Friday, April 30, 2010

E-CLUBS ARE NOW PERMANENT

Legislation voted Monday to make e-clubs a permanent part of Rotary International. The measure, approved by a vote of 430 to 85, received loud applause.
“This will allow Rotarians with physical disabilities or [scheduling] restraints to meet regularly and conduct service projects through the Internet,” said RI Director Antonio Hallage as he presented the proposal to the Council. Representatives from Rotary's 531 districts are convening in downtown Chicago this week to consider more than 200 proposals, some that would make changes to RI constitutional documents.
Submitted by seven Rotary e-clubs along with the RI Board of Directors, the measure makes permanent the six-year-old e-club pilot project, which is set to end on 30 June.
Enactment 10-06 defines e-clubs as Rotary clubs that meet electronically. A separate amendment, approved by a vote of 311 to 197, allows for two e-clubs per district. E-club members have the same responsibilities as other Rotarians to conduct service projects and promote The Rotary Foundation.
Some of the pilot e-clubs meet solely through online forums, while others combine electronic with in-person meetings. Each e-club makes that determination for itself.
Noting that the average age of an e-club member is 47, supporters of the enactment noted that the clubs are an effective way to recruit younger Rotarians. “If our organization is to grow globally, we must embrace new ways to invite young members,” said Lucinda General, the representative from District 5510 (Arizona, USA).
The 14 e-clubs boast 360 members in 30 countries and geographical areas, and 586 service projects. E-clubs conduct meetings in Chinese, English, Finnish, Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish. Collectively, they have contributed almost US$150,000 to the Foundation.
“I was worried that the e-club measure wouldn’t pass,” said Gerald Sieberhagen, of District 9270 (South Africa). “Anyone who had taken the time to visit an e-club site before this meeting would have seen the huge value e-clubs offer to the organization. There’s a huge opportunity for more e-clubs to be chartered.”
Some representatives expressed concern that e-clubs would introduce unintended side effects if they were made permanent. “As the number of e-clubs increases, there may be a situation in which there is division between the e-clubs and the ordinary clubs. I don’t think that this is something we would want,” said Chohei Hashimoto, of District 2650 (Japan).
Others noted that too many questions remained unanswered about e-clubs. "Which PETS [presidents-elect training seminar] does the president of the e-club attend, assuming he or she is not physically in the district? How does the district governor do his/her official visit?" asked Chris Offer, the representative from District 5040 (British Columbia, Canada). “Do we have to develop specific online training for one club in the district? There are probably more questions than answers today.”
Douglas W. Vincent, of District 7080 (Ontario, Canada), said e-clubs presented an opportunity too valuable not to embrace. "This is not taking anything away from Rotary; it’s adding to Rotary."
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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI CLUB

City of St.Image via Wikipedia
The St. Louis Club is known as Club 11, having been the eleventh club organized and admitted to membership in Rotary International. The first preliminary meeting was held on February 15, 1910. The permanent organization of the Club was effected on February 22, 1910, when the first meeting of the Club was held at the old Lippe's Café, Eight and Olive Streets. Twenty-five business and professional men were present, all of whom were then elected to membership. The club enjoyed steady growth and on March 1, 1910 the total membership was 153 members. By July 1, 1919 the total membership had reached 249. The first printed roster of the club was issued July 15, 1910, attracting nationwide attention at that time.
The first president and leading organizer of the St. Louis Club was Bruno Batt who passed away during his term in office and was succeeded by Fraser Stewart. Many prominent men have served the Club as its President.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES-APRIL20, 2000

JUST FOR PUN

What did the DNA say to the other DNA? 
Do these genes make me look fat?

TODAY IN HISTORY

Presidential $1 Coin Program coin for George W...Image via Wikipedia
APRIL 30
1789:George Washington is sworn in as America’s first president and gives a speech at his inauguration, setting a precedent for presidents to come.


1945: Adolf Hitler reportedly commits suicide in his bunker along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun.

1975:
South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh hands over Saigon to North Vietnamese troops, ending the Vietnam War.
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CHARLIE PICKS UP HIS BASEBALL MANIA TICKETS, GOOD MAN

Thursday, April 29, 2010

HELPING YOU TO STAY GREEN

Not sure if this kind of stuff will change your life, but just in case you were in the desperate need for a power strip capable to inform you on the total of Watt you are using, as well as being capable to both alert you when you are reaching a certain critical level (1500W) or even cutting off power to prevent any risk, well it seems my friends that Sanwa supply just has what you need with their new fancy 700-TP1052DW Power Strip.
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MAJOR DONORS RECEIVE RECOGNITION

Rotary InternationalImage via Wikipedia
Two Rotarian couples were recently inducted into the Arch C. Klumph Society , which honors people who give at least US$250,000 to The Rotary Foundation.
RI Director Masahiro Kuroda and his wife, Michiko, were inducted on 26 January, and Carl and Jean Chinnery became members on 16 March. Their commitment was recognized at RI World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, and their portraits now hang in the Arch C. Klumph Gallery on the 17th floor.
Kuroda, a surgeon and director of the Kuroda Internal and Gastrointestinal Medicine Clinic, joined Rotary in 1978 as a member of the Rotary Club of Hachinohe South, Aomori, Japan.
Michiko and the couple's three children are all physicians. When Kuroda travels on Rotary business, they assist at the family's medical clinic.
He says it was a goal for him and Michiko to become Arch C. Klumph Society members.
"The reason we make contributions to the Foundation is to support the organization of Rotary and the services they provide that ultimately advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace," says Kuroda. "We are most grateful to our family and friends, as this is only possible with their support."
Kuroda established an Interact club at Hachinohe High School and served as district Interact chair. He also served as secretary for the seventh Rotary Japan-Korea Friendship Meeting and helped form the Rotary Club of Pohang South, Gyeongsangbug, Korea. He and his wife are generous supporters of PolioPlus, the Annual Programs Fund, and the Permanent Fund.

Carl and Jean Chinnery

Carl Chinnery, a 2010-11 regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, has a personal connection to Rotary's campaign to eradicate polio: He and his four brothers contracted the disease in the 1940s. His oldest brother died within days of being diagnosed with polio, and another was confined to an iron lung.
"When Rotary launched its polio eradication campaign in 1985, it brought back memories of the hardship polio took on my family. It flooded my life again, but in a positive way. I wanted to do my part to help Rotary," says Chinnery, past governor of District 6040 (Missouri, USA) and a member of the Rotary Club of Lee's Summit. "I have no doubt polio will be eradicated. There has been incredible success."
Chinnery served as PolioPlus subcommittee chair for his district and has been a member of The Rotary Foundation's PolioPlus Task Force since 2003. He is a recipient of the Foundation's Citation for Meritorious Service and District 6040's Humanitarian Award for Polio Eradication.
A lawyer at Chinnery, Evans & Nail P.C., Chinnery also serves as president of a number of community organizations, including Children's Mercy Hospital Planned Giving and the Truman Medical Center Philanthropy Board. He also has been president of the Lee's Summit school district, economic development council, and chamber of commerce.
Chinnery says he and his wife donate to the Foundation because it has the best resources to help the world.
"The Foundation is successful because it keeps costs down and projects up," he says. "Rotarians are volunteers of these projects. Rotary is so much more when Rotarians get involved and can donate to the Foundation to keep important projects worldwide going."

For more information:

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PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

In February, Jesse McCabe, 29, was spared jail time (probation and community service only) for his conviction in connection with a missing $18,000 in bank deposits he was to have made for his employer in New Port Richey, Fla. Police discovered 13 deposits, from a six-week period, in McCabe's home, but all the money was recovered, and McCabe persuaded the judge that he just hadn't been able to make it to the bank yet. [St. Petersburg Times, 2-18-10]
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TIME TO SMILE

Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

DO YOU REMEMBER?

Any fan of the classic 90s sitcom, Home Improvement, is sure to remember all of the clever video transitions (known as “wipes”) that the show incorporated over the years. Well, we just had to share this music video we recently found, which includes every single wipe from the 3rd season. The band in the video is called Wawes, and we think they deserve an A+ for their efforts. Take a look and see for yourself:


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TODAY IN HISTORY

APRIL 29

1974:President Richard Nixon announces that edited transcripts of secretly taped White House conversations concerning Watergate are being released. The edits spark renewed calls for the complete tapes.

1945:
American soldiers liberate Germany’s most notorious concentration camp: Dachau.

1992: Riots erupt after L.A. police officers are cleared of most charges in Rodney King beating.

DUES ON THE RISE

Representatives at the 2010 Council on Legislation approved Tuesday a US$1 a year increase in per capita dues that clubs pay to Rotary International, starting in 2011-12.
The increase is only half the amount the RI Board of Directors had initially proposed. The original amount of a $2 annual increase was based on financial forecasts projecting deficits for RI in coming years without a dues increase. But directors reduced their recommendation after a variety of recent financial indicators showed a more positive economic forecast for RI.
Markets have improved considerably since the last fiscal year when the original proposal was finalized, and Rotary's General Surplus Fund is well above the Council-mandated minimum reserves.
In addition, the Secretariat has been successful in making significant cuts in expenses, including expanded offshore operations in Pune, India. Other budget cuts have resulted in less spending for consultants, temporary help, volunteer expenses, publications, and postage. The RI Board and general secretary are committed to continued process improvements and cost reductions.
According to a five-year forecast presented to the Board last week, actual 2010 revenues are $12 million below projections made in 2007, the last time the Council set the rate for per capita dues. But expenses are $20 million below those earlier projections.
The Council action means that Rotary clubs will pay per capita dues to RI of $51 per year in 2011-12, $52 per year in 2012-13, and $53 per year in 2013-14. Per capita dues are currently slated at $50 for 2010-11.
The measure will also result in an increase in per capita dues of $0.50 per RIBI member each year beginning in 2011-12.
The dues increase will allow RI's budget to remain profitable through 2013, but experience a deficit of about $3 million by 2015.
In encouraging the Council to adopt the increase, RI Treasurer Michael Colasurdo Sr. noted that dues are the primary source of financing Rotary's operations.
"We face a formidable challenge in this area," Colasurdo said. "We need to invest in Rotary's future to ensure that we can strengthen and support our clubs, focus on increased humanitarian services, and enhance public image and awareness of Rotary."
Several representatives commended the Board for scaling back its dues increase request. "Our RI dues continue to be the smallest portion of our dues and meals cost which our members pay," said Mary Beth Growney-Selene of District 6250 (parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA). "The Secretariat has been fiscally responsible, while at the same time we all have higher expectations of Rotary International."
But representatives removed wording from the measure that would have allowed the Board to increase per capita dues up to 2 percent annually beyond 2013-14. A number of representatives, including Past RI President Rajendra Saboo, argued that the provision would strip the Council of its role in establishing dues increases.
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

FOOD DRIVE ON THE HORIZON

Preparing for “Stamp Out Hunger,” the nation’s largest annual one-day food drive, just  became much easier with the launch of a new website.

Stampouthunger.com gives quick, easy access to the latest news regarding the food drive and tools to help individuals become involved and increase awareness about the event. The website also has downloads, such as a countdown widget, flyers, information and statistics about hunger in America, and links to sign up for e-mail or text reminders.

The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Food Drive — in conjunction with the Postal Service — helps feed families in all 50 states.

This year’s food drive is Saturday, May 8. The “Stamp Out Hunger” website will go offline at the conclusion of this year’s event.

Donations this year are expected to push the overall total since the annual drive began 18 years ago to more than 1 billion pounds. The total currently is 982.7 million pounds.

UPDATE ON POLIO ERADICATION

Child receiving polio vaccine.Image via Wikipedia
(This article appeared in the April 23, 2010 edition of the Wall Street Journal)

Gates Rethinks His War on Polio

Bill Gates walked into the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva—for a meeting in an underground chamber where global pandemics are managed—and was greeted by bad news. Polio was spreading across Africa, even after he gave $700 million to try to wipe out the disease.
That outbreak raged last summer, and this week a new outbreak hit Tajikistan, which hadn't seen polio for 19 years. The spread threatens one of the most ambitious health campaigns in the world, the effort to destroy the crippling disease once and for all. It also marks a setback for the Microsoft Corp. co-founder's new career as full-time philanthropist.
Next week, the organizations behind the polio fight, including WHO, Unicef, Rotary International and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plan to announce a major revamp of their strategy to address shortcomings exposed by the outbreaks.
Nigeria is ground zero for the reemergence of polio. Now the country is making surprising headway against the crippling disease, in part thanks to an unlikely meeting of two leaders: Microsoft mogul Bill Gates, and the Sultan of Sokoto, the spiritual leader of Nigeria's 70 million Muslims. WSJ's Rob Guth reports.
Polio is a centerpiece of Mr. Gates's charitable giving. Last year the billionaire traveled to Africa, one of the main battlegrounds against the disease, to confer with doctors, aid workers and a sultan to propel the polio-eradication effort.
"There's no way to sugarcoat the last 12 months," Bruce Aylward, a WHO official, told Mr. Gates in the meeting in the underground pandemic center last June. He described how the virus was rippling through countries believed to have stopped the disease.
Mr. Gates asked: "So, what do we do next?"
That question goes to the heart of one of the most controversial debates in global health: Is humanity better served by waging wars on individual diseases, like polio? Or is it better to pursue a broader set of health goals simultaneously—improving hygiene, expanding immunizations, providing clean drinking water—that don't eliminate any one disease, but might improve the overall health of people in developing countries?
The new plan integrates both approaches. It's an acknowledgment, bred by last summer's outbreak, that disease-specific wars can succeed only if they also strengthen the overall health system in poor countries.
If successful, the recalibrated campaign could shape global health strategy for decades and boost fights against other diseases. A failure could rank the effort as one of the most expensive miscalculations in mankind's long war with disease. Already, polio has evaded a two-decade-long, $8.2 billion effort to kill it off.
Big donors have long preferred fighting individual diseases, known as a "vertical" strategy. The goal is to repeat 1979's victory over smallpox, the only disease ever to be eradicated. By contrast, the broader, "horizontal" strategy has less well-defined goals and might not move the needle of global health statistics for years.
The polio fight is a lesson for Mr. Gates's foundation, which is funding other vaccines that could face similar setbacks. In the polio fight, his foundation backed a program that was following an outdated playbook. Polio's resurgence last year forced a major rewrite.
The shift on polio was informed by Mr. Gates's trip last year to Nigeria, a nation with a history of exporting the virus to other countries. Mr. Gates was accompanied by a Wall Street Journal reporter.
Mr. Gates has forged himself as a global-health diplomat following his 2008 retirement from Microsoft. He is using his star power and $34 billion philanthropy to try to push businesses, health groups and governments to improve health in developing countries.
In the Nigerian city of Sokoto, the dusty center of a once vast Islamic empire, Mr. Gates drove to a palace, walked past a row of trumpeters and found himself looking up at a man on a throne wearing a flowing robe and turban—the Sultan of Sokoto, spiritual leader of Nigeria's 70 million Muslims.
Just as Mr. Gates introduced himself to the sultan, the lights flickered out.
"I want to welcome you to the real world—to the real third world," the sultan said to Mr. Gates from his gilded chair in the darkened room.
Men like the sultan are important allies. In 2003, Islamic leaders in northern Nigeria spread rumors that polio vaccines sterilized Muslim girls. Leaders halted vaccinations, allowing the virus to spread. The WHO said the virus eventually infected 20 countries.
By the start of last year, Nigeria was home to half of the world's 1,600 polio cases. The sultan could help get the campaign back on track.
Speaking to Mr. Gates and a room of religious leaders, the sultan declared his support for the polio fight. "We want to show you our commitment," he said. "The time you have taken to come here will not be in vain."
But he, too, questioned the wisdom of targeting one disease. "Other health issues should be looked into," the sultan said, "instead of just facing one direction with polio eradication." He ticked off tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, malaria, cholera and a parasitic infection known as "snail fever."
After the global victory over smallpox 30 years ago, a rush of energy went into similar "vertical" attacks on single diseases. The polio program followed that approach and made great gains. Led by WHO and donors such as Rotary, the campaigns by the year 2000 slashed the world's polio cases to under 1,000 from 350,000 in 1988. Polio fighters planned to eradicate the disease by 2000.
That date came and went. But polio persisted, eating up billions of dollars.
Critics argued for a shift away from killing polio to free up money for controlling multiple diseases. In some countries, polio campaigns became an example of a functioning vaccination system even as other diseases were missed. Mr. Gates saw that himself in Nigeria.
Arriving at a Sokoto health clinic in a Toyota minivan stocked with Diet Coke, Mr. Gates stepped inside and was soon leaning on a wooden desk, flipping through children's vaccine records. "Do you know if this child had the first dose of DPT?" he asked, pointing to a record of a diphtheria vaccination of a boy who appeared to have missed a treatment. A health worker beside him didn't have an answer.
The clinic also had no hepatitis B and yellow fever vaccines, the workers said, because the government's system for supplying medicine wasn't working.
By contrast, in front of the clinic, a polio campaign was in full swing. Health workers tended coolers filled with vials of vaccine for children gathered there.
At a meeting the next day in the capital, Abuja, Nigeria's head of primary health care, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, reopened the vertical-vs.-horizontal debate. Even if Nigeria lowers polio cases, he said, the gains "can't hold" without a broader health-care system, he said.
Mr. Gates listened, seated behind a name tag that read "Our Guest." Dr. Pate showed a slide of a cartoon steam-engine train with cars labeled "Education" and "Disease Control." Polio should be just one car in that train, he said.
Mr. Gates didn't disagree—certainly Nigeria needs a functioning health system, he said in interviews. But it was a matter of priorities, he said. With the world so close to killing polio, countries like Nigeria should make eradication a top priority, he said. Victory would free up millions of dollars to pay for broader health improvements.
"So the benefit of finishing is huge," he said.
On the plane, Mr. Gates strategized about what else would help win the fight, balking at one religious leader's suggestion: forced vaccinations. "Strap 'em, down, I say! Let's make it illegal" to not take the vaccine, Mr. Gates joked. Then he got serious again, citing failed attempts in the U.S. to enforce compulsory vaccinations.
In many respects, Mr. Gates remains a tech geek at heart. Aboard his plane, he expounded on an array of scientific topics: From developments in genotyping, to research showing that Bangladesh's high disease-immunity rates are due to "oral-fecal" transmission (when people build immunity by ingesting contaminated food or water).
In Nigeria, Mr. Gates scored a diplomatic triumph. He won commitments from the sultan, and from Nigeria's governors, to take a more active role in polio vaccinations. "We really stand at the threshold of global health success on polio," he told the assembled governors at the close of the trip.
However, just three days later, a new front opened 2,000 miles away in Uganda. There, a woman walked into a hospital to say her son couldn't move his left leg. It was Uganda's first polio case in 12 years.
Cases also popped up in Mali, Togo and Ghana and Cote d'Ivore, which hadn't reported polio for four years. A girl in Kenya became that country's first polio case since 2006.
Polio, which spreads through water contaminated by human feces, paralyzes just one person for every 200 infected. Discovering just a few cases could mean that thousands have been infected. That demands massive vaccination campaigns.
On Feb. 28, 2009, Mr. Aylward, the WHO official, was grocery shopping in Geneva with his wife and son when he got an urgent email about the Uganda case. For 30 minutes, Mr. Aylward stood next to a spinach display, working his phone and setting in motion a plan that 10 days later vaccinated 48,000 children in Uganda.
Costly emergency responses like this became increasingly common last year. The Gates Foundation had set $47 million aside for emergencies, Mr. Aylward said. By early June, the money was running down.
That month, Mr. Gates flew to Geneva for the meeting in the WHO's underground room.
Mr. Aylward came with good news to offset the bad news about polio's resurgence, he recalled later. After describing the outbreaks, he shifted to Nigeria's progress against polio and described positive results from a trial of a new vaccine.
But those positives didn't offset the risks of polio's revival, say several attendees of a follow-up meeting. "It was becoming evident that the virus almost knew no bounds," said Dr. Steve Cochi, senior adviser at Centers for Disease Control. "It kind of confirmed some of our worst fears."
A month later in Seattle, Gates Foundation officials paused at a PowerPoint presentation showing the foundation's polio grants were approaching $1 billion. It was a staggering amount for a program that appeared to be stalling. "We can't go to Tachi and Bill and ask for more money," without reviewing the program, one person said, referring to Mr. Gates and Tachi Yamada, a top foundation official, according to an attendee.
In August, experts commissioned by the WHO landed in Angola, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria to evaluate the polio program. In Africa, a team found that once polio had been ended in some countries, weak health-care systems let it return. In northern India, bad sanitation, malnutrition and other intestinal issues are believed to hurt the oral polio vaccine's effectiveness.
These findings echoed the message to Mr. Gates in Nigeria, and marked a turning point among the Gates Foundation and other backers of the polio fight in the debate over whether the strictly "vertical" polio strategy could succeed.
In October, the Gates Foundation summoned backers of the program, including Unicef, CDC and Rotary, to its Seattle headquarters for a major rethink. Two weeks later it called in independent experts for help. The outcome of those meetings will be reflected in the revamped plan coming next week. Polio backers say they are buoyed by reports of just 71 polio cases worldwide this year, vs. 328 in the year-earlier period.
If approved in May by member nations of the WHO, the new strategy will set ambitious goals for getting close to eradicating polio by the end of 2012. The plan bolsters the core "vertical" approach of polio program but also adds a "horizontal" strategy, including training for health workers on topics such as hygiene and sanitation.
Nigeria will be a key testing ground. The country has made strong progress against the disease since Mr. Gates's visit. But stopping polio there, and in at least one of the three other countries where it's deeply rooted, will be the main challenge in the next three years, Mr. Aylward says. Failure to achieve that goal will raise questions over whether the program continues, he says.
A big hurdle is money. The polio program is $1.4 billion short of the $2.6 billion it needs over next three years. The Gates Foundation will continue its polio grants, but says it can't make up the shortfall.
But funding is just one worry for Mr. Gates in his new career. He built his foundation on the promise of life-saving vaccines, reflecting his penchant toward finding technological solutions to problems. As polio shows, technology can be hampered by political, religious and societal obstacles in the countries where he's spending his money. He's still learning how to navigate through those forces.
In Nigeria last year, Mr. Gates sat on the lawn behind his hotel reflecting on that. Science can simplify the job, he said, but "the human piece is the ultimate test."
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HOW'S YOUR DAY GOING?

RING THE BELL, IT'S TIME FOR LUNCH!

ECO-CLUBS ATTRACT NEW MEMBERS

A growing number of Rotary clubs have found that focusing on the environment helps them bring in new members and gain visibility in the community.
The Rotary Club of Duluth Superior Eco , Minnesota, USA, was chartered in November 2008 with the purpose of attracting younger people by being project oriented and environmentally minded.
Club president Marti Buscaglia says the club founders reasoned that young people would be more likely to have time on their hands than disposable income, and would be more engaged if they could take part in hands-on projects for a cause they felt strongly about. The club now has 54 members, most under the age of 40, and mostly women.
"The eco brings them in, and then they learn more about Rotary," says Buscaglia. "It's a good introduction to Rotary for younger people. They know they are going to be involved in something they personally care about."
Buscaglia says conducting green projects has also given the club increased media coverage. "It's a hot topic right now, something everyone is reporting on," she says. For Earth Day, 22 April, the club is planning a large beach-cleaning project. Members have also planted trees and pulled buckthorn.
The Duluth Superior Eco club has caught the attention of other clubs. Kay Biga, secretary and cofounder, says she has heard from several clubs interested in following its model. The success is contagious, she says.
"Having eco in the name sends a message that we are different from other clubs in town," Biga says. "We are going to attract more younger people because the environment is very appealing to them. I also like themes. It seems people really gravitate to something if there is a theme involved to direct your activities."
Robert Hunt, who now lives in Florida but often attended club meetings in Duluth, took the concept with him to the Rotary Club of East Manatee, where he serves as club president. Hunt says that being green has helped the club attract members, make a lasting impact on the community, and gain exposure for Rotary.
"Prospective members who have the same mindset will naturally be drawn to the prestige of what an eco-club can offer them," he explains. "As we build more awareness, education, and identity, the membership will naturally increase."
The East Manatee club conducts a road cleanup every three months, sorting out anything that can be recycled. It also held a successful shred-a-thon in March, encouraging community members to bring in old documents to be shredded and recycled. During a fall festival, club members collected hundreds of disposable plastic bottles in special containers they provided for the event.
Biga sees more and more service organizations adopting an environmental slant. "Green products are everywhere," she says. "Everyone is becoming environmentally conscious. Service organizations have to be on board with the trends and with what's appealing to people."
Does your club conduct environmental projects? What is your club doing for Earth Day? Share your projects in our comments section below.
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AND I QUOTE

"Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses." – Confucius

DEFINED-ON THE CARPET

When carpets were first used as floor covering they were walked on only by the master or mistress of the house, and servants usually stood on them only when they were called before the gentry to be reprimanded for some misdeed. From this practice, dating to the early 1800's, came the meaning of on the carpet.
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PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

An Indianapolis man is suing a convenience store chain for the $11.5 million lottery jackpot he says he would have won if a clerk had sold him a ticket.
Charles Andrews, 70, says he had picked the winning numbers for the February 2008 drawing, but workers at the Speedway store refused to sell him a ticket with a few minutes left before the sales cutoff.
  Andrews says there wasn't enough time to go to another store.
Andrews says he signed his play slip and left it with the store so he would have proof in case they were the winning numbers. He found that they matched when he returned the next day.
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC has denied in court filings any responsibility for Andrews not winning.
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DO YOU REMEMBER?

Any fan of the classic 90s sitcom, Home Improvement, is sure to remember all of the clever video transitions (known as “wipes”) that the show incorporated over the years. Well, we just had to share this music video we recently found, which includes every single wipe from the 3rd season. The band in the video is called Wawes, and we think they deserve an A+ for their efforts. Take a look and see for yourself:

TODAY IN HISTORY

Muhammad Ali, bust portrait / World Journal Tr...Image via Wikipedia
APRIL 28

1967:Muhammad Ali is stripped of his heavyweight boxing championship after he refuses to be inducted into the Army, citing religious objections.

1969:
Charles de Gaulle resigns as the French president after his proposed reforms are voted down in a referendum.

2001: American Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist as he launches into space aboard a Russian rocket.

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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

HOW THE COUNCIL EVOLVED

Rotary Club banners.Image via Wikipedia
In the 76 years of its existence, the Council on Legislation has evolved from a single plenary session at the international convention to an autonomous legislative entity.
The Council was created by the 1933 convention to serve as an “advisory body” to assist with the review of enactments and resolutions proposed at the annual convention.
It first convened as part of the 1934 convention, as Rotarians struggled with a worldwide recession, threats to world peace, and rising unemployment.
By 1954, the Council was well established. At that year's convention, Rotarians decided to allow for longer intervals between legislative sessions and adopted a biennial framework for voting upon enactments and resolutions. The next deliberations were held at the 1956 convention.
The 1970 convention further modified Rotary International’s legislative process when it decided that the Council should no longer serve in an advisory capacity, but instead become RI’s official legislative body, considering proposals to amend the RI Constitution and Bylaws and the Standard Rotary Club Constitution. Four years later, delegates decided that the Council would meet triennially, still in conjunction with the convention. Finally, in 1977, the Council adopted an enactment to meet independently of the convention.
Technological advances have also had a profound impact on the Council. In the 1970s, delegates sported large headphones to follow the proceedings in their own language. Today's delegates have access to compact simultaneous interpretation equipment. The use of a single interpreter has given way to multiple interpreters working out of booths on the side of the Council chambers. Electronic voting was introduced in 2001.
Over the decades, the Council has debated and weighed virtually every nuance of RI policy and every detail of membership and attendance rules. While individual Rotarians may not always agree with its decisions, one thing is clear: The Council is Rotary's primary agent for change, allowing the organization to evaluate its relevance in today's rapidly evolving world, reflecting shifts in lifestyles, priorities, technology, and business.
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JUST FOR PUN

“The coffee tasted like mud because it was ground a couple of minutes ago.”
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WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT?



TheUnderwater Pogo Stick.This is the only pogo stick designed for use in swimming pools that allows you to perform a variety of waterborne stunts as you bounce off walls or bottoms. A rigid ball filled with water fits into the non-slip footrest, providing responsive push-off when compressed against a pool's floor with your body weight, and enables you to splash effortlessly in shallower water and bound powerfully through deeper water. The stick is made from heavy-duty ABS plastic with two rubber handlebars for a firm grip. For use with in-ground pools with solid surfaces.
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PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

TODAY IN HISTORY

APRIL 27, 1947

At 53, George Herman Ruth Jr. gets a standing ovation at Yankee Stadium during Babe Ruth Day. Joe DiMaggio and other players ask for autographs.

1805:
U.S. Marines capture Derna on the shores of Tripoli. The Barbary War victory is later immortalized in the “Marines’ Hymn.”

1974:
Thousands march in Washington, D.C., calling for President Nixon’s impeachment. The New York Times reports that five streakers wearing Nixon masks also show

Monday, April 26, 2010

LIFE AND TIME OF PAUL HARRIS

O ne day in the fall of 1900, Paul P. Harris met attorney Bob Frank for dinner in a well-off neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. They took a walk around the area and stopped at shops along the way. Harris was impressed by how Frank had made friends with many of the shopkeepers.
Since moving to Chicago to set up his law practice, Harris had not encountered the kind of camaraderie that Frank enjoyed with his fellow businessmen. He wondered whether there was a way to channel and expand this type of fellowship, which reminded him of the New England town where he'd grown up.
The thought persisted that I was experiencing only what had happened to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others in the great city … I was sure that there must be many other young men who had come from farms and small villages to establish themselves in Chicago ... Why not bring them together? If others were longing for fellowship as I was, something would come of it.
-- Paul P. Harris, My Road to Rotary
Eventually, Harris persuaded other local businessmen to meet and discuss forming a club for commercial trade, community, and fellowship. His vision laid the foundation for the Rotary of today.
Continue through the exhibit to learn more about Harris, the founder of Rotary.
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AND I QUOTE

"Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours." – Mark Twain

VINTAGE ADVERTISING-1940's

MISSY WALSH WAS INSTALLED AS OUR NEWEST MEMBER THIS PAST THURSDAY

DO YOU REMEMBER?

Today, we look back at one of the grooviest, funkiest shows to ever hit the television airwaves. Providing an R&B alternative to the long-running American Bandstand, audiences tuned in for over 35 years to take a ride on the Soul Train. Created and hosted by Chicago radio DJ, Don Cornelius, it remains the “longest-running, first-run, nationally-syndicated program in television history.” Let’s take a look at what 70s viewers saw each week when they tuned into Soul Train:

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