News

Rotary November Food Drive + Team Challenge

November Food Drive:

Over the next two club meetings please bring canned food as part of the community service committee’s Thanksgiving food drive benefiting the University District Food Bank. This will be the first way you can earn points for your team as part of the new team challenge!  (more info on the challenge below).

    • Bring dry/canned food items for the next two club meetings – November 12 & November 19
    • Items will be sorted by the color teams and weighed – Thank you Pam Mushen for making the color sorted boxes!
    • Points will be accumulated for the color teams as part of the new team challenge
    • 1 pound of the food = 1 point for your color team
    • Hats are encouraged for maximum fun

Community Service Color Team CHALLENGE

Between now and the end of the Rotary year in June the community service committee is thrilled to introduce this challenge to our color teams. Points can be accrued by participating in various community service activities organized by the committee.

How to earn points for your team:

  • One hour of labor at sanctioned community service projects = 60 points for your team
  • The community service committee may announce other ways to earn points, similar to the November Food Drive

Why participate:

  • Exemplify the Rotary maxim, Service Above Self
  • Your team could win Mimosas and Donuts at a club meeting in June
  • Unlimited bragging rights

Looking forward to performing great work with you all for the rest of the year. Have fun, get stuff done!

Thank you,

University Sunrise Rotary Club, Community Service Committee

Teri St Onge, Chase Carter, Betsy Conklin, and Pam Mushen
Teri St Onge, Chase Carter, Betsy Conklin, and Pam Mushen

2016 Rotary District 5030 Conference: Friday April 29, 2016

Questions & Answers

Question: Where is the 2016 Rotary District 5030 Conference?
Answer:  The conference is in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho at the Coeur d’ Alene Resort.

The Rotary 5030 District Conference Room rates are $95-$135, depending on your choice of rooms. To make your reservations:

http://rotarydistrict5030.org/2016-district-conference/ or call: 1-844-896-5641

Question: How do you get there and how long does it take?
Answer:  Coeur d’ Alene is about 40 miles east of Spokane, just across the Washington/Idaho border.

  • From Seattle, drive east on Interstate 90 for 310 miles. Allow 5 hours travel time, or more if leaving during a high traffic time.
  • From Spokane International Airport, it is about 40 miles east on Interstate 90.
  • Amtrak also runs from Seattle to Spokane.

Question: Why should I go?
Answer:  Fellowship and Inspiration. Engage with Rotary through education sessions ​about Rotary’s work including that within our District at fellow clubs. Have fun and get to know your Rotary and Rotarians better in a beautiful setting.

Question: When Should I arrive?
Answer: The first Conference event for general attendance is 2 p.m. on Friday April 29, 2016.

Question: When is the Conference over?
Answer:  The last scheduled Conference event is over at noon on Sunday May 1, 2016.

Question: Is there group transportation planned to get there?
Answer:  You are welcome to arrange your own group. Currently the District is not organizing transportation.

Question: Are there any scholarships available to attend?
Answer:  Currently the District does not offer any scholarships for attending the Conference. Please review the registration options below.

  • Rotarian Full Registration $325
  • Rotarian Guest Registration (meals only) $300
  • Rotaract Full Registration $199

Question: What if I can only come for one day?
Answer:  You are welcome to attend the Conference for only one day. However, the registration price is the same whether you attend for a day or stay for the entire Conference.

Question: I want to save money. Can you pair me up with someone else to share a double room?
Answer: You are welcome to reach out to other Rotarians in your network. The District is not organizing room arrangements.

Question: What will the weather be like in Coeur d’Alene in May?
Answer: Temperatures are typically in the mid-60’s with mixed sun and rain – spring weather in the northwest!

Question: What kind of clothes will I need?
Answer: Business casual. You are welcome to bring dressier attire for the banquet, but business casual is acceptable.

Question: Will we have free time?
Answer: Yes. There will be some optional group activities in the evening. Once finalized, the official conference schedule will be published to all District 5030 Rotarians.

Question: There is no early bird rate, so why should I register now?
Answer:  As a nonprofit service organization, Rotary tries to keep costs economical and a good value for all conference attendees. The District does offer a discounted rate ($199) to encourage Rotaract (young Rotarians) to attend.

Registering now will help you reserve the time on your calendar, and will help the District to recruit dynamic speakers, and encourage the fullest attendance possible, which make for a more robust conference for all. Once registered, you can leverage maximum enjoyment of the experience by encouraging your own club members to attend with you.

Question: What is the last date I can register?
Answer: For planning purposes, the District encourages you to register no later than April 8, 2016.

Question: Can I bring my spouse/partner?
Answer: Certainly. Spouses and partners are indeed welcome to attend sessions even if they are not a Rotary member.

Question: Can I bring my family?
Answer: Certainly, though only registered conference attendees may attend District Conference sessions.

Question: Are there activities planned for kids?
Answer: The District is not planning any family activities. However, you’ll find kid-friendly activities abundant, and we suggest you consult the resort or concierge to make your arrangements.

Question: How many people usually attend the conference?
Answer: 400+ Rotarians typically attend the District Conference each year.

Question: Is the Rotary discounted room rate ($95-$135 depending on room choice) available for extra days before and after the Conference?
Answer:  Yes. You will be given the Conference room rate for 3 nights before and 3 nights after the April 29-May 1, 2016 Conference.

To make your reservation: http://rotarydistrict5030.org/2016-district-conference/ or call: 1-844-896-5641

Question: Will there be Wi-Fi available?
Answer: Yes. The resort offers Wi-Fi and there is also Wi-Fi in the conference center.

Question: What is there to do in and around Coeur d’ Alene?
Answer: Take to lake Coeur d’ Alene for boating, jetskiing or wakeboarding. Enjoy a scenic sunset or dinner cruise. For more information, visit the resort website http://www.cdaresort.com/ or the Coeur d’ Alene Convention and Visitors Bureau website http://coeurdalene.org/ .

Question: What if I register now, but then need to cancel closer to the date of the Conference?
Answer:  The cancellation policy is as follows:

Rotary District 5030 will accept cancellation requests until March 31, 2016, after which fees will no longer be refundable. All cancellation requests must be submitted in writing. Email cancellation requests to: conference2016@rotary5030.org

Registrations are transferable until March 31, 2016.

Question: Can you give me a preview of Conference break-out sessions and Conference speakers for next year?
Answer:  Sure!

2016 District Conference Break-out Sessions

Have you ever wondered…

  • What great ideas are out there, besides an auction, for fundraising?
  • What’s the latest idea in social media we could use to promote our club?
  • How do we make our weekly meetings fun and energetic?
  • Who has some proven strategies for keeping your membership strong?
  • We are a small/medium/large club, what’s happening for clubs our size?
  • I want to get a Rotary grant, what are some lessons learned to help me?

All of these questions and more will be answered at the 2016 District Conference! We have speakers and sessions lined up to share trends, creative ideas, lessons learned and so much more!

2016 District Conference Key Note Speakers

Marilyn Fitzgerald is an inspirational speaker with a pragmatic approach toward sustainability that motivates others to ask the critical question of “How can we best invest our time, talent, and treasure in a way that best provides opportunity to others?” Marilyn is committed to the promotion of empowerment leading to prosperity and resilience, rather than continuing with the actions that create dependency.

When it comes to Rotary, Mitty Chang is practically a lifer – and he’s only 26. Chang joined Interact 10 years ago in Fremont, Calif., where almost a quarter of the 2,000 students at his high school were Interactors. He went on to organize two Rotaract clubs. Now an entrepreneur who works with small businesses and nonprofits to build their online identity and brand, he plans to become a Rotarian within the next few years. “I expect to have a long life in Rotary,” he says. Adapted from a story in the March 2015 issue of The Rotarian

Get Tickets for Sunday’s Sounder’s Game

Join UW Rotaract and Rotarians at the last Sounders game this Sunday! Buy your sounders tickets online now!

Sounders logo

This Sunday, join Rotaracters and Rotarians at Century Link Field to watch the Seattle Sounders play their last game of the season versus Real Salt Lake. Hate Salt Lake? Who doesn’t! Cheer on the Sounders starting at 4pm this Sunday. Proceeds go to the Sand Point tutoring program. Also available to purchase in person at the meeting

Pamela Banks: Candidate for City Council District 3

On September 17th, we heard from Pamela Banks, aspirant for District 3 of the City Council.  She gave a moving history of family struggles in her Portland childhood and her family’s dedication to community service.

Pamela Banks and Steve Barton
Pamela Banks and Steve Barton
Pamela Banks and Past President Mike Madden
Pamela Banks and Past President Mike Madden

A graduate of the UW, she is President and CEO of the Seattle Urban League. In that capacity she has done fund raising, food drives for the poor, and much more. She rescued the Urban League from financial ruin in 2009-2010. It now flourishes with a staff of 14. She has served for 30 years, under 5 mayors, and has been a community organizer for southeast Seattle. Her focus is on the community; she shuns federal involvement.

Her goals:

  1. To connect citizens to local city goals and to deliver more local services, especially for those of low income and the homeless.
  2. Light Rail liaison with the community, considering the impact of the Light Rail on businesses and property owners during construction.
  3. In general, support for small businesses.
  4. An education and employment program, which obviates much crime.
  5. Problem solving as regards transportation and safety.
  6. The housing crisis must be addressed with a view toward preservation of the single family home.
  7. Gun violence is increasing. More education and jobs are needed to reverse it.
  8. A career bridge for women. Funds are in place for this.
  9. Housing affordability. Must build 20-50 thousand apartments.
  10. Homelessness pervades not only Seattle but all the surrounding communities. The problem is huge. There is much work to be done.
  11. Transportation, i.e., getting people to work, must be improved.
  12. Early reading for children. If kids cannot read at a third grade level when reaching that grade, dropouts and other bad consequences occur.
  13. Many construction and transportation jobs are unfilled. Federal grants are in place for teaching these skills. Teachers must also be trained.
  14. To get people out of cars, mass transportation must be improved. The matter of dwelling construction without provision for parking remains an unsolved enigma.

Observation: A tough job awaits anyone who attains office. Sparring with colleagues must be added to the abovementioned labors.

Jenny Martin and Conscious Capitalism

Leo Durocher’s statement, “Nice guys finish last”, as applied to the business world, must have had a degree of accuracy in days gone by. In recent years, as asserted by Jennifer Martin, this concept has been undergoing modification.

Jenny was present at the creation of the first local chapter of Conscious Capitalism. While there is a national chapter, attended by CEOs in high places, there are many that anyone can join. Conscious Capitalism (henceforth CC) has a stated principle of marketing strategies to benefit humanity and the environment.

The points made by Jenny include: –The aging population has cast a buffering effect upon the tempestuousness of youth. –More wisdom, as imparted by more grandparents than have heretofore existed, is influencing the younger generation. –Born from this shift in values has arisen CC. with its concept of treating  people, specifically employees, in a good manner. –CC bases its business principles on four pillars, to wit,

  1. A higher purpose than just making money,
  2. How best to treat one’s workers
  3. Conscientious leadership, in which the mindset of the leader affects all others
  4. Stakeholder orientation, an idea that it is not altogether necessary to dominate the market.

In short, the goal is to do well by doing good. This also extends to treatment of vendors and even perhaps collaborating with the competition. –It now seems that CC companies are outperforming others and the S&P –Surveys show that people shun companies known to be irresponsible and would change to those that align with their values. Consumers find out about these things. –The huge discrepancies between executive and employee salaries are being addressed with a view to placing a ceiling on this ratio. –Paying employees well inspires loyalty. It offers them autonomy and a purpose. –Decentralization of power vs. the old hierarchical method has merit.

Summarizing: Good will, while not tangible, is worth its aureus weight

Phill Briscoe with Jenny Martin
Phill Briscoe with Jenny Martin

Vicki Christopherson: Initiative 502 for Legal Marijuana

August 6th, our speaker Vicki Christopherson, a government relations specialist and lobbyist for the marijuana industry,  gave a short summary about Initiative 502.

Here is a description of the bill:   Initiative 502 defined and legalized small amounts of marijuana-related products for adults 21 and over, taxes them, and designates the revenue for health care and substance abuse prevention and education. Cannabis is still classified as a schedule I controlled substance under federal law. Possession by anyone under 21, possession of larger amounts, and growing of unlicensed or unregulated marijuana remains illegal under state law.

Prior to the initiative’s 2012 passage, certain evils existed. Among them were licenses granted for marijuana’s medicinal use that degenerated into commercial abuse. The Initiative caused honest purveyors to have to compete with the black market. On the one hand were those highly regulated and taxed and on the other, the opportunistic non-taxed. Legislation has thus decreed that, by 7/16, all medical marijuana will be regulated by the Department of Health and the Liquor Control Board. No longer will it be legal to set up shops and issue cards for sales of the substance. Retail stores will have to be licensed. There is to be a crackdown on loopholes and sales to minors. To be sure, there is opposition from those making lots of money. The DOH will determine that which is medical. No sales tax will be charged to genuine patients. Payroll tax consideration will accrue to taxpaying, honest, licensed dealers.

However, unintended tax obstacles were in place, including a 25% tax on producer, processor, and retailer. Then there is are taxes on gross receipts, business and occupancy, and tax on the client. (Can a business sustain this?). This is to be replaced by a single 37% tax (still high). Also, a requirement that one use one’s own vehicle for transport and disclosure of the route has evolved. There seem to be creative ways to get around these. Add to this the idea that a trail vehicle may harbor guns when the transport vehicle may not.

Other impediments: The public and financial record issues involving disclosure; wild variation as to what revenue should be; difficulties in creation of a safe adult market; to legalize or not to legalize; whether the federal government should change marijuana from a schedule 1 to a schedule 3.

Comment: As Churchill would say, “A riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

District Governor Elect, “Bo” Darling visits

August 6th, District Governor Elect Forrester “Bo” Darling visited University Sunrise RC.  Rotary business starts early not only for Breakfast Club but also next year’s District Governor wanted to become acquainted with the Clubs in District 5030 early so he can better help them.  DG “Bo” is a Mercer Island Rotarian.  He brought his wife Patti Darling, his “Aide De Camp” and also a Mercer Island Rotarian, as are Becca Palm and Claudina Campbell, who have agreed to help the DGE to prepare for his coming term in office.

IMG_5793

DGE “Bo” was well received by President Tim Lenihan and the University Sunrise RC members.  He stated that he loved the Ivar’s venue, the view, the enthusiasm of the Club and how he loved to see Rotary in Action at the Club level.

American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay for Life walk is August 15: Sign Up

HI all,

A few folks have asked me if there’s a way to donate for the Relay for Life walk if you can’t participate. You can donate online to our team here. Or, we can accept cash or check donations at any Club meeting. As a team, we have already raised $1,350–a great start!!

The American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay for Life walk at Cal Anderson Park on Saturday, August 15 from 10am to 10pm. The walk is less than a month away so I wanted to provide an opportunity for folks to sign up to walk or order a t-shirt that we designed for the event! If you are interested in walking, please:

  1. Sign up for a walking time here, or email me an hour you are available to walk from when from 10am to 10pm that day. (See below for a copy of the current schedule.)
  2. Officially register with ACS online or get a paper form from me or Chase at an upcoming Club meeting. To register online, go to this website, click “SIGN UP”, create an account, and join the team “USRC: Put a Little Prince in Your <3”. Feel free to ask me or Chase for help if you’d like to register online but need assistance.

Currently, we have 4 time slots that need to be filled so it’d be great to get a few more folks to join us! In addition, we have designed a team t-shirt (click here to see the design). The t-shirt will cost $20 and are available in sizes Sm, M, L, Xl, and XXL. Please feel free to order a t-shirt regardless of whether you can make it on the 15th. If you are interested in having a t-shirt, please sign up here, email me, or let me know at an upcoming Club meeting.

Thanks, all!

Betsy Conklin
clubservice@usrotary.org

 

Mirtholgy by Dr. Hal

I. Perhaps you have heard the eerie story of the Ghost Car. Whether you have or have not, here goes:

A guy was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the middle of a storm. The night was rolling on and no car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly he saw a car coming toward him and stop.

Without thinking about it, the guy got into the back seat, closed the door–and then realized there was nobody behind the wheel! The car started slowly; the guy looked at the road and saw a curve coming his way. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life. He hadn’t come out of shock when, just before he hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and moved the wheel. The guy, paralyzed in terror, watched how the hand appeared every time right before a curve. Gathering his strength, the guy finally jumped out of the car and ran to the nearest town. Wet and in shock, he went into a restaurant and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he had gone through.

A silence enveloped everybody when they realized the guy was serious. About half an hour later, two guys walked into the same restaurant. They looked around for a table, when one said to the other, “Look, John–that’s the guy who got into the car when we were pushing it.”

II.  A police officer pulled over a car. When he walked up to the car, he saw that there were three elderly ladies within.

He said, “Ma’am, you’re driving too slowly. Could you please drive faster?”

The driver replied, “Oh, I’m sorry, officer. I saw a 21 on the sign and assumed the speed limit was 21 miles per hour.”

The officer explained, “No, ma’am. The speed limit is 65. The highway is 21.”

Then the police officer looked in the back and noticed that the two other ladies were in a tight embrace and shaking like leaves. “Excuse me,” said the officer to the driver, “but what’s wrong with those two?

“Oh,” she replied, “That must be because we just got off Highway 145.”

Dr Hall
Dr. Hal