his adventurous spirit at Oswego, where he loved cycling all over Upstate New York. Bicycle trips to Syracuse, Watertown and Canada are fond memories, he said.

Late Professor Emeritus Dr. Girgis Ghobrial had a huge influence on Clarke, who initially came to Oswego for meteorology and graduated with a degree in geography. On his trip that included a safari and a stop in Eygpt, Clarke recalled many of the stories Ghobrial, a native of the country, would tell about his homeland.

— Shane M. Liebler

PHOTO CAPTIONS:
At top: Richard Clarke ’82 during day two of his expedition to the top of massive Mount Kilimanjaro.

Guide Babuu, Richard Clarke ’82, friend Kent Hanson and assistant guide Sira stand atop Kilimanjaro, roughly 19,350 feet above sea level.

Back to September front page • Next story: Reunion 2011

Oswego Alumni Association, Inc. • King Alumni Hall - SUNY Oswego • Oswego, NY 13126
315-312-2258 • 315-312-5570 (fax) • E-mail: alumni@oswego.edu • Web site: oswego.edu/alumni

Who doesn’t want to save the world? Michael Kite ’02 does that for a living through World Wildlife Fund.

As marketing specialist for one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, Kite and his team of three work to raise more than $5 million each year. The majority of that money comes from licensing partnerships and promotions with the likes of Barnes & Noble, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, Dial and Coinstar.

Retail partnerships help WWF spread its message to the general public and raise funds for its conservation work around the globe. For example, Bank of America contributes $100 for every special Visa account opened and Nabisco is supporting WWF’s “Year of the Tiger” initiative with special packaging and a $100,000 donation. The new CVS Green Bag Tag program rewards reusable bag-toting customers, and generates five cents for WWF for each tag sold.

All support WWF’s mission of protecting the future of nature, down to the finest details, Kite said.

“We like to see that the product is made from recycled material and is recyclable itself, and somehow ties into our mission,” Kite said. The Green Bag Tag, for instance, is made from a corn-based material and features a 100 percent recycled silicone lanyard.

As a broadcasting major at Oswego, Kite got involved with WRVO-FM and WNYO-FM.

“I think it gave me a lot more confidence in talking to people,” he said. It was an important part of his early career in broadcast sales and remains an important piece in the message he “sells” today.

“The best part of my job is seeing a product in the store with the WWF logo after months of working with a company to launch it,” said Kite, who joined the organization in 2006. “It’s rewarding to give people a fun, unique way to protect our planet.”

— Shane M. Liebler