Pedro Isao Mori
Staff Writer
Rick Hasse, accounting and finance instructor, discussed his career as an athlete, businessperson and professor in his lecture titled “From Business Professional to Business Professor,” Tuesday in the Quay Davis Executive Board Room.
Hasse went into detail explaining how each era of his life taught him different lessons that ended up being significant to him as he went through career changes. He said it was easier for him to see this because he had lived a third of his life in each era.
“Do what you are passionate about,” Hasse said. “And for the students we have here today and listening in, that’s what you need to develop in college. Find a passion, a passion in career, a passion in friends, a passion with your family.”
His main points throughout the presentation focused on the importance of accepting failure and increasing value to everything around you. He said that increasing value can come in multiple forms, but the most important ones are ethical value and social value.
“Value can mean a lot of things,” Hasse said. “You want to create value, you want to earn money, you want to maximize value. But at the same time you want to have ethical value and social responsibility.”
Hasse also shared some photographs from different time periods. The first few were from his time as a student athlete at Saint Lawrence University, where he played Division I hockey, and made remarks about his long hair.
He followed that with a photo of himself with his father during his time as an accountant. He concluded by sharing two photos of himself with students, highlighting the REACH program the University offers international students.
“I am very fortunate to be part of that,” Hasse said. “We have an international REACH program.”
Students from South America come every January and July to campus and study business, Hasse said.
“How many can say they have the opportunity to teach online, working adults, international students, 18,19, 20-year-olds from local high schools?”
The Tuesday lecture ended with questions and discussion.
Claudio Muñoz, professor of accounting, said freshman students should have access to personal finance classes.
“We have a personal finance course offered for seniors,” Hasse said. “But you’re right it should happen in freshman year too.”
Discussion shifted to current affairs when an audience member asked what to do about banks and money in light of the Ukraine conflict with Russia.
“Because of concerns about cyber attacks, should we be taking money out of ATMs?” Kim Grant, assistant vice president of alumni engagement, asked.
Hasse said unless people have large amounts of money in the bank, there is nothing to worry about. However, he did recommend people to spread their money out to several different locations in case something unexpected happens.
Jack Meek, professor of public administration, asked Hasse about the penalties that he was charged with while playing hockey.
“He scored 21 goals and had 27 penalty minutes,” Meek said. “We need to ask him what that was about,” Meek said.
Hasse explained jokingly that it was because he got lazy and tripped players.
Pedro Isao Mori can be reached at pedro.mori@laverne.edu.
Pedro Isao Mori, a freshman journalism major and business management minor, is a staff writer for the Campus Times.
Armida Carranza, a junior photography major and psychology minor, is a staff photographer for the Campus Times.
